UCSB Arts & Lectures will present Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham delivering a public lecture titled America Then and Now: What History Tells Us About the Future, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30, at the Granada Theatre.
One of America’s great public intellectuals and a skilled raconteur, Meacham brings a depth of knowledge about politics, religion and current affairs that helps us understand how historical events and current issues intersect to impact our lives.
The presidential biographer of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and George H.W. Bush, Meacham delivered a eulogy at the funerals of both President Bush and first lady Barbara Bush.
A contributor to Time and The New York Times Book Review, Meacham is a commentator, who regularly appears on CNN and MSNBC.
Meacham’s latest No. 1 New York Times bestseller “The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels” examines the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in U.S. history when hope overcame division and fear.
Meacham is a co-author of the recently released book “Impeachment: An American History,” which reveals the complicated motives behind the three impeachments in U.S. history, as well as co-author with country music legend Tim McGraw of “Songs of America,” celebrating the music that helped to shape the nation.
Meacham’s presidential biography “Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush” debuted at No. 1 on The New York Times bestsellers list.
The Times said: “Destiny and Power reflects the qualities of both subject and biographer: judicious, balanced, deliberative, with a deep appreciation of history and the personalities who shape it.”
Meacham’s No. 1 New York Times bestseller “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power” was hailed as “masterful and intimate” by Fortune magazine. His other national bestsellers include “Franklin and Winston; American Gospel;” and “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House,” which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009.
A contributing editor at Time, Meacham writes for the magazine’s Ideas section. He also pens The Long View column in The New York Times Book Review in which he “looks back at books that speak to our current historical and cultural moment.”
He served as Newsweek’s managing editor from 1998-2006 and editor from 2006-10. The New York Times called him “one of the most influential editors in the news magazine business.”
Meacham is a frequent guest on Morning Joe, Real Time with Bill Maher and The 11th Hour, and was featured in Ken Burns’ documentary series The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. Fox News produced an hour-long special about Meacham’s “Destiny and Power” in November 2015.
Named a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a fellow of the Society of American Historians and chairs the National Advisory Board of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University.
Meacham is a distinguished visiting professor of History at The University of the South and a visiting distinguished professor at Vanderbilt. He is currently at work on a biography of James and Dolley Madison.
Jon Meacham is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures through the generosity of Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli and Stacy and Ron Pulice. Part of the History Matters Series, presented through the generosity of Loren Booth and Ellen and Peter O. Johnson.
Tickets are $35-$50 for the general public and $15 for UCSB students with a current student ID. (A Granada facility fee will be added to each ticket price.) For tickets or more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures, 805-893-3535, or purchase online at www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.
Tickets also available through The Granada Theatre, 805-899-2222 or granadasb.org.
— Caitlin O’Hara for UCSB Arts & Lectures.