Norm Eisen, Special Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee on Impeachment
2020-08-06 | BigTent Zoom Room

Spotlight Speakers: Sarah Longwell and Bill Kristol
2021-09-29

Spotlight Speaker: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI-D)
2022-01-12

Spotlight Speaker: Alexander Vindman
2022-02-09

Forum: Democracy Won't Save Itself Hosted by Hagar Chemali
2022-03-01

Spotlight Speakers: Fiona Hill, Norm Eisen and Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT)
2022-03-07

Spotlight Speaker: Future Now- Daniel Squadron
2022-03-16

Spotlight Speaker: Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch
2022-05-05

Tent Talk: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson
2022-05-10

Spotlight Speaker: Norm Eisen and Joyce Vance
2022-05-16

Spotlight Speaker: Norm Eisen, Barbara McQuade and Danya Perry
2022-06-10

Spotlight Speaker: Ryan Busse
2022-06-15

Tent Talk: Reverend Gregory Lewis, Souls to the Polls
2022-07-12

Spotlight Speaker: Michael Lewis
2022-07-13

Spotlight Speaker: Dan Pfeiffer
2022-08-03

Tent Talk: Plan A
2022-09-13

Spotlight Speaker: Cecile Richards
2022-09-14

Tent Talk: Kate Fellman- You Can Vote
2022-09-27

Spotlight Speaker: David Pepper
2022-09-28

Tent Talk: Make The Road PA
2022-10-18

Tent Talk: PA Youth Vote
2022-11-01

PA Midterm Election Debrief and Q&A: Jen Devor, Better Civics
2022-11-29 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York)
Jen Devor, President & Co-Founder of Better Civics, is coming back under the Tent for a debrief of the Pennsylvania midterm elections followed by Q&A session.
Better Civics is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to revolutionizing civic engagement and voter turnout through education. Better Civics works with community partners to create tools and resources that better explain how government works and encourage individuals to be more civically engaged.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER:
Jen Devor is a South Philly block captain, public school advocate, voting enthusiast, and a published author on civic engagement. She is the President and Co-Founder of Better Civics. In addition to leading Better Civics, Jen serves as the Vice President of Partnerships at Campus Philly, an economic development organization with the mission of attracting and retaining college students to the Greater Philadelphia Region. These roles work seamlessly together as Jen continues to engage all residents civically.
Jen was a 2019 candidate for City Commissioner, the office that oversees election activity in Philadelphia. She ran a great race and was endorsed by various organizations, including the Philadelphia Inquirer, National Organization for Women, and Run for Something.
Jen holds a BS in Media and Communications from the University of the Arts. She is also an alumnus of The Center for Progressive Leadership, Leadership Philadelphia, The Citizen Planning Institute, and several political training programs.

Spotlight Speaker: Dahlia Lithwick
2022-11-30 19:00 - 20:00
Dahlia Lithwick is author of the best-selling new book Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America. She will discuss how women lawyers, independently of each other, sprang into action in 2016, holding our legal system accountable under the devastating policies being executed by Donald Trump and his administration. Sally Yates, Stacey Abrams, Becca Heller, and Roberta Kaplan are a few of those women lawyers that she profiles.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER:
Dahlia Lithwick is a regular contributor at MSNBC and senior editor at Slate – and, in that capacity, has been writing their “Supreme Court Dispatches” and “Jurisprudence” columns since 1999. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Harper’s, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The New Republic, and Commentary, among other places. She is host of Amicus, Slate’s award-winning biweekly podcast about the law and the Supreme Court.
In 2018, Lithwick received the American Constitution Society’s Progressive Champion Award, and the Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis. Lithwick won a 2013 National Magazine Award for her columns on the Affordable Care Act. She has been twice awarded an Online Journalism Award for her legal commentary. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in October, 2018. In 2021, she was a recipient of the Women’s Media Center’s Exceptional Journalism Awards. In 2021 she won a Gracie Award for Amicus Presents: The Class of RBG, which featured the last in-person audio interview with Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Lithwick has held visiting faculty positions at the University of Georgia Law School, the University of Virginia School of Law, and the Hebrew University Law School in Jerusalem. She was the first online journalist invited to be on the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press. She has testified before Congress about access to justice in the era of the Roberts Court and how MeToo impacts federal judicial law clerks. She has appeared on CNN, ABC, The Colbert Report, the Daily Show and is a frequent guest on The Rachel Maddow Show.
Ms. Lithwick earned her BA in English from Yale University and her JD degree from Stanford University. Her new book, Lady Justice, published by Penguin Press (September 2022), has already received rave reviews from the New York Times, the Boston Globe, among others. She is co-author of Me Versus Everybody (Workman Press, 2006) (with Brandt Goldstein) and of I Will Sing Life (Little, Brown 1992) (with Larry Berger). Her work has been featured in numerous anthologies including Jewish Jocks (2012), What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most (2013), About What was Lost (2006); A Good Quarrel (2009); Going Rouge: Sarah Palin, An American Nightmare (2009); and Thirty Ways of Looking at Hillary (2008).

