Originally broadcast at 10:45 a.m. ET Thursday, July 21, 2022.

Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham is one of America's most prominent public intellectuals, with a depth of knowledge about politics, religion and current affairs. Meacham returns to Chautauqua Institution to reflect on the week’s theme, “The Future of History,” with his unique ability to bring history to life and offer historical context to current events and issues. Meacham is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers, including The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, which examines the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in U.S. history when hope overcame division and fear. In 2020, he released His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope, an intimate and revealing portrait of civil rights icon and longtime U.S. Congressman John Lewis. His latest book, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Experiment, will be published in the fall of 2022. A contributing editor at TIME, Meacham also writes “The Long View” column in The New York Times Book Review, in which he looks back at books that speak to our current historical and cultural moment. He served as Newsweek's managing editor from 1998 to 2006 and as editor from 2006 to 2010. In 2020, Meacham released two podcasts with the History Channel: “Hope Through History” and “It Was Said.” Narrated and written by Meacham, season two of the critically acclaimed “Hope Through History” podcast explores some of the most historic and trying times in American history, how the nation dealt with the impact of these moments, and how we came through these moments a more unified nation. “It Was Said” tells the stories of those crucial words, taking listeners back to inflection points ranging from the McCarthy era to our present time through the real-time rhetoric that shaped and suffused America as the country struggled through storm and strife. Named a “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum, Meacham is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the Society of American Historians. He is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University where he holds the Rogers Chair in the American Presidency. PROGRAM NOTE: Previously announced Chautauqua Lecture Speaker and CLSC author Isabel Wilkerson, originally scheduled for Thursday, July 21, has needed to cancel her summer appearance. Chautauqua is working with Ms. Wilkerson to reschedule the program to happen in the Fall or online. Her book Caste remains a 2022 Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle selection.

About Chautauqua Institution: Chautauqua Institution is a community on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in southwestern New York state that comes alive each summer with a unique mix of fine and performing arts, lectures, interfaith worship and programs, and recreational activities. As a community, we celebrate, encourage and study the arts and treat them as integral to all of learning, and we convene the critical conversations of the day to advance understanding through civil dialogue. CHQ Assembly is the online expression of Chautauqua Institution's mission.