Bright Minds: from the John Adams Institute

A gem rescued from the archives! We are re-releasing the Toni Morrison episode after cleaning up the audio.Toni Morrison writes about history, slavery, racism, resilience and survival with an unflinching voice. Her novels, once a staple of every American school bookshelf, are now the targets of politically motivated reviews and book bannings. Despite this, there is no getting around the fact that she was one of America's greatest writers. Before her death in 2019, her oeuvre stretched out over almost four decades. Her debut novel, The Bluest Eye, in 1970, already showed her ear for dialogue, and richly expressive depictions of African American struggles. In 2009, she came to Amsterdam on the strength of her book, A Mercy, which made the New York Times Book Review Top Ten of 2008. She read a passage for us from “A Mercy”. Although physically frail, her mind was sharp during her conversation with the Dutch novelist, playwright and translator, Bas Heine (May 20th, 2009 at the Aula of the UvA in Amsterdam).Visit our website for our live programs and other activities.Support the show

Ivo Daalder is a Dutch born American citizen, who became  the U.S. representative to NATO from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama and was a foreign policy advisor for his 2008 presidential campaign. He also served in the United States Security Council during the Clinton administration. He's now the CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The John Adams Institute and the Netherlands Atlantic Association welcomed Ivo Daalder back to the land of his birth in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the North American Treaty Organization, or NATO.The world has changed immensely since the end of the cold war it was created to fight. There's war on its Eastern front and a potential conflict with China. And Donald Trump, ever suspicious of NATO,  is president again. Indeed, governments all over the western world have made a significant populist rightward shift. In this conversation moderated by Dutch journalist Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal, Mr. Daalder says the stakes for NATO have never been higher, and that maybe even liberal democracy itself  hangs in the balance.Recorded on September 16, 2024 at the Dominicuskerk in Amsterdam. Click here for the video, or visit our digital library and scroll through our rich archive.Support the show

Super Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020. Professor of law, a constitutional scholar, commentator and author Kim Wehle joined the John Adams to lay out exactly what was at stake in the election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The constitutional issues were, and still are, enormous.  In her book How to Read the Constitution – and Why Kim Wehle describes in clear language what is actually in the Constitution, and most importantly, what it means today. She also describes how the Constitution's protections are eroding and why every American needs to heed this “red flag” moment in our democracy back in 2020 and right now. The book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the constantly breaking news about the backbone of  American government.    This conversation took place at the Aula in Amsterdam and was moderated by the Dutch journalist and John Adams regular Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal.Want to know more about the John Adams Institute? Click here to read about our mission.Support the show

It's April 14th, 1865. The actor John Wilkes Booth pulls a gun and assassinates President Lincoln who is sitting in a balcony of the Ford Theatre in Washington DC. Booth becomes one of the most infamous men in American history. But what about his family? Who were they? What did they believe? Did they have any role in the killing? These are questions author and Man Booker finalist Karen Joy Fowler discusses in her epic book, Booth.Booth is a sweeping American saga that charts the rising fame of the Booth family from humble beginnings to their fame as the nation's most famous family of actors. And, of course, it looks at their fates after the event that made them the nation's most infamous family of actors.This conversation was recorded on 15 Sept, 2022 at the OBA Public Library in Amsterdam and was presented by the University of Amsterdam Professor, Katy Hull.Become a member of the John Adams Institute.Support the show

History is entering a new phase, where old forms and ideas clash with present realities. The John Adams Institute was excited to welcome Francis Fukuyama back to Amsterdam to discuss his findings in his book, Liberalism and Its Discontents.In this rigorous and trim volume, Fukuyama returns to liberalism, arguing that it cannot grow complacent. Liberalism—despite its flaws—appears to be the only system adaptable enough to accommodate the myriad challenges the future holds. Today, caught up in the maelstrom of political ideologies and cultural realities, where can people take ideological and organizational refuge? How can we not only survive, but thrive together in a world whose present is dominated by immense challenges and an uncertain future? Fukuyama's return to one of his most iconic topics is not only timely and insightful, but also cements his reputation as one of today's most engaging thinkers.This conversation was recorded on 3 October, 2022 at the Aula (Uva) in Amsterdam.Become a member of the John Adams and support the show.Support the show

