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 york city, the ten-member company

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 of sex was singular-- [laughter

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 expressio

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 people were actually looking

captioning provided by the first amendment center, funded by the freedom forum. welcome to a special edition of speaking freely exploring how protest and the first amendment came into play during the civil rights and antiwar movements. i'm ken paulson. my cohost today is john seigenthaler, a highly respected journalist who also served as special assistant to attorney general robert f. kennedy during the civil rights movement. after retiring from newspapers, john went on to found the first amendment center. john and i are delighted to welcome a pulitzer prize-winning author and journalist whose recent book, called the children, focuses on the work of courageous young people in the civil rights movement, and whose earlier book, the best and the brightest, was the definitive study of american policy in vietnam. david halberstam. [applause] i have to ask the first and most basic question. you graduate from harvard in 1956. five. '55. with great distinction. no, i was a terrible student. [laughter] i was in the bottom third of my class. that was the heart of my questi

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 heard hip-hop and your reaction to

based on the fact, the school district did create a limited public forum for the noncurricular freedom of speech. >> is that the analysis or shouldn't we begin first with the supreme court's decision in pickering garset timbings, connick and ask whether or not this was actual leer hired speech by a public employee who is directed by the school board to teach a particular subject matter and is entitled to made policy as to what may or may not be taught in the classroom? >> well, i think when you look at the first amendment jurisbrewedens and looking at the use of a -- jurisprudence and looking at the use of a purpose designed for as opposed to the use of that property for expressive activity -- >> even though the audience is can'tive? >> even though the audience is captive. it's based on these facts. regarding -- >> that's not what we said in pelosa, is it, or in downs? >> downs is interesting. downs dealt with -- counsels did a forum analysis or would have done a forum analysis saying the speech was a noncurricular speech and because it was a government speaking then you don't have the

freedom and democracy in different regions. i was struck by something that the president in the senate or head of the senate here in poland mentioned during our democracy forumhad lived through three waves of revolutionary transformation in his lifetime. he saw the shift from military rule to democracy in latin america. he saw those changes then take place with incredible speed when the berlin wall came down and the iron curtain was pulled us under. and now he's seeing what's happening in north africa and the middle east. and in each of these cases, what you have is a process that's not always smooth. there are going to be twists and turns. there are going to be occasions where you take one step forward and two steps back, sometimes you take two steps forward and one step back. what's required, i think, is number one, understanding that you have to institutionalize this transformation. it's not enough just to have the energy, the initial thrust of those young people in tahrir square or the initial enthusiasm of the solidarity movement, that then has to be institutionalized and the habits of countries have to change. it's not sufficient just to have elections