Whatever the ideology that Charlestonians champion, there is one observation on which most would agree: The nation’s current political division is all but unbridgeable.
If only we could wrench ourselves from laptop echo chambers to gather in the same room and hash it out, fact by fact and face to face, then things might change.
In Charleston, two high-profile events may inform your current point of view, while also helping you wrap your head around how the other half thinks.
The lens of Lepore
At 6:30 p.m. Sept, 8, Jill Lepore, the acclaimed author, historian and staff writer at The New Yorker, arrives on the heels of the August release of her new book, The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State. She’ll be at Charleston Gaillard Center in partnership with Charleston Library Society and Buxton Books.
“Charleston is one of those all-time great American cities that I have always wanted to spend more time in. I started out as an early American historian, and the city’s history just fascinates me. I’m especially excited to be speaking at the majestic Gaillard!!” Lepore told the Charleston City Paper.
Her discussion is titled Democracy Then and Now and is moderated by Kevin Sack, the Charleston-based author of Mother Emanuel: Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church.
“Dr. Lepore is such a deeply respected thinker and writer, and her new book is so current and relevant, that it was hard to resist. I have since given up lighter summer fare and restricted myself to an all-Lepore diet,” Sack told the newspaper.
Lepore has sufficiently engaged with left-of-center audiences, along with many others, to earn bestseller status for books including the Pulitzer Prize-winning We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution.
Her new book differs from other works, Sack observes, in that “it is a history but it is also a doomsday manifesto, one that uses a bullhorn to warn of the very real dangers of an unregulated artificial state.”
Conservative cred
The same week, Charlestonians can glean another vantage from Ross Douthat, the exiting conservative opinion columnist at The New York Times who in July was appointed to a new role at 60 Minutes.
Co-presented by the College of Charleston Friends of the Library and the College of Charleston Civility Initiative, it’s slated for 7 p.m. Sept. 10 in the College of Charleston Simons Center for the Arts Recital Hall.
Douthat will be in conversation with Mike Lee, professor of communication at the College of Charleston who directs the college’s civility initiative. It got started in 2023 to help students and others to navigate conflicts of every stripe.
“The genesis is really to talk about healthy conflict in all spheres of life, not just our politics, but obviously that’s the one that gets the most attention,” Lee said.
The audience generally folds in three groups: those following the national conversation about healthy collective coexistence; a regional audience; and a city audience trying to engage the public in healthy dialogue across differences.
Speakers have included everyone from political leaders like television personality Bakari Sellers and former U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., to conspiracy theory experts. It produces the When We Disagree podcast, offers skill-building workshops and more. After the 2025 shooting death of conservative Charlie Kirk, the initiative gained national attention on PBS News Hour for its approach.
Lee was drawn to Douthat in part for his savvy on social media platforms and podcasts, which are representative of Civility Initiative focus.
“He brings on thought leaders, especially on the right, and puts the screws to them in a way that I think is both connective and combative. So he practices what he preaches even while having a pretty specific point of view … on the right that is fairly traditionalist,” Lee said.
Talk of the town hall
Events of this nature can also serve a vital community purpose in their own right.
“Technology has given us a host of new platforms for education and debate these days, and yet the most effective at illuminating the issues and building respect, community and consensus likely remains the original one, the town hall,” Sack said.
For Lee, it furthers the aim of promoting healthy conflict, which entails talking to strangers and getting as much information as possible before making a decision.
“It can be a joyous kind of occasion,” he said. “In our personal relationships, in our homes and our organizations, and certainly in our politics, if we get a little bit better at healthy conflict, and that’s not to say that all conflict is created equal because it’s not, I think healthy conflict can be fun and better for our decisions.”
IF YOU WANT TO GO: Lepore appears 6:30 p.m. Sept. 8, Charleston Gaillard Center, 95 Calhoun St. More: charlestonlibrarysociety.org. Douthat appears 7 p.m. Sept. 10, College of Charleston Simons Center for the Arts Recital Hall, 54 St. Philip St. More: bit.ly/4gqL9My
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