Fordham Conversations

This week on Fordham Conversations we talk to Fordham professor and filmmaker Mark Street about his film Hasta Nunca and how it was made. The film tells the story of a middle aged DJ in Uruguay who hosts a call-in radio show. Throughout Hasta Nunca, people reveal their secrets and insecurities on air. 

  Fordham Conversations examines the issues of school bullying and teen suicide. Loyola High School English and Philosophy teacher Christian Gregory completed a cross country bike tour to raise awareness about the problems of bullying. and Fordham University Psychology Professor Doctor Peggy Andover has done research that focuses on the risk factors and differences between non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and attempted suicide."  Claudia Morell Hosts.

American Catholic religious sisters have had a dramatic impact on the Catholic church. From building parochial schools to pioneering higher education for women, Catholic sisters have expanded their ministries since the Second Vatican Council’s called for renewal in the 1960s. Recently Fordham university hosted a panel discussion that examined how the sisters’ ministry has changed the face of the church and what they are called to do today. Robin Shannon hosts.

Fordham Conversations Host Robin Shannon and Fordham University Professor Mark Naison discuss his new book “Pure Bronx”.   It’s a story about a young couple and the means they use to try and escape the poverty, desperation, and frustration that can sometimes come with living in New York City’s poorest borough. 

Behind every Veteran is their family and an urge to cherish their memory. This week on Fordham Conversations we are discussing the Veteran's Writing Workshop's anthology "On The Homefront." The Veteran's Writing Workshop is a program started by David Surface that lets New York Veterans share their stories. The program is a successful writing workshop, but it also offers a little more. Robin Shannon talks to some of the writers of "On The Homefront," Julia Rust, Natalie Edelhouser, and Laura Rossi, as they share their personal stories about having their fathers serve in the US militar

Robert "Bob" Dotson is a New York Times bestselling author, teacher and television journalist. Last year he retired from his long running series, "The American Story with Bob Dotson," on the NBC "Today" Show after 40 years.  He has won hundreds of awards and shown a commitment to training students with a series of video workshops that began over 30 years ago.  And he’s continued that tradition in a number of ways, including writing the book "Make It Memorable," which is one of the most widely used textbooks on broadcast writing.  Bob Dotson paid a visit to Fordham University's campus in the Bronx where he displayed his fantastic, storytelling ability and offered great advice to a classroom full of excited journalism students.  

This week on Fordham Conversations Bronx Borough Historian Lloyd Ultan discusses the history of the Grand Concourse. Then Patrice Kane, Head of Archives and Special Collections at Fordham's Library talks about one of the Bronx's most famous residents, Edgar Allen Poe.

I bet you never thought the Harlem Shake has a spiritual message built into it, but Fordham University Professor Thomas Beaudoin says it's a "Spiritual Sleeper," a song with a hidden meaning. This week on Fordham Conversations, Professor Beaudoin talks about other Spiritual Sleepers and his Rock and Theology Project.

Fordham Conversations Host Robin Shannon talks with Fordham Public Relations Professor Steve Horowitz and students Lauren Hutt and Katherine Graham about the best way to brand yourself for success in the job market.

WFUV's Will Germain talks with veterans Carlos Gonzalez, Ameer Vincent and Dan Hodd about what it's like to join the military serve overseas and then go back to school at Fordham. 

Fordham Conversations Host Robin Shannon sits down with Fordham University Alumni and Author Joseph Finora to discuss his murder mystery "Red Like Wine, The North Fork Harbor Vineyard Murders."  

On this week’s Fordham Conversations we hear from NPR Correspondent Lynn Neary. The veteran reporter reflects on her career and offers advice to young Journalist.

Fordham Conversations Host Robin Shannon sits down with Fordham Professor Dr. Emily Rosenbaum and Albert Einstein College of Medicine Assistant Professor Dr. Earle Chambers. The professors collaborated on a study that identifies how public housing may affect the health of Latinos living in the Bronx.

Fordham Conversations Host Robin Shannon talks with Social Worker, Advocate and Fordham Alumni Casey Berna. She discusses her battle with endometriosis and her documentary “Endo-truth: The Impact of Endometriosis and Infertility on Mental Health.”

What comes to mind when you think of political campaign strategies? Stump speeches? Collecting endorsements? Putting out TV commercials slamming opponents? Regardless, what probably doesn’t come to mind is big data. In today’s social media-driven world, we’re putting a lot of information about ourselves on the internet. And increasingly, campaigns are taking advantage of all that information in some surprising ways. Fordham Conversations Host Katie Meyer talks with NPR Political Reporter Scott Detrow, who’s been covering the campaign tech beat for months. Scott’s also a Fordham alum, and a former WFUV reporter

You may not be familiar with the name Edward Gorey, but the work of this 20th century artist and author is legendary.  Gorey lived in New York City in the 1950’s and 1960s where he illustrated works like Dracula by Bram Stoker, The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells, and Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. That book was later turned into the Broadway Musical “Cats,” one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history.  Gorey was also well-known for his animated introduction to the PBS series Mystery!  He also won a Tony Award for his designs in the Broadway production of Dracula.  Later, Gorey retired as a “reluctant recluse,” according to Fordham Professor Travis Russ.  He is the founding member of “The Life Jacket Theatre Company,” which is bringing Gorey’s legendary life to the stage. Fordham Conversations Host Robin Shannon sits down with Writer/Director Travis Russ and actor Andrew Dawson, who plays one version of the endearing artist in “Gorey: The Secret Lives of Edward Gorey.”  

In 1946 Ed Rohs was left at a Catholic orphanage in pre-World War II Brooklyn.   That's where he spent the next 19-years of his life going from one institution to another until he was “unceremoniously dumped out into the world.”   Fordham Conversations Host Robin Shannon talks with Rohs about his book “Raised by the Church.”  It delves into the history of orphanages, and Rohs speaks for some of the thousands of baby-boomers taken in by the catholic institutions in New York City.

Football is more than just a game to most Americans.   Whether we play it or watch it football can be a reflection of America’s character.  And sometimes that reflection is hard to take.  Fordham Conversations Host Robin Shannon talks with Anthropology Professor Hugo Benavides about the culture of American Football in relation to symbolism, gender and more.

With each generation of veterans, come different needs and challenges for the organizations created to assist them.  Fordham Conversations Robin Shannon talks with Dan McSweeney the President of the United War Veterans Council about what his organization is doing to help veterans readjust to civilian life. an life.   

The International Dyslexia Association defines dyslexia as "a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin."  But members of a boarding school for dyslexic students in Dutchess County, New York don’t use the term “disability.”   They prefer to call it a “way to learn differently.”  On this week’s Fordham Conversations we discuss the issue of dyslexia with three people who have first-hand knowledge of the condition. Fordham Alumn Kevin Pendergast is the Headmaster of the Kildonan School, a boarding school that empowers students with dyslexia. Dave Flink is the Executive Director of Eye-to-Eye, a national grass roots mentoring program. August Hunt is in his senior year at Kildonan.