New York University
Professor of History and Social Studies at New York University and author of Freedom's Orator: Mario Savio and the Radical Legacy of the 1960's
PROFILE
Robert Cohen
Guest
FROM Robert Cohen
To the Point
How do we remember 9/11? What should history teach? It's been 15 years since the brilliant September morning that upended American life and set George W. Bush on the road to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. This election year, millions of first-time voters will have little or no memory of an event traumatized the country and changed so much about the world. View across the south pool of the National September 11 Memorial in New York City towards the adjacent National September 11 Memorial Museum. Photo by Norman B How do we remember the victims and first responders who gave their lives at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania? And the unintended victims: Muslim-Americans who live under the shadow of 9/11, in a presidential campaign when anti-Muslim feeling has once again come to the fore?
To the Point
New Campus Activism Strikes Many Nerves In the 1960's, non-violent student protesters required an entire semester to force UC Berkeley to guarantee free speech on campus. This week, at the University of Missouri, it took just 48 hours for a strike by the football team to force the president's resignation. Around the country, there's new round of campus activism aimed at systemic racism that black students say makes their lives intolerable. But critics say some protesters won't tolerate the opinions of others — compromising that right to free speech won 50 years ago.
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To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
To the Point
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
Trump's new look at civil rights and global warming President Trump is reportedly ready to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. We look at the possible consequences. On the second half of the program, we hear about cuts in Obama-Era civil rights programs called for by the Trump Administration's first budget plan.