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375. Nate Silver with Clayton Aldern: On the Edge

Town Hall Seattle Civics Series

Release Date: 09/25/2024

377. Casey Michel with Katy Pearce: A Danger to Democracy show art 377. Casey Michel with Katy Pearce: A Danger to Democracy

Town Hall Seattle Civics Series

If there is one thing on our collective minds these days, it is the issue of politics. But for all the interest it piques, much of it remains a mystery to the American public. Bestselling author and journalist Casey Michel, who tackled the problem of financial corruption in his first book American Kleptocracy, sheds light on an issue that may be unknown to those outside the Capitol. In Michel’s new book , he details how one group has worked as foot soldiers for authoritarian, repressive regimes. In the process, they’ve not only established dictatorships and spread...

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376. Paul Pierson with Megan Ming Francis: Partisan Nation show art 376. Paul Pierson with Megan Ming Francis: Partisan Nation

Town Hall Seattle Civics Series

Professor of Political Science Paul Pierson, discusses his new book Partisan Nation. Co-authored with Eric Schickler, this book explores the roots of America’s democratic crisis, highlighting how the mismatch between the Constitution and today’s nationalized, partisan politics has destabilized American democracy. Pierson offers a fresh perspective on contemporary polarization, explaining how it has evolved from past eras and become self-perpetuating. Pierson and Schickler’s work dives into the changing dynamics of state parties, interest groups, and media since the 1960s,...

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375. Nate Silver with Clayton Aldern: On the Edge show art 375. Nate Silver with Clayton Aldern: On the Edge

Town Hall Seattle Civics Series

What can professional risk-takers — poker players and hedge fund managers, crypto true believers and blue-chip art collectors— teach us much about navigating the uncertainty of the twenty-first century? In the bestselling The Signal and the Noise, statistician Nate Silver showed how forecasting would define the age of Big Data. Now, in his timely and riveting new book, On the Edge, Silver investigates “The River,” or those whose mastery of risk allows them to shape — and dominate — so much of modern life. People in “The River” have increasing amounts of wealth and...

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374. David Orr: Reforming Democracy for a Warming World — Pathways to Thriving in a Post-Fossil Fuel Era show art 374. David Orr: Reforming Democracy for a Warming World — Pathways to Thriving in a Post-Fossil Fuel Era

Town Hall Seattle Civics Series

Democracy in a Hotter Time calls for reforming democratic institutions as a prerequisite for avoiding climate chaos and adapting governance to how Earth works as a physical system. To survive in the “long emergency” ahead, the book suggests ways to reform and strengthen democratic institutions, making them assets rather than liabilities. Edited by David W. Orr, this collection of essays proposes a new political order that would enable humanity to thrive in the transition to a post-fossil fuel world. Orr gathers leading scholars, public intellectuals, and political leaders to address the...

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373. Robert Merry: How Massachusetts and South Carolina Led the Way to Civil War show art 373. Robert Merry: How Massachusetts and South Carolina Led the Way to Civil War

Town Hall Seattle Civics Series

In his new book, Decade of Disunion, Robert W. Merry explores the critical lessons from the 1850s when the United States faced a growing crisis over slavery. The Mexican War’s vast new territories sparked debates on expanding slavery, clashing with the 1820 Missouri Compromise. Key events such as the Compromise of 1850, the 1854 repeal of the Missouri Compromise, the 1857 Dred Scott decision, and John Brown’s 1859 raid heightened tensions, leading to violent conflicts and further division between North and South. Merry focuses on the contrasting roles of South Carolina and...

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372. Sasha Abramsky: The Far-Right Takeover of Small-Town America show art 372. Sasha Abramsky: The Far-Right Takeover of Small-Town America

Town Hall Seattle Civics Series

Sequim––a quiet, coastal community just a couple hours away from Seattle––may seem like an unlikely microcosm for the rise of far-right politics. And yet, political journalist Sasha Abramsky has closely followed small-town communities, including Sequim, and argues that places like these have directly influenced current national politics. How could small-town USA be so instrumental in today’s political climate, including Donald Trump’s 2024 Republican presidential nomination? Abramsky argues that the far-right have worked to take control, using suspicion, conspiracy, and bigotry,...

