Economics/business related commentary on the 2010 Academy Awards (Oscars).

In this edition of Beyond the Boardroom, our host Johnathan Tisch sits down with Frists Van Paasschen, the Chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. Paasschen gives us a glimpse into his world of hotel and hospitality from his world renound W Hotel in Times Square.

In this edition of Beyond the Boardroom, Jonathan Tisch in joined by Jack Dorsey, the creator of Twitter and co-founder and CEO of Square Inc. Dorsey describes the recent Twitter phenomenon and gives viewers a look into his experience of owning a billion dollar company that has revolutionized the world of social media

Warren Buffett and members of his inner circle shed some light on what will happen to Berkshire Hathaway when the 78 year old multi-billionaire investor steps down.

San Francisco-based Better World Books looks a bit like a philanthropic mission: The company saves old textbooks from the landfills, selling them cheaply through its online store and buying carbon credits to offset emissions from shipping. However, Better World is a for-profit venture, and earned over $16 million in revenue last year. The company says it has also saved 6,500 tons of books from going to landfills and bought 2,400 tons of carbon offsets.

Rick Steves has been called Europe's most accomplished tourist - he's got a guide book series, a television show, a radio programme, a European bus tour business and even his own line of travel gear. Could Rick Steves be the guy who gets Americans out of their comfort zone and back traveling the world - even in tough economic times? Steves is best-known for his guidebook series and PBS TV show "Europe Through the Back Door." He talks about starting his travel business 30 years ago, the challenges he's faced since then, making one's hobby and name into a brand, and how the economy and global terrorism has affected international tourism. His new book is called "Travel as a Political Act".

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan talks about the current reported slowdown in the economic recovery and what it's going to take to get the economy going strongly again.

In this episode of Beyond the Boardroom, Jonathan Tisch sits down with Steve Sadove, Chairman and CEO of Saks. His management philosophy is simple - "leadership drives culture." By fostering teamwork, asking his staff the right questions, and empowering them to take risks, he repeatedly creates environments where innovation thrives... and profits quickly follow.

Jonathan Tisch, co-chairman of Loews Corp., interviews David Sokol, chairman and CEO of NetJets - and the widely-tipped heir apparent to Warren Buffet.

It's a grand vision: Oblong Industries founders John Underkoffler and Kwindla Kramer want to render the mouse obsolete. Underkoffler, the science adviser to the film Minority Report, is developing gesture-based technology in real life. In addition to highlighting the amazing stuff the gang at Oblong is doing, the show takes you through the history of how the innovation that is called Oblong’s g-speak Spatial Operating Environment was created. As part of this, you get to see some pictures of John Underkoffler 20 years ago in the Media Lab working on the Luminous Room along with some background on John’s work on the movie Minority Report.

Disruptive By Design: Bloomberg's coverage of the Wired business conference. Featuring Fedex CEO Fred Smith, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, AOL founder Steve Case and Zynga CEO Mark Pincus. We live in an era of relentless change. New technologies and business models emerge almost overnight. Advertising, retail, manufacturing, media, financial services, travel—no matter what business you're in, you've felt, or are about to feel, the shockwave that disruption brings. For executives who are prepared, this flood of innovation represents a huge opportunity—a once-in-a-lifetime chance to transform a company and a career. Already there's a whole generation of corporate visionaries and entrepreneurs who have mastered the art of disruption, turning it into a fundamental tool of their business. How can individuals and organizations innovate in this disruptive climate? WIRED presents its first ever business conference - Disruptive By Design, being held June 15, 2009 in New York City.

Owner & President Iowa Northern Railway Company Daniel Sabin talks about the shortline rail industry, ethanol, energy business, and agricultural business along the Cedar Rapids based Iowa Northern is a 163-mile shortline railroad which runs diagonally from north to south from Manly to Cedar Rapids. Dan bought the struggling line in 1994, from on-line elevators, which is made up of remnants from the former Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railway Company, and established as a short line in 1984. At that time, the railroad handled 12,000 revenue cars and the average track speed was less than 10 mph. In 2006, traffic surged to 45,000 revenue cars and the average track speed is now 30 mph. 64% of the country's ethanol production is within 300 miles of Manly, Iowa. The US rail industry transports 40% of the nation's goods and four companies dominate the rail shipping business Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC), Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (BNI), CSX Corp. (CSX) & Union Pacific.