America at a Crossroads

Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Anne Applebaum joins journalist Madeleine Brand for a timely and urgent conversation about Applebaum’s latest book, Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World. Together, they explore the growing network of authoritarian regimes, the methods they use to consolidate power, and the global threats they pose to democratic institutions.

Anne Applebaum is a staff writer for The Atlantic and a Senior Fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the SNF Agora Institute. Her acclaimed works include Gulag: A History, Iron Curtain, and Twilight of Democracy.

Madeleine Brand is the host of Press Play on KCRW, an award-winning daily news and culture program offering deep insight into national and international stories through a Southern California lens.

This event is part of the America at a Crossroads virtual series, founded by Jews United for Democracy & Justice and the Community Advocates, Inc., bringing leading voices together to discuss the most pressing issues facing our democracy.

🔗 Learn more and register for upcoming events: jewsunitedfordemocracy.org/events/
📘 Autocracy, Inc. is available wherever books are sold.

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An important discussion with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former Palestinian National Authority Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Kidwa. They will analyze why Oslo failed and discuss what can be done today to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The conversation will be moderated by Professor Kenneth A. Bamberger (UC Berkeley) and Professor Steven E. Zipperstein (UCLA).

Organized by the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies and the UC Berkeley Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law & Israel Studies. Co-sponsored by America at a Crossroads, the UCLA Department of Public Policy, and the UCLA Center for Middle East Development.

Can America's Universities Survive the Current Assault? A Conversation with UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk

Mary Ziegler is a Professor of Law at the University of California, Davis School of Law and a leading legal historian specializing the struggle over reproductive health policy in the United States from 1945 to present. A 2023 Guggenheim Fellow, she is recognized as one of the foremost authorities on the history of the U.S. abortion debate. She is the author of seven books on reproductive rights and the law. Her latest work, “Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction,” was published in May 2025. 

Patt Morrison has a share of two Pulitzer Prizes as a longtime Los Angeles Times writer and columnist. As a public television and radio broadcaster, she has won six Emmys and a dozen Golden Mike awards. Her first book, “Rio LA,” about the Los Angeles River, was a bestseller. Her most recent book is, “Don’t Stop the Presses! Truth, Justice, and the American Newspaper.”

Recorded live on August 27, 2025: Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen joins Warren Olney for War, Peace and the American Future, a wide-ranging conversation on U.S. leadership, global security, and the challenges ahead.

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Alexander Vindman joins journalist Madeleine Brand for an America at a Crossroads conversation on U.S. foreign policy, democracy, and global security. Subscribe for more conversations.