Video
Opening Night: Introductions
Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust opens with an introduction of Pulitzer Prize winner Wynton Marsalis
Act I: Power in the Home
Annette Gordon-Reed became a lawyer to effect social change, but in researching and writing“The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family” she changed history
Maria Henson on what her 1991 series of investigative editorials on domestic violence, “To Have and To Harm,” taught her about the power of crusading journalism
Danielle Allen talks with Sara Ganim and Sacha Pfeiffer about what it’s like to report on intimate crimes and to make those stories public in ways that are sensitive to victims and create social impact
Wesley Lowery reflects on what covering racial unrest in Ferguson, Mo. taught him about his childhood growing up in a biracial home
Junot Díaz reads from “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” exploring power relationships within a single family and within a nation under dictatorial rule
Act II: Power in the Nation
Robert Caro recalls the incident, when he was working on “The Power Broker,” that made him realize that in writing about power, he would have to do so through the lens of the powerless
Donald Graham reads a passage from “Personal History,” the Pulitzer-winning autobiography by his mother, Katharine Graham, about her decision while publisher of The Washington Post to publish the Pentagon Papers
Dean Baquet talks with Laura Poitras and Bob Woodward about their work to expose two of the most stunning abuses of government power in American history
A videotaped conversation with “Hamilton” writer and star Lin-Manuel Miranda about finding your voice as a writer and the role of the playwright in addressing history
Act III: Power in the World
Stan Grossfeld reflects on how pictures he took in the mid-1980s in rebel-held Ethiopia and war-torn Lebanon did—and didn’t—make a difference
Mark Fiore reflects on his unorthodox path to a career as a political cartoonist — and the power of satirical animation to spark social change
Caroline Elkins talks with Joby Warrick and Lawrence Wright about state-sponsored oppression and the rise of stateless terrorist organizations like ISIS and al-Qaeda
Yusef Komunyakaa reads “Thanks,” a meditation on how the natural world can ameliorate the pain of human conflict
Lynn Nottage introduces a scene from “Ruined,” about women and girls trying to survive civil war in the Congo. Performed by Erin Washington and Me’Lisa Sellers.