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371. Aziz Rana with Michael Hardt and Jaleh Mansoor: The Constitutional Bind show art 371. Aziz Rana with Michael Hardt and Jaleh Mansoor: The Constitutional Bind

Town Hall Seattle Civics Series

Some Americans fear the Federal Constitution falls short in addressing democratic threats, yet it’s long been revered for its ideals of liberty and equality. Join us at Town Hall Seattle for a discussion with Aziz Rana, Michael Hardt, and Jaleh Mansoor about Rana’s book, The Constitutional Bind, exploring how this flawed document gained mythic status and its impact on society. Rana contends this reverence emerged in the 20th century alongside US global dominance, shaping both domestic and foreign policy. Discover how this cultural phenomenon has hindered meaningful...

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370. Nora Kenworthy with Marcus Harrison Green: The True Costs of Crowdfunding show art 370. Nora Kenworthy with Marcus Harrison Green: The True Costs of Crowdfunding

Town Hall Seattle Civics Series

Over the past decade, charitable crowdfunding has exploded in popularity across the globe. Sites such as GoFundMe, which now boasts a “global community of over 100 million” users, have transformed the ways we seek and offer help. When faced with crises—especially medical ones—Americans are turning to online platforms that promise to connect them to the charity of the crowd. What does this new phenomenon reveal about the changing ways we seek and provide healthcare? In Crowded Out, Nora Kenworthy examines how charitable crowdfunding so quickly overtook public life, where it is...

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369. Natalie Foster with Angela Garbes: Freedom Within the Free Market show art 369. Natalie Foster with Angela Garbes: Freedom Within the Free Market

Town Hall Seattle Civics Series

Government-backed guarantees, from bailouts to bankruptcy protection, help keep the private sector in business in our nation’s economic system. What if the same were true not only for businesses but for individuals as well?  In her new book The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy, Natalie Foster, co-founder and president of the Economic Security Project, invites readers to envision a future where things like housing, health care, higher education, family care, inheritance, and an income floor are not only attainable for everyone but guaranteed by our...

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368. Anna Zivarts with Barb Chamberlain and Tanisha Sepúlveda: Driving Change — Navigating Mobility for All show art 368. Anna Zivarts with Barb Chamberlain and Tanisha Sepúlveda: Driving Change — Navigating Mobility for All

Town Hall Seattle Civics Series

Traffic, parking, gas prices, miles per gallon- many casual concerns might enter your mind when you get into your car and go out into the world. But what happens when your concerns are not casual but constant, and they start with figuring out whether you can even access where you’re trying to go in the first place? One-third of people living in the United States don’t have a driver’s license, yet live in a system that doesn’t prioritize people who don’t or can’t drive. In her book When Driving is Not an Option: Steering Away From Car Dependency, Anna Letitia Zivarts sets...

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Headshots of Nate Silver (with beard and baseball cap) and Clayton Aldern (with chin-length brown hair, mustache, and glasses)

What can professional risk-takers — poker players and hedge fund managers, crypto true believers and blue-chip art collectors— teach us much about navigating the uncertainty of the twenty-first century?

In the bestselling The Signal and the Noise, statistician Nate Silver showed how forecasting would define the age of Big Data. Now, in his timely and riveting new book, On the Edge, Silver investigates “The River,” or those whose mastery of risk allows them to shape — and dominate — so much of modern life. People in “The River” have increasing amounts of wealth and power in our society, and understanding their mindset — including the flaws in their thinking — is key to understanding what drives technology and the global economy today. There are certain commonalities in this otherwise diverse group: high tolerance for risk, appreciation of uncertainty, affinity for numbers, skill at decoupling, self-reliance, and a distrust of conventional wisdom. For those in The River, complexity is baked in, and the work is how to navigate it, without going beyond the pale.

Taking us behind the scenes from casinos to venture capital firms, and from the FTX inner sanctum to meetings of the effective altruism movement, On the Edge is a deeply reported, all-access journey into a hidden world of power brokers and risk-takers.

Nate Silver is the founder of FiveThirtyEight and the New York Times bestselling author of The Signal and the Noise. He writes the Substack Silver Bulletin.

Clayton Page Aldern is a senior data reporter at Grist. A neuroscientist turned environmental journalist, he holds a master’s in neuroscience and a master’s in public policy from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He is also a research affiliate at the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology at the University of Washington. With Gregg Colburn, he is the author of Homelessness Is a Housing Problem. His book The Weight of Nature, on the effects of climate change on brain health, is out now from Dutton.