Wallace House Presents An Evening with Kara Swisher and Mary Barra

6 PM | Monday, Mar. 18, 2024

Rackham Auditorium
915 E Washington St

Free and open to the public.

Register for this event.
Registrations are not required but allow us to send you event
updates and reminders.

This is an in-person event. The event will also be livestreamed here.
Seating is on a first-come basis.

Watch the video recording here.

Join us for a special evening with journalist Kara Swisher and CEO of GM, Mary Barra, as part of the continuing series “Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press.”

Award-winning journalist Kara Swisher has interviewed nearly every consequential innovator and tech entrepreneur working today. Her new memoir, “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story,” is an insider’s tale of success, failure, hubris and optimism. As Detroit gains influence in technology and the EV revolution, Swisher sits down with Mary Barra, chair and CEO of General Motors, to discuss her new book and explore the dynamic interplay of legacy companies, innovation, strategic bets on the future, and tech’s potential to solve problems and not just create them.

Book signing following the event
Swisher’s newly released book, “Burn Book,” will be available for purchase at the event. The author will stay for a short book signing after the program.

About Kara Swisher

Kara Swisher is the host of the podcast “On with Kara Swisher” and cohost of the “Pivot” podcast with Scott Galloway, both distributed by New York Magazine. She was also the co-founder and editor-at-large of Recode, host of the “Recode Decode” podcast, and co-executive producer of the Code Conference. She was a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and host of its “Sway” podcast and has also worked for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Swisher has served as Livingston Awards judge for Wallace House since 2014. “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story” is her third book.

About Mary Barra

Mary Barra is Chair and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors. Prior to becoming CEO, Barra served as GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, and as senior vice president, Global Product Development. In these roles, Barra and her teams were responsible for the design, engineering and quality of GM vehicle launches worldwide.

Co-Sponsors

Gerald R. Ford School
U-M Democracy & Debate
U-M School of Information

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The Eisendrath Symposium brings the Oscar-nominated documentary “20 Days in Mariupol”

Wallace House Presents a free screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary “20 Days In Mariupol,” and a conversation with the filmmakers

WCEE Film and Eisendrath Symposium Event
5:30 PM | Monday, FEB. 5, 2024
Michigan Theater

Free and open to the public.
This is a non-ticketed event.
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis

This event will not be live-streamed.

A special screening and conversation

An AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting atrocities of the Russian invasion. As the only international reporters who remain in the city, they capture what later become defining images of the war. The documentary shows vivid, harrowing accounts of civilians caught in the siege and a window into what it’s like to report from a conflict zone and the impact of such journalism around the globe.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.

The Eisendrath Symposium honors Charles R. Eisendrath, former director of Wallace House, and his lifelong commitment to international journalism.

About the filmmakers

Mstyslav Chernov is a documentary director and video journalist at The Associated Press and president of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers. Since joining the AP in 2014, he has covered major conflicts, social issues and environmental crises across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Most recently, Chernov documented Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Together with longtime colleague Evgeniy Maloletka, Chernov recorded the siege of Mariupol, showing the world eyewitness accounts of the Russian attacks on the city in the documentary “20 Days in Mariupol.” Chernov’s reporting in Mariupol earned the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary.

Raney Aronson-Rath is the editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE, PBS’ flagship investigative journalism series, and is a leading voice on the future of journalism. Aronson-Rath oversees FRONTLINE’s acclaimed investigative reporting on air and online and directs the series’ editorial vision — executive producing more than 20 in-depth documentaries each year on critical issues facing the country and the world. FRONTLINE has won every major award in broadcast journalism under Aronson-Rath’s leadership. She is a producer of the documentary “20 Days in Mariupol.” For nearly two decades, Aronson-Rath has served as a Livingston Awards judge. A program of Wallace House Center for Journalists, the prize honors reporters under the age of 35 and identifies the next generation of journalism leaders. 

Michelle Mizner is an Emmy-winning documentary producer and film editor on staff at FRONTLINE PBS. Her work for the series has been recognized by the Peabodys, World Press Photo, duPont-Columbia Awards, and SXSW. Select titles as a producer and editor include “Life in Baghdad,”  “Inside Yemen,” with correspondent Martin Smith, and “The Last Call” with director Marcela Gaviria. In addition to films, Mizner has produced several acclaimed interactive documentaries, including “Inheritance,” “The Last Generation,” and “Un(re)solved.” She is the producer and editor of the documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” her first feature-length film.

