>> when you're a teacher and you see your students and get to know them as individuals, that opens up your perspective to say, wow, i really don't understand. can you tell me more about it, and that helps other students to be open to their peers and their perspectives. that's one of the things i love about my job. >> one quick thing? >> can i just add one thing? i definitely like to control the conversation. [laughter] so the thing that i was thinking about as a follow-up to that is something i had read by david, he had said that people on the far right like alex jones, was definitely have a character assassination. and i think about victims of sexual assault, and i think about people who are, like, you

know, they would call you a tree-hugger. how are these narratives, right, that people are saying of you, like how as a youth activist or someone who is supporting youth activists, how like the peer pressure to not organize when people are calling you names and saying, that's silly, why are you organizing for that cause, or it's not necessary. i thought organizing for black lives matter, parkland, sexual assault, what have you, and for youth and women of color, it made sense to people who have gone through it saying stop, no more. how to you en-- how do you encourage toar youth activists to keep continuing on while you're standing up for your rights and for justice in and that's really open to anyone, and then i'll go back to york. >> i would just say that i did an interview a few days ago with a woman who's writing a piece about how you teach your

children to be engaged in social justice without tipping towards tribalism, towards the sort of, like, do you worry about, you know, sort of siloing your kids and turning them into kind of bots for your, you know, your beliefs. but i think, you know, my feeling is at the end of the day for everyone it goes back -- i mean, it sounds pollyannaish, but it really does go back to playground rules and values. and, you know it's very easy to -- you don't have to sort of tell your children they have to go out and attend a march, but you do, we do pass on to our children the really most basic values of kindness and inclusivity and decency. and i think that really crosses, you know, it does cross all

boundaries whether we have a political leaning or not. you can, you know, at the end of the day, you can come back to those. >> just knowing david, because i know david really well, i love him. he uses the f-word more than i do. [laughter] but he doesn't give, he does not give two fs about what anyone thinks. he knows what's right, and he has this strong moral compass. and i think, you know, like you're saying, teaching the kids what's right. i think if you know that something is right or something is very, very wrong, then it doesn't really matter that there's these loud people like alex jones telling you you're this horrible person. and that's david, he could not care less. and i think, but it for a lot of our kids that put themselves out there on tv, it was hurtful. this were receiving, you know, all these message, you know,

through social media, all these negative messages, and they carried on anyway. it's just because they have such a strong sense of this is right, what happened to us is so wrong, and we have to do something about it. so -- >> thank you. >> and i just realized in doing a time check that we have to go into questions from the audience. but, a amanda, if you could just close us out, that would make me feel comfortable. [laughter] >> actually, for this question i remember i received my first hate tweet mention a couple years ago. and at first it was jarring to see somebody who was very hateful towards something i was standing for, but also a pat on my back, i stirred stuff up. [laughter] i'm actually causing attention in poem's minds, and the more and more i put my opinions through my writing on the internet and in print and different platforms, i've gotten a slew of attack messages for deferent stances i believe in. and -- difference stances i believe in. and i take that as a learning

tool for the younger people that i work with showing that we can have multiple experiences at the same time. i can feel strong about it because there's something that's happening there and somebody's learning that's making them uncomfortable. and i think that's what i really try to impart with the young people because language is powerful, and it can also be silencing. >> right. >> it's easy to brush off the words people call you or embrace being called the hippie or the lefty or whatever it might be, and that's okay. but if it's a source of pain, it's okay to acknowledge that and allow yourself to feel that. for me, to close out -- so much measure -- [laughter] what's important about hate speak or language is it's okay to be upset by it, and it's also okay to be empowered by it. >> wow, thank you. i'm going to go to the audience for questions. i just want to let you know directionally that there is a microphone here in the very center aisle, and i'd like to do

something called progressive stack. it's when we ask anyone to ask a question, but we give deference to the youth and especially if those youth are at intersections, lgbtqia, have a different religious affiliation than what we're sating in right now and also those who are people of color. so if you have a question, please, by all means, if you could just make a line right here, and i definitely encourage questions. so you can do it. [laughter] all right. here we go. let's clap this person up while they come to -- [applause] thank you. awesome. >> what can young people do against gun violence? like besides caring, what can we do? what movement can we do to better all the situations that's happening right now? >> so the question is, just so

everyone heard it, is what more can we do to cease gun violence. besides caring, what more can we do. that's a question i hear a lot. anyone want to take that? >> i'll offer something. what peace if first has is a platform. it's a community. it's a home for young people who want to get started but don't know where to start. i think we often forget that it's hard. it's hard to move from a place of passion to actually embodying that out in the world. so what we have is basically a step by step process where we help you figure out what you care about. we have tools to help you turn that into a project. we have money to give you, so we have raised the largest youth philanthropy fund. we only give money to young people. no offense, adults. we are raising, basically, a $10 million fund which only goes to young people for young social

