StraightTalk 2024 speaker series focuses on upcoming election

StraightTalk 2024: Politics in the Divided States of America will dive into the issue of cultural wars and how they’re influencing public perception and policy during this year’s presidential election.

The speaker series will be held Sept. 3, 10 and 17, from 6:30 to 7:45 in McAlister Auditorium on Furman’s campus. It is open to the public and is sponsored by the Riley Institute at Furman and OLLI@Furman (the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute), in collaboration with the Department of Politics and International Affairs. Danielle Vinson ’89, professor of politics and international affairs, will moderate each discussion.

The first session, on Sept. 3, is “Immigration: A Case Study on ‘Us vs. Them’ Politics.” It features Carlos Curbelo, the son of Cuban immigrants who served as a U.S. congressman from 2014 to 2019. He is an on-air analyst for cable news networks, including MSNBC and Telemundo. Roberto Suro, a former journalist with Time, The New York Times and The Washington Post, will also speak. He was instrumental in founding the Pew Research Center and now teaches at the University of Southern California.

Session two, on Sept. 10, is “How did Everything Become a Culture War?” It features Greenville native Leroy Chapman Jr., the editor of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and Dannagal G. Young, a professor of communications at the University of Delaware, whose book, “Wrong: How Media, Politics and Identity Drive Our Appetite for Misinformation,” was published in October 2023. The conversation will provide information to help recognize partisan framing, and strategies for finding perspectives often left out of mainstream media.

Session three, on Sept. 17, is “How Do We Start Talking to Each Other Again?” The speakers will be Val Demings, a U.S. representative from Florida from 2017 to 2023 who now is a fellow with the Bipartisan Policy Center; David J. Kramer, executive director of the George W. Bush Institute who served in the State Department; and Stephanie S. Streett, executive director of the Clinton Foundation who worked in the Clinton White House. Demings will deliver keynote remarks, followed by a discussion between Kramer and Streett on ways to reduce partisan animosity and discover common goals and solutions across political differences.

Entry to the sessions for the general public is $15 per session or $35 for the series; for OLLI members it’s $10 per session or $25 for the series. There is no charge for Furman students, faculty and staff. To learn more about the series, visit the StraightTalk website. Tickets may be purchased via Eventbrite.