Date: Monday, March 22, 2021 Time: 1:15 p.m.–2:15 p.m. ET
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For decades, philanthropist George Soros has been dogged by conspiracy theories and disinformation. A new documentary from filmmaker Jesse Dylan shows how his opponents — from Glenn Beck to the Proud Boys — have leveraged racist, anti-Semitic tropes to smear not just Soros but those who’ve benefitted from his support for open societies globally. Now, with disinformation posing a direct threat to democracy, stemming the tide of lies has never been more crucial. Join the Brennan Center for Justice and PEN America for a conversation about truth, lies, and how to support open societies at a fractured historical moment. In advance of the conversation, participants will have a chance to watch for free the film Soros.

This event is produced in partnership with PEN America.

Speakers: Mark Malloch-Brown, President, Open Society Foundations; Andre Banks, Founder and CEO, A/B Partners and Win Black; Arisha Hatch, Vice President and Chief of Campaigns, Color Of Change; Jesse Dylan, Director, Soros; Brennan Center President Michael Waldman; Moderator: Suzanne Nossel, CEO, PEN America, Author, Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All

Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2021 Time: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. ET
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A pathbreaking New York Times bestseller, Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 ranges across disciplines and genres to tell the many histories of Black Americans from 1619 through the present. Though slavery and white supremacy reverberate through the centuries, African America has always comprised a multiplicity of experiences and ideas, shaping not just Black communities but the nation at large. The volume’s coeditor, historian Keisha N. Blain, and two of its contributors, political strategist Donna Brazile and anthropologist Laurence Ralph, join the Brennan Center’s Theodore R. Johnson to discuss how African American resistance and engagement has shaped the contours of U.S. democracy.

This event is produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center.

Speakers: Keisha N. Blain, Associate Professor of History, University of Pittsburgh, Coeditor, Four Hundred Souls; Donna Brazile, Former Acting Chair, Democratic National Committee, Contributing Author, Four Hundred Souls; Laurence Ralph, Professor of Anthropology, Princeton University, Contributing Author, Four Hundred Souls; Moderator: Brennan Center Fellows Program Director Theodore R. Johnson

Date: Thursday, March 25, 2021 Time: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. ET
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How is it that corporations can spend unlimited sums in our elections, but a Black defendant has no right to a ruling free of racial bias? Why does a company have the right to sell private prescription data, but marginalized children don’t have the right to an adequate public education? In his new book, How Rights Went Wrong: Why Our Obsession with Rights Is Tearing America Apart, constitutional scholar Jamal Greene argues that courts should reconcile competing rights, not discriminate between them. In this conversation, he’ll discuss how the United States became so “rightsist,” and how we can shift this paradigm to truly ensure justice, once and for all.

This event is produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center.

Speakers: Jamal Greene, Dwight Professor of Law, Columbia University Law School, Author, How Rights Went Wrong: Why Our Obsession with Rights Is Tearing America Apart; Moderator: Brennan Center Democracy Program Managing Director Alicia Bannon

Date: Thursday, April 1, 2021 Time: 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m. ET
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After the election of Donald Trump, journalist Seyward Darby went looking for the women of the so-called “alt-right” — really just white nationalism with a new label. The mainstream media depicted the alt-right as a bastion of angry white men, but was it? As women headlined resistance to the Trump administration’s bigotry and sexism, most notably at the Women’s Marches, Darby wanted to know why others were joining a movement espousing racism and anti-feminism.

Who were these women, and what did their activism reveal about America’s past, present, and future? Join Darby and Brennan Center Liberty and National Security Program Codirector Faiza Patel for a conversation about Darby’s new book, Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism.

This event is produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center.

Speakers: Seyward Darby, Editor in Chief, The Atavist Magazine, Author, Sisters in Hate; Moderator: Brennan Center Liberty and National Security Program Codirector Faiza Patel