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 not threatened. political speech

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 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. 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 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 back to 1980, and i can say to you--

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

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 long ago, it's never even in the

captioning provided by the freedom forum first amendment center.e at captionmax www.captionmax.com

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 had the guts to stick up for what they

that's donald trump joining other stars at the freedom forum in d.c. he brought down the house, but was any new ground broken? >> it was just excruciating pain. >> let me ask the question everybody is thinking. what were you thinking? >> that is a good question. for this magician whose stunt went a wry at a stunt race. i want you to check this out. this is the aids memorial quilt and this weekend marks the anniversary of the cases of aids. we will talk about this and also talk to an hiv positive woman who lost her mom and son to the disease. you don't want to miss that. i'm don lemon in atlanta. there is a lot of news so let's get you caught up. we will begin in syria where protesters merch marched to demand the end to the killing by security forces this is the response they got. this is what witnesses are saying that troops shot into the crowd in the city on friday. it's not clear how many died, but human rights groups put the toll at 80. that's not silencing the protest. there had been more violent clashes even today. a ve leiolent attack drove the p

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 to have. i got interested in this idea that maybe the

seizing on what they see as president obama's weak link, and came out swinging at the faith and freedom forum>> did you hear what he said today about the 9.1% unemployed americans? he said that's just a bump in the road. no, mr. president, that's not a bump. that's americans. >> we have a president whose policies have failed, and he won't tell the people the united states of america the truth about what it's really going to take to fix these problems. >> reporter: and the republicans attending the forum have been courting religious conservatives, but so far, fiscal issues have dominated the conversation. and the presidential hopefuls have framed the need to solve these problems as a moral obligation. russ? >> whit johnson, thanks. >>> joining us now is democratic strategist steve mcmann in our washington bureau and ed roll lands. let's talk about the nasty economic numbers. how does the president make an effective case he deserves a second term? >> i'm not going to sit here and tell you the numbers are good for the president. i don't think they would say that in the white house, either. i thi

we will talk about the economy with former michigan gov., but up next, a freedom forum wrapping appear in washington, d.c. the here are some other guests and topics making up the in the morning program. nancy is in our studios. >> good morning. c-span will repair five network tv talk shows. it will discuss the situation in the middle east. we usually begin with meet the press in the afternoon. today, we begin at noon. we speak with a republican presidential candidate. also governor mitch daniels in indiana. chris wallace will speak with a former alaska gov. sarah palin. at 2:00 p.m., it is the c-span state of the union. a former director of the congressional budget office will be speaking. a former rnc chairman will also there. and bob schieffer interviews nancy pelosi and they will take a look at republicans in 2012. -- campaign 2012. it begins at noon eastern with "this week" of nbc. you can listen to them all at c- span radio. you can also look -- listen to satellite radio or on line at c-span.org. >> it was not altogether a compliment, though -- although he regarded it as one. >> r

this faith and freedom coalition, because nothing long survives without advocates, and that includes values. >> joining me now is cherie harder, president of the nonpartisan trinity forumbeforthat, she worked in policy positions for first lady laura bush and former senate majority leader bill frist, a republican. cherie, welcome. >> great to be here. >> how important are religious conservatives, and specifically evangelicals, to the whole republican coalition? >> well, they're quite important. one thing i think i should mention is, of course, evangelical spans a whole range of ideological temperaments. i mean, within the evangelical umbrella, you have everyone from jim wallis to jim dobson, beverly lahaye to shane claiborne. so that term usually applies theologically. lately, it's also applied politically, but i think it's important to remember that, of crse, trere pple of many different political persuasions though who would call themselves evangelicals. but within the political spectrum, they remain important, although i think that both the agenda is broadening, and i think we should be careful not to consider them as a monolith anymore then we would consider, say, w