Spotlight Speaker: (He’s Back!) Ambassador (Ret.) Norm Eisen
2023-04-03 19:00 - 20:00
On Monday, April 3rd at 7pm ET, join BigTentUSA as we welcome Ambassador Norm Eisen (Ret.). He will provide an update on all of the current investigations and the indictment by the Manhattan DA.
Ambassador Norm Eisen (Ret.)
Ambassador Norman L. Eisen (ret.) is the Co-Founder and Executive Chair of the States United Democracy Center. An attorney and author who has served in a broad array of government roles, he was special counsel and special assistant to President Barack Obama for ethics and government reform from 2009-11. Following his service in the White House, he was our ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2011-14, in 2019, he was special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee for the impeachment and trial of President Donald J Trump.

Tent Talk: Kate Fellman, You Can Vote
2023-04-18 12:00 - 13:00
Kate Fellman, Founder and Executive Director of You Can Vote will be joining us. With everchanging election laws in North Carolina, Fellman will debrief us on the state’s 2022 midterm election, what is ahead for their 2023 local elections in the Fall, and how they are innovating and laying the groundwork for the 2024 general election. You Can Vote trains and mobilizes volunteers to educate, register, and empower all North Carolina citizens to successfully cast their ballot.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER:
Kate Fellman worked in the Organizational Effectiveness department headquarters of General Mills while earning her degree in Mass Communications and Social Science from Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, MN. Kate has worked in community organizing and electoral politics for over 20 years. She began her political work as an intern in the late Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone’s final campaign supporting the “Women for Wellstone” contingent. Kate began educating and registering NC citizens in early 2008 and hasn’t stopped. She saw first-hand the widespread confusion regarding what’s on the ballot and how, when, and where to vote. In 2013, Kate organized volunteers to develop a program to provide communities with localized, fact-based voting information.
You Can Vote (YCV) launched in 2014 as a permanent educational campaign to mobilize volunteers and build community leadership. Today, YCV works across the state of North Carolina to increase civic literacy and participation of historically marginalized populations whose votes have been historically suppressed: people of color (POC), low-income people, people who are currently and formerly incarcerated, people with disabilities and young people 18-25.

Spotlight Speakers: Charlie Sykes and Rick Wilson
2023-04-26 19:00 - 20:00
On Wednesday, April 26th at 7:00pm ET, join BigTentUSA as we welcome Charlie Sykes and Rick Wilson to discuss the current dangers of fascism in our country and how we can fight back.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS:
Charlie Sykes
Charlie Sykes is a founder and editor-at-large of The Bulwark, host of The Bulwark Podcast, and an NBC/ MSNBC contributor.
He is also author of nine books, including A Nation of Victims, Dumbing Down Our Kids, Profscam, The Hollow Men, The End of Privacy, 50 Rules Kids Won’t Learn in School, A Nation of Moochers, and Fail U. The False Promise of Higher Education. He was co-editor of the National Review College Guide.
His most recent book, How the Right Lost Its Mind, published by St. Martin’s Press, was released in October 2017. An updated paperback edition was released in October, 2018.
Sykes has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Weekly Standard, The Washington Post, Commentary, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Time.com, USA Today, National Review, The New York Review of Books, the New York Daily News, and other national publications. He has appeared on Meet the Press, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, State of the Union with Jake Tapper, the Today Show, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, PBS, the BBC, and has been profiled on NPR. He has also spoken extensively on university campuses.
Rick Wilson
Rick Wilson was a longtime Republican political strategist, award-winning ad-maker, and political commentator. In 2015, Rick emerged as one of the earliest and most vocal critics of Donald Trump, helping found the Never Trump movement.
Published in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Politico, The Hill, The London Spectator, Rolling Stone, The New York Daily News, USA Today, The Bulwark and beyond, he’s frequently called on for sharp-edged and witty political insight on the national news networks, CNN, and MSNBC. He’s a frequent guest on Real Time with Bill Maher.
A 30-year veteran of politics, Rick got his start in the 1988 Presidential campaign of George Herbert Walker Bush, and since has produced groundbreaking advertising and provided winning strategic counsel to political candidates, SuperPACS, state parties, the national campaign committees, and corporate, association, and government clients across the nation and around the world. He is a co-founder of the Lincoln Project.

