Combating Misinformation with Clint Watts and Cong. Jane Harman

ABOUT THE EVENT

Four years ago, Clint Watts warned us that the Kremlin misinformation and online manipulation playbooks were warping American politics so effectively that they would be adopted by authoritarians, dark political campaigns, and unregulated corporations. Hear from two experts in national security and cyber threats on how accurate Watts was, and what we can do to eliminate the threat. Moderated by Honorary Board Member Hon. Jane Harman

Thursday, April 22nd, 2021

5:00pm-6:00pm EST

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The Common Good New York City Mayoral Series with Eric Adams

ABOUT THE EVENT

The Common Good New York City Mayoral Series presents a conversation with candidate Eric Adams about his race for NY Mayor. Moderated by publisher Tom Allon.

Thursday, April  15th

5:00pm-6:00pm ET

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Eric Adams is a politician serving as the 18th and current Borough President of Brooklyn, New York City since 2014. He is a candidate in the 2021 New York City mayoral election in the democratic primary.

Adams served as an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City Police Department for over two decades, retiring at the rank of captain.In November 2013, Adams was elected Brooklyn Borough President, the first African American to hold the position. 

Eric is a lifelong New Yorker. He received his master’s degree in public administration from Marist College, and is a graduate of New York City Technical College and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is also a proud product of New York City public schools, including Bayside High School in Queens. Today he lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where he has resided for over 20 years.

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Tom Allon is the president and publisher of City & State, a company dedicated to covering New York’s local and state politics and policy. 

Allon  has over three decades of experience in New York’s media world, both on the publishing and editorial side of the business. He started his career in 1986 as the editor-in-chief of a weekly newspaper, The West Side Spirit, which won a number of awards for investigative reporting during his tenure. He then became the publisher and vice president of a public media company, News Communications, which owned 23 publications in the metropolitan area and Washington, D.C. He was involved in the creation of the daily Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill, which became the inspiration for City & State. He also spent a decade building a private media company, Manhattan Media, which owned AVENUE magazine, Dan’s Papers, New York Family, five weekly newspapers in Manhattan and City & State.

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Revisiting The MLK Assassination with G. Robert Blakey

ABOUT THE EVENT

As we reflect on the anniversary of the assasination of Martin Luther King Jr., G. Robert Blakey and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson. offers us incredible insider perspectives on the assassination Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Was there a conspiracy, or did James Earl Ray act alone?. What role did American agents play in the life and death of the Reverend Dr. King? 

Thursday, April 8, 2021

5:00pm-6:00pm ET

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Professor G. Robert Blakey, the nation's foremost authority on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), has served on the Notre Dame Law School faculty for more than 30 years. He teaches in the areas of criminal law and procedure, federal criminal law and procedure, terrorism, and jurisprudence. Blakey's extensive legislative drafting experience resulted in the passage of the Crime Control Act of 1973, the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970 and the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Title IX of which is known as RICO. He has been personally involved in drafting and implementing RICO-type legislation in 22 of the more than 30 states that have enacted racketeering laws. He frequently argues in or consults on cases involving RICO statutes at both the federal and state levels, including several cases before the United States Supreme Court.

Blakey has considerable expertise in federal and state wiretapping statutes as well. He helped draft and secure passage of Title III on wiretapping of the federal 1968 Crime Control Act, and has been personally involved in drafting and implementing wiretapping legislation in 39 of the 43 states that have enacted such laws. Blakey has extensively investigated the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He served as chief counsel and staff director to the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations from 1977 to 1979, and helped to draft the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. Blakey gave remarks at the 2012 Law School Hooding/Diploma Commencement Ceremony on May 19, 2012. Blakey received Emeritus status in December 2012.

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Michael Eric Dyson is one of the nation’s most renowned professors, gifted writers, inspiring preachers, knowledgeable lecturers and prominent media personalities. As a teacher who earned a PhD in Religion from Princeton University, Dyson has taught at some of the nation’s most distinguished universities. He is presently Distinguished University Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies, College of Arts & Science at Vanderbilt University. Dyson is one of America’s premier public intellectuals and author of over 23 books, including seven New York Times bestsellers. 

As a preacher and sometime pastor for more than 40 years, Dyson has mounted many of the nation’s most noted pulpits to deliver sermons, including, most recently, the Washington National Cathedral where Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his last Sunday sermon. Dyson has lectured across the country, and around the world, in many of the best colleges and universities, and in public theaters and auditoriums, and for many corporations and unions. He has also served for the last 30 years as a media commentator – and occasionally host – on every major radio and television show. Dyson has even found time to make guest appearances on scripted cable and network television programs such as Soul Food, The Game and Black-ish. 

