The Common Good Defining 2025 Season: Big Questions and Bold Ideas

NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- At The Common Good (TCG), we don't do tribal talking points. We are proudly nonpartisan. But we do believe that we face new challenges unlike any before, including escalating division amid enormous changes in policy at home and abroad. That's why principled, informed debate on ideas, trends, and policies is so essential to better governance and maintaining a healthy democracy.

Our fall is shaping up to be dynamic. Coming up in September, Neil deGrasse Tyson joins us for an exclusive conversation on the hostile war on science—from attacks and funding cuts to critical research in medicine, environmental protection, and much more, to raising distrust in expertise – Tyson will unveil his playbook for fighting back. Ambassador Dennis Ross will also be joining us to talk about the staggering U.S. policy changes reshaping American power and offer a blueprint for foreign policy moving forward, followed by Congressman Jake Auchincloss joining us to talk about future party strategies to rebuild a stronger middle class.

This summer, we also brought together an extraordinary range of leaders—scholars, strategists, lawmakers, diplomats, and journalists—who cut through the noise and spoke directly to what's at stake. Not just to inform, but to provoke the kind of dialogue democracy demands.

As part of The Common Good Emerging Leader Series, we heard from political leaders and strategists on the frontlines of governance. Senator Chris Murphy, Senator Elissa Slotkin, Republican strategist Susan Del Percio, Congressman Seth Moulton, Minority Whip Katherine Clark, Congressman Jason Crow, and State Senator Mallory McMorrow offered unfiltered insight into the pressures of leadership in an era of populism and polarization—and the strategies they believe will resonate with voters.

"We have become more of a litmus test party recently. And I think that has meant our coalitions have become smaller. But that means you've got to do two things. One, you have to get sort of comfortable with that kind of confrontational economic populism where you name the people who have power, the companies that are screwing people, the billionaires who are screwing people." - Senator Chris Murphy, U.S. Senator from Connecticut.

TCG x Hamptons Institute at Guild Hall:
East Hampton, NY – July 2025 — This summer, The Common Good joined forces with The Hamptons Institute at Guild Hall in East Hampton, NY. The 2025 installment was guest-curated by Ellen Chesler, author and Hamptons Institute co-founder.

"Guardrails on Democracy": As the boundaries of executive authority continue to stretch, this high-stakes conversation on the future of American democracy, the rule of law, and how individual freedoms have been affected, featured Norm Eisen, founder of Democracy Defenders Action, co-founder of The Contrarian, and former White House ethics czar, alongside Susan Corke, Executive Director of Democracy Defenders Action; and Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU; moderated by Jim Zirin, legal analyst, television host, and author.

"Birthright citizenship is how we fixed America's original sin, chattel slavery. That is how we took the children of slaves and made them citizens. It is as hollowed a part of our country's history as anything we have. It is also the way in which this great nation of immigrants made sure that we are all equal under the law. If you're born here, you're one of us, period. And if you start putting rules about what was your parents' citizenship, you're going to create second-class citizens among your people. It will be another way of intergenerational stigma and discrimination being promulgated into the generations." - Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU

"Order or Chaos? The Economy Under Trump": The conversation featured: Glenn Hutchins, cofounder Silver Lake, co-chair Brookings Institution, Founder, Hutchins Center at Harvard; Fred Hochberg, former Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) and Small Business Admin. and business executive; with Gillian Tett, Financial Times columnist and editorial board member and Provost of Kings College, Cambridge, moderating the panel.

Regarding the US-EU trade deal: "Anything less than 25% or 50% and people gave a sigh of relief. So I think by sending such a crazy number out there, the alternative now is, 'Alright, it's not as bad as that'…and then secondly, you know, if you're going to buy an apartment or buy a house and say to someone, okay, I agree…. and they say, 'great, we have a deal.' That's not really a deal. I mean, you have to sign a contract…It's the same thing with the trade deal. What are the rules of origin? What is covered, what's not covered? So just the sort of overall, yes, it's 15% without a lot of detail. I mean…God is in the details, it's in the details of those deals. And they tend to be hundreds of pages, not a single type page." - Fred Hochberg, former Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank (EXIM)

"Post-Childhood Playhood": Jonathan Haidt, author of The Anxious Generation and renowned social psychologist, joined Dave Anderson, VP of Public Engagement and Public Education at the Child Mind Institute, with Perri Peltz, Emmy award-winning journalist, documentary filmmaker of "Can't Look Away", and public health advocate, leading the conversation on the alarming neurological, psychological, and cultural consequences of growing up online.

"That's the great rewiring of childhood - the damage shows up first in the preteen girls, that's where we see the biggest increases in mental illness. The boy's story is more complicated." - Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist & bestselling author.

"SNL– 50 Years of Satire": For fifty years, Saturday Night Live has held up a mirror to all aspects of culture and politics through satire. In this rare behind-the-scenes conversation about "the SNL effect", current SNL cast member Mikey Day joined New Yorker articles editor Susan Morrison, author of the bestselling Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, Robert Smigel, former cast member and legendary comedy writer, with Adam Green, former SNL Writer, journalist, and theater critic, steering the conversation on the show's enduring cultural influence and political punch.

Reckoning with Power, Policy, and Global Shifts
Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat joined Foreign Affairs editor emeritus Gideon Rose to break down the biggest foreign policy flashpoints—from Ukraine to the Middle East to the unraveling of the postwar trade order. Richard Haass, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, offered an unfiltered assessment of what's at stake for America's standing in the world and the future of international order—from NATO alliances to economic fault lines. In another riveting exchange, former defense Secretary Leon Panetta, former Republican Congressman David Jolly, and Rick Salomon tackled questions of executive overreach, national security, and the thin line between strategy and absurdity in today's geopolitics.

"This country is strongest right now, not in Washington, but at the state and community level, because there are people there, Republicans and Democrats, working to protect their community…And in many ways, that is the best thing that can happen in a democracy…community-level work, where people are coordinating, they are coalescing, and they are focused on trying to solve problems that will never be solved by Washington. That's where I think we need to devote our time." – Secretary Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense

Democracy isn't self-sustaining—it needs friction, facts, and fearless dialogue. For updates or to revisit past programming, visit www.thecommongoodus.org.

About The Common Good
The Common Good strives to inspire broad participation in our democracy through the free exchange of ideas and civil dialogue and seeks to find ways to bridge the growing divisions that threaten our nation.

Contact:
Patricia Duff
+1 (917) 331-0123 [email protected]
Oona Timmeney-Tracy
+1 (484) 868-6108 [email protected]

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