PAST EVENTS
The Future of News in a Post-Truth World
Join The Common Good to explore how we can save truth, free speech, and the news, in conversation with an incredible group of experts including former Congressman David Jolly, former Dean of Harvard Law School Martha Minow, and former Chairman of the FCC Newton Minow. This panel will be moderated by Rick Salomon.
About The Event
The ubiquity of social media has also brought the explosive spread of false ‘facts’ and increased distrust in traditional news — so much so that disinformation, especially combined with strong partisan feeling, has become an existential threat to our democracy.
Political beliefs now determine not only the candidates you choose to support, but also the facts you will accept; and the media you consume influences not only the opinions you will hear, but also the truths you will believe.
Can the government take action to regulate misinformation without impinging on the right to free speech? Can we hold social media companies to account for the devastating impact of their algorithmic news feeds? To what degree, if at all, should immunity continue to exist for internet companies? What does the future of news look like when we cannot agree on a common truth?
Join The Common Good to explore how we can save truth, free speech, and the news, in conversation with an incredible group of experts including former Congressman David Jolly, former Dean of Harvard Law School Martha Minow, and former Chairman of the FCC Newton Minow. This panel will be moderated by Rick Salomon.
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Former Congressman David Jolly served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2014 – 2017. Known for his fierce independent streak and bipartisan approach, Jolly has held virtually every position in Congress, from intern to Member, and has worked outside the Congress as an attorney and political consultant, as well as in specialty finance. Today, Jolly serves as Chairman of the Serve America Movement and can often be seen as a policy and politics analyst on MSNBC and NBC. Jolly's work has been published in Time, USA Today, Roll Call, the Washington Post, and CNN.com, among many other news sources. Renouncing his affiliation several years ago with the Republican Party, Jolly is now an Independent.
Martha Minow is an expert on Constitutional Law, the former Dean of Harvard Law School, and the 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University. She writes and teaches about digital communications, democracy, privatization, military justice, and ethnic and religious conflict, and is an expert in human rights and advocacy for racial and religious minorities and for women, children, and persons with disabilities. Her newest book, Saving The News, offers a detailed argument of how our government has interfered in America's media landscape and charts a path for reform.
Newton Minow is a pioneer in broadcasting, and a former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission with over five decades of experience in all aspects of the communication industry. He was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama, and the Woodrow Wilson Award for public service. He has served on the Boards of Encyclopedia Britannica, the Chicago Tribune, the RAND Corporation, CBS Corporation, the Commission on Presidential Debates, and many more. In his speech criticising broadcasters for not doing more to serve the public interest, he famously coined the phrase television as the “vast wasteland.”
Richard Salomon, a Harvard-trained lawyer and CEO of Vantage Point Consultants, has advised 400 of the Fortune 500 on ways to optimize the expenditure of corporate legal dollars. A co-founder of the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Salomon sits on many other Boards from the Of Many Institute at NYU, to the Interfaith Youth Corps, and the President's Council of the Auburn Theological Seminary. He is a frequent moderator and speaker at many venerable institutions, including the 92nd St Y, Temple Emanu-El's Streicker Center, the University of Chicago, the Cornell Institute of Politics, the Illinois Holocaust Museum, the Alliance For Justice, and, of course, The Common Good.
Meet Representative Abigail Spanberger
Join The Common Good and meet Abigail Spanberger, Vice-Chair and the Democratic Whip of the Problem Solvers Caucus. Moderated by former Congresswoman, Jane Harman.
About The Event
Representative Abigail Spanberger flipped a Republican district in 2018 and has taken issue with the sweep of the Biden agenda.
Rep. Spanberger (D-VA) began her career in public service, serving as a federal agent with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigating money laundering and narcotics cases. From 2006 to 2014, she worked overseas as a CIA operations officer focused on issues of national security including intelligence gathering on terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
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Known for her impressive record at the CIA, and her work to further our national security, Representative Spanberger is undoubtedly a rising star in the Democratic party.
Abigail Spanberger represents Virginia’s 7th District, covering an area around Richmond and Central Virginia. She is
Representative Spanberger is a Vice-Chair and the Democratic Whip of the Problem Solvers Caucus. She was elected to Congress in the 2018 elections, flipping a swing district in the process. Representative Spanberger began her career in public service, serving as a federal agent with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigating money laundering and narcotics cases. From 2006 to 2014, she worked overseas as a CIA operations officer focused on classified matters of national security that included intelligence gathering on terrorism and nuclear proliferation. She worked at home and abroad to collect vital intelligence, keep our country safe, and work in furtherance of our national security priorities.
Jane Harman is an internationally recognized authority on U.S. and global security issues, foreign relations, and lawmaking. Among her many achievements, Harman is a Distinguished Fellow and President Emerita of the Wilson Center, one of the world’s most highly regarded think tanks.
Harman recently completed a decade as its first female President & CEO. Congresswoman Harman has long been a national expert at the nexus of security and public policy issues, and has received numerous awards for her distinguished service, including the Defense Department Medal for Distinguished Service, the CIA Agency Seal Medal, the CIA Director’s Award, and the Director of National Intelligence Distinguished Public Service Medal.
Rising Leader Series with Representative Chrissy Houlahan
Join The Common Good to meet Governor Kathy Hochul, and learn more about her transition to power, and her plans for the state.
About The Event
Representative Chrissy Houlahan, an Air Force veteran, engineer, entrepreneur, and educator, is the first woman ever to represent Pennsylvania's 6th District in Congress. In 2018, Houlahan flipped the district blue, which had previously been held by a Republican for over two decades.