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Marijuana Legalization with Dr. Mitch Rosenthal and Steve Hawkins

ABOUT THE EVENT

Marijuana is already fully legal in 15 states, plus Washington DC. Federal legislation to legalize marijuana is also gaining momentum. 

What are the implications for public health and the criminal justice system? Let’s dig deep with renowned drug addiction expert and founder of Phoenix House, Dr. Mitch Rosenthal, Steve Hawkins, Executive Director of the Marijuana Policy Project and Richard Wolffe as moderator.

 
Thursday, April 1, 5:00pm-6:00pm ET

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Mitchell S. “Mitch” Rosenthal, M.D. is president of the Rosenthal Center for Addiction Studies a nonprofit institution designed to meet the informational needs of healthcare professionals, policy makers, and members of the public confronting issues of drug use and addiction.

A pioneer in the treatment of substance abuse, Dr. Rosenthal was founder of Phoenix House, the nation's leading private, non-profit provider of substance abuse services. He began work in the field in 1965 as a psychiatrist at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Oakland, California (1965-1967), where he established the first service-sponsored therapeutic community, successfully treating both alcoholics and drug addicts.  

As a leading advocate for the treatment community, Dr. Rosenthal chaired the New York State Advisory Council on Substance Abuse from 1985 to 1997. He has been a White House advisor on drug abuse and a special consultant to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. A graduate of Lafayette College, Dr. Rosenthal earned his medical degree at the State University of New York's (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center. He served his residencies - in adult, child, and community psychiatry at Kings County Psychiatric Hospital, and the Staten Island Mental Health Society. He is a lecturer in psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and was awarded an honorary degree (Doctor of Humane Letters) by SUNY Downstate Medical Center in 2002.

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Steve Hawkins has been at the forefront of the movement to advance criminal justice reform, working to advance civil and human rights as an advocate, policy strategist, nonprofit leader, and foundation executive.

Steve began his career as an attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund challenging racial disparities in the criminal justice system, particularly where the prosecution sought to impose the death penalty on indigent African Americans. He then served as executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, where he led a bipartisan campaign to end capital punishment for juveniles, leading to repeal in several conservative states and ultimately a historic victory in the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 2008, Steve was named executive vice president of the NAACP, where he spearheaded efforts to end the New York City police practice of “stop and frisk,” worked with leading corporations to remove obstacles to employment for formerly incarcerated persons, and engaged elected officials to restore voting rights to former felons. He also successfully encouraged the NAACP board of directors to adopt its policy in support of marijuana decriminalization. Steve continued working to address civil and human rights abuses in the United States as executive director of the American section of Amnesty International, the world’s largest human rights organization. Under his leadership, the organization confronted police abuse in Ferguson, Baltimore, and other cities, and it spotlighted prolonged solitary confinement and other human rights violations occurring in U.S. prisons and jails.

Most recently, Steve was the president of the Coalition for Public Safety, the largest national bipartisan effort to reform the justice system at the state and federal levels. In this role, he oversaw campaigns to advance policy change through public education, engagement with government officials, and mobilizing stakeholders. He also fostered development of strategic alliances involving business leaders, law enforcement officials, scholars, faith leaders, victims’ advocates and other key voices.

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Moderated by: Richard Wolffe is a best-selling author, journalist and digital media executive, with extensive experience covering politics and foreign policy across multiple platforms.

He currently writes a twice-weekly column for The Guardian, focusing on U.S. politics.

Wolffe is also Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Digital Officer at Global Citizen, a non-profit social action platform to solve the world’s biggest challenges, and to end extreme poverty in our lifetime. In his first year at Global Citizen, Wolffe more than doubled its web traffic and grew its video views by more than 1000 per cent. He also led the organization’s international launch into India and its expansion in Canada.

An MSNBC political analyst for a decade, Wolffe was previously Vice-President and Executive Editor of MSNBC.com, launching the channel’s website and app in 2013 and its digital video channel in 2014. He grew MSNBC’s digital audience and revenues more than ten-fold in less than two years, winning a series of editorial, design and social impact awards.