Co-sponsors:
Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia
International Institute
Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies

This event is produced with support from Knight Foundation.

An MLK Symposium Event with journalist and author Rachel Swarns

Slavery and the U.S. Catholic Church: Confronting History and the Case for Reparations


4 PM | THURSDAY, JAN. 18, 2024

Rackham Amphitheatre, 4th floor
915 Washington Street

In-person, free and open to the public
Watch the video recording.

Register Here
Registrations are not required but allow us to send you event updates and reminders.

What is the responsibility of American institutions in reparative justice?

Join New York Times journalist and author Rachel Swarns in conversation with Wallace House director Lynette Clemetson, as she discusses her book “The 272: The Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold To Build the American Catholic Church,” a story of servitude and slavery spanning nearly two centuries and detailing the beginnings of Georgetown University and the U.S. Catholic Church. Swarns’s journalism started a national conversation about universities with ties to slavery.

“The 272” will be available for purchase at the event. The author will stay for a short book signing after the program.

About the speaker

Rachel Swarns is a journalist, author and associate professor of journalism at New York University, who writes about race and race relations as a contributing writer for The New York Times. Her articles about Georgetown University’s roots in slavery touched off a national conversation about American universities and their ties to this painful period of history. Her book, “The 272,” emerged from her reporting at The Times and focuses on Georgetown and the Catholic Church and their roots in slavery. It was selected as one of the best books of 2023 by The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Time magazine, The Washington Post, the Chicago Public Library and Kirkus Reviews. “The 272” was also one of 24 books longlisted for the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

About the moderator

Lynette Clemetson is the Charles R. Eisendrath Director of Wallace House Center for Journalists, home of the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists and the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists at the University of Michigan.

Co-Sponsors
Center for Racial Justice housed at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Center for Social Solutions
Donia Human Rights Center
Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies

This is a 2023 U-M Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium event.

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CNN Anchor Jake Tapper in conversation with Lynette Clemetson

CNN anchor and author Jake Tapper
in conversation with Lynette Clemetson, director of Wallace House


4 – 5:30 PM | Friday, Nov. 3, 2023

Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre
911 N University Ave

Free and open to the public.

This is an in-person event. Register for this event.
Registrations are not required but allow us to send you event
updates and reminders.

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Watch the live stream here.

Join us for a special event featuring CNN anchor and Chief Washington correspondent, Jake Tapper, as part of the continuing series: “Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press.” Tapper will be joined in conversation with Wallace House Director, Lynette Clemetson. Their wide-ranging discussion will cover the state of democracy and the role and responsibility of the press in a democratic society, as well as how Tapper’s experience of being an anchor and correspondent informs his craft of writing fiction.

Tapper’s newly released book, “All the Demons Are Here,” will be available for purchase at the event. The author will stay for a short book signing after the program.

About Jake Tapper

CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper joined the network in January 2013. Tapper currently anchors a two-hour weekday program, “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” which debuted in March 2013. He has hosted CNN’s Sunday morning show, “State of the Union,” since June 2015. In April 2021, he became the lead anchor for CNN for Washington, D.C. events.

About Lynette Clemetson

Lynette Clemetson is the Charles R. Eisendrath Director of Wallace House Center for Journalists, home of the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists and the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists at the University of Michigan.

Co-Sponsors

Gerald R. Ford School
Democracy and Debate
With support from Detroit Public Television (DPTV)

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An Evening with Martin Baron and Stephen Henderson

Wallace House Presents a book event with Martin Baron at the Detroit Public Theater

“Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos and The Washington Post”

6 PM | MONDAY, OCT. 16, 2023

An in-person event at Detroit Public Theater
3960 Third Avenue, Detroit

Seats are limited. Reserve your free ticket here.

