Lynton history prize, mark lynton history prize and the j. Anthony prize, the work in progress prizes are administered jointly by Columbia Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation for journalism at harvard md. And i want to introduce our host for this evening. Thats ann marie lipinski, Pulitzer Prize winning former editor of the chicago tribune, and the curator here of the Nieman Foundation. Weve got a good and very stimulating evening ahead. So ann marie. Were killing the music. Ive done it. Thats it. Its my folks that jazz. Its called the jazz lounge bar. In case anyones interested interested. Thank you, jonathan, and welcome everyone to the presentation of the j. Anthony lucas prize project honoring the very best of american Nonfiction Book writing in celebrating gifted writer winners this evening, we remember Pulitzer Prize winning journalist j. Anthony lucas, a 1969 nieman fellow, and the late mark linton, a history enthusiast and expert and Senior Executive at the firm Hunter Douglas and the netherlands. Lintons wife, marianne and children, lily and michael establish the mark linton history prize and have generously supported and sponsored the lucas prize project since its creation. Tony, as friends knew him, began the that would distinguish him as one of the countrys master storyteller hours while an undergraduate reporter at the harvard crimson. He would go on to win two Pulitzer Prizes, the first in 1968 for his reporting the new york times, the second for Common Ground. A turbulent decade in the lives of three american families. His landmark work about School Desegregation and bussing in boston. The work is american masterpiece. One of lucass great gifts was his ability to pair the common, the combustible. There was always a fine tension running beneath the most mundane moments in the book a writing style that must characterize the social climate in boston during this tumultuous period, tony published five important books each and examined notion of a critical rift in americas social and political landscape, each seen through the lens of individuals caught up in the tides of change. To do this, he brought an intense focus to methodology during the reporting for common, he abandoned one family midway through the seven year project to focus on another family because his first choices said was not working dramatically. He was absolutely brilliant, said. David halberstam. He took journalism to a high intellect full level, yet he also had the doggedness of an Old Fashioned police reporter, colin diver, subject of Common Ground, said in the excruciating obsessive precision of his research, he reminded us of the cleansing power of truth in his relish for the richness of his material he taught us there can be a richness, even a kind of nobility in the ordinariness of everyday life. The year following his death in 97, his widow, linda healy, joined with friends and colleagues, honor his memory by creating the lucas prize project, which is what brings us together this evening. Thank you so much to the judges. These awards who work so hard select tonights amazing winners among hundreds of entries. Some of the judges are with us here. Please stand when i say your name. Jessica bruder, van shereen meraji, ali almalik, Elizabeth Taylor, William Thomas and deidre mask. Some of our distinguished judges are also past honorees of this prize. Thank you. Also to amazing lucas board and welcome to those members who are here. Lily linton, shay earhart, pamela paul, annette gordonreed, sam friedman, abby wright and of course our chair jonathan alter. And to the clinton family, thank you for your generous support and for making these awards possible. We are all so grateful for. Your backing of grants for two of the students and Sam Friedmans very famous book writing course. We have some of the students from sams class with us, and we welcome you all here tonight. I would now invite our board member, jelani cobb, to me for the presentation of the awards he is the recently named dean of the Columbia Journalism School and the henry luce professor of journalism, dean cobb, is also a staff writer for the new yorker and the author of several books, including the of hope, barack obama and the paradox of progress. So next up, the awards we first present the jay Anthony Lucas book prize given to a book length work of narrative nonfiction on a topic of American Social or political concern that exemplify the literary grace, commitment to Serious Research and original reporting that characterized the distinguished work of the awards namesake. The prize, a 10,000 honorarium. This years judges were jessica bruder, emily bazelon, Shereen Marisol meraji and van newkirk, this years winner is, author and journalist Linda Villarosa her book under the skin the hidden toll of racism on american lives and on the health of our nation. Linda is a professor at the Craig Newmark graduate school of journalism at cuny with a joint appointment, the city college of new york, as well as a contributing writer at the times magazine, where she covers the intersection of race and health, the judges citation reads under the skin is a poignant, deeply reported investigation of the racial ethnic qualities underlying the us system, leveraging decades of experience as a health journalist, linda probes some of the darkest despair. Those gaps in average expectancy and the quality of care afforded black and white americans. She builds her argument on a scaffold of rigorous and sometimes Shocking Research and while painting vivid scenes behind the statistics the section eight apartment