Please give them a look. I mentioned to some of the other day, i was reading the words in preparation for tonight and thats the new faulkner biography. You have the faux fur part right. The best way i could describe this book is equal parts. Military history social commentary and literary criticism. I think all appear equally to fans many of those subjects. What the book really did for me, was forced me to get some serious thought to his fans where at the time we are asking ourselves difficult questions about our countrys history on issues of race. Was he a pioneer it was another white wire that was profiting off of the characters of black americans. Is a professor englishman literature at Smith College in massachusetts sits which was a finalist for the pulitzer prize. Is essays have come up in the New York Times book review. Thank you for joining us tonight. Thank you very much for having me. I want to thank the library for hosting and my friends that live right for putting us togethe
The scope of what we are talking about when we are talking about changes in policing. Instead of focusing primarily on reform, there are conversations about defunding or shrieking or abolishing the police, fundamentally changing the institution of the police and what they do. Data is really being proffered in many ways as this sort of panacea or Silver Bullet with many of these issues. In the defunding debate, lets say we are going to defund the cut costs. People say data can be used to allocate resources more efficiently. Or lets reduce racial bias and officer decisionmaking. Lets automate it. Or you want to reduce the categorical suspicion of young black males and more accurately predict crime, try predictive algorithms. I think we need to be cautious , when we using data are trying to solve social problems with technological solutions. The first thing i would suggest in moving forward is that we pause,moment to stop, to and really invert the order of operations of what has been goin
[laughter] guest i think we have so little perspective on this moment that it is quite impossible to say. I think the perception that many people in the United States and, of course, also around the world have that this is an extraordinary uni shall time is something that we are in a time out of time will be a curiosity in the future. People will look back and wonder about that very sense i think it is kind of an interesting phenomenon. I think that will be studied. Host when you think about today, do you compare it to any other period in history . Guest no, you know, as a historian, im interested in analogies. I think we have a cognitive tendency to enjoy analogies to find one thing to be like another, all the time, just in the same way, you know, im the kind of person that sees likenesses in family members. I look at a new baby and say oh that looks just like great grandma so and so. But at the same time, even as i say that, i recognize that a lot of that is my need for familiarity.
I think the perceptionce that many people in the United States and also around the worldhi that this is an extraordinary unusual time in a sense where we are out of time will be a curiosity in the future. People will look back and wonder about that wonderment. And he gets kind of an interesting phenomenon. When you think about today do you compare it to any other time in history . As a historian. Im interested in that. We have a cognitive tendency. In the same way im the kind of person that seems like this and family members. Our need for familiarity. For most of my career as a historian. What time is this like. It is an easy story to write. I think theres a whole crop of president ial biographers who go out on talk shows. I generally find them to be not i in this era. Its actually a way to kind of contain the chaos. It is a way to avoid what is truly strange about this. What do we mean when we talk about American History. How are we to reckon with the fact that our present day is so p
Debate live from cleveland tuesday night on cspan. Stream at cspan. Org or listen live on the cspan radio app. And live now to the Senate Health committee who today will hear from dr. Anthony fauci, dr. Robered redfield and other members of the White House Coronavirus task force. Theyre expected to update lawmakers on the federal response to the pandemic. Live coverage here on cspan 3. Senator ted kennedy used to say our committee had the broadest jurisdiction in the senate. You only have to look around the room at a hearing and see that we also have the broadest range of views in the senate and some of the ablest advocates of those views. But thanks to our Committee Members and to senator murray most of our hearings have been bipartisan which means weve agreed on a broad range of witnesses to present points of view. And while the questioning and statements of senators has been probing, theres always been a high level of courtesy both to the witnesses and to the other senators which im