Lectures on Tap - "Johnny Cash: Hero or Madman?"

📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email

🧠 Lecture: "Johnny Cash: Hero or Madman?"

🎤 Speaker: Dr. Tom Rizzuto

Join us for a captivating evening as Dr. Tom Rizzuto dives into the complicated life and legacy of Johnny Cash, one of American music’s most paradoxical figures.

By his mid-twenties, Cash had survived profound tragedy, served in the military, built a family, and disrupted the Nashville establishment on his way to country stardom. He became an unlikely champion of civil rights—speaking out for people of color, Native Americans, veterans, and incarcerated people—and even challenged President Richard Nixon’s Vietnam policies while performing at the White House.

Yet behind the scenes, Cash battled addiction, violence, and infidelity. Those closest to him described a man who could be extraordinarily kind one day and cruel the next. He even nearly drove the endangered California condor to extinction.

Dr. Rizzuto, a professor of music history, guitar, and media at Molloy University and SUNY Old Westbury, will explore how Cash’s advocacy, artistry, and inner turmoil shaped both his music and American culture.

Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌

Agenda

6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.

6:55 PM – Host introduction

7:00 PM – Lecture begins

7:45 PM – Audience Q&A

8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

8:30 PM – Wrap up.