Expert Talk Video Library
The OpEd Project regularly hosts public talks and events with industry experts that explore aspects of voice, identity, and how ideas and words come to change the world. These live conversations are designed to share skills, strategies and knowledge in an informal and accessible setting to reframe how we see and create the world. As a member, you have access to recordings of all of our events.
Click each title below for a description and link to the recording.
Recordings:
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In today’s publishing world, writers are often pushed to choose: fiction or nonfiction. But some of the most powerful voices move between both. Join award-winning journalist, memoirist, and novelist Dawn Turner to learn how to build a writing career across multiple genres, without losing your voice or your focus. Drawing on her experience at the Chicago Tribune and across four books, Dawn will share practical strategies for publishing in both fiction and nonfiction, staying motivated in a distracted and demanding world, and telling stories that matter. In a moment when the country is grappling with questions of identity, truth, and democracy, she’ll explore how writers can create work that is not only beautiful, but also meaningful, insightful, and impactful.
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Three members of our community published op-eds—and then ran for office. Today, they represent communities totaling around 1.2 million people. What does it take to turn a single idea into real political power? Join us with OpEd Project Fellows Rebecca Saldaña (Washington State Senator, 37th District), Gabriella Cázares-Kelly (Pima County, Arizona Recorder), and Eric Chung (Candidate for U.S. Representative in Michigan's 10th Congressional District, former U.S. Department of Commerce attorney and special counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee) as they share how they made the leap from the op-ed page to the political stage, and what they’ve learned from inside government about how ideas translate into policy and change. Join us to discover how your ideas can shape what happens next.
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Digital safety is a critical skill for public experts today. Join us with Emily May, the President, Co-Founder, and Lead Executive Officer of Right To Be, a nonprofit working to end harassment in all its forms, in conversation with Riece Hamilton, the Case Manager for the Expert Voices Together Program, for a practical session on protecting yourself online. They will share prevention strategies such as password hygiene, securing your accounts, de-doxing, and keeping your devices updated, along with ways to guard against threats like phishing, social engineering, and malware. Using the disability justice framework of pod-mapping, they will also explore how to build community support when harm happens. This interactive session will offer concrete actions and tools you can put into practice right away.
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“Literature does its best to maintain that its concern is with the mind,” wrote Virginia Woolf in 1926. “On the contrary, the very opposite is true. All day, all night, the body intervenes.” Telling our own stories involves our human bodies and what they experience and survive, not only our ideas and expertise. Join us with essayist and nonfiction author Megan Stielstra in this live, interactive examination of that intervention. We'll explore how memory lives in the body, using our own stories and experiences as a contribution to a wider cultural and political dialogue that centers human beings.
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So many of you ask us about book agents: how to find one, what they do, who do we recommend? To answer your questions, we’ve invited a panel of four power agents who sell to big publishers, work closely with impact-driven thinkers, and promise to give you the straight talk about what works, what doesn’t, and how to turn your idea into a book deal.
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Your voice is one of your most powerful tools for impact. Yet for many, anxiety, self-doubt, or fear of speaking up can stand in the way. In this Expert Talk, Veronica Rueckert, a longtime public radio host, trained opera singer, and author of Outspoken: Why Women’s Voices Get Silenced and How to Set Them Free, will share practical, science-backed techniques to help you speak with confidence and joy. Join us to learn how to use posture, breathing techniques, and vocal tools to overcome stage fright, command attention, and speak with clarity and power. Loving and understanding your voice doesn’t just change how you speak—it can change the world.
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Want to successfully pitch your ideas to editors? Join us for a hands-on, inside conversation about what they’re looking for. Award-winning journalist Mary C. Curtis will interview Casey Blake, the Senior Voices Editor for USA Today Opinion, and Grace Miserocchi, Opinion Editor for the Chicago Tribune. They’ll share advice on crafting compelling pitches, the best practices for getting your op-ed published, and take questions.
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Dreaming of writing a book? Join longtime OpEd Project board member Laura Mazer—a veteran op-ed editor, longtime publishing industry insider, and powerhouse literary agent at Wendy Sherman Associates—for an inspiring insider’s conversation. Laura will share proven strategies, common pitfalls, and behind-the-curtain tips to help you turn your spark of an idea into a book that makes it all the way to the bookstore shelves.
