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Watergate 50 Years Later: What Have We Learned?
5:30 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - President Richard Nixon resigned as president of the United States on August 9, 1974, after the House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment again him. The charges stemmed from Nixon's actions to cover up his administration's involvement in the 1972 burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C. The political and public pressure forced Nixon to leave office. Fifty years later, impeachment has become a weapon both major political parties have used against each other. This panel will explore the lessons we learned as a society during the Watergate hearings, how the use of impeachment has changed 50 years later, and the impact of the recent Supreme Court decision expanding Presidential immunity.Before the panel discussion, there will be a brief refresher video about the break-in and its consequences, produced by B&G Productions.PanelistsEd Mezvinsky, an Ames native, served as a member of the Iowa House of Representatives from 1969 to 1971 and then as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1973 to 1977, representing Iowa's 1st congressional district. While in Congress, Mezvinsky served on the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon in 1974. His Congressional papers include records of all the closed sessions of the House Judiciary Committee during Watergate. They are now part of the Mezvinsky papers at the ISU Parks Library Collections. and open to the public after being sealed by the Government for 50 years. Ed also served as U.S. Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Commission from 1977-79. He is currently President of Global Advocacy, Ltd. and Patient Advocate for Jericho Road Community Health Center in Buffalo New York and globally in Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nepal.  Jonathan R. Yarowsky entered public service  in 1982 as chief counsel of the U.S. House Judiciary Eco­nomic and Commercial Law Subcommittee. Soon after, he became general counsel of the House Committee on the Judiciary, where he oversaw 40 lawyers in six different subcom­mittees. From 1995 to 1998, he served as special counsel to the President (Clinton), whom he advised on antitrust, telecommunications and crime. When he re-entered private practice in 1998 he was appointed by the President and Congress to serve as a member of the National Commission on Crime. Yarowsky was also named in May 2024 by  the Washingto­nian magazine as one of Washington DC’s nine “Most Influential People Shaping Policy” in Anti-Trust -- for the third consecutive year.Jeff Ubiois has collaborated with Mezvinsky on his collection of Watergate papers since 2016. He is Vice President, Knowledge Management Lever for Change for the MacArthur Foundation. He also works in the Foundation’s American Democracy, Philanthropy and 100&Change programs. Ubois is also on the board of Better World Libraries -- a mission-driven for-profit bookseller that has donated almost $29 million and more than 26.5 million books to global literacy programs during the past two decades.Kathie Obradovich (moderator) has been Editor-in-Chief of the Iowa Capital Dispatch since its inception in January 2020 as a free, online, not-for-profit, news organization dedicated to connecting Iowans to their state government and its impact on their lives. She has 37 years of reporting experience in Iowa. She covered the Iowa Statehouse for 16 years for  Lee Enterprise newspapers. Obradovich then spent 16 years with the Des Moines Register as a political columnist and opinion editor before joining the Capital Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news organization with operations in every state capital.This lecture will be recorded and ready to view on the Available Recordings page approximately 24-36 hours after the conclusion of the event.

Road Deaths & Serious Injuries: A Crisis of Complacency
6:00 PM – 2630 Memorial Union - Road safety is one of the most intractable public health challenges we have faced in the last 100 years. We have come a long way in our understanding of the causes and consequences of road trauma. However, today, many of the challenges we face are no longer technical or scientific. Rather, they are social and political. We know what we need to do, we just don't know how to do it. We will explore how we got to where we are today, and what systems approaches really mean. We will explore the institutional challenges, potential solutions, and what lessons we can learn to improve safety in other sectors.An experienced safety researcher, Dr. Carlyn Muir is an Associate Professor at Monash University Accident Research Centre in Australia. Muir's research portfolio covers a diverse range of injury and violence prevention topics across the safety sciences. She has maintained long-standing research partnerships with emergency service agencies and is currently working on research projects for local police and fire services. Muir also coordinates with the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Violence and Injury Prevention, which focuses on research, advocacy, and capacity building.  This lecture has been recorded and is available for viewing to those with an ISU login on the Available Recordings page until May 15.

