Fordham Conversations

When we think of the internet, our vision is often of something of an e-utopia of personal freedom, albeit one marred by annoying pop-up ads. But is the internet actually making us less free, at least from our past indiscretions? 

Maybe in the last few years, you've noticed more Mexican restaurants around and tortillas for sale in the supermarket, or seen people playing a different kind of music in the subway...They're all part of the explosion in New York's Mexican population that's been occurring in the last two decades. We talk with CUNY's David Badillo about this newer wave of immigration and how Mexicans are making New York theirs.

Dispatches from foreign lands: We talk with reporter and author Bryan Mealer about his time in Congo--His book "All Things Must Fight To Live: Stories of War and Deliverance in Congo" is out from Bloomsbury--and we hear from filmmakers Doug Carr and Eddie Boyce. They traveled with Fordham Law School’s Crowley Scholars on their 2007 mission to Malawi to study the effects of AIDS on women there...and they reported back with the 2007 film "The Face of AIDS".

On October 4, 1947, “Leave it to Beaver” premiered on US television…and space travel premiered in the USSR as the Soviets launched the first Sputnik. We take a look at the roots of Soviet space travel, and America’s response to it, with Fordham History professor Asif Siddiqi.

When we think of bullies, we tend to think of things like bigger boys stuffing a smaller boy into a locker. But when girls bully, it's a lot more covert, and some say a lot crueler. We'll talk with JoAnne Dornfeld Januzzi, the principal of Henry H. Wells Middle School in Brewster, about her research on how girls bully, and what we can do about it.

Most of us know about those Galapagos island finches, but we may not be as aware that Charles Darwin was an avid botanist. We look at an exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden that explores the role plants played in Darwin's framing of his theory; and we hear about one of the more interesting animal adaptations around--penguin song.

We look at the summer scourge of ticks with Fordham researcher Thomas Daniels--and we hear about some of the possible long-term effects of a tick's bite.

We look at the world of New York's longshoremen, and the classic movie it inspired, with Fordham Theologian and author James Fisher--his forthcoming book is "The Irish Waterfront and the Soul of the Port", from Cornell University press.

We visit the murals of Philadelphia with theologian Maureen O'Connell, and Lincoln monuments around the country with James Percoco--his book, "Summers with Lincoln", is out from Fordham University Press.

Sure, you can bring home the bacon, and fry it up in a pan, but if you have to do it through shiftwork will it mess up your kids? We talk with sociologist Chris Morett about work-life balance and how nontraditional work schedules affect children.

Pollinators Good, Pollen Bad—2 of 2. This week on Fordham Conversations, we’ll talk about what the pollen count actually means and what seasonal allergies do to us…and we’ll get out onto one of New York’s more surprising natural areas—the Bronx River.

Pollinators Good, Pollen Bad, part 1 of 2: We speak with bee and butterfly researcher Kevin Matteson about looking at New York through insects' eyes; and we learn about a new project that turns New Yorkers into bee researchers. Next week: Pollen Bad!

Brand names and identities are more in our lives than ever before--but they're not in the public domain. We look at branding, "anti-branding", and the legal issues both carry with them, with Fordham Law Professor Sonia Katyal.

This week on the show, we get a little arty with it: The Bronx, the immigration experience, and the pleasures of wordplay, with poet Janet Kaplan.

Whether you think he's a fabulous throwback, a dangerous dictator or just another politician, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has changed the discourse about Latin American politics--and oil. We talk with reporter Bart Jones, whose book "Hugo! The Hugo Chavez Story, from Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution", is out from Steerforth Press.

Although living in New York can be wonderful...sometimes we all dream of escape. We speak with author Christina Baker Kline about her "escape from New York" novel, "The Way Life Should Be", and we find out where New Yorkers would most like to escape to.

A crash course in Low Power FM, media activism, pirate radio and why we should care about it...with Christina Dunbar-Hester, of  Fordham's McGannon Communication Research Center.

This week on Fordham Conversations…school anxiety! We talk bad study habits, exam nightmares, and the uncertain role of universities in American life. Also…cutting class and getting caught.

Is green the new black? Is mother nature in fashion...and does that mean that being "green" might go out of fashion? The environment and consumer culture, with Fordham media analyst Robin Andersen.

For many of us, summer in New York means Coney Island…and for a lot of people, Coney Island means the freak show. We speak with Fordham English professor Leonard Cassuto about the history of the American freak show, why we liked it and why we stopped liking it…and why Oliver Sacks might be a kinder, gentler PT Barnum.