The Aspen Institute

Join us for an SOF Digital Discussion featuring Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, syndicated columnist, senior writer for The Bulwark.com, and host of the weekly podcast Beg to Differ Mona Charen and CNN Political Analyst Bakari Sellers, in conversation with political reporter at The Washington Post Eugene Scott.

*If you are not currently a member of the Society of Fellows, and are interested in joining, please contact the SOF team at sof@aspeninstitute.org or 970-544-7980. You may also learn more on our website.

Presenters:

Mona Charen is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, syndicated columnist, senior writer for The Bulwark.com, and host of the weekly podcast Beg to Differ. Ms. Charen served as Nancy Reagan’s speechwriter and later as Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison. Later in her White House career, she worked in the Public Affairs office helping to craft President Reagan’s communications strategy. In 1986, Ms. Charen joined the presidential campaign of Congressman Jack Kemp. Ms. Charen’s column is featured in more than 70 newspapers and websites, and she is a frequent commentator on radio and TV.  She spent 6 years as a regular commentator on CNN’s Capital Gang and Capital Gang Sunday, and has served as a judge of the Pulitzer Prizes. She is the author of two bestsellers: Useful Idiots (2003); and Do-Gooders (2005). Her newest book, Sex Matters, was published in 2018. In 2010, she received the Eric Breindel Award for Excellence in Opinion Journalism.

Bakari Sellers made history in 2006 when, at just 22 years old, he defeated a 26-year incumbent State Representative to become the youngest member of the South Carolina state legislature and the youngest African American elected official in the nation. In 2014 he was the Democratic Nominee for Lt. Governor in the state of South Carolina. Earning his undergraduate degree from Morehouse College, where he served as student body president, and his law degree from the University of South Carolina, Sellers has followed in the footsteps of his father, civil rights leader Cleveland Sellers, in his tireless commitment to service taking championing progressive policies to address issues ranging from education and poverty to preventing domestic violence and childhood obesity. His impressive list of accomplishments, in addition to having served on President Barack Obama’s South Carolina steering committee during the 2008 election, Sellers is widely considered to be a rising star within the Democratic Party and leading voice for his generation. That coupled with his uncommon ability to reach across the aisle and get things done has led to numerous accolades including being named to TIME Magazine’s 40 Under 40 in 2010 as well as 2014 and 20015 “The Root 100” list of the nation’s most influential African-Americans. He has served as a featured speaker at events for the National Education Association, College Democrats of America National Convention, the 2008 and 2016 Democratic National Convention. Sellers practices law with the Strom Law Firm, LLC in Columbia, SC and is a Political Commentator at CNN. He is married to Dr. Ellen Rucker-Sellers.

Eugene Scott is a political reporter at The Washington Post, where he covers identity politics for The Fix, the paper’s political analysis blog. He was previously a political reporter for CNN, a researcher at TIME magazine, and a reporter at the Arizona Republic, the Kansas City Star, the Charlotte Observer, BET, and Cape Argus in South Africa. Scott’s work has also appeared in USA Today, TIME, and Newsweek. He regularly provides on-air analysis for MSNBC, NPR, and CBS. A 2018 Fellow at the Georgetown Institute of Politics, Scott has won multiple awards for his work.