JFK Library Forums

Julia Sweig, award-winning author and nonresident senior research fellow at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas-Austin, discusses her new book Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight, which draws on the largely unknown and overlooked audio diaries that Mrs. Johnson kept during her years in the White House. Ellen Fitzpatrick, professor of history at the University of New Hampshire, moderates.

Peter Coleman, Columbia professor of psychology and education and author of the forthcoming "The Way Out: How To Overcome Toxic Polarization"; Archon Fung, professor of citizenship and self-government at the Harvard Kennedy School; the Reverend Irene Monroe, theologian, syndicated columnist, and co-host of GBH's "All Rev'd Up" podcast; Amanda Ripley, author of the forthcoming "High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out"; and Deb Roy, MIT professor of media arts and sciences and director of the MIT Center for Constructive Communication, explore productive discussions across conflicts and divides with Mo Elleithee, executive director of Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service.

Karen Tumulty, political columnist for The Washington Post, discusses her forthcoming book, "The Triumph of Nancy Reagan," which draws on archives, letters, memoirs, White House records, and four years of interviews with people close to the Reagans to reveal new details of the multifaceted character of the First Lady. Eileen McNamara, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Boston Globe columnist and Brandeis professor of the practice of journalism, moderates.

Reginald Dwayne Betts, poet, memoirist and teacher; Tracie Keesee, co-founder, Center for Policing Equity; Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Harvard professor of history, race, and public policy; and Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, discuss current issues in police and justice reform with Errin Haines, Editor-at-Large, The 19th*.

Kennedy Library education and public programs on civil rights and social justice are supported in part by AT&T.

Theresa Cardinal Brown, Bipartisan Policy Center director of immigration and cross-border policy; Roberto Gonzales, Harvard professor of education and director of the Immigration Initiative at Harvard; Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, UMass Boston Chancellor; Daniel Tichenor, University of Oregon chair of social science and Program for Democratic Governance director; and Jia Lynn Yang, The New York Times national editor and author of "One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924-1965," explore the history of and contemporary issues in US immigration policy with Julia Preston, contributing writer to The Marshall Project.

Anthea Butler, professor of religious studies and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania; EJ Dionne, The Washington Post columnist and visiting professor at the Harvard Divinity School; Patrick Lacroix, author of John F. Kennedy and the Politics of Faith; Emmett Price, professor of worship, church, and culture at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; and Simran Jeet Singh, Religion News Service columnist and Spirited podcast host, examine the intersection of religion and politics with Margery Eagan, co-host of GBH's Boston Public Radio.

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Panelists including Lisa Lerer, reporter at The New York Times, and Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University and CNN Political Analyst, discuss opportunities and challenges for the incoming administration, as well as reflect on the significance of the Biden-Harris victory in the 2020 elections. NBC News correspondent Harry Smith moderates.

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Award-winning musician and Emerson College artist-in-residence Toshi Reagon and the Reverend Mariama White-Hammond, founding pastor of the New Roots AME Church and fellow with the Green Justice Coalition, discuss how the belief systems that define and maintain our societies impact the planet and influence our survival with Porsha Olayiwola, the City of Boston's Poet Laureate. Co-presented in conjunction with the city wide read of Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower and in association with Parable Path Boston, ArtsEmerson, New Roots AME Church and the Boston Public Library.

For more info, visit jfklibrary.org/forums.

Panelists including Dan Balz, chief correspondent at The Washington Post; Jonathan Capehart, opinion columnist at The Washington Post; Maria Hinojosa, president and founder of Futuro Media and anchor and executive producer of Latino USA; and Alice Stewart, CNN commentator, NPR contributor, and Harvard Institute of Politics fellow, interpret the results of the 2020 elections. Award-winning author Evan Thomas moderates.

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In this culminating keynote session of the Kennedy Library's "Expanding Democracy" conference, Judge Nancy Gertner (ret.), senior lecturer on law at Harvard Law School, and former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Margaret Marshall deepen the conversation about the judicial role in contemporary voting rights with Barbara Howard, former anchor of WGBH's All Things Considered.

The two-day conference commemorates the centennial of the 19th Amendment and explores contemporary and historic issues about this landmark legislation. For more info, visit jfklibrary.org/forums.