One of

your new years resolutions might have been to get more in touch with

your heritage...but if you're Irish-American, what does that mean

exactly? We talk with author Peter Quinn about Irish-American identity;

and we look at what playing the tin whistle does for your Irishness.

A look at the

“mommy wars?, and how—and why-- we look at working mothers the way we do today. My guest is Fordham historian Kirsten Swinth.

Christmas time is toy time...but what are we playing at when we talk about toys? An look at the

emergence of the modern toy industry with Fordham historian David

Hamlin. Also, we'll look at why it is that jingles are so memorable.

We take a look at--and pay a visit to--

the Hasidic neighborhood of Boro Park, Brooklyn. Our tour guide is

Fordham anthropologist Ayala Fader--she's working on a book about

Yiddish among Hasidic girls and women.

Did you

ask for an X-Files box set for christmas

this year? Spending Hanukah with your giant Darth Vader cutout? Mapping

out

your holiday drive so that you never lose NPR reception? Then you might

be...a fan.

We explore fandom with Fordham professor Jonathan Gray. He’s one of the

editors

of the book “Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World.?

This week on Fordham Conversations...Birdsong. We speak with Fordham

Biologist Alan Clark about the songs that

penguins sing to each other--and we visit a canary singing competition

in Michigan.

Feel like taking a walk? How about a 275 mile walk? We’ll speak to

author and Fordham grad Chris Lowney about his pilgrimage to Santiago de

Compostela; and for those of us who can’t even seem to get out of bed on

these wintry mornings, a look at how seasonal light affects our bodies,

and what we can do about it.

A crash course in Low Power FM, media activism, pirate radio and why we should care about it, with Christina Dunbar-Hester, of  Fordham's McGannon Communication Research Center.

We get our freak on with a post-halloween conversation about the

American Freak Show, with Fordham English professor Leonard Cassuto.

We look at AIDS in Malawi,

with filmmakers Doug Karr and Eddie Boyce. Their new film follows Fordham

Law School’s

Crowley Scholars on their 2007 mission to Malawi

to study the effects of AIDS on women there.