Shaking It Up: The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter

As part of our “Women on Wednesdays” series, please join American University's Women & Politics Institute and the School of Communication for a special screening of Shaking It Up: The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter, followed by a panel discussion with co-producers/co-directors AU Alumna Christy Carpenter WCL/’95 and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Abby Ginzberg, Washington Post Political Columnist Karen Tumulty, and Zakiya Thomas, President and CEO of the ERA Coalition and the Fund for Women's Equality. WPI Executive Director Betsy Fischer Martin will moderate the discussion.

Pioneering Texan journalist and influential feminist leader Liz Carpenter takes center stage in this documentary co-directed by her daughter Christy Carpenter and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Abby Ginzberg. Over her 89 years, Liz Carpenter was often front and center where history was unfolding, leaving her own indelible mark on some of the most vivid moments and movements that shaped the twentieth century. Journalist, vice-presidential advisor, White House official, author, humorist, political activist, and feminist leader—hers is the story of blazing professional trails while pushing forward an agenda for women’s rights, political engagement, and the environment that remains highly relevant today. This documentary film tells Liz’s story using archival film and still images, interviews from those who knew her, journalists who covered the history as it was made, and scholars who study this remarkable past.

ABOUT CHRISTY CARPENTER

Producer/co-director Christy Carpenter has more than four decades of experience as a senior executive in the for-profit and non-profit sectors, and is the daughter of Liz Carpenter. Prior to undertaking research on her mother’s papers, Carpenter served in New York City as the EVP and COO of the Paley Center for Media.

Carpenter received her Bachelor of History degree from Brown University and her Juris Doctorate from American University’s Washington College of Law.

ABOUT ABBY GINZBERG

Producer/co-director Abby Ginzberg, a Peabody award-winning director, has been making documentaries about race and social justice for more than 35 years. Her many producing credits include The Barber of Birmingham, directed by Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin, which was nominated for an Oscar®, and A Double Life, directed by Catherine Masud, which premiered at the 2023 Mill Valley Film Festival and won an Audience Favorite award.

Ginzberg received a Bachelor of History degree from Cornell University.

ABOUT KAREN TUMULTY

Karen Tumulty is an award-winning political columnist for The Washington Post. Before joining the Post, Tumulty wrote for Time magazine as their congressional correspondent and national political correspondent and at the Los Angeles Times. Karen has received numerous awards throughout her career, including the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, the Edwin Hood Award for Diplomatic Correspondence and the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. Her recent book, The Triumph of Nancy Reagan (Simon & Schuster) has received rave reviews from USA Today, Publishers Weekly and The New York Times.

Tumulty received a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin and her graduate degree in business administration from Harvard Business School.

ABOUT ZAKIYA THOMAS

Zakiya Thomas, President and CEO of the ERA Coalition and ERA Coalition Forward, is a dedicated advocate for justice and equality. With a rich background in political strategy and nonprofit management, she leads a coalition of over 300 organizations representing 80 million people. In 2020 she managed Dr. Woody Myers’ campaign for Governor of Indiana. In 2019, she was the Deputy National Political Director for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. In 2017, she managed Justin Fairfax’s successful campaign for Lt. Governor of Virginia making him only the second African American elected to the position in the state’s history.

Thomas received a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science from the College of William and Mary.

ABOUT BETSY FISCHER MARTIN

Betsy Fischer Martin is an Emmy-winning journalist and former TV news executive. Currently, she is the Executive Director of the Women & Politics Institute at American University and a faculty member in the School of Public Affairs, where she teaches courses on campaigns and elections.  In the fall of 2023, she was a resident fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics where she conducted a weekly seminar on the presidential election. During her earlier career in television news, she spent 23 years at NBC News serving as the longtime Executive Producer of Meet the Press with Tim Russert and as the Managing Editor of NBC News Political Programming.

A native of New Orleans, Fischer Martin did her undergraduate and graduate work at American University in Washington, DC. She is a cum laude graduate of their School of Public Affairs and earned a master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from the AU School of Communication.

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