Author Jon Meacham to open E.N. Thompson series

The year 1968 was full of historic events, from the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy to the advances made by anti-war, civil-rights and feminist forces. Author Jon Meacham will explain how the legacies and lessons of that time still resonate in “Tumult, Tragedy and Hope: America in 1968 from a Half Century Perspective” at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 in the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

The free event is the opening lecture in the 2018-19 E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues. It is also the 23rd annual Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities, presented by Humanities Nebraska. To order tickets, click here or call the Lied Center box office at 402-472-4747. The forum is general admission, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis.

One of America’s most prominent public intellectuals, Meacham is a regular contributor to Time magazine and The New York Times Book Review. His national bestseller “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House” won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009. Formerly managing editor and editor for Newsweek magazine, Meacham is also the author of two bestselling biographies on Thomas Jefferson and George H.W. Bush. His newest book, “The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels,” was released in May and quickly earned critical acclaim.

Bill Kelly, senior producer for NET News, will give a pre-talk at 7 p.m. in the Lied Center’s Steinhart Room. Kelly helped produce the NET documentary “’68: The Year Nebraska Mattered,” about the role the state played in that year’s presidential election.

The E.N. Thompson series continues with a lecture by Nadine Strossen, former president of the American Civil Liberties Union and current professor at the New York University School of Law, at 7 p.m. Nov. 7. It ends with a talk by Jana Eggers, self-proclaimed math and computer nerd and CEO of Nara Logics, at 7 p.m. Feb. 26. A pre-talk will take place 30 minutes before both lectures in the Steinhart Room. Free tickets are available from the Lied Center.

Events are streamed on the Thompson Forum website. The Oct. 9 and Nov. 7 events will be streamed on LNKTV Education and available live on Allo channel 23, Charter Spectrum 1303 and Windstream Kinetic 1080. The Feb. 26 event will be streamed on LNKTV City and available live on ALLO channel 2, Charter Spectrum 1300 and Windstream Kinetic 1005. All events will also be accessible on campus channel 4 and KRNU radio 90.3 FM. All talks are interpreted for people who are deaf and hard of hearing.

The E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues is a cooperative project of the Cooper Foundation, Lied Center and the university. It was established in 1988 with the purpose of bringing a diversity of viewpoints on international and public policy issues to the university and people of Nebraska to promote understanding and encourage discussion.