Join us to hear her thoughts on the historic infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better legislation as they churn through Congress as well as her other legislative priorities..
Thursday, November 4th, 2021
4:00pm-5:00pm EST
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Chrissy Houlahan is a U.S. Representative, Air Force veteran, engineer, entrepreneur, and educator who is continuing her career in public service as the first woman ever to represent Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District. Chrissy is the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors who came to America with nothing.
She grew up in a military family. Her father and grandfather flew P3’s in the same Navy squadron. She earned her engineering degree from Stanford with an ROTC scholarship that launched her service in the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserves.
Chrissy later earned her M.S. in Technology and Policy from MIT. Chrissy is a leader driven by a spirit of service. She’s a mom, a longtime resident of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and a first-time congressional representative heading to Washington to solve real world problems for the people and communities of Pennsylvania.
Meet and Greet with New York State Governor Kathy Hochul HYBRID EVENT
Join The Common Good to meet Governor Kathy Hochul, and learn more about her transition to power, and her plans for the state.
About The Event
Join The Common Good to meet Governor Kathy Hochul, and learn more about her transition to power, and her plans for the state. Presented by Patricia Duff at her home in NYC.
Events this summer roiled the state’s governance, but now it is her turn to lead.
In August, 2021 Kathy Hochul took office in the wake of her predecessor’s resignation and an ongoing pandemic. Now, her lifelong dedication to empowering women is aligned with her historic role as the first female Governor of New York.
Kathy Hochul has been a dedicated public servant for decades, rising from Erie County Clerk to U.S. Congresswoman, and then to Lieutenant Governor. In her first 45 days as New York’s Governor she has led the state with intelligence and integrity, taking swift and decisive action to fight the surging Delta variant, help New Yorker’s recover from Hurricane Ida, and confront the crisis on Rikers Island.
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Meet Alvin Bragg with Tom Allon
Join The Common Good to learn more about Alvins Bragg’s impressive record and his plans for the district, moderated by City & State publisher Tom Allon.
ABOUT THE EVENT
Alvin Bragg has spent the better part of two decades in the courtroom, standing up to the powerful and fighting to get justice. He served as the Chief Deputy Attorney General in New York State where he oversaw some of the office’s biggest cases, including suing Harvey Weinstein and his company for the existence of a hostile work environment; challenging the Trump administration over the census; and bringing significant criminal charges in bribery, securities fraud, and Medicaid fraud.
Alvin Bragg has spent the better part of two decades in the courtroom, standing up to the powerful and fighting to get justice. He is now running for Manhattan District Attorney. Join The Common Good to learn more about Bragg’s impressive record and his plans for the district, moderated by City & State publisher Tom Allon.
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The Future of Roe v Wade
The Common Good is joined by former State Senator Wendy Davis. Davis, who’s worked tirelessly to ensure women’s reproductive rights with legal expert Kimberly Atkins Stohr on the controversial topic.
ABOUT THE EVENT
The durability of Roe vs. Wade has perhaps never been more at risk than it is today. Texas’ new abortion, which effectively bans most abortions, deputizes private citizens to sue those involved in performing abortions and offers a financial incentive for them to do so. Because SCOTUS declined to prevent this bounty system from taking shape in America’s second most populous state, lawmakers and executives in at least seven other states have said they are considering similar statutes.
The Common Good is joined by former State Senator Wendy Davis. Davis, who’s worked tirelessly to ensure women’s reproductive rights with legal expert Kimberly Atkins Stohr on the controversial topic.
Thursday, September 30th, 2021
5:00pm EST-6:00pm EST
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Wendy Davis was a member of the Texas State Senate, representing District 10. She assumed office in 2009 and left office in 2015. Davis ran for election to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat to represent Texas’ 21st Congressional District. She lost in the general election on November 3, 2020. Davis received a bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Prior to assuming her position in the state Senate, Davis served on the Fort Worth City Council.
Kimberly Atkins Stohr is a senior opinion writer at The Boston Globe. She is also an MSNBC contributor.Before launching her journalism career, she was a trial and appellate litigation attorney in Boston. Previously, Kimberly was the first Washington, DC-based news correspondent for WBUR. She has also served as the Boston Herald’s Washington bureau chief, guest host of C-SPAN’s morning call-in show “Washington Journal,” and a Supreme Court reporter for Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and its sister publications. She has appeared as a political commentator on a host of national and international television and radio networks.
Alexander Vindman: Here, Right Matters
The Common Good and a true American hero, Lt. Col (ret.) Alexander Vindman, for a discussion of integrity, patriotism, and truth above all else. Moderated by Chess Grandmaster, Garry Kasparov.
ABOUT THE EVENT
What happens when a civil servant’s loyalty to the Constitution puts him at odds with arguably the most powerful person in the world?
The Common Good is honored to welcome back Lt. Col (ret.) Alexander Vindman. Earlier this year, we had the privilege of awarding Vindman with the American Spirit Award for Distinguished Public Service; and we can’t think of anyone more deserving.
After years of dedicated service in the U.S. Army, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman rose to become the National Security Council Director for European Affairs and former deputy assistant to the president. In November 2019, Vindman, found himself at the center of a firestorm for his decision to report the infamous phone call that led to the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump. His strength of character was evidenced as he testified in the public impeachment hearings as he declared during the trial, “Here, right matters.”
