Date: Monday, June 7, 2021 Time: 12:00 p.m.–12:45 p.m. ET
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As deputy national security advisor to President Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes played a critical role in shaping U.S. relations with the rest of the world. After the 2016 election, however, he began traveling abroad in the hope of better understanding undemocratic currents at home. In his new memoir, After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made, Rhodes shares insights gleaned from politicians, activists, and dissidents who have been on the frontlines of the fight against authoritarianism and ethnonationalism in their own countries. While clear-eyed about how the United States has contributed to these global trends, he offers a vision of how the country can usher in a brighter future.

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

Speakers: Ben Rhodes, Former Deputy National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama, Author, After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made; Moderator: Vivian Salama, National Security Correspondent, The Wall Street Journal

Date: Wednesday, June 9, 2021 Time: 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m. ET
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"Racism is an existential threat to America," Theodore R. Johnson declares at the start of his new book, When the Stars Begin to Fall. That racism continues to corrode our society is a refutation of the American Promise, enshrined in our Constitution, which holds that all people are inherently equal. Weaving memories of his and his family's multi-generational experiences with racism, alongside strands of history, Johnson lays out the case that national solidarity is the path toward diminishing racism, and that a blueprint for national solidarity can be found in the exceptional citizenship long practiced in Black America. Understanding that racism is a structural crime of the state, he argues that overcoming it requires us to recognize that a color-conscious society — not a color-blind one — is the true fulfillment of the American Promise.

This event is produced in partnership with The New York Public Library.

Speakers: Brennan Center Fellows Program Director Theodore R. Johnson, Author, When the Stars Begin to Fall; Moderator: Dr. Leah Wright Rigueur, Harry Truman Associate Professor of History, Brandeis University

Date: Wednesday, June 16, 2021 Time: 12:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m. ET
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Elections are more than ballots, polling places, and voting machines. The human component of administering elections was exposed to unthinkable stress and attack during the 2020 cycle. It nearly reached the breaking point.

Whether it was persistent and recurring misinformation and disinformation, threats to the personal safety of full-time and volunteer elections office staff, or challenges to the independence of the voting process by political actors, our country is hurtling towards a cliff of retirements of the people who understand voting more than any others. Without dedicated and knowledgeable staff ready and willing to run elections, easy access to a secure ballot cannot be guaranteed for anyone.

This event is produced in partnership with the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center.

Speakers PART 1: Natalie Adona, Assistant Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters, Nevada County; Katie Harbath, Elections Fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center; Brennan Center Democracy Program Counsel Gowri Ramachandran; Al Schmidt, City Commissioner, Philadelphia; Moderator: Matthew Masterson, Non-resident Policy Fellow, Stanford Internet Observatory

Speakers PART 2: Lisa Danetz, Independent Consultant, Brennan Center for Justice; Chris Hollins, Former Clerk, Harris County; Aaron Ockerman, Executive Director, Ohio Association of Election Officials; Justin Roebuck, County Clerk, Ottawa County

Date: Friday, June 18, 2021 Time: 12:00 p.m.–12:45 p.m. ET
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How can a deeper understanding of the legacy of slavery help the United States better address its current injustices? In his new book, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America, Atlantic staff writer Clint Smith takes readers to nine monuments and landmarks — some that are honest about the past and some that are not — and reflects on how the history of slavery continues to reverberate today. As we celebrate emancipation on Juneteenth, Smith joins Theodore R. Johnson, director of the Brennan Center’s Fellows Program, to discuss the hopeful role that memory can play in making sense of our country.

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

Speakers: Clint Smith, Staff Writer, the Atlantic, Author, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America; Moderator: Brennan Center Fellows Program Director Theodore R. Johnson

Date: Tuesday, June 22, 2021 Time: 7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. ET
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Join Jason Linkins, Deputy Editor, the New Republic for a discussion on the importance of protecting voting rights and the idea of “majority rule,” furthering the conversations started in the June issue.

This event is produced in partnership with the New Republic.

Speakers: Matt Ford, Staff Writer, the New Republic; Jeff Merkley, U.S. Senator, Oregon; Osita Nwanevu, Staff Writer, the New Republic; John Sarbanes, U.S. Representative, Maryland; Brennan Center Fellows Vice President, Democracy, Wendy Weiser; Moderator: Jason Linkins, Deputy Editor, the New Republic

Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2021 Time: 12:00 p.m.–12:45 p.m. ET
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A 2015 Supreme Court ruling made making same-sex unions legal across the United States — but the road to that momentous decision was much longer than many know. In his new book, The Engagement: America's Quarter-Century Struggle Over Same-Sex Marriage, Sasha Issenberg tells the riveting story of the conflict over same-sex marriage in the United States —the most significant civil rights breakthrough of the new millennium — providing a richly detailed narrative that follows the coast-to-coast conflict through courtrooms and war rooms, bedrooms and boardrooms. In conversation with CNN’s Nia-Malika Henderson, Issenberg will discuss same-sex marriage’s unexpected path from the unimaginable to the inevitable.

Speakers: Sasha Issenberg, Washington Correspondent, Monocle; Author, The Engagement: America's Quarter-Century Struggle Over Same-Sex Marriage; Moderator: Nia-Malika Henderson, Senior Political Reporter, CNN

Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2021 Time: 8:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. ET
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When the Stars Begin to Fall makes a compelling, ambitious case for a pathway to the national solidarity necessary to mitigate racism. Weaving memories of his own and his family's multi-generational experiences with racism, alongside strands of history, into his elegant narrative, Johnson posits that a blueprint for national solidarity can be found in the exceptional citizenship long practiced in Black America. Understanding that racism is a structural crime of the state, he argues that overcoming it requires us to recognize that a color-conscious society — not a color-blind one — is the true fulfillment of the American Promise.

Fueled by Johnson's ultimate faith in the American project, grounded in his family's longstanding optimism and his own military service, When the Stars Begin to Fall is an urgent call to undertake the process of overcoming what has long seemed intractable.

This event is produced in partnership with Politics and Prose.

Speakers: Brennan Center Fellows Program Director Theodore R. Johnson; Moderator: Karen Finney, Political Strategist, Advocate, Commentator