Bret Easton Ellis took 13 years to write The Shards. It's a horror novel. Or maybe it's an autobiography.  In fact, it's both. The Shards is a fictionalized retelling of Mr. Ellis's 18th year. It tells the story of a group of superficially sophisticated teens have their lives shattered by a series of terrible events. It's 1981 Los Angeles and a local serial killer known only as The Trawler draws ever closer to Bret and his friends. He taunts them with grotesque threats and acts of violence. As Bret's obsession with the killer grows, he spirals into paranoia and isolation.This mesmerizing novel is a vivid and nostalgic fusion of fact and fiction at the edge of what's real and fantasy. Bret Easton Ellis is probably best known for his now-iconic book American Psycho (1991) and the highly memeable film that followed.Bret Easton Ellis was interviewed for the John Adams Institute by Dutch writer and critic Joost de Vries at Boom Chicago in January of 2023.Become a Member of the John Adams Subscribe to our newsletterSupport the show

In the third and final episode of the election specials of our podcast Bright Minds, America expert and podcaster Laila Frank talks to law professor, constitutional scholar, commentator and author Kim Wehle. She is an expert on constitutional law and the separation of powers, with particular emphasis on presidential power and administrative agencies. Her latest book Pardon Power - How the Pardon System works – and Why, just dropped. In the run-up to the 2020 U.S. presidential election, she joined the John Adams to talk about her book How to Read the Constitution – and Why. What are her hopes, fears and expectations for this election cycle?KimberlyWhele.com her personal websiteLaila Frank  Become a Member of the John Adams  Want to find out more about the John Adams Institute? Check out our website!Support the show

The current episodes of our podcast Bright Minds are all about the U.S. presidential elections. America journalist Laila Frank, specialized in politics and change in the U.S., will bring you conversations with remarkable American political thinkers about their hopes, fears and expectations for this election cycle.In the second episode of our election specials, Laila Frank talks to author, journalist and political insider Mark Leibovich. What are his hopes, fears and expectations for this election cycle?Mark is a staff writer for the Atlantic and the author of five books, including three New York Times best sellers, and two No. 1 Times best sellers, This Town (2013) and Thank You for Your Servitude. He is the recipient of a National Magazine Award for profile writing.  His latest piece in the Atlantic is a true gem of anecdotal yet brutal political analysis of the Republican Party. Mark Leibovich's Film Pick:All The President's Men Episode Links:Video of Mark Leibovich the John Adams Institute Mark Leibovich's page at The AtlanticLaila Frank    Become a member and support us! The John Adams is an independent foundation without structural subsidy.Want to find out more about the John Adams Institute? Check out our website and socials: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedInSupport the show

The next three episodes of Bright Minds are all about the U.S. presidential elections. America journalist Laila Frank, specialized in politics and change in the U.S., will bring you conversations with remarkable American political thinkers about their hopes, fears and expectations for this election cycle.First up is professor of African-American studies and author Carol Anderson. She is a renowned speaker and has written several books on race, systemic inequality and power structures. All are extremely relevant for the upcoming elections.Carol Anderson's Book Picks:Tyranny of the Minority by Steven Levitsky and Daniel ZiblattMinority Rule by Ari BermanIn 2022, Carol Anderson took to the John Adams stage to talk about voting rights and the 2nd Amendment. Click here to watch the video.Become a member and support us! The John Adams is an independent foundation without structural subsidy.Want to find out more about the John Adams Institute? Check out our website and socials or subscribe to our newsletter.Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedInSupport the show

This fourth episode of the Future 400 podcast is all about theater and dance. Battery Dance, New York City's longest running public dance festival, is hosting the Dutch-Turkish choreographer Rutkay Özpinar from Korzo Theater as part of the Future 400 exchange. And the Dutch theater director Ira Kip is working on her new play, Kings… Come Home, a reflection the impact of being uprooted, which will go to the National Black Theater and the Apollo Theater in New York. Both Kip and Özpinar are searching for a global conversation that brings disparate cultures and histories together on the stage. “The reason why we dance is not just the music,” says Rutkay. “In every culture you can find dance, from a prayer to a celebration.”This is the final episode of the Future 400 podcast series from the Dutch Consulate in New York, created and presented by John Adams Institute director Tracy Metz. It marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of New Amsterdam, the city that became New York. Each episode highlights a selection of the creative collaborations between artists, communities and institutions in both the Netherlands and the United States. For the full Future 400 cultural exchange program see www.dutchcultureusa.com. Support the Show.

