In the run-up to the presidential elections, the John Adams hosts the ‘Coffee Klatsch’, a weekly online discussion for our members and patrons and our Family and Friends about election related topics, hosted by Glen Kendall and Gabe Marino. At the third meeting, we discussed the corona virus hitting the White House and what it might mean....

Quincy Club 2020

Learn all about the Presidential Elections

September 21, 2020

Our school program the Quincy Club is back on the road! The coming weeks Albertine Bloemendal will visit around 20 high schools in the Netherlands to teach about the upcoming presidential elections. First stop: the Stedelijk Dalton College in Alkmaar....

BLOG SERIES

The Pilgrim Fathers: The Price of Liberty

July 15, 2020

The story of the Pilgrims and the Mayflower is remarkable, and one worth telling. But over time, it was also greatly romanticized and distorted. Based on the exhibition ‘Pilgrims to America’ at Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden, this blog series tries to paint a more nuanced picture of the Pilgrims’ enterprise....

Watch Our Online Events

? Watch The Videos

May 20, 2020

The video of our webinar with Samantha Power and Karel van Oosterom is now online. Here you can also watch or rewatch the video’s of our previous online events....

BLOG SERIES

Rumblings Among the Dispossessed

April 28, 2020

In the final blog of this series, journalist Sjors Roeters describes crossing the US by van and experiencing the effects of the pandemic on the homeless firsthand, and how the housing crisis in the country is at breaking point....

BLOG SERIES

Dutch doctors in the epicenter in New York City

April 24, 2020

Two Dutch doctors who live in New York City describe how dealing with COVID-19 drastically changed their work as health care workers at a cancer center....

BLOG SERIES

My Life as a Dog

April 21, 2020

In this next part of our blog series, podcast maker Leon Neyfakh counts his blessings being able to sit out the pandemic from the comfort of a home outside the city, protecting him from a reality which others cannot escape....

BLOG SERIES

Quiet Spring in Rock Creek Park

April 17, 2020

In the 8th part of this blog series, US correspondent Bas Blokker tries to figure out how to balance enjoying the peacefulness in Washington DC without trivializing the gravity of the epidemic....

BLOG SERIES

Black Liberators

April 15, 2020

The final part of this blog series tells the remarkable story of how research into the origins of a military cemetery for American soldiers in the Netherlands led to the discovery of the forgotten history of the Black Liberators....

BLOG SERIES

All In All We Be Blessed

April 13, 2020

In the 7th part of ‘Stories From The Other Side’, North Carolina resident Michael Martin discovers the blessings of being alone together and reflects on ‘the herd instinct’ of both humans and animals....

BLOG SERIES

False Reassurance

April 10, 2020

Correspondent Casper Thomas reports on tuning into the daily White House corona briefing, where he listens to President Trump creating false hope and spreading confusion....

BLOG

Black Liberators

April 8, 2020

The fourth blog of our series about the Black Liberators examines the mixed-race relationships that arose from the presence of African American soldiers in The Netherlands during World War II....

Blog Series

How We Live Now

April 6, 2020

Former John Adams director Russell Shorto describes what family life is like living in a small town in the mountains of western Maryland while sheltering in place: about untouched jigsaws, a homemade gym, roaming the house and the need to be nice when there’s nowhere to go....

BLOG SERIES

A Stage Set without Actors or Audience

April 3, 2020

What do you do as a photographer in New York now the streets are empty? Brian Rose decided not to take pictures of the calamity that has befallen the city, but instead capture this moment of emptiness as a lesson to never take anything for granted....

BLOG SERIES

Black Liberators

April 1, 2020

In the third part of our blog series about the Black Liberators, Professor Gloria Wekker stresses the importance of an inclusive history and asks the question: is the issue of race in Dutch history forgotten, or suppressed?...

Blog Series

Celebrating a Birthday - via Zoom

March 30, 2020

How do you celebrate while in self-isolation? California resident Deborah Frieden talks about virtual birthdays, social distancing Happy Hour and how small gestures have turned into big things in the age of the coronavirus pandemic....

Blog Series

A Sea Without A Captain

March 27, 2020

In the second blog of this series, constitutional expert Kim Wehle reflects on America’s dealing with COVID-19 on the personal, political and ethical level....

