Michael Barbaro discusses his approach to covering America amid political polarization

The La Follette School of Public Affairs hosted Michael Barbaro, New York Times journalist and founding host of The Daily podcast, on October 20th.

Barbaro’s conversation with La Follette Director Susan Yackee packed Shannon Hall at Memorial Union. More than 700 attendees listened to Barbaro speak about his reporting career, his views on polarization and the importance of civil dialogue.

Barbaro began his journalism career at the Washington Post before joining the New York Times in 2005. Reporting on a variety of topics, Barbaro developed a diverse portfolio and became the Times’ national political correspondent. Building on this success, he created The Daily in 2017. Since its creation, The Daily has become the most popular news podcast in the world, with more than 3 million listeners.

Director Yackee and Barbaro’s conversation touched on a wide range of issues, from polarization to being a journalist during the Trump presidency.

Doug Bradley, a first-year MPA student, and Julia Robbins, an undergraduate in the brand-new Public Policy major, introduced Barbaro to the audience.

They also premiered the trailer for La Follette’s docuseries, “Raised on the Divide,” created in collaboration with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The first season of the series will be released next week.

During his visit to Madison, Barbaro visited undergraduate and graduate classes at the La Follette School. Barbaro and students discussed covering politics in a polarized country, the decline in local news and objectivity in reporting.

Ahead of the Journalist in Residence event, La Follette held a reception to celebrate Director Susan Yackee’s transformative tenure. Guests honored Yackee’s work as director in expanding the offerings and impact of the La Follette School, and heard from Michael Collins, who will take over her position in January.

The morning following the event, Barbaro discussed public affairs and politics at the Madison Club. La Follette hosted this breakfast in partnership with WisPolitics-State Affairs.

This event was made possible by the Kohl Initiative, the Paul Offner Lecture Series, UW–Madison’s Office of Strategic Communications, and an anonymous donor.

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