Tickets
General Ticket: $10
Member Ticket: Free, RSVP Required
“I Want My MTV.” Our Knowledge Friday kicks off this summer season by welcoming MTV cofounder and media mogul Tom Freston! The local bestselling author, anti-poverty advocate, and esteemed board member of several arts and media institutions, invites audiences to peer into his life and experiences as captured in his book UNPLUGGED: Adventures from MTV to Timbuktu. Freston will be joined in conversation by Alessandra Stanley, longtime former writer for The New York Times and co-creator of Air Mail. Following the discussion there will be a Q&A and book signing. Copies of Unplugged will be available for purchase through our community bookseller Book Hampton.
Travelling through Europe and Asia before starting a lucrative clothing export business in Afghanistan and India, Freston was immersed in a diverse cultural landscape before he returned to the United States and landed himself a job with the team that would develop MTV. Overseeing legendary networks like MTV, Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, and others, Freston’s unique career lent itself to a massive cultural impact that transformed our social landscape.
Thanks to campaigns like “I Want My MTV,” in the 1980’s the network became a household staple as popular demand caused cable companies to carry the channel. This transformation shifted the way people consumed music and how musicians promoted their work, leading to a cultural zeitgeist that is currently undergoing another revolution. The media proprietor would go on to become the co-president Viacom, overseeing Paramount Pictures, Famous Music Publishing, and Simon & Schuster, adding to his wealth of experience, insight, and expertise. Join us we learn from the living legend.
This Knowledge Friday has been programmed in tandem with our Summer Exhibition THIS LAND: Considering the American Landscape, which can be viewed June 21 – September 6 during our exhibition hours 11 AM – 5 PM, Thursday-Monday.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS
TOM FRESTON
photo by Carey Lowell
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TOM FRESTON, author of the bestselling UNPLUGGED: Adventures from MTV to Timbuktu, is a cofounder of MTV and the former CEO of Viacom, where he oversaw Paramount Pictures. After launching a successful clothing export company out of Afghanistan and India, Freston transitioned into the media landscape, helping found MTV and bringing it to international fame in more than 150 countries. Before his Viacom roles, he ran MTV Networks for seventeen years, overseeing Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, and other legendary networks. He is a board member of Imagine Entertainment and a board member emeritus of both the American Museum of Natural History and the think tank New America. He currently serves as Board Chair of The ONE Campaign, an anti-poverty advocacy organization focusing on Africa.
Marie is the author of New and Selected Poems (W.W. Norton 2024) which includes poems from her four previous books. She is the poet in residence at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, and a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.
Born in Rochester, New York, Marie attended Sacred Heart Convent School and the University of Windsor. She earned an MFA from Columbia University, where she studied with Stanley Kunitz, whom she refers to as “My true teacher.”
“Marie Howe’s poetry is luminous, intense, and eloquent, rooted in an abundant inner life. Her long, deep-breathing lines address the mysteries of flesh and spirit, in terms accessible only to a woman who is very much of our time and yet still in touch with the sacred.” –Stanley Kunitz
ALESSANDRA STANLEY
photo by Sharon Suh
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Alessandra Stanley is the co-creator of the weekly on-line publication, AIR MAIL alongside Graydon Carter, the former editor of Vanity Fair. They are currently working together on a new literary imprint devoted to humor. Before Air Mail, Alessandra was a longtime writer at The New York Times, first as a culture and political reporter, then as a foreign correspondent and bureau chief. In Moscow, she covered the Yeltsin regime, the rise of the Russian oligarchy and the Chechen wars. In Rome, she wrote about the Vatican, Italy and European politics. Starting in 2003, Alessandra served as the chief television critic of The New York Times for twelve years. Alessandra lives in New York City and Sag Harbor.