New York State Writers Institute's video: Casey Mulligan and Joseph Grogan: A Conversation with Two Former Trump Administration Insiders

A Message to Our Audience At the NYS Writers Institute, we believe that it is critical to engage in conversation with people representing the wide spectrum of political points of view we see in our nation. A discussion does not mean an endorsement. Telling the Truth 2020 addresses the dangers of tribalism and polarization. All the speakers selected for this series—Left, Right and Center— affirm the need to promote dialogue and listen to diverse perspectives. We have received a number of objections from individuals in the community about featuring past members of the Trump administration. This event does not represent an endorsement of their political views, nor does it provide a platform for promoting political messages or policy agendas. The primary focus of our conversation with Casey Mulligan and Joe Grogan is on the importance of opening channels of communication, avoiding the impulse to dehumanize those who disagree with us, promoting civility, and seeking the possibility of common ground. In a series that specifically addresses political tribalism, polarization, and intense hatreds, we felt that we would be doing you—the audience—a terrible disservice if we did not reach out to representatives of political opinions that may be different from yours, and different from our own. We value the views, concerns and objections of audience members and we encourage you to share them with us. Thank you for your passionate engagement with our programming. --The New York State Writers Institute This is a presentation of Telling the Truth 2020, the New York State Writers Institute's virtual symposium on politics, tribalism, polarization, and the future of democracy. Visit https://www.nyswritersinstitute.org/tellingthetruth2020 for more information on the symposium. Casey B. Mulligan served as the Chief Economist of President Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers (Sept. 2018-Aug. 2019). His new book is You’re Hired!: Untold Successes and Failures of a Populist President (Sept. 2020), which provides a front row seat for anyone interested in policy and politics inside the Trump White House. David R. Henderson of Stanford University's Hoover Institution said, "Profound, important, entertaining, economically solid, and easy to read. It will be one of the most important books of 2020." Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, Mulligan has published numerous opinion pieces for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Post and Chicago Tribune. Mulligan’s book, You’re Hired, is available to order through The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza: https://www.bhny.com/book/9781645720133 Joseph Grogan served as Director of the United States Domestic Policy Council and assistant to President Donald Trump (Feb. 2019-May 2020). He earned a B.A. in English in 1994 at the University at Albany, where he studied with the late Tom Smith, Director of the New York State Writers Institute. Grogan served as Trump’s lead advisor on a variety of domestic policy issues relating to health care, regulation, economic expansion, commercial space exploration, environment, agriculture, civil rights, and education. On the subject of health care policy, he is widely recognized as a thought leader on the political right. Grogan's dramatic expansion of the Domestic Policy Council from a minor office to a central White House advisory body is the subject of a June 2019 feature article in The Atlantic, "How a Forgotten White House Team Gained Power in the Trump Era.” (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/06/trump-domestic-policy-council/592516/)