Defending Democracy with Andrew Marantz

The New Yorker staff writer Andrew Marantz will deliver a lecture on the health of American democracy at 4 p.m. on Sept 24.
About this Event

The New Yorker staff writer and acclaimed author Andrew Marantz will deliver a lecture on the health of American democracy at 4 p.m. on Sept. 24 in the Rockwell Pavilion at M.D. Anderson Library. Marantz will discuss how the second Trump administration is eroding key democratic norms and institutions, tilting the political playing field and expanding the limits of presidential power. He will place the current moment in historical and global context, drawing on several visits to Hungary under Viktor Orbán and other examples of democratic backsliding, and will explore whether the United States is becoming a competitive authoritarian state. Marantz will also consider how Americans can navigate the present and strengthen civil society and institutional bulwarks. His campus visit kicks off the “Democracy in America” lecture series, hosted by the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Center on Ethics and Leadership.

About the Speaker

Andrew Marantz has contributed to The New Yorker since 2011, writing extensively about technology, politics, social media and the press. He has published pieces about the battle for the young male vote, the erosion of American democracy and the prospect of an A.I. apocalypse, among other topics. Marantz is the author of “Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation.” Marantz is also a contributor to Radiolab and The New Yorker Radio Hour and has written for Harper’s, Mother Jones, The New York Times and other outlets. He holds an undergraduate degree in religion from Brown University and a master’s degree in literary nonfiction from New York University.