News Deserts to Media Startups: Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy on America’s News Landscape Today

Thomas Jefferson famously said he’d prefer newspapers without government over government without newspapers. In large parts of the United States today, government exists without independent news sources—undermining accountability and diminishing civic participation. Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy tell…

Daniel Schulman on the German-Jewish Immigrants who Built the United States’ Modern Financial Systems

We take for granted that the “immigrant experience” is part of the American story. But in an epic new history Daniel Schulman tells the story of the Jewish immigrants who built some of America’s biggest financial institutions and transformed America.  A best-selling author, Schulman is known for h…

Secretary Margaret Spellings on a Path to Bipartisanship in America

Working together across party lines is anathema to much of political Washington, but Margaret Spellings says doing so is the only way to create solutions that last.  A nationally recognized leader in public policy, Spellings serves as President and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center. Previously, …

Pete Hammond on This Year’s Best Picture Nominees and Trends at the Oscars

Hollywood’s annual night-of-nights is upon us with the Academy Awards around the corner. Pete Hammond helps us take stock of the film industry and the films singled out for their powerful storytelling this year.   Hammond, widely considered the pre-eminent awards analyst for film and television, i…

Kliph Nesteroff on Culture Wars and Why the Problem Isn’t a New One

It's easy to listen to the news and conclude that we have never been more gripped by the so-called “Culture Wars.” But Kliph Nesteroff argues just the opposite: today’s conflict isn’t a fluke, it’s part of a long history of conflict, controversy and recrimination.   Canadian comic Kliph Nesteroff …

Analyzing Historical Race Relations and their Contemporary Implications with Françoise N. Hamlin

To some, the civil rights era seems like ancient history, but to others, it’s within living memory. Françoise N. Hamlin helps put the history of the era into a broader context about who we are as a people and what it means to be an American.   Hamlin is the Royce Family Associate Professor in hist…

Suzanne Nossell on the Importance of Being Free to Read

Free speech is under assault in educational settings, school committees, university boards and political rallies across the United States. Suzanne Nossell warns the danger isn’t just about our access to books and ideas, but to the fundamental human rights and political freedoms we all hold dear.   …

Investigating 20th-Century Connections to Partisan Politics and Modern Conservatism with Richard Aldous

It’s easy to look at American politics, now, and find individuals for whom loyalty to party or an individual leader is the only thing that matters. But Richard Aldous tells us of another time when service to the nation was the highest service in public life.  Aldous is the Eugene Meyer Professor o…

Analyzing American Politics Through a Pop-Culture Lens with Joanna Weiss

Most who write about politics focus on the horse-race of elections or the specifics of policies.  But Joanna Weiss says we should view American politics—especially current American politics—through a pop-culture lens. Weiss is the executive director of the AI Literacy Lab at Northeastern Universit…

Daniel Golden on Preserving Journalism’s Instrumental Role in our Democracy

There was a time in the United States—not that long ago, actually—when local newspapers played an undisputed positive role in holding people in authority to account.  Daniel Golden is a journalist practicing his craft in that great tradition. Golden is a Boston-based senior editor and reporter at …