The Washington Book: How to Read Politics and Politicians
Featuring Carlos Lozada, opinion columnist at the New York Times, co-host of the “Matter of Opinion” podcast, and author of “The Washington Book: How to Read Politics and Politicians,” in conversation with Wendell L. Willkie II, adjunct professor of law at New York University and adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Carlos will explore how people in power portray and reveal themselves in their writings and speeches, and how the stream of official documents, reports, and investigations helps explain our national political landscape.
Paepcke Auditorium, doors at 5:30 pm
While attendance at the events is free and open to everyone, registration is required, and capacity is established on a first-come, first-served basis. Register here.
Parking
Parking is very limited. Please carpool, walk, bike, or ride RFTA.
You can purchase his book “The Washington Book: How to Read Politics and Politicians” here. Books will also be available for purchase at the event. Book signing to follow.
“Scholarship at its finest, bolstered by inspired writing and thorough research… Lozada deserves a second Pulitzer — for public service.” – The Washington Independent Review of Books
“Carlos Lozada is a triple threat: imaginative thinker, uncompromising critic, impeccable writer line for line. Also? Does his homework and plays fair.” – Jennifer Senior, Atlantic staff writer and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing
“Lozada’s strengths as a critic are obvious. He is charming, funny, and light on his feet, and his descriptions are exceptionally clear and pithy. . . . This aphoristic style cuts to the quick of complex ideas.” – Katy Waldman, The New Yorker
Carlos Lozada is an opinion columnist at the New York Times and co-host of the Matter of Opinion podcast. He is the author of “The Washington Book: How to Read Politics and Politicians” (2024) and “What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era” (2020). Previously, he was a senior editor and book critic at the Washington Post and the managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine. He has been a Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University and an adjunct professor of political journalism at the University of Notre Dame. Lozada is the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for criticism and the National Book Critics Circle citation for excellence in reviewing. A native of Lima, Peru, he became a U.S. citizen in 2014.
Wendell L. Willkie II is currently adjunct professor of law at New York University, as well as an adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, following more than twenty years as the general counsel and a member of the executive leadership of a major, multinational manufacturing company. Willkie previously held several senior law and management positions in the US Government. Under President Reagan, he was Associate Counsel to the President, and later was General Counsel and Chief of Staff of the US Department of Education. Under President George H. W. Bush, he was General Counsel and also served as Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Commerce. Willkie is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Law Institute. He has served on the Legal Advisory Committee of the New York Stock Exchange and the Emerging Markets Advisory Committee of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the boards of the China Institute, the Council of the Americas, and Greenwich Academy. He has also served on the President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations. A graduate of Harvard College and Oxford University (which he attended as a Rhodes scholar) and the University of Chicago Law School, Willkie began his professional career as a litigator in a prominent New York City law firm.
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