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The Common Good New York City Mayoral Candidate Speaker Series with Maya Wiley

ABOUT THE EVENT

The Common Good New York City Mayoral Candidate Series presents a Conversation with candidate Maya Wiley. You may have seen Maya Wiley on MSNBC where she’s served as Legal Analyst, but she has major experience in the office of the Mayor. As Counsel to the Mayor, she fought for NYC on civil and immigrant rights, women and minority-owned business contracts, universal broadband access, and more. Moderated by media pioneer Tom Rogers.

Thursday, March 25,

5:00pm-6:00pm ET

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Maya Wiley is a nationally recognized racial justice and equity advocate. She is a leader in city government and in spurring democratic change. As Counsel to the Mayor, she delivered for New York City on civil and immigrant rights, women and minority owned business contracts, universal broadband access and more. After leaving City Hall, she held police accountable as Chair of the Civilian Complaint Review Board, and worked to improve public education as a Co-Chair of the School Diversity Task Force. At the New School, where she served as a University Professor, she founded the Digital Equity Laboratory on universal and inclusive broadband.

Maya is a veteran of both the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and the ACLU, was a former Legal Analyst for NBC News and MSNBC — where she argued against Trump’s attacks on our civil liberties and democratic norms — and was the founder and president of the Center for Social Inclusion. Maya was also Senior Advisor on Race and Poverty at the Open Society Foundations, the largest funder of human rights work the world over.

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Tom Rogers, a true innovator and leader in the field of television, news and entertainment, Tom Rogers is the founder of CNBC and a CNBC contributor, as well as the founder of MSNBC, when he served as the first President of NBC cable. He is the former CEO of TiVo and is currently Chairman of Engine Media, a broad based sports, esports, and news content & distribution company. He can also be credited for as bringing Netflix and Amazon to the TV screen. He is the former Senior Counsel to the House Telecommunications Committee where he oversaw the FCC and media industry. He is also an Editor-at-Large for Newsweek. 

He has been inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame and has won an Emmy Award for contributions to the development of advanced television and advanced advertising.

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The Civil Rights Movement with Reverend Al Sharpton

ABOUT THE EVENT

The Civil Rights Movement with Reverend Al Sharpton. In recognition of Black History Month, Reverend Al Sharpton will join the The Common Good to discuss The Civil Rights Movement - where we’ve been and how the fight continues. Moderated by Jill Iscol and Ralph Dawson.

Thursday, March 18, 5:00pm-6:00pm ET.

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Reverend Al Sharpton,is an internationally renowned civil rights leader, Baptist minister, politician, talk show host, and founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN), which has more than 100 chapters across the country. Reverend Sharpton is also the host of “PoliticsNation” on MSNBC; a nationally syndicated daily radio show “Keepin’ It Real”; and a nationally broadcast radio show on Sunday titled, “The Hour of Power.”
A disciple of the teachings of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Reverend Sharpton has been at the forefront of the modern civil rights movement for nearly half of a century. He has championed police reform and accountability, calling for the elimination of unjust policies like “Stop-and-Frisk.” Reverend Sharpton also has a brief history of advocating for voting rights, equity in education and healthcare, LGBTQ rights. Sharpton’s advocacy efforts and “tell it like it is” personality led to him being hailed as a “champion for the downtrodden" by former and first African American President Barack Obama

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U.S.- French Relations

ABOUT THE EVENT

Ambassador Philippe Étienne, France’s Ambassador to the US joins The Common Good for a discussion with former U.S. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley. Among the topics they’ll explore: the Transatlantic Alliance, NATO, trade, security, terrorism, populism, Brexit, and vaccine distribution. This will be an important conversation that about America’s relationship with it’s oldest ally.

Wed. March 10th at 5pm EST

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Philippe Etienne is the Ambassador of France to the United States. He previously held numerous posts within the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, notably including Ambassador of France to Romania (2002-2005), Director of the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs (2007-2009), Permanent Representative of France to the European Union (2009-2014), Ambassador of France to Germany (2014-2017) and most recently, Diplomatic Adviser to the President (2017-2019).

Philippe Etienne is an expert on the European Union and continental Europe. He has held posts in Moscow, Belgrade, Bucharest, Bonn, Berlin and Brussels. He has also served as an adviser in the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on several occasions.

A graduate of the École Normale Supérieure and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (“Voltaire” Class, 1980), Philippe Etienne also holds the Agrégation (teaching diploma) in Mathematics, has a degree in Economics and is a graduate of the National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Serbo-Croatian).

He speaks English, German, Spanish, Russian and Romanian.

