Historian Sarah Churchwell takes you on a gripping and confronting journey into America's recent past to explain its extraordinary present, starting with dark story at the heart of that American classic Gone with the Wind. Knowledge lies at the heart of a healthy democracy, and its many custodians include libraries, universities, cultural institutions, and a free and independent media. So what happens when these institutions are intimidated, dismantled or destroyed, as is happening in America, under the government of President Donald Trump?

This event was recorded at the University of Technology Sydney's Vice Chancellor's Democracy Forum on 14 May 2025.

Original broadcast on June 17, 2025.

Speakers

Sarah ChurchwellProfessor of American Literature and Chair of Public Understanding of the Humanities at the University of LondonAuthor, The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe, Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and The Invention of The Great Gatsby, Behold, America: A History of America First and the American Dream, and The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the Lies America TellsDirector, Being Human festival and Living Literature event seriesJudge, Man Booker Prize

Anna Funder (host)Author, Wifedom, Stasiland and All That I AmLuminary and Ambassador, University of Technology Sydney

Roy Green (host)Emeritus Professor and Special Innovation Advisor at University of Technology SydneyFormer Dean of the UTS Business SchoolChair of the UTS Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Hub

Further information

From Gatsby to Huck Finn — American literature in an age of polarisation  - Sarah Churchwell on Big Ideas, ABC Radio National 4 November 2024