of the ralph sisters who were involuntarily sterilized as children at a federally funded clinic in alabama, the louisa diana labor and delivery room where an underpaid dual demands dignity for her callously mistreated black client, the colorado Veterans Hospital where linda horrified her own critically ill father, now thin, disheveled in leg restraints and must lobby his care diggers for his caregivers, for his dignity. Through it all, she is a skilled, steady and even generous guide, recounting her own awakening to the outcomes of systematic bias and inviting readers to join her on the other side of that journey under the skin is elegantly written, revelatory. And given the crisis of black maternal and infant mortality, utterly necessary, please join me and congratulate glenda. This years finalist for the jane Anthony Lucas book prize is. His name is george floyd. One mans life and the struggle for Racial Justice by Robert Samuels and tolu olanipekun samuels became a staff writer at the new yorker in march 2023, focusing on politics policy and the changing american identity. He wrote his name is george floyd. During his tenure as a National Political reporter for the washington post, where worked for 12 years prior to the post, he worked at the miami herald. Tableau is the White House Bureau chief. The post he joined the paper in 2019 and has covered three presidencies. He previously worked at bloomberg, where he reported on politics and policy from washington and florida. The judges write in their citation that when Minneapolis Police killed george floyd in 2020, it sparked an american reckoning and in the public eye, reduced demands, life to 9 minutes and 29 seconds. His name is george floyd fills in the 46 years that came before restoring to floyds story the complexity that he was denied in death. Building on reporting from the washington post, robert, you offer a definitive account of floyds life. They follow his journey from the hospital in fayetteville, north carolina, where he was born to the housing projects in houstons third ward, where he was raised to the minneapolis suburb of saint louis park, where he sought a fresh start. The author, authors share, historical and contemporary contexts reveals how american racism contoured floyds experi ence long before it contributed to his end, their account with the propulsive quality of a novel depicting a man who, despite his flaws, was deeply beloved and optimistic, who dreamed of changing the world until in the most devastating way, he succeeded. Please join me in congratulating robert and told. The mark linton history prize is awarded annually to a work of history on any subject that best combines intellectual distinction with phylliss d of expression and carries a 10,000 honorarium. This years judges were Elizabeth Taylor deidre mask and william g. Thomas. This years winner is Deborah Cohen for last call the hotel imperial. The reporters who took on a at war. Deborah is the Richard W Leopold professor of history at northwestern university. Her previous books include the war home, disabled veterans in britain and germany and family secrets, shame and privacy in modern britain. She writes for the atlantic, the new york review of books and the wall street journal. The judges citation. Cohens brilliant ensemble features american newspaper correspondents john gunther dorothy thompson, Vincent Sheehan and h. R. Knickerbocker. As each arrives in europe after world war one and chases stories that leave readers at home to their place in a changing world. Perceptive and unabashedly inquisitive, cohen has written not only a rich cultural history, a commanding and inspiring account of war and politics in 1930s, as they the rise of fascism and debated. These reporters shared a conviction that the idea of journalist objectivity should be set aside. Truth was more important as sheehan it than quote a litany of facts. They wrote what they felt thought about the world in crisis. Cohens extraordinary narrative combines distinctive literary style and deep archival revelations illuminate the personal as political. She captures these writers as passionate idealists facing a world in crisis, their messy lives caught in a swirl of infidelity and loyalty love and rivalry, pride and loss. Last call is to be savored like a dry martini at viennas hotel imperial. And if i could just add one other thing, lily linton said my dad would have loved book. Please join in congratulating deborah. This years finalists for the mark linton history prize is Kelly Lytle Hernandez for bad race, empire and revolution in the borderlands. Kelley holds the thomas e lipka endowed chair in history and, directs the center for africanamerican studies at ucla. The judges citation says in her vivid history, kelly reframes the relationship between the u. S. And mexico and argues that the mexican revolution not only transformed central america, but also shaped the u. S. In that endure to this day. She has rendered a polyphonic account that entwines the rise of u. S. Imperialism, the making of the american west, and the establishment of the global color line. Deeply researched and interwoven with archival sources held by allies and descendants of the revolutionaries, her masterful narrative emphasizes the importance of the mexican rebels led by radical Ricardo Flores mccowen, Whose Movement of morgan does oppose the regime of authoritarian president porfirio diaz. Forced to flee across the border, the morgan east, a stage revolutionary across mexico from their temporary bases in the u. S. , only be pursued in turn by the u. S. Department of