THE PUBLIC FORUM presents the theater of ideas. Curated by Jeremy McCarter, this series of lectures, conversations, and performances features leading voices in politics, media, and the arts. Alec Baldwin, Anne Hathaway, Cynthia Nixon, Michael Stuhlbarg, Sam Waterston, and NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman have hosted its programs, which have featured the insights of Kurt Andersen, Carl Bernstein, David Brooks, Mary Schmidt Campbell, Nathan Englander, Hendrik Hertzberg, Arianna Huffington, Bill Irwin, Tony Kushner, Jay McInerney, Suzan-Lori Parks, Francine Prose, Reihan Salam, David Simon, Anna Deveare Smith, Ben Smith, Stephen Sondheim, Emma Straub, Sam Tanenhaus, Marc Tracy, Damian Woetzel, the culture writers of New York Magazine, and young veterans of the war in Afghanistan - plus performances by Anne Hathaway, Michael Friedman, Gabriel Kahane, and Michael Cerveris, among others.
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In THOUGHT IS FREE, high-profile champions of free expression will read the work of imprisoned artists speaking truth to power. Legendary journalist Carl Bernstein will read a story by Eskinder Nega, the Ethiopian reporter, whose arrest on anti-terrorism charges has been protested by PEN and others. The globally renowned Iranian-born artist and filmmaker Shirin Neshat will read a statement by Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist who has been barred from leaving the country because of his criticism of the government. Laurie Anderson will read a text from the Pussy Riot trial, which sent three members of the Russian punk band to prison. Two of them remain in jail.
The evening will conclude with Salman Rushdie joining Nathan Englander onstage for a conversation about The Twenty-Seventh Man, Rushdie’s new memoir, and the responsibilities of the artist. ________________________________ PUBLIC FORUM DUETS The Public Forum will feature a special series of "Duet" programs, pairing an artist who has been important to the life of The Public with a leading voice from outside the world of theatre.
Alec Baldwin (Macbeth at The Public, Jack Donaghy on NBC’s 30 Rock, host of the WNYC podcast Here’s the Thing) will trade views about American politics and culture with New York Times columnist David Brooks (author of The Social Animal, On Paradise Drive, and Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There).
On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of The Public’s world premiere of her landmark play about the Crown Heights riots, Fires in the Mirror, the actor, playwright and educator Anna Deavere Smith (Let Me Down Easy; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; Nurse Jackie on Showtime) will discuss the life of American cities with producer, author and journalist David Simon (creator of HBO’s The Wire, The Corner, and Treme).
Two of America’s leading progressives will engage in a freewheeling conversation: Tony Kushner (Angels in America; Caroline, or Change; the upcoming Steven Spielberg film Lincoln) and Rachel Maddow (host of The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC and author of Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power).