competition let media freedom the force that all will answer the push for modernization as well tenuous reason thank you very much for being with us by here at the economic forum we'll continue our coverage over the rest of today and tomorrow as the world's modern innovators top business executives and world leaders gather to debate the challenges facing the modern world and of course the economy. moving us involvement in the nato military campaign in a beer has just two days left before and ninety day limit to military action without congress' approval runs out the white house says it doesn't need permission from capitol hill but as again let's check out now reports that some congressmen say president obama is violating american. u.s. lawmakers are saying that president obama has to either stop waging war in libya or ask for congressional approval under the u.s. constitution to wage a long term war the president needs to get authorization from congress analysts say the obama administration will certainly find a way to get around the requirement by referring to his rights as commander in chief as well as certain legal speed you know up to this day the administ

media freedom of course that all will add to the push for modernization as well tenuous reason thank you very much for being with us here at the economic forum we'll continue our coverage over the rest of today and tomorrow as the world's modern innovators top business executives and world leaders gather to debate the challenges facing the modern world and of course the economy. you know we've still coming out of this hour israel opens up another front against the palestinians this time with financial tel aviv with holes millions and tonics own to the palestinian authorities leaving tens of thousands of workers without their paychecks would buy into. u.s. involvement in the nato military campaign in levy has just two days left before annoying to day limit on military action without congress' approval runs out the white house says it doesn't need permission from comfortable hill but as again they can no explains some congressmen say president obama is violating american law. u.s. lawmakers are saying that president obama has to either stop waging war in libya or ask for congressional approval under the u.s. constitution to wage a long term wa

media freedom of course that all adds to the push for monetization as well tenuous reason thank you very much for being with us here at the economic forum we'll continue our coverage over the rest of today and tomorrow as the world's modern innovators the top business executives and world leaders gather to debate the challenges facing the modern world and of course the economy. and this in their reporting from st petersburg u.s. congress members of threatening to cut funding for america's military campaign in libya which is wrecking up a bit of ten million dollars a day but the white house is refusing to ask for congressional approval of military action which is required by law the president is allowed ninety days before asking permission and that time runs out this weekend he's going to check on explains. u.s. lawmakers are saying that president obama has to either stop waging war in libya or ask for congressional approval the lawmakers claim that the military action will violate the nine hundred seventy three war powers resolution if it does not and by friday and they mean this friday ninety days after the intervention began under the

media freedom of course that all adds to the push for modernization as well tenuous and thank you very much for being with us here at the economic forum we'll continue our coverage over the rest of today and tomorrow as the world's modern innovators top business executives and world leaders gather to face the challenges facing the modern world and of course the economy that's of course for the nice to know if they're in business teams also keeping track of what's coming out of the international economic forum that transit is there to bring a small plane just a few minutes. president medvedev announces that the government is planning to privatized more of its assets and move toward a more open economy more live from st petersburg coming up. u.s. congress members of threatening to cut funding for america's military campaign in libya which is racking up a bill of ten million dollars a day but the white house is refusing to ask for congressional approval of military action which is required by law the president is allowed ninety days before asking permission and that runs out this week and. explains. u.s. lawmakers are saying that preside

political competition let's media freedom of course that all adds to the push for money the station as well tenuous and thank you very much for being with us here at the economic forum will continue our coverage for the rest of today and tomorrow as the world's modern innovators top business executives and world leaders gather to face the challenges facing the modern world the force. and he's now if they're not his business team is also keeping track of what's coming out of the international economic forum on a consistent basis transit is their forests. president said. better announces that the government is planning to privatized more bizarre sets and move toward a more open economy more live from see petersburg coming up. and china may be the world's emerging past but its leader still sees the global recovery is slow and fragile and more reform is needed he has been speaking out that economic forum in some petersburg a day off the failing to agree on a major energy deal with russia production crew is an expert in russia china relations and he's told us that he's optimistic about the deal it'll just take a bit of time. because asia will be tough there will be a lot

