Tonight on Extension 720: Walter Savage Landor wrote: “A good cook is the peculiar gift of the gods. He must be a perfect creature from the brain to the palate, from the palate to the finger's end.” Tonight on Extension 720, we celebrate the art of cooking and the life of Julia Child. A frequent guest on our program, she always delighted with her sparkling personality and infectious love of food. Our panel of culinary experts will explore the joy of gourmandize, as well as recall their favorite memories of “The French Chef.” Our guests are MARY ABBOTT HESS, former chairman of the National Board of the American Institute of Wine and Food and an acclaimed food writer, BILL REYNOLDS, provost of the Washburn Culinary Institute of the City Colleges of Chicago, and RICK TRAMANTO, executive chef at TRU, which was picked as restaurant of the year by Chicago Magazine.

More information on this and other programs is available at our monthly program guide. You can listen to the show from 9 to 11 p.m. central time here.

A BACKGROUNDER ON A POST-ARAFAT MIDDLE EAST: The Christian Science Monitor usually does this sort of thing very well...and they do not disappoint in this instance. The links lead to valuable contributions from many journalisatic sources.

APRES ARAFAT, LA PAIX? So say some unidentified "Palestinian officials" according to the Jerusalem Post. Take the story for what its worth--which may be merely a loud whistle in the dark.

THE SAME-SEX MARRIAGE ISSUE AND THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: From the current issue of The Weekly Standard we have this staightforward (and, we think, credible) assertion that Kerry guaranteed his defeat with his answer to Schieffer's question in the third debate.

AMONG THE MANY ELECTION POST-MORTEMS...this one from Tech Central Station seems to us to be right on the mark when it comes to what was wrong with Kerry and his campaign. Particularly on-target is the first of the five points: Kerry's total disregard of America's concern over "the porno-ization of American media."

HOW THEY TOOK THE ELECTION NEWS IN NEW ZEALAND: Well, you see, there was this "watch the election returns party" at the U.S. Embassy and...for further details consult this story from the New Zealand National Business Review.

SITUATION "NORMAL" IN DARFUR: They are still slaughtering the innocents while the Sudan government still blames the victims and the UN "negotiates." This coverage is from nothing less than the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

HOW THEY PROVED (OR DID THEY?) FERMAT'S LAST THEOREM: This sort of thing can take centuries and whole academic careers can be invested in such perfect and almost insoluble mathematical problems. If you have a week to spare, do work through this article pursuing all of the fascinating links that it provides.

WHAT GOOD IS HAPPINESS? It doesn't, after all, buy money. That perverse view is NOT echoed in this rumination on happiness from the leading academic social psychologist concerned with such things--and smiling quite contentedly in the accompanying photograph.

WHAT WAS JAMES JOYCE TRYING TO SAY? Much that you may have missed as you impatiently worked through Ulysses and slammed shut the cover of Finnegan's Wake. This illuminating and refreshingly direct essay was published recently by The Hudson Review.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH ACADEMIC PUBLISHING? Just about everything according to the Humanities Editor at Harvard University Press. And here's a blog-based review of his book which recalls to the proprietor just what the exotic culture of American academia required of him in the many "rites de passages academique" through which he traversed upward toward a tenured professorship.

WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE MAN WHO LAUNCHED "MODERN PHILOSOPHY"...may offer some valuable surprises. This three year-old review of a then-newly-published book on Immanuel Kant has sent us to an internet vendor in search of Kuehn's work.

BETTER CHECK THE ATTIC FOR ANY OLD GAUGINS...or, for that matter, Modiglianis or Mondrians. And, if so, call Sotheby's...right after you read this story from the CBC Art News.

CLASSIC, BIG BAND SWING: If you can't listen to all of this generous collection do, at least, check out the selections from Basie, Goodman, Hampton and Herman. Swing at its glorious birth!

Tonight on Extension 720: Chairman Mao might have thought that “to read too many books is harmful,” but fortunately our three guests tonight do not share his belief in that adage. PENELOPE MESIC, SUSAN HARRIS and ALAN GITELSON once again join the program to review and recommend a sampling of recent publications, because—in the words of Ruskin—“if a book is worth reading, it is worth buying.”

More information on this and other programs is available at our monthly program guide. You can listen to the show from 9 to 11 p.m. central time here.

Milt's File is taking the day off, but will return tomorrow.

