"The Ethicist" Randy Cohen in Penn State Behrend Speaker Series March 24, 2011

“The Ethicist” columnist and public-radio commentator Randy Cohen will discuss “How to be Good” at his appearance in the Penn State Behrend Speaker Series on Thursday, March 24.

Cohen’s talk will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Samuel P. “Pat” Black III Conference Center, located on the first floor of the Jack Burke Research and Economic Development Center. The event is free and open to the public, and parking will be available in the Burke Center parking deck located south of the building, off Technology Drive.

For eleven years, Cohen’s weekly New York Times Magazine column took on conundrums presented in letters from perplexed people who wanted to do the right thing—or hoped to get away with doing the wrong thing—and responded with a skillful blend of moral authority and humor. (A not-so-unusual question for his column: What’s the appropriate length of time to leave a make-shift memorial to a fatal car accident in the front yard?) Cohen also frequently addressed ethical issues for National Public Radio.

In “How to be Good,” Cohen asks why, if we’ve reached a rough consensus on right and wrong— don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t steal—don’t we all behave virtuously? He’ll explore the idea that the answer lies not in our characters but in our circumstances, and discusses how to create the kind of neighborhood, school, and business communities in which we are likely to behave admirably.

Cohen’s wisdom and witticisms also are collected in the book The Good, the Bad and the Difference, a compilation of columns he calls “as wise and funny as a combination of Dear Abby, Plato and Mel Brooks.” The columns are supplemented with second thoughts on (and sometimes complete reversals of) his original replies, follow-up notes on how his advice affected the letter writer, reactions from readers both pro and con, and observations from such ‘guest ethicists’ as writer David Eggers and Cohen’s own mom.

A writer and humorist, Cohen won three Emmy Awards working for “Late Night with David Letterman,” where he gave the world Monkey Cam, Late Night in Tokyo, The 360˚ Rotation Show, and The Overdub Show. He won a fourth Emmy for television writing for his work on “TV Nation.” His humor pieces, essays, and stories have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines and are collected in the book “Diary of a Flying Man.”

Cohen’s Speaker Series presentation is supported by Penn State Behrend’s Sam and Irene Black School of Business, the Student Activity Fee, the Division of Student Affairs and the Harriet Behrend Ninow Memorial Lecture Series Fund.

For more information about the annual Speaker Series, phone the Office of Student Activities at 814-898-6171.