justice, intent on propping up the diaz regime. Her revelator and stunning account tells us how the mexican revolution, which forced more than a million mexicans to flee, remain remade the United States and resonated beyond the u. S. Mexico border. Please join us in congratulating kelly. She cant be with us tonight, but we congratulate her from afar. And now to the two j. Anthony lucas work in progress awards. These awards in the amount of 25,000 each, are given annually to aid in the complete run of significant works of nonfiction. On a topic of american political or social concern. This years judges were paul gottlieb, alya malik and paige williams, jesselyn cook wins one of the work in progress awards for the quiet q and on and the destroy auction of the American Family. She is an atlanta area journalist reporting focuses on online including weaponize conspiracy theories and other dissident information. Prior to working as an Investigative Reporter at abc, nbc news, she was a Senior Reporter on, the National Enterprise desk at huffpost and an adjunct journalism professor, the university of laverne, the citation reads the quiet damage a harrowing exploration of the harm, but the harm, the far right Conspiracy Theory movement. Q and on has wrought on u. S. Society, specifically at its most basic and intimate level, the family q and on situated within the dangerous crosscurrents of disinformation and partizan dysfunction and politics has often been dismissed by most americans as a fringe movement, but its potential wreak havoc was clearly underestimated. Her narrative reveals how seemingly ludicrous beliefs take hold. People who are easily recognizable any reader, even as they become unrecognizable to their loved ones. Her empathic portrait of real families shattered by cunanan viscerally conveys the depth of their loss and devastation, and as well as the urgency with which we must confront this phenomenon. Congratulations to, jocelyn. And our last word and the second work in progress goes to mike hicks and beau for uncivil. One towns fight over race and identity. And the new battle americas schools. Mike is the senior Investigative Reporter for nbc news. Hes worked at newspapers in ohio, north carolina, virginia, where his reporting uncovered deadly failures in the u. S. Military, abuses in the Child Welfare system, and safety lapses at major. He has been a pulitzer finalist and winner of the peabody award. The citation reads the fraught of race in americas schools is the focus of mikes immersive and urgent reporting in uncivil, in which he describes how why the suburbs have been consumed by toxic political and cultural battles that threaten to undermine the system of Public Education in this country. The School District in southlake texas seemed to offer everything that parents would want for their children. Small classes, dedicated teachers, financial resources, a track record of academic success in spirit in abundance. After a series of troubling incidents became public and a program ran to promote racial understanding was proposed, the atmosphere curdled and tore the community. He recounts these events through the perspective of students, parents, teachers and others whose lives and assumptions were up. Ultimately illuminating, a coordinated, wellfunded escalating effort by conservative extremists to preserve their power and dominance. Congrats to mike. Over. You didnt come. Its a good evening to all of you. Wow. Really really looks like a tough crowd. Lets go get drinks. Lets get out of here. So i have the good fortune of being the moderator. This discussion, i was told that i should really lean in and ask tough questions like, do you know how great you are . Do you often reflect upon your own greatness . I think well find like a kind of middle ground here. But, you know, were really excited to have you all here and to be able to host you for this discussion. So ill start with linda, who whose work ive actually known the longest of anyone here. And so youve studied Health Disparities for years. And in the book you describe how you thinking has changed over time about the root causes of the disparities. Can take us through a little bit about the evolution of your thinking and the parallel path of you working on this book. Well, first, thank you. So honored to be here and want to say that Common Ground is foundational for me about national piece of work. Well i started as an editor at essence magazine. I was Health Editor in the late eighties. I was very young and my whole goal was to if every individual person thats reading this magazine does what were telling them to do, in fact, take care of yourself. Take good care of yourself, then the whole race become healthier, and then little by little, i began to see that pushing individuals to do better and be better while is good for individuals will not change the Health Outcomes of black people in america as a whole because of structural issues that i was not examining and it took me a while. Im really, really slow. Good luck to you writing your book to out that weight. This advice im giving is not really helping solve my own goal, which is to make black people as a whole better and also some experiences that i had where i saw that the Health System that im even telling people to believe in isnt even working for people that know and love and so by the end of my journey and the book, im a completely different thinker. Mm hmm. I wonder, deborah, if i could follow with you and, you know, ive heard that that journals are a gossipy sort. I would have. Ill tell you about how. I know that later. Af