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Past Events

Community Conversations and America at a Crossroads

In partnership with Community Advocates Inc., we developed the Community Conversations and America at a Crossroad, a virtual conversation series with some of the biggest names in political analysis, journalism, and politics. Since April 2020, we have hosted an event each week with an esteemed roster of guests and moderators who are experts in the issue areas JUDJ supports. Recordings of our past events and discussions are available below.

Co-sponsors include: IKAR, Jewish Center for Justice, Leo Baeck Temple, Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, Stephen Wise Temple, Temple Beth Am, Temple Isaiah, Temple Israel of Hollywood, The Forward and Valley Beth Shalom.

Jennifer Rubin with Madeleine Brand


From abortion to January 6th to Ukraine – a pundit's view

Leon Panetta with Warren Olney


An Expert's View of a Topsy-Turvy World: Part 3

Max Boot with Patt Morrison


Is American Democracy at a Tipping Point?

Bret Stephens with Patt Morrison


An Expert's View of a Topsy-Turvy World: Part 2

Adm. Mike Mullen (Ret.) with Warren Olney


An Expert's View of a Topsy-Turvy World: Part 1

Neal Katyal and Carol D. Leonnig with Madeleine Brand


Trump & The Law: Are The Chickens Coming Home To Roost?

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Alexander Vindman with Warren Olney


How Russia's War Has Changed The World Order

Judy Woodruff and Martin Baron with Geoffrey Cowan


Is it possible to restore trust in journalism ... in America and the world?

Kathryn Stoner and Minxin Pei with Larry Diamond


China and Russia: An Alliance of Autocracies

E.J. Dionne and Miles Rapoport with Larry Mantle


100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting

Rick Hasen with Warren Olney


Cheap Speech: How Disinformation Poisons Our Politics

Congressman Adam Schiff with Patt Morrison


A Conversation with Adam Schiff: The Challenges and Responsibilities of this Moment

Anne Applebaum and Max Boot with Larry Mantle


Ukraine: The World In Crisis​

Ben Ginsberg and Bob Bauer with Pam Fessler


Safeguarding Free And Fair Elections – Two Election Lawyers (R & D) Discuss

Barton Gellman with Madeleine Brand


2022 Political Scene: What Lies Ahead?

Bill Kristol with Ron Brownstein


2022 Political Scene: What Lies Ahead?

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, Pomona College President G. Gabrielle Starr and AAU President Barbara R. Snyder with Warren Olney


The Challenges Of Leading A Campus Community In Our Trying Times

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt with Madeleine Brand


It Could Happen Here: How We Can Stop It

Anne Applebaum with Larry Diamond


Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism​

Garry Kasparov and Amb. Michael McFaul with Max Boot


America's Youngest Voters: Catalyst for Change and Targets of Suppression​​

Carol Leonnig, Joanna Mendelson and Imran Ahmed with Larry Mantle


One Year Later: Our Capitol, Our Country, Our Democracy – Where Are We?

Roberta Kaplan, Karen Dunn and Amy Spitalnick with Henry Weinstein


Defeating Nazis in Court: Inside the Charlottesville Trial

Mike Hais and Yael Bromberg with Morley Winograd


America's Youngest Voters: Catalyst for Change and Targets of Suppression​

Bill Kristol with Madeleine Brand


Personal, National and Global Crises​


Personal, National and Global Crises​

Max Boot with Patt Morrison


Is Trump Coming Back?