His new memoir, Here, Right Matters, is a stirring account of Vindman's childhood as an immigrant growing up in New York City, his career in service of his new home on the battlefield and at the White House, and the decisions leading up to, and fallout surrounding, his exposure of President Trump's abuse of power.
As an immigrant, raised by a father who fled the Soviet Union in pursuit of a better life for his children, Vindman learned about respect for truth throughout his education and military service. His decision to speak up about the July 25th call was never a choice: it was Vindman’s duty, as a naturalized citizen and member of the armed forces. In the wake of his testimony, he would endure furious partisan attacks on his record and his loyalty. But far louder was the extraordinary chorus of support from citizens who were collectively intent on reaffirming an abiding American commitment to integrity.
Join The Common Good and a true American hero for a discussion of integrity, patriotism, that infamous call, and truth above all else. Moderated by Chess Grandmaster, Garry Kasparov.
Wednesday, September 22nd
5:00pm EST-6pm EST
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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 received the American Spirit Award for Distinguished Public Service at our 2021 American Spirit Awards.
Garry Kasparov, one of the world’s greatest chess champions in history, fled Russia in 2013 after Putin’s crackdown on reform efforts led by Kasparov and others. Kasparov currently serves as chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, and has authored numerous works on the Putin regime and artificial intelligence.
Garry Kasparov joined The Common Good to discuss Russia and the dangers Vladimir Putin and his regime pose to the world in Defending Democracy: John Avlon, Philip Bobbitt, Ian Kahn, Garry Kasparov, and Bret Stephens. Kasparov also spoke at The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2018.
Pandemic Update with Dr. William A. Haseltine
Join The Common Good with Dr. William Haseltine to discuss Covid-19, where we are and where we’re going. Moderated by Honorary Advisory Board Member, Susan Del Percio.
About The Event
Covid-19 is unfortunately still very much with us. It is ravaging parts of this country,particularly in places with relatively low vaccination rates. However, we’re also seeing more breakthrough cases that many of us imagined. As our future with Covid-19 remains uncertain, we thought it’d be a good time to bring back Dr. William A. Haseltine to provide a briefing - where we are and where we’re going. Moderated by Honorary Advisory Board Member, Susan Del Percio.
Thursday, September 9th, 2021
4:00pm-5:00pm EST
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Dr. William A. Haseltine is a scientist, businessman, author and philanthropist. His contributions to HIV/AIDS and genome research established Haseltines repute as a scientist. After his time as a professor at Harvard Medical School, he founded Human Genome Sciences and served as chairman and CEO. In 2001 he was listed as one of the 25 most influential business people and in 2015 was listed as one of the 100 most influential leaders in biotechnology. He has authored many books, the most recent being A Family’s Guide to Covid and Covid Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CV-PTSD): What It Is and What To Do About It
Haseltine has been a scientific voice throughout the pandemic. He is adamant about his opposition the herd immunity strategy and has advocated for other solutions to minimize the COVID death rates.
Susan Del Percio is a nationally recognized crisis communication expert and public affairs strategist. She is a political analyst for MSNBC, columnist for OZY media, and a consultant for the award-winning HBO show, The Newsroom.
Del Percio has served as a media spokeswoman on many campaigns, both political and corporate. With nearly 30 years of experience in the political, government, nonprofit, and private sectors, she is a trusted advisor who helps leaders develop, execute, and win purposeful campaigns. Her unique insights on government procedure, regulatory environments and public policy are highly sought after, but her passion for problem solving sets her apart.
Del Percio attended The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards on May 21st, 2018, and spoke on the panel “Political Landscape: Future of Elections, Campaigns, & Parties” alongside John Della Volpe, former Congressman David Jolly, and Bill Schneider, with moderator John Harwood. She returned to participate in the Post Vice Presidential Debate Panel on October 8, 2020 and was joined by nationally known strategists from both sides of the aisle: Tara Setmayer, Hilary Rosen, and Stan Greenberg to have an incredible conversation following the debate.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan with Ambassador Peter Galbraith, the Honorable Mike Rogers, and Matt Zeller as we explore the consequences -humanitarian, security, political - of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Moderated by Felicia Taylor.
About The Event
20 Years, 2 Trillion dollars and countless lives - was it finally time to leave Afghanistan? Join The Common Good as we explore the consequences -humanitarian, security, political - of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Wednesday, August 25th, 2021
5:00pm EST - 6:00pm EST
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Peter W. Galbraith is a former US Ambassador to Croatia and Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations in Afghanistan. He is the author of two books on the Iraq War, The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End and Unintended Consequences: How War in Iraq Strengthened America’s Enemies.
Mike Rogers is a former member of Congress representing Michigan's Eighth Congressional District, officer in the U.S. Army, and FBI special agent. He is a highly sought-after expert on national security issues, intelligence affairs, and cybersecurity policy. He advises multiple boards and academic institutions, working to enhance America’s strength and security. Mike built a legacy as a tireless and effective leader on counterterrorism, intelligence and national security policy from his years of service in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he chaired the powerful House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI).
Matt Zeller is a consultant in Washington, DC. He is the author of Watches Without Time (Just World Books, 2012), a vivid description of what he experienced while serving as an embedded combat adviser with the Afghan security forces in Ghazni, Afghanistan, in 2008. Matt is a Captain in the US Army Reserve and a former officer of the Central Intelligence Agency. He was the Democrat candidate for Congress in 2010 in NY’s 29th Congressional District.
