Making Sense Of This Moment
Culture in the Round
Across the country, streets have became stages for a new wave of dissent and protest against ICE, as demonstrators demanded an end to mass deportations, detention centers, and the very existence of the agency. Newly at the center of this fury were the killings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis. As federal forces responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and mass arrests, lawsuits were arguing that these tactics were a direct attack on the First Amendment. ICE maintained that they were enforcing federal immigration laws and protesters are deliberately...
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An Extraordinary Legacy: Honoring Robert Redford and "Ordinary People"
Culture in the Round
Released in 1980, the film not only marked a powerful transition in Redford’s career but also redefined the American family drama, earning four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Redford, and Best Supporting Actor for Timothy Hutton (then just 20, and still the youngest recipient of that award). Ordinary People is renowned for its subtle, deeply moving exploration of grief, reconciliation, and healing within a fractured family, brought to life by a remarkable ensemble led by Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch, and Timothy Hutton. The film...
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Conversations on Essential Cinema: Casablanca (with Sharon Stone)
Culture in the Round
Casablanca (1942) is one of the world’s most beloved films, and widely considered the best screenplay ever produced. The film has been immortalized not merely for its 1943 Best Picture Academy Award win, but for the way this World War II love story, improbably with Morocco as its backdrop, showcases so many memorable lines and startling images – blending both romance and suspense in one smokey cafe. Casablanca uses its characters, including the love triangle at the heart of the story, to expose the many complex political dilemmas of the early 1940s, with the Nazis imposing...
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Wanna Bet On It?
Culture in the Round
A Supreme Court decision in 2018 forever transformed the landscape of sports fandom. For the first time, fans could gamble on games legally; the outcomes of every detail of every contest across a multitude of sports was available to wager on. Sports betting and its platforms today comprise an industry worth over $100 billion worldwide. While sports betting has increased engagement among fans, it has also raised many questions, such as: How does legalized betting transform the way fans follow their favorite sports and teams? Does having money on the line compromise the...
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A Conversation on the Jeffrey Epstein Story
Culture in the Round
Today, everyone knows the infamous name, Jeffrey Epstein. But back in 2005, however, when initial police investigations into the frequent presence of young girls at his mansion took place, Epstein was largely anonymous to the general public, although his wealthy celebrity friends seemed to know what was happening behind the gates to his many homes. His victims hired lawyers, who hired private investigators, but the legal system gave Epstein every opportunity to avoid punishment for his crimes. News of this harrowing sex trafficking story garnered mainstream attention after a Miami reporter...
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Law of the Land 2025 - The Supreme Court Year in Review
Culture in the Round
It was yet another blockbuster year for the Supreme Court, filled with emergency challenges to many of President Trump’s Executive Orders, testing presidential authority in immigration, deportation, and the slashing of the federal budget. The Term featured cases on voting rights, transgender rights, the regulation of “ghost guns,” parental rights over school curriculum, age verification for internet access, liquid flavored e-cigarettes, Google and Facebook antitrust actions, Mexico’s lawsuit against American gun manufacturers, the storage of nuclear waste, and employment...
info_outlineToday, everyone knows the infamous name, Jeffrey Epstein. But back in 2005, however, when initial police investigations into the frequent presence of young girls at his mansion took place, Epstein was largely anonymous to the general public, although his wealthy celebrity friends seemed to know what was happening behind the gates to his many homes. His victims hired lawyers, who hired private investigators, but the legal system gave Epstein every opportunity to avoid punishment for his crimes.
News of this harrowing sex trafficking story garnered mainstream attention after a Miami reporter reopened the case in late 2018, signaling the beginning of the end of Epstein’s saga of money, influence, and manipulation.
It took significant and remarkable bravery, dedication, and hard work on the part of survivors, attorneys, police officers, investigators, and others to bring the painful details of the case to light, and to express how hard they had to fight to be heard. Many of these individuals went on to provide interviews for Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, the powerful 2020 Netflix docuseries that sets the stage for this luridly continuous sex crime, featuring firsthand narratives from survivors and others who for so long battled for justice and an opportunity to be heard.
On July 29, 2020, FOLCS was joined by survivors’ attorneys, Sigrid McCawley and Spencer Kuvin; Director and Executive Producer of Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, Lisa Bryant; and Senior Editor at the Washington Post, Marc Fisher for a compelling discussion on the many layers of the Epstein affair.