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Attend our upcoming virtual events

Citizen Virtual Town Hall: How To Be a Helper In This Pandemic

Two gloves do a fist bump during the coronavirus pandemic

April 16, 5:30pm, free
Feeling powerless in the face of the coronavirus crisis? Looking for a way to help? Join a community-wide conversation about how to be a hero in the times of coronavirus, with some of the amazing people who have jumped in to solve problems that have emerged in these times. RSVP here.

This event will be live-streamed via CrowdCast. Attendees will receive log-in information upon registration.

Citizen Virtual Town Hall: Book Club With Novelist Kiley Reid

Philadelphia novelist Kiley Reid

April 21, 6:30pm, free
The Philadelphia Citizen and Harriett’s Bookshop invite you to our inaugural book club, with local novelist Kiley Reid, in conversation with Harriett’s owner Jeannine Cook about her debut Such a Fun Age, set in Philly. BYO takeout dinner. RSVP here.

This event will be live-streamed via CrowdCast. Attendees will receive log-in information upon registration.

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More Ali Velshi

At the Citizen's Ideas We Should Steal Festivals

WATCH: Virtual Town Hall with Ali Velshi

The MSNBC anchor spoke to Citizen editor Larry Platt and a community of engaged social distancers about covering coronavirus from his apartment—and why this might be the moment America needs for real change

WATCH: Virtual Town Hall with Ali Velshi

The MSNBC anchor spoke to Citizen editor Larry Platt and a community of engaged social distancers about covering coronavirus from his apartment—and why this might be the moment America needs for real change

When MSNBC anchor and Citizen board member Ali Velshi goes to work these days, he is like most of the rest of us socially isolated by the coronavirus: at home.

Do SomethingA couple of times a day, he sets up his own lighting (in front and behind); does his own makeup (to cut down on the shine); chooses his own backdrop on a 65-inch TV behind him; and starts his own camera running.

Then, Velshi brings to the world some of the smartest and most thoughtful coverage of this pandemic, on shows that include interviews with politicians, epidemiologists and other government officials, as well as healthcare workers and others intimately affected by Covid-19.

Throughout, he aims to bear witness, to speak truth to power, and to advocate for a better way forward. As he told a virtual crowd of 90 people during The Citizen’s first Virtual Town Hall on Tuesday night, “The idea that a crisis causes you to be your best self is something we should take advantage of. We have been talking about the ills of our society for a long time. If we’re living through this, why don’t we use it to rebuild?”

The event, live on CrowdCast, was hosted by Citizen Editor Larry Platt, and included questions from the audience ranging from how Velshi does his show in quarantine to how journalism works in the age of Trump to whom we can trust during the pandemic.

To see what you missed, watch the video below:

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