Design your look, design your life. Rambler Studios is a creative platform for raw talent. It offers young people a safe space where they can discover what they're good at and find a sense of belonging – and maybe a career in street fashion. Started by Carmen van der Vecht in Amsterdam in 2010, it has branched out to New York's Lower East Side. It operates there under the wings of the Henry Street Settlement, a philanthropic institution dating back to the late 1800's. In the same basement in a social housing project where he himself learned to sew, fashion coach Andres Biel helps kids create and market their own ideas – “with some help from TikTok!”. On both sides of the Atlantic, the young people in the program say: “The most important thing I'm getting here are life skills.” This is the third episode of the four-part bi-weekly Future 400 podcast series from the Dutch Consulate in New York, created and presented by John Adams Institute director Tracy Metz. It marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of New Amsterdam, the city that became New York. Each episode highlights a selection of the creative collaborations between artists, communities and institutions in both the Netherlands and the United States. For the full Future 400 cultural exchange program see www.dutchcultureusa.com. Support the Show.

This second episode of the Future 400 podcast looks at work by Dutch and American photographers who are part of the annual international photo festival Photoville in Lower Manhattan. Dutch photographer Ernst Coppejans delves deep into the lives of LGBTQIA+ people living on the streets in New York. Kennedi Carter, a young Black photographer from the South, dresses people of color in a combination of garb from colonial times and contemporary streetwear. Photoville's founder Sam Barzilay says: “Even though they are an Atlantic apart, there is a shared sensibility here.” Future 400 is a bi-weekly four-part podcast series from the Dutch Consulate in New York, created and presented by John Adams Institute director Tracy Metz. It marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of New Amsterdam, the city that became New York. Each episode highlights a selection of the creative collaborations between artists, communities and institutions in both the Netherlands and the United States. Learn more about the whole two-year Future 400 program at dutchcultureusa.com.Support the Show.

Future 400 is a bi-weekly four-part podcast series from the Dutch Consulate in New York. It is part of the two-year cultural program of the same name, marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of New Amsterdam, the city that became New York. Each episode highlights a selection of the creative collaborations between artists, communities and institutions in both the Netherlands and the United States. Want to learn more about Future 400? The Dutch Consulate in New York City made a site for that! Just go to dutchcultureusa.com Presenter: Tracy Metz,  producers: Tracy Metz and Jonathan GroubertEpisode 1: New York Before New York When the Dutch colonists set foot on the island of Manhattan, four hundred years ago, there were already people living there: the Lenape. Historian Russell Shorto curated an exhibition for the New York Historical Society to tell the other stories about the town of New Amsterdam - and invited the Lenape to react with a powerful letter to an Unknown Ancestor, read by Brent Stonefish. And Pauline Toole, New York's Commissioner of Records, tells us about the wonderful stories of real live people of many faiths and nationalities living in New Amsterdam that can be found in the 17th century archives.  John Adams Institute A video animation of the 1660 Castello Plan was made which you can rent online here: Castello PlanSupport the Show.

Andrea Elliot's 2022 Pulitzer winning book, Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City, follows eight dramatic years in the life of a young woman named Dasani Coates, a child with an imagination as soaring as the skyscrapers near her Brooklyn homeless shelter. Born at the turn of a new century, Dasani is named for the bottled water that comes to symbolize Brooklyn's gentrification and the shared aspirations of a divided city. As she grows up, moving with her tight-knit family from shelter to shelter, this story goes back to trace the passage of Dasani's ancestors from slavery to the Great Migration north. By the time she comes of age, New York City's homeless crisis is exploding as the chasm deepens between rich and poor. Dasani's family have become emblematic of one of America's most wicked problems: homelessness.  Andrea Elliott's  Pulitzer Prize winning story is a powerful expose on just how the disparity between those with wealth, and power, and those without, is rapidly growing.Support the show

2024 is an election year. And in his book Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal', George Packer makes the case for why this may be the most important election since the civil war.Packer accepts that America may be “a failed state”. A state that is in a “cold civil war” between four incompatible versions of the US: the Free America of libertarian Reagan, the Smart America of Clinton-era technocrats, the quote Real America quote of the bottom-feeding demagogue Donald Trump, and the Just America of #MeToo and BLM. Packer says this cold civil war has made Americans profoundly unreal to one another: they lack a shared reality, have burrowed into partisan encampments or sealed themselves in digital echo chambers of angry prejudice. But as Mr. Packer told our Amsterdam audience back in April of 2022, it isn't all bad news. After all, America has had many such crises and has recovered from them all. And he offers a solution. The creation of a fifth version of the US: the “Equal America” – which involves extending the New Deal to Americans in more areas of their lives, from affordable and universal health care to a living minimum wage and beyond.Want to find out more about the John Adams Institute? Check out our website: www.john-adams.nl.Support the show

