36th Annual Herbert Lourie Memorial Lecture on Health Policy

Eric Klinenberg, Helen Gould Shepard Professor in the Social Sciences and director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University, will present “2020: How America’s Year of Crises Has Shaped 2024” at the 36th Annual Herbert Lourie Memorial Lecture on Health Policy.

Eric Klinenberg’s research focuses on climate change, democracy, culture, media, technology and social policy—with implications for U.S. population health and wellbeing. His new book, “2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year that Everything Changed,” presents a “social autopsy” of 2020, profiling New Yorkers against the backdrop of the presidential election, the surge in misinformation, rising distrust and protests.

He is also the author of “Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life,” which argues that the future of democratic societies rests not simply on shared values but on shared spaces: the libraries, childcare centers, bookstores, churches, synagogues, and parks that help us form crucial, sometimes life-saving connections. These places are vital parts of what he calls our “social infrastructure,” and they are necessary for rebuilding societies and promoting health everywhere.

His other books include “Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone,” “Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America’s Media,” and “Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago.”