Co-Sponsored by Detroit Public Television; PBS Books; and the Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists 

An evening with Martin Baron in conversation with Stephen Henderson

For eight years, Martin Baron served as executive editor of The Washington Post, leading its newsroom from Jeff Bezos’s purchase of the paper to the election and presidency of Donald Trump. Join Baron in conversation with Stephen Henderson for a discussion on Baron’s new book, “Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and The Washington Post,” as he details his tenure at The Post and examines larger issues of the press and its role in democracy.

The author’s book will be available for sale onsite by Source Booksellers.

Parking

Parking for Detroit Public Theatre is available in a lot located at 3912 Third Avenue – just a few feet from the theatre on the corner of Selden and Third. Spots are limited and available on a first-come/first-served basis. They are $15 each.

There are additional parking options within walking distance of the theatre. There is metered parking on Selden Street and on Third Avenue, as well as free street parking in the immediate neighborhood on residential streets. Please reference this map to see the parking options in the area.

Co-Sponsors
Detroit Public Television
PBS Books
Society of Professional Journalists – Detroit Chapter

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The Eisendrath Symposium with Fred de Sam Lazaro of “PBS NewsHour”

Wallace House Presents Fred de Sam Lazaro of “PBS NewsHour” and the Under-Told Stories journalism project

“Under-Told Stories: Keeping International Stories in the News”

4:30 – 6 PM | Thursday, March 16, 2023
Rackham Amphitheatre, fourth floor

An in-person event
Free and open to the public

Register to attend here. Registrations are not required but allow us to send you event updates and reminders.

This event will also be live-streamed here.

Wallace House Presents Fred de Sam Lazaro, executive director of Under-Told Stories and correspondent for the “PBS NewsHour,” as he takes a critical look at the world’s underreported events and awakens us to understand the daily concerns of faraway people whose lives and challenges intersect with our own. A 1989 Michigan Journalism Fellow (later named the Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellowship), de Sam Lazaro founded Under-Told Stories in 2006, a journalism project focused on the consequences of poverty and stories about the world’s biggest challenges, including climate, food and water, and human rights. In addition to producing content for news organizations, Under-Told Stories collaborates with educators to engage students on the pressing issues of our time.

 

The Eisendrath Symposium honors Charles R. Eisendrath, former director of Wallace House, and his lifelong commitment to international journalism.

About the speaker
Fred de Sam Lazaro is the executive director of Under-Told Stories and has served as a “PBS NewsHour” correspondent since 1985. He was also a regular contributor and substitute anchor for PBS’ “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.” Fred also has directed films from India and the Democratic Republic of Congo for the acclaimed documentary series “Wide Angle.”

Fred has reported from 70 countries, focusing on the myriad issues underlying poverty and human suffering, which are underreported in the mainstream U.S. media. He founded the Under-Told Stories Project, now located at the University of St. Thomas, which is building a library of social innovation and entrepreneurship reports designed to use storytelling to enhance students’ understanding of the pressing global issues of our time.

Co-Sponsors:
International Institute (II)
Detroit Public TV (DPTV)

This event is produced with support from Knight Foundation.

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CNN Anchor Chris Wallace in conversation with Governor Gretchen Whitmer

Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Chris Wallace

An Evening with CNN Anchor Chris Wallace and Governor Gretchen Whitmer

6 PM | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 2023

Rackham Auditorium
915 E. Washington Street

Wallace House Presents CNN Anchor Chris Wallace and Governor Gretchen Whitmer as part of the continuing series “Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press.”

Watch this hour-long special event with Mr. Wallace and Governor Whitmer as they discuss politics, public service, the media, and the state of our democracy, with opening remarks by the University of Michigan President Santa Ono. 

About Chris Wallace

Chris Wallace is an anchor for CNN and host of Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? which also airs on HBO Max. He has covered every major political event of our time, including five presidential elections, and has interviewed every president since George H.W. Bush.

His career in journalism spans more than 50 award-winning years in broadcasting, including 14 years at ABC News as chief correspondent and host, and at NBC, as chief White House correspondent, moderator of Meet the Press and anchor of NBC Nightly News. He spent 18 years at Fox News as anchor of Fox News Sunday.

A graduate of Harvard University, Wallace began his career as a city hall reporter at The Boston Globe. Wallace is also the New York Times bestselling author of Countdown bin Laden: The Untold Story of the 247-Day Hunt to Bring the Mastermind of 9/11 to Justice and Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World.