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones's 1619 project has inspired both throngs of like-minded people as well as a severe backlash. This hasn't stopped her from devoting her career to exposing systemic and institutional racism in the United States. The 1619 Project WAS published in New York Times Magazine—and is now a successful podcast and television series.So, why 1619? That was the year an English ship carrying enslaved Africans and flying the Dutch flag appeared on the horizon of Point Comfort, Virginia. It ushered in the beginning of slavery in what would become the continental U.S., bringing unprecedented anguish and hardship to the generations that followed. No aspect of American society is untouched by the centuries of slavery that ensued. From the contemporary economy to American popular music, 1619 implores us to radically rethink America as we know it.Want to learn more about the John Adams Institute? Check out our website: www.john-adams.nlSupport the show

2024 is an election year and Donald Trump is running again. This makes journalist and political commentator Mark Leibovich's second nonfiction blockbuster Thank You for Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission, particularly timely. Mr. Leibovich sketches the political landscape of Washington during the Trump presidency. We all know how Mr. Trump bent the Republican party to his will. But instead of focusing on the former President, Leibovich centers his narrative on the people and mechanisms that enabled his meteoric rise to power.Want to find out more about the John Adams Institute? Check out our website: Website - https://www.john-adams.nl/Support the show

From Hollywood to Hanoi, Jane Fonda has endeared and enraged Americans for decades with her sparkling performances and outspoken views. Following an eclectic career as an actress, activist and fitness guru plus a string of high-profile husbands, the acclaimed Fonda tells all in her autobiography My Life So Far.In this episode of Bright Minds, Jane Fonda reveals intimate details and universal truths that she hopes ‘can provide a lens through which others can see their lives and how they can live them a little differently.'Support the show

From Hemingway to Dickens, from Nabokov to Twain, from Isak Dinesen to Graham Greene, many of the world's great writers were also great travel writers. Paul Theroux, arguably the most renowned living travel writer, has capped a fifty-year writing career with The Tao of Travel, a collection of travel stories – by himself and others. Join us for a trip around the world with the man who gave us The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, To the Ends of the Earth, and other classics of the genre.Support the show

President Bill Clinton's former Secretary of Labor argues in his important book that in the last thirty years capitalism has flourished at the expense of democracy. Robert Reich – one of America's most renowned economists – says people now see themselves as buyers and sellers first and citizens only later, if at all. The rise of supercapitalism has meant fantastically increased choices for consumer goods but also decimated public services, an end to job security and looming environmental catastrophe. The U.S. leads in this dark trend, Reich argues, but Europe is right behind, and the only solution is to renew civic participation: to turn consumers back into citizens.The evening – produced in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Business Contact Publishers – was moderated by Alexander Rinnooy Kan, Chairman of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands, and included Maria van der Hoeven, Minister of Economic Affairs.Support the show

Teju Cole is rapidly becoming a new literary sensation in America. His novel Open City – which won the 2012 Pen/Hemingway Award and the New York City Book Award – is unlike anything you've ever read.The narrator, Julius, is a Nigerian psychiatry student who lives in Manhattan and likes to walk in the city. As he does, he has encounters. Most are small. He watches children playing in a park. He discovers that the woman next door died recently, and is quietly devastated, though he hardly knew her.The novel's blended texture reminds you of something: real life. You get a sense of this man and this city, but also of how we construct ourselves. The Seattle Times called it “Magnificent and shattering. A remarkably resonant feat of prose.”Support the show

Rickey Jackson was sentenced to 39 years in prison for crimes he didn't commit. Innocent, and unjustly convicted of murder and robbery, his is the longest wrongful imprisonment in US history. The John Adams Institute was honored to host Rickey, who shared the lessons he learned about freedom and forgiveness.The sole evidence against Rickey was the false, coerced eyewitness testimony of a 12-year-old boy. The boy later tried to back out of the lie, but the police told him it was too late to change his story. In 2011, attorneys with the Ohio Innocence Project filed a petition for a new trial, and three years later the charges against Rickey were dismissed.Support the show

Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore came to the John Adams in April of 2023 to talk about her keenly crafted and sourced historical book “New York Burning”.  It's New York City, 1741: fires break out throughout the city. Fueled by the paranoia that accompanies hearsay, the authorities find a convenient scapegoat on which to pin the crimes: enslaved Black people and poor white settlers. But after a witch-hunt-like series of trials and vigilante justice, no specific plot was ever uncovered. Jill Lepore revisits the spring and summer of 1741 to confront a sticky contradiction at the heart of American history and society: the dual relationship between slavery and liberty. Support the show

