Exploring a Future Tech Dystopia with Kashmir Hill
Air Dates: February 1-7, 2021
We live in an age increasingly defined by the intrusion of technology in our lives. Kashmir Hill is a technology journalist whose work explores the looming tech-dystopia—and how we can avoid it.
Kashmir Hill is a New York-based technology reporter who writes about the unexpected and sometimes ominous ways technology is changing our lives, particularly when it comes to our privacy. She joined The New York Times in 2019 after working as an investigative reporter at Gizmodo Media Group and as a writer and editor at Fusion, Forbes Magazine, and Above the Law. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker and The Washington Post. In 2018, she gave the TED talk, “What your smart devices know—and share—about you,” in which she described what happened when she transformed her apartment into a smart home and monitored the data being sent out of it. She hold degrees from Duke University and New York University, where she studied journalism.
On this episode of “Story in the Public Square,” Hill discusses federal regulation on tech companies and the data they can collect from users in the United States. She says, “…tech companies have trying to prevent regulation of [data collection] and the analysis of data.” She adds, “…I think it is a hard issue to legislate or regulate [because] there are so many gray zones…and the technology to analyze information we’ve put out there is getting better and better, so the way it can be used can be more harmful.
“Story in the Public Square” broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. A full listing of the national television distribution is available at this link. In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. An audio version of the program airs Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m. ET, Sundays at 3:30 a.m. & 11:30 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. “Story in the Public Square” is a partnership between the Pell Center and The Providence Journal. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.
Remain in Love with the Talking Heads’ Chris Frantz
Air Dates: January 25-31, 2021
The music scene in the 1970s and 1980s is now the stuff of legend—from disco to the rise of hip hop, punk, and new wave, innovation and artistry dominated pop music. Chris Frantz was in the middle of it all as a founding member of Talking Heads.
Frantz is one of the Talking Heads band’s founding members. As the drummer, he provided the backbeat for all of the group’s recordings and performances. Frantz formed the Talking Heads with David Byrne, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison in New York City and built a sizeable following, signing a deal with Sire Records. The group issued early new wave classics including, “Talking Heads: 77,” “More Songs About Buildings and Food,” “Fear of Music,” “Remain in Light.” The Talking Heads also produced hit albums, “Speaking in Tongues,” “Stop Making Sense,” “Little Creatures,” and “True Stories,” among others. Frantz also launched a side project, the Tom Tom Club with Weymouth. The duo issued a major hit with the track “Genius of Love” off their self-titled 1981 debut album. Frantz and Weymouth have co-produced with other artists, including Ziggy Marley, los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Happy Mondays, and Angelfish. Frantz’ drumming can also be heard on releases by Byrne, Brian Eno, and Robert Palmer. The Talking Heads were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Frantz is the author of the recently published, “Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina.”
On this episode of “Story in the Public Square,” Frantz describes the Talking Heads’ “big break,” crediting the CBGBs rock and roll dive bar where they appeared regularly. He says once their band had enough songs composed, he approached the owner, Hilly Kristal, and said, “we have a band and we’d like to audition to play here.” He offered to have the group, which would soon become the Talking Heads, open for The Ramones that weekend. They appeared on the cover of “The Village Voice” and signed their record deal shortly after.
“Story in the Public Square” broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. A full listing of the national television distribution is available at this link. In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. An audio version of the program airs Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m. ET, Sundays at 3:30 a.m. & 11:30 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. “Story in the Public Square” is a partnership between the Pell Center and The Providence Journal. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.
O’Malley publishes “Directors’ Duties and Corporate Anti-Corruption Compliance”
The Pell Center congratulates Dr. Patrick O’Malley on his recently published book, “Directors’ Duties and Corporate Anti-Corruption Compliance: The ‘Good Steward’ in U.S. and U.K. Law and Practice.”
O’Malley is an adjunct fellow at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy and teaches graduate courses in Social Justice and Business Ethics and Business Law at Salve Regina University. A Milan-based international corporate and securities lawyer, he is dual qualified as an attorney both in the United States and in England and Wales and serves a primarily European client base. He also provides professional legal training at business organizations in Europe and the U.S., and occasionally in Africa and Central Asia, focusing on issues of international corporate governance, transparency and global efforts to combat corporate corruption and bribery. O’Malley is currently a candidate for a European doctorate in law.