He is an Officer of the Legion of Honor and a Commander of the National Order of Merit.

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Jane Hartley served as Ambassador to the French Republic and the Principality of Monaco from 2014 – 2017 during some of the most difficult times for France. She was confirmed to both posts by the U.S. Senate in September 2014.

Previously, Jane Hartley was Chief Executive Officer and a Founding Principal of Observatory Group, an international economic and political advisory firm providing analysis of key government policies affecting the global capital markets. Before founding Observatory Group, Ms. Hartley was Chief Executive Officer of the G7 Group. As CEO, Ms. Hartley built G7 Group into a premier research firm providing macroeconomic and political analysis to investors in the global market. The G7 Group put together a network of global policymakers and distributed analysis to most of the major central bankers and finance ministers as well as major financial institutions.

Jane currently serves as a member of the Visiting Committee at the Kennedy School at Harvard University as well as the Executive Committee and the Dean’s Council. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Jane is a member of the Board of Overseers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Sesame Workshop (Sesame Street) and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Center for American Progress.

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The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards

ABOUT THE EVENT

The Common Good Forum is an annual program presenting headline issues and the most important, forward-looking ideas affecting public policy and our lives. We are building a remarkable roster for our annual event, with participants from government, media, business, foreign affairs and tech, as well as public policy activists.

 For the first time the TCG Forum and American Spirit Awards will take place online over Zoom. Icons, leaders, legends and role models from all areas will speak on issues impacting our nation.  Our Forum will focus on three of the defining issues of the 21st century - inequality, climate change, and democracy at home and abroad. 

The American Spirit Awards continue to be an iconic award that is given to those who have experienced and posses the best of the American spirit. During this turbulent time we have seen the very best of the American spirit and are thrilled to honor those who have exhibited such qualities. 

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Ray Dalio

Famed investor and philanthropist, Ray Dalio is the Co-Chief Investment Officer and Co-Chairman of Bridgewater Associates. the world's largest hedge fund, 

Mr. Dalio will receive the American Spirit Award for Business Leadership.

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AMBASSADOR (ret.) BILL TAYLOR

Diplomat, veteran and former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor is vice president, Strategic Stability and Security at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He recently served as chargé d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv. During the Arab Spring, he oversaw U.S. assistance and support to Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Syria. Ambassador Taylor also famously and bravely served a key witness in the Ukraine impeachment inquiry. 

Ambassador Taylor will receive the American Spirit Award for Distinguished Public Service. 

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Chelsey Earnest and The Staff of Kirkland’s Life Care Center

Earnest was one of the many nurses, doctors, and other health care workers who risked their lives to save others.  Chelsey volunteered at the Life Care Center and, with their dedicated staff, fought to save the facility’s residents, even as patients and staff too became ill with terrifying speed.

We are proud to award Chelsey Earnest and the brave staff of Kirkland’s Life Care Center with our American Spirit Award for Courageous Service in the Pandemic.

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Margaret Hoover and John Allon

Our hosts for the evening, Margaret Hoover, is a journalist, best-selling author, and host of PBS's Firing Line, Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Daily News, The Daily Beast, CNN.com, and FoxNews.com. She is also currently a CNN political contributor. John Avlon is a journalist and political commentator. He is a Senior Political Analyst and anchor at CNN.

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Jon Meacham 

Jon Meacham is an american writer, reviewer, historian, presidential biographer, and pulitzer prize-winning author. Meacham has led a life discussing and analyzing leadership on past American presidents and historical events, while providing thoughtful and engaging conversations. He also continues to contribute as a writer for The New York Times Book Review, contributing editor of Time, and has written pieces for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, and Garden & Gun. 

Mr. Meacham will be receiving the American Spirit Award for Thought Leadership.

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Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Astrophysicist, planetary scientist, author, and science communicator. Dr. Tyson has been an influential voice surrounding the subjects of astrophysics and aerospace. Additionally, his interests and research has contributed to the fields of cosmology, stellar evolution, galactic astronomy, bulges, and stellar formation.

Dr. Tyson’s work also spreads in the world of filmography as being host for multiple science based shows most notably NOVA, Cosmos, and StarTalk. As well as an abundant of appearances in other documentaries and TV shows.

Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson will be presented with the American Spirit Award for Public Integrity. which recognizes Dr. Tyson’s exceptional commitment to honesty, truth, and science. 

