We like to talk about how New York is vibrant and alive...but the flipside of that is that it's NOISY. We visit noise researcher Arline Bronzaft to chat about why noise is so bad in the city and how it affects us; also, we try to hear about what New Yorkers think about noise in their lives.

When you're feeling depressed, do you go to the movies? In the 1930s, that's what America did! We'll revisit the films of the depression, and talk about what they meant to people.

97 years ago this week, more than 100 workers died when New York’s Triangle Shirtwaist Factory caught fire. The fire was a catalyst for both labor organizing and factory safety improvements, and the worst workplace disaster until September 11, 2001. This week on Fordham Conversations, we look back on that fire…and talk about what we can take from it today.

When you think of the beginning of the modern world…you don’t tend to think of the middle ages. But author Thomas Cahill says that’s just when it began. We talk with him about his book Mysteries of the Middle Ages—it’s out in paperback this week from Anchor Books.

Sure, we all know that the President is one of the most important people in the world...but what does the Presdident DO, exactly? As we get ready for another round of primaries and eventually to actually vote a new one in, we look with Fordham Political Scientist Jeffrey Cohen on what the job really entails. Also, we talk with some New Yorkers about what they think the president does--and should be doing.