Tent Talk: Sylvester Johnson III, VoteRiders with Jessica Craven
2023-05-02 12:00 - 13:00
On Tuesday, May 2nd, at 12:00pm ET, Sylvester Johnson III, National Volunteer Manager and Voter ID Coalition Coordinator at VoteRiders is coming back for another Tent Talk. He will provide results from the 2022 elections, discuss which voter ID states they will be focusing on in 2023, the disenfranchisement of youth voters that is happening across many states, and what we can do to help. The renowned Jessica Craven will be moderating the discussion!
Jessica Craven is a full time activist, community organizer, political TikTok creator, and elected member of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party’s Central Committee. She’s also the author of “Chop Wood, Carry Water,” a daily actions e-mail.
ABOUT VOTERIDERS:
VoteRiders is a nonpartisan voter protection organization which helps voters navigate the Voter ID law requirements in various states across the country. We will learn about their work and begin sending letters making sure eligible voters have the ID and information they need to cast a ballot that counts. VoteRiders’ mission is to ensure that no eligible voter is prevented from casting a ballot that counts due to voter ID laws, either directly from lack of acceptable ID or indirectly because of voter confusion. VoteRiders educates voters and assists citizens to secure their voter ID. We inspire and support organizations, volunteers, and communities to sustain such voter ID education and assistance efforts.
BARRIERS TO THE BALLOT:
Tens of millions of voters find that obtaining an ID that fulfills voting requirements is costly and confusing. It often requires navigating arcane systems and bureaucratic barriers that cost time and money. All to exercise a basic freedom that should be equally accessible to all Americans.
We also see massive confusion about voter ID rules in EVERY STATE – among voters and poll workers alike. State laws are complicated to understand and often changing. Confusion can easily lead to disenfranchisement for too many Americans unless we take action.

Tent Talk: Ballotpedia
2023-05-16 12:00 - 13:00
On Tuesday, May 16th at 12pm ET Ballotpedia will be joining us to discuss citizen-led legislation (ballot measures), why it’s important, and ballot measure trends they are seeing around the country. Ballotpedia is the digital encyclopedia of American politics, and the nation’s premier resource for unbiased information on elections, politics, and policy As a non-partisan resource, they provide their readers curated content on all levels of U.S. politics that is relevant, reliable, and available for all.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS:
Geoff Pallay is Ballotpedia’s Editor in Chief. He has been in that role since March 2015, overseeing Ballotpedia’s editorial department. Since joining Ballotpedia’s staff in 2010, Geoff has made it a life’s purpose to bring neutral, high-quality encyclopedic information to political consumers.
During his time at the company, the encyclopedia has grown by more than 200,000 pages. As Editor in Chief, Geoff is responsible for managing the encyclopedic content and political coverage while ensuring that proper systems and structures are in place throughout the department.
Over the years, Geoff has been intimately involved in launching many of the new projects at Ballotpedia, including coverage of state legislatures, Congress, redistricting, public policy, municipal officeholders, presidential elections, and legislation tracking. Geoff serves as the final decision-maker over much of the newsletter and front page content as well as editorial coverage and strategies.
Geoff’s other roles at Ballotpedia have included Associate Chief Content Officer (2014-2015), Director of Research (2013-2014), and Director of Strategic Projects (2013).
Prior to joining Ballotpedia, Geoff was a policy analyst for the South Carolina Policy Council and a copy editor for the Beaufort Gazette. Originally from New Jersey, Geoff studied journalism and history at Emory University before earning a Masters of Public Administration at the College of Charleston. Geoff lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with his wife and two children, where he also serves as Neighborhood Association President in his community.
Ryan Byrne is the Managing Editor of the Ballot Measures Team at Ballotpedia. Ryan has been researching and writing about ballot measures for Ballotpedia since 2013. His ballot measures analyses have been featured in the New York Times, NPR, and The Hill.

