so those are the connections, and speaking of writers, i do want again to acknowledge paul alexander who is a treasured teacher here at hunter and has -- this is his second produced symposium for roosevelt house. last year he presented a symposium on silvia plath which was enormously well received and if anyone is curious about those sessions they are available perpetually on the roosevelt house website. so be assured you will be able to pick up a copy of bitter crop upstairs during the breaks and also books by our special guest this morning. so, paul, thank you for everything you did to bring us here, and i invite you to please, take it away. ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome and thank paul alexander. [ applause ] >> welcome, everyone, to the billie holiday symposium at hunter college. as harold said, i'm the author of this new book, and -- first of all, this picture up here is from billie when she was recording -- it was the recording session where she recorded "strange love." she may have been singing it at that point. as harold said, fdr was her favorite president and eleanor w

and by the way the brand new book by our convener host paul alexander is really what brings us together today. so i am going to hold up better crop his extraordinary new account of billie holiday's fine final year doesn't that look like an album cover when were all younger it's brilliant concept. i love it. welcome also to michael meeropol margo jefferson and my friend david margolick. it's so great to have you all here as well. so as of last night have more than 1200 people registered in person or online for this event. we've never had a response quite like this paul. i have a feeling it's mostly billie but all tribute to you as well. i know some of you are many of you are on zoom. many of you are on zoom. some of you may be overflow rooms during day and evening, but please be patient. stay where you are. stay tuned because the conversation and the commentary and the performances are going to be truly amazing. again billie really liked fdr and maybe because fdr was the first president to actually contemporary music. oh yes. his favorite singer may have been kate smith. at least that's

paul of it. and i'll be very the need of austria's fluoride freedom policy has been asked by the countries president to form a government follows a meeting between the policies lead habit, typical president alexander of the ballon, the pro russia freedom policy, one the most seats in september as bottom entry election. so i need a voice mail from vienna. a step into the on no. yes, have a giggle, the leader of the far right freedom policy met with the austrian president. it was a stock reminder of the only option left to form a government. hey. mr. kinslow, this confident you can find viable solutions within the framework of government negotiations and he wants to be sent sponsibility. he's asked him about to explicitly go ahead of thoughts with given with caution. this is how they minute these and she did not take me step likely. i will continue to ensure that the principles and rules of the constitution are correctly observed that outside hundreds of pickles, opponents of ages gather to voice. this is what a freedom policy like government would entail a policy that was founded in the 1950s by the nazis anti reason legacy of that history. it is to immigration, nationalist, populism. a will words