The Biden Presidency with Biographer Evan Osnos

Days after the presidential inauguration, Crosscut and KCTS 9 sit down with Evan Osnos, Joe Biden’s biographer, whose new book Joe Biden: The Life, The Run and What Matters Now, draws from unprecedented access to the president-elect himself – and dozens more, including Barack Obama, Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg. It is a fascinating and nuanced portrait of Biden’s life and political career.

A centrist since entering politics 40+ years ago, Biden largely campaigned on a very progressive agenda. The question now becomes, how will he govern? Can he bring dueling factions in his party together and unite the country? Is that progressive agenda achievable?

Evan Osnos will share his perspective on Biden’s personal and professional journey, and explore how it may be prologue for his presidency. He will speak with Crosscut managing editor, Mark Baumgarten.

Inspired by the Crosscut Festival, the At-Large speaker series features in-depth conversations with renowned journalists and authors about the big issues and big ideas making headlines across the country and here at home.

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About the speakers:

Evan Osnos is a staff writer at The New Yorker, a contributor to CNN, and a fellow at the Brookings Institution. Based in Washington D.C., he writes about foreign affairs and politics. He is the author of “Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China,” which won the 2014 National Book award. Based on eight years of living in Beijing, the book traces the rise of the individual in China and the clash between aspiration and authoritarianism. He was the China Correspondent at The New Yorker magazine from 2008 to 2013. He is a contributor to This American Life on public radio, and Frontline, the PBS series. Prior to The New Yorker, he worked as the Beijing bureau chief of the Chicago Tribune, where he contributed to a series that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. He has received the Asia Society’s Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia, the Livingston Award for Young Journalists, and a Mirror Award for profile-writing. Before his appointment in China, he worked in the Middle East, reporting mostly from Iraq.

Mark Baumgarten is the managing editor at Crosscut where he oversees a newsroom of dedicated reporters, producers and editors telling the stories of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. He is also the host of the Crosscut Talks podcast.