O’Malley’s book examines the systemic expectations of executive officers and compliance personnel when dealing with anti-bribery, corporate and securities law guidance. He explores good governance developments concerning anti-bribery efforts in the U.S. and the U.K. and compares the fundamental national compliance experiences there, recognizing the expansion of directors’ duties with each new case of corporate malfeasance in both public and private companies.
“Directors’ Duties and Corporate Anti-Corruption Compliance” is published by Edward Elgar Publishing and is available to purchase here.
American Crossroads: What’s Next with Norman Ornstein
Air Dates: January 18-24, 2021
A lot of people believe our politics are broken. Dr. Norman Ornstein says the fault lies squarely with one political party—and will likely shape the course of the Biden administration.
Ornstein is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies politics, elections, and the U.S. Congress. He is a cohost of AEI’s “Election Watch” series, a contributing editor and columnist for National Journal and The Atlantic, a BBC News election analyst, and the chairman of the Campaign Legal Center. He previously served as codirector of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project and senior counselor to the Continuity of Government Commission. A longtime observer and analyst of American politics and the U.S. Congress, he has been involved in political reform for decades, particularly campaign finance reform and the reform of Senate committees. He has also played a part in creating the Congressional Office of Compliance and the House Office of Congressional Ethics. Ornstein was elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004. He is the author of “One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate, and the Not-Yet Deported,” with E. J. Dionne and Thomas E. Mann, “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism;” “The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track,” with Thomas E. Mann and “The Permanent Campaign and Its Future.”
On this episode of “Story in the Public Square,” Ornstein addresses the roots of the dysfunction that currently pervades American politics, saying “…the erosion of the fundamental norms of governance” is largely to blame. He says, “you can have a constitution, you can have laws, you can have rules, but it’s almost like you have an exoskeleton and the norms are the cartilage and the ligaments that keep it all together. If you don’t have those, the skeleton collapses and we’ve seen this erosion of norms and I would say much of it proceeded Donald Trump.”
“Story in the Public Square” broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. A full listing of the national television distribution is available at this link. In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. An audio version of the program airs Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m. ET, Sundays at 3:30 a.m. & 11:30 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. “Story in the Public Square” is a partnership between the Pell Center and The Providence Journal. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.
2021 Spring Event Series Announced
The Pell Center is pleased to announce its 2021 spring event series. Tickets to these events are free and will be available approximately two weeks prior to the event date. All events will take place virtually on the Pell Center’s Facebook page. Please RSVP for each event on the Pell Center’s Eventbrite page and email [email protected] with questions. To be notified when tickets become available, subscribe to our mailing list at the bottom of this page.
Keeping the Faith: The Past and Future of Civil Rights in the United States
Bernard Lafayette, Jr., Civil Rights Activist
Timothy Neary, Salve Regina University Department of History
Izabella I. Mangual-Solivan ’22, President, Salve Regina Student Government Association
January 20, 2021, 5:00 p.m. EST
Location: Facebook.com/PellCenter
Presented in partnership with the Office of Mission Integration at Salve Regina University.
Reading Across Rhode Island Kick Off Event: Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You
Jorge Elorza, Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island
Maureen Nagle, Education Chair, Reading Across Rhode Island
Val Tutson, Honorary Chair, Reading Across Rhode Island
January 26, 2021, 6:30 p.m. EST
Location: Facebook.com/PellCenter
Presented in collaboration with the Rhode Island Center for the Book.
COVID-19 Vaccines: Myths and Reality
Megan Ranney, MD, Brown University
February 10, 2021, 7:00 p.m. EST
Location: Facebook.com/PellCenter
The Future of U.S.-India Relations
Former-U.S. Ambassador Richard Verma
March 3, 2021, 7:00 p.m. EST
Location: Facebook.com/PellCenter
The Impact and Potential of Gaming and E-Sports
Kim Wallace, GameInformer magazine
March 16, 2021, 7:00 p.m. EDT
Location: Facebook.com/PellCenter
*Presented in collaboration with the Salve Regina University eSports club.