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Lt. Col (ret.) Alexander Vindman

United States Army Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Alexander Vindman is a highly decorated service member and former deputy assistant to the president and senior director for European and Russian Affairs for the United States National Security Council (NSC). 

Vindman was brought to national attention after his actions when he testified before the United States Congress regarding the Trump–Ukraine scandal. His testimony provided evidence that resulted in a charge of abuse of power in the impeachment of 45th President Donald Trump.

Mr. Vindman will be receiving the American Spirit Award for Distinguished Public Service. 

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Dr. Fiona Hill

Former U.S. National Security Council official, Fiona Hill is a British-American foreign affairs specialist and academic. Hill’s position on the council specialized in Russian and European affairs. Dr. Hill received national attention when she in November 2019 was a witness in the House hearings regarding the impeachment inquiry during the first impeachment of Donald Trump. 

Additionally, Hill also was awarded her Ph.D. in history from Harvard University and currently, is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
Dr. Fiona Hill will be receiving the American Spirit Award for Distinguished Public Service.

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Ambassador (ret.) Marie Yovanovitch

American diplomat and senior member of the United States Foreign Service. Ambassador Yovanovitch has a remarkable career working as a representative of the United States into countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, and the Ukraine. Yovanovitch was also a key figure in Trump’s first impeachment trial. 
Ambassador Yovanovitch will be receiving the American Spirit Award for Distinguished Public Service.

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Clarissa Ward

Ward accomplished American television journalist and chief international correspondent for CNN. Ward over the years has reported on some of the biggest international events over the past decade. Holding a degree from Yale University, Ward also holds an honorary doctor of letters degree from Middlebury College. 

Before taking on her role for CNN, Ward had formerly worked with CBS News, based in London. As well as previously also being the Moscow-based news correspondent for ABC News.

Clarissa Ward will be receiving the American Spirit Award for Courage for Journalism.

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Ken Burns

Ken Burns and his collaborators have produced and directed some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made. A renowned and prolific American filmmaker, Burns is known for using archival footage and photographs in his films, which often showcase major events in U.S. history.

Mr. Burns will be receiving the American Spirit Award for Public Integrity, which highlights his exceptional commitment to honesty, truth, and storytelling. 

Photo Credit:Evan Barlow

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(Ret.) Senator Bob Corker

An American businessman and politician the Honorable Bob Corker served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2015 to 2019.

Senator Corker will be receiving the American Spirit Award for Public Service.

How to Lead

ABOUT THE EVENT

Join us for a conversation with The Carlyle Group co-chairman and philanthropist David M. Rubenstein as we explore the hallmarks of good leadership from our best political leaders, CEOs, founders and other giants, including the understanding of good - and bad - leadership in the U.S. Presidency and the political arena. We are incredibly fortunate to have Adam Grant, best-selling author, speaker, professor at Wharton, as our moderator for this conversation.

For the past five years, David M. Rubenstein—author of The American Story, visionary cofounder of The Carlyle Group, and host of The David Rubenstein Show—has spoken with the world’s highest performing leaders about who they are and how they became successful. How to Lead distills these revealing conversations into an indispensable leadership guidebook. The essential leadership playbook. Learn the principles and guiding philosophies of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, and many others through illuminating conversations about their remarkable lives and careers.

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David M. Rubenstein is a Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private investment firms. He is a 1970 graduate of Duke University and a 1973 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School. He served as Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments before becoming the Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy during the Carter Administration. He also practiced law in both New York City and Washington, D.C.

Mr. Rubenstein is Chairman of the Boards of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Council on Foreign Relations; a Fellow of the Harvard Corporation; a Regent of the Smithsonian Institution; a Trustee of the National Gallery of Art, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Brookings Institution, and the World Economic Forum; a Director of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and President of the Economic Club of Washington, among other board seats.

Mr. Rubenstein is an original signer of The Giving Pledge; the host of The David Rubenstein Show; and the author of The American Story and How to Lead.

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Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist at Wharton, where he has been the top-rated professor for seven straight years. He is one of TED's most popular speakers, his books have sold millions of copies, his talks have been viewed more than 25 million times, and his podcast WorkLife with Adam Grant has topped the charts. His best-selling books include Originals, Give and Take, and Think Again.

His pioneering research has inspired people to rethink fundamental assumptions about motivation, generosity, and creativity. He has been recognized as one of the world's 10 most influential management thinkers and Fortune's 40 under 40, and has received distinguished scientific achievement awards from the American Psychological Association and the National Science Foundation.

