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Thomas Friedman Looks At Our Future

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The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman on Donald Trump and the world we are facing now.

In this Aug. 21, 2015 photo, a Chinese worker is seated next to orange robot arms at Rapoo Technology factory in southern Chinese industrial boomtown of Shenzhen. (Vincent Yu/AP)
In this Aug. 21, 2015 photo, a Chinese worker is seated next to orange robot arms at Rapoo Technology factory in southern Chinese industrial boomtown of Shenzhen. (Vincent Yu/AP)

Three-time Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Tom Friedman told us the world was flat early on, as a metaphor for the globalization that has swept the planet. Now, from Washington to London and maybe beyond, walls seem to be going up. America, the great internationalist since World War II, has elected Donald Trump, who says no to globalism. Friedman says the hyper pace of change can save the world, or destroy it. Says he’s an optimist. This hour On Point, Thomas Friedman on the world now. — Tom Ashbrook

Guest

Thomas L. Friedman, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times op-ed columnist and author. Author of the new book “Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide To Thriving in the Age of Accelerations.” Also author of “The World is Flat,” “Hot, Flat and Crowded” and “The Lexus and The Olive Tree.” (@tomfriedman)

From Tom’s Reading List

New York Times: Dancing in a Hurricane -- "What one individual or small group can now do — the power of one — to make or break things is phenomenal. When President-elect Trump wants to be heard he now gets his message out directly from his New York penthouse through Twitter to 15 million-plus followers at any hour of the day he pleases. And the Islamic State does the same from a remote province in Syria. Machines can now not only beat humans at 'Jeopardy!' or chess, they are starting to become truly creative, offering architectural and other designs and writing news stories, songs and poetry that are indistinguishable from the work of humans."

Bloomberg Businessweek: Thomas Friedman’s Guide to Hanging On in the ‘Age of Accelerations’ — "At various points, Friedman makes the case for changed policies to respond to the accelerations he chronicles. For the U.S., he prescribes liberal immigration policies to attract technologists from abroad; increased government investment in infrastructure, including repairing bridges and expanding bandwidth; and additional public support for scientific research. It’s difficult to contest this sensible, center-left agenda, but at the same time, Friedman doesn’t offer much practical advice on how to achieve it."

Poynter: Why Tom Friedman loves the Hillary Clinton revealed by WikiLeaks -- "Friedman, the often aggressive pragmatist, finds 'WikiHillary' 'so much more interesting than the campaign Hillary.' She strikes him in the emails as a 'mature center-left politician.'"

Read An Excerpt Of "Thank You For Being Late" By Thomas L. Friedman

This program aired on November 22, 2016.

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