About Governor Gretchen Whitmer

Governor Gretchen Whitmer is a lifelong Michigander who as governor has signed over 900 bipartisan bills and four balanced, bipartisan budgets.

She lists among her accomplishments the largest education investments in state history, increases in on-campus mental health resources, and expanding low or no-cost child care in affordable, high-quality pre-K.

Governor Whitmer earned a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from Michigan State University. The governor spent time as a Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence at the University of Michigan Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy in 2015. Reflecting on that time, she told graduates at U-M’s 2019 Commencement, “I experienced my own version of the Michigan Difference.”

Co-Sponsors:
Ford School
Democracy & Debate
With support from Detroit Public Television (DPTV)

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Jelani Cobb in conversation with Celeste Watkins-Hayes

An evening with scholar and journalist Jelani Cobb
in conversation with Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Ford School interim dean

“The Half-Life of Freedom: Notes on Race, Media and Democracy”

6 PM | TUESDAY, JAN. 24, 2023

An in-person event at Rackham Auditorium
915 East Washington Street

Did you miss the in-person event or would you like to watch it again?
Watch the video recording.

Wallace House Presents journalist and scholar Jelani Cobb, in conversation with Ford School interim dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes, as part of the continuing series: “Democracy in Crisis: Views from the Press.” Watch Cobb, dean of Columbia Journalism School and staff writer for The New Yorker, as he examines race, historic challenges to democracy, the impact of the media, and how these inform our current moment.

 

 

About Jelani Cobb

Jelani Cobb is the dean of Columbia Journalism School and a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he writes about race, politics, history and culture. He received a Peabody Award for his 2020 PBS Frontline film “Whose Vote Counts” and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary in 2018. He has also been a political analyst for MSNBC since 2019.

He is the author of “The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress” and “To the Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic.” He is the editor or co-editor of several volumes, including “The Matter of Black Lives,” a collection of The New Yorker’s writings on race, and “The Essential Kerner Commission Report.” He is the producer or co-producer on a number of documentaries, including “Lincoln’s Dilemma,” “Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union” and “Policing the Police.” 

Dr. Cobb was educated at Jamaica High School in Queens, New York; Howard University, where he earned a B.A. in English; and Rutgers University, where he completed his M.A. and doctorate in American history in 2003. He received fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation and the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

 

About Celeste Watkins-Hayes

Celeste Watkins-Hayes is the interim dean of the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and founding director of the school’s Center for Racial Justice. She is also the Jean E. Fairfax Collegiate Professor of Public Policy, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, professor of sociology and an Anti-Racism Collaborative research and community impact fellow.

She is an internationally recognized scholar and expert widely credited for her research at the intersection of inequality, public policy, and institutions, with a special focus on urban poverty and race, class and gender studies. Dr. Watkins-Hayes has published two books, numerous articles in journals and edited volumes, and pieces in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Chronicle of Higher Education and Chicago Magazine. She has been widely quoted in the popular press as a national expert on social inequality, HIV/AIDS and societal safety nets.

Dr. Watkins-Hayes holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology from Harvard University and a B.A. from Spelman College, where she graduated summa cum laude.

 

Co-Sponsors
Ford School
Democracy & Debate
Alumni Association
With support from our media partners at Detroit Public Television (DPTV) and PBS Books

 

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Linda Villarosa, New York Times Journalist, on Racial Disparities in U.S. Medical Care

“Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives
and on the Health of Our Nation“

An MLK Symposium event with journalist and educator Linda Villarosa

4:30 PM | TUESDAY, JAN 17, 2023

Annenberg Auditorium, Ford School
735 S State Street | Room 1120

Watch the video recording of the event.

Research and writing about racial health disparities in the United States often focus on poverty and poor education as primary causes for disparate outcomes. Journalist and educator Linda Villarosa says those gaps don’t account for the fact that Black Americans “live sicker and die quicker” than their White counterparts regardless of income and education.  They don’t explain why a Black woman with a college education is more likely to die or almost die in childbirth in the U.S. than a White woman with an eighth-grade education. The under-acknowledged effects of racism, Villarosa argues, have numerous devastating consequences on Black bodies, on the healthcare system, and on the health of our society as a whole. 

