The Progressive Forum is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025 as America’s only expressly progressive speaker series, and one of the nation’s largest series of any kind with in-person and online audiences.
Progressive Blog
The Progressive Forum Celebrates its 20th Anniversary
Progressive Forum Presents Rachel Maddow in Houston, June 13, 2024
Broadcast journalist and author, Rachel Maddow, returns to The Progressive Forum to discuss her upcoming book, Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism, on Thursday, June 13, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. CT at Congregation Emanu El in Houston.
Paying attendees will receive a free copy of Prequel and a signed bookplate. General admission tickets are $35, $45, and $70, while reserved seats are $95.
Progressive Forum Presents Fareed Zakaria in Houston, May 13, 2024
Preeminent public intellectual, Fareed Zakaria, will appear at The Progressive Forum to discuss his upcoming book, Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present, on Monday, May 13, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. CT at Congregation Emanu El in Houston.
Houston Chronicle Op-Ed: Houston Is Making a Losing Bet on Fossil Fuels
by Randall Morton, Founder, The Progressive Forum
The following op-ed originally appeared in the Houston Chronicle, March 18, 2024.
Leaders of the oil and gas industry are in Houston for CERAWeek, grappling with the inevitable decline of the industry. While the spotlight is on the historic energy transition, we Houstonians should reflect on the stakes: Big Oil’s decline is an existential crisis for our region. Even worse, our economic development leaders at the Greater Houston Partnership are doubling down on this declining industry.
Houston Chronicle Op-Ed: 'Killers of the Flower Moon' & My 100 Years of Healing
by Randall Morton, Founder, The Progressive Forum
The following op-ed originally appeared in the Houston Chronicle, October 14, 2023.
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| JaNae Collins, Lily Gladstone, Cara Jade Myers and Jillian Dion in "Killers of the Flower Moon (Melinda Sue Gordon/Apple TV+) |
Last spring, an email arrived with the power of a comet jolted from its ancient orbit. It bore a faded newspaper clipping from 1920s Tulsa — a half-page pictorial of a driveway murder scene of my father’s parents, noting the spot where he watched it as a teenager.
Under the headline “felled by bullets,” I finally learned the facts of my grandparents’ murder. On my computer screen, the past unsealed itself — an era when whites, impelled by a culture of killing, slew Osage Indians with impunity. A next-door neighbor, a lone white man, had waited on the steps for my father’s parents’ black car. Knowing that a white man wouldn’t be prosecuted, he shot them over a petty dispute involving the use of a garage.
Progressive Forum Presents Andy Borowitz in Houston, September 21, 2023
“One of the funniest people in America” according to “CBS Sunday Morning,” Andy Borowitz will discuss his book, Profiles in Ignorance: How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber, at The Progressive Forum Thursday, September 21, at 7:30 p.m.
Progressive Forum Presents Heather Cox Richardson in Houston, October 19, 2023
Acclaimed historian with more than 2 million avid readers of her daily newsletter, Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson will discuss her upcoming book, Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, at The Progressive Forum, Thursday October 19, at 7:30 p.m.
Progressive Forum Presents Michael Pollan in Houston, November 9, 2023
The author of several #1 New York Times bestsellers, Michael Pollan returns to The Progressive Forum to discuss his book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence, Thursday, November 9, at 7:30 p.m. CT. at the Wortham Center, Cullen Theater.
Pollan’s books will be on sale, and he will sign books at the evening’s conclusion.
Progressive Forum Presents Douglas Brinkley in Houston, November 10, 7:30 p.m. CT
New York Times best-selling author and acclaimed historian Douglas Brinkley will discuss his upcoming book, Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening, at The Progressive Forum Thursday, November 10, at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Progressive Forum Presents Lt. Col. (retired) Alexander Vindman in Houston, October 13, 7:30 p.m. CT
Lt. Col. (retired) Alexander Vindman, the man of conscience who reported President Trump’s “perfect call” that led to presidential impeachment, will discuss his book, Here, Right Matters: An American Story, at The Progressive Forum Thursday, October, 13 at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Paid ticket holders at the event will receive a free copy of his book, a retail value of $17.99. The book partner is Blue Willow Bookshop.