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.

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

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