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 and grew up in upstate new york. he studied classical ballet and modern dance at the state university of binghamton, where he began his relationship with choreographer arnie zane. (man) the next thing i knew was that i, like a bshee, was whirling throughout this [...] park, throughout flower beds, looking for coverage so that the bulldozer with the burning logs would not get me. i woke up. in 1974, after living in amsterdam, he cofounded the american dance asylum and in 1982 formed the bill t. jones/arnie zane dance company with his partner, arnie zane, who died in 1988. based in new yor

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, the executive director of the first amendment center. our guest once described rap as "america's black radio station." if that's the case, we're joined today by the program director of an entire movement. please welcome the founder of public enemy, chuck d. [applause] you're a man of opinions. what i didn't know until reading a bit more about you was that your folks were both activists, that you grew up in a household of opinions. did that shape the way you look at the world? yup, 'cause my parents kind of, like, raised me to be independent and have independent thoughts, not so much as follow my peers, and to challenge information. so, i mean, to be an activist just means that they were conscious of certain facts that were circulating. and in the '60s, they were in their 20s, late 20s, so that was a time where you had a conscious movement where

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 and free expression. i'm ken paulson, executive director of the first amendment center, and this is a special edition of the program in recognition of banned books week. it features three very special guests. they include judy blume, one of this country's most popular and most frequently censored authors, carolivia herron, whose critically-acclaimed book, nappy hair, was challenged in a brooklyn school, and cammie mannino, a bookseller who took a stand against censorship. welcome to all of you. i have to begin with judy. you know, there are these lists every year about the most banned books. each and every year, you're in the top five. you're sort of the beatles of banned books. how did you obtain this status, and what are you doing wrong? uh-oh, you know, you're asking the wrong person. it's never the-- the person who wrote the books is always surprised. you have to ask the people who ban the books. i can go

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 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. what made america great is an independent, vigorous press. if a jerk burns a flag, america is no

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. 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. 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, the arts, and american culture. i hope you can join us then for speaking freely. captioning provided by the freedom forum first amendment center captioning by kristi at captionmax www.captionmax.com >> the san francisco cons tri of flowers in golden gate park is now showing a new exhibit that changes the way we see the plants around us. amy stewart's best-selling book, "wicked plants" is the inspiration behind the new exhibit that takes us to the dark side of the plant world. >> i am amy stewart. i am the arthur of "wicked plants," the weeds that killed lincoln's mother and other botanical atrocities. with the screens fly trap, that is kind of where everybody went initially, you mean like that? i kind of thought, well, all it does is eat up bugs. that is not very wicked. so what? by wicked, what i mean is that they are poisonous, dangerous, deadly or immoral or maybe illegal or offensive or awful in some way. i am in the profession of going around and interviewing botanists, horticulturalists and plant scientists. they all seem to have some little plant tucked away in the corner of a greenhouse that maybe they weren't supposed

first amendment cases. i do not think it makes sense any more to talk generally about what it means to be a liberal or conservative in these kinds of first amendment cases. there's also one consistent the center. dissenter.ent with the cente it eliminates what was going on in this case, particularly in the dynamic between the roberts and the majority opinion and the dissent.scen he has identified attention in these kinds of first amendment cases between the first amendment as the guardian of our democracy and the common-law tort as the guardian of our community. there are times when these two values clash irreconcilably. in also illuminates to the extent that these two values rely on one another. respect for the first amendment and certain norms of communities. it does not undermine or restrict them. in order for the first amendment to robustly protect speech on matters of public concern, we require a community that values first amendment values and is prepared to defend them, even when a repressive verge is difficult to control. i think the chief justice understands this in the opinion he wrote. for one thing, he enacts it. it is a very disciplined opinion. while acknowledging the suffering

first amendment cases. i do not think it makes sense any more to talk generally about what it means to be a liberal or conservative in these kinds of first amendment cases. there's also one consistent the center. dissenter.ent with the cente it eliminates what was going on in this case, particularly in the dynamic between the roberts and the majority opinion and the dissent.scen he has identified attention in these kinds of first amendment cases between the first amendment as the guardian of our democracy and the common-law tort as the guardian of our community. there are times when these two values clash irreconcilably. in also illuminates to the extent that these two values rely on one another. respect for the first amendment and certain norms of communities. it does not undermine or restrict them. in order for the first amendment to robustly protect speech on matters of public concern, we require a community that values first amendment values and is prepared to defend them, even when a repressive verge is difficult to control. i think the chief justice understands this in the opinion he wrote. for one thing, he enacts it. it is a very disciplined opinion. while acknowledging the suffering

first amendment cases. i do not think it makes sense any more to talk generally about what it means to be a liberal or conservative in ese kinds of first amendment cases. there's also one consistent the center. dissenter.ent witthe cente it eliminates what was going on in this case, particularly in the dynamic between the roberts and the majority opinion and the dissent.scen he has identified attention in these kinds of first amendment cases between the first amendment as the guardian of our democracy and the common-law tort as the guardian of our community. there are timeshen these two values clash irreconcilably. in also illuminates to the extent that these two values rely on one another. respect for the first amendment and certain norms of communities. it does not undermine or restrict them. in order for the first amendment to robustly protect speech on matters of public concern, we require a comnity that values first amendment values and is prepared to defend them,ven when a repressive verge is difficult to control. i think the chief justice understands this in the opinion he wrote. for one thing, he enacts it. it is a very disciplined opinion. while acknowledging the suffering that met

its first amendment right and singles them out while not applying the same rules to advertisement fliers. a hearing has been set for september 20th. >>> san francisco has opened up a new health centerd neighborhoods. governor brown gathered at seventh and full -- mayor lee joined the gathering at seventh and fulsome street. >> affordable housing with the health support that the tenants and residents here will need -- >> mayor lee has long championed residents least able to get health care. >>> researchers studying mice found that a compound in apple skins reduced the loss of muscles in mice that were put on a starvation diet. it's too early to tell if the same results will be found in humans or how many apples an adult would have to eat in order to avoid muscle loss. >>> walking your dog is good for your health. people who take their dogs on brisk 30 minute walks are less likely to be obese and have lower cholesterol. >>> it's hitting earth right now. what scientists are tracking that's headed our way from outer space. >>> we're on fog watch once again. coming up the one change in temperatures over the next couple of days and the timing of our next warm up. we could be talking abou

as it turned out for colleagues who voted with a center from voteith illinois, the author of the th amendment and the bill first actlly sat started they sat down twowo democrats and republicans andir sta their staff aboutff legislation de an were kucinich chichester and corker hesla that's who wrote to input fro the bill. get that's really the way this ought to work. the nuggets and republicans workthat's t together on legislation and seek input from not just banks and not st credit unions but consumers as life at well.ve i think back i spent a lot of the years and the navy and certainly governor in the senate with my colleagues i know a number ofs in m times y in my life i have done things i was sure was the right ha thing to do but had an unintended consequence. was i was sure i was doing the rightonsequence thing but it turned out there were consequences i didn'te. what i ha anticipate and i had to do is gopart ofhe back and help to be part of the solution addressing those unintended consequences. senator durbin put his finger on a big problem and the problem he put his finger on more than a year ago but a n