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Many of you are working on ideas and stories that extend far beyond the page, or ought to. Join us with Dr. Christina Greer, a scholar and writer whose ideas have leapt across platforms, shaping politics, culture and public discourse across many audiences. This is a chance to delve into some of the challenges, opportunities, risks and rewards with somebody who has done it with enormous impact.
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When your personal story has larger implications, how do you connect with a larger audience? Natasha Alford, one of The OpEd Project's journalist mentors, grew up between two worlds as the daughter of an African American father and Puerto Rican mother, and wrote her way into a new reality—from a working-class childhood to the top of the media ecosystem, with her memoir American Negra. Natasha is now the Senior Vice President of The Grio, an award-winning host, author, public speaker, and former CNN Political Analyst. Join us to learn how your story can become a bigger story.
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Vanessa Valenti and Courtney Martin co-founded FRESH (along with now silent partner, John Cary) a decade ago, and since then they've been bringing trickster energy (TM Tricia Hersey) to the thought leadership space in all kinds of joyful and generative ways. They've created an intentionally small speakers bureau filled with some of the country's true geniuses; an online thought leadership training program that breaks the mold on how to teach people to get out in the world and change it, and a lab where they are podcasting, substacking, and so much more. They've stayed besties, collaborators and weathered illness, divorce, and babies through it all. Come learn about all these innovations and their lifelong partnership!
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For those who are writing about democracy and those seeking to understand what brought us to the current political moment, this event is for you. Award-winning journalist Mary C. Curtis will interview Katherine Stewart, one of the nation's foremost experts on the conservative movement and rise of the religious right. In her 15+ years reporting on the inner workings and leading features of the anti-democratic movement, Stewart has documented how it has weaponized disinformation and grievance and turned religion into a tool of domination. Her current book, ‘Money, Lies, and God,’ along with her many columns in the New York Times and elsewhere, trace the moral collapse of conservatism in America and provide the inside information that we can use to point the way toward a democratic future.
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Online harassment and doxxing are rising in this new political era, along with other serious risks and consequences of speaking up (to employment, immigration status, and more). We’ve asked media safety trainer and crisis reporting expert Judith Matloff to lead a session on how to insulate and protect yourself. She’ll cover restricting personal information in the public domain, reporting threats, anticipating unintended consequences and mitigating damage. Judith, the senior safety advisor of Columbia University’s Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, has pioneered security protocols and training for media around the world, and she is an OpEd Project Mentor-Editor.
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How can a single op-ed spark real-world change? Join us for an Expert Talk with Leah Goodridge, a lawyer, writer, and advocate whose work has driven conversations and inspired institutional shifts. Leah’s writing has gone viral, making waves far beyond the page. In 2022, her article in the UCLA Law Review ignited a movement to redefine workplace professionalism—now taught in 15 universities and used to train 50+ judges in New York State. In this interactive session, Leah will break down the strategies for turning an op-ed or essay into meaningful public impact. Whether you're looking to raise awareness, influence policy or start a movement, this conversation is for you.
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If you’re looking to inspire, connect, and move people to action with ideas and a vision in book form, this is for you. Michelle Herrera Mulligan, VP and Associate Publisher of Primero Sueño Press/Atria Books at Simon & Schuster, has a track record publishing award-winning books from historically underrepresented authors, including American rapper and activist Nipsey Hussle, as well as Cyntoia Brown-Long, a formerly incarcerated advocate and founder of The Foundation for Justice, Freedom, and Mercy. Michelle is an expert at activist storytelling, as well as shaping and publishing groundbreaking books–fiction and nonfiction alike.
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Feeling burnt out? Need to reignite your sense of purpose? Daisy Auger-Dominguez, the author of Inclusion Revolution and Burnt Out to Lit Up, has spent years tackling the hidden struggles of leadership, burnout, and inclusion at companies like Google, Disney, and Vice. We’ll explore how to rediscover clarity, joy, and impact in work and in life. She’ll share strategies for how to lead smarter, live better, and make your knowledge count—and most of all how to ensure your light shines, no matter the circumstances.
