first amendment. they're expressing their religious beliefs. now is the time to make justice a reality. captioning provided by the first amendment center, funded by the freedom forum. welcome to a special edition of speaking freely. i'm ken paulson, executive director of the first amendment center, with a new program in a series called whitney dialogues at the first amendment center. here to introduce our guest is a cohost for the series, director of the whitney museum of american art, maxwell anderson. thank you, ken. bill t. jones was born in florida

captioning provided by the freedom forum first amendment center welcome to speaking freely, a weekly conversation about the first amendment, the arts, and american culture. i'm ken paulson, executive director of the first amendment center. our guest today is a talented actress, whose work has been honored time and again. jane alexander received a tony award for her role in the great white hope. she received an emmy award for her performance in playing for time. and along the way, she's picked up four academy award nominations and a television critics' circle award. and then in 1993, in what can only be described as a courageous career move, jane alexander signed on for the toughest role of all: chairman of the national endowment for the arts. she's here today to talk about her new book detailing her experiences with the n.e.a. it's called command performance: an actress in the theater of politics. thanks very much for being here. i've enjoyed your book very much. it's a-- it's a terrific read both for people who care about the theater and those who have a commitment to free expression

first amendment. they're expressing their religious beliefs. now is the time to make justice a reality for all of god's children. captioning provided by the freedom forum first amendment center welcome to speaking freely, a weekly conversation about the first amendment, the arts, and american culture. i'm ken paulson, executive director of the first amendment center. holly hughes is a widely respected performance artist who is known both for her thoughtful work and as a member of the n.e.a. four. her fight for free expression took her all the way to the u.s. supreme court. she's here today to share her thoughts about that battle and about free expression in america. welcome, holly. thank you, ken. now, a membership in the n.e.a. four-- that's not exactly like joining the kiwanis club. no, it's not. it was kind of an honor-- dishonor sort of imposed on us by the national council of the arts when they took away our funding that had been recommended. it sort of sounds like a bad band, you know, that-- or we were later referred to as karen finley and the three homosexuals, which sounds like a really bad band. i've seen them play. [laughs] and yet this has been a battle. your sta

first amendment. they're expressing their religious beliefs. now is the time to make justice a reality for all of god's children. captioning provided by the first amendment center, funded by the freedom forum. welcome to speaking freely, a weekly conversation about free expression and america. i'm ken paulson. we're joined today by a singer with a great heart and a great voice: judy collins. [applause] (collins) thanks, ken. nice to see you. good to see you. thank you. i say "a great heart," because you are probably as well-known for your commitment to social causes as your singing career. and you've been pretty successful at both. how many times have you been arrested? [light laughter] i've actually been arrested three times, and two of them were for my civil rights. i was protesting the war in vietnam. i was arrested on the steps of the capitol, and i went to jail for that. and there was another incident there in a protest against the war in vietnam. i was also arrested on an airplane for using a cell phone, but we won't talk about that. that was a terrible shock. i considered it, in a sense, a freedom of expression issue, but i don't think that they did. but

and the whitney museum of american art for making this episode of whitney dialogues at the first amendment center please join us again next week for speaking freely. captioning provided by the first amendment center, funded by the freedom forum. captioning by ben at captionmax www.captionmax.com after school at 3. . 30 i hop on the bus and go to work with kids. i didn't realize i was going to get up that early for the rest of my life. >> it's hard to get good jobs. you can get well paid working at restaurants i was making good money that's not my 50 year goal working as a waitress. it would be better to have something to fall back on i wanted something where i would in 10 years accumulate properties. >> 3 months is a long time to be busy all day. i'm putting myself further in debt with the understanding it's worth the sacrifice. eating raman for 3 months. it's not fun but i think it will be worth it. >> we all want to graduate we are all tired of this class. been 11 weeks. one more week to go. >> i need to get these mraps out. >> my purpose is to get the recruits prepared for the construction tra

first amendment. they're expressing their religious beliefs. now is the time to make justice a reality for all of god's children. captioning provided by the first amendment center, funded by the freedom forum. welcome to speaking freely, a weekly conversation about free expression, the arts, and america. i'm ken paulson. our guest today has written challenging and provocative plays over the past four decades, earning three pulitzer prizes, two tonys, and a reputation for art with an impact. please welcome edward albee. [applause] i was struck by the number of times people have objected to your work. and yet, i've sat here with people whose careers have been marked by censorship and challenges. i'm not sure i've ever met anyone whose very first work at age 12 was censored by his adoptive mother. what was that about? well, you see, i started writing poetry when i was about eight, and she didn't read poetry. but when she found out that i'd written a three-act sex farce... [laughter] at the age of 12, or to be fair about it, probably 12 1/2, though still i didn't know very much about farce and practically nothing about sex at that time-- or at least, my knowledge o

