Joel Ebert
Moderator & Event Planner
Joel Ebert joined the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics in 2021, with a focus on programming public events for the Speaker Series. The series hosts dozens of events throughout the academic year featuring elected officials, activists, journalists and other experts for conversations about public policy and politics.
Smacking Down: When Legislatures Oppress the Will of Cities
In Nashville, the Republican dominated state legislature recently approved a bill to cut the city council in half. In Illinois, local Republican officials remain frustrated over the Democratic majority's decision to rewrite the state's criminal justice laws.
Whether a state is run by Democrats or Republicans, municipalities throughout the country - often led by members of the opposite party - have seen their local will undermined. What do these conflicts between state and local governments mean for everyday citizens? How can public officials work across the aisle to cut through the conflict?
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Featuring IOP Pritzker Fellow and former Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins, Nashville City Councilmember at-large Zulfat Suara and Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau.
Race, Violence & Policing: The Killing of Tyre Nichols
The killing of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police officers in January renewed conversations around the country about race, policing, violence and trauma. While politicians at the local and national level widely condemned the fatal beating of Nichols, there are disparate views of what should be done next. Why do these tragic events continue to occur? Will this killing spur new reform efforts and what do the people of Memphis hope for?
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Featuring Tennessee state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, Memphis-based activist Amber Sherman, former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and Chicago-based journalist Jamie Kalven.
Roads to Restoration
An intimate conversation about journalism and penal reform with Keri Blakinger, an investigative reporter for The Marshall Project and author of Corrections in Ink, which traces her life from figure skating to heroin addiction to prison to journalism. Arrested in December 2020 for possession of drugs, Blakinger spent two and a years in prison, and upon released worked for a number of news outlets including the Houston Chronicle before joining The Marshall Project in 2019, where her reporting led to substantive reforms.