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Whether you aim to sell a book, land an article or grow your influence, your personal brand shapes the opportunities you’ll get. Author, CEO and chef Erin Wade (a longtime OpEd Project friend and partner) should know — she turned her popular Oakland restaurant, Homeroom Mac & Cheese, into a community and a movement — and now a public speaking track record and a book: The Mac & Cheese Millionaire. Join us with Erin to learn her strategies and secrets.
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Want to successfully pitch your ideas to editors? Join us for a hands-on, inside conversation about what they’re looking for. Award-winning journalist Mary C. Curtis will interview Zeba Khan, Deputy Editorial Page Editor at The San Francisco Chronicle, and Luis Carrasco, Pulitzer Prize-winning Deputy Opinion Editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer. They’ll share advice on crafting compelling pitches, the best practices for getting your op-ed published, and take questions. These three journalists and experts are also longtime OpEd Project leaders, with a track record of lifting up new and diverse voices.
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Many of you have asked for support and guidance navigating the risks of public speech. Three of our OpEd Project Fellows — Anika Collier Navaroli, Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo, and Samuel Mendez — are experts: Anika played a role in Twitter's decision to ban Trump, Madelyn researches online abuse and privacy, and Samuel created the Digital Safety Kit for Public Health. Join us for a hands-on discussion of strategies for speaking up at the individual, institutional, and community levels.
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Op-eds and essays are big ideas in-and-of themselves; but sometimes, those ideas need bigger packages — more words, more space, more room to grow. Drawing on their prolific experience as columnists, essayists, editors, and authors, Michele Weldon and Megan Stielstra — OpEd Project leaders and good friends — will discuss the path, process, and strategies of expanding short-form pieces into long-form manuscripts. Using Michele's forthcoming collection The Time We Have: Essays on Pandemic Living (NUP 2024) as a jumping-off point, they'll dig deep into the developmental process of creating a book from multiple op-eds and essays, tackling both research-based journalistic work and personal narrative storytelling.
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Romance writing is the most reliably profitable genre in the publishing industry, and its profits, politics, fantasies, scandals, identities and authors have a lot to teach other writers — especially women and writers of color— about writing a compelling vision of a better world. Join us and three experts in the field: Chris Larson studies the economics of romance writing, Carole Bell reviews romance novels, Chloe Angyal writes them.
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Join us with Neil Young, a historian, prolific writer, and podcaster. This talk explores the challenges — and opportunities — of writing about those who are different from us and what unique skills and methodologies such a project requires, from the initial moment of conceptualizing through the research or reporting stage to the final act of writing itself. We’ll discuss the qualities of curiosity, respect, and empathy, and also integrity, dignity, and self-preservation.
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Join us with author and essayist Megan Stielstra for a lightning-bolt session that begins with the gut. What you need to tell; the memories, fascinations, and questions that live not in your head but in your bones. Then: craft — how to tell personal stories in ways that are equally urgent to an audience. Pulling from both literary and oral storytelling traditions, we’ll engage in activities (adapted for Zoom!) to get our experiences out of the body and onto the page, encouraging risk and discovery and examining literary craft in new ways.
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The extraordinary Gemma Bulos, an award-winning global entrepreneur and an expert on Imposter Syndrome— the condition of not experiencing success internally, despite a track record of high performance in external, objective ways. Gemma will unpack this debilitating dynamic and lead us in strategies to conquer it. This talk is open to people of all identities and positions, and is especially designed for diverse leaders looking to lead their teams and industries, and shape public discourse.
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Tiffany Dufu (founder of The Cru) and Catherine Baxter (founder and CEO of Nettie), two powerful women entrepreneurs who understand the intersection between mission, community, dollars and the story we tell. From growth moments and seed funding to crisis management, these two effective storytellers will share their ideas, challenges, inspiration and advice.
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Dr. Uché Blackstock, a physician and passionate advocate for healthcare justice, took our public Write To Change The World workshop in New York City in late 2019. Just a few months later, she became one of the first to publish about COVID-19’s toll on Black and brown communities. By shining a light on what she witnessed as a clinician during the pandemic’s early days, she influenced legislators to create more equitable pandemic policy, and became an increasingly sought-after health equity expert, going on-air first at Yahoo News and then MSNBC. Her first book, LEGACY, on racism in medicine, is forthcoming in January 2024.
