Speaker Series
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The Phil Lind Initiative 2025
What It Means to Be “American” -
The Phil Lind Initiative 2024
Pop Politics: Pop Culture and Political Life in the United States -
The Phil Lind Initiative 2023
(Un)Civil Discourse -
The Phil Lind Initiative 2022
The Future of Media -
The Phil Lind Initiative 2021
The Anti-Democratic Turn -
The Phil Lind Initiative 2020
Thinking While Black -
The Phil Lind Initiative 2019
America and the Climate Crisis -
The Phil Lind Initiative 2018
The Unravelling of the Liberal Order -
The Phil Lind Initiative 2017
The Trump Impact: Change, Challenges, Responses -
The Phil Lind Initiative 2016
US Election Campaign
The Phil Lind Initiative 2021 | January - March, 2021
The Anti-Democratic Turn
This series has now ended.
The unprecedented assault on the rules and norms of democracy in the US over the past four years has exposed its vulnerability. The problems have become all too familiar: corruption, disinformation, foreign interference, gerrymandering, social media complicity, voter suppression, and the previously inconceivable threat that the outgoing president would refuse to concede and instead launch a series of futile but harmful legal challenges to democracy itself. Despite the eventual outcome of the presidential election, democracy in the US may not be as resilient as we once thought. If we accept that the previous administration is a symptom of more deeply rooted problems in American society, how do we begin to address these emerging fault lines in the democratic process? How can we protect the integrity of our democracies in an era marked by authoritarian resurgence and nativist backlash?
Each of the 2021 Phil Lind Initiative virtual series events was public and free to attend.
Subscribe to our Phil Lind Initiative Newsletter for updates on our future series.
Find books authored by our speakers on the UBC Bookstore website.
The Phil Lind Initiative is hosted by UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs.
#LIND21
Danielle Allen
James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard University; political theorist; public intellectual; cultural commentator
#LIND21 Events
The Phil Lind Initiative Presents:
Michael Sandel
Thursday, January 21, 2021
5:00 - 6:30 PM PST
UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs is proud to host Michael Sandel, political philosopher and Professor, Harvard University, as part of our 2021 Phil Lind Initiative series on The Anti-Democratic Turn.
Welcome remarks: Professor Santa Ono, President & Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia
Moderator: Sylvia Berryman, Professor, Department of Philosophy, UBC
Find books authored by Michael Sandel on the UBC Bookstore website.
Watch a clip from the event on our YouTube channel.
The Phil Lind Initiative Presents:
Charles M. Blow
Thursday, February 4, 2021
5:00 - 6:30 PM PST
UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs is proud to host Charles M. Blow, Op-Ed columnist at The New York Times and best-selling author, as part of our 2021 Phil Lind Initiative series on The Anti-Democratic Turn.
This event was moderated by Stephen Quinn, host of CBC Radio One’s The Early Edition.
Find books authored by Charles Blow on the UBC Bookstore website.
The Phil Lind Initiative Presents:
Anne Applebaum
Thursday, February 25, 2021
5:00 - 6:30 PM PST
UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs is proud to host Anne Applebaum, a staff writer for The Atlantic and a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, as part of our 2021 Phil Lind Initiative series on The Anti-Democratic Turn.
This event was moderated by Charmaine de Silva, News Director, NEWS 1130 & CityNews Vancouver.
Find books authored by Anne Applebaum on the UBC Bookstore website.
Watch the full recording from the event on the SPPGA YouTube channel.
The Phil Lind Initiative Presents:
Timothy Snyder
Thursday, March 4, 2021
5:00 - 6:30 PM PST
UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs is proud to host Timothy Snyder, Professor of History at Yale University and an award-winning author, as part of our 2021 Phil Lind Initiative series on The Anti-Democratic Turn.
This event was moderated by Hugh Gusterson, Professor, Department of Anthropology, UBC.
Find books authored by Timothy Snyder on the UBC Bookstore website.
Watch a clip from the event on the SPPGA YouTube channel.
The Phil Lind Initiative Presents:
Danielle Allen
Thursday, March 18, 2021
5:00 - 6:30 PM PST
UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs is proud to host Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard University, political theorist, public intellectual, and cultural commentator, as part of our 2021 Phil Lind Initiative series on The Anti-Democratic Turn.
This event was moderated by Kathryn Gretsinger, Associate Professor of Teaching, School of Journalism, Writing, and Media, UBC.
Find books authored by Danielle Allen on the UBC Bookstore website.