justice warriors like yourself. mentors and a community. because i think it's not so much about doing something big, but figuring out where your passion is, who your people are, who your allies are and then getting started. >> okay, thank you very much. >> i'll give you my card. we'll -- [laughter] we'll hook you up. >> thank you very much for your question. are there any other questions coming from the audience? there's so many of you. all right. yes, young man, let's go. [laughter] >> i'm a retired educator, and i work in athletics with boys, 40 seasons. and i'm interested in melissa's statement about that -- and i've seen it, i've observed it. it's probably true in every school about having a majority of your young staff, kids

interested in journalism are girls. so i've done some reading on boys as well, you know, and what media -- i cannot remember the authors, i'm sorry. but one of the aspects is kind of mentorrism by older men, okay? that needs to be passed on. and they seem to be able to pass on this wonderful, good knowledge about community, about families and everything like that. so i'm wondering are there any men teachers on your journalism staff, number one. number two, how do you think you can attract boys to journalism? because i think high school's an opportunity for a lot of kids to do different kinds of things. and, of course, athletics has been very successful for boys. but how to you get boys to come to you to write about what they see, what they feel, what they experience and what they think is right in the world? >> right -- >> thank you. >> for us, i mean, our school is

very academic, and so we have a lot of kids that take a lot of ap classes, and they're sort of, like, very focused i'm getting into college by taking 800 ap classes. i fight about that all the time, i think part of the problem is they see journalism as only writing even though there's so many other aspects to it, graphic design, photography, and now we're podcasting, and we're online and doing all these other things. so i think part of it is changing the per -- perception about what is newspaper p and what you can do. and i think part of it is the also on the part, on my part as the adviser looking at our staff and saying it's not diverse enough and looking in places and asking teachers and staff to recommend, like, hey, we need more male staffers, do you have anybody who you think would be really great for our staff. our tv production staff is more boys than girls.

and, but their tv production teacher is male. so i don't know if there's something that is there in terms of, you know, there's a female teacher, there ends up being more female students, or if it's just the visual aspect of filming that is more appealing. i don't know. i think some of it is sort of battling to change the perception and also just being aware that you're not, your staff isn't diverse enough and doing something about it. so, yeah. >> thank you. >> yes. yes. you. please, come up and join us, thank you. >> hi. i'm max. i'm an activist if a journalist. i write for scholastic which is for a younger audience, teen audience. so i'd like to know for each of your specific causes, what is your best advice for kids who want to get involved? [laughter]

>> i'll start just as a sort of nondenominational -- [laughter] writer. i think that, you know, there are a whole bunch of small and big ways that you can get engaged. i think it was rebecca that said social activism is called social activism for a reason, because it's fun, actually. and getting the message out that it's actually fun to get together with your friends and talk about something that's important, talk about the way marshall gans does, tell your -- you know, promote the idea of the story of me, telling your story first, and that opens people up just like it does when you, you know, go out for pizza with friends and talk about what's happened and what's going on with you. sharing your personal stories binds people together, and that there is -- you know, there are very specific ways where you can

start a group just amongst your friends, a handful of friends. find out what you share in common, find out what you care about and then plot the strategy for how you will hold each other accountable and continue on in your group to focus on an issue that you share and make, you know, small and big changes. attend meetings together, go to protests, make town phone calls -- make phone calls, bother your representative. but find a sort of social pod and take it out there together. >> i would offer up listening too in addition to that. so many, i would say so many movements could be more unified if people just listened to one another. i was for on an uber ride, and the gentleman noticed my shirt said black lives matter, and he was like, you know, i don't understand that.

i could tell by his accent he wasn't from here. i think a lot of times people choose not to hear what's going on. and so when i asked him where he was from, he was like, well, i'm armenian. i was like, you know, your people have had your own struggles. and i started noting dates and times, and he was like, wow, he looked in the rearview mirror, how'd you know about that? culture isn't about fancy places and opera all the time. it's listening and wanting to understand what other people's pain is. and it was quiet the rest of the car ride, which is how i love my ubers. [laughter] but i think listening to other people's stories is actually like a big component, right? because if you just listen to understood instead of listening to respond, we would totally be in a much better place. >> sometimes it can be overwhelming for students. i care about this issue, but i don't know what to do. but there's, around any issue

