Fordham Conversations

Allen Jones grew up in the projects in one of the nation's most famously tough neighborhoods, dealt drugs, went to prison, went to prep school, and played European pro basketball...and now he's a banker in Luxembourg. His memoir, co-written with Fordham professor Mark Naison, is forthcoming from Fordham University Press--we talk with Naison about Jones' strange life trajectory, the early day's of NYC public housing, and the massive importance of schoolyard basketball.

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A lot of people would joke that the phrase "legal ethics" is an oxymoron, but in fact it's the subject of a great deal of debate among legal scholars. We speak with Fordham Law professor and legal ethicist Bruce Green about how our system works, what lawyers have to do to be ethical, why it's such a complicated area, and why it's so hard for those who've been wrongly convicted to get out of prison.

Before waterfront redevelopment, and before waterfront decay, New York's waterfront was a world of its own. As part of WFUV's new Strike a Chord campaign, we look at that world--New York's longshoremen, organized crime, and how it inspired a classic film. Our guest is James Fisher--his book "The Irish Waterfront and the Soul of the Port", is forthcoming from Cornell University press.

Do you get your news from Jon Stewart? Do you know the meaning of the word "truthiness"? You're not alone--satire shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report inform the way we think like never before. We talk with Fordham Communication and Media Studies professor Jonathan Gray about the phenomenon, why it's happening, and why now. He's one of the editors of the new book "Satire TV".

With the advent of new therapies, people with HIV and AIDS are living longer, healthier lives than ever before. But that happy result is revealing something far less promising, and the group that seems to be affected more than most is right here in New York City. We talk with Fordham psychologist Monica Rivera Mindt about the situation, why it’s developed and what can be done about it. Also, visiting the AIDS quilt.

When you see the latest teen pop vixen, you might worry for the future of teen girls...but maybe they're savvier than we think. We talk with Fordham Anthropologist Oneka LaBennett about how one group of girls, West Indian teens in Brooklyn, use pop music, TV and even their accents to their own ends.

We hear a lot about Afghanistan, but how much do we really know about it? We speak with Matthew McGarry--he's the Country Representative for Catholic Relief Services in Afghanistan--about the challenges facing the country and relief workers, and what life's like for average Afghanis.

A look at education in some less-explored corners of America--at immigrants and education with Fordham sociologist Emily Rosenbaum, and at Teach for America in one of the nation's toughest schools, with author Donna Foote.

With its plastic grass, egg-carrying bunnies, and profound religious meaning, Easter is a strange mix of the ancient and the modern. We’ll look at the ancient roots of some of our modern traditions with author Thomas Cahill. We’ll also look at one very modern Jewish tradition—Passover Coke.

Planning on spending Saturday watching movies in the dark, eating bon bons and feeling tragic? This is just the show to start your day--we talk unrequited love, melodrama, campiness and Morrisey with author Daniel Contreras. He's the author of "What Have You Done To My Heart?: Unrequited Love and Gay Latino Culture."

With the Catholic church struggling to recruit and retain clergy, it may be harder than ever for those "in the religious life" to explain their decisions to the public, and to their families. David Ranghelli's film "The Calling" explores this question. This week on Fordham Conversations, we speak with Ranghelli about his film and its subjects.

We all joke about stalking people or having stalkers...but what, actually, is stalking? And how can we stop it or at least reduce the risk that it will escalate into violence? We speak with Fordham psychologist Barry Rosenfeld about his work with stalking offenders.

You may know New Zealand mainly as the stunning setting of the "Lord of the Rings" films, but it's a real place with real problems--including domestic violence, of which it has one of the highest rates in the developed world. With researchers from Fordham Law School's Leitner Center for International Law and Justice, we visit New Zealand to look at what the nation's Maori communities are doing to combat that violence.

The economy has many of us thinking hard about what we buy, why, and the place that buying stuff occupies in our lives. We talk with theologian Tom Beaudoin about consumption and faith--Beaudion is the author of the book "Consuming Faith: Integrating Who We Are With What We Buy." Also, a look at consumer needs and the Sabbath. 

Comic books today are a bigger part of mainstream popular culture than they've been for a very long time. But comics have often been both subversive, and scandalous! We speak with author David Hadju about the comic book scare of the 1940s and '50s, and we talk about the relationship between horror comics and political protest in Brazil.

One of Barack Obama's first acts as President was to issue an executive order requiring the closure of Guantanamo--but that's a lot more complicated than it sounds. We talk with Fordham Law professor Martha Rayner about the complexities, rights, and wrongs of shutting Guantanamo down.

What's the point of marriage? Well, sure, there's love...but in many places and times marriage has served lots of different purposes, from making business contacts to playing politics. We talk with historian Carina Ray about the complexities of love, marriage and commerce in the Colonial British Gold Coast, and we travel to Queens and the village to look at how young South Asians are looking for love.

When we settle in with our fried snacks and beer to watch the BIGGEST FOOTBALL GAME OF THE YEAR tomorrow, what will we really be looking at? We speak with Fordham anthropologist Hugo Benavides about why we love football so much, and what that says about the way we think about race, manhood and war.

We hear a lot about the stress that kids are under today--too many activities, too much pressure to get into college, but what kind of stress does it cause if you're a kid who's abused, or who's a witness to violence, or whose parents are heavy drug users? We speak with Fordham social work professor Tina Maschi about teenagers in the justice system, what they've been through, and what we can do to better deal with the situation.