Spotlight Speakers: Jonathan Alter and David Greenberg
2023-05-31 19:00 - 20:00
Jonathan Alter and David Greenberg will join us to provide a historical framework for our current political and cultural reality. They will define the events in modern history that led us to this moment. Evangeline Morphos will moderate conversation.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS:
Jonathan Alter is an award-winning author, political analyst, documentary filmmaker, columnist, television producer and radio host.
Alter’s most recent book is “His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life.” (2020), which received uniformly favorable reviews. His earlier books include three New York Times bestsellers: “The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies” (2013), “The Promise: President Obama, Year One” (2010) and “The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope” (2006), also one of the Times’ “Notable Books” of the year.
A former senior editor and columnist at Newsweek, Alter is a longtime political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. He co-produced and co-directed the HBO documentary “Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists,” which won the 2020 Emmy for Outstanding Historical Documentary. In 2013-2014, he was an executive producer of “Alpha House,“ a comedy on Amazon.
Over the years, Alter has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Washington Monthly, the New Yorker, Bloomberg, the Daily Beast and other publications. In 2021, he launched a weekly Substack newsletter called “OLD GOATS, Ruminating with Friends,” which includes frequent columns and his conversations with accomplished people of wisdom and experience. Since 2016, he has hosted “Alter Family Politics“ each week on Sirius XM, 102 with his three adult children.
David Greenberg is a professor of History and of Journalism & Media Studies at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, and a frequent commentator in the national news media on contemporary politics and public affairs. He specializes in American political and cultural history. His most recent book, Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency (W.W. Norton, 2016) examines the rise of the White House spin machine, from the Progressive Era to the present day, and the debates that Americans have waged over its implications for democracy.
Evangeline Morphos is a producer and educator who has worked in theatre, film, and television; and for twenty-five years was a Professor in the Theater and Film Divisions of Columbia University, where she established the University’s first courses in television and in new media. Evangeline has consulted on numerous new media projects for Democratic political campaigns, and has been active in arts advocacy. She writes frequently on the arts and politics for The Wall Street Journal, Politico, Reuters and NBC.com.She graduated from Wellesley College, and has a Ph.D. from Harvard University. Her late husband was the American political historian Alan Brinkley.

Tent Talk: Civic Influencers
2023-06-06 12:00 - 13:00
Maxim Thorne, CEO of Civic Influencers, and Rohan Preston, Theater Critic at the Star Tribune will join on on Tuesday, June 6th at 12pm ET. Civic Influencers gives young voters on-the-ground data and winning strategies on campuses and in communities to boost civic power and impact elections.
Read Thorne’s latest Washington Post Op-Ed article here on the Right’s effort to silence young voters.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS:
“I know what it is like to feel the entire continuum of being young, marginalized and disenfranchised to becoming whole, empowered and American. Now more than ever, we need to reimagine, protect and strengthen the pillars of our democracy. We have to turbocharge and make real an intersectional and holistic democracy movement building on the centrality of the rich diversity of youth. Every innovation and tried and true is on the table, be it texting, digital organizing, short films, dorm storming, student panels, marches and more.” – Maxim Thorne
Maxim Thorne earned a B.A. (cum laude honors) in Economics and Political Science from Yale College and a J.D. from the Yale Law School. Maxim has served as the Managing Director of The Andrew Goodman Foundation, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications and Development Officer of NAACP, the Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Human Rights Campaign and HRC Foundation and the Executive Director of NJ Head Start Association. As a dedicated leader and advocate, Maxim has served on the Board of Directors of many organizations as well, including the founding Board of Yale Black Alumni Association, Chaired the 40th Anniversary of the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale, Honorary Co-Chair of the 50th Anniversary of the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale, the Board of Governors of Yale University, Executive Committee of the Yale Law School, GLAAD, the North Star Fund, Amistad Research Center, Barnert Hospital Foundation and Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey. He also serves on the Yale Alumni Task Force on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
Rohan Preston has been lead theater critic at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis since 1998, helping to shape the ecology of one of the nation’s most dynamic arts meccas but one that also is ground zero for the nation’s post-George Floyd racial reckoning. He has interviewed and written on Arthur Miller, August Wilson, Edward Albee, Tony Kushner, Suzan-Lori Parks and a host of other luminary arts leaders. He led a Star Tribune team that won an Emmy for a documentary on the historic 2008 elections and has twice served on the Pulitzer jury for drama. Mr. Preston previously wrote for the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times. Also a poet, playwright and composer, he was reared in New York and educated at Yale.