Adam received his B.A. from Harvard and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, and he is a former Junior Olympic springboard diver. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and their three children.

Economic Forecast for 2021

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ABOUT THE EVENT

Byron Wien, Vice Chairman of Blackstone and Joe Zidle, Managing Director and the Chief Investment Strategist at Blackstone come together for an unprecedented conversation on the economy.  Join us with these legends of the industry, experts of Wall Street and icons in the economic world for a special forecast on the economy and the markets given the many unusual factors - Covid, a new Administration and the continued political divide, raging unemployment, etc. What are we likely to see in the next few months and what can we hope for?

Thursday, February 11th, 2021

5pm ET

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Byron Wien is Vice Chairman of Blackstone’s Private Wealth Solutions group where he acts as a senior adviser to both the Firm and its clients in analyzing economic, social and political trends to assess the direction of financial markets and thus help guide investment and strategic decisions. 

He has been known for being "the most widely read analyst on Wall Street," "the No. 1 strategist by SmartMoney.com based on his market calls." and was named to the Smart Money Power 30 list of Wall Street’s most influential investors, thinkers, enforcers, policy makers, players and market movers. He was also named by New York Magazine as one of the sixteen most influential people in Wall Street.

He previously served as Chief Investment Strategist for Pequot Capital and before that served for 21 years as Chief (later Senior) U.S. Investment Strategist at Morgan Stanley. In 1995, Mr. Wien co-authored a book with George Soros on the legendary investor’s life and philosophy, Soros on Soros – Staying Ahead of the Curve.

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Joe Zidle is a Managing Director and the Chief Investment Strategist in the Private Wealth Solutions group. He has been on CNBC and is known for his ability to spot trends in reams of data.  

He previously spent nearly a decade at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, most recently serving as Head of Investment Strategy for Global Wealth Management and Deputy Director of the Research Investment Committee, where he was responsible for creating and communicating global investment strategies to the firm's private client division across all major investment disciplines. He was also with  Richard Bernstein Advisors, as an independent investment advisor, where he was responsible for portfolio strategy, asset allocation, investment management and marketing to major wealth management firms and independent RIAs.

Should the People Pick Our President?

NYT editorial board member Jesse Wegman joined The Common Good for a conversation as we discussed his book and possible reforms of the presidential vote and the Electoral College. The way we vote for the only official whose job it is to represent all Americans is neither fair nor just. Major reform is needed―now. Isn't it time to let the people pick the president?

Twice in the last five elections, the Electoral College has overridden the popular vote, calling the integrity of the entire system into question―and creating a false picture of a country divided into bright red and blue blocks when in fact we are purple from coast to coast. Even when the popular-vote winner becomes president, tens of millions of Americans―Republicans and Democrats alike―find that their votes didn't matter. And, with statewide winner-take-all rules, only a handful of battleground states ultimately decide who will become president. Jesse Wegman draws upon the history of the founding era, as well as information gleaned from campaign managers, field directors, and other officials from twenty-first-century Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns, to make a powerful case for abolishing the antiquated and antidemocratic Electoral College.

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Jesse Wegman serves on the editorial board for The New York Times where he has written about the Supreme Court and legal affairs since 2013. He was previously a senior editor at The Daily Beast and Newsweek, a legal news editor at Reuters, and the managing editor of The New York Observer.

His recent book has been heavily praised with Publishers Weekly saying "Wegman combines in-depth historical analysis and insight into contemporary politics to present a cogent argument that the Electoral College violates America’s ‘core democratic principles’ and should be done away with…" The New York Times wrote, "People have been arguing against the Electoral College from the beginning. But no one… has laid out the case as comprehensively and as readably as Jesse Wegman does.”

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Rick Hertzberg is an award-winning journalist, best known as the principal political commentator for The New Yorker magazine. He is credited with helping to redesign and revitalize the magazine. He is an accomplished writer and believes that America’s system of winner-take-all elections, federalism, and separation of powers is out of date and damaging to political responsibility and democratic accountability.

 He previously served as the editor of The New Republic where under his editorship magazine twice won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence, the magazine world’s highest honor. He went on to serve as the chief speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter where he wrote speeches that at one point increased the presidents approval rating by 11 points. Forbes credited Hertzberg as " one of the "25 Most Influential Liberals in the U.S. Media." 