Tonight on Extension 720: Yesterday the United States voted for president. Is the winner George W. Bush or John Kerry? Or is the nation awash in a sea of hanging chads and butterfly ballots? Tonight on Extension 720, our panel of experts will analyze the election returns and evaluate each candidate’s winning and losing strategies, as well as discuss how the election changed or solidified the balance of power in Congress. Joining us will be JEFF JENKINS, professor of political science at Northwestern University, TOM BEVAN, co-founder of Real Clear Politics, and by phone from California, VICTOR DAVIS HANSON, fellow at the Hoover Institution and columnist for the National Review Online.

More information on this and other programs is available at our monthly program guide. You can listen to the show from 9 to 11 p.m. central time here.

AN ELECTION THAT RESTORED "LEGITIMACY" is what Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post perceived to be in the offing last night. Her hope that the Kerry campaign would yield with alacrity and dignity has been confirmed in the hours since she wrote this for publication today.

"AMERICA (IS) AS POLARISED AS IT WAS FOUR YEARS AGO"...according to the left-tilted U.K. Guardian! This account of the Bush victory seems rather blind to the difference between 2000 and 2004. What does a difference of four million votes matter when you've got inflexible ideology to sustain you?

AFTER THE ELECTION, WHAT NOW IN IRAQ? That question is raised and answered by Victor Davis Hanson in this from yesterday's Wall Street Journal. He will be on our radio program tonight to elaborate upon these comments.

IS IT A CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS? The argument will continue as to how to understand the Islamic terrorism threat. This author--a DOD veteran--opts for the hard-line position and lays out some interesting policy recommendations. The article is from American Diplomacy, a journal for foreign service officers.

LAST NIGHT AT GROVESNOR SQUARE...the American embassy hosted an Election Party. A good time was had by some according to this account from BBC News.

IF IT'S GRACIOUS ACCEPTANCE OF DEFEAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR...you won't find it in The Village Voice. Here is the screed by a prime Village Idiot that was rushed to the internet this morning. There's a lot more like this to be found on their site.

IS THIS A MESSAGE THAT THE DEMS WILL HEED? Yesterday's strong anti-gay marriage vote in eleven states surely helped to augment the totals for Bush. Is there a lesson here that practical Democratic leadership may--after the departure of the current chairman--heed as they reexamine their legislative agenda?

THE MURDER OF THEO VAN GOGH...is examined here by a leading Muslim dissident from the West. Irshad Manji has been a guest on our program discussing her recent book, The Trouble With Islam: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith.

THE "SIMILES" OF EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY...are examined in this iconoclastic essay from Commentary and (no surprise, considering that the author is from the Discovery Institute) they are found to be wanting.

DO YOU WANT TO STAY IN THIS RELATIONSHIP? A young academic asks this very question of himself and decides to "wander." The anatomy of his break from "commitment" is well-analyzed, stage by stage, in this somewhat surprising article from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

A FINE ESSAY ABOUT ESSAYS: The publication of the nineteenth annual volume of The Best American Essays prompts a fine rumination on that ancient (try Cicero) and persisting art from Phyllis Rose writing in The Wilson Quarterly.

ON THE REALITY OF THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO: A Boston sports writer who has LIVED with it all these years shows that the curse (now, at last, lifted) was painfully real and wrecked the chances of many great Red Sox teams.

A RECITAL FROM THE LUGANO FESTIVAL: Five fine piano/violin performances are heard in this "live" concert. Particularly noteworthy: the Mozart sonata and the Brahms Hungarian Dances.

Extension 720 tonight is pre-empted by WGN Radio’s complete election coverage, which starts at 7 p.m. central time. Tune in to Radio 720 as the polls close and the returns come in to hear the winners and losers in all the important races here in Illinois and nationwide.

Milt's File is taking the day off, but will return tomorrow.

Tonight on Extension 720: Tomorrow night marks the culmination of years of planning and campaigning for both John Kerry and George W. Bush. But which man’s “blood, toil, tears and sweat” will not have been in vain? Tonight on Extension 720, we examine the state of the presidential election, which (at press time) is locked in a virtual dead heat. Our panel of experts will predict the winner in the presidential race and in important congressional races around the country. Our guests include CHARLES LIPSON, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, WAYNE STEGER, professor of political science at DePaul University, and (by phone from Washington) HOWARD KURTZ, media analyst for the Washington Post. Don’t miss what is sure to be a must-listen program on the eve of the election.