The latest massacres in Bucha and Mariupol have shown that Vladimir Putin has no regard for human life – he only cares about power and money. In Putin's eyes, money is power, and vice versa. That's why freezing the assets of Russians tied to Putin's regime is so important. Between 1996 and 2005, American investor Bill Browder ran the largest foreign investment firm in Russia, until he was declared ‘a threat to Russian national security' and got kicked out of the country. Browder has spent the last 14 years trying to understand the dark money flowing out of Russia.In his book Freezing Order Browder tells the story of his quest to establish a global regime for imposing sanctions on Russians involved in corruption and criminality. Support the show

For years, fringe ideologues were able to use Facebook undisturbed to promote their extreme ideologies and conspiracies. In An Ugly Truth, New York Times tech reporters Cecilia Kang and Sheera Frenkel reveal how Facebook's algorithms sacrificed everything for user engagement and profit, while creating a misinformation epicenter and violating the privacy of its users.Through deep investigatory work, Kang and Frenkel came to a shocking conclusion: the missteps of the social media platform were not an anomaly but an inevitability—this is how Facebook was built to perform.Support the show

On paper, every American has the right to vote and – thanks to the Second Amendment – to bear arms. But in reality, says Carol Anderson, both these rights are undermined by the racism which is so deeply rooted in American society. And that, in turn, undermines democracy.Anderson is a professor of African-American studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and an influential voice on civil and voting rights in the U.S. She joined us  in May 2022 to talk about her two most recent books, 'The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America' and 'One Person, No Vote'. The Second Amendment, she contends, is not about guns, but about anti-Blackness. And the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave every American the right to vote no matter their “race, color or previous condition of servitude”, is under assault.Support the show

In December of 2010, The John Adams Institute hosted an evening with the great film director, Spike Lee. Among many things, Spike talked about how New York City's historically hot and dangerous summer of ‘77 got him started in filmmaking. Mr. Lee's talk also encapsulates America at the end of the first decade of the 21st century. The US and Europe were still digging themselves out of the worst recession since the crash of ‘29. Obama was still in his first term and, in response, the Tea Party movement was just getting going. Despite this, or maybe because of this, Spike talked about how young people can still make their voices heard and follow their dreams.Support the show

On September 23, 2008, The John Adams Institute hosted an evening with David Sedaris. The humorist and author of 'Me Talk Pretty One Day' and 'Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim' brought his entourage to Amsterdam for the Dutch publication of his latest collection of wisdom, 'When You Are Engulfed in Flames'. Sedaris instructed the John Adams audience on how to buy drugs in a North Carolina trailer and how to pretend you attended Princeton University before the birth of Jesus Christ. Sedaris, the best selling author of all time, was soon after accused by The New Republic magazine of making up some of his autobiographical reminiscences.Support the show

For 20 years, the John Adams Institute has organized a lecture program called The Quincy Club at schools all through the Netherlands to help young audiences better understand American culture. In 2020, the Quincy Club took a closer look at California and Silicon Valley. You know the names: Facebook, Apple, Google, Netflix, Tesla, Ebay, Intel and more dominate the tech industry worldwide. How did this come to be?Support the show

On February 04, 1999, in celebration of 150 years of Dutch constitutional law, the John Adams Institute welcomed Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.RGB sat down for an interview and waxed legal about things like how unimportant the Supreme Court used to be, why it's good justices serve for life and what a nice place the Supreme Court is to work.Born in Brooklyn in 1933, Ms. Ginsburg became the second woman to join the law faculty of Rutgers University in 1963 and the first tenured female law professor at Columbia Law School in 1972. She was appointed to the Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1993 by President Bill Clinton.Support the show

If you don't know Ruby Wax's name, that's because, even though she's American, her career has been largely in the UK. But you may be aware of a little show called Absolutely Fabulous in which she both acted and served as the script editor. Despite her success, she's been open about her struggles with depression. She even dropped comedy for a while to get a degree from Oxford on mindfulness through cognitive behavioral therapy. Her book, Sane New World, based on personal experience, achieves the rare feat of addressing mental illness while being readable and funny at the same time.Support the show

People are passionate about Anthony Doerr. And why not, he's one of America's great novelists and storytellers.  He was in Amsterdam 2015 on the back of his book, All the Light We Cannot See, a masterful and moving novel about two young people during World War II, which rapidly became a New York Times #1 bestseller.Support the show

David Frum is a Canadian-American political commentator who is currently a senior editor at The Atlantic as well as an MSNBC contributor' and author, of Trumpocalypse.In Trumpocalypse, Frum digs deep into the causes of America's tragic national fragmentation. And he urges the GOP to rethink its future, saying that “no two-party system can remain a democracy unless both parties adhere to democratic values, not just one”.His talk at the John Adams is also a testament to how quickly circumstances can change that would rewrite the political landscape in America and abroad. There was, for example, no way to know about the January 6th insurrection or about the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the time of this talk. This is also a testament to how things stay the same. Like the fact that, even though we know that Trump lost the 2020 election, Trump's voters, and the forces that made him politically viable, are still with us today. Support the show

If we can just get through the 21st century, humanity might have a chance, says Elizabeth Kolbert. We have already intervened in the earth's system to the extent that we are now living in the ‘Anthropocene'. Maybe we can buy time by intervening even more, with so-called geo-engineering: turning carbon emissions to stone, for example, genetically modifying trees or even dimming the sun by shooting tiny diamonds into the stratosphere. After having done so much damage, can we change nature again, this time in order to save it?Writer and staff journalist at The New Yorker Elizabeth Kolbert joined the John Adams in June, 2021 to talk about her book, Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future . She is renowned for her authoritative voice and her poetic prose. The combination won her the Pulitzer Prize for her previous book The Sixth Extinction.Support the show

Gore Vidal was an American writer known for his essays, novels, screenplays, and Broadway plays. A lifelong Democrat, Gore ran for political office twice and was a seasoned political commentator. As well known for his essays as his novels, Vidal wrote for The Nation, New Statesman, The New York Review of Books and Esquire. Vidal's major subject was America, and through his essays and media appearances he was a longtime critic of American foreign policy. He died in 2012 from pneumonia. In his obituary, The New York Times wrote, “Few American writers have been more versatile or gotten more mileage from their talent” and The Washington Post remembered him as a “major writer of the modern era” and an “astonishingly versatile man of letters”.In 1992 he visited the John Adams to discuss his life, work and views.Support the show

On March 11, 2022, Hanya Yanagihara returned to the John Adams for a conversation about 'To Paradise', her three-part story across three centuries, centered around New York City. To Paradise is a revisionist American history – not identical to the America as we know it but a ‘what if' narrative, invested in raising concerns about America as a nation: what it has been, what it might have been and what it could be. An epic tale told across multiple timelines and characters, separate from each other, but providing major themes and takeaways for the reader. “A masterpiece of our time,” according to The Guardian.Support the show

The late, great Christopher Hitchens came to Amsterdam in 2008 touring his book: God is Not Great.  Hitchens excelled at polemics. He considered himself to be politically liberal and yet expressed his full-throated support for the war in Iraq and called Hillary Clinton “an aging and resentful female”.  And then there were the blistering attacks on religion and religious belief. He also details: how religion is a worse than any totalitarian regime, why science and religion are fundamentally incompatible, and why it's a bad time for secularism in politics. Somehow, despite this talk being 13 years old now, his remarks about religion in politics, seem as relevant as ever.Support the show

A gem from our archive! Way back on March 14, 1993, the then fresh new Southern author, Donna Tartt, visited the John Adams hot on the heels of her massive bestseller 'The Secret History', currently translated into 24 languages and counting.  'The Secret History' takes place at a fictional college where a close-knit group of six students embark upon a secretive plan to stage a bacchanal, a plan that ultimately leads to a death. Tartt has subsequently written 'The Little Friend' and 'The Goldfinch, the latter of which became a bestseller, a film and a Book of the Year by numerous publications including, New York Times Book Review, the Economist and NPR. 'The Goldfinch' even won the Pulitzer Prize.Support the show

How do democracies die? Not at the hands of generals, but of elected leaders – presidents or prime ministers who subvert the very process that brought them to power. That is the unsettling conclusion of Harvard professor Daniel Ziblatt's highly praised book How Democracies Die.Ziblatt and his co-author Steven Levitsky have analyzed the collapse of various democracies in recent history, and compare them to the state of the US government today. Is our democracy in danger? Yes, says Ziblatt. He warns us against politicians who reject the democratic rules of the game; who deny the legitimacy of opponents; who tolerate or encourage violence; and who indicate a willingness to curtail the civil liberties of opponents, including the media.Support the show

