Kerry Washington, Jane Fonda, U.S. Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock, Kesha, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, Cord Jefferson, Adam Conover, U.S. Senator Laphonza Butler, and Numerous Activists and Thought Leaders Speak at Annual A Day of Unreasonable Conversation
Event Connects Pop Culture Creators with Social Change Disrupters for Dialogue Across Difference in Conversations Spanning Democracy, Labor, and Criminal Justice
Getty Center, Los Angeles
Monday, March 25, 2024
LOS ANGELES, March 6, 2024—In a moment when the world seems more polarized than ever, a single conversation—often between two people who do not agree with each other—can be quietly revolutionary. And the role of entertainment in driving narrative change has never been more apparent.
Now in its third year, A Day of Unreasonable Conversation uses those truths to form the basis for a transformative day of programming designed to help the entertainment industry unleash its change-making power.
B.J. NOVAK, HEATHER MCGHEE, GEORGE GOEHL, A Day of Unreasonable Conversation 2022
This invitation-only gathering was founded by social impact agency Propper Daley, with partner agency Invisible Hand as creative directors. This year, it is co-chaired by actor, producer, and activist Kerry Washington, with her Simpson Street production partner Pilar Savone. Of the program, Savone says A Day of Unreasonable Conversation is invaluable in shaping storylines: “At Simpson Street, we’re committed to complicating narratives, enriching storytelling, and fostering a deeper understanding of the world around us. A Day of Unreasonable Conversation has helped us to continue to do that. This event is a unique opportunity for us to challenge our thinking, hear new perspectives, and ultimately shape the new narratives coming out of the entertainment industry."
“A Day of Unreasonable Conversation is designed to be a little bit provocative,“ says Greg Propper, Founder and President of Propper Daley. “But that is what makes it so paradigm-shifting and so uniquely able to spark genuine aha moments that inspire attendees to approach their work as storytellers differently.”
“Each year we hear from writers and producers who tell us that something they learned at Unreasonable changed the way they do their job. We can see the results on the screen the next season, and that’s remarkable,” says Genevieve Roth, Founder and CEO of Invisible Hand.
The event will include panels, performances, and fireside chats, prompting the audience to think critically about how we engage with entertainment and the role it can play in propelling the world forward.
Throughout the day, a remarkable slate of creatives, thought leaders, and activists will share stories with an invite-only audience of television industry titans to bring nuanced perspectives to the forefront of national conversations.
Select 2024 A Day of Unreasonable Conversation Topics and Speakers:
Phoebe Robinson, comedian, best-selling author, publisher, creator, and star of “Everything’s Trash,” will emcee this year’s event.
Complexities of identity will be front and center at this year’s event. Writer and director Cord Jefferson, whose film “American Fiction” is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards, is confirmed, as is W. Kamau Bell, Emmy award–winning host and producer of “United Shades of America” and Peabody award–winning director and producer of “We Need to Talk about Cosby.” Four-time Pulitzer Prize–nominated journalist Michele Norris will bring insights from her new book “Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity,” and Dr. Jonathan Metzl, author of “Dying of Whiteness” and “What We’ve Become,”, will reveal “how right-wing backlash policies have mortal consequences—–even for the white populations they promise to help.” Hollywood multi-hyphenate creator, showrunner, director, and actress Gloria Calderón Kellett will discuss her advocacy work for women, the Latinx community, and human rights.
Nobel Peace Prize–winning journalist Maria Ressa will speak to the growing threat of disinformation and generative AI on social media as it relates to democracy, polarization, and social disconnection. In contrast, Prentice Penny, who is perhaps best known as the showrunner of HBO’s “Insecure,” will explain how social media allowed for the emergence of “Black Twitter,” a social phenomenon that has been at the forefront of American culture for nearly two decades.
The event’s audience, still reeling from a year of reckoning around labor practices in Hollywood, will go deeper into the labor understory across American industry and its workforce. They’ll hear from labor leaders and economists as well as Writers Guild of America West board member Adam Conover, the writer and TV host known for “Adam Ruins Everything” and Netflix’s “The G Word,” who was on the front lines negotiating and advocating on behalf of the WGA during the 2023 strike.
A spotlight on care work will feature author and memoirist Stephanie Land, whose 2019 debut book “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive” was adapted into a breakout 2021 Netflix miniseries starring Margaret Qualley and Andie MacDowell. Land’s memoir, “Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education,” was released last year to widespread acclaim.
This year, as more people across the globe will be exercising the right to vote than ever before, democracy has never felt more vulnerable. U.S. Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock will join Baratunde Thurston, host of the podcast “How to Citizen” and PBS’s “America Outdoors,” in a conversation that examines this paradox and reimagines how civic life in America can seed new stories about democracy in the next chapter of popular culture.
Demonstrating how to transcend tribalism and engage in meaningful dialogue across differences, liberal journalist and entrepreneur Mónica Guzmán will be joined by her parents—Mexican immigrants who twice voted for Donald Trump—in a heartfelt conversation moderated by Peabody award–winning broadcaster and host of “On Being” Krista Tippett.
Throughout the program, there will be performances by such luminary artists as Kesha, Trombone Shorty, Sarah Jones, Ben Palmer, Brandon Kazen-Maddox, and the Crenshaw High School Marching Band.
Other participants include Yusef Salaam, Charli d’Amelio, Dorian Warren, Maurice Mitchell, Sinead Bovell, Angela Patton, Harper Steele, Josh Greenbaum, Clark Kimerer, X Mayo, Sage Lenier, Sharon Lavigne, Alaphia Zoyab, Patti Davis, 2023 National Teacher of the Year Rebecka Peterson, Ana Zamora, and more.
In addition to Simpson Street, this year’s event is co-chaired by SHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment Studios and is presented by The William + Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Just Trust, Omidyar Network, Quadrivium, and the Walton Family Foundation.
Additional support is provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Civic (Re)Solve, Imaginable Futures, Luminate, Moriah Fund, Partners in Kind, and Springbank.
About A Day of Unreasonable Conversation
While Unreasonable was postponed in 2023 in solidarity with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the 2022 event gathered more than 400 leading TV writers, producers, and executives. A post-event survey was overwhelmingly positive, with 100% of attendees saying they “learned something that changed their perspective.” Past speakers have included Stacey Abrams, Scott Budnick, America Ferrera, Senator Al Franken, Valerie Jarrett, Kim Kardashian, Ezra Klein, John Legend, Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Chrissy Teigen.
A Day of Unreasonable Conversation is a program of Propper Daley, the social impact agency behind the world’s leading changemakers, produced in partnership with Invisible Hand, a social impact and culture change agency that blends storytelling and community to propel the world forward.
Propper Daley was founded as the nation’s first social impact agency, fusing “left-brain” strategic expertise with “right-brain” creative execution to help clients across sectors accelerate their purpose. Today, the firm is known for building and executing world-class social impact programs in close collaboration with leading foundations, nonprofits, brands, and individual philanthropists.
Invisible Hand uses the best of community organizing, creative storytelling, and investigative research to craft strategies and activations for clients who are ready to build a more equitable and sustainable future. Together with influential companies, nonprofits, and individuals, the agency engages in deep dialogue with communities in co-creation of programs that build lasting impact.
A Day of Unreasonable Conversation is fiscally sponsored by The Social Impact Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization.
# # #
Media Contact: Robert Conner, Scott Circle Communications
Media who want to cover A Day of Unreasonable Conversation can apply for credentials through this online form.