On Thursday 25th, the MA Arts & Culture class will be interviewing musician Garland Jeffreys at the radio studio in Columbia Journalism School. Tune in at 10:00AM to listen to the show, and participate in the conversation by calling to 646 716 6968 or sending your questions via Twitter to @ArtsCultBeat. 

Garland Jeffreys has influenced multiple generations of musicians since the 1970s when he busted onto the scene in 1973 with the hit, "Wild in the Streets," which is making an appearance in the upcoming Netflix show "The Get Down." Growing up in Brooklyn, he attended Syracuse University as an art history major where he became friends with Lou Reed. While the mainstream does not know about him, he has worked with musicians such as Bruce Springsteen and David Johansen from the legendary New York Dolls. His 2011 album The King of in between was a considered one of the best of the year and given a significant promotional push, which included an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. He tours around the world and plans to tour along the East Coast in March. He has maintained a level of critical acclaim and success that has allowed him to navigate a career with artistic integrity.

Filmmaker Saad Khan discusses his documentary career, which focuses on sexual minorities in his native Pakistan.

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Listen in as ArtsCultureBeat talks with spitfire actor, writer, and producer Reverend Billy Talen of Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir and Choir member and activist Dragonfly (aka Miss Justice Jester). For nearly two decades, performance artist Reverend Billy has staged protests in the style of Evangelical sermons passionately agitating against wide-ranging sins such environmental exploitation, commercialism, and police brutality. He's been an NYC mayoral candidate, the subject of the documentary "What Would Jesus Buy?," and he's been arrested more than 70 times, most recently at a Black Lives Matter protest at Grand Central Terminal. He's joined by Dragonfly , longtime Choir member and activist, a leader in the Ferguson protests. Her hug of a Ferguson riot cop in front of the police station, which was a mutual hug, was seen by many millions, picked up by AP, "New Yorker." Now, just before the launch of Reverend Billy's “Faster, Monsanto! Die! Die!” world tour, Reverned Billy and Dragonfly talk to ArtsCultureBeat’s Vanessa Quirk and Yashica Dutt about activism, acting, and the blurry line between playing and becoming a character.

Join us for a lively conversation with wide-ranging actor Reg E. Cathey. Best known for his for his roles as Norman Wilson (right-hand-man to Mayor Carcetti) in The Wire, Freddy Hayes (of Freddy's BBQ) in House of Cards, and Martin Querns in Oz, Cathey also has a rich career on stage, recently starring as Prospero in a production of Shakespeare's The Tempest. Cathey has also been a core participant in the Theater of War project, which presents staged readings of anciet Greek tragedies for audiences of service members and civilians as a way of opening up issues related to the experience of war. He talks to ArtsCultureBeat's Miriam Hall and Sara Elkamel about acting for stage, screen, and soldiers.

Arts Culture Beat is the web magazine of the Arts & Culture MA Seminar at Columbia Journalism School.

The decision by the NBC television network to suspend superstar news anchor Brian Williams for six months without pay has prompted a closer look at the US network news culture, and the very future of the TV news business. 

Today, Betsy West teaches journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York. It’s a gentle and prestigious place for aspiring young reporters. But after 30 years as a top-level producer, reporter and documentarian for ABC, CBS and PBS, this 21 time Emmy award winner is intimately familiar with the rough and tumble stratosphere of an industry whose most trusted public face until last week may have been Brian Williams.

West was a CBS senior vice president in 2005 when iconic news anchor Dan Rather was forced out for getting a story wrong. She says those past controversies differ in one significant way with the digital age outcry over Brian Williams’ public “misremembering.”