House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC) with Larry Mantle​


The View From Inside The House Leadership​

Steve Schmidt with Robert Shrum​


Two Politicos Assess Where We Are And Where We Are Headed​

Congressman Adam Schiff with Warren Olney​


Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy And Still Could​

George F. Will with Madeleine Brand


American Happiness and Discontents

Noah Feldman and Larry Diamond​


The Trajectory of American Democracy​

Rick Hasen and Dahlia Lithwick with Larry Mantle​


Abortion, Guns, Voting Rights and More: The 2021 U.S. Supreme Court Docket​

Ron Brownstein with Warren Olney​


The Political Landscape 2021​

Jennifer Rubin with Patt Morrison


Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy From Donald Trump

David Frum with Madeleine Brand​


What did the "Trumpocalypse" do to America and the World?​

Amb. Dennis Ross with Patt Morrison​


Afghanistan: What Happened and What Does it Mean?​

Michael Bender with Warren Olney


Frankly, we did win this Election: The Inside Story​

Susan B. Glasser with Patt Morrison


Our Nation, Our World: The New Yorker's Susan Glasser Reports From Washington

Sheera Frenkel and Eugene Volokh with Larry Mantle​


"An Ugly Truth: Inside Facebook's Battle for Domination"​

Lt. Col. Alex Vindman with Patt Morrison


Here, Right Matter: My American Story​

Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt with Larry Diamond


How Democracy Dies​

Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy with Larry Mantle


6 Months Into Biden, Two Political Pros Assess The Political Landscape

David Leonhardt and Bret Stephens with Larry Mantle


The COVID Year – Its Impact on the Economy, our Norms and our Future – Two Pulitzer Prize Winners Look Forward and Back​

Adm. Michael Mullen U.S. Navy (Retired) with Warren Olney​


America in Decline: A View From the Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff​

Hon. Jamie Raskin and Rick Hasen with Jane Mayer


Impeachment + 6 Months – What Have we Learned About America and our Future?

Congressman Ted Lieu with Prof. Kathleen Belew


Extremism, Violence, & the Military: What are the Facts and What Lies Ahead?

Dannagal Young and Lorraine Ali


Humor and its Impact on American Politics – do Colbert, Kimmel, Myers and Colleagues Make a Difference

Michael Steele and William Kristol​


Whither the GOP? 2 Republican Stalwarts Discuss Its Future​

Deborah Lipstadt and Rabbi Ed Feinstein


Anti-Semitism Today – What's Really Going On?

Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R.-Ill) with Madeleine Brand


A Vision for Reform of the Republican Party

Erwin Chemerinsky and Richard Arenberg with Henry Weintsein; PLUS Amb. Dennis Ross with Larry Mantle​


Filibuster: Relic or Guardrail​

America at a Crossroads | Bret Stephens and Michelle Goldberg with Larry Mantle


Cancel Culture: Threat or Hype? Two Pundits Discuss the Front-Page Issue​

Ron Brownstein with Patt Morrison | PLUS Amb. Dennis Ross​


What Pop Culture Tells Us About Politics​

Hon. Al Franken with Howard Fineman


A Former Senator's View of Washington – With a Side of Wit

Hon. Judy Chu and Stewart Kwoh, Esq. with Warren Olney


A minority community under assault: An inside view

Larry Diamond and Rick Hasen with Pam Fessler​


Can American Elections by "Fixed"? What it Will Take to Strengthen U.S. Democracy​

Fareed Zakaria with Warren Olney​


A Post Pandemic World: Are We There Yet?​

Jennifer Kavanagh and Jennifer Rubin with Warren Olney


Truth Decay and the Future of American Democracy

David Brooks with Patt Morrison​


The Road to Revival: America in 2021​

Wolf Blitzer with Madeleine Brand


Fact vs. Fiction: The Media's Role in Combating Misinformation​

Brian Jenkins and Javed Ali with Larry Mantle​


Combating Domestic Violent Extremists will be Harder Than Homegrown Jihadists​

Michael McFaul with Max Boot


U.S. Foreign Policy: Can Biden Repair the Damage?

Roberta Kaplan, Joanna Mendelson and Voviette Morgan with Patt Morrison​

From Charlottesville to Capitol Insurrection: How Worried Should We Be​

Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen with Warren Olney​

Foreign & Domestic Policy in the Hyper-Partisan World​

Bill Kristol with Larry Mantle​

Is the future "grand" for the grand old party? What happened?​

Max Boot with Madeleine Brand

Can Humpty Dumpty Be Put Back Together? American Foreign Policy After Trump

Jacob Soboroff with Madeleine Brand​


Separated – Inside an American Tragedy: Trump's Family Separation Policy​

Benjamin Ginsberg and Rick Hasen with Pam Fessler​


What has to change to protect our vulnerable electoral system?​

Dr. Barbara Ferrer with Larry Mantle​


COVID-19, Vaccinations, and You: How Will It Work?​

Susan Glasser and Peter Baker with Warren Olney​


Can Washington Work Again: On Trump, Biden, and What Comes Next?​

Bret Stephens with Henry Weinstein


After four years of Trump – can we be healed?​

Jonathan Greenblatt, Derrick Johnson, Sindy Benavides and Kathy Ko Chin with David Lehrer