Brothers, Unlimited
6:00 PM – 3560 Memorial Union - Ben Jealous is an American civil rights leader, activist, and politician who is the seventh executive director of the Sierra Club, one of the largest and most influential environmental organizations in the United States. With a background in social justice advocacy, Ben brings a unique perspective to his role, focusing on issues of environmental justice, climate change, and conservation. Before leading the Sierra Club, he served as the youngest-ever president and CEO of the NAACP, where he spearheaded campaigns to advance civil rights, voting rights, and criminal justice reform. Ben is a passionate advocate for marginalized communities and has dedicated his career to fighting for equality, sustainability, and a healthier planet for future generations.Ben is also a Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a The New York Times bestselling author of Reach: 40 Black Men Speak on Living, Leading, and Succeeding, and his latest book is Never Forget Our People Were Always Free: A Parable of American Healing. During his term at the NAACP, Ben created pathbreaking partnerships with conservative leaders and Republican governors to help shrink America's prison system as well as expand voting rights and employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated people. In 2013, The Washington Post hailed him as "one of the nation's most prominent civil rights leaders." He was previously the executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, an organization of more than 200 historically black-owned newspapers.A former Rhodes Scholar, Ben is a graduate of Columbia and Oxford universities and a former visiting professor at Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs. He lives on the Chesapeake Bay with his children, Morgan and Jack, and their dog, Charlie.The ISU Book Store will be at the event selling copies of the speaker's book.This lecture was recorded and can be viewed by those with an ISU Net ID on the Available Recordings website.

Pathways to Peace: Drawing from the Experiences of Palestinian Refugees
6:00 PM – 2630 Memorial Union - This talk reflects on the prospects for a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the perspective of Palestinian refugees, who have been marginalized in international attempts to resolve the conflict. So far, these international attempts, which have largely focused on a two-state solution have been unsuccessful. Drawing on the experiences of Palestinian refugees who have been at the center of the research Dr. Gabiam has conducted over the last 20 years, she reflects on the challenges and possibilities that emerge from moving beyond a nationalist and state-centric approach to achieving peace in the Middle East.Nell Gabiam is Associate Professor of anthropology and political science and Co-Director of the Middle Eastern Studies Minor program at Iowa State University. She received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2008. She is the author of The Politics of Suffering: Syria’s Palestinian Refugee Camps (2016, Indiana University Press). She is currently working on her second book, which is the result of fieldwork conducted primarily in Lebanon, Turkey, France, Germany, and Sweden. Her second book project examines how mass displacement from Syria as a result of the ongoing war in that country has affected Palestinian identity and political claims.This lecture has been recorded and is available to view on the Available Recordings page until May 10.

Confronting Cancer in College
6:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Outspoken throughout his battle with testicular cancer, Iowa State Athletics Director Jamie Pollard will share his message of encouragement and the importance of the support he received from the community through his treatment. Then, hear from the American Cancer Society On Campus student group as they share stories and resources related to personal or familial cancer experiences.This lecture was recorded and will be available for two weeks on the Lectures website at https://www.lectures.iastate.edu/recordings/available-recordings

The Onion: Comedy, Controversy, and the First Amendment
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - A First Amendment Days program.As head writer of satirical site The Onion, Mike Gillis is no stranger to writing and talking about writing with humor and parody. Hear Gillis discuss how the First Amendment protects speech, even when snarky in tone. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Gillis got his start at The Onion writing headlines as a contributor, eventually joining the staff as a writer and working his way up to head writer. His work has also appeared in The New Yorker and across the internet.This lecture is available to view on the Available Recordings page.

Reclaim Feminism
6:00 PM – Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall - This event is free, open to the public, and does not require a ticket or preregistration for entrance.This event will not be recorded or livestreamed.No picket signs, banners, or other materials that could block views or be used as a weapon will be permitted.Riley Gaines graduated from the University of Kentucky where she was a 12x All-American Swimmer. She has made waves for speaking out after tying UPenn’s Lia Thomas, a trans swimmer on the women’s team, at the 2022 NCAA Division 1 Women’s Swimming Championship. After this experience, Riley began to speak out to challenge the rules of the NCAA, USA Swimming, International Olympic Committee (IOC), and other governing bodies.Riley now works for the Leadership Institute, traveling and speaking in defense of women’s single-sex spaces and has testified before the U.S. Senate and U.S. House.

A Stolen History: The REAL Story of the Suffrage Movement
5:30 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner is the Founder/Director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation and teaches in Syracuse University’s Honors Program. Awarded one of the first doctorates in the country for work in women’s studies (UC Santa Cruz) and a founder of one the first college-level women’s studies programs in the United States (CSU Sacramento), Dr. Wagner has taught women’s studies courses for 53 years. This lecture is available to view on the Available Recordings page.

