Mack Lecture: M. Gessen
Tickets & Info
Tickets & Info
The Mack Lecture Series presents best-selling author, journalist, and National Book Award winner Masha Gessen.
An indispensable voice of this moment, M. Gessen examines our shifting political climate with exacting precision, exposing the underlying systems—past and present—that affect every part of our lives. Addressing topics including autocracy, gender, and politics, Gessen’s expansive body of work underscores the dangers of totalitarianism and the importance of shared humanity.
With sharp wit and researched analysis, the public scholar comes to the Walker for a critical discussion of contemporary sociopolitical realities. They outline what in American society has changed and what is at stake, from our health to our families to our democracy.
A short, moderated dialogue with journalist Jana Shortal follows the presentation. A pop-up bar will be open in the Main Lobby starting one hour before the lecture.
Mack Lectures provide a platform for changemakers at the forefront of their fields to share new ideas and alternative ways of working.
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An incisive observer of democracy, M. Gessen is the author of 11 books, including the essential Surviving Autocracy and the National Book Award–winning The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia. An Opinion columnist at the New York Times, they have covered political subjects including the Russian state, LGBTQ+ rights, and the rise of autocracy. Gessen spent many years as a staff writer for the New Yorker, where they were recognized with the George Polk Award for opinion writing in 2024. In 2022 they cofounded the Russian Independent Media Archive, a digital archive focused on preserving the past two decades of independent Russian journalism. As a scholar, Gessen has taught widely and currently serves as the first Distinguished Professor at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Their commitment to rigorous research and scholarship has earned them a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Nieman Fellowship, an Overseas Press Club Award, and more. Gessen is based in New York, where they have lived since 2013, after having spent over 20 years as a journalist and editor in Moscow.
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The Mack Lecture series is made possible by generous support from Aaron and Carol Mack.