More information on this and other programs is available at our monthly program guide. You can listen to the show from 9 to 11 p.m. central time here.

THE WOLVES GATHER AROUND WOLFOWITZ...in this profile from the New Yorker. But, despite the inevitably critical slant, his brand of "geo-strategic realism" is rendered more credible and comprehensible than in many more favorable accounts.

DESPITE HITCHENS AND HERSH, THE GUY IS WORTH LISTENING TO: Kissinger, of course! Here is his White Paper on international affairs, worked up as an extended memo to "the next President" and featured in the new issue of Newsweek.

BIN LADEN WORKING FOR KERRY? That is the implication of the fuller analysis of his recent video, according to a report just issued a few hours ago by the reputable Middle East Media Research Institute--as reported here by the New York Post.

GEORGE WILL IS FOR BUSH...despite his disillusion with the Iraq intervention. He is one of the few in the punditocracy that we think always worth rather close consideration and now, a few days before the election, he endorses Bush and reveals that he holds Kerry in virtually pure derision.

FROM THE POLL-MEISTER AT REAL CLEAR POLITICS: That's Tom Bevan who will be with us on the program for post-election analysis Wednesday night. Here, hot off the RCP website, is his final, pre-election discussion of what the polls really do foretell--if anything.

MAYBE DAVID BRODER KNOWS HOW IT WILL ALL TURN OUT ON TUESDAY! With everything running so damnably close, his predictions and/or alternate scenarios are--given his seniority and magisterial composure--as good as anyone elses. Particularly when he covers all possibilities as he does here in yesterday's Washington Post.

MARTIN PERETZ RUMINATES ABOUT THE SECOND JFK: Is this the dernier cri (before the election) of the publisher of the New Republic? If so, without his quite saying so, this famous backer of Democrats from McGovern to Gore, is endorsing George Bush.

BUSH AS A BERLIN (ISAIAH, THAT IS) "HEDGEHOG:" We like the literary allusion and think it apt...and we agree with Brownstein of the Los Angeles Times that Bush's style and performance have stirred up great loyalty and great opposition. Brownstein predicts (or hopes) that the opposition will predominate on Tuesday. We predict that loyalty will take it--narrowly, of course.

AN ANTI-JEWISH FESTIVAL AT DUKE UNIVERSITY: The university PR people tried to keep the press out of the "workshops" at the Palestinian Solidarity Movement Conference held on the Duke campus last month. But Front Page Magazine's man got in...and here is his fury-rousing report...together with David Horowitz's reply to an admonition from the university's "Senior Vice President for Public Affairs."

A NEW BIOGRAPHY OF MICHAEL OAKESHOTT...is reviewed here in the U.K. Telegraph and, quite properly, it is asserted that he was the outstanding British political philosopher of the last century. Though you won't find out why from this--nevertheless interesting--review. Sort of makes you want to buy the book...

NOBODY DOESN'T LIKE GREENBLATT'S SHAKESPEARE! The latest commendation for Stephen Greenblatt's new book, Will In The World, comes in the form of this review/essay in the London Times. Our recent discussion of Shakespeare (including scenes from a number of the plays) with Greenblatt can be heard here.

TOM WOLFE PROFILED BY CHARLES MCGRATH: IRRESISTIBLE! And he starts it up in the old Wolfeian, new journalism style. Delectable! They have both been guests on our program and we hope to see Wolfe again if he tours to promote the new novel. Oh yes...this is from the New York Times.

A JONATHAN SWIFT HE ISN'T...but still John Derbyshire manages, in this piece from the National Review, to skewer some Hollywood luminaries who have been sharing their political wisdom with unprotected recipients during this long, long electoral season.

DID YOU HAVE A HAPPY (PIMP AND HO) HALLOWEEN? Does any of this sound like Rome just before Alaric and his Visigoths descended? Should we be testing (and where necessary flunking) for "parental responsibility?" Should we, perhaps, ask for transcendent intervention? We are indebted to blogson for this disheartening news item.

AND STILL SPEAKING OF BEETHOVEN...in his wide range of chamber music this trio stands out for its unusual instrumentation and, in this instance, for a superb performance by Harrell (cello), Collins (clarinet) and Mulligan (piano).