BLOG

Black Liberators

March 25, 2020

The 2nd blog of our series about the Black Liberators examines the rare depiction of African American soldiers in popular historical culture, and in comics in particular....

Stories From The Other Side

Can New York City Lose its Twinkle?

March 24, 2020

This series tells the stories of a range of people living the U.S. during the current pandemic. In this 1st part, New York City resident David van der Leer tells how the city that never sleeps is quieting down....

BLOG

Black Liberators

March 18, 2020

This new four-part blog series is about the Black Liberators – the African American soldiers who helped liberate Western Europe during World War II. For this first part, we talked to Brian Elstak, the illustrator of the graphic novel Franklin – A Dutch Liberation Story....

Introduction

Introduction to Kim Wehle

March 4, 2020

Moderator Eelco Bosch van Rosenthal delivered the following introduction to Kim Wehle, who discussed the importance of the Constitution in connection to current U.S. politics....

BLOG

When it comes to John Brown’s raid, nothing is black and white

February 13, 2020

In this 4th and final blog of our series about abolitionist John Brown, we wonder what to make of him: a hero or a villain?...

BLOG

When it comes to John Brown’s raid, nothing is black and white

February 10, 2020

In the 3rd part of the blog series about abolitionist John Brown, we explore the motives for his raid on Harpers Ferry. What drove him to act and who inspired him?...

BLOG

When it comes to John Brown’s raid, nothing is black and white

February 6, 2020

In the second part of the blog series about abolitionist John Brown, we ponder the question if somehow his failed raid on Harpers Ferry can still be considered a success....

BLOG

When it comes to John Brown’s raid, nothing is black and white

February 3, 2020

In 1859, the white abolitionist John Brown led a raid on Harpers Ferry in Virginia to initiate an armed slave revolt. Although the uprising failed, it still captures the imagination of many. Mieke Bleeker of the John Adams Institute travelled to Harpers Ferry to find out why....

DOKIN website

War Children In The Netherlands

January 23, 2020

On the website www.dokin.nl, made possible by the sound research by Miriam Keesing, you can learn about the refugee children from the Third Reich who came to the Netherlands after Kristallnacht on the so called Kindertransports. The John Adams recently hosted an event related to this topic....

Introduction

Introduction to Meg Waite Clayton

January 22, 2020

Moderator Ronald Leopold delivered the following introduction to Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Last Train to London, a novel based on the true story of the Vienna Kindertransports and the heroic Dutch woman who led the rescues, Truus Wijsmuller....

Introduction

Introduction to Daniel Ziblatt

January 17, 2020

Moderator Chris Kijne delivered the following introduction to Daniel Ziblatt, one of the autors of How Democracies Die. Ziblatt gave an alarming analysis of the collapse of various democracies in recent history, and compared them to the state of the US government today....

BLOG SERIES

Atlantic City, Forlorn

January 16, 2020

In this fourth and final blog of this series, John Adams director Tracy Metz selected photographs from Brian Rose’s book ‘Atlantic City’ showing the city as a symbol of excess and decline....

BLOG SERIES

Atlantic City, Forlorn

January 13, 2020

For the third blog of this series, John Adams director Tracy Metz selected several photographs from Brian Rose’s book ‘Atlantic City’ showing the remnants of Trump’s failed Atlantic City kingdom....

BLOG SERIES

Atlantic City, Forlorn

January 9, 2020

For the second blog of this series, John Adams director Tracy Metz selected photographs from Brian Rose’s book Atlantic City showing the effect Donald Trump had on the city. The book captures a haunting image of the place once known as the world’s playground....

BLOG SERIES

Atlantic City, Forlorn

January 6, 2020

In this new 4-part blog series, John Adams director Tracy Metz reflects on Atlantic City, a book by American photographer Brian Rose, who captures a haunting image of the city once known as the world’s playground....

Review

Review 'Don't Drown a Dead Duck'

December 24, 2019

Former John Adams-director Russell Shorto wrote a foreword to the English translation of the book Don’t Drown a Dead Duck: The art of gentle effectiveness by former chair of the board Marry de Gaay Fortman. Current director Tracy Metz wrote a review....