The Presidential Pardon

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The Presidential Pardon: Event Write-up

As we held this event, it was an historic day.  President Trump was getting impeached for a second time, The Common Good had the honor of hosting former US Attorney, Joyce Vance, and Harvard Law professor, Jeannie Suk Gersen, for a conversation about the presidential pardon (we promise we didn’t orchestrate the timing). 

Of course, with so little time remaining in the Trump presidency, it was safe to assume that we have a few more pardons in store - the question of whom will be pardoned remains to be seen. (But now we know.)

As with our state governors, the pardon is a feature that can seem wildly capricious or merciful absolution. The president has the right to pardon basically anyone - maybe even himself, although our guests assured us that would probably not pass the smell test. So what’s the idea behind granting a president with such tremendous power? I urge you to watch the video or yourself as Joyce Vance and Jeannie Suk Gersen really get into the weeds here. Not to mention, we have an extraordinary exchange with former Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, who successfully prosecuted someone who was recently pardoned by President Trump. 

The original concept, highlighted in the Federalist papers by Alexander Hamilton, is that criminal law is harsh and can very well be applied too severely. Therefore, there may be moments that require clemency. The fear, moreover, of impeachment was meant to guard against misuse of the pardon.

What kind of pardon is Inappropriate? 

The presidential pardon power is so broad that outside of impeachment and probably a self-pardon, really anything goes.

What does a good pardon look like? 

During President Obama’s administration, Joyce Vance worked on reversing the racially disparate sentences on crack cocaine versus powdered cocaine by granting clemency - a reduction in the sentencing. Clemency and pardons are exercised under the same authority. 

“Justice and mercy - what the pardon is supposed to do” - Joyce Vance 

Professor Suk Gersen calls Trump’s pardon of Michael Fynn, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone corrupt. Or Vance calls it semi-public dangling of pardons during the Meuller investigation. 

But both our guests agreed that Trump uses the law to “harm (his) enemies and reward (his) friends.” 

Nixon was the only president to receive as presidential pardon - Ford said he wouldn’t do it but then he did. 

Path Forward

Trump could resign and Pence could pardon him and that would be a fully effective pardon. Might ruin Pence’s political career, but would legally doable. 

A self-pardon, issued by the President himself, defies logic and is unlikely to hold up. DOJ agrees with Vance here.  

States are of course a different story when it comes to pardons and you can expect more action from certain state attorneys general. 

Ultimately, a self-pardon would be ineffective, but family members would be fair game. President Clinton actually provided precedent for that action. There are many different species of pardon, but the power is broad. 

With hindsight being what it is, we encourage you to watch the video in light of President Trump’s full list of final pardons.

ABOUT THE EVENT

 As the Trump Administration comes to an end, there is a burning question we are all wondering: can the President pardon himself, and will he? An idea that has never been tested, we bring you one of the strongest legal minds and experts in this area, Joyce Vance, former U.S. Attorney and MSNBC contributor and Harvard Law professor and contributor to The New Yorker, Jeannie Suk Gersen to discuss this topic and help us full understand the practicality to this never-before-tested idea. 

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Joyce Vance served as the U.S. Attorney for North Alabama and was one of the first women nominated to the role of U.S. Attorney under President Obama. Her career has made her name be credited with pursuing public corruption prosecutions with integrity. Vance adopted a "smart on crime" approach to violent and recidivist crime, intending to prosecute the most significant cases facing the district so that communities would be safer. As U.S. Attorney, she was responsible for overseeing all federal criminal investigations and prosecutions in north Alabama, including matters involving civil rights, national security, cybercrime, public corruption, health care and corporate fraud, violent crime and drug trafficking. 

She has gone on to join MSNBC as a contributor and frequently provides on-air commentary regarding developments in legal issues that involve the Trump.s, including the ability to self-pardon.  administration.

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Jeannie Suk Gersen is a professor at Harvard Law School and is known for her specialty in a large range of topics (including constitutional law, criminal law and procedure). She has written countless articles three books, one of which, At Home in the Law, was awarded the Law and Society Association's Herbert Jacob Prize for the best law and society book of the year. 

In 2010, she became the first Asian American woman to receive tenure at Harvard Law School.

She is a longtime contributor to The New Yorker, focusing on legal and policy issues. She served as a law clerk to Justice David Souter on the United States Supreme Court, and to Judge Harry Edwards on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. 

The White Working-Class Political Revolution

There’s no getting around it; this week has been a deeply troubling, emotionally draining one for most Americans. Beginning with an audio recording of President Trump pressuring the Georgia Secretary of State to find votes that don’t exist,  to an armed insurrection that overtook the Capitol and attempted to derail the peaceful transfer of presidential power, and ending with a record breaking number of daily coronavirus deaths.  

