CAMBRIDGE, MA — The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, located at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is pleased to announce that this year’s Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics will be delivered by comedian, producer and writer Larry Wilmore. The lecture will take place Tuesday, November 15, 2016 at 6 p.m. in the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge.
The Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics commemorates the life of the reporter and historian who set the standard for contemporary political journalism and campaign coverage. Past lecturers include Rachel Maddow, Alan K. Simpson, Ben Bradlee, Judy Woodruff, William F. Buckley, Jr. and Congressman John Lewis.
This event will be ticketed. Tickets are free, but will be distributed by lottery. Visit the Harvard Institute of Politics website to enter the lottery. The deadline for entries is midnight Tuesday, November 8. Winners will be notified via email on Wednesday, November 9. Winners must pick up their tickets at the Institute of Politics at HKS on Thursday, November 10 or Monday, November 14 between 9 a.m.-5 p.m. No exceptions.
This event will also be streamed online.
Larry Wilmore is an Emmy Award-winning TV producer, actor, comedian and writer whose career spans more than 25 years. He is perhaps best known for his role as host of Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, which debuted in January 2015 and ran for nearly two years. Wilmore received praise from critics for carving out a “uniquely powerful space” and providing “complex, destabilizing commentary on racial issues that were otherwise lacking in late-night” (Slate, 8/16). The Daily Beast added that Wilmore’s show was “exhilarating” and a “necessary voice in late-night” (8/16). Off-screen, Wilmore serves as co-creator and consulting producer on Insecure and also helped to launch ABC’s Black-ish as an executive producer. He made memorable appearances as the “Senior Black Correspondent” on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and hosted his own Showtime “town hall”-style comedy specials, Larry Wilmore’s Race, Religion & Sex. He has written for In Living Color, The PJ’s (which he co-created), The Office (on which he has appeared as Mr. Brown, the diversity consultant), and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He also served as creator, writer, and executive producer of The Bernie Mac Show, which earned him a 2002 Emmy Award for “Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series” and a 2001 Peabody Award. Wilmore is also an author, having released his first book, I’d Rather We Got Casinos and Other Black Thoughts, in January 2009.
About the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy
The Shorenstein Center is a research center based at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, with a mission to study and analyze the power of media and technology and its impact on governance, public policy and politics. Research, courses, fellowships, public events and engagement with students, scholars and journalists form the core of the Center. For more information, visit shorensteincenter.org/.
Media Contact:
Nilagia McCoy: 617-495-2233, nilagia_mccoy@hks.harvard.edu
Communications Manager, Shorenstein Center
