Journalist Farai Chideya to Deliver 4th Annual Ellsberg Lecture at UMass
Farai Chideya
Source: The Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy
The Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will host award-winning journalist, author, and radio host Farai Chideya for the 4th Annual Ellsberg Lecture on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, from 7:00–8:30 p.m. in the Integrative Learning Center (ILC ) at UMass, 650 North Pleasant Street, Room S211.
In her talk, “How to Read the United States on the Eve of 250,” Chideya will examine the perilous state of American democracy as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary. Drawing on decades of experience covering presidential politics, social change, and the media, she will explore the roots of the country’s democratic crises and what it means to navigate truth, power, and belonging in a fractured political landscape.
Farai Chideya is an independent journalist who created Our Body Politic, a nationally syndicated public radio show and podcast centering Black women and all women of color. The show produced January 6: An American Story, a documentary about BIPOC investigators on the January 6th Committee. She is the author of six books, including The Episodic Career: How to Thrive at Work in the Age of Disruption. Chideya has covered every presidential election since 1996 and has worked for outlets including FiveThirtyEight, NPR, CNN, and ABC News. Born and raised in Baltimore, she is a graduate of Harvard University and lives in Brooklyn, New York, and Washington, D.C.
This event is free and open to the public.
For more information, please visit www.eipad.org.
About the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy
The mission of the Ellsberg Initiative for Peace and Democracy is to promote public understanding, scholarship, and activism in support of compelling, democratic, and sustainable alternatives to militarism, authoritarianism, and environmental degradation.