first amendment. they're expressing their religious beliefs. now is the time to make justice a reality for all of god's children. captioning provided by the first amendment center, funded by the freedom forum. welcome to speaking freely, a weekly conversation about free expression, the arts, and america. i'm ken paulson, joining you today from nashville. our guest today is a man whose name and sound are known and respected worldwide. he's a 1987 inductee into the rock and roll hall of fame, and he was the winner of the lifetime achievement award from the rhythm and blues foundation. we're pleased to welcome bo diddley. [applause] great to have you here. and you've had this amazing career, much of it centered around electric guitar. and yet, it all began with a violin. is that right? [laughs] yep. i started playing violin. at least i was taught classical music, and i was taught by professor o.w. frederick at ebenezer baptist church in chicago, illinois, where i was raised up at. and i, when i got to be, i think, about 12 or 13 years old, my sister bought me a guitar because i had heard john lee hooker playing. and i made the statement, "if that cat can play, i k

first amendment. they're expressing their religious beliefs. now is the time to make justice a reality for all of god's children. captioning provided by the first amendment center, funded by the freedom forum. welcome to speaking freely, a weekly conversation about free speech and the arts. i'm ken paulson. we're joined today by a talented and topical comic and actress, janeane garofalo. welcome. thank you. [chortles] i'm talented and topical. that's wonderful. well, you know. if you prefer another bio-- no, no, no, that's fine. i like alliteration in an intro. talented, topical, terrific. tanned. what's the best description we should have? i mean, if we'd gone through your people, what would we have said about you? my people? yeah, your people. um, what would they have said about me? they would use different letters for their alliteration. they'd say persnickety, passive-aggressive, punctual, and--and pernicious. okay, we'll look forward to all of that. i think you are the first guest on speaking freely who has also done space ghost. i am. i mean, i wouldn't know that, but i just was watching the space ghost marathon last night, and i did my space ghost so lon

first amendment. they're expressing their religious beliefs. now is the time to make justice a reality for all of god's children. captioning provided by the first amendment center, funded by the freedom forum. our guests today are the creators of south park, matt stone and trey parker, and larry divney, the president and ceo of the show's home: comedy central. it's great to have you here. i--we're sitting here at the u.s. comedy arts festival, and i've got this program in my hand. and here we go. "freedom in the arts, honoring norman lear, gary trudeau, oliver stone, matt stone, and trey parker." was that pretty much your intent, become a living legend in free expression here? yeah, i think-- this is pretty heavy company here. do you like that picture of us? yeah, when matt and i were, like, 20, i said, "matt, how can we be honored someday for anything?" and we figured, "let's do a cartoon and go that route." so it's-- "how can i be in the same room with oliver stone-- and not at the playboy mansion?" [laughter] where would i be? norman lear was here earlier and talked about how much he enjoyed your show. and he sits down with a nephew, i guess, and he says the

center. is there any objection to that? without objection, those two items will be amended as proposed. then if we can move now to the amendment from supervisor daily first of all with regard to those having to do with fossil fuel references. so i can clarify, my understanding is that the amendment that was initially made has been remanded to be put into this and review -- remove fossil fuel references. is that correct? >> it would be the amendment that i submitted except that it would specifically exempt electricity from the grid from outside of the redevelopment area. >> just to clarify, what we were proposing is that there are two places in the language where it says fossil fuel power districts, heating and cooling system. if we delete those two references and keep the rest of the text, then it works perfectly fine. the references occur in the first line and the second to the last line of the further resolve the clause as was presented to. >> i would prefer the way i am doing it because i'm not following this. >> i think we were looking for a fairly direct way to make the point that this language would not prohibit the use of gas and electricity in ho

first amendment. -- between the korea develop an agency. -- the redevelopment agency. the second language i have concerns the southeast health center. it was raised during the debate to the release ago. we have done numerous studies for the need of an expanded health center in those neighborhoods in our city, so i want to amend the language to essentially eliminate the need to do a need assessments study. this language provided that the developer would contribute accordingly to do pre- development expenses associated with the expansion of the southeast health center, and i want to clarify we do not need that study, but we do need programmatic needs for the center so that we ensure that what we are doing dovetails with other resources better in that part of the city, assuming we move forward with that. it is conflict -- contemplated in the language from a few weeks ago that the capital costs would be funded through increments generated by the redevelopment project. but a portion of the $2 million contribution provided by the developer, and, thirdly, through the city's ability to finance savings that our department of public health wo

