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Image for event: CALS Speaker Series presents McKay Coppins

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CALS Speaker Series presents McKay Coppins

Award-winning Journalist & Bestselling Author

2024-02-29 18:30:00 2024-02-29 19:30:00 America/Chicago CALS Speaker Series presents McKay Coppins McKay Coppins is a staff writer at <em>The Atlantic</em>, where he is a leading voice in the magazine's coverage of politics, religion, and national affairs. Ron Robinson Theater - Ron Robinson Theater

Thursday, February 29
6:30pm - 7:30pm

Add to Calendar 2024-02-29 18:30:00 2024-02-29 19:30:00 America/Chicago CALS Speaker Series presents McKay Coppins McKay Coppins is a staff writer at <em>The Atlantic</em>, where he is a leading voice in the magazine's coverage of politics, religion, and national affairs. Ron Robinson Theater - Ron Robinson Theater

Ron Robinson Theater

Ron Robinson Theater

McKay Coppins is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he is a leading voice in the magazine's coverage of politics, religion, and national affairs.


A former visiting fellow at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, Coppins has appeared in Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list and is the recipient of the 2019 Aldo Beckman Award from the White House Correspondents’ Association for his profiles of figures in the Trump Administration, and the 2021 Wilbur Award for his Atlantic essay “The Most American Religion” on Mormonism.

His New York Times bestseller, Romney: A Reckoning, illuminates the life of one of America’s most fascinating political figures. Drawing from personal journals, emails, and exclusive interviews with Romney, his family, and his inner circle, Coppins unveils the enigmatic politician’s private thoughts as he wrestles with the choices he has made over his career.

The book traces Romney’s early life and rise through the ranks of a fast-transforming Republican Party and exposes how a trail of seemingly small compromises by political leaders has led to a crisis in democracy. Ultimately, Romney: A Reckoning is a redemptive story about a flawed politician who summoned his moral courage just as fear and divisiveness were overtaking American life. The book was named one of the best books of 2023 by the New Yorker and NPR. Coppins is also the author of The Wilderness, a 2015 book about the battle for the future of the Republican Party which was excerpted in the Washington Post and named one of the best nonfiction books of the year by Buzzfeed.

Coppins is an experienced public speaker whose areas of expertise include digital media, American culture, politics, religion, and narrative journalism. He has had notable appearances on shows such as Late Night with Seth Meyers, Amanpour & Company, CBS News, CNN, and MSNBC and he has hosted segments at The Atlantic Festival. In addition, he has been heard on NPR’s Fresh AirAll Things Considered, Morning Edition, and On Point. He lives near Washington, D.C., with his wife and children.

This event is co-sponsered by the Political Animals Club of Little Rock.

This program honors John Netherland (J. N.) Heiskell, who served as editor of the Arkansas Gazette for more than seventy years. CALS Executive Director, Nate Coulter, will moderate.

A scoop-rich biography…An especially clear window onto the forces that over the last decade have transformed the GOP….Coppins gained extraordinary access…The tell-all tales gush forth.” (Los Angeles Times)

An astonishing, nearly unprecedented catalog of intraparty critique… it’s also, and maybe all the more importantly, a deft study of the capacity for rationalization…this is what makes this book so interesting, and also important.” (Politico)

A rare feat in modern-day political reporting: an account in which the subject engages in actual introspection. (New Yorker)

A memorable distillation of a life in politics, of the tension between high principle and unseemly justification. It’s a tension Romney has navigated better than most, in part for his willingness to acknowledge its existence.” (Carlos Lozada, New York Times)

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AGE GROUP: | Adults |

EVENT TYPE: | Literature & Language | History & Genealogy |

TAGS: | SpeakerSeries |

Ron Robinson Theater

Phone: 501.320.5715

Hours

Ron Robinson Theater

Today's hours

We're open 9:00AM to 5:30PM


Address
100 River Market Avenue
Little Rock, AR 72201
Tel: 501.320.5715

About the branch

The Ron Robinson Theater is a 315-seat multi-purpose event venue. Part of the Central Arkansas Library System’s (CALS) Main Library campus, it is designed to provide programs for all ages including films, music performances, plays, readings, lectures, speakers, and children’s activities. The theater is equipped with a state-of-the-art DCI-compliant Barco digital cinema projection system and 32′ wide retractable screen; and, a versatile sound system capable of Dolby 5.1 surround audio for movies, with a CL3 digital mixing console with ample inputs for traditional music concerts.

