Blank Slate Media will conduct a second virtual event with another group of the publication’s regular columnists on June 24 at 7 p.m.
Judy Epstein, Michael D’Innocenzo, Dr. Tom Ferraro and Andrew Malekoff will discuss some of the pressing issues facing Nassau County, Long Island and all of New York during the panel event moderated by Blank Slate Media’s editor and publisher, Steven Blank.
After graduating from Yale with a degree in philosophy, Epstein worked for nearly two decades in TV news and documentaries, including two years with Robert MacNeil and Jim Lehrer and a decade with Bill Moyers, concluding as producer, coordinating producer, and co-writer. Her work in television gained recognition from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Writers Guild of America.
Once she moved to Long Island, Epstein created her humor column, “A Look On The Lighter Side,” which has appeared in Blank Slate Media’s six newspapers since 2013. Her columns have won a variety of local and statewide awards. Epstein has also turned some of her insights into stand-up comedy routines.
D’Innocenzo has been involved with immigration, diversity and social responsibility and injustices throughout his life. He was the chairman of the United Campuses to Prevent Nuclear War, overseeing 600 chapters nationwide.
In this role, he worked with physicians from all backgrounds to promote social responsibility. Additionally, in 1985, the International Association to Prevent Nuclear War recognized him during its acceptance speech when it received the Nobel Peace Prize.
On a more local level, D’Innocenzo has served as a history professor at Hofstra University since 1960. In 2008, he received the American Historical Association Eugene Asher Award as the Outstanding College History Professor Award nationwide. He was a candidate for Congress in 1984 and also ran for the North Hempstead Town Council.
Ferraro is a world-renowned sport psychologist with a Ph.D. from SUNY Stony Brook, with more than 25 years of experience working with professional teams, coaches and Olympic athletes.
He is unique in the world of sport psychology by being board certified as a psychoanalyst which allows him to properly diagnose and treat the symptoms the athlete brings to the office and also to help them understand the underlying reasons for self-defeat.
Ferraro publishes internationally and has been featured in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The London Times. Recently, he was the featured sport psychologist in a full length documentary film by director Robert Hoffman about the psychology of coaching. The issues Ferraro treats include anxiety, the yips, anger, slumps, loss of confidence, depression, injury recovery, concussion recovery, drug use, family and team problems.
Malekoff is the the former executive director and CEO of the North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center in Roslyn Heights, where he has worked since 1977.
Malekoff is the editor-in-chief of Social Work with Groups: A Journal of Community and Clinical Practice, has taught as an adjunct professor at the Adelphi and New York University Schools of Social Work, and serves as a board member for the International Association for Social Work with Groups. He was named Social Work Community Practitioner of the Year by the New York State Social Work Education Association.
Widely published, Malekoff has presented his work and facilitated workshops across the United States and Canada. Malekoff has also written hundreds of newspaper columns and op-ed pieces, including for Blank Slate Media’s six publications.
The virtual event will be livestreamed on The Island Now YouTube page. Those interested can also join the panel on Zoom by following this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81093929092.
