So, it's a pretty special week. And here at Cafe we're going to be delving into some of the excitement with two week long discussions-- each gazing in a different direction from this very particular point in history. In conjunction with Democracy Journal we'll be hosting a conversation about Obama's America. After eight years of Bush Administration malfeasance, we'll be examining where America stands, as measured by the values that define our nation, and what that means for the Obama Administration going forward. Over at book club, we'll be looking back-- to the first hundred days of FDR's administration.

For Obama's America, we've got Geoffrey Stone, professor at University of Chicago, discussing liberty. Orlando Patterson, professor at Harvard University, will post on equality. Jedediah Purdy, professor at Duke University, will discuss community. Theda Skocpol, professor at Harvard University, will talk about opportunity and Michael Waldman, director of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, will discuss democracy.

They'll be joined by Richard Kahlenberg, senior fellow at Century Foundation; Jim Sleeper, lecturer at Yale University; Peniel Joseph, professor at Brandeis University; Tom Sugrue, professor at University of Pennsylvania; Matthew Dallek, professor at Virginia Tech; Stephen Vladeck, professor at American University; Jeffrey Rosen, professor at George Washington University; Larry Sabato, director of University of Virginia's Center for Politics; Mark Schmitt, executive editor of The American Prospect; Zephyr Teachout, professor at Duke University; Heather Gerken, professor at Yale University; Scott Winship, graduate student at Harvard University; Isabel Sawhill, senior fellow at The Brookings Institute; Jason Bordoff, policy director at The Brookings Institute; Christopher Hayes, Washington, D.C. editor of The Nation; Michael Tomasky, editor of Guardian America; Aziz Rana, fellow at Yale University; Sarah Wildman, freelance reporter for The New York Times, The Guardian and other publications; and Olatunde Johnson, professor at Columbia University.

At book club, we've got Anthony J. Badger's FDR: The First Hundred Days. Badger, a specialist in post-World War II Southern political history, is Paul Mellon Professor of American History at Cambridge University and Master of Clare College. He has also authored Prosperity Road: The New Deal, Tobacco, and North Carolina; North Carolina and the New Deal; and The New Deal: The Depression Years, 1933-1940.

Joining him are Allan Lichtman, professor at American University; Jonathan Alter, Newsweek editor; D.D. Guttenplan, London correspondent for The Nation; Julian Zelizer, professor at Princeton University; Adam Cohen, New York Times editorial board member; and Alonzo Hamby, professor at Ohio University.

Join us.