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Jamie Kirchick
Contributing Opinion Writer for the New York Times & Author of Instant New York Times Bestseller Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington
Jamie Kirchick
Contributing Opinion Writer for the New York Times & Author of Instant New York Times Bestseller Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington
Biography
Combining his breadth of historical knowledge, extensive global travels, and memorable anecdotes, James Kirchick illuminates the most important issue in the world today — freedom. Author of the instant-New York Times bestseller (and Notable Book of the Year) Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington and The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age, James Kirchick explains how freedom of expression and association are vital to the survival of liberal democracy.
Covering topics ranging from America’s role in the world to LGBT history to the rise of antisemitism in the United States and abroad, Kirchick captivates audiences with his passion and humor. A truly independent voice who follows no party line, he has been lauded as “articulate, passionate, brave” by Stephen Fry, “fearless” by Andrew Sullivan, and “a kind of American reincarnation of my friend Christopher Hitchens” by Bernard Henri-Levy.
Kirchick is a contributing Opinion writer for the New York Times, a writer at large for Air Mail, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. He has reported from over 40 countries and his articles and essays have appeared in a wide range of publications including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, the New York Review of Books, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Spectator, and the Times Literary Supplement. A frequent guest on Real Time with Bill Maher, he has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, the BBC, France 24, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and NPR.
A former editor at the New Republic and visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, Kirchick was writer-at-large for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty based in Prague, where he wrote about the politics and cultures of the nearly two dozen countries in the news company’s broadcast region. Among the many events he covered were the First Libyan Civil War, a stolen presidential election in Belarus, and revolution and ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan.
Recognized for his voice on American gay politics and international gay rights, Kirchick is a recipient of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Journalist of the Year Award. The New York Times called Secret City, “A luxurious, slow-rolling Cadillac of a book… rewarding in the extreme,” while George Stephanopoulos raved that “Not since Robert Caro’s Years of Lyndon Johnson have I been so riveted by a work of history.”
From Copenhagen to Chicago, from London to Los Angeles, Kirchick has spoken at campuses across the United States as well as at the National Security Agency, the U.S. Department of State, the 92nd St. Y, the Oslo Freedom Forum, the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, and the American Library in Paris, among many other venues. He is a recipient of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Journalist of the Year Award, is a member of PEN America and the Author’s Guild, and sits on the advisory board of the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values.
Speaker Videos
How to Fix Democracy Season 5 | James Kirchick
J. Edgar Hoover's Shadowy Reign with Beverly Gage and James Kirchick
Free speech | James Kirchick | TEDxYale
What Does Putin Want?
Speech Topics
Secret City: From the Closet to Congress
Until quite recently the mere suggestion that someone might be gay could ruin careers and destroy lives. Today, gay people enjoy full participation in American life. How did we get to this point so rapidly? In this talk based on his instant New York Times bestselling book Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington, award-winning journalist James Kirchick discusses the many and surprising ways in which the fear of homosexuality impacted American politics and society, and the transformative role freedom of expression played in overcoming it. Covering every president from FDR to Bill Clinton and drawing on the extensive research he conducted for Secret City, hailed by the New York Times as “a luxurious, slow-rolling Cadillac of a book,” Kirchick opens America’s closet door.
The End of Europe: A Warning for America
Once the world’s bastion of liberal, democratic values, Europe is now having to confront demons it thought it had laid to rest. The resurgence of nationalism, racism, and anti-Semitism contribute to a looming crisis that threatens to tear Europe apart. Drawing on his extensive firsthand reporting across the Continent, as well as his book The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age, New York Times bestselling author James Kirchick shines a light on some of the many crises confronting America’s most important ally.
Free Expression
Record numbers of Americans say that they are afraid to speak their minds. Some of the nation’s top universities can be found at the bottom of campus free speech rankings. Freedom House reports that freedom of expression is in decline around the world — including the West. Drawing on his experience reporting from unfree countries and his two widely acclaimed books — Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington and The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age — New York Times bestselling author James Kirchick delivers a report on the precarious state of free expression in the world today and a stirring call in its defense.
Israel & Antisemitism
The horrific attack of October 7th was a particularly gruesome manifestation of an evil that has poisoned humanity for thousands of years: antisemitism. For over two decades, New York Times bestselling author James Kirchick has been a vigilant and vocal foe of this societal scourge, condemning it frequently in leading publications and the media. Drawing on his personal experiences as a student confronting antisemitism at Yale University, a foreign correspondent who has reported on Jewish communities around the world, and a sharp observer of American politics and society, Kirchick doesn’t hold back from calling out antisemitism wherever it appears on the ideological spectrum.
Testimonials
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