*Other events may be added to this series.
Examining Animal Rights in Industrial America with Ernest Freeberg
Air Dates: January 11-17, 2021
The end of the 19th Century in America, is often associated with the rise of profound social movements like the temperance movement; the women’s suffrage movement, and—more darkly—even the eugenics movement. Ernest Freeberg tells the story of the birth of the animal rights movement.
Freeberg is a Distinguished Professor of Humanities at the University of Tennessee and is the award-winning author of “A Traitor to His Species: Henry Bergh and the Birth of the Animal Rights Movement,” which examines ASPCA founder Henry Bergh’s campaign to grant rights to animals in industrial America. He is a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians, has served on the editorial board of the “History of Education Quarterly,” and has produced several public radio documentaries. His research has been supported by grants from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Huntington Library, the Winterthur Museum, Newberry Library, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the Spencer Foundation, Emory University’s Center for Humanistic Inquiry, and others. Freeberg has served as Chief Reader and test development committee member for the College Board’s Advanced Placement U.S. History exam. He is the author of “The Education of Laura Bridgman,” which won the Dunning Prize from the American Historical Association, “Democracy’s Prisoner,” a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist in biography, and winner of both the David Langum Award for Legal History and the Eli Oboler Award from the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Roundtable, and “Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America,” was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2014 by the American Library Association.
On this episode of “Story in the Public Square,” Freeberg describes Henry Bergh’s quest to bring awareness to animal cruelty in industrial America. “For Berg, the real challenge was touching people’s consciences by making [cruelty] visible to them. He felt it was frustratingly easy for them to look away.” He adds that journalists proved to be a powerful tool to share his message with the public.
“Story in the Public Square” broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. A full listing of the national television distribution is available at this link. In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. An audio version of the program airs Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m. ET, Sundays at 3:30 a.m. & 11:30 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. “Story in the Public Square” is a partnership between the Pell Center and The Providence Journal. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.
Grappling with Mental Illness in 20th-Century America with Robert Kolker
Air Dates: January 4-10, 2020
Every family has its secrets. Robert Kolker tells the story of an all-American family in the middle of the 20th century forced to grapple with that era’s stigma and tragic consequences of serious mental illness.
Kolker is the New York Times bestselling author of “Lost Girls,” named one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books and one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Top Ten Books of 2013. His most-recent book, “Hidden Valley Road,” a number-one New York Times bestseller and Oprah’s Book Club selection, was published in 2020. His 2006 investigation into sexual abuse in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community helped bring an abuser to justice and was nominated for a National Magazine Award. His exploration of an eighteen-year murder-exoneration case and the police tactics that can lead to false confessions received the Harry Frank Guggenheim 2011 Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Award from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Other articles of note include the police shooting of Sean Bell, a close look at New York’s homelessness epidemic, and New York’s cover stories on airport safety and security, and Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s Miracle on the Hudson. Kolker’s journalism has appeared in New York magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Times Magazine, Wired, and The Marshall Project.
On this episode of “Story in the Public Square,” Kolker describes his approach to writing gripping, humane narratives, saying, “I’m non-prosecutorial, that I’m not interested in finding ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys’ or passing judgment. I’m interested in helping the world understand [these stories and the people in them] better.”
“Story in the Public Square” broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. A full listing of the national television distribution is available at this link. In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. An audio version of the program airs Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m. ET, Sundays at 3:30 a.m. & 11:30 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. “Story in the Public Square” is a partnership between the Pell Center and The Providence Journal. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.
Rose publishes “Developing Special Educators” with Graham, Renaud
The Pell Center is pleased to congratulate Dr. Martha McCann Rose on her recently published book, “Developing Effective Special Educators: Building Bridges Across the Profession,” with authors Dr. Alice Tesch Graham and Dr. Gia Anselmo Renaud.
Dr. Rose and Dr. Graham are professors in the Education Department at Salve Regina University and Dr. Renaud is a professor in the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education at Bridgewater State University. Rose is a faculty fellow at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy and directs the Nuala Pell Leadership Program at the University. During her sixteen years at Salve Regina, she has served on many committees and has been the chair and co-chair for the Education Department and the Dean for the Class of 2017. Rose holds a doctoral degree in special education from the University of Connecticut.
