Kati Marton discusses her Angela Merkel biography

NOTE: This event has reached full capacity; however, you may watch via live stream (see the links below).

In this unique conversation, Kati Marton discusses her new biography of German Chancellor Angela Merkel with journalist James Traub.

This Fall, Chancellor Merkel, a pillar on the international stage, is expected to step down after a remarkable 16 years in office. This is sure to be a consequential change for Germany, Europe, and the world at large. With this event on the horizon, bestselling author, award-winning journalist, and connected political insider Kati Marton’s biography couldn’t be better timed. The Chancellor is at once a riveting political biography and an intimate human story of a complete outsider who rose to become the unofficial leader of the West. 

Famously private, the Angela Merkel who emerges in The Chancellor has confronted Russian aggression, provided sanctuary to over a million refugees, and calmly unified Europe at a time when other countries are becoming more divided. But Marton also describes Merkel’s many challenges, such as her complicated relationships with President Obama and Trump. This urgent portrait shows a woman who has survived extraordinary challenges to transform her own country and return it to the global stage. 

Kati Marton, the author of True Believer: Stalin's Last American Spy; Enemies of the People: My Family’s Journey to America, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist; The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World; Hidden Power: Presidential Marriages That Shaped Our History; Wallenberg; The Polk Conspiracy; and A Death in Jerusalem. She is an award-winning former NPR and ABC News correspondent. She was born in Hungary and lives in New York City.

James Traub is a journalist and scholar specializing in international affairs. He is a columnist and contributor to the website foreignpolicy.com. He worked as a staff writer for The New Yorker from 1993 to 1998 and as a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine from 1998 to 2011. He has also written extensively about national politics, urban affairs, and education. His most recent book, written for the Yale Jewish Lives series, is Judah Benjamin: Counselor to The Confederacy. His previous works include What Was Liberalism? The Past, Present and Promise of  Noble Idea; John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit; and The Best Intentions, on the United Nations under Kofi Annan. He is currently writing a book about Hubert Humphrey. He teaches classes on American foreign policy and on the history of liberalism at NYU Abu Dhabi and at NYU. He is a fellow of the Center on International Cooperation and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Masks and proof of vaccination required to attend. In-person capacity is limited and will be conducted on a first-come, first-served basis. Registered patrons will receive further details on the morning of the event.

To stream the event live, please visit YouTube at BPLvideos or Facebook @BPLPresents beginning at 7pm on Thursday, November 4.