political competition and media freedom of course that all adds to the push for modernization as well tenuous reason thank you very much for being with us here at the economic forum will continue our coverage over the rest of today and tomorrow as the world's modern innovators top business executives and world leaders gather to face the challenges facing the modern world and of course the clock. and i think petersburg and the aussies business team is also keeping track of what's coming out of the international economic forum i'm not trying to use that. president medvedev announces that the government is planning to privatized more of its assets and move toward a more open economy more live from st petersburg coming up. to get some more insight on the economic forum in some petersburg coming from the international federation for pete's consideration based here in moscow good to see you so corruption is one of the issues the president of the brought up of the conference saying that it's one of russia's main stumbling blocks that is basically preventing or slowing modernization and that of foreign investment he think if you think would be a political cleansing strat

media freedom of course that all adds to the push for monetization as well tenuous susan thank you very much for being with us live here at the economic forum will continue our coverage for the rest of today and tomorrow as the world's modern innovators stop this executive from world leaders gather to face the challenges facing the modern world and of course the top. parties business team is also keeping track of what's coming out of the international economic forum that president is there for us. president medvedev announces. the government is planning to privatized more of it and move toward a more open economy more live from st petersburg coming up. china may be the world's emerging powerhouse but its leaders still sees the global recovery is slow and fragile and more reform is needed he tells been speaking at the economic forum there in some petersburg after failing to agree on a major energy deal with russia talked about you q. is an expert in russia china relations and he's told us he's optimistic about the deal it'll just take a bit of time. there will be time there will be a lot of currents that need to be determined negotiated it t

media freedom of course that all adds to the push for modernization assaults and you'll to say thank you very much for being with us live here at the economic forum we'll continue our coverage over the rest of today and tomorrow as the world's modern innovators top business executives and world leaders gather to face the challenges facing the modern world and of course the economy. are he's in he's an hour looking at that what business team is also keeping track of what's coming out of the international economic forum much as it is also. president medvedev announces that the government is planning to privatizing more bizarre sets and move toward a more open economy while more live from st petersburg having. you with artsy now china may be the world's emerging powerhouse but its leader still sees the global recovery as slow and fragile more form is needed hu jintao has been speaking at the economic forum in st petersburg as we've been reporting this a day after failing to agree on a major energy deal with russia talked about g. is an expert in russia china relations he told us he's optimistic about the deal but will just take a bit more time. lega

freedom coalition. it's wrapping up today in washington. our deputy mripolitical direct paul steinhauser will join us in an hour from that forum. >>> john edwards said he was wrong but he did not break the law. the former presidential candidate is facing an indictment, prosecutors accusing him of using campaign money to hide an affair with the campaign worker that he fathered a child with. here now, our joe johns. >> reporter: t.j., john edwards was one of the last candidates standing in the 2008 race for the democratic nomination. this time he was standing up in court, facing a six-count indictment. the government has charged him with conspiracy, making false statements, the government also says he took illegal campaign contributions, hundreds of thousands of dollars of donations from two individuals in the order to cover up an affair he had with rielle hunter during a time when his wife elizabeth was sick and dying of cancer. edwards and his defense team signaled quite quickly they were going to fight these charges. first they entered a not guilty plea and then edwards addressed the cameras. >> there's no question that i've done wrong, and i

agitate in every forum you could find because only one that great debate between freedom and socialismas been settled among the american people will we have a congress and the president fully resolved to save our country. lincoln gave that famous house divided his speech to the republican state convention of illinois. he ended with these words that today seem just as much intended for us as it was for the audience that day. he said dennis -- two years ago the republicans of this nation must turn over 1300 thousand strong. we did this under the symbol and costs of resistance to a common danger with every external circumstance against us, of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered and fought the battle through under the constant hot fire of a disciplined, proud, and tampered enemy. did we brave all bend to falter now? now when the same enemy is d?vering, dishevele if we stand firm, we shall not fail. wise counsels and accelerate, or mistakes delighted, but sooner or later the victory is to come. i believe that ronald reagan was right. the history of the past four cent