Their book emphasizes the importance of building bridges across the teaching profession, outlining a collaborative program for novice teachers to improve practice and gain insight from veteran colleagues, who stay connected to their profession by sharing their experience. A major theme of the book is the promise of epistemic empathy to sustain professionals in the field and to improve instruction of students with disabilities. This research-based guide offers plans for support and refection that contribute to sustainable personal and professional growth and strong leadership among practitioners at all levels.
“Developing Effective Special Educators: Building Bridges Across the Profession” is published by the Teachers College Press and is available to purchase here.
Navigating Our Future with Big Tech with Alexis Wichowski
Air Dates: December 28-January 3, 2020
Our nationality has long been a part of how we identify ourselves. But Alexis Wichowski surveys the rise of “net states,” big tech companies that are, increasingly, taking on roles traditionally played by nation-states.
Wichowski is a public servant, teacher, and writer. She serves as Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Innovation and Acting Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Broadband for the City of New York. She also serves as an adjunct associate professor in Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, teaching in the Technology, Media, and Communications specialization. She previously served New York City as an Associate Commissioner at the newly established Department of Veterans’ Services and a Disaster Relief Field Responder before and during 9/11. She has also served as Program Officer for the U.S. Department of State’s Office of eDiplomacy and Diplomatic Innovation Division and as Director of Media Analysis & Strategy at the Permanent Mission of the United States to the United Nations during the Obama administration. She regularly conducts research and writes about the impact of media, technology and government. Several of her recent publications include. “Net States Rule the World,” in WIRED, “What Government Can and Should Learn from Hacker Culture,” in The Atlantic and “The U.S. can’t regulate Big Tech companies when they act like nations,” in The Washington Post, among others. Her book, “The Information Trade: How Big Tech Conquers Countries, Challenges Our Rights, and Transforms Our World,” was published in 2020. Wichowski holds a PhD in Information Science from the University at Albany’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences and a BA in Chinese from Connecticut College.
On this episode of “Story in the Public Square,” Wichowski shares advice she would give the incoming Biden administration on tech regulation, saying, “one of the first things I would suggest for the Biden team is to appoint a tech ambassador—this is not something that America has right now.” She says, “engaging with tech companies on a diplomatic level would allow us to negotiate for better terms and conditions than we currently have in existence…not in an adversarial only capacity, but in a way that we can have true dialogues with them.”
“Story in the Public Square” broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. A full listing of the national television distribution is available at this link. In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. An audio version of the program airs Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. & 6:30 p.m. ET, Sundays at 3:30 a.m. & 11:30 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. “Story in the Public Square” is a partnership between the Pell Center and The Providence Journal. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.
Leeman, Hattendorf Publish “Forging the Trident”
The Pell Center is pleased to congratulate Dr. William Leeman on his recently published book, “Forging the Trident: Theodore Roosevelt and the United States Navy,” co-edited with Dr. John Hattendorf of the United States Naval War College.
“Forging the Trident” is a collection of essays on various aspects of Roosevelt’s lifelong relationship with the U.S. Navy written by leading American naval historians including editors Hattendorf and Leeman.
Leeman is an associate professor of history at Salve Regina University and director of the University’s Pell Honors Program. He is also a faculty fellow at the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy. Leeman is the author of “The Long Road to Annapolis: The Founding of the Naval Academy and the Emerging American Republic,” which was published in 2010. He earned his Ph.D. in history from Boston University and previously taught at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Hattendorf is the Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History Emeritus and Senior Advisor at the John B. Hattendorf Center for Maritime Historical Research at the U.S. Naval War College. A former naval officer, he earned his D.Phil. degree in history from the University of Oxford. He is the author or editor of more than 50 books, including the “Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History.”
Salve Regina University hosted the “Forging the Trident: Theodore Roosevelt and the United States Navy” conference in January 2019. Sponsored by the U.S. Naval War College’s Hattendorf Center for Maritime Historical Research and the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy, the conference served as a workshop for the historians who contributed essays to the book.
“Forging the Trident” is published by the Naval Institute Press and is available to purchase here.