How Books Impact Politics and the Culture War

The Harvard Book Store and the Progressive Book Club co-sponsored a panel discussion with the First Parish Church in Cambridge. Panelists discussed the influence of books on politics and culture, as well as the importance of books, print media and the Internet in a democracy. They took a critical look at the Bush administration and its policies concerning the media, censorship, and the environment. After the discussion, the panelists responded to questions and comments from members of the audience.

Joe Conason moderated the panel. His books include The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton and Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth. Al Franken is the author of several books, including Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. Toni Morrison is a Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize winning novelist. Her most recent book is Remember: The Journey to School Integration. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is the author of Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy. Sidney Blumenthal is a former assistant to President Bill Clinton and the author of The Clinton Wars. close