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Live from Abu Dhabi Connect the World takes you on a journey across continents, investigating the stories that are changing our world.
Tripping the Twilight fantastic
A couple of years ago a friend of mine, who worked in publishing, emailed me suggesting a guest for CNN.
The guest was an author doing well in America and was about to start selling her books in Europe. My friend was a big fan of the books but also the author who apparently had amazing story to tell.[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/23/meyer.art.jpg caption="Author Stephanie Meyer attending the Los Angeles premiere of The Twilight Saga: New Moon."]
I agreed to have the author on the show and I'm glad I did because it became one of my most memorable interviews. I heard how a deeply religious housewife had a dream that she turned into a book. She was caught out by her success but was riding the wave.
Her name was Stephanie Meyer, and her success was nothing compared to what it is now. Its one of those interviews that gets better with age because you know it was the beginning of something huge. See it here and get a sense of just how big the author of Twilight has become on tonight's show.
Also give us your thoughts here on the housewife, writer and, now, Hollywood big-hitter that is Stephanie Meyer.
Wednesday's Connector of the Day – Steve Forbes
What’s it like being the man who decides who makes the rich list? Steve Forbes, and his business magazine empire, reports on who's the biggest billionaire, and who's made the biggest losses.
The media mogul is CEO and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, America's leading voice on the world’s economy, finance, and corporate leadership, with a current circulation of more than 900,000.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/23/art.forbes.jpg caption="Steve Forbes – business media mogul and famous list-maker."]
The Forbes "rich lists" garner much worldwide attention for the magazine. When Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera was listed in Forbes “self-made” billionaires report this month, as well as “World’s Most Powerful People” list, many readers recoiled in horror.
Similar shockwaves rumbled when underworld don and India's most wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim was listed as 50th most powerful person in the world, in Forbes’ first-ever such list.
His influence stretches beyond business journalism. In 1996 and 2000, Forbes campaigned to become the Republican nominee for president of the United States. From 1999 – 2006, Forbes was the tenth most important contributor of political funds in America, with 15 donations totaling over $7 million.
Comment on Steve Forbes, his lists, his magazines, and his new book 'Power Ambition Glory' below.
Tuesday's Connector of the Day – Richard Dawkins
Fervent atheist and anti-creationist, Richard Dawkins is often referred to as "Charles Darwin's rottweiler." He has torn into the religious establishment with his claim that God is a delusion. It seems the British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author will stop at nothing to provoke intelligent and honest debate about the truth of our existence.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/21/art.dawkins.jpg caption="Richard Dawkins is marking the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species'"]
His writings have inspired and angered many a reader – and now he's back with more.
Dawkins’ latest book “The Greatest Show on Earth" offers scientific evidence as proof to back-up his own theory of evolution. Like his other writings, he has provoked a mass of rebuttals. The Christian-evangelical group, Living Waters, has recently countered Dawkins’ book with an unlikely source of its own. It has re-released Darwin’s manuscript with a new 54 page foreword penned by the group’s president Ray Comfort that refutes Darwin’s theory of evolution.
This Tuesday marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species.” Dawkins joins us again as our Connector of the Day – so don't miss the opportunity to ask him about Darwin’s most celebrated and much-debated manuscript.
Send us your comments below.