Dr. Amanda Calhoun became a Public Voices Fellow while a resident psychiatrist at Yale in 2021. She published 20 op-eds during her fellowship and appeared on CBS News. Since then, she has continued to publish widely on mental health and anti-Black racism. Amanda now has literary representation for two books with Janklow & Nesbit, and has become an OpEd Project facilitator and coach.
Join us with Dr. Blackstock and Dr. Calhoun as they discuss their roles in changing narratives of health, both of the body and the body politic.
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A thought-provoking discussion on the stakes of onscreen storytelling by and for underrepresented voices. Kamala Avila-Salmon, a trailblazing advocate for diversity in entertainment, who has helped creators from Janelle Monae to Jada Pinkett Smith share their stories with the world, will be in conversation with Helen Estabrook, an Oscar-nominated producer who currently produces film and TV projects from the nation’s leading writers at Condé Nast.
Sharing their experiences, insights, and visions for a more equitable Hollywood, Avila-Salmon and Estabrook will delve into the challenges faced by marginalized communities in the industry, discuss strategies for fostering inclusive storytelling as well as diverse talent both in front of and behind the camera, and explore what it means for the rest of us to bring new stories to the forefront of mainstream attention.
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We are living in a contagious world where ideas can spread farther and faster than ever before. The pandemic has shown us how the impact of contagion can be devastating. We also now have access to solutions that were never before possible. As a global thought leadership project, we understand that it's important to look at how ideas spread through the media — including social media, where there are complicated tensions, and unevenly distributed risks.
In this Expert Talk, we aim to explore the evolving nature of how ideas come to change the world. We will interrogate the shifts in idea, flow, and scale, the mechanisms that drive them, and the potential around us. Because like it or not, the contagious world is already upon us, and those who understand it best will shape the future.
Award-winning journalist Teresa Puente and digital communications expert and leading commentator Sree Sreenivasan will discuss the platforms and tools that are driving public narrative, the risks of participation, the risk of not participating, and the evolving nature of thought leadership in the age of contagious technology.
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Farai Chideya, one of the most courageous thought leaders we know, traversed the nation to interview people across vast differences of belief and background, and “let them speak until they reveal who they are.” A veteran journalist, novelist, and radio host, Farai is also the creator and host of the podcast Our Body Politic. If you are committed to speaking across differences — racial, political, geographical, and more — and if you want to learn to do so with more courage and empathy, and impact, join us with Farai and hear from one of the best.
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Leading political commentator Dr. Christina Greer has had an outsized impact on her university, on the city of New York, and on the nation. In this follow-up to her extremely popular 2022 talk on Multi-Platform Thought Leadership, Dr. Greer will share practical steps and tactics for getting speaking gigs from opinion writing — from talks and news appearances to podcasts and television — and how to leverage these key opportunities into public impact. She’ll provide both overarching principles and specific, firsthand examples of public impact thought leadership.
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Three award-winning journalists with far-ranging stories and wildly varied experiences share insights and inside knowledge that have helped them make the personal universal. Maria Hinojosa, author of Once I Was You: A Memoir Of Love and Hate In A Torn America, and Michele Weldon, author of Act Like You’re Having A Good Time, will be in conversation with Teresa Puente, an award-winning journalist and senior leader with The OpEd Project.
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Award-winning journalist and OpEd Project leader Deborah Douglas will join Michele Weldon to share insights, strategies, and lessons on writing about the intersection of race and place. Douglas will draw on her decades-long experience as a journalist, professor, thought-leader, and author. Her most recent book, “U.S. Civil Rights Trail: A Traveler’s Guide to the People, Places and Events That Made the Movement,” was published by Moon Travel in 2021.
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In this hands-on talk, veteran book editor and literary agent Laura Mazer will walk us through everything you need to know to get a book deal. She’ll explain the mechanics of the publishing industry, the roles of literary agents and acquisition editors, the function of book proposals, the secrets to crafting a strong query letter, and the pros and cons of mainstream publishing vs. self-publishing. If you are contemplating a book project, and need advice from an expert who’s rooting for you, this is for you.
As a founding board member of The OpEd Project, Laura is deeply invested in our mission to change who writes history, and we are proud to partner with her to elevate diverse new voices, including women of all backgrounds, in the book industry.
