PAST EVENTS
Enemies of the State? with Marty Baron & S.E. Cupp
It was an absolute pleasure to welcome Marty Baron, former Executive Editor of the Washington Post and Boston Globe, renowned for his editorial excellence, and CNN’s S.E. Cupp, widely respected for her sharp insights and principled conservatism, to The Common Good.
Baron and Cupp joined us for a vital discussion on the chilling effect on the press, government officials, business leaders, and others deemed enemies in the wake of President Donald Trump’s threats of revenge and prosecution. Just one month into the first "retribution administration," we’re already seeing those threats take shape.
If you missed out, you can catch up by watching on our youtube! Video COMING SOON.
Martin Baron
Acclaimed former Executive Editor of the Washington Post & The Boston Globe
Moderated By
S.E. Cupp
CNN Host & Political Commentator
…
Wednesday, February 26th from 5:30-7pm ET
In Person in NYC hosted by secretary jeh johnson at the offices of paul, weiss.
Dinner to follow at The University Club, RSVP open to Executive Members and above.
It was an absolute pleasure to welcome Marty Baron, former Executive Editor of the Washington Post and Boston Globe, renowned for his editorial excellence, and CNN’s S.E. Cupp, widely respected for her sharp insights and principled conservatism, to The Common Good.
Baron and Cupp joined us for a vital discussion on the chilling effect on the press, government officials, business leaders, and others deemed enemies in the wake of President Donald Trump’s threats of revenge and prosecution. Just one month into the first "retribution administration," we’re already seeing those threats take shape.
If you missed out, you can catch up by watching on our youtube! Video COMING SOON.
About Our Speakers
Marty Baron, legendary editor and First Amendment champion, transformed The Washington Post into a Pulitzer powerhouse during his tenure (2013–2021), growing its newsroom from 580 to nearly 1,000 journalists. Under his leadership, the Post won 11 Pulitzers, including for groundbreaking coverage of NSA surveillance and the January 6 Capitol assault.
Before the Post, Baron led the Boston Globe to six Pulitzers, including its seismic investigation of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church, later dramatized in the Oscar-winning film Spotlight. Earlier, his leadership at the Miami Herald earned a Pulitzer for breaking news coverage of the Elián González raid. Baron also held senior roles at the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.
S.E. Cupp is a CNN political commentator and practical conservative known for her sharp insights and fearless honesty. She’s tackled the volatile intersection of politics and media as the host of S.E. Cupp Unfiltered and led dynamic panel debates on HLN. A longtime CNN contributor, she previously co-hosted the revival of Crossfire with Newt Gingrich, Van Jones, and Stephanie Cutter, as well as MSNBC’s The Cycle.
Beyond television, Cupp is a nationally syndicated columnist, cultural critic, and author of Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media’s Attack on Christianity. Her work has appeared in The New York Daily News, Glamour, and CNN.com, and she’s lent her expertise to hit shows like The Morning Show and The Newsroom.
Lay of the Land
How has our democracy and the two parties changed – given the turn to the radical right in the Republican Party even after Trump’s 2020 defeat and Biden’s sometimes rocky two years in office? The Common Good has brought together renowned journalists Susan Glasser, Peter Baker, and David Frum lead in discussion by Norm Ornstein.
Lay of the Land
with the ultimate political insiders
Susan Glasser, Peter Baker, and David Frum
and Norm Ornstein, Moderator
Wednesday March 15th, 5:00 -6:00 via Zoom
How has our democracy and the two parties changed – given the turn to the radical right in the Republican Party even after Trump’s 2020 defeat and Biden’s sometimes rocky two years in office? The Common Good has brought together renowned journalists Susan Glasser, Peter Baker, and David Frum lead in discussion by Norm Ornstein..
Join us on Zoom to discuss the changes of our democracy during the upheaval of the last few years, the shifting balance of power in the GOP today, and the near future of 2024’s election season. Be sure to check out Susan Glasser and Peter Baker’s latest book The Divider: Trump in the Whitehouse, 2017-2021 also available for purchase.
Susan Glasser, renowned staff writer and star political journalist at the New Yorker. She was previously at the Washington Post starting in 1998 where she edited the Post's Sunday Outlook and national news sections, helped oversee coverage of Bill Clinton's impeachment, covered the wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and served as Moscow bureau co-chief with her husband, Peter Baker. She was editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy until 2013. Glasser then joined Politico, and served as editor during the 2016 election cycle. She also was the founding editor of Politico Magazine. Now, she writes the online column "Letter from Biden’s Washington" in The New Yorker, where she is a staff writer. Glasser has also written three important books with her husband Peter Baker.