Our inimitable moderator, Clyde Haberman, began our conversation by appropriately asking our guests, author David Paul Kuhn and former Virginia Senator, Jim Webb, what they made of it all. The former Senator astutely observed the nature of mobs and how they differ from the actions of individuals. Kuhn correctly reminded us not to mistake a few thousands extremists with the 74 million people who voted for Trump. We have, afterall, a two party system, but we are not a two party country. Many voters are anti-liberal, and not necessarily  conservative.  It’s a mixed bag of voters - some support a path for citizenship and some support a wall for example. 

LBJ was the last president to win the white vote, so what happened? 

Kuhn emphasizes the context and chaos of the time as a contributing factor to white working-class voters leaving Democrats for Republicans. Nixon appealed to them, while Democrats focused on making inroads with African Americans, LGBT, and more recent immigrant communities. Today, the Democratic coalition includes many wealthy, college educated whites as well.

According to Kuhn,  entities like The Lincoln Project were not as successful at bringing Republican voters over to Biden as they could have been because they emphasized  the wrong things. Rather than highlighting how Trump, in many ways, governed like a traditional, business friendly conservative, they focused on just what a lousy president he is. Historians may very well come to that same conclusion, but that just didn’t resonate with the white working class. Ultimately, People ultimately go to their sides when forced to choose  their corners - Kuhn uses feminists supporting Clinton post-affair as an example of this. 

Both commended Biden for bringing down the national temperature, striking the right tone and appealing to blue collar white voters, even if it was late. 

There is a sad phenomenon taking place in America's white working class. Decreasing life expectancy, increasing divorce rates,  stagnant incomes, rising alcohol and drug abuse, or as Nobel Prize Winning economist Angus Deaton has called  it, Deaths of Despair.

How do Democrats win back these disillusioned voters? 

Kuhn and Webb argue  that Democrats need to lessen the cultural weight and emphasize common cause and needs - infrastructure, social safety nets, early education and broadband. The needs of the white working class don’t look that different from those of black and brown working class communities. 

WATCH:

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David Kuhn is a political analyst and writer who has written several books that have been heavily praised, including his most recent one that was named on The New York Times "100 Notable Books of 2020." Kuhn has served as the chief political writer for CBS News online, a senior political writer for Politico as well as chief political correspondent at RealClearPolitics. He has also written for The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, National Review, New Republic, among other publications, and regularly appears on networks ranging from BBC to Fox News.

His book is credited by famed strategist James Carville as  “perhaps the best book ever on how Democrats lost the white working class” and in the WSJ, Senator Webb stated  that Kuhn was an “unacknowledged prophet” for the “consistency” of his longtime “warnings about the reasons white working people were moving away from the Democrats [which] were largely dismissed by the news media and party elites.” 

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Jim Webb is the former Democratic Senator from Virginia He wrote, introduced, and guided to passage the Post-9.11 GI Bill, the most significant veterans legislation since World War II, and co-authored legislation which exposed 60 billion dollars of waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan wartime-support contracts. A long-time advocate of fixing America’s broken criminal justice system, Mr. Webb was spotlighted in The Atlantic as one of the world’s “Brave Thinkers” for tackling prison reform and possessing “two things vanishingly rare in Congress: a conscience and a spine.” He went on to give a response to the State of the Union which has been regarded as one of the stronger State of the Union responses in recent memory. 

He previously served as Secretary of the Navy under President Reagan and is the recipient of the Purple Heart. Webb is also an Emmy Award winning journalist, a filmmaker, and the author of ten books. Since retiring, Webb is continued to be a prolific writer and has written for many national journals including USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.

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Clyde Haberman has served as a journalist with The New York Times since 1977. His assignments included staff editor of The Week in Review; Metro reporter; City Hall bureau chief; and foreign correspondent in Tokyo and Rome, and bureau chief in Jerusalem. He is known and received tremendous praise for his coverage of the Attica prison rebellion, the fall of Ferdinand Marcos, the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the 1993 Oslo accords between Israel and the Palestinians, the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and the rise of Islamic terrorism in the Middle East. 

He was part of a Times team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News, awarded for coverage of the prostitution scandal that led to Eliot Spitzer's resignation as New York governor. He continues to be a NYT columnist  and writes the Retro Report essays for The New York Times.