Felicia Taylor is a retired anchor-correspondent formerly for CNN International’s World Business Today has contributed to the Business Updates unit for CNN. She was the co-host of Retirement Living TV’s Daily Cafe until November 2009. She joined WNBC in 1998 and left in September 2006. Felicia Taylor has covered pivotal moments in history including the Gulf War, Black Monday, the top 5 largest point drops on the Dow, the demise of Long Term Capital Management, the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, the demise of Bear Sterns and the global financial crisis beginning in 2008.
A Conversation with America’s Police Commissioner, Bill Bratton
The Common Good presents, A Conversation with America’s Police Commissioner, Bill Bratton. Moderated by best selling author, Ken Auletta.
About The Event
There is perhaps no greater authority on policing in America than Bill Bratton. But Bill Bratton is not only an expert on policing, he was also in the key position to assist in combating terrorism in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and subsequent terror threats in New York and Los Angeles.
Join The Common Good as Ken Auletta, best-selling author extraordinaire and famed columnist for The New Yorker, leads a conversation with Commissioner Bratton on Bratton’s new book, “The Profession: A Memoir of Community, Race, and the Arc of Policing in America” as a jumping off point.
We’ll look at Bratton’s extraordinary career, how policing has changed (for good and bad) over the years, and get his thoughts on national security more generally. Bratton was known for improving community relations with the police and significantly reducing crime rates. How did he do it? Can we do it again? With crime rates rising, particularly violent crime, we need to know. Don’t miss this essential conversation.
During a 46-year career in law enforcement Bill Bratton, ever results-driven, instituted progressive change while leading six police departments, including seven years as Chief of the Boston and Los Angeles Police Departments and two nonconsecutive terms as the Police Commissioner of the City of New York. He is the only person ever to lead the police agencies of America’s two largest cities. In the words of our Honorary Advisory Board member and former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, Bill Bratton is “America’s police commissioner.”
Wednesday, July 28 from 5:00pm to 6:00pm ET
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Commissioner Bratton was the 42nd police commissioner of the City of New York from January 2014 to September 2016. It was the second time he had held the post. During that time, he oversaw 32 months of declining crime, including historic lows for murders and robberies. Commissioner Bratton spearheaded a major technological overhaul, the Mobile Digital Initiative, which gave a smartphone with custom-designed apps to every officer and put a tablet in every patrol car.
Commissioner Bratton also implemented major reforms to the NYPD’s counterterrorism program by developing two new units—the Critical Response Command (CRC) and the Strategic Response Group (SRG)—which now provide the city with more than 1,000 highly trained and properly equipped officers who are dedicated to counterterrorism, large-scale mobilizations, site security, and rapid deployment citywide.
In the 1990s, Commissioner Bratton established an international reputation for re-engineering police departments and fighting crime. As Chief of the New York City Transit Police, Boston Police Commissioner, and in his first term as New York City Police Commissioner, he revitalized morale and cut crime in all three posts, achieving the largest crime declines in New York City’s history. As Los Angeles Police Chief from 2002 to 2009, in a city known for its entrenched gang culture and youth violence, he brought crime to historically low levels, greatly improved race relations, and reached out to young people with a range of innovative police programs.
Ken Auletta is an acclaimed journalist who has been a pillar at The New Yorker magazine since 1992, writing columns under Annals of Communication and major pieces on a variety of major personalities and trends. Auletta has profiled the leading figures and companies of the Information Age, including Google, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch, AOL Time Warner, John Malone, Harvey Weinstein, the New York Times, Sheryl Sandberg and Facebook; he has dissected media meteors that fell to earth, probed media violence, the political giving of communication giants, and explored what "synergy" may mean to journalism. His 2001 profile of Ted Turner won a National Magazine Award as the best profile of the year. He covered the Microsoft antitrust trial for the magazine. In ranking him as America's premier media critic, the Columbia Journalism Review concluded, "no other reporter has covered the new communications revolution as thoroughly as has Auletta." New York Magazine described him as the "media Boswell."
In addition to his fine reporting and writing at The New Yorker, Auletta is the author of twelve books, including five national bestsellers: Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost Their Way; Greed And Glory On Wall Street: The Fall of The House of Lehman; The Highwaymen: Warriors of the Information Super Highway; World War 3.0: Microsoft and Its Enemies; and Googled, The End of the World As We Know It, which was published in November of 2009. His other books include: Backstory: Inside the Business of News; Media Man: Ted Turner’s Improbable Empire; The Streets Were Paved with Gold; and The Underclass. His twelfth book, Frenemies: The Epic Disruption of the Ad Business (And Everything Else), was published in June 2018.
Be sure to check out Auletta’s 2015 article on Bratton entitled,“Fixing Broken Windows”
The story of American capitalism with Zachary Karabell & Douglas Brinkley
The Common Good presents The story of American capitalism with acclaimed historian, commentator and former financial executive, Zachary Karabell. Moderated by prominent historian and TCG Honorary Board Member, Douglas Brinkley.
About the Event
How has the American economy evolved over time and is our unique brand of capitalism still the envy of the world? Well, we are still one of the richest countries in the world, with the largest economy and some of the most dynamic, innovative companies, but there have certainly been growing pains - extreme inequality, waning upward mobility, and decreasing competitiveness. So how did we get here and what lessons can be learned from our past?
