And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN, the Axviles, with your

host, David Axelrod.

Tom Freeman is a certifiably brilliant journalist and public intellectual.

Noan has written more compellingly over a long period of time about the Middle East, about

climate change, and a whole host of issues that go to our society, our culture, and our

world.

He came by the Institute of Politics the other day to talk about his new book, Thank You

for Being Late and Optimus Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations.

And we sat down later to talk about his life, his career, and just what he means by the

age of Accelerations and what we do about it.

Tom Freeman, welcome.

Thanks.

Always good to be with you, and we just came from a brilliant presentation at the Institute

of Politics about your new book, which we will discuss later, because it's very, very

relevant right now.

But I want to talk about you.

Great.

I don't know who you are now, three time pulled surprise winner and honored public intellectual

columnists for the New York Times, but you didn't spring from your beginnings that way.

Tell me a little bit about growing up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.

So I was born in Minneapolis on the north side, 1953, and my parents are part of the

great Jewish immigration exodus from the North.

...