Clement in America

CLEMENT IN AMERICA

In the autumn of 2007 Oxford-educated journalist and tv-host Clement Kjersgaard (born 1975) interviewed a who’s who of American politicians, thinkers and commentators in a weekly series for the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. The viewers met everybody from John McCain to Ralph Nader, Joe Biden and James Carville. A selection of the longer interviews were later re-edited into half-hour specials, all 13 of which are featured on this page.

To watch them, simpy click on the ”iTunes”-icon to the right.

Please note: Clement's 30-seconds guest introductions are in Danish. For English presentations of the 13 guests, see below:

Questions and comments? clement@dr.dk

1. PROFESSOR HAROLD BLOOM is arguably the world’s most renowned literary critic. For decades, he has fought for the idea that quality speaks for itself: in this conversation, the topics range from the absolutely outstanding and irreplacable in William Shakespeare to the absolutely not-so-outstanding Harry Potter, Stephen King – and George W. Bush.

2. CONGRESSMAN TOM TANCREDO was a candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2008: his signature issue was illegal immigration, a central and highly emotional issue for many in the Republican heartland. In the interview, he warns against the dangers of ’the cult of multiculturalism’ – not least in Europe, which he deems a continent unwilling to defend itself.

3. FAREED ZAKARIA is the editor-in-chief of Newsweek International and previews in the interview what was then the soon-to-be-published bestseller ”The Post-American World”. According to Zakaria the US must start adapting to the loss of it’s superpower role – and give up what are sure to be damaging attempts to cling on to it.

4. PROFESSOR JOSEPH STIGLITZ was a chief economist at the World Bank, and advisor to the Clinton White House; in 2001 he received the Nobel Prize in economics and today he is a globally best-selling critic of the injustices of globalization. In the interview – conducted in November 2007 – he warns that the American economy is far from being as solid as it appears.

5. THOMAS RICKS is Pentagon-correspondent for the Washington Post, author of one of the most authorative books on on the war in Iraq. In the interview – conducted in November 2007 – he discusses the prospects for a victory in Iraq.

6. ELIAS BERMUDEZ is the founder of an organization which represents illegal immigrants – and was himself one. Bermudez has been both a mayor – for the Republican party - and a prison inmate (convicted of money laundering). In the interview, he discusses how the growing numbers of Spanish-speaking Americans will invariably change the country.

7. PROFESSOR DAVID HOROWITZ: ”Europe is a cultural themepark!” announces the historian David Horowitz, who attacks the left and the Europeans for floundering in the battle against fundamentalism. Horowitz himself was originally on the left wing, working for the Black Panthers, but became a Reaganite – today, he runs his own think-tank and promotes a yearly campaign against ”islamo-fascism”.

8. NORMAN PODHORETZ: Afghanistan and Iraq are only the first two fronts in a new World War, which has only just begun, says Norman Podhoretz, co-founder of neoconservatism. Next, to deny Iran the chance to develop nuclear weapons, the United States must bomb it.

9. PROFESSOR FRANCIS FUKUYAMA. Globally renowned philosopher Francis Fukuyama had a change of heart on Iraq – having told Clinton and Bush to remove Saddam Hussein, he changed his mind, levelled an intense criticism of his former allies among the neoconservatives and became the proponent of a set of new principles for American foreign policy.

10. HELEN THOMAS – born in 1920 – is an institution in Washington: since 1960 she has covered the White House and no fewer than presidents have had to answer her merciless questions. In a recent book, she turns the heat on the media, who she feels were ’in a coma’ during the first years of the Bush presidency.

11. MATTHEW MICHAEL CARNAHAN. Are you a hero for volunteering to fight an unjust war? This is the key issue in the interview with Carnahan, the screenwriter behind both "The Kingdom" starring Jamie Foxx og "Lions for Lambs" starring Tom Cruise. Carnahan was a consultant when 9/11 made him reconsider his life and change his career.

12. JAMES FALLOWS. ”China is the least anti-American country, I’ve visited” observes the Pulitzer Prize-winner Fallows, currently a correspondent for The Atlantic Magazine in Shanghai, from where he prepares the US’ coming encounter with the world’s next superpower: China!

13. RICHARD PERLE - "THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS". President Bush no longer has a foreign policy. This stark assessment is argued by none other than former assistant secretary of defense, Perle, who in the 80s earned the nickname ”the Prince of Darkness” for his reputation as a highly influential but discreet force in  the formulation of American foreign policy. As an advisor for Bush from 2001-3 he was regarded as a chief architect of the Iraq war. But to Clement’s opening question about how influence he has in fact exerted, he answers simply: ”Not enough!”

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THE HOST: Clement Behrendt Kjersgaard (born 1975) began his career as a local radio host at the age of 10. At 16, he was accepted to the United World College of Hong Kong, where he lived and studied for two years and at 18, admitted to the University of Oxford, from where he graduated with the degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). In 2002 he launched the Danish current-affairs magazine RÆSON and in 2004 made his debut as a tv-host. For Danish Public Broadcasting’s Channel 2, he has since developed and anchored no less than 7 shows, including the highly successful live late-night talkshow "Clement Live" (a hybrid of satire and hard-edged political journalism), the award-winning discussion show "The Editors' Club" (2006) and a week-long series on the financial crisis (2009).

DIRECTOR: Nis Boye Rasmussen is both a journalist, photographer and producer having worked in a variety of genres including hard news, satire and documentaries. He has experience from genre-breaking Danish television shows including "Clement Live". In 2005 he co-directed an award-winning documentary about street art in New York City, "Inside Outside".

PRODUCERS: Educated in communication studies from the University of Copenhagen, Sarah Holm spent a year working for CBS' renowed flagship "60 Minutes" before serving as a producer on "Clement". Since, he has worked for the daily foreign affairs programme "DR2 International" for which she is currently a reporter in New York and also written a young-womens' guide-book to New York, "My NY" (in Danish). Louise Reumert is an anchor at the Danish 24-hour-news-channel "Update", she has also anchored the daily news-show "Deadline" for DR2 and hosted the all-female Muslim talkshow "The Oracles"; her past experience includes working as an editor for Greenland's Radio.