Zachary Karabell has some thoughts. Author, commentator, investor and all-around renaissance man, Karabell tells the story of money and power in the United States, using Brown Brothers Harriman, the oldest private bank in America, as his lens and narrative arc. Present at the creation of the post-World War II international system, BBH’s fingerprints can be found on many of the major economic developments of the 20th century. Karabell also acknowledges a particular model of capitalism that BBH came to define and inhabit that he believes to be a more constructive version than the current publicly traded shareholder variant, where gains are privatized and losses socialized. Conversely, BBH’s model in 1800 and today is that of a private partnership - the risk is theirs and so are the rewards. At its core, this is a story of capitalism and how its evolution shaped America.
We can think of no better moderator to lead this sweeping conversation than historian and TCG Honorary board member, Douglas Brinkley.
Zach and Doug will explore the history of American power and capitalism, offering, if not a lesson, an example of a more responsible, restrained, and perhaps gentler version of capitalism for today and the future.
Wednesday, July 21st, 2021
5-6:00pm EST
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Zachary Karabell is an acclaimed author and columnist, the founder of the Progress Network at New America, and president of River Twice Research and River Twice Capital.
Educated at Columbia, Oxford and Harvard, where he received his Ph.D., Karabell has written widely on history, economics and international relations.
His most recent book, Inside Money: Brown Brothers Harriman and the American Way of Power, Karabell offers the first full look inside the private investment firm Brown Brothers Harriman against the backdrop of American history. With an unparalleled understanding of money and history, Karabell expertly tracks the rise of American capitalism through the story of this powerful family firm.
Previously, Karabell was Head of Global Strategies at Envestnet, a publicly traded financial services firm. Prior to that, he was President of Fred Alger & Company. In addition, he ran the River Twice Fund from 2011-2013, an alternative fund that focused on sustainability.
Karabell also sits on the board of New America and PEN America. In 2003, the World Economic Forum designated him a "Global Leader for Tomorrow." As a commentator, Karabell is a Contributing Editor for Wired and for Politico, and the host of the podcast “What Could Go Right?”
Douglas Brinkley is one of the most prominent historians in the U.S. Dubbed by the The Chicago Tribune as “America’s New Past Master,” Brinkley has charted American history and significant figures for decades.
In addition to his role as CNN’s Presidential Historian, he is also the official Presidential Historian for The New York Historical Society, an essayist, and a prolific and renowned biographer.
Brinkley has published over three dozen highly acclaimed books, with subjects ranging from Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, JFK, FDR, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Richard Nixon to the life of Rosa Parks, Hurricane Katrina, the space race and American Catholicism.
Currently, Brinkley is an esteemed professor at Rice University as the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History. He is also a member of the Century Association, Council of Foreign Relations and the James Madison Council of the Library of Congress.
Rising Leaders Series: Meet Representative Elissa Slotkin
The Common Good Rising Leader Series with Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) . Moderated by Honorary Board Member, Jane Harman.
ABOUT THE EVENT
The Common Good sits down with Representative Elissa Blair Slotkin. Moderated by Jane Harmon.
Thursday, July 15th, 2021
5:00pm-6:00pm EST
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Rep. Slotkin has spent her career in national service. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which took place during her first week of graduate school in New York City, Rep. Slotkin knew that national service would define her career. She was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to be a Middle East analyst and went on to devote her career to protecting the United States from national security threats.
In her role at the CIA, Rep. Slotkin worked alongside the U.S. military during three tours in Iraq as a militia expert. In between her tours in Iraq, Rep. Slotkin held various defense and intelligence positions under President Bush and President Obama, including roles at the White House and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In 2011, Rep. Slotkin took a senior position at the Pentagon and, until January 2017, she served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. In this role, Rep. Slotkin oversaw policy on Russia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at the Pentagon and participated in negotiations on some of the country’s most pressing national security issues.
Jane Harman is an internationally recognized authority on U.S. and global security issues, foreign relations, and lawmaking. Among her many achievements, Harman is a Distinguished Fellow and President Emerita of the Wilson Center, one of the world’s most highly regarded think tanks.
Harman recently completed a decade as its first female President & CEO. Congresswoman Harman has long been a national expert at the nexus of security and public policy issues, and has received numerous awards for her distinguished service, including the Defense Department Medal for Distinguished Service, the CIA Agency Seal Medal, the CIA Director’s Award, and the Director of National Intelligence Distinguished Public Service Medal.
Her upcoming book, Insanity Defense: Why Our Failure to Confront Hard National Security Problems Makes Us Less Safe, offers an insider's account of America's ineffectual approach to some of the hardest defense and intelligence issues in the three decades since the Cold War ended.
Rising Leaders Series: Meet Representative Katie Porter
The Common Good Rising Leaders Series: Meet Representative Katie Porter (D-CA) moderated by Honorary Advisory Board member and media pioneer, Tom Rogers.
ABOUT THE EVENT
Representative Porter is undoubtedly a rising star in the Democratic party. Join The Common Good for our Rising Leaders Series: Meet Representative Katie Porter (D-CA). Moderated by Tom Rogers.
Wednesday, June 30th, 2021
5-6:00pm ET
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Congresswoman Katie Porter represents the 45th Congressional District in Orange County, California.
In Washington, Congresswoman Porter has remained committed to putting Orange County families first. As a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee and Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, she’s asked tough questions of bank CEOs and administration officials to hold them accountable to the American people. She’s also a proud member of the House Natural Resources Committee, where she works tirelessly to protect our beaches and public lands, elevate science-based solutions to the climate crisis, and keep Orange County families safe from wildfires. She chairs the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, where she leads efforts to hold polluters accountable.
