our guest today on whitney dialogues at the first amendment center has been andres serrano. i'm ken paulson, back next week with another conversation about the first amendment, the arts and america. i hope you can join us then for speaking freely. captioning provided by the first amendment center, funded by the freedom forum. captioning by captionmax www.captionmax.com

our guest today on whitney dialogues at the first amendment center has been andres serrano. i'm ken paulson, back next week with another conversation about the first amendment, the arts and america. i hope you can join us then for speaking freely. captioning provided by the first amendment center, funded by the freedom forum. captioning by captionmax www.captionmax.com >> i work with the department of environment and we are recycling oil. thank you. we can go into a refinery and we can use it again. they do oil changes and sell it anyway, so now they know when a ticket to a. hal>> to you have something you want to get rid of? >> why throw it away when you can reuse it? >> it can be filtered out and used for other products. >> [speaking spanish] >> it is going to be a good thing for us to take used motor oil from customers. we have a 75-gallon tank that we used and we have someone take it from here to recycle. >> so far, we have 35 people. we have

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. 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 wh

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 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. today, we'll discuss one of the most powerful and provocative songs of the past century. the song is strange fruit, and it's the subject of a new book by our guest, david margolick. welcome. thank you, ken. are there other books out there about a single song? i'm familiar with dave marsh's take on louie louie, but this has to be an unusual premise for a new book. i don't think there are very many. i think there's a book about amazing grace, and i'm told there's a book in the works about we shall overcome. but i think there really aren't many songs that you could write entire books about. this is one of the few. and this was not a tough sell to a publisher because they saw your piece in vanity fair. they saw the piece in vanity fair, and they thought that it could be expanded upon into a book. and it certainly wo

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. david crosby has written and performed some of the most powerful music of the past 35 years. throughout his solo career and his years with the byrds; crosby, stills, nash, and young; and now cpr, he's demonstrated that music can make a difference. now he's teamed with david bender, a founding contributing editor for george magazine, to write stand and be counted: making music, making history. welcome, gentlemen. it's a book about courageous musicians and courageous music, and at a time when i read on the front page of the new york times that record companies are routinely self-censoring themselves to enhance marketability of music, why this project, why the book, and why the television show now? well, to pick one of your words, courage. we are both very taken with human courage. our heroes have been people who h

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 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

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. since the founding of jefferson airplane in 1965, our guest has produced an extraordinary body of music, sometimes popular, sometimes provocative, sometimes both. we're delighted to welcome rock and roll hall of fame member paul kantner. [applause] not long ago, paul, the washington post called you "the political conscience and space cadet of the jefferson airplane." do you plead guilty as charged? oh, and more. were you really the political force behind a very political band? no, no, we're a very apolitical band, if you really analyze it. and--we have the luxury of coming from san francisco, which is very nutritious for off-the-beam, off-the-normal-beam kind of people and nurtures them, really, in its own way. and we, in contrast to, say, berkeley, for example, in the '60s or the s.d.s. or the weathermen, chose and got away with creating our 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. i'm ken paulson. our guest today has been both a pioneer and a driving force behind hip-hop. he's the founder of def jam records, chairman of rush communications. he's russell simmons. thanks for joining us here today. thank you for having me. i read very recently-- i think it was salon that described you as "not the inventor of rap but the man most responsible for its success." guilty as charged? well, i would say that i have been part of a process, that i don't--i don't believe it would have been a problem for it to spread without my input, but i was a part of the process, and it was--it's been an amazing ride over the last 20-some-odd years, and i've watched it evolve. you've got a fascinating new book called life and death: sex, drugs, money, and god, which covers pretty much everything there, and it tells the story-- not necessarily in that order. well, it tells the story of your career, including the first moment you hear

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

. >> i am going to -- jean paulson and ashley hamilton from the vanderbilt first amendment center that has association through the freedom forum and also this hole forum started with a short phone call with joe herschel who is one of the directors of the museum who put me and others in touch with the first amendment center. those three organizations brought us here. thank them for this locale and everyone else for participating today. appreciate it. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >>

captioning provided by the first amendment center, funded by the freedom forum. captioning by captionmax www.captionmax.com (female announcer) for more information about speaking freely, visit our website at: >> welcome to "culturewire." for the past year, the arts commission has been participating in the city's effort to revitalize the central market street corridor. in addition to the thursday arts market and are in store front, the art commission recently launched the artery project. for the next year, the artery project will bring energy and excitement to market street, recalling the st.'s heyday as san francisco's vibrant and bustling theater district. >> un.n plaza during business hours seize hundreds of passing office workers and students, but the activity winds down at 5:00 every day. theater productions bring some but traffic, but central market is more of a thoroughfare than a destination after the sun goes down. on december 9, the artery project's launch brought a party atmosphere to market street, led by mayor gavin newsom, city officials flipped the

first and second amendment rights. i don't understand how the second amendment -- if anybody should have guns or guns chicken band -- four guns should get ned -- guest: this was the question at the centerf the violent video games argument that the supreme court heard late last year. the question was, does crazy kids moreames make likely to commit violence. legally, our supreme court has agreed with you. unless you can prove watching the video is going to immediately make you go out and commit a violent act, you cannot ban the speech. it is a safety valve that makes people less likely to commit violence. i do not believe we should assume for his a direct connection. host: missing, david, a democrat. good morning. -- michigan. caller: i have a comment about the news stations like the left new stations and the writers new stations. they both have such different viewpoints -- and th. people take these viewpoints to heart. there are news junkies. these politicians have these averages viewpoints, too. people do taken to heart. i remember when news was news, not an hour show of some of these viewpoints. it is out of hand on both sides. i pride might -- i find myself watching this stuff and i

first and second amendment rights. i don't understand how the second amendment -- if anybody should have guns or guns chicken band -- four guns should get ned -- guest: this was the question at the center of the violent video games argument that the supreme court heard late last year. the question was, does crazy kids moreames make likely to commit violence. legally, our supreme court has agreed with you. unless youan prove watching the video is going to immediately make you go out and commit a violent act, you cannot ban the speech. it is a safety valve that makes people less likely to commit violence. i do not believe we should assume for his a direct connection. host: missing, david, a democrat. good morning. -- michigan. caller: i have a comment about the news stations like the left new stations and the writers new stations. they both have such different viewpoints -- and th. people take these viewpoints to heart. there are news junkies. these politicians have these averages viewpoints, too. people do taken to heart. i remember when news was news, not an hour show of some of these viewpoints. it is out of hand on both sides. i pride might -- i find myself watching this stuff and i