THe Function of Media in a Free Society: Is the Personal (Too) Political?

A veteran journalist, Ellen takes us from a time when the press sheilded the private lives of an FDR and a JFK to the time when the personal has become public with a vengeance. What do we make of cable TV food fights and scandals of the day? Ellen argues for the importance of balancing and deepening the media.

Women and Friendship

Ellen and Patricia O'Brien, authors of the New York Times Best Seller "I Know Just What you Mean: The Power of Friendship in Women's Lives" have treated audiences to a lively discussion on the importance of this under-rated relationship in women's lives. As a duet, they show as well as describe this connection.

Women and Health

Women play many roles in the evolving story of health care in America. They are family caregivers, the intermediaries between children and doctors, husbands and doctors. They make the most of the family decisions about medical care. At the same time, women are patients and research subjects, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.
In the past decades we've seen enormous change in all these areas. We've seen women becoming half the medical students. We've seen nurses struggling to gain more respect for their roles. At the same time, we've seen women as patients coping with the research on hormones. The magic pill that was supposed to keep them young forever now appears to be a danger more than a help.
All of this fits into the pattern of social change that Ellen Goodman has expertly tracked.

Women and Social Change: A Progress Report

Ellen offers a witty and insightful "progress" report from the turbulent front lines of social change. From the myth of Supermom thru the myth of Superwoman, from the halls of Congress to the privacy of the bedroom, she talks about changing American values and analyzes what's happening with men, women and families in today's society.