Fordham Conversations

This week, we look at how retailers, the government and others know so much

about us--an exploration of data mining, with Fordham computer

scientist Gary Weiss. Also, the future of reputation in the internet

age.

Do you get your news from Jon Stewart? Do you know the meaning of the word "truthiness"? You're not alone – satire shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report inform the way we think like never before. We talk with Fordham communication and media studies professor Jonathan Gray about the phenomenon, why it's happening, and why now. He's one of the editors of the book Satire TV (NYU Press).

and flu-avoidant adults…they’re a major public health issue, especially right

now. We talk with Fordham economist Troy Tassier about what we know, and what

we think we know, about epidemics and

vaccines. Also, saying goodbye to one of the Bronx’s most high-flown residents.

at crime novels, that thing they do to us, and what they say about the way we

look at families. Lenny Cassuto, Fordham english professor and the author of

"Hard Boiled Sentimentality: The Secret History of American Crime

Stories", joins me in the studio.

New York City's schools are notoriously troubled, but within that we

can find stories of scrappy schools that turned themselves around. One

such school is Brooklyn elementary school PS 335, in Bedford

Stuyvesant. We speak with principal Laverne Nimmons about the school, the neighborhood and how they're helping their students overcome often-difficult circumstances.

This week on the show, we look at intellectual property law, where it's

going, and why we should be nervous about that--my guest is James

Boyle, the author of "the Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the

Mind" (Yale).  Also, how to avoid your summer being an endless nightmare

of mosquito bites, with Fordham researcher Tom Daniels.

Now that the seemingly endless rain has (knock

wood) let up, we step outside again, with conversations about green building,

and about how common plants are being affected by climate change.

This week on Fordham Conversations, two looks at what housing

speculation does to neighborhoods. My guests are Beryl Satter, author

of "Family Properties: Race, Real Estate and the Exploitation of Black

Urban America" (Metropolitan Books), and Jim Buckley, the executive

director of the University Neighborhood Housing Program in the Bronx.

If someone were to ask you to describe yourself, what would you

say? If you're a member of an ethnic or racial minority, chances are

it's more likely to include your race...but that might change at

different times of the day. We talk with Fordham psychologist Tiffany

Yip about ethnic identity among New York City teens.

think—with Fordham theologian Clair McPherson. Also, getting to know Brooklyn’s

Hasidic community with Fordham anthropologist Ayala Fader.