The Wire is 20 years old – it launched on HBO on 2nd June 2002 and ended after five seasons in 2008. It is widely revered - in 2021, over 200 international critics voted it in first place in BBC Culture’s poll “The 100 greatest tv series of the 21st century”.

The show was not always so well received. Early viewing figures were low and it was almost cancelled on several occasions. It never won an Emmy. How did it become a landmark in serial television? How did it become a cultural phenomenon, not only in the US but globally? What is its legacy in the age of Black Lives Matter? To explore why The Wire still matters, we are hosting a conversation between:

Sherry Linkon - Professor of English at Georgetown University, author of The Half-Life of Deindustrialisation

Ronda Racha Penrice – journalist/cultural critic, editor of Cracking The Wire During Black Lives Matter.

Carlo Rotella - Professor of English at Boston College, author of The World Is Always Coming to an End: Pulling Together and Apart in a Chicago Neighbourhood.

Stephen Shapiro - Professor of English at University of Warwick, co-editor of The Wire: Race, Class and Genre

Liam Kennedy - Professor of American Studies at University College Dublin, co-editor of The Wire: Race, Class and Genre

To register please click on the link below.

You are invited to join this Zoom webinar.

When: Jun 2, 2022 07:00 PM Dublin

Topic: The Wire 20th Anniversary Webinar

Register in advance for this webinar:

https://ucd-ie.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4DH04CLORP2myungggbjjw