New York Times opinion columnist and Vox founder Ezra Klein will virtually deliver the 2022 Kenner Lecture on Cultural Understanding, “What We Can Do About Toxic Polarization,” Tuesday, Feb. 8 at 8 p.m.
Klein, using his policy knowledge and academic research, will systematically look at why American politics is so polarized, and what that polarization has done to electoral institutions, policymaking and the media.
In addition to appearing on The New York Times’ opinion pages, Klein hosts the self-titled “Ezra Klein Show” podcast and is author of Why We’re Polarized, a bestseller about America’s political system. He is also a columnist for Bloomberg News and a regular contributor/policy analyst for MSNBC. Additionally, he created and was the executive producer of Netflix’s “Explained.”
Prior to starting Vox, where he was editor-in-chief and then editor-at-large, Klein founded and led The Washington Post’s Wonkblog.
Klein was named one of the “Minds of the Moment,” by The Economist. In 2011, TIME named his blog one of the 25 best financial blogs, and that same year, The Society of American Business Editors and Writers named him their Opinion Columnist of the Year. In 2012, GQ named him to their 50 Most Powerful People in Washington list and Esquire named him to their 79 Things We Can All Agree On list.
The lecture is free, but registration is required: go.lehigh.edu/22kennerlecture 2022.
Hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Kenner Lecture Series was endowed by Jeffrey L. Kenner ’65 ’66 and established in 1997. Kenner, who studied industrial engineering and business administration at Lehigh, became involved in private equity and venture capital after a career as a management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers (then Price Waterhouse & Co.). In 1986, Kenner formed his own firm, Kenner & Company. Inc. He served as a university trustee from 1995 to 2002 and was an early sponsor of the IBE [Integrated Business and Engineering] Honors Program. Kenner has long been a member of the university's Asa Packer and Tower Societies and was inducted into Leadership Plaza in October 2000.
