REDDING — The Mark Twain Library and Redding League of Women Voters will present “Conversations: Truth, Myth & Democracy,” a virtual discussion between acclaimed historian Dr Jelani Cobb and renowned philosopher Dr Jason Stanley.

The special event will take place on Thursday, March 4, at 7:30 pm.

It will be moderated by the award-winning journalist Tina Rosenberg. “Conversations” will examine the underlying meaning of this country’s democracy and how democracy can matter even when people have very different ideas about what it should look like.

Tom Kilbourn, an ordained Episcopal priest and a member of the Redding League of Women Voters, says it is “essential to engage in sustained conversations daring to ask, ‘How do we know what we know and who told us? And when they told us, did they tell the truth?’

“These conversations must be grounded in intellectual authority with tested thoughts and ideas placed attentively on the side of the scale for justice and mercy and common humanity,” he added.

At a time when American democracy has been challenged by the questioning of truth and the fostering of myth, this program is devoted to exploring how caring citizens from disparate groups can find common ground through informed dialogue and civil discourse.

The series of conversations was inspired in part by the polarization and divisive nature of the last year. The intent is to better understand the world by inviting renowned historians, philosophers, social psychologists, and journalists to share their knowledge and exchange ideas about what, why, and how issues are pulling people so far apart.

Mark Twain Library Adult Program Coordinator Elaine Sanders said the intent of the collaborative conversations began as a way to offer the community an opportunity to further the discussion on race in a safe and healthy environment.

“In partnership, we have expanded the conversation in the hopes of fostering civic and civil dialogue,” she added.

The March 4 program follows a number of collaborative conversations organized by Redding LWV and the library that began in the fall of 2019 with a series of talks with Williams College professor Charles Dew about his memoir, The Making of A Racist: A Southerner Reflects on Family, History and the Slave Trade.

That event inspired several programs in 2020, both live and virtual, from author talks to discussions such as that of Ava DuVernay’s powerful documentary 13th.

This month’s program launches a series that will focus on addressing the difficult issues of truth telling and myth busting within this country’s democracy by bringing much-needed community conversations to help promote education, informed dialogue, and civil discourse. The series is being done in association with Easton Public Library, Weston Public Library, Friends of Weston Public Library, C.H. Booth Library, the League of Women Voters of Weston, and the League of Women Voters of Northern Fairfield County, and in partnership with media sponsor WSHU public radio.

Registration can be done online at marktwainlibrary.org or by calling 203-938-2545.