THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2026 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM THE ENGLERT THEATRE 6:30 pm: Doors open / Reception with invited guests 7:30 pm: Program starting with a reading from the book and ending with Q&A 8:30 pm: Book signing with author Hosted by ICFRC Executive Director Peter Gerlach PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ENGLERT THEATRE, PRAIRIE LIGHTS BOOKS, AND IOWA PUBLIC RADIO The wealthy and powerful few have dominated the masses throughout most of human history. This is starkly visible now more than ever—today, the gulf between oligarchs and the average citizen is larger than any gap that existed during European serfdom or the slave society of Imperial Rome. We have arrived at the most blatant version of oligarchy that most modern states have endured, with politicians bought and paid for across the political spectrum. The strange thing is: we aren’t in open revolt against this system. In fact, we keep voting to prop it up. Why? In this discussion of The Blind Spot, political scientist Jeffrey Winters, with Iowa Public Radio host Ben Kieffer, delivers an urgent, incisive account of how we reached this era of in-your-face oligarchy, exposing how modern democracy was developed to protect the interests of the ultra-rich. By tracing the evolution of oligarchy across the globe and through modern history, he demonstrates how the rule of the wealthy isn’t just a flaw in our democracy, it has been built into its very foundations. Now, in an extraordinary paradox, we exist in a state of “participatory inequality”: a world in which 99.99% of us participate openly and freely—democratically, even—in our own ongoing exclusion and disenfranchisement. But powerful change can begin when we have a clear understanding of where we are, and where we deserve to be. As well as shining a light just how bad our political reality has become, The Blind Spot introduces bold ideas for how we might shift the balance of power. While the rich and powerful do not cede power quietly, this period of shocking inequality is, Winters shows, an opportunity for transformation.
a place steeped in local flavor & history, alive with participatory art, and a living room to the University of Iowa. #downtowniowacity
