Writers Institute Hosts Post-Election Panels for This Year’s ‘Telling the Truth’ Symposium

six headshots interspersed with book covers
This year’s panelists are: (top, left to right) Chuck Todd, Charlotte Alter and Paul Tonko, and (bottom, left to right) Timothy O’Brien, Martha Barrett and John Faso.

ALBANY, N.Y. (Nov. 19, 2024) — The NYS Writers Institute’s sixth edition of its Telling the Truth in a Post-Truth World symposium, featuring notable journalists, authors, politicians and pundits, will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Friday at Page Hall on the Downtown Campus. 

a logo reading "telling the truth 2024" over white stars on a blue, red and black background

“We have brought together two brilliant groups of panelists to help us try to understand what just happened in the presidential election and what it means for democracy moving forward,” said Paul Grondahl, Opalka Endowed Director of the NYS Writers Institute. 

Telling the Truth 2024 is free and open to the public and will feature two panel discussions. At 5:30 p.m., the conversation will focus on the Democratic Party and its reaction and response to the election of Donald J. Trump as the nation’s 47th president. At 7 p.m. the panelists will discuss the Republican Party and the new MAGA coalition that helped Trump win the presidency and majorities in both houses of Congress. 

5 people sit on a stage in front of a black curtain; the heads of audience members are seen in front of the stage
The panel from the 2017 symposium: Moderator Bob Schieffer with Tim Wu, Maria Hinojosa, David Goodman and Franklin Foer.

“This 6th edition of Telling the Truth is more timely than ever,” Grondahl said. “These panels of experts will sort through misinformation and speculation to offer clear-eyed analysis about how both the Democratic Party and Republican Party will attempt to navigate a norm-smashing Trump administration with few guardrails. The panelists will offer ideas about how traditional platforms of the parties might be reinvented to meet the paradigm shift of the electorate.”

Following each conversation, the audience will be invited to ask questions. Books will be available for purchase. Signings will take place following the 7 p.m. panel.

Panel 1: 5:30 p.m. Friday

  • Chuck Todd is NBC News' chief political analyst and former host of NBC's "Meet the Press." He also served as NBC's Chief White House correspondent and host of “The Daily Rundown” on MSNBC. He is the author of The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House (2014) and co-author with Sheldon Gawiser of How Barack Obama Won: A State-by-State Guide to the Historic 2008 Presidential Election (2009).
  • Charlotte Alter is a senior correspondent at TIME magazine, where she covers politics, social movements and generational change, and hosts TIME's “Person of the Week” podcast. She was previously a special projects producer at “CBS Sunday Morning.” She is also the author of The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For: How a New Generation of Leaders Will Transform America (2020).
  • Rep. Paul Tonko represents New York’s 20th Congressional District, including the communities of Albany, Schenectady, Troy, and Saratoga Springs. He represents all of Albany, Saratoga and Schenectady Counties and parts of Rensselaer County. He is serving his eighth term after first being sworn into Congress in 2009. 
  • Moderator: Paul Grondahl, NYS Writers Institute Opalka Endowed Director. An award-winning reporter for the Albany Times Union for more than 30 years, he co-authored H. Carl McCall’s memoir Truly Blessed and Highly Favored and his previous books include Mayor Corning: Albany Icon, Albany Enigma, and I Rose Like a Rocket: The Political Education of Theodore Roosevelt.

Panel 2: 7 p.m. Friday

  • Timothy L. O’Brien is the author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald. He is also executive editor and a columnist with Bloomberg Opinion, a digital commentary platform. Previously he was the executive editor of The Huffington Post and an editor and reporter at The New York Times. He is also the author of two other books: The Lincoln Conspiracy (2012), a historical thriller, and Bad Bet (1998), a social history of gambling in the United States.
  • Marsha E. Barrett, an expert on the political and social history of the United States during the 20th century, is the author of Nelson Rockefeller's Dilemma: The Fight to Save Moderate Republicanism (2024). She is an assistant professor of history at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. ​Her articles have appeared in such publications as the Journal of Policy History, New York History, and Politico.
  • John Faso, former congressman and New York gubernatorial candidate, was a member of the U.S. House, representing New York's 19th congressional district from 2017 to 2018. He previously represented the 102nd district in the New York State Assembly from 1987 to 2002 and served as assembly minority leader from 1998 to 2002. Faso ran for state comptroller in 2002 and for governor of New York in 2006.
  • Moderator: Jimmy Vielkind is a national political reporter for The Wall Street Journal who has covered New York politics and government since 2008. During the past year he spoke with more than 300 voters around the country as the host of two podcast series produced by the WSJ: "Chasing the Base" and "Chasing the Vote." He also writes a column at https://jimmyvielkind.substack.com.

The inaugural Telling the Truth forum took place in 1991 and subsequent events were held in 2017, 2020, 2022 and 2023. Major support and funding provided by The Professor Ben-Ami Lipetz NYSWI Fund and Pernille Ægidius Dake.