Peter Baker is an award-winning author, journalist at the New York Times, and political analyst for MSNBC. He has also written for the Washington Times and the Washington Post. He won the Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency in 2007. Baker also served as Moscow Bureau co-chief with his wife Susan Glasser, and has published numerous books with her as well as other political books including Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, a detailed narrative account of the two-term presidency of George W. Bush, Obama: The Call of History, and Impeachment: An American History. He has also served as the Jerusalem bureau chief for the Times until 2016 where he returned to cover the Trump presidency.
David Frum is a writer for The Atlantic, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, and the author or co-author of now ten books. Frum has been active in Republican politics since the first Reagan campaign of 1980. From 2001-2002, he served as a speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush. He is credited with helping to create the phrase "axis of evil” in Bush's 2002 State of the Union address. In recent years, Frum has been one of many prominent Republicans to openly criticize Donald Trump as not representing Republican or foundational democracy values. He is a frequent commentator on MSNBC, CNN, and BBC. From 2014 through 2017, Frum served as chairman of the board of trustees of the leading UK center-right think tank, Policy Exchange. The Common Good was proud to host Frum as a member in January of 2018 as a participant in our Town Hall at Hunter College, “Trump – Year One” Panel, alongside historian Douglas Brinkley, New York Times columnist Roger Cohen, former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, and political strategist Edward Rollins. Frum currently serves as a member of The Common Good Honorary Advisory Board,
Norman Ornstein (Moderator) is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he studies politics, elections, and the US Congress. He is a co-host of AEI’s Election Watch series, a contributing editor and columnist for the National Journal and The Atlantic, a BBC News election analyst, and the chairman of the Campaign Legal Center. Dr. Ornstein previously served as co-director of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project and senior counselor to the Continuity of Government Commission. A longtime observer and analyst of American politics and the US Congress, he has been involved in political reform for decades, particularly campaign finance reform and the reform of Senate committees. He has also played a part in creating the Congressional Office of Compliance and the House Office of Congressional Ethics. Ornstein also serves as a member of The Common Good Honorary Advisory Board,
Insurrection: The January 6th Final Report with Ari Melber
Live from the New York Historical Society discussing the violent and deadly January 6th Capitol insurrection to the wider efforts to overthrow the 2020 election we welcome Emmy Award-winning MSNBC anchor Ari Melber and renowned prosecutor Andrew Weissmann.
Insurrection: The January 6th Final Report
Featuring Ari Melber with Andrew Weissmann
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12TH, 2023 AT 7:00 PM
NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 170 CENTRAL PARK WEST NEW YORK
You’ve been watching history in the making. Now join us for a very special evening at the iconic New York Historical Society to discuss the first draft of that history, from the violent and deadly January 6th Capitol insurrection to the wider efforts to overthrow the 2020 election. We welcome Emmy Award-winning MSNBC anchor Ari Melber and former prosecutor and General Counsel to then FBI-Director Mueller Andrew Weissmann.
Ari Melber expounds on the foreword he wrote for the Harper Collins edition of the January 6 Report, now a #1 New York Times bestseller, and spoke with former prosecutor and Mueller General Counsel Andrew Weissmann about the findings, the case for future indictments, and the pending special counsel probe into Donald Trump. Both speakers will also took audience questions during the evening.
Watch or Listen Now:
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS:
Andrew Weissmann served as a lead prosecutor in Robert S. Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office and as Chief of the Fraud Section in the Department of Justice. He was appointed by the Bush administration as Deputy and later as Director of the task force investigating and prosecuting individuals responsible for the Enron Scandal from 2002-2005. Weissmann served as a federal prosecutor in New York’s Eastern District for 15 years as the chief of the criminal division and has extensive experience in private practice.
He has taught at Fordham Law School and Brooklyn Law School and is currently a Professor of Practice with the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University School of Law. Weissmann is the author of Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation, a frequent commentator on MSNBC, and a contributing author for The Atlantic and other publications.
Ari Melber, an Emmy Award-winning journalist, writer and attorney, is the host of “The Beat with Ari Melber” airing nightly at 6pm ET on MSNBC and founder of “Mavericks” on NBC. Melber also serves as MSNBC’s Chief Legal Correspondent and an NBC News Legal Analyst, reporting on law and justice stories across all NBC platforms. Melber received a 2016 Emmy Award for his reporting on the Supreme Court.