and locally or nationally there are all these organizations that already exist. so you don't know what to do, but maybe this, you know, you want to help save the everglades, you know? and there's an organization that can help you to that, and they already have protest plan, and they have a letter-writing drive or whatever it is that they're doing. i think sometimes it's just connecting with other people who share your same passion and connecting with an organization and group. and that can be a great way to start in an issue. and then maybe, you know, if you want to do more, then starting a club in your school to bring more students in to connect with that same, you know, group or whatever. and i think that helps it be a little less overwhelming. i care about this, but how do i start my own organization? there's so many organizations out there that are already established that you can connect with and be a part of and get started. >> i love starting with pop culture and media, so thinking about where our young people -- where are young people at. i feel like any political issue people want to get involved in,

there is some music video, podcast, newscast that's related to it. and i think what's important to add on to what the other folks have said is that in order to build relationships and convene together, there needs to be a sense of purpose. and i think it as also has to be fund because this work is -- it has to be fun. because this work is hard, tiring and exhausting. a if a group of teens want to learn about anti-violence sexual assault, who are women pop stars that are singing with a sense of empower ifment or not? i think a great way to start is let's watch the latest cardi b. music video, is there a sense of empowerment in what she's rapping about, or is it something we want to challenge or be curious about. and that could be for young people regardless of their gender because it's also a way to engage and be media literate to what we're consuming. from there that could be your jumping start, wait, maybe you should learn more about

anti-violence work and how, you know, women's empower ifment is multifaceted. so i think there's really great ways to engage with pop culture and media. >> and i'll just add, max, first of all, amen. so this is for the young people. if i had to give you three messages to think about, one is that who you are matters as much as what you do. we spend a lot of time asking young people what do you want to do when you grow up, but we don't send spend -- spend enough time asking who do you want to be and how do you do that. the second is you have to do something. i'm terribly worried about our democracy right now, and we -- none of us have the privilege to sit at the sidelines. and i think that's particularly true for young people. and then finally, you can do something. so we research movements over the 120 years from the workers ' right movement to marriage

equality, occupy, the arab spring. we spent a year doing this in dozens and dozens of case studies. the one through rhine that every single one of these movements had that changed how we see ourselves in the world was they were powered by young people. young with people are our single greatest creators of culture whether that's music or fashion or values. so you're not joining adult-led stuff, you are creating the world that we will grow old in. and so seize that power and lean into it. >> and as a fellow journalist, it's awesome what you're downing, and i would say continue doing it, and be unafraid to challenge -- identify the people in positions of power, and be unafraid to challenge them. whether finish it doesn't have to be congress all the time, it could be your principal. it could be anyone in your school who holds authority. and if you don't agree with a

particular policy or feel that there's something that's being covered up to pursue, you know, transparency and accountability to be able to make change. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> we have time for one more question before i close it out, and i implore -- yes! come visit me. i saw you all the way in the back. i'm glad i wore my glasses today. [laughter] hi. >> thank you so much. i'm a computer science person. i'm sorry to be critical, but i have this question, i have this observation that youth activists are not going deep enough to the root causes of so many problems in our society. for example, we have this gun problem in parkland, we're clever enough to realize it's about guns, or it's about legislations, but then i don't see many activists working on. it's like electoral college because as people move to the coast, the rural areas, they become overrepresented. the kavanaugh gets confirmed because republicans are

overrepresented, and maybe that is more of an issue that we want to deal with. and we don't see enough of activities around those fundamental, more fundamental problems, right? i think this is a problem, and i hope you do. do you have any thoughts on this? >> i'd love to take this. >> yes. [laughter] >> so thank you for acknowledging the importance of root causes and how to enact change, and i want to challenge your challenge that youth activists and activists are already working at the roots. i -- but i think, actually, the electoral college is actually a symptom of injustice, and i think we need to go to history. so understanding the fact that we are on land that was stolen. understanding that colonizers came to this land and took it away from indigenous people. and then thinking about black slavery. there's these key components in the u.s. historical context, and those are the root causes of why and how our government was created and why and how checks and balances don't always work or the problems with the electoral college at the state

level when it comes to presidential elections. so in my experience when i was younger and currently as an activist and in these larger movements, what might be missing from what the media's reporting on, we have some good journalists on this panel who are actually uncovering the real truth. [laughter] what the media actually misses is the actual learning and education thatting activist spaces hold. we learn about our history, we learn about why is the bronx poor if, why is there violence in our community. and it's not just because of the legislation itself or the electoral college, it's because of people and because of the culture created over the ways of this history tied to colonization and slavery. and i think it's easy to miss that, that there's so much working and growth happening or, it's not just waking up in the morning and going to a protest. for some people that might be it, but when it comes to these larger movements, there's so much education happening that's deeper,, and a big piece of what community organizers do is we might push for a policy change, but at the same time when we're

