Speakers

• Jelani Cobb joined the Columbia Journalism School faculty in 2016 and became dean in 2022. He has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2015 and was a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Commentary. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Journalism Project and the Board of Trustees of the New York Public Library. In 2023, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Dr. Cobb has a B.A. in English from Howard University and completed his M.A. and doctorate in American History at Rutgers University in 2003.
• Harry Siegel is an editor at THE CITY and a contributing writer for Vital City.
• Dana Rubinstein reports on New York City politics and government for The New York Times.
• Daniel Richman is the Paul J. Kellner Professor at Columbia Law School. He writes about and teaches federal criminal law and is a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
• Shontell Smith is an attorney and government affairs professional with over a decade of legislative and political expertise. She currently works as a partner at Tusk Strategies.
• Jeffrey Toobin is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, a commentator on legal affairs for CNN, and the author of ten books, most recently "The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy."