Upcoming Events, Week of March 30
Welcome to new subscribers! Scroll down to see the guest speakers, book club authors, and happy hour guests coming up, as well as a link to this week’s It’s Complicated podcast!
ON COMPLICITY AND COURAGE
If you are new to my Substack, I am doing research for my book, Uncompromised: Activating Your Moral Compass in an Age of Complicity, and using this platform to showcase some of the authors and research I am learning from to understand what makes people complicit in bad behavior, and learning from the people who take a stand against it.
To this end, I’ll be writing free posts on these topics each month, in addition to my weekly Round Ups, on the topics of complicity and courage. Each month I’ll have one person — like a psychologist, professor, leadership expert — explain the science and theory behind complicity and courage. And then I will also bring in a real-time moral rebel who can talk about what led them to take a stand — despite the personal and professional risks they faced (and often still face). Studies show that people are better able to resist pressure and stand up for their beliefs when they can reflect on their own values and see models of moral courage in action, so I hope you will tune in and take some knowledge and inspiration from my guests! (You can find past guests, as well as posts on the topic, under the Complicity & Courage tab on the homepage.)
Zoom links for guest speakers are sent three hours before the event, and the discussions will be recorded and posted for those who cannot make it live. You can always access past guest speakers here and book club authors here.
THIS WEEK!
On Complicity: Max Bazerman, Harvard Business School professor and author of Blind Spots: Why We Fail to Do What’s Right and What to Do About It and Complicit: How We Enable the Unethical and How to Stop, (Thursday, April 2, 1-2 p.m. EDT). My research draws from both of these books by Professor Bazerman and I am excited to talk to him about how the lessons he has drawn for the business context relate to our politics.
Coming Up:
On Courage: Moran, former Senior National Correspondent at ABC News and now author of the Substack, (Thursday, April 23, 2026, 3 p.m. EDT). I always loved being on ABC News when Terry was hosting because of his thoughtful analysis of the news of the day. But I am even more excited to have him on to talk about how the media is responding to the authoritarian threat and his own experience speaking the blunt truth (and paying a price for it).
On Complicity: Professor Kim Lane Scheppele, Professor at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs (May Time/Date TBA). I have learned SO MUCH from Professor Scheppele about the authoritarian playbook being replicated around the world. Tune in to learn the tactics used by Orban in Hungary and the far right in Brazil and how Project 2025 has mirrored these moves.
NEW! On Courage: Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn (May Time/Date TBA). I think all of us are incredibly grateful for Harry’s service, along with the rest of the Capitol Hill police, on January 6. I have had a chance to hear him speak and to get to know him personally since then, and am so thrilled that he will be coming on this Substack to talk to us!
The Freedom Academy Book Club
In the past I have typically done a book selection every quarter, but I am going to get more ambitious for 2026 and try to do one each month — too many interesting books and cool authors! Check out the selections below:
APRIL (Thursday, April 30, 1-2 p.m. EDT): Giving Up is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping Democracy by , author of Substack. This book talk is waaaaaay overdue, but Joyce has been on the road since her bestseller came out so I am happy to grab her when I can! I know we will all need a civic pep talk and pick me up in April…plus we will have changed the clocks by then so things will already feel more hopeful. I truly can’t wait for this discussion!
MAY (Thursday, May 28, 5-6 p.m. EDT): Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes by . I know that as we approach SCOTUS decision season we will need an expert guide to help us make sense of rulings that have come down and what to expect on the ones still pending! I am so excited to talk with University of Michigan Law Professor Leah Litman about how the Supreme Court has gone off the rails and what (if anything) we can do about it.
JUNE (Date/Time TBA): The Voter File by . David has been a guest several times on my Substack but this time we will be talking about his prescient novel! The Voter File came out in 2020 and is a story about how elections can be manipulated if someone can get their hands on…you got it, the voter file. Well, guess what? The Trump administration is trying to get their hands on…states’ voter files. Life imitates art, I guess (David’s first novel, published in 2016, was about Russian election interference.) This will be a terrifying beach read with real world implications!
JULY (Date/Time TBA): One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps by Andrea Pritzker. Is it OK to call the warehouses being built across the U.S. as “concentration camps”? Andrea Pritzker knows the answer (and it’s yes). There has, sadly, never been a more important time to learn the history of how this form of human internment and political repression was developed and how it has evolved. (I picked July so at least the weather is nice when we’re reading it — better than in winter when it gets dark at 4 p.m. and you’re already depressed.)
AUGUST (Date/Time TBA): The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley by Jimmy Soni. This book has been on my nightstand forever…to be honest, though, I couldn’t bring myself to read it last year, when Elon Musk was still taking a wrecking ball to our government. But now I’m ready: find out the origin story of the tech villains you love to hate, and who now have an outsized influence on our collective future.
SEPTEMBER (Date/Time TBA): Justice Under Siege by Mimi Rocah. Mimi is a former federal prosecutor who is writing, in real-time, about the hostile takeover and purge of the Justice Department. We’ll get to talk to her when her book is hot off the presses, just in time to get us fired up for the midterms! (No book cover yet, but you’ll be the first to see it when it’s out!)
OCTOBER (Date/Time TBA): The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century by Tim Weiner. I’ve been so excited to read Tim’s book since it came out last fall. His last book on the CIA, Legacy of Ashes: A History of the CIA (a must-read), chronicled the history and evolution of the agency from its inception during World War II through 9/11. This book picks it up from there to the present day. This will be a great discussion on the past and the future of our foreign intelligence capability.
DECEMBER (Date/Time TBA): The Lost Orchid: A Tale of Victorian Plunder and Obsession by Sarah Bilston. I realize that this title is not necessarily in the vein as the others, but I feel like by December we’re going to be ready for a change of pace for the holidays — and what better distraction is there than a little Victorian plunder and obsession? Seriously, though, this book has been on my to-read list since my brilliant colleague, professor of British literature, and master storyteller published this last year (I’m also partial to orchids, it being the only plant I have successfully managed to tend in my home). This will be a fun discussion to close out the year!
This Week’s It’s Complicated Podcast
This week, Renato and I discuss the tea leaves on Watson v. Republican National Committee, a case about states’ ability to control the date windows for mail-in voting. We also cover the latest DOJ clown-shoe shenanigans, including failing to properly serve a Washington state official in a lawsuit for voter data, and its refusal to share evidence in the ICE shooting investigations by the state of Minnesota, which has now sued the government to force the administration to cooperate. Check it out:
It’s Complicated is Cruisin’!
Come join me and Renato as we explore the stunning beauty of Alaska and discuss how we can work together to protect our democracy! It’s a small ship, and there will be lots of opportunities to talk to us both, plus we will have an opening and closing reception and dedicated democracy discussion tables throughout the cruise. You can find out more at this link, and fill out your info here to have an agent call you with more information.
Your paid subscription makes the Freedom Academy possible — unique analysis based on my experience at the intersection of law, ethics, and national security. Plus, get access to guest speakers and book authors, and interactive discussions. Thank you for your support!
‘Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number—
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you—
Ye are many—they are few.’
— The Masque of Anarchy by Percy Bysshe Shelley, stanza XXXVIII