Conversations: Truth, Myth & Democracy – An Evening of Discussion with Dr. Jelani Cobb and Dr. Jason Stanley, moderated by Tina Rosenberg

Webinar Waiting Room Opens at 7:00 pm,  Program Begins at 7:30 pm
Registration Required

As part of our on-going series “Conversations,” created in partnership with the Redding League of Women Voters and the Mark Twain Library, we invite you to join us for a virtual discussion with acclaimed historian Dr. Jelani Cobb and renowned philosopher Dr. Jason Stanley.  The program will be moderated by award-winning journalist Tina Rosenberg and examines the underlying meaning of our democracy and how democracy can matter even when we have very different ideas about what it should look like.  

This evening is part of a series that is devoted to exploring how caring citizens from disparate groups can find common ground at a time when our democracy has been challenged by the questioning of truth and the fostering of myth.  In these unscripted discussions, renowned historians, philosophers, social psychologists and journalists have been invited to share their knowledge, exchange ideas and help us better understand the world we live in and the issues pulling us apart. 

Registration is required for this free virtual program.  Registered participants will receive a Zoom invitation on the day of the program.  Webinar waiting room opens at 7:00 pm and program begins at 7:30 pm

Please submit your questions to our speakers here

About our presenters:
Dr. Jelani Cobb is a historian, author, journalist and professor who focuses on race, the police, and injustice. He currently teaches at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and serves as a Frontline correspondent and New Yorker staff writer. Dr. Cobb’s most recent book is The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress. He was a 2018 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Commentary and won the 2015 Sidney Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism. Dr. Cobb is prominently featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary13th, about the current mass incarceration of black Americans, which traces the subject to its historical origins in the Thirteenth Amendment. 

Dr. Jason Stanley is a philosopher, author, professor and expert on fascism who writes about authoritarianism, propaganda, free speech and mass incarceration, among other topics. He is currently a professor of philosophy at Yale University and contributes articles to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Review, The Guardian and other publications. His most recent book is How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them. Dr. Stanley is winner of the 2007 American Philosophical Association book prize and the 2016 PROSE award for the subject area of philosophy.

Tina Rosenberg is an award winning journalist and author who writes about political violence and how new democracies deal with the crimes of past dictatorial regimes. For ten years she was a member of the New York Times editorial board writing editorials on foreign affairs. Her popular New York Times column, “Fixes,” focuses on exploring solutions to major social problems. Rosenberg is winner of the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize and co-founder of the Solutions Journalism Network, which spreads her passion for rigorous reporting on solutions to social problems. Her most recent book is Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World. Her mother lives here in Redding.

*Our speakers’ books are available to check out from the Library or to purchase at Byrd Books in Bethel, byrdbooks.com.