Social Entrepreneurship, and an ode to Natalie Portman

The New York Times Magazine this week has a great article called The Celebrity Solution. Traub writes about the power that celebs have to get interviews, to raise awareness of issues, to raise money, and controversy. While it is may be absurd that being an actor should give one some authority that allows them audience with politicians, royalty, policymakers, movers and shakers, absurdity doesnt matter as much as truth. And in truth, a movie star can bring all sorts of money and influence with no more than a brief mention of a cause, the wearing of a t-shirt, or a life's dedication -- the spectrum of celebrity cause involvement is wide. I can not help but to love the portrayal of Natalie Portman,who is hollywood's sole microfinance celebrity promoter. Portman, as portrayed, knows that the extent of her influence is bizarre, and yet uses it. I am interested in the fact that she uses it to promote Finca, one of the many microfinance organizations. Microfinance, or microcredit, has seen a huge boom since its incarnation and success with Yanus, his winning of the nobel prize, the publishing of his book, and the UN' year of microfinance in 2005. The current debate in the microlending world is over its commercialization - the entrance of for-profit lenders into the game of credit for the poor. The whole topic is fascinating. Is giving credit to the poor a "human right" as Yanus argues, or a simple expansion of capitalism into a new market, taking advantage of and profit from, a sector that has the least to give? I believe that microcredit is an incredibly powerful development tool when done properly. The current question is whether or not for-profits can do it properly, as well as, or even better than non-profits do. Can you promote development while profiting? There are a ton of new businesses that seek to do so. These "fourth sector" organizations profit and promote, save the world and self sustain. I am currently (supposed to be) writing a conference paper on this very topic: the blending of non-profit and for-profits and the implications for International Politics.
This post has struggled to stay on point, there are just so many aspects of celebrity philanthropy, microfinance, fourth sector, social entrepreneurship, and Natlie Portman to talk about. The Ecorazzi regularly posts about Portman; her vegan shoes, how Toby Maguir veganized her, etc etc. And in a final note: I just watched The Darjeeling Limited (which I loved to pieces) and the pre-movie with Portman and Jason Schwartzman was fantastic too.
and in a final final note: if i wasnt writing a dissertation and raising a baby i would be one of the social entrepreneurs in the slide show in the NYT magazine (or like them). (or want to be anyway).

a good idea

i recently realized that This American Life can be podcasted for free. i had thought it was one of the few NPR broadcasts that one had to pay to download, but no. its free. and its great to listen to while exercising. its unlikely that many people will agree with me on that point. i suppose most people run fastest or longest when upbeat peppy rhythm and tunes are flowing through the headphones, but listening to a story (i also dig This I Believe which comes in convenient little bits and Wait Wait Dont Tell Me which cracks me up) keeps me distracted from the exhaustion and lets me run longer than otherwise. its great. and when else does one have time for the weekly hour long great radio show?