Before joining MSNBC, Melber practiced First Amendment law and served as a legislative aide in the U.S. Senate. He received a J.D. from Cornell Law School and is a member of the New York Bar. His writing has been published by The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Atlantic, and he is a former regular contributor to Politico, Reuters and The Nation. He has participated in a number of events for The Common Good.
Saving Democracy
How do we preserve our democracy in the face of the many threats and challenges before us?
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
5:00 PM 6:00 PM
Saving Democracy
with
Yascha Mounk
Moderated by Richard Wolffe
Wednesday, June 15th, 2022 5:00-6:00 pm ET
In recent years the fragility of our democracy has been exposed. Founded to offer both freedom and rights, this form of governance is precious. But it’s permanence cannot be taken for granted.
How do we preserve our democracy in the face of the many threats and challenges before us?
Join us in a conversation with one of the world’s leading experts on the crisis of liberal democracy, Yascha Mounk. With his brilliant insights, many that run counter to conventional wisdom, Mounk offers an optimistic set of ideas and proposals for how our democracies can endure and thrive in spite of our differences.
About the Speakers:
Yascha Mounk is one of the world’s leading experts on democracy and the rise of populism. His latest book is The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure, on how democracies can succeed. TCG hosted Mounk for his last book, The People vs Democracy: Why Our Freedom is In Danger and How to Save It, which was translated into ten languages and recognized as a “Best Book of 2018” by the Financial Times and other publications. He is an Associate Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University, a Contributing Editor at The Atlantic, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, the founder of Persuasion, and the host of The Good Fight podcast.
Richard Wolffe is an award-winning journalist and political analyst for MSNBC television, appearing frequently on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann and Hardball with Chris Matthews. He covered the entire length of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign for Newsweek magazine. Before Newsweek, Wolffe was a senior journalist at the Financial Times, serving as its deputy bureau chief and US diplomatic correspondent. Wolffe is the author of the New York Times bestseller Renegade: The Making of a President and Revival: The Struggle for Survival Inside the Obama White House. He currently writes a twice-weekly column for the Guardian.
Watch Now:
Listen Now:
The American Political Landscape: What Happened to the Center
The US has become more splintered along left-right lines than almost any time in its history. Instead of joining the traditional parties, more voters than ever are opting to become independents - eschewing the parties that no longer fit their views. Where has the middle ground gone?
Thursday, April 14, 2022
5:00 PM 6:00 PM
The American Political Landscape:
What Happened to the Center?
with
Matt Bennett, Elaine Kamarck, and William A. Galston
Thursday, April 14th, 2022
5:00-6:00 pm ET
The US has become more splintered along left-right lines than almost any time in its history. Instead of joining the traditional parties, more voters than ever are opting to become independents - eschewing the parties that no longer fit their views.
The Republican Party has already seen a hard split with more extreme views entering its mainstream and fewer moderate leaders in office. Is the same phenomenon occurring in the Democratic Party?
Are the parties falling to more radical elements - or simply reflecting their most engaged voters who actively demand major change? Was the election victory of Joe Biden an attempt to return to the middle?
Join The Common Good for a discussion on “What happened to the Center” on April 14th to find out.
About the Speaker:
Matt Bennett has journeyed from the campaign trail to the White House, and from the pages of The New York Times to appearances on Meet the Press and 60 Minutes. He worked on both of the presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton, his political hero. He served as Deputy Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs in the Clinton White House, where he was the principal White House liaison to governors and covered issues ranging from disaster response to Medicaid to immigration. Prior to that, Matt traveled with Vice President Al Gore on his White House staff. He was Director of Communications for Wesley Clark's presidential campaign in 2004, and from 2001-2004 he was Director of Public Affairs for Americans for Gun Safety.
In 2005, Matt joined his three fellow co-founders in establishing the Third Way, believing that there is a tremendous need for fresh thinking and moderate ideas in a time of extreme political immoderation. Matt loves coming to work every day to take on the big questions our country faces with some of the people he respects most in the world. He considers helping to extend marriage equality to gays and lesbians one of Third Way's proudest achievements so far.
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Watch now :
2020 Presidential Candidates Series: Congressman Seth Moulton
The Common Good was proud to present a special discussion with presidential candidate Congressman Seth Moulton as part of the Presidential Candidates Series…
The Common Good was proud to present a special discussion with presidential candidate Congressman Seth Moulton as part of the Presidential Candidate Series. Congressman Moulton spoke on his experience as a veteran of the Iraq War and Congressman who defeated an 18-year Democratic incumbent. He also addressed vision and policy prescriptions for the country, which include: better care for veterans; passing a pro-democracy reform bill to expand voting access for all Americans; tackling climate change; growing the US economy by promoting green jobs, advanced manufacturing, and fixing our broken infrastructure; ensuring military-style weapons are not in civilian hands; and implementing a public option to improve healthcare access.
