Lunch & Plenary: A Conversation with Newton Minton Interviewed by “On the Media’s” Bob Garfield

Newton N. Minow is Senior Counsel to the law firm of Sidley Austin LLP.  He was a partner with Sidley & Austin from 1965-1991.

Mr. Minow was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  He served as a U.S. Army Sergeant in the China-Burma India Theater in World War II.  He is a graduate of Northwestern University, and has been awarded 14 honorary degrees, including Brandeis University, the University of Wisconsin, Northwestern University and the University of Notre Dame.

His career includes service as Law Clerk to Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson of the U.S. Supreme Court and as Assistant Counsel to Governor Adlai E. Stevenson.  He was a partner in the law firm of Stevenson, Rifkind & Wirtz when, in 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed him Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.  He served in the Kennedy Administration until 1963 when he became Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.  In 1965, he joined the law firm of Leibman, Williams, Bennett, Baird & Minow, which merged with Sidley & Austin in 1972.  Sidley & Austin merged with Brown & Wood in 2001.

Mr. Minow has been a director of many companies including Aon Corporation, CBS, Sara Lee Corporation, Foote, Cone & Belding, Manpower Inc. and the Tribune Company.

In addition, he is a former chairman of The RAND Corporation, trustee emeritus of the Mayo Clinic, a life trustee of Northwestern University and the University of Notre Dame, a former trustee and chairman of the Carnegie Corporation, former Chairman of PBS (Public Broadcasting Service).

Mr. Minow has written five books and written numerous magazine articles.

Mr. Minow and his wife, Josephine (Jo) live in Chicago. They have three daughters, Nell, Martha and Mary.

Bob Garfield is a public broadcaster, journalist, author, international lecturer, consultant and university professor specializing in media and marketing. For 25 years, his weekly AdReview evaluated, vetted, parsed, deconstructed and offered uncanny prognostications for thousands of ad from hundreds of agencies worldwide based on such criteria as strategy, communication, taste, ethics, brand relevance, cultural relevance and craftsmanship. Over the past decade, he has also famously — and presciently – – chronicled the digital revolution, culminating in his landmark 2009 book, The Chaos Scenario. His previous marketing book, the 2003 manifesto on advertising And Now a Few Words from Me, is published in eight languages. Can’t Buy Me Like, a guide to the ascendant Relationship Era of marketing co-authored with Doug Levy, was published in 2013.

His weekly MediaPost column explores the frontiers of 21st-century marketing and media. He also writes irregularly for The Guardian.

Garfield is co-host of National Public Radio’s weekly Peabody Award-winning magazine program “On the Media.” For many years, Garfield was the advertising analyst for ABC News. He’s been a regular on Financial News Network, CNBC’s “Power Lunch” and “Adam Smith’s Money Game” on PBS. He also has been quoted by every major American newspaper, news magazine and broadcast news program. He’s been a contributing editor for the Washington Post Magazine, Civilization and the op-ed page of USA Today. He has also written for The New York Times, Atlantic, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, Wired and many other publications.

Garfield is a visiting lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication and a senior fellow at the Wharton Future of Advertising Program, SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management — both at the University of Pennsylvania.