Hollywood, Health & Society and Ploughshares Fund held a special screening of the season finale for the hit CBS series Madam Secretary, followed by a discussion on real-life nuclear threats and the role that entertainment can play in helping to engage and educate the public.
With more than 400 TV shows currently streaming or airing, the entertainment industry has plenty of opportunities to show abortion realistically—yet Hollywood still manages to come up short when talking about a procedure that nearly one in four women in the United States has before the age of 45.
This time, TV and film legends Norman Lear and Rita Moreno cruised into an event under their own power. Although the panel they were a featured part of, “Women in Their Prime Time: Aging in (and Out of) Hollywood,” couldn’t boast of a red carpet—which Lear and Moreno used as their own personal boulevard back in January when they arrived for the Golden Globes on a motorized scooter—the discussion covered important ground on the portrayals of older women in entertainment.
Hollywood, Health & Society and the Producers Guild of America co-presented a seminar on the power of storytelling, the arts and media to bring about social change.
Hollywood, Health & Society's panel discussion "Friday the 13th: Rewriting the Nuclear Horror Story" brought urgent attention to a topic that not too long ago was seen by many as a relic of the Cold War and a distant threat.
Eleven honorees in seven categories were recognized for outstanding TV storylines at the 2017 Sentinel Awards, a glittering red-carpet event held in Hollywood that featured celebrities, writers, producers and other special guests.
Pregnancy made its first appearance on American TV in the 1948 sitcom Mary Kay and Johnny, bringing with it all those now-timeworn tropes that include the bumbling dad driving off to the hospital and leaving his wife in labor at home. Just a few years later, even the mere mention of the "p-word" on I Love Lucy—with the star comedian's real-life pregnancy written into the script—was too controversial for CBS executives. She was "expecting."
Calling the opioid epidemic “a real struggle for our country that’s getting worse,” U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy urged a different approach in fighting the crisis during a panel presented by Hollywood, Health & Society, telling a standing-room audience and viewers watching on Facebook Live that those struggling with addiction have a chronic illness and need treatment, along with counseling, compassion and support.
In 1997, China resumed control of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British rule. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 7,000 for the first time. The New York Times reported that the number of AIDS deaths dropped 19% in the U.S. partly because of breakthrough drug therapies, while TV audiences tuned in to watch Ally McBeal, Friends, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Third Rock From the Sun and The X Files.
Hollywood, Health & Society's panel “Clinical Trials So White: When Life-Saving Research Leaves People of Color Behind” explored the impact of clinical research trials on illnesses, particularly diabetes, obesity, heart disease and stroke.