Eager to invite families into the conversations happening in the halls of Congress, Rep. Porter has developed a reputation for her use of visual aids during Congressional hearings. She wielded a whiteboard while grilling the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, over how an entry-level employee at his bank couldn’t make ends meet. She also used her signature whiteboard to break down potential cost barriers to COVID-19 tests, which helped her secure a commitment from the Trump Administration to make testing free for every American.
Rep. Porter has also published several reports that break down issues and identify solutions on behalf of Orange County families. She’s exposed how Big Pharma’s mergers and acquisitions destroy innovation and harm patients, shined a spotlight on how the coronavirus pandemic is disproportionately burdening working women, blasted the Trump Administration for mismanaging medical supplies during a pandemic, and detailed how the Trump tax law hurts Orange County homeowners.
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.
Hamas & Gaza: Where Does Israel Go From Here?
Hamas & Gaza: Where Does Israel Go From Here with former Mossad chief, Efraim Halevy, who served under five Israeli Prime Ministers, and Rick Salomon, CEO, and Harvard-trained lawyer.
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What ignited the conflict in Gaza? With a fragile truce and a now a possible change in Israel’s leadership, what is the path forward? Join former Mossad chief, Efraim Halevy, who served under five Israeli Prime Ministers, for a candid analysis of Israel’s multiple predicaments, internally and externally. Leading this conversation is good friend of The Common Good, Rick Salomon is a CEO, and Harvard-trained lawyer.
Tuesday, June 8th, 1-2:00pm ET
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EFRAIM HALEVY
Joining us from Israel, we will have Efraim Halevy. A lawyer and an Israeli intelligence expert, Halevy was the ninth director of Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel, responsible for intelligence collection, covert operations, and counter-terrorism He also served as the 4th head of the Israeli National Security Council. Above all, Halevy may be remembered for his part in bringing about the Israel–Jordan peace treaty.
RICK SALOMON
Rick Salomon is a CEO, Harvard-trained lawyer who has organized and moderated a diverse set of programs, including on the Middle East, for a host of organizations, including the 92Y, Temple Emanu-El's Streicker Center, and the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, which he co-founded and where he sits on the Board.
Voting Rights and American Democracy
Voting Rights and American Democracy with Michael Waldman, President of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, Carol Anderson, author and Chair of African American Studies at Emory University, and David Litt, author and former speechwriter to President Obama.
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Voting rights around the country are being severely curtailed. In fact, according to the Brennan Center, as of March 24, legislators have introduced 361 bills with restrictive provisions in 47 states. That’s 108 more than the 253 restrictive bills tallied as of February 19, 2021 — a 43 percent increase in little more than a month. With instances of voter fraud virtually nonexistent, the rationale for much of this legislation is dubious at best. Voting rights shouldn’t be a partisan issue.
Join The Common Good and experts, Michael Waldman, President of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School, Carol Anderson, author and Chair of African American Studies at Emory University, and David Litt, author and former speechwriter to President Obama.
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Michael Waldman is president of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. A nonpartisan law and policy institute that focuses on improving systems of democracy and justice, the Brennan Center is a leading national voice on voting rights, money in politics, criminal justice reform, and constitutional law. Waldman, a constitutional lawyer and writer who is an expert on the presidency and American democracy, has led the Center since 2005.
Waldman was director of speechwriting for President Bill Clinton from 1995 to 1999, serving as assistant to the president. He was responsible for writing or editing nearly two thousand speeches, including four State of the Union and two inaugural addresses. He was special assistant to the president for policy coordination from 1993 to 1995.
He is the author of The Fight to Vote (Simon & Schuster, 2016), a history of the struggle to win voting rights for all citizens. The Washington Post wrote, “Waldman’s important and engaging account demonstrates that over the long term, the power of the democratic ideal prevails — as long as the people so demand.” The Wall Street Journal called it “an engaging, concise history of American voting practices,” and the Miami Herald described it as “an important history in an election year.” The Fight to Vote was a Washington Post notable nonfiction book for 2016 and a History Book Club main selection.
Carol Anderson is Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies at Emory University. Professor Anderson’s research and teaching focus on public policy; particularly the ways that domestic and international policies intersect through the issues of race, justice and equality in the United States.
Professor Anderson is the author of Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African-American Struggle for Human Rights, 1944-1955, which was published by Cambridge University Press and awarded both the Gustavus Myers and Myrna Bernath Book Awards. In her second monograph, Bourgeois Radicals: The NAACP and the Struggle for Colonial Liberation, 1941-1960, also published by Cambridge, Professor
Anderson uncovered the long-hidden and important role of the nation’s most powerful civil rights organization in the fight for the liberation of peoples of color in Africa and Asia. Professor Anderson's most recent work, One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy, was published by Bloomsbury and a finalist for the PEN/Galbraith Award in Non-fiction and a National Book Award Longlist finalist in Non-fiction.
Her research has garnered substantial fellowships and grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Ford Foundation, National Humanities Center, Harvard University’s Charles Warren Center, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (The Big Ten and the University of Chicago), and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
David Litt entered the White House as a speechwriter in 2011, and left in 2016 as a senior presidential speechwriter and special assistant to the president. In addition to writing remarks for President Barack Obama on a wide range of domestic policy issues, David served as the lead joke writer for several White House Correspondents’ Dinner monologues. Since leaving government, David's work has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and The Boston Globe, among others. From 2016-2018 he was the head writer and producer for Funny Or Die D.C., and he has developed TV pilots for Comedy Central and ABC.