Our Money and Our Attention: Spending, Investing, and Thriving in the Attention Economy
6:00 PM – 2630 Memorial Union - Financial Literacy Month LectureIn today's world, our attention is a precious commodity, and we find ourselves immersed in what is often termed an "attention economy." With an overwhelming influx of information from various sources such as television, social media, websites, other humans…and even the data that comes from everything from our cars to our smartphones to our refrigerators, our brains are inundated with more data than we can effectively process. The same principles of scarcity that apply to economics also apply to our attention.Navigating this sea of information poses a significant challenge. How do we distinguish between what is relevant and what is not, or between fact and opinion? In this talk, Dr. Chaffin will draw parallels between financial planning and cognitive psychology, outlining how we can live and thrive in this attention economy. Most importantly, we will focus on how we can develop a spending and investing plan for our two most valuable resources: Our money and our attention.Dr. Charles Chaffin’s work encompasses a broad range of fields, from educational and cognitive psychology to financial planning. He has served as the author or lead editor of 7 different books within financial planning and cognitive psychology, helping practitioners become more client-centered and helping individuals and companies address distraction in the workplace.Dr. Chaffin is co-founder of the Psychology of Financial Planning instructional programs, designed to help practitioners better understand the biases, behaviors, and perceptions of their clients. He consults with financial planning firms across various business models to help fine-tune their communication and develop strategies that will help people make better financial decisions. He co-launched the Financial Psychology Inventory, a detailed assessment that can outline and predict client risk tolerance and financial decision-making during market volatility and life events. His Psychology of Financial Planning program has been incorporated into the curriculum of close to 100 colleges and universities in 12 countries.He served as co-Academic Director of the Client Psychology program at The Wharton School as well as Program Lead of the Financial Planning Teaching Seminar at Columbia University. He led research and education activities at CFP Board for close to 12 years. He is also the co-founder of Affirming Advisor™, a first-of-its kind program designed to help advisors and firms better serve LGBTQIA+ clients and allies.He is Professor of Practice in the College of Human Sciences at Iowa State University.The ISU Book Store will be at the event selling copies of the speaker's book.This lecture will be recorded and available to view within 24-36 hours after its conclusion on the Available Recordings page.

Natural and Artificial Intelligence: How Rational Are Humans?
6:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - The 2024 Goldtrap LectureAre humans fundamentally irrational? Is that why so many people commit statistical and logical blunders and fall for fake news, medical quackery, paranormal woo-woo, and conspiracy theories? Is Artificial Intelligence rendering the human mind irrelevant? In this lecture, acclaimed scientist and author Steve Pinker presents an alternative. We humans, after all, have discovered the laws of nature, lengthened and enriched our lives, and discovered the benchmarks for rationality itself. And despite the hype, we are not ready to let AI run simple errands, watch after our babies, or even drive our cars through city streets. Pinker argues that humans think in ways that are sensible in the low-tech contexts in which we spend most of our lives, but we fail to take advantage of the powerful tools of reasoning our best thinkers have discovered over the millennia: logic, critical thinking, probability, correlation and causation, and optimal ways to update beliefs and commit to choices individually and with others. Current AI, in the form of deep learning networks and large language models, is yet another tool in the kit of ways we have enhanced out natural intelligence, better in many ways than natural intelligence but worse than others. Another source of irrationality is that the rational pursuit of self-interest, sectarian solidarity, and uplifting mythology by individuals can add up to crippling irrationality in a society. Collective rationality depends on norms that are designed to promote objectivity and truth. Rationality matters. It leads to better choices in our lives and in the public sphere, and is the ultimate driver of social justice and moral progress.Steven Pinker is a cognitive scientist who has been named by TIME as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. His keynotes have helped millions demystify the science behind human language, thought, and action. Pinker is a Harvard professor, a TED speaker, and a bestselling author, twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Highly respected in the scientific community, his work and opinions are extensively covered in the mainstream media, and have won a wide general audience. In his latest book, Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters, Pinker argues that we fail to take advantage of the most powerful tools of reasoning discovered by some of our best thinkers: logic, critical thinking, probability, correlation and causation. These tools are not a standard part of our educational curricula, and have never been presented clearly and entertainingly in a single book—until now. A native of Montreal, Steven Pinker is Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. Previously, he taught at Stanford and at MIT. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has won a number of teaching prizes, and his research on visual cognition and the psychology of language has received numerous awards, including the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences.The ISU Book store will be at the event selling copies of the speaker's book.This lecture has been recorded and is available for viewing to those with an ISU login on the Available Recordings page.