Live From 92NY
Live From 92NY
Luke Burgis in Conversation With David Brooks
Social Contagion
Monday, June 15 | 6:30 PM | JCC Dance Hall
Free and Open to the Public
RSVP: community@slcjcc.org
Social contagion. Tyler Cowen has called it “the most important phenomenon of our time.”
It drives viral crazes like the Tide Pod challenge, and may help explain rising rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide. It shapes political movements and belief systems. And, as Luke Burgis argues in his new book The One and the Ninety-Nine, it has a profound effect on our ability to form a healthy sense of self — one that remains true to our values while living in community and reckoning with our impact on others.
Burgis — author, entrepreneur, professor, and founder of The Cluny Institute — joins David Brooks for a timely conversation about resisting the pull of social contagion. We are surrounded by tribes, he argues: political, professional, online, ideological. Each offers belonging at a price. Join, and you risk dissolving into a ready-made identity. Refuse, and you risk isolation. Either way, modern life exerts the same pressure — toward a fragmented self that is easier to manage, market to, and recruit.
Brooks, who has written extensively about character and community in books like The Road to Character and The Second Mountain, engages Burgis on the book’s central ideas: that the defining crisis of our time is not just polarization or loneliness, but a crisis of formation. It’s increasingly difficult to build an identity strong enough to withstand the pressures of the crowd. They’ll also examine how social contagion spreads — through families, schools, and institutions — and why the hunger to belong can turn ordinary people into instruments of movements they barely understand.
Together, they’ll explore these dynamics and consider practical ways forward: how to recognize false belonging, escape coercive environments, and move through the kinds of formative experiences that cultivate integrity and courage.
Pepper Culpepper in Conversation
With Taeku Lee: Billionaire Backlash
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Award-winning public policy expert Pepper Culpepper and acclaimed political scientist Takeu Lee joins us for a conversation with Chuck Collins about reviving democracy, corporate greed run amok, and the unexpected silver lining of public scandal — and their new book, Billionaire Backlash: The Age of Corporate Scandal and How it Could Save Democracy.
Giant companies, argue Pepper Culpepper and Takeu Lee, run the world — not governments. They launch rockets into space, control satellite communication and develop era-defining AI technologies. But around the globe, these corporate titans are facing increasing public hostility. Drawing on a decade of research on policymaking and public opinion, Billionaire Backlash shows us how scandals can ignite a public with few political outlets for their discontent.
In a special online conversation, join Culpepper and Lee as they reveal how the shared anger of citizens can be channeled into a backlash that has the potential to reinvigorate our democracies.
Lisa Rinna in Conversation
With Gary Janetti:
You Better Believe I'm Gonna Talk About It
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Actress, former Housewife, and pop culture icon Lisa Rinna has always “owned it,” and she speaks her truth like never before when she joins us for a conversation about her new memoir, You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It.
In a career that has taken her from daytime soap through eight seasons on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Rinna has been a fan favorite for playing be her own rules and being bold, real, and unapologetic. She talks with candor and wit about the highs and blows of her work as an actress and reality TV powerhouse, growing older in an industry obsessed with youth, and reinventing herself as a fashion and beauty provocateur-entrepreneur, opens up about the loss of her mother, what keeps her very public marriage solid and simmering, and more. Hear about it all live – from those lips to your ears.
SAPIR Debates: Is Fighting Antisemitism a Losing Battle? Deborah Lipstadt and Dara Horn With Bret Stephens
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The oldest hatred – an honorific given to anti-Jewish prejudice – never tires. If anything, it gathers force. According to many surveys, animus towards Jews is increasing in the United States and worldwide. What should American Jewry do about it?
Some believe that we should expend our capital, energy, and creativity to change hearts and minds, especially of those still reachable. That means raising awareness of this scourge through high visibility campaigns, social media engagement, support for Holocaust education, and renewed allyship with other ethnic and religious communities.
Others insist that efforts to fight a conspiracy are futile, likely ineffective, and possibly even counterproductive. Decades of teaching “never again” has not stemmed the tide of hate. Rather, our limited resources are better spent by doubling down on creating proud Jews, strengthening Jewish education, and creating a more informed citizenry about Jewish civilization.
Moderated by SAPIR Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens, this SAPIR Debate will feature two illustrious voices.
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Why 92NY?
Before Jewish Community Centers were called JCCs, they were YMHAs and YWHAs: Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Associations. Over a period of more than 150 years, the original YMHA evolved into the modern 92NY –a source of connection and uplift, a place to learn and grow, a welcoming Jewish home for all. We, the JCC of Salt Lake City, are thrilled to bring you ground-breaking intellectual and artistic programming live from New York City. The 92NY monthly series is free and open to the public.
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