David's New York Times bestselling memoir, Thanks, Obama: My Hopey Changey White House Years, was published in 2017. His second book, Democracy in One Book Or Less: How It Works, Why It Doesn’t, and Why Fixing It Is Easier Than You Think, was published in June 2020.
The Rise and Threat of Right Wing Domestic Terrorism
Understanding the rise and threat of right-wing domestic terrorism with former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, retired FBI agent turned scholar Michael German, Vice President of the Center on Extremism, Oren Segal, and Professor Robert Pape.
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According to the Department of Homeland Security, "domestic violent extremism poses the most lethal, persistent terrorism-related threat to our homeland today." Join our stellar group as they discuss this metastasizing threat, and what can be done to fight it.
Thursday, May 20th, 2021
5:00pm-6:00pm EST
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Jeh Johnson served as President Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017. Prior to this, he served as General Counsel for the Department of Defense, acting as one of the legal architects for the US military’s counter-terrorism mission.
Michael German is a former FBI agent and current fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty & National Security Program. At the FBI, German specialized in domestic terrorism, often going undercover to investigate violent white supremacist organizations.
Robert Pape is the Director of the Chicago Project on Security & Threats, and Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, Pape is considered one of the world’s foremost experts in terrorism studies.
As Vice President of the Center on Extremism, Oren Segal and his team combat extremism, terrorism and all forms of hate in the real world and online. Recognized as the foremost authority on extremism, the Center provides resources, expertise and training which enables law enforcement, public officials and internet and technology companies to identify and counter emerging threats.
The Common Good is pleased to announce that we’re reteaming with CSPAN to air this event.
America’s Immigration Crisis - Politics and Policy at a Crossroads
America’s Immigration Crisis- Politics and Policy with, Mayor Jim Darling of McAllen, Texas, located right on the border, Miriam Jordan, national correspondent covering immigration for The New York Times, Andrew Selee, one of the nation’s most respected experts on immigration and President of the highly regarded Migration Policy Institute (MPI), and Dara Lind, Propublica reporter and one of the nation's leading immigration reporters.
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The Common Good presents Immigration within the United States with Mayor Jim Darling is a lifelong public servant and now mayor of McAllen, Texas, located right on the border, he offers us his straight shooting insights. Miriam Jordan, national correspondent covering immigration for The New York Times, Andrew Selee, President of the highly regarded Migration Policy Institute (MPI), and our moderator, Dara Lind, one of the nation's leading immigration reporters.
Thursday, May 13th, 2021
5:00pm-6:00pm EST
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Andrew Selee is the President of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan institution that seeks to improve immigration and integration policies through fact-based research, opportunities for learning and dialogue, and the development of new ideas to address complex policy questions, since August 2017. He also chairs MPI Europe's administrative council.
Prior to joining MPI, Selee spent 17 years at the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he founded the Center’s Mexico Institute and later served as Vice President for Programs and Executive Vice President. He has also worked as staff in the U.S. Congress and on development and migration programs in Tijuana, Mexico.
Dr. Selee’s research focuses on migration globally, with a special emphasis on immigration policies in Latin America and in the United States. He is the author of several books, and coauthor of a number of MPI policy reports, as well as, opinion articles writer in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, San Francisco Chronicle, San Diego Union Tribune, CNN.com, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy, and he writes a regular column in Mexico’s largest newspaper, El Universal. He has been an Adjunct Professor at both Johns Hopkins University and George Washington University, and was a visiting scholar at El Colegio de México.
Miriam Jordan is a national correspondent covering immigration. Her reporting pulls back the curtain on the complexities and paradoxes of immigration policies and their impact on the lives of immigrants, society and the economy.Whether writing about skilled professionals in Silicon Valley or farm workers, Ms. Jordan's stories have influenced the national discourse on immigration. She broke the news that former President Trump employed undocumented immigrants at his properties, and her coverage of an unannounced policy to deport children with life-threatening health conditions prompted hearings in Congress and, ultimately, an end to the administration's plan. Ms. Jordan travels widely to report from a grassroots level. She rode a Greyhound bus from Arizona to Tennessee to tell the story of the mass movement of migrant families who crossed the southern border.
Before joining The Times in 2017, Ms. Jordan worked at The Wall Street Journal and Reuters. At the WSJ, she was a Gerald Loeb Award finalist for beat reporting, with an entry of stories about "the moral, legal and economic dilemmas of illegal immigration." She has been a reporter in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.Ms. Jordan earned an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University. She grew up in Brazil and the U.S, and speaks Portuguese, Spanish, French and Hebrew.
James Darling is the Mayor of the City of McAllen and spent 28 years as a city attorney with the city of McAllen and other governmental entities. Prior to Mayor he served as City Commissioner for District 6. Mayor Darling is also the Chairman for the Lower Rio Grande River Water Authority, Hidalgo-McAllen International Bridge Board, and Anzalduas International Bridge Board and a board member for Region M Water Planning Group, McAllen Economic Development Corp., McAllen Foreign Trade Zone, Inc., and Amigos Del Valle. Mayor Darling is the President of Texas Municipal League Region 12, and Vice Chairman of the International Good Neighbor Committee (Appointed by Secretary of State Carlos Cascos).
Mayor Darling was the President of the South Texas Aggregation Project (STAP) – predecessor to TCAP from 2001-2009. He was also a member of the McAllen Public Utilities Board of Trustees.
