Culture in the Round
Like all vital nonprofit organizations, the Forum on Life, Culture & Society (FOLCS) was born out of a need for conversation. The FOLCS podcast, “Culture in the Round,” brings FOLCS directly to your ears.
Our Conversations and other Event Series are reminiscent of New York culture as it once was: active, alive, participatory, communal, and super smart. And that’s why we are able to draw such culturally relevant and distinguished guests to our live and virtual stages. They, too, know that FOLCS provides a unique and enriching experience — one that is symbiotic and captivating.
FOLCS goes where the ideas go.
Episodes
Episode 1: Law of the Land 2025 – The Supreme Court Year in Review
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 discrimination. FOLCS was joined by Touro constitutional law scholar and professor, Tiffany Graham; Georgetown Law School Dean, William Treanor; Supreme Court advocate and former Deputy Solicitor General of the United States, Neal Katyal, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, Jeffrey Rosen, and moderated by Touro law professor and legal analyst Thane Rosenbaum. This program was co-produced with 92NY.>
Episode 2: A Conversation on the Jeffery Epstein Story
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 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 , 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.