center near ground zero. >> this should never have happened. hopefully, won't happen again. hopefully, people can understand that we can have a discourse. that's what the first amendment'sbout. that's what america is all about. but violence is being disrespectful to each other is not part of why america was formed. >> this is the city of all colors, races, all allreligion everyone will live her side-by-side, peacefully. >> the driver, ahmad sharif, said meeting with the mayor helped him feel more secure. he's welcoming support from city officials, as well as residents. >>> the suspect of a series of stabbings across three states is being held without bond. he is charged with assault in a michigan case. as todd ang reports, prosecutors say they will file murder charges soon. >> why did you do it, sir? >> reporter: the suspect, in a multi-state stabbing pre, returned to the place where his attacks first began. in flint, michigan. >> we got the guy responsible for these crimes. he is now where he belongs. in jail. >> reporter: 33-year-old elias was arrested at the atlanta airport, where he was trying to board a plane bound for israel. he's accused of stabbing 18 men, 4 in

center of a heated debate. protesters gathered outside of google over net neutrality. some say it's a battle over first amendment rights. >> hands off the internet.... >> reporter: singing songs of protest and hope, consumer groups and net users came to google headquarters to plead with the tech giant to keep the internet open and free. >> i'm a scholar and want to make sure everyone has equal access to information. >> reporter: the issue is over a plan that some say could change the internet itself, breaking away from the long-held practice known as net neutrality. remember when the internet used to be known as the information super highway. in a similar way, net neutrality means there should be one set of roads for everyone to use. google is considering a separate internet for wireless devices only. pay as you go, premium content internet for the haves and a lesser one for the have nots. >> wire line or the internet, you plug in, they're talking about a system uh, with wireless where none of the existing rules apply. they'd be able to control who has access, who's able to produce content, how fast that content

center of a heated debate. protestors gathered outside of google today over net neutrality. len ramirez shows us why some say it is a battle over first amendmentights. ♪ hands off the internet it must be free ♪ >> reporter: singing songs of protest and hope free speech advocates consumer groups and internet user came to google to plead with the tech giant to keep the internet open and free. >> i'm a scholar and i want equal access to information. >> reporter: the issue is over a plan that some say could change the internet itself breaking away from the long held practice known as net neutrality. remember when the internet used to be known as information superhighway? in a similar way, net neutrality means there should be one set of roads on the internet for everyone to use. but what google is proposing with its partner verizon is essentially a toll road system, a separate internet for wireless devices only. >> net neutrality is under attack. >> let's fight back. >> reporter: people worry that could lead to tightly controlled premium content internet for the haves and a lesser one for the have nots. >> they are talking about a two tiered system

first amendment kick in again? two blocks, three blocks, a mile away, a state away? >> reporter: the uproar is expected to come to a head right here. on the very block where the proposed community center and mosque is expected to be built. hundreds, even thousands, are expected to cram each end of park place. one person who won't be here, the most contentious person in all of this. the imam behind the project is thousands of miles away. traveling in the middle east, on a trip sponsored by the state department. the mission is meant to symbolize religious freedom. >> we're told that there are two big issues that we shouldn't even discuss around the dinner table. politics and religion. this is a combination of both. >> reporter: the question now is there any chance the two groups could meet somewhere in the middle? >> my prediction is that mosque is not going to be built in that location. it's too much of a hot potato. that the freedom of religion that made people leave another country to come here will be superseded by the pain of an issue that rumbled around the world, with that hole that's still in the ground as a symbol. >> reporter: organizers say, protest or no protest, they're sti

i fought for the first amendment, freedom of religion, that is not going where it is supposedly going there are buildings blocks away from the world trade centera strong recruiting tool for al- qaida. the main media has glen beck's rally as a counter-rally to the more and luther king rally. the martin luther king rally would have gone and i if we had of a missedbeck.mr.ck the insensitivity that to clamp the mosque would do although you agree and everybody agrees it is a right, don't you think that glen beck having his situation on the martin luther king anniversary is insensitive? guest: no, i don't. i don't think it is. he has stated very explicitly that he does not claim the mantle of dr. king. he does not claim to have a right to stand where he stood or clinical level of moral leadership that he did. i just left a breakfast where he said this. it would be one thing if he got up and said that he is the successor to the king cobra. he has not said that. he has said the exact opposite. i think he has approached this with humility and honesty and that is all anyone can ask for it when i don't that is fair to ask is for glen beck or any other am

center. is there any objection to that? without objection, those two items will be amended as proposed. then if we can move now to the amendment from supervisor daily first of all with regard to those having to do with fossil fuel references. so i can clarify, my understanding is that the amendment that was initially made has been remanded to be put into this and review -- remove fossil fuel references. is that correct? >> it would be the amendment that i submitted except that it would specifically exempt electricity from the grid from outside of the redevelopment area. >> just to clarify, what we were proposing is that there are two places in the language where it says fossil fuel power districts, heating and cooling system. if we delete those two references and keep the rest