Upcoming Events

Tue, Sep 16, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Celebrate 50 years of A Boy and His Dog, the darkly satirical post-apocalyptic cult classic starring a young Don Johnson.Register

Thu, Sep 18, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
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The name’s Bond. James Bond.Register

Sat, Sep 20, 4:00pm - 5:30pm
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Michelangelo: Love and Death offers a cinematic journey through the great chapels and museums of Florence, Rome and the Vatican, to the print and drawing rooms of Europe, to explore Michelangelo's tempestuous life.Register

Sat, Sep 20, 8:00pm - 10:00pm
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Let’s do the Time Warp again!Register

Tue, Sep 23, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
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Celebrate the life and music of Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla in this heartfelt biopic starring Jennifer Lopez in her breakout role.Register

Thu, Sep 25, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Grab your Post-its and your pink outfits—Romy and Michele are back!Register

Fri, Sep 26, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
“Put the bunny back in the box!” Register

Sat, Sep 27, 12:30pm - 2:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Go the distance with Disney’s Hercules! Register

Sat, Sep 27, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Suit up!Register

Sat, Sep 27, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, and Gary Oldman star in Luc Besson’s stunning sci-fi extravaganza The Fifth Element.Register

Wed, Oct 01, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
PRESENTER: Dr. Carly Anne York & Jasmin Graham
BOOK: The Salmon Cannon and the Levitating Frog: And Other Serious Discoveries of Silly Science & Sharks Don’t Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist

Wed, Oct 01, 7:30pm - 8:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
PRESENTERS: Dr. Karida Brown & Dr. Eve L. Ewing
BOOKS: The Battle for the Black Mind & Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism
MODERATOR: Sercia Nelson

Thu, Oct 02, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
PRESENTER: Louis Sachar
BOOK: The Magician of Tiger Castle
MODERATOR: Ayana Gray

Thu, Oct 02, 7:30pm - 8:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
PRESENTER: Wright Thompson
BOOK: The Barn
MODERATOR: Karama Neal

Fri, Oct 03, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
PRESENTER: Dr. Alex Vernon
BOOK: Peace Is a Shy Thing: The Life and Art of Tim O’Brien
MODERATOR: Dr. Chelsea Clinton

Sat, Oct 04, 10:00am - 11:00am
Ron Robinson Theater
PRESENTERS: A'Lelia Bundles & Juanita Tolliver
BOOKS: Joy Goddess: A'Lelia Walker and the Harlem Renaissance & A More Perfect Party: The Night Shirley Chisholm and Diahann Carroll Reshaped Politics

Sat, Oct 04, 11:30am - 12:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
PRESENTERS: William Boyle & Lucas Schaefer
BOOK: Saint of the Narrows Street & The Slip
MODERATOR: Eli Cranor

Sat, Oct 04, 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
PRESENTERS: Annabel Monaghan & Regina Black
BOOKS: It’s A Love Story & August Lane
MODERATORS: Mojadesinuola Adejokun

Sat, Oct 04, 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
PRESENTERS: Eli Cranor & Seth Wickersham
BOOKS: Mississippi Blue 42 & American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback
MODERATOR: Jay Jennings

Sat, Oct 04, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Ron Robinson Theater
PRESENTERS: Jennifer Haigh & Milo Todd
BOOKS: Rabbit Moon & The Lilac People
MODERATOR: Fred McKindra

Sat, Oct 04, 5:30pm - 6:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
PRESENTERS: Maggie Stiefvater & Dolen Perkins-Valdez
BOOKS: The Listeners & Happy Land
MODERATOR: Beth Quarles

Sun, Oct 05, 5:00pm - 8:30pm
Join us on Sunday, October 5, for An Evening with Shelby Van Pelt at the Ron Robinson Theater. This ticketed event will raise funds so the festival can continue providing free public programs in Central Arkansas. Moderated by Ashlei King.Register

Sat, Oct 11, 4:00pm - 5:30pm
Ron Robinson Theater
After 500 years Bosch's paintings still shock and fascinate us. Delve into the vivid imagination of this true visionary.Register