The Baltimore Ethical Society Meetup

All-Societies Platform: American Scoundrel with Kai Bird

The American Ethical Union All-Societies Platform

American Scoundrel
Roy Cohn’s Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump

Sunday August 30, 2026, at 11 a.m. ET
The New York Society For Ethical Culture
2 West 64th Street, NY NY

There is no cost to attend, but all participants must register for the event.
Zoom Registration Required:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_38HHZmt6SESFXURgdcQgzA#/

Note: BES will meet at 10:30 am, using the Zoom link provided on this Meetup site. We will break about 11:00 AM before the AEU Platform.

Kai Bird is an acclaimed biographer and journalist. With Martin J. Sherwin, he won the Pulitzer Prize for biography for American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, which was the inspiration for Christopher Nolan’s Academy Award–winning Best Picture, Oppenheimer. Bird is the executive director at the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City. He has won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Duff Cooper Prize for History and is the recipient of numerous fellowships. His work includes critical writings on the Vietnam War, Hiroshima, nuclear weapons, the Cold War, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the CIA. He is an elected member of the prestigious Society of American Historians.

About the Author
Curious and compassionate, Louise Jett (she/her) brings stories to life through design, strategy, and community-building. She is a communicator at heart and a collaborator by choice. Her background spans journalism, photography, graphic design, social media, and education. What ties it all together? A deep commitment to relationships, quality, and impact. Louise is an American Ethical Union certified Leader who lights up when people come together to support, empower, and care for one another. She is grateful to be a part of our community.

Kai Bird, the Pulitzer Prize–winning coauthor of American Prometheus, inspiration for the Oscar-winning sensation Oppenheimer, will tell about his new book, American Scoundrel, a biography of Roy Cohn — the mastermind behind the current arc of American political life, including the ascent of Donald Trump.

“POWERFUL AND ILLUMINATING…Roy Cohn is emblematic of dark and perennial forces in our national life…Bird has delivered a vital volume.

—Jon Meacham, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels
“THE DEFINITIVE BOOK ON ROY COHN…Cohn’s influence on our time is incalculable and we are living in the long shadow of his legacy…American Scoundrel is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand Donald Trump’s America.”

—Jeremy Strong, Emmy, Golden Globe, and Tony-winning actor, and Academy Award nominee for his portrayal of Roy Cohn in The Apprentice
“A must-read for anyone who wants to understand not just the dark role played by Roy Cohn in twentieth-century American politics, but the man’s lasting influence into this century—as the mentor to and model for Donald Trump…There is, it turns out, a direct line from the malign influence of McCarthyism to that of Trumpism, and Roy Cohn is it.”

—Susan Glasser, staff writer for The New Yorker and bestselling coauthor of The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017–2021

Your Platform Team this week will be:
David Lavine, Presider
Paul Furth, Zoom Tech

Songs of Protest and Social Justice
Charlie Shafer & Emil Volcheck
Ethical Action Committee

The Ethical Action Committee celebrates the history of social justice and protest through a program of new and old songs.

The BES Ethical Action Committee organizes action on ethical and social justice issues and informs the society on current opportunities for advocacy and positive social change. The EAC leads efforts of our society to make the culture of Baltimore more ethical.

Mindfulness is a tool we can use in our daily lives to act in a more ethical way.

We practice mindfulness meditation so that it comes naturally in stressful times. Join us as we sit (on chairs) and breathe (just the way it comes naturally) and listen to the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, one of the world’s best-known teachers of mindfulness.

For more information on the Baltimore ethical society:

Website: http://bmorethical.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bmorethical

Phone: 410-581-2322

TBD