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Another week begins, and we have another stellar guest line-up. My personal preference this week is Claire Danes, who I think is just a brilliant actress, but as always, I am excited for every show. I wonder what Stephen will feed his Grammy this week?

Monday, February 8: Jonathan Safran Foer

Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of the recently released book, Eating Animals, which is a book about the author’s exploration of eating choices upon learning that he was going to be a father. Foer decided to examine for himself the advantages and disadvantages of eating meat or being a vegetarian. He investigates factory farms and fisheries in hopes of discovering the morality of eating animals. This was Jonathan’s first work of non-fiction, producing the novels, Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in 2002 and 2005, respectively. Born in 1977 in Washington, D.C., Foer attended Princeton University and took a class with famed author Joyce Carol Oates who encouraged him to pursue writing as a career. Jonathan expanded his senior thesis leading to the novel, Everything is Illuminated, which later also became a movie directed by Liev Schreiber and starring Elijah Wood. Foer currently is a professor at the New York University Graduate Creative Writing Program.

Fract: It runs in the family. Jonathan’s two brothers are both writers as well. His older brother, Franklin, writes for The New Republic and his younger brother, Joshua, is a freelance journalist.

Tuesday, February 9: George Stephanopoulos

George Stephanopoulos is the chief political correspondent for ABC News, and also is a co-anchor of the ABC morning program, Good Morning America. Before becoming a part of the ABC News team, Geroge was the senior political advisor for Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidental campaign. After winning the election, Stephanopolous became the White House Communications Director. In 1999, Stephanopolous released the book, All Too Human: A Political Education, his autobiography about the stresses of the highly political life he led during the Clinton administration. Mr. Stephanopolous studied political science at Columbia University, becoming the salutatorian of his class. He then was offered a Rhodes Scholarship on his second attempt. He worked on the 1988 campaign for Michael Dukakis, and later became the “floor man” for Dick Gephardt, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. George only remained a part of the Clinton administration during the first term, and eventually ended up at ABC, where he now runs the blog, George’s Bottom Line.

You can follow George on Twitter.

Fract: A different life? George’s father wanted him to become a priest in his Greek Orthodox religion, and George had considered. Though he did not follow through, he did receive a Master of Theology while studying at Oxford.

Wednesday, February 10: Claire Danes

Claire Danes is an actress best known for her work on the short-lived television show, My So-Called Life. She also played the role of Juliet in Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet and Beth March in the 1994 adaptation of Little Women. Most recently, she has taken on the role of Temple Gradin in the movie of the same title which aired on HBO this past Saturday. Grandin is a doctor of Animal Science at Colorado State University who is autistic, but high-functioning. Danes has also starred in the popular films, The Hours, Shopgirl, and The Family Stone. Danes attended Yale University for two years, studying psychology, but dropped out to pursue her acting career. Claire is currently married to fellow actor, Hugh Dancy, who she met on the set of the movie, Evening.

Fract: Claire Danes had her first kiss on-screen, not in real life. It happened on My So-Called Life.

Thursday, February 11: Al Michaels

Al Michaels is a television sportscaster for NBC. He previously worked for ABC for almost thirty years before making the switch. Michaels is known for NFL commentary, acting as the voice of play-by-play action for twenty years on Monday Night Football. His first job, after earning a degree in radio and television, was choosing women to appear on the The Dating Game television show, and his first sports related job was working public relations for the Los Angeles Lakers. In 1977, Al signed a deal with ABC, and during his time there, covered many different sports, including the Olympic games. One of Al Michael’s more notable commentaries was doing the play-by-play for the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” when the United States hockey team unexpectedly won the gold medal at the Olympic games. He recreated the commentary for the 2004 movie Miracle about the game. Al Michaels will help host the 2010 Olympic games during daytime coverage too. He has won five Emmys for “Outstanding Sports Personality – Play-by-Play” for his work, among numerous other accolades.

Fract: Al Michaels is the only play-by-play commentor to have covered all four major sport championships: the Super Bowl for football, the World Series for baseball, the NBA championships for basketball, and the Stanley Cup for hockey.

David Ross

David Ross is famous for his work in the world of art, including spending time as director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Currently, David heads the Albion Gallery in SoHo. He has become a leader for the firm, Artist Pension Trust, which is an investment program that helps with the financial needs of up and coming and established artists – Mr. Ross serves as a member of the Advisory Board. David Ross also works as the editor-at-large of FYLP, an online interactive magazine, which covers topics from politics to science and more.

You can follow David Ross on Twitter.

Fract: International reach? Not only has David been accomplished in America, but he also works on curatorial committees in Turin, Italy and Barcelona, Spain.

Enjoy this week’s shows!

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