As part of the University of Michigan’s Year of Democracy, Civic Empowerment, and Global Engagement initiative, this special event will offer insightful perspectives on the presidential candidates and critical issues shaping the 2024 election. Don’t miss the chance to hear these acclaimed journalists discuss and debate the latest developments on the campaign trail as this historic election reaches its critical final phase.

Speaker bios:

Lydia Polgreen is an opinion columnist at The New York Times and a co-host of the “Matter of Opinion” podcast. Previously, she served as managing director of Gimlet, a podcast studio at Spotify, and as editor-in-chief of HuffPost, leading a team of hundreds of journalists publishing 16 editions across the globe in nine languages. Her leadership at HuffPost followed a 15-year career at The New York Times that included roles as associate masthead editor, deputy international editor, South Africa bureau chief, a correspondent for the New Delhi bureau and chief of the West Africa bureau. Before joining The Times, Polgreen was a staff writer for the Orlando Sentinel and the Albany Times Union. She received the 2009 Livingston Award for international reporting for her series, “The Spoils,” an account of how mineral wealth brought misery and exploitation to much of Africa.

María Elena Salinas is a contributor to ABC News. For more than 30 years, she served as co-anchor of Univision Network’s flagship daily newscast, “Noticiero Univision,” and for 18 years she was the co-host and correspondent for the network’s weekly newsmagazine, “Aquí y Ahora.” Called the “Voice of Hispanic America” by The New York Times, Salinas is the most recognized Hispanic female journalist in the United States. Most recently, Salinas served as a contributor for CBS News, where she reported across platforms and on coverage of the 2020 presidential election. She also anchored the award-winning documentary, “Pandemia: Latinos in Crisis,” which looked at how COVID-19 has affected the Latinx community.

Bret Stephens is an opinion columnist for The New York Times, writing about foreign policy, domestic politics and cultural issues. He also has a weekly published conversation on current affairs with his colleague, Gail Collins. Previously, he was the foreign-affairs columnist for The Wall Street Journal, a member of the Journal’s editorial board and the deputy editor of the editorial page, responsible for international opinion. Stephens was awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for his column “Global View,” receiving the honor for “his incisive columns on American foreign policy and domestic politics, often enlivened by a contrarian twist.”

Stephen Henderson is the executive editor of BridgeDetroit, a non-profit news and engagement organization focused on lifting up the issues that Detroiters themselves identify as important to their lives. He hosts the daily radio show “Detroit Today” on WDET, Detroit’s public radio station. And he is the host of the weekly talk show “American Black Journal” and a contributor to “One Detroit,” both on Detroit PBS. Previously, he was the editorial page editor and a columnist for the Detroit Free Press. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and a former editorial page editor of The Michigan Daily, the school’s 125-year-old daily student newspaper.