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

Wallace House Presents an Evening with Author Anna Quindlen

An evening with author Anna Quindlen
in conversation with Anne Curzan, dean of LSA

WRITE FOR YOUR LIFE
6 PM | Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022

Rackham Auditorium
915 Washington Street

Free and open to the public

This is an in-person event.

Best-selling author Anna Quindlen says recording our daily lives in an enduring form is more important than ever, urging us to pick up a pen and find ourselves. Join Anna Quindlen and Anne Curzan, LSA Dean and English Professor, for an in-person discussion about Quindlen’s book “Write for Your Life,” and learn how anyone can write and why everyone should.

About Anna Quindlen

Anna Quindlen is a novelist and journalist whose work has appeared on fiction, nonfiction, and self-help bestseller lists. She is the author of nine novels: Object Lessons, One True Thing, Black and Blue, Blessings, Rise and Shine, Every Last One, Still Life with Bread Crumbs, Miller’s Valley, and Alternate Side. Her memoir Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake, published in 2012, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. Her book A Short Guide to a Happy Life has sold more than a million copies. Her most recent books are Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting and Write For Your Life. While a columnist at The New York Times, she won the Pulitzer Prize and published two collections, Living Out Loud and Thinking Out Loud. Her Newsweek columns were collected in Loud and Clear. Quindlen is the recipient of our Richard M. Clurman Award for mentoring and has served as a Livingston Awards judge for Wallace House since 2009.

Anna Quindlen is a highly respected American journalist, essay writer, and opinion columnist who has been awarded numerous prizes for her writing, including a Pulitzer Prize. She is known for her insightful and poignant commentary on a wide range of topics, including family life, women’s issues, politics, and social justice.

Quindlen’s writing style is characterized by a clear and concise prose, a deep empathy for her subjects, and a commitment to social justice. She has a gift for capturing the complexity of human experience and the nuances of interpersonal relationships, making her writing both relatable and deeply affecting.

About Anne Curzan

Anne Curzan is the dean of the University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the Geneva Smitherman Collegiate Professor of English Language and Literature, Linguistics, and Education, and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor. Her research focuses on the history of the English language, attitudes about language change, language and gender, and pedagogy. She has published multiple books and dozens of articles. She has also created the audio/video courses Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins and English Grammar Boot Camp for Great Courses. For six years, Professor Curzan wrote the blog Lingua Franca for the Chronicle of Higher Education.She is the featured expert on That’s What They Say, a weekly segment and podcast on Michigan Radio that explores our changing language, and serves on the Wallace House Executive Advisory Board.

Co-Sponsors

College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Department of English Language and Literature
Detroit Public Television
Literati Bookstore
Michigan Radio

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Inside The Cartel Project: The Power of Collaborative Investigative Journalism

With Laurent Richard, Dana Priest and Jorge Carrasco
Moderated by Lynette Clemetson

 

The Eisendrath Symposium on International Reporting

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

12:30 p.m. ET

Watch now

Watch Now

In 2012 Mexican journalist Regina Martinez was murdered in her home. She had been reporting on the links between drug cartels, public officials and thousands of individuals who had mysteriously disappeared. Eight years later, her investigations were published simultaneously around the world as The Cartel Project.

Forbidden Stories, a nonprofit newsroom created by Laurent Richard during his year as a Knight- Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan, organized the project, secretly bringing together an international network of journalists dedicated to continuing the work of Martinez. Sixty reporters from 18 countries, followed her leads to expose a global network of Mexican drug cartels and their political connections around the world.

For a behind-the-scenes look at the global investigation, join the journalists who made it happen. Laurent Richard of Forbidden Stories, Dana Priest of The Washington Post and Jorge Carrasco, editor of Mexican news magazine Proceso, and a longtime friend of Regina Martinez, will share how collaborative journalism can keep alive the work of reporters who are silenced by threats, censorship or death.

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

More about The Cartel Project

About the speakers
Jorge Carrasco is a director of Proceso, an influential independent weekly in Mexico. Before joining Proceso 15 years ago, he was a reporter for El Economista and head of the UN Secretary General’s press office for Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

Dana Priest has been a national security and investigative reporter for The Washington Post for more than 30 years. She is the recipient of two Pulitzer Prizes, an Emmy and two George Polk Awards, among other prizes. She is the author of two best-selling books and the Knight Chair in Public Affairs Journalism at the University of Maryland.

Laurent Richard is a French award-winning documentary filmmaker, producer and founder of Forbidden Stories, a network of investigative journalists whose mission is to continue and publish the work of other journalists facing threats, prison, or murder. Richard was a 2017 Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan, where he developed Forbidden Stories.

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

About the translator
Ana Avila is an investigative journalist from Mexico, a 2020 Knight-Wallace Fellow and the current Marsh Visiting Professor of Journalism at the University of Michigan.

Knight Foundation is a co-sponsor of this event.

Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit knightfoundation.org.

Michigan Radio is a co-sponsor of this event.

Wallace House Presents “Duterte’s Facebook-Fueled Rise to Power: Manipulating Public Opinion to Capture an Election”

Wallace House Presents Davey Alba of The New York Times and 2019 Livingston Award winner with Ceren Budak of the School of Information and College of Engineering 

Wednesday, January 29 | 4 – 5:30 p.m.
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Annenberg Auditorium
Free and open to the public

Watch the discussion here »

Join the Conversation

In 2018, journalist Davey Alba traveled to the Philippines to investigate Facebook’s breakneck proliferation in that country and President Rodrigo Duterte’s rise to power. She revealed how the politician’s incendiary style aligned perfectly with the tech company’s algorithms that reward entertaining, inflammatory content. From maligning opponents to espousing hardline policies to combat the drug trade, Duterte’s operatives created memes, propaganda and egregious libel that flourished on Facebook. Join Alba and Ceren Budak, associate professor, University of Michigan, for an examination of how demagogic political campaigns worldwide have weaponized the social media platform.

About the Speakers

Davey Alba is a reporter for The New York Times covering technology. Prior to joining the Times, she was a senior reporter at BuzzFeed News. She has been a staff writer at Wired and an editor at Popular Mechanics. Alba grew up in the Philippines and holds a B.A. degree from De La Salle University in Manila and an M.A. in science journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She received the 2019 Livingston Award for international reporting for her BuzzFeed investigation  “How Duterte Used Facebook to Fuel the Philippine Drug War“.

Ceren Budak is an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and the College of Engineering. Her research interests lie in the area of computational social science, a discipline at the intersection of computer science, statistics and the social sciences.  Previously, she was a postdoctoral researcher at Microsoft Research New York. Budak received a Ph.D. from the computer science department at University of California, Santa Barbara and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Bilkent University in Turkey.

About the Moderator

Molly Kleinman is the program manager of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy program at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. She studies higher education policy, access to information, and faculty experiences with technology. Kleinman received a Ph.D. in higher education policy from the University of Michigan Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, a M.S. degree in information from the University of Michigan School of Information, and a B.A. degree in English and gender studies from Bryn Mawr College.

This Livingston Lecture event is co-sponsored by the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program.

This event is produced with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.