Congressman Seth Moulton is an Iraq War Veteran and Congressman who serves the 6th District of Massachusetts. He joined the Marines in 2001 days after graduating from college and months before the attacks on 9/11. As the leader of an infantry platoon, he was among the first Americans to reach Baghdad in 2003. Moulton ran for Congress in 2014 on a platform of bringing a new generation of leadership to Washington, becoming the only Democrat to unseat an incumbent in a primary in 2014. Moulton has worked to uphold his commitment to bipartisanship. Seth also works to get more veterans in politics with his organization Serve America, where Seth and his team have mentored candidates, raised millions of dollars for them, and campaigned alongside them, flipping 16 state and local offices in 2018.
listen:
WATCH:
Interested in attending future events?
The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards, 2019
The Common Good Forum is an annual program presenting headline issues and the most important, forward-looking ideas affecting public policy and our lives. This year we built a remarkable roster for our annual event, with 30+ participants from government, media, business, foreign affairs and tech, as well as public policy activists…
The Common Good Forum is an annual program presenting headline issues and the most important, forward-looking ideas affecting public policy and our lives. This year we built a remarkable roster for our annual event, with 30+ participants from government, media, business, foreign affairs and tech, as well as public policy activists.
Our theme this year was
“Rethinking the Democracy Compact”
The very foundations of our nation and the global order have shifted: institutions and gatekeepers are bypassed, societal norms are reorienting and governments are being rearranged - for better or worse. What drives these changes? How do they impact our democracy’s future? Most importantly, how can we harness them?
We presented fascinating discussions on the global transformations underway – greatest international threats and changes from new geopolitical escalations and vacuums; national challenges and our inability to confront our biggest transformations from broken government to gross economic disparities and climate change; growing a vibrant economy and jobs for today and tomorrow; the high-tech and social media revolution and its dangers and opportunities; our shifting political realities, the 2020 race and the impact of activism, immigration, populism, and identity; Fake news and pressure on journalism and freedom of the press here abroad; new scientific and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and gene editing – in short, configuring anew for a society that is human-centred, inclusive and sustainable.
Agenda:
Welcome
Patricia Duff, Founder, The Common Good
Smithsonian Briefing: “The Future of the Women’s Museum”
Emily Rafferty, Karri Brady and Wendy Pangburn
Changemaker Scholarships
Jamie Margolin, age 17 and Alexandria Villaseñor, age 13. Presented by ABC’s Juju Chang and Sharon Patrick
Women & Power
Kay Koplovitz, Mia Love, Sally Quinn, and Alessandra Stanley. Moderated by Juju Chang
The Road to 2020: Leaders & Ideas
Matt Bennett, Margaret Hoover, Steve Israel, Claire McCaskill, and Rick Tyler. Moderated by Errol Louis.
Can’t We All Just Get Along? How Washington Can Best Serve the Nation”
Renewing Democracy
Max Boot, Nicole Austin-Hillery, Cohen Curtis, and Michael Waldman. Moderated by Ari Melber
Growing a Fair Economy
Alan Schwartz and Stephanie Ruhle
Artificial Intelligence & Warfare
Major General (Ret.) Dr. Robert Latiff
World View: Security Challenges & Opportunities
Ambassador Bill Burns, Ambassador Nicholas Burns and Former Congressman Jane Harman. Moderated by Edward Luce
Rule of Law, Corruption, and Abuse of Power
Bill Browder and Preet Bharara. Moderated by John Avlon
Journalism & Democracy
Tom Brokaw, Lesley Stahl, and Sir Harry Evans
Citizen Activism & TRIBUTE TO robert f. kennedy
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
American Spirit Awardees
Sir Harry Evans
Courage in Journalism
Lesley Stahl
Courage in Journalism
Preet Bharara
Distinguished Public Service
Bill Browder
Citizen Activism
Changemaker Scholarship Recipients
Jamie Margolin
Climate Change Action
Alexandria Villasenor
Climate Change Action
Interested in attending future events?
The Common Good has been hosting events since 2006 that cover important issues of today, highlighting speakers who have worked to bolster our democracy and can provide great insight on the issues that matter.