HOW TO THINK ABOUT IT

This isn’t your grandma’s town hall. Typically, the onus is on citizens to ask polite questions of politicians who are trained to duck and cover. Yes, there are celebrity guests, everyone from Jemele Hill and Lawrence Gilliard Jr. to Vanessa Carlton, Mayor Carmen Cruz and Eddie Huang. But they’re just the appetizers … to a delightful dish of voices from everyday folks — activists and business leaders to artists and scientists — cutting past the Beltway banter to the heart of what’s on America’s mind. And their answers might surprise you as they paint a far fuller picture than pollsters ever could.

Just the beginning. The 2020 election is two years away, and we already have would-be candidates holding rallies and visiting Iowa. As the presidential race beckons, it will be more important to understand your neighbor. Last year, we reported from all 50 states to introduce you to those outside of your bubble, and this year, we visited every nation on Earth. Now it’s time to take those conversations further, with plans to speak to NRA members, teenagers, Muslim-Americans, teachers and clergy in states across the country. And we will be one day closer to town halls that bring together the entire American family in one powerful conversation.

WHAT TO READ

What the Black Men Who Identify With Brett Kavanaugh Are Missing, by Jemele Hill, in her inaugural article for The Atlantic
“Kavanaugh’s emotional defense of his reputation against the claims of a sympathetic white woman resonated with these unlikely allies. And it wasn’t just in Baltimore, at the town hall organized for Ozy Media’s Take On America series. This bizarre kinship was something I noticed in my Twitter mentions, too, where black men were tossing out examples of how white lies had wrecked black lives.”

The Black Men Who Identify With Brett Kavanaugh Understand the Stakes, by David French for the National Review
“It is true that, as Hill notes, Kavanaugh was more powerful than the young black men who face similarly terrifying accusations that can ruin their lives, but the answer isn’t to convince black Americans that Kavanaugh should face the kind of ‘justice’ that they have faced far too often throughout our nation’s history. It’s to convince America that due process and the presumption of innocence belong to all of us, no matter our social station, even when prison isn’t at stake.”

WHAT TO WATCH