Alexander Heffner Email & Phone Number

United States

"The Open Mind" is an award-winning public affairs interview series long called precocious because of the ideas it illuminates and thinkers it discovers. The longest-running public broadcast in the United States, "The Open Mind" is a weekly excursion into the world of ideas across politics, media, science, technology, the arts, and all realms of civic life. Founded in 1956 by my grandfather, Richard. D. Heffner, the series introduced the American public to Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and other civil rights leaders. The program’s title originates from the quote, "Keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.”For the past decade, I have continued his legacy of media in the public interest. During my tenure, The Washington Post called the series “[a] radical approach to talk in a troubled time." Its aim is to elicit meaningful insights into the challenges society faces in contemporary areas of public concern, while intellectually stimulating viewers, inspiring in them nuanced understanding, and encouraging active participation in American democracy. Recent episodes have featured M.T. Connolly, A. David Redish, Raj Vinnakota, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Katherine Gehl, Geoffrey Cohen, Annie Wu and Victor Shi, and Verlan and Hyrum Lewis. Among the most formative exchanges on "The Open Mind" include those with Elie Wiesel, Milton Friedman, William Buckley, John Hope Franklin, Gloria Steinem, Neil Postman, Paul Krugman, Thurgood Marshall, Stephen Breyer, Ernesto Zedillo, Bernie Sanders, Bill First, Mitch Daniels, Pete Buttigieg, James Hansen, Jonathan Sacks, Omar Saif Ghobash, Maya Soetoro-Ng, Aloe Blacc, Ottmar Liebert, 9th Wonder, Shabaka Hutchings, Salman Rushdie, Virginia Heffernan, Joe Weisberg, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Mitchell Baker, and Zeynep Tufekci.

The Open Mind Legacy Project is an educational media nonprofit dedicated to informing and inspiring civic engagement, specifically producing the PBS weekly series and podcast “The Open Mind,” Bloomberg documentary series "Breaking Bread with Alexander" chronicling U.S. governors and senators across America, and PSA series "Democracy Depends on Us" in partnership with The News Literacy Project. This body of work has been covered in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Newsday, Des Moines Register, NBC News, NPR, Variety, and Mediaite.

"Breaking Bread with Alexander" is a public affairs documentary series that premiered on Bloomberg TV, Bloomberg.com, and Bloomberg Originals, featuring in-depth examinations of policy with politically and geographically diverse U.S. governors and senators over their favorite meals and activities. The series considers two seemingly fundamental questions: Can we amuse our democracy back to life? Can we incentivize empathy and compromise instead of viciousness and dysfunction? "Breaking Bread with Alexander" challenges us to summon courage to forge consensus. When infighting and distrust threaten the nation’s well-being, the series focuses on the vast heritage of Americans rather than the divisiveness that has plagued contemporary politics. The goal is to achieve sounder, smarter, and more inclusive, effective, and unified policymaking. Fusing the intimate dialogue of "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" with policy discussions of "Face the Nation" with humanizing travelogue of the Bourdain and Tucci, "Breaking Bread​ with Alexander" is an amazing race to legislative success and national morale, aspiring to rebuild the social and emotional intelligence integral to deliberative democracy. The series has been covered in POLITICO, C-SPAN, The Hill, Christian Science Monitor, Hollywood Reporter, Rapid City Journal, Grand Forks Herald, Santa Fe New Mexican, Salt Lake City Tribune, West Virginia Living, Tulsa World, Oklahoman, Raleigh News & Observer, and Bangor Daily News.

"A Documentary History of the United States" is a bestselling anthology of landmark documents—speeches, letters, and Supreme Court decisions among them—that have forged American history alongside interpretative essays. The newest 11th edition chronicles the COVID-19 pandemic, the January 6th, 2021 insurrection, and Biden presidency.“An indispensable contribution to the understanding of our heritage.”—Robert A. Caro“This insightful collection will fascinate, delight, and challenge all who are interested in the progress of the American nation.”—Annette Gordon-ReedThe documents include:• The Declaration of Independence• The Constitution of the United States• Frederick Douglass’ “What, to the Slave, is the Fourth of July?” Speech• Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Emancipation Proclamation, and Inaugural Addresses• Charles Sumner's "Domestic Relations: How to Treat the Rebel States" Speech• Woodrow Wilson’s War Message to Congress• Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” Speech• John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address• Martin Luther King, Jr.’s letter from the Birmingham City Jail• The National Organization for Women (NOW) Statement of Purpose• Barbara Jordan's House Judiciary Committee Testimony• Documents related to September 11 and the Iraq War• Barack Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” Speech• Donald Trump's tweets and Articles of Impeachment against Donald J. Trump

Ab, History

Oscar Tang Scholar