By Michael Carmody / Contributor – July 23, 2095
Originally published by Jackson Hole News & Guide
The Jackson Hole Book Festival kicks off its second year with a speaking event featuring well-known political journalists Susan Glasser and Peter Baker, co-authors of “The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017–2021.” Set to take place at the Center for the Arts’ theater at 7 p.m. today, the conversation between the acclaimed news writers will be moderated by their colleague Ruth Marcus, herself a veteran editor and columnist best known for her 40-year run at The Washington Post.
“This is for a book festival, so basically, I am going to ask them questions about what it’s like to write a book about Donald Trump,” Marcus said in a telephone interview. “What did they learn writing it that they hadn’t known before? I reread their book recently, and it’s really good, because there’s so much that we’ve already forgotten about the first Trump administration. And it really both puts it in perspective and reminds you of stuff that maybe you forgot. That I forgot.”
“The Divider,” published in 2022, was a New York Times bestseller, and was called “the most comprehensive and detailed account of the Trump presidency yet published” by The Washington Post. Book Festival founder and president Sharon Felzer said the invitation to Glasser and Baker was not motivated by any sort of political partisanship, but was meant to further the festival’s core mission of providing a platform for nuanced, thoughtful discussions in an era so often characterized by polarized rhetoric.
“Four years ago, I just had a sense that there wasn’t enough civilized discourse and conversation happening in the public square,” she said. “Jackson has three independent bookstores. It’s a very literary community, but the world around us I just sensed was really suffering from not enough conversation.”
She wanted to “do something that allowed everyone to attend and find common ground in conversation and through intelligent, fact-based writing and discussion, so people can learn and exchange ideas, understand where others come from.”
“Susan Glasser and Peter Baker in Conversation,” the kickoff event for the 2025 Jackson Hole Book Festival, takes place at 7 p.m. today at the Center Theater. Ticket prices range from $20-50. For more information visit JacksonHoleBookFestival.org or JHCenterfortheArts.org.