Join us as we welcome Linda Villarosa in conversation with Lynette Clemetson, director of Wallace House Center for Journalists, with a special welcome by Celeste Watkins-Hayes, Interim Dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and Founding Director of the Ford School’s Center for Racial Justice. 

About the speaker

Linda Villarosa is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine where she covers race, inequality and public health. Her book, “Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation” was named one of the best books of 2022 by The Washington Post, Time Magazine, Publisher’s Weekly and NPR. A journalism professor and program director at the City University of New York, she is a former health editor for The New York Times and former executive editor of Essence magazine. Villarosa has written and led coverage for years on the intersection of race, medicine and social justice. Her work has won numerous awards and has prompted national conversations on topics including black infant and maternal mortality; medical myths tied to race; eugenics; and the disparate toll of pandemics on Black communities from HIV/AIDS to Covid-19. 

About the moderator

Lynette Clemetson is the Charles R. Eisendrath Director of Wallace House Center for Journalists, home of the Knight-Wallace Fellowships for Journalists and the Livingston Awards for Young Journalists at the University of Michigan.

Co-Sponsor:
Center for Racial Justice housed at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

This is a 2023 U-M Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium event.

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Wallace House Presents the feature film “She Said,” and a conversation with Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporters and authors of the book “She Said”

Special Screening of the feature film “She Said,” and conversation with Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

Meet Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists behind the Harvey Weinstein exposé

5:30 PM | Monday, Nov. 28, 2022

Michigan Theater

Purchase tickets: Michigan Theater
Free tickets for students: Michigan Theater

This event will not be live-streamed. Wallace House and its co-sponsors will not receive any proceeds from ticket sales.

A special screening and conversation

On October 5, 2017, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey of The New York Times broke the story of Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual abuse allegations and changed the world. The publication of their investigation spurred the #MeToo movement, with victims voicing allegations of systemic sexual harassment and abuse by hundreds of powerful men across every walk of life and industry.

Meet the reporters behind the groundbreaking expose and watch the feature film, “She Said,” based on their book of the same name.  The conversation with Kantor and Twohey will follow the movie screening. 

Carey Mulligan portrays Megan Twohey, and Zoe Kazan portrays Jodi Kantor in the film “She Said,”
based on the reporters’ book of the same name.

About Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

Jodi Kantor is a prize-winning investigative reporter and best-selling author whose work has revealed hidden truths about power, gender, technology, politics and culture. 

In October 2017, she and Megan Twohey broke the story of Harvey Weinstein’s decades of sexual abuse allegations. Before then, Kantor’s reporting on the havoc caused by automated scheduling systems in Starbucks workers’ lives spurred changes at the company and helped launch a national fair scheduling movement. After she and David Streitfeld investigated publishing practices at Amazon’s corporate headquarters, the company changed its human resources policies, introducing paternity leave and eliminating its employee ranking.

Kantor is also a contributor to “CBS Mornings.” 

Megan Twohey is a prize-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times who has focused much of her attention on the treatment of women and children.

In addition to breaking the story of Harvey Weinstein, she uncovered an underground network where parents gave away adopted children they no longer wanted to strangers they met on the internet. Known as private re-homing, the illicit practice took place with no government oversight and at great risk to children. “The Child Exchange” series prompted states to pass new laws to protect children. Two of the main subjects were sent to prison. Twohey testified before a U.S. Senate committee.

While reporting in Chicago, Twohey exposed how police and prosecutors were shelving DNA evidence collected after sex crimes, robbing victims of the chance for justice. In response to her stories, Illinois passed the first state law mandating the testing of every rape kit. 

Twohey is also a contributor to NBC and MSNBC.

In addition to her work on “As the World Turns,” Landon has also appeared on several other NBC shows, including “The Night Shift” and “Chicago Med.” She has proven herself to be a versatile actress who is capable of portraying a wide range of characters, from tough and gritty to vulnerable and emotional. Overall, Jennifer Landon’s career has been closely tied to NBC, as she has appeared on several of the network’s most popular shows over the years. Her talent and dedication to her craft have made her one of the most respected actresses of her generation, and she continues to be a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment industry.

Co-sponsors:
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Michigan Engineering
Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion