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
Venezuela spirals into economic and political chaos Venezuela, a country whose potential for prosperity is unmatched, finds itself on the verge of civil war. What sustains the repressive government? With time running out, guest host León Krauze looks at what the international community can do to pull the country from the edge of collapse.
To the Point
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?