In 2009, one of the most important American writers of her generation took the John Adams Institute stage for the first time. Toni Morrison—as renowned for her magical realism as for her portrayal of the African American struggle—is that rare writer who is acclaimed by critics and adored by the reading public. In her novel, A Mercy, a mother gives away her daughter as she struggles for a better life, and the reader unravels the meaning behind seemingly cruel acts. Join us for an evening with this distinguished writer of whom the Nobel Prize committee wrote: “…in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, she gives life to an essential aspect of American reality. Support the show

The John Adams Institute, in co-operation with Prometheus Publishing House, proudly presented an evening with Jonathan Franzen, winner of the National Book Award 2001. Franzen discussed his novel The Corrections, which has been translated into Dutch under the title De Correcties. Michaël Zeeman, renowned literary critic for the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant, introduced Franzen and moderated questions from the audience.The Corrections is a novel about the American Family. You could interpret it as a family soap opera of sorts, but Franzen has much more to say, giving a view on modern western society that is both humorous and poignant. The Lambert family takes you to everyday America and brings you into the world of ‘consumerism, pharmacology, biotechnology, the ‘optimistic egalitarianism' of the American Middle West, the superstitious magic of the stock exchange, and the unbearable lightness of virtual being on the home pages of the Infobahn, not to mention asparagus steamers, refrigerator magnets, a vacuum pump to keep leftover wine from oxidizing, cell phones, and class hatred' (New York Review of Books). It creates the illusion of giving a complete account of a world, and while we're under its enchantment it temporarily eclipses whatever else we may have read' (The New York Times).Support the show

The great American author and investigative journalist, Patrick Radden Keefe, knows irony when he hears it. Such as when the patriarch of what would become an infamous family, imparted these words to his sons: “I leave you my good name”.And that name is...Sackler: frequent visitors to some of the world's great museums and educational institutions know that name. The Sackler family name adorns the walls of Harvard, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oxford, the Louvre. The Sacklers are one of the richest families in the world, and they donate lavishly to the arts and sciences. Just where all that money came from was vague, until it emerged that the Sacklers were the owners of Purdue Pharma, responsible for making and aggressively marketing OxyContin, a blockbuster painkiller that was the catalyst for today's opioid crisis. Opioids were responsible for the overdose deaths of nearly 500,000 Americans over the past two decades. Support the show

Forbes magazine called Christiane Amanpour of the “100 Most Powerful Women.” On January 25th 2019, CNN's chief international anchor and host of ‘Amanpour', joined the Dutch journalist Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal, for what turned out to be a witty, revealing and slightly flirty conversation.Amanpour's career began in 1990 as a correspondent for CNN, where she reported on international crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, Palestinian territories, Iran and many more countries. She has interviewed many world leaders and has received every major broadcast award. In 2014, she was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame. Amanpour is also an active human rights campaigner has interviewed educational rights activist Malala Yousafzai for CNN on several occasions and brought attention to the plight of the 200 Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram.Support the show (https://www.john-adams.nl/donate/)

From Amsterdam...this is the John Adams Podcast, a treasure trove of the best and the brightest of American thinking. This week's guest is indeed one of the brightest:  Francis Fukuyama, the writer, thinker and teacher.  You may remember him from his book: "The End of History", where he proclaimed the triumph of liberal democracy as something of a societal finish line.Well, he does NOT think that anymore. What changed his mind?  The election of Donald Trump, among others. Support the show (https://www.john-adams.nl/donate/)

This week's guest is Megan Twohey, whose book about Harvey Weinstein's  sexual abuse of women in Hollywood was also, as she put it, “an X-ray into the abuse of power”.  The #metoo movement really got going after New York Times journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor published their investigative articles about Harvey Weinstein. They followed with  their  book, “She Said”, which dives deep, not just into Harvey Weinstein's decades long alleged sexual predation, but also the failures of the system that let it happen. Some have called “She Said” the feminist “All the President's Men”.Back in 2019, Megan Twohey gave the John Adams an interview that was almost like a crime procedural.  She detailed how you piece together an investigation into someone powerful who was determined to undermine you every step of the way. It's a tale of harassment, spies, failures of the legal system and, ultimately, the triumphant power of the truth to actually make change.  The Dutch journalist Joyce Roodnat interviewed Megan Twohey in front of a packed audience at the University of Amsterdam. Support the show

