At Liberty

Olivia Wilde and Katie Silberman, the director and the writer of the new movie “Booksmart,” joined At Liberty to talk about storytelling, casting without bias, and why "The Big Lebowski" was an inspiration. Wilde is known for her roles on TV shows such as “The O.C.” and “House” and in many films, including the Oscar-winning film “Her.” She is a longtime activist and a board member of the ACLU of Southern California. Katie Silberman has written for TV shows and movies, including “Set It Up” and “Isn’t It Romantic.” This episode was taped live at Brooklyn Public Library.

May 17 marks the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 Supreme Court case that declared state laws enforcing racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Yet more than six decades later, segregation in some public school systems is worse than ever. Dr. Ansley Erickson, associate professor of history and education at Columbia University's Teacher College, joins At Liberty to discuss Brown’s legacy and why desegregation has been so hard to achieve.

Wyatt Cenac is an actor, writer, producer and comedian ("The Daily Show," “Medicine for Melancholy”). He joins At Liberty to discuss balancing comedy and social commentary and his new show “Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas,” now in its second season on HBO.

Mitra Ebadolahi, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Border Litigation Project, joins At Liberty to debunk misconceptions about the border and discuss the fight to hold CBP accountable. For more information visit: www.holdcbpaccountable.org.

A few weeks ago, the ACLU and other civil rights organizations announced a landmark settlement with Facebook to prevent advertisers from using ad-targeting filters based on race, gender, and age on job, housing, and credit ads. But Facebook ads are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the use of algorithms to reinforce and automatize bias. ACLU attorneys Galen Sherwin and Esha Bhandari join At Liberty to discuss the impact of these technologies on people’s lives and fighting discrimination in the digital age.