Acclaimed author Jonathan Rauch to examine civil dialogue in U.S.
The sharing and understanding of differing perspectives has served as a pathway to advancement for centuries. In this current age of pronounced division, once-common conversations are now more highly charged, occasionally threatening, and repeatedly detrimental to progress.
Award-winning author and commentator Jonathan Rauch will explore the state of civil dialogue in today’s America when he visits the Hanover College campus as part of the Hanover Enrichment Series. Rauch, one of the country’s most versatile and original writers, will present “Staying Real: The War on Truth — and How to Win It,” Thursday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. in Fitzgibbon Recital Hall, Lynn Center for Fine Arts.
A senior fellow in the government studies program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., Rauch is a contributing writer of The Atlantic and the author of eight books and numerous articles about government, public policy and culture. He has received the magazine industry’s two leading prizes, the 2005 National Magazine Award (equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize) and the 2010 National Headliner Award. He also earned the 2011 National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association prize for excellence in opinion writing and, in 1996, received the “Premio Napoli alla Stampa Estera” for his coverage of the European Parliament in The Economist.
Rauch’s 2021 book, “The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth,” examines how to fight back against trolling, disinformation, canceling and other innovative propaganda tactics. He is also the author of “Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought” – a classic that defends free speech and robust criticism, even when it is racist, sexist or hurts – and the 2015 digital book, “Political Realism: How Hacks, Machines, Big Money, and Back-Room Deals Can Strengthen American Democracy.”
Rauch’s bestselling cover article for The Atlantic, “How American Politics Went Insane,” and his seminal book, “Government’s End: Why Washington Stopped Working,” address troubling issues for America’s politics and government. He has also authored research on political parties, marijuana legalization, LGBT rights and religious liberty, and more.
In addition to his work for The Atlantic, his award-winning column, “Social Studies,” appeared in the National Journal from 1998-2010. He has also written for Fortune, Reader’s Digest, U.S. News & World Report, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New Republic and Harper’s, among others. In addition, he has appeared as a guest on radio and television shows, including NBC’s “Meet the Press” and NPR’s “NewsHour.”
General admission tickets are free and available online in advance. Tickets may be printed or scanned upon entry from a barcode on a mobile device.
The Hanover Enrichment Series, presented by Tricia and Will Hagenah, has brought a wide variety of entertainment and thought-provoking speakers to the local community for more than 70 years. Rauch’s appearance, part of Hanover’s Constitution Day commemoration, is also sponsored by Building Bridges, a Lilly Endowment-supported campus initiative to foster respectful and empathetic dialogue and develop more responsible, engaged and effective citizenship.
