Contributing Opinion Writer, The New York Times; Author, Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington and The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age
James Kirchick, a renowned author and commentator, offers a compelling blend of historical insight, global perspective, and engaging storytelling. His passionate advocacy for freedom of expression and association resonates with audiences worldwide. As a prolific writer and frequent guest on major media outlets, Kirchick’s ability to captivate audiences with his wit and wisdom makes him an invaluable asset to any event. His unique perspective, informed by extensive travel and research, provides a fresh and thought-provoking take on contemporary issues. Whether discussing the challenges facing liberal democracies or the importance of individual rights, Kirchick’s keynote speeches leave a lasting impact.
The Free Press: Should the U.S. Still Police the World?
Manhattan Institute: Black-Jewish Relations
Library of Congress: J. Edgar Hoover's Shadowy Reign
Secret City: James Kirchick and Andrew Sullivan in Conversation
James Kirchick: What Does Putin Want?
Once the world’s bastion of liberal, democratic values, Europe is now having to confront demons it thought it had laid to rest. The resurgence of nationalism, racism, and anti-Semitism contribute to a looming crisis that threatens to tear Europe apart. Drawing on his extensive firsthand reporting across the Continent, as well as his book The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age, New York Times bestselling author James Kirchick shines a light on some of the many crises confronting America’s most important ally.
Until quite recently the mere suggestion that someone might be gay could ruin careers and destroy lives. Today, gay people enjoy full participation in American life. How did we get to this point so rapidly? In this talk based on his instant New York Times bestselling book Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington, award-winning journalist James Kirchick discusses the many and surprising ways in which the fear of homosexuality impacted American politics and society, and the transformative role freedom of expression played in overcoming it. Covering every president from FDR to Bill Clinton and drawing on the extensive research he conducted for Secret City, hailed by the New York Times as “a luxurious, slow-rolling Cadillac of a book,” Kirchick opens America’s closet door.
Record numbers of Americans say that they are afraid to speak their minds. Some of the nation’s top universities can be found at the bottom of campus free speech rankings. Freedom House reports that freedom of expression is in decline around the world — including the West. Drawing on his experience reporting from unfree countries and his two widely acclaimed books — Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington and The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age — New York Times bestselling author James Kirchick delivers a report on the precarious state of free expression in the world today and a stirring call in its defense.
The horrific attack of October 7th was a particularly gruesome manifestation of an evil that has poisoned humanity for thousands of years: antisemitism. For over two decades, New York Times bestselling author James Kirchick has been a vigilant and vocal foe of this societal scourge, condemning it frequently in leading publications and the media. Drawing on his personal experiences as a student confronting antisemitism at Yale University, a foreign correspondent who has reported on Jewish communities around the world, and a sharp observer of American politics and society, Kirchick doesn’t hold back from calling out antisemitism wherever it appears on the ideological spectrum.
Combining his breadth of historical knowledge, extensive global travels, and memorable anecdotes, James Kirchick illuminates the most important issue in the world today — freedom.
Author of the instant-New York Times bestseller (and Notable Book of the Year) Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington and The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age, James Kirchick explains how freedom of expression and association are vital to the survival of liberal democracy. Covering topics ranging from America’s role in the world to LGBT history to the rise of antisemitism in the United States and abroad, Kirchick captivates audiences with his passion and humor. A truly independent voice who follows no party line, he has been lauded as “articulate, passionate, brave” by Stephen Fry, “fearless” by Andrew Sullivan, and “a kind of American reincarnation of my friend Christopher Hitchens” by Bernard Henri-Levy.
Kirchick is a contributing Opinion writer for the New York Times, a writer at large for Air Mail, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. He has reported from over 40 countries and his articles and essays have appeared in a wide range of publications including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, the New York Review of Books, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Spectator, and the Times Literary Supplement. A frequent guest on Real Time with Bill Maher, he has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, the BBC, France 24, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and NPR.
A former editor at the New Republic and visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, Kirchick was writer-at-large for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty based in Prague, where he wrote about the politics and cultures of the nearly two dozen countries in the news company’s broadcast region. Among the many events he covered were the First Libyan Civil War, a stolen presidential election in Belarus, and revolution and ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan.
Recognized for his voice on American gay politics and international gay rights, Kirchick is a recipient of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Journalist of the Year Award. The New York Times called Secret City, “A luxurious, slow-rolling Cadillac of a book… rewarding in the extreme,” while George Stephanopoulos raved that “Not since Robert Caro’s Years of Lyndon Johnson have I been so riveted by a work of history.”
From Copenhagen to Chicago, from London to Los Angeles, Kirchick has spoken at a wide range of venues including the National Security Agency, the U.S. Department of State, the 92nd St. Y, the Oslo Freedom Forum, the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, and the American Library in Paris, among many other venues. He is a recipient of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Journalist of the Year Award, is a member of PEN America and the Author’s Guild, and sits on the advisory board of the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values.
We invited Jamie to address our partners and summer associates for Pride Month. For an hour, he mesmerized us with fascinating stories from Secret City, making the material both riveting and accessible. His talk was both moving and memorable, and afterwards, multiple people told me that it was the best presentation they had seen in our series. It is impressive that Jamie's oral presentation rivals his talent as a writer, and he is gifted in bringing the material to life in a way that feels relevant and meaningful to people from all walks of life.
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
James' participation at the Mississippi Book Festival was vital and instructive to festival-goers about how we can give people the necessary space to have constructive conversations centered around differing opinions. James modeled a generous yet unflinching ability to have a discussion that seems lost on most citizens in our country. We look forward to hosting him again in the future and opening the eyes of even more festival-goers.
Mississippi Book Festival
Jamie Kirchick has actively participated with the Oslo Freedom Forum for a decade, informing our global audience with his unique and useful perspective on subjects ranging from transnational oppression of at-risk gay populations to the nefarious activities of Western consulting firms which lobby on behalf of dictatorial regimes. The breadth of Jamie’s professional experience as well as his ability to deliver a speech that both educates and entertains makes him a uniquely powerful speaker, and we are grateful to have him as an ally.
Human Rights Foundation
In Secret City, James Kirchick tells a Washington D.C. Cold War story that few have heard: how the political obsession with secrecy, together with the fear of communist influence, distorted perceptions not only of gay people, but of reality itself. Weaving together political, social, and cultural history, Secret City offers an unexpected corrective to the historical record.
Anne Applebaum
Now and then a new book about American politics comes along for which ‘revelation’ seems too tame a word, so profoundly does it alter our understanding of almost everything we thought we knew. James Kirchick’s remarkable history of the “secret” life of Washington is just such a book—a triumph of investigation and story-telling.
Sam Tanenhaus
Scrupulously researched and novelistic in style, Secret City is an extraordinary achievement. Shedding new light on figures we thought we knew, James Kirchick introduces us to compelling individuals we will never forget. Not since Robert Caro’s Years of Lyndon Johnson have I been so riveted by a work of history. Secret City is not gay history. It is American history.
George Stephanopoulos