Seven years ago, Garry Kasparov came to Amsterdam and predicted the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also described Vladimir Putin's psychology and motivations in a way that you hear in every current affairs program nowadays. Back in 2015, Obama was president, Russia was actively bombing targets in Syria, Syrian refugees were literally washing up on the shores of the Mediterannean and Garry Kasparov, living in exile in New York, was touring his book: ‘Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped'. And the predictions came with Cassandra-like precision. He saw Putin ruthlessly cowing all domestic opposition and the coming of a resurgent Russian nationalism that would spread beyond its borders. After the Maidan Revolution  and the overthrow of Putin crony Viktor Yanukovych in 2014, Kasparov knew Putin simply could not allow a  free and democratic Ukraine, moving ever closer to Europe, to exist. After all, a successful Ukraine could give Russians... ideas. Mr. Kasparov's talk was moderated by the Dutch journalist and Slavic world specialist, Michel Krielaars. Support the show (https://www.john-adams.nl/donate/)

Every week we point out that we get the likes of Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz to grace an Amsterdam stage and impart his wisdom to our audiences. Well, it's time. In this episode, Joseph Stiglitz came to the DeLaMar Theater in the Dutch capital in November of 2019, to talk about his book, People, Power, and Profits. In People, Power, and Profits, Stiglitz states that the U.S. got three things wrong in the past several decades: economics (too much faith in markets), politics (influence of money) and values (forgetting that government is here to serve all its citizens). He explains that the U.S. is in need of some serious reform and that government and democracy must be freed from the grasp of wealthy corporate forces in finance and other sectors.Stiglitz doesn't just criticize – he also comes with solutions. He shows how a decent middle-class life can once again be attainable for all by making sure that markets work for people and not the other way around. And he also talks about the rise of something called Progessive Capitalism. After an initial lecture, Mr. Stiglitz is joined by Dutch journalist, Sheila Sitalsing, and Alexander Rinnooy Kan, Professor of Economics and Business at the University of Amsterdam. The evening was presented in collaboration with Athenaeum Uitgeverij.Support the show (https://www.john-adams.nl/donate/)

Russell Shorto is an American historian, journalist and author. In 2004, he published The Island at the Center of the World: the Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America, for which he spent many hours in the New Netherland archives. It's an eye-opening book, and a marvelous historical retelling of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam before it became New York. Between 2008 and 2013, he lived in Amsterdam, where he was the director of the John Adams Institute.Support the show (https://www.john-adams.nl/donate/)

As John Adams was one of the great men of his era, we thought our next episode should be with one of the great people of our time: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Brooklyn born and raised, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical advisor to President Biden. This was an online interview conducted by Damiaan Denys, himself a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Amsterdam. You heard him earlier on the podcast interviewing Michael Pollan. This was a wide ranging conversation, including topics like, “Will we wear masks even after the pandemic ends? Why air travel made the covid pandemic so much worse. The upside of the pandemic. And why, in the end, telling the truth is always worth it! Support the show

Democracy and the rule of law in Western societies are under threat, according to Timothy Snyder, professor of history at Yale University, due to Vladimir Putin's efforts to destabilize neighboring governments and to stir up dissent in countries from France to the United States. The John Adams, in a collaboration with De Balie, brought Professor Timothy Snyder to Amsterdam in 2018 to discuss his new book The Road to Unfreedom. Snyder examines how Western societies left themselves open to anti-democratic forces after the Cold War, and how Russia fell into Putinism, and the rise of Donald Trump, which has become a major threat to democracy around the globe. Even though Donald Trump is gone now, the forces that got him into the oval office are still at work. Which is why Timothy Snyder's  impassioned plea for the triumph of the truth is more relevant than ever. Because, to paraphrase him a bit,  without the truth in the present, you can't start to imagine the future. Support the show (https://www.john-adams.nl/donate/)

Michael Pollan's book, How To Change Your Mind, has moved on from his research on food to delve into the world of psychedelics and their medical use. In the past decade, there has been renewed interest in psychedelic research as a form of psychiatric therapy, and to Pollan's mind this renaissance is long overdue.In this episode, Pollan makes a strong case for researching these drugs further and discusses it with professor and head of the psychiatry department at the Amsterdam Medical Center, Damiaan Denys. Denys is specialized in anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders and the applicability of deep brain stimulation in healing these patients.Click here for video of Michael Pollan's talk at the Adams Institute in 2018: https://www.john-adams.nl/michael-pollan-3/Support the show