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Dr. Christina Greer’s scholarship and ideas have shaped politics and public discourse across many platforms - from books to op-eds to TV and podcasts, live public events and more. Dr. Greer is also one of The OpEd Project’s first Public Voices Fellows - from our pilot fellowship year in 2012, where many of her current projects were taking root. Dr. Greer will share what she has learned in the decade since, how her ideas and scholarship have risen in influence, and also the ins and outs of how multi-platform thought leadership works: from op-eds to books to TV, and tips on dealing with bookers, contracts and going on air.
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Veteran journalist, bestselling author, and longtime OpEd Project fellowship leader Lauren Sandler is the author of THIS IS ALL I GOT: A NEW MOTHER’S SEARCH FOR HOME. It tells the story of an extraordinary young mother, and the constellation of factors that keeps her homeless. It has been recognized as an instant classic about poverty in America, and one of the New York Times Notable Books of 2021.
But it is not Lauren’s lived story. In fact, it is closer in some ways to Dan-el Padilla Peralta’s. An immigrant from the Dominican Republic, Dan-el experienced poverty and homelessness before he eventually became one of the leading classicists of his generation. Lauren and Dan-el will be in conversation about the story of home and homelessness and who has the right to tell it, and along the way they will discuss the complicated intersection of truth, power and who has the right to tell another’s story. This 60-minute live event + Q&A is part of The OpEd Project’s 2021 series of virtual Expert Talks exploring aspects of voice, identity, and how ideas come to change the world.
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Until 2019, Jesse Vasquez was editor-in-chief of the San Quentin News, the only completely prisoner-managed newspaper in the nation, where he worked to tell the stories of inmates convicted of terrible crimes, from the inside. Yukari Kane, an OpEd Project mentor-editor, founded The Prison Journalism Project to do the same, from the outside. Join Jesse and Yukari as they explore how to invert the hierarchies of perceived expertise in the pursuit of radical change — both personal and institutional.
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There’s an ongoing debate in our community about whether underrepresented communities should work to reinvent existing media, or invest in creating our own media — reflecting a more inclusive vision & ownership. What does a more powerful, anti-racist media look like?
Join us on Tuesday, February 1 at 7PM ET, with Deborah Douglas (co-editor in chief of The Emancipator) and Zeba Khan (opinion editor at San Fran Chronicle) to hear how they are changing the shape of voice, and future of media.
Under Deborah's leadership, The Emancipator, founded by Ibram X. Kendi and The Boston Globe, is reimagining 19th-century antislavery newspapers for today's national conversation on racial justice. Under Zeba's leadership, the SF Chronicle is diversifying its opinion pages and elevating a new kind of voice. Both Deb and Zeba are veteran journalists and editors, as well as longtime partners of The OpEd Project.
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As a working journalist with a strong voice and aptitude for building real connection with readers, Dr. Michelle Ferrier faced abuse online that led her to quit her job. In 2015 she began TrollBusters, an organization to combat trolls and provide women facing cyber harassment with much-need resources and support. From positive messaging and emotional support to digital safeguards and reputation management, TrollBusters offers what Columbia Journalism Review has called an “invaluable service.”
This conversation will explore the challenges facing so many, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, who experience trolling and will unpack what you can do to safeguard yourself and build community.
Join us for a lively conversation on Tuesday March 15 at 7 PM ET with the indomitable Michelle about her journey and her powerful tactics to counter hate with love. Michelle will be interviewed by OpEd Project senior leader Neil J. Young.
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We’re all here because we want to tell our stories, not only with our words but with our lives. The old platforms for telling stories were limiting and often exclusionary. Now there are new opportunities, but where do we start? Join OpEd Project Founder & CEO Katie Orenstein in conversation with Emily Ramshaw, Founder & CEO of nonprofit newsroom The 19th*, and Stephanie Drenka, Founder of VISIBLE Magazine, as they share what is happening in the shifting landscape of storytelling and news, what it takes to start a new platform, and strategies for being heard.
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Join us and Jamia Wilson, Executive Editor of Random House, with veteran book editor and literary agent Laura Mazer in conversation on the changing landscape of book publishing and the evolving relationships between authors, editors, agents and audiences. They will share the mechanics of the publishing industry, the roles of literary agents and acquisition editors, the function of book proposals and the secrets of a good query letter, and the importance of representation up and down the pipeline—everything you need to know to get a book deal that counts.