After serving two tours of duty in Viet Nam with the US Air Force as a SSGT, Mayor Darling went on to be a 2nd class Petty Officer for the US Navy reserve. He has been very active in the community serving on the McAllen Boys and Girls Club board, Communities in schools, McAllen Crime Stoppers, Chamber of Commerce including being Chair of the Chamber’s Legislative Committee.
Dara Lind covers immigration policy for ProPublica in Washington, DC.
Before coming to ProPublica, she spent five years as Vox's immigration reporter; she remains a regular cohost of the Vox podcast "The Weeds." She's been covering immigration in some form since the end of the George W. Bush administration.
Biden's First 100 Days
Biden’s First 100 Days with Anita Dunn, Senior Advisor to the White House; David Frum, bestselling author, Senior Editor at the Atlantic, and former speechwriter for Pres. George W. Bush; and to lead the conversation, and presidential historian and member of our Honorary Advisory Board, Douglas Brinkley.
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OK, Joe Biden has served for 100 days as President. He enjoys fairly high favorability ratings but can they last? What’s the Biden agenda and effect? We’ll leave that to our expert panel to decipher. The Common Good is thrilled to welcome top White House insiders Anita Dunn and David Frum - and leading the conversation is Presidential historian and TCG Honorary Advisory Board Member Douglas Brinkley, to give us the good, the bad, and the normal of President Biden’s first 100 days.
Thursday, May 6th, 2021
5:00pm-6:00pm
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David Frum is a staff writer at the Atlantic. Frum is the author of ten books, most recently TRUMPOCALYPSE: Restoring American Democracy(HarperCollins, 2020). His first book, Dead Right, won praise from William F. Buckley as “the most refreshing intellectual experience in a generation” and from Frank Rich in the New York Times as “the smartest book written from the inside about the American conservative movement.” In National Review, John Podhoretz hailed Frum’s history of the 1970s, How We Got Here, as “an audacious act of revisionism, written in a voice and style so original it deserves to be called revolutionary.” Arianna Huffington said of Frum’s 2012 novel, Patriots, “David Frum is someone who fearlessly speaks his mind, regardless of where the chips may fall, so it’s no surprise he’s able to convey so much truth in his fiction.” Frum’s memoir of his service in the George W. Bush administration, The Right Man, was a New York Times bestseller, as was his 2018 book, Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic.
David Frum has been active in Republican politics since the first Reagan campaign of 1980. From 2014 through 2017, Frum served as chairman of the board of trustees of the leading UK center-right think tank, Policy Exchange. In 2001-2002, he served as speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush.
David Frum holds a BA and MA in history from Yale and a law degree from Harvard, where he served as President of the Federalist Society.
Douglas Brinkley is one of the most prominent historians in the U.S. — and CNN's presidential historian - having charted American history and significant figures for decades. He is also the official Presidential Historian for The New York Historical Society, an essayist, and a prolific and renowned biographer. He has published over three dozen highly acclaimed books, including many discerning biographies and shrewdly edited collections of presidents and presidential records. His subjects have ranged from Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, JFK, FDR, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Richard Nixon to the life of Rosa Parks, Hurricane Katrina, the space race and American Catholicism.
Currently, Brinkley is an esteemed professor at Rice University as the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History, He is also a member of the Century Association, Council of Foreign Relations and the James Madison Council of the Library of Congress. His early teaching career included positions at the U.S. Naval Academy, Princeton, and Hofstra University. At Hofstra, he spearheaded an acclaimed American Odyssey course which took students across the country in a sleeper bus, visiting historical sites and meeting with cultural icons and is the subject of his travelogue The Majic Bus.
The Common Good New York City Mayoral Series with Shaun Donovan
The Common Good’s New York City Mayoral Speaker Series presents a Conversation with candidate Shaun Donovan.
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The Common Good’s New York City Mayoral Speaker Series presents a Conversation with one of the most experienced candidates, Shaun Donovan, about his race to run City Hall and one of the most powerful elected jobs in the nation.
Wednesday, May, 6th, 2021
5:00pm-6:00pm
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Shaun Donovan is a proven leader and manager. As Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama Cabinet, Shaun led the nation out of the Great Recession’s housing crisis and reduced veterans homelessness by 50 percent. And he successfully managed the four-trillion-dollar federal budget as Director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Obama/Biden administration.
From January, 2009 to July, 2014, Shaun was the 15th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he led the fight against the nation’s unprecedented foreclosure crisis. Under his leadership, HUD helped families rent or buy affordable homes, revitalized distressed communities, fought discrimination and dramatically reduced homelessness. After Hurricane Sandy hit his hometown, President Obama asked him to lead the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, leaving a stronger, more resilient region than before the storm hit.
The Common Good New York City Mayoral Series with Ray McGuire
The Common Good’s New York City Mayoral Speaker Series with candidate Ray McGuire. Moderated by Glenn Hutchins.
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The Common Good New York City Mayoral Series presents a Conversation with candidate Ray McGuire about his race. Moderated by legendary business leader, Glenn Hutchins.
Friday, April 23rd, 2021
11:00am - 12:00pm EST
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Ray McGuire is a candidate for mayor of New York City. According to his campaign website, he aims to regain 50,000 jobs lost due to the pandemic with his Comeback Job Accelerator Plan; create new oversight for policing practices; and give the homeless a path to permanent housing.
Before entering the political arena, McGuire has been a much respected investment banker on Wall Street. He has spent almost 40 years in the industry, notably as the Vice Chairman of Citigroup from 2015 to 2020.
Ray received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College, followed by earning a J.D. and MBA from Harvard as well.
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.