lobbying or meeting with people in power, we're also having reeling to reel human conversations tied to etch think in order to change the culture and mindset about why there might be some people who feel better than others or why ageism or classism might exist. and i think that part of activism is often missing in mainstream dialogue, but i can insure you that it's happening. i love you're asking these types of questions because it's not just pushing us, it's pushing the audience, what do i think about activists and movements. >> i'm with you on the electoral college, i'm not a fan. [laughter] i think part of the problem too is that people are apathetic because you look at the number of people that are in the nation, then you look at the percentage of people that vote. and so it's not like 100% of the country is voting and then the electoral college is still failing us. like, we are failing us on some levels. after, you know, we have this horrific shooting in parkland and 17 people die, and then we

just had a primary in august, and 30% of registered voters of parkland voted. like, what is that? like, we were all -- everybody was marching in the streets in parkland, and,, you know, we're going to change this and we're going to do better, but then 30% of people came out and voted in a primary that, you know, affects representation. and so that's disappointing. and i think, you know, some of that has to be rallying people to be less apathetic and actually take part in, you know, if you don't vote, you're not taking part in what is happening. and i think that is, you know, part of the problem. and gun violence itself is such a complicated, multilayered problem. there's so many different root causes that i think that's why it's a long haul type of problem, because of that. but voting is definitely part of the problem. >> can i just say just to sort of maybe wind this up on a positive note, your generation,

the next generation is browner than any generation in america, greener in their habits, queerer. a recent study said 48% of teenagers identify as heterosexual, which is extraordinary, and suggests that with education and support from the older generation that these things are going to start moving, trending in a positive direction just by virtue of the demographic. you're just a much cooler generation -- [laughter] than any that has preceded. so i have great hopes based on that alone. >> and just a coe that, we're supporting a lot of parkland students on our platform, a lot of activists around gun violence and beyond. there's this narrative that's coming out that at first i loved, now i understand it's problematic. young people are going to figure

this out. young activists are saying, yeah, no actually. y'all created this mess -- >> yeah. >> you should be helping to fix it. i see a lot of adults in this audience, and i imagine a lot of you care about young people, work with young people, have young people in your lives. i've interviewed thousands and thousands of young people about their social justice work, and one of the things i've asked them is what is the role adults played, and every single one of them talked about an all adult o took them seriously. sometimes i was getting out of the way, sometimes i was enabling. if you remember nothing else, the four most important words you can ever say to a young person ever, particularly one who wants to do social justice work, is how can i help, right? how can i help? one, because you're offering sport. but think about where the power lies in that question, right? you're not saying here's how i can help or let me tell you what

i did when i was your age, right? it's that allyship. it's saying i'm with you. but you're going to decide what that help looks like. you're going to decide what my role is. you're going to hold that power. >> thank you for your question. >> thank you. >> i was thinking about the hashtag boston book festival 2018, and i was typing while you all were talking i hate multitasking but also love it, and i wrote something so that way we're ending on a balanced note. i'll leave it there, okay? not so much positive, not so much negative because that's all based on our perceptions. while i was sitting here listening to you, i was thinking about the hashtag boston book festival 2018, and i thought about my if experience with black lives matter. it gave way to a movement, and that movement gave way to more rallying cries each with the purpose of guiding our path to liberation with movements that begin with hashtags like say her name to hashtag trans lives

matter to hashtag we say never again, to dash chicago i have the right to and beyond, like mottos etched into ancient sun dials and tribal markings adorning indigenous structures, hashtag it is will become our modern signifiers of what we're willing to die for. and that is no small feat. i'd like to ask you to join me in thank our attendees here today by giving them a round of applause. [applause] and i also wanted to is you to give yourselves a round of applause for showing up today, listening, asking questions. and like amanda said, challenging yourself, and not just challenging us, right? what are your next steps. i've been asked by the organizers to remind you there'll be week signings -- book signings today, so please stick around and participate in future activities, okay?

thank you. [applause] ♪ ♪ >> the senior members of the trump campaign, don j., paul manafort and jared kushner, meeting with a russian emissary who they were told was bringing them dirt produced by a secret operation of the russian government to harm hillary. so they said, yes, we'll meet with you, we'll take your information, and presumably they would use it if they found it useful. so they were at least agreeing to conspire or collude with russia in that one act. but throughout the rest of the campaign, trump and his lieutenants again and again and again denied the russians were

doing anything. >> david corn, best selling author and washington bureau chief for mother jones magazine will be our guest on "in depth," our live call-in program today at noon ian. many corn's most recent book, russian roulette: the inside story of putin's war on america and the election of donald trump," is co-authored with michael isikoff. his other books include blond ghost and shedown. watch "in depth" with david corn live today from noon to 3 p.m. eastern on c-span2's booktv. >> here are some of the current best selling nonfiction books according to indiebound, a group of independent bookstores that are members of the american booksellers association. topping the list is becoming, former first lady michelle obama's memoir. then it's tara westover's memoir educated broadband growing up in the idaho mountains and her introducti