After four years of tension, division and bigotry – now what?​

Leon Panetta with Larry Mantle​


Challenges of transitioning & governing: An insider's view​

Congressman Adam Schiff with Madeleine Brand


What's in store? A new Congress, a new agenda?

George F. Will with Warren Olney


Where do we go from here? The impact of the Trump era

Ron Brownstein with Larry Mantle

Is it over yet? – Election 2020​

Bill Kristol with Patt Morrison​

What Happened: A Thinking Conservative's Post Mortem

Pre-Election Special

A Diminishing Presidency: What Lies Ahead?

David Axelrod with Patt Morrison

A Diminishing Presidency: What Lies Ahead?

Lt. Col. Alex Vindman with Max Boot

A Military Man in the Era of Trump – Paying the Price

David Gergen with Warren Olney

Eyewitness to Power – Leadership in America

Tom Ridge and Janet Napolitano with Jim Newton

The Politicization of the Bureaucracy – A Troubling Precedent

Carl Bernstein with Warren Olney

Donald Trump's Unprecedented Threat to American Democracy – Is He Deliberately Igniting Our Cold Civil War?

Nicholas Kristof with Madeleine Brand

Ray of Hope in a Grim Time

Secretary of State Alex Padilla with Zev Yaroslavsky

Is Voting by Mail the Answer to Voter Suppression?

Ron Brownstein with Warren Olney

Restoration – The Struggle Between America's Past and Future

Jeffrey Toobin with Henry Weinstein

True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump

Benjamin Jealous and Amb. (Rabbi) David Saperstein with Larry Mantle

Protecting the Vote in the Era of Trump

Connie Rice and Bill Bratton with Patt Morrison

America's Racial Reckoning: From Cops to Elections

Congresswoman Karen Bass with Laurie Levenson

Bigotry, Police Reform and More: Issues in the Age of Trump

James Carville with Warren Olney

An Expert's Analysis of the 2020 Elections

Thomas Friedman with Warren Olney

The "Trump Effect" on Foreign and Climate Policy

Bill Kristol with Patt Morrison

The "Trump Effect": Can the Soul of Our Country be Restored?

George Will with Larry Mantle

Will the Republican Party Recover?

Lynn Vavreck and Mike Murphy with Robert Shrum

Practitioners' Predictions: How Political Pros View the November Election

Jonathan Greenblatt with David Lehrer

Anti-Semitism, Bigotry, and Hate in the Age of Trump

Erwin Chemerinsky, Jennifer Mnookin and Henry Weinstein

The Constitution in Crisis: Will It Survive?

Mayor Eric Garcetti with Jim Newton

Governing in a Time of Crisis: Where Are We and How Do We Recover?

David Frum and Peter Beinart with Madeleine Brand

Two Views of a Controversial Presidency

David Brooks with Warren Olney

When and Why the Trump Ploy Stopped Working

Max Boot with Patt Morrison

Assessing the Trump Administration

Prof. Rick Hasan, Prof. Gilda Daniels and Mac Heller with Val Zavala

Voter Suppression and 2020 Elections

Congressman Adam Schiff with Warren Olney

Restoring Our Democracy After Trump: A View from the Hill

Bret Stephens and Nicholas Goldberg

COVID-19 Impacts

Jennifer Rubin and Amb.(ret.) Norman Eisen with Warren Olney

Three Years of the Trump Administration: What Has Gone On and Where Are We Headed?

Rick Hasen with Warren Olney


Cheap Speech: How Disinformation Poisons Our Politics