Consider This with Masha Gessen

Our 2020–21 Consider This conversation series is all about democracy and civic engagement—how it works, who gets to participate, and how it goes awry. On December 3, join us for a conversation with journalist and cultural critic Masha Gessen, author of Surviving Autocracy, The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin, Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot, and many other books. We'll talk about democracy, autocracy, and activism in the United States and in Gessen's native Russia, and how they relate to political power, transitions, and culture in both countries.

The conversation will take place starting at 5:00 p.m. Pacific on Thursday, December 3, via Zoom and YouTube. To join us and other viewers in our virtual lobby for post-talk conversation, please RSVP here. If you'd rather just watch live, you can do so on this page or on YouTube. Recordings of the program will be available on December 4.

Masha Gessen is the author of eleven books, including the National Book Award-winning The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia and The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin. Gessen’s latest book, Surviving Autocracy, is a bracing overview of the trajectory of American democracy under the Trump administration. A staff writer at The New Yorker, they have covered political subjects including Russia, autocracy, queer rights, Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump, among others. 

Consider This is made possible thanks to the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Oregon Cultural Trust, Northwest Natural, Tonkon Torp LLP, Stoel Rives LLP, the Kinsman Foundation, and the City of Portland's We Are Better Together program. This program was funded by the “Why it Matters: Civic and Electoral Participation” initiative, administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and funded by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This event is cosponsored by Oregon League of Women Voters.