Fordham Conversations

 a groundbreaking day in the sports world. After Jacob Blake was shot seven times by police, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Bucks made a decisive call: they boycotted their playoff game against Orlando. Soon after, the rest of the league halted for three days. Several other demonstrations in the WNBA and Major League Baseball followed suit. In a year of unrest, athletes have not shied away from the spotlight. The overarching question: how do their symbolic gestures turn into systemic change? Mark Conrad is the Director of the Sports Business Program at Fordham.

He joins Fordham Conversations host Emmanuel Berbari to discuss the relationship between professional sports, racial injustice and the agency of the modern athlete.

A month ago, the Patriot League announced the suspension of all Fall sports. Several major collegiate conferences have followed suit. The highly debatable question of risk versus reward continues to drive the conversation. Only six conferences still plan to play Fall football. The ACC, Big 12, Conference USA, SEC AAC and Sun Belt Conference. For Fordham, the Patriot League’s announcement sparked a quick adjustment. A transition from quickly revving up for a shortened season to potentially nothing at all. Fordham Football head coach Joe Conlin enters his third season at Rose Hill. Now, he’s leading a team in an unprecedented time. Following that discussion, Interim Director of Athletics Ed Kull provides an administrative perspective. They both join Fordham Conversations host Emmanuel Berbari.

There's growing concern about the disproportionate impact of coronavirus on Black and Brown people, immigrants, and others who make up the majority of Bronx residents. That’s one of the many reasons The Bronx Covid-19 Oral History Project exists. The group of Fordham University students, scholars, and community leaders are making it their goal to capture the voices of the borough’s residents. The initiative's intent is to better understand how the Global Pandemic is impacting Bronx communities.

Fordham Conversations host Robin Shannon talks with The Bronx Covid 19 Oral History Project's Executive Committee. They include Carlos Rico, Veronica Quiroga and Faculty Advisors Dr Mark Naison.

Over the last several months, Fordham Conversations has stayed strong during the COVID-19 pandemic. Every week, we catch up with guests remotely and shed light on the Fordham Community. We uncover on the ongoing efforts on campus to grapple with issues that impact our world.

This week, we relive two special guests: Fordham Professor of Political Science and Director of the Master’s Program in Elections and Campaign Management, Monika McDermott and Fordham Interim Director of Athletics Ed Kull. Joining Fordham Conversations host Emmanuel Berbari, McDermott details how the pandemic has thrown a wrench into an election year and discusses the integrity of absentee voting, while Kull reacts to the suspension of Fall sports at Fordham—with recent news coming out of the Patriot League and Atlantic 10. They both join host Emmanuel Berbari.

Fordham Conversations guest host David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, talks with author Jack Jenkins. His new book, "American Prophets: The Religious Roots of Progressive Politics and the Ongoing Fight for the Soul of the Country," looks at how the Religious Left is actually the moral compass that has long steered America’s political debates. It is published by HarperOne.

Three years after leaving Massachusetts Institute of Technology amid the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, Peter Cohen is still battling against media outlets and looking to clear his name. Ronan Farrow’s 2019 article in The New Yorker linked Cohen to the Epstein donations, forcing him to leave Brown University as well. Cohen’s recent story in Quillette points out alleged inaccuracies in Farrow’s reporting and explains the mechanisms that allow flawed figures to donate large sums to universities and, in turn, the institutions to thrive. Cohen discusses both topics and what’s been a wild 1,000 days with Fordham Conversations host Emmanuel Berbari. 

When the COVID-19 outbreak took center stage in March, the sudden halt of college athletics impacted many student-athletes, staff and administrators. Fordham Softball’s Madie Aughinbaugh was looking to defend her Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year and win four conference titles in four years. Fordham Interim Director of Athletics Ed Kull takes over the department amid an unprecedented time in sports after Dave Roach’s retirement at the end of June.

Fordham Conversations host Emmanuel Berbari joins both key figures in the Fordham Athletics community to discuss how they plan to move forward

The Advanced Placement Program allows High School students to take college-level courses. Fordham Conversations host Robin Shannon talks with Fordham University Professor Nicholas Tampio. He explains why college courses differ in important ways from AP courses.

Nicholas Tampio is a professor of political science at Fordham University, specializing in the history of political thought, contemporary political theory and education policy. He is the author of Common Core: National Education Standards and the Threat to Democracy and Learning Versus the Common Core.

The Coronavirus pandemic has created political uncertainty that could drastically impact voter turnout and behavior. The debate over a nationwide mail-in election is taking shape, while fears of voter fraud have rained in from levels as high as the White House.

Monika L. McDermott is a Professor of Political Science at Fordham University and an election night polling analyst at CBS News. She also runs the M.A. program in Elections and Campaign Management.

Joining Fordham Conversations host Emmanuel Berbari, McDermott uncovers how the 2020 election will take shape with the various voting obstacles in place, responds to recent mistrust in polling information and details her responsibilities at Fordham, CBS News and the authorship of a recent book, “Masculinity, Femininity and American Political Behavior.”

New York City lost one of it's trusted, hometown, news voices when Richard Hake died on April 24, 2020. The WNYC's Morning Edition Host began his public radio career at WFUV, while a Fordham University student. Fordham Conversations Host Robin Shannon talked with a few colleagues and friends, in loving memory of Richard Scott Hake.  They are Annmarie Fertoli, Beth Knobel, Miyan Levenson , Chuck Singleton and Julianne Welby.