Introduction

Introduction to Megan Twohey

December 4, 2019

Moderator Joyce Roodnat delivered the following introduction to Megan Twohey, one of the autors of She Said, the explosive book about the investigation into Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo movement that followed....

Introduction

Introduction to George Packer

November 21, 2019

Moderator Chris Kijne delivered the following introduction to George Packer, who discussed his biography about diplomat, policy maker, presidential advisor and international negotiator Richard Holbrooke....

BLOG SERIES

Faces on the Ferry

November 16, 2019

American artist Rachelle Meyer lives in Amsterdam Noord and uses her 12 minute ferry commute to sketch her fellow commuters and the city’s changing seasons. In this 4-part blog series she takes us with her on her Faces on the Ferry art project. In this last part: summer....

Introduction

Introduction to Joseph Stiglitz

November 16, 2019

Moderator Sheila Sitalsing delivered the following introduction to Joseph Stiglitz who told a compelling story about the dangers of free market fundamentalism and the many economic challenges America is facing....

BLOG SERIES

Faces on the Ferry

November 14, 2019

American artist Rachelle Meyer lives in Amsterdam Noord and uses her 12 minute ferry commute to sketch her fellow commuters and the city’s changing seasons. In this 4-part blog series she takes us with her on her Faces on the Ferry art project. In this third part: spring....

BLOG SERIES

Faces on the Ferry

November 11, 2019

American artist Rachelle Meyer lives in Amsterdam Noord and uses her 12 minute ferry commute to sketch her fellow commuters and the city’s changing seasons. In this 4-part blog series she takes us with her on her Faces on the Ferry art project. In this second part: winter....

BLOG SERIES

Face on the Ferry

November 7, 2019

American artist Rachelle Meyer lives in Amsterdam Noord and uses her 12 minute ferry commute to sketch her fellow commuters and the city’s changing seasons. In this 4-part blog series she takes us with her on her Faces on the Ferry art project. In this first part: autumn....

BLOG SERIES

Cajun Culture - Portraits of South Louisiana

October 24, 2019

In our latest blog series, Dutch photographer Emile Waagenaar captures Cajun musicians in South Louisiana in black and white photographs. Click here to read all seven episodes....

Introduction

Introduction to Jill Lepore

October 17, 2019

Moderator George Blaustein delivered the following introduction to Harvard historian Jill Lepore who discussed her brilliant new book These Truths – A History of the United States....

BLOG SERIES

Cajun Culture - Portraits of South Louisiana

October 10, 2019

In our newest blog series, Dutch photographer Emile Waagenaar captures Cajun musicians in South Louisiana in black and white photographs. In this final blog, Waagenaar visits the old and new generation of Cajun musicians....

BLOG SERIES

Cajun Culture - Portraits of South Louisiana

October 8, 2019

In our newest blog series, Dutch photographer Emile Waagenaar captures Cajun musicians in South Louisiana in black and white photographs. In this sixth blog, Waagenaar discovers the origins of ‘see you later, alligator!’...

BLOG SERIES

Cajun Culture - Portraits of South Louisiana

October 3, 2019

In our newest blog series, Dutch photographer Emile Waagenaar captures Cajun musicians in South Louisiana in black and white photographs. In this fifth blog, Waagenaar tells about his personal encounters with Cajun musicians while traveling the Deep South....

BLOG SERIES

Cajun Culture - Portraits of South Louisiana

October 1, 2019

In our newest blog series, Dutch photographer Emile Waagenaar captures Cajun musicians in South Louisiana in black and white photographs. In this fourth blog, Waagenaar portrays Cajun musicians in their home....

BLOG SERIES

Cajun Culture - Portraits of South Louisiana

September 26, 2019

In our newest blog series, Dutch photographer Emile Waagenaar captures Cajun musicians in South Louisiana in black and white photographs. In this third blog, Waagenaar goes in search of legendary Cajun musicians....

BLOG SERIES

Cajun Culture - Portraits of South Louisiana

September 24, 2019

In our newest blog series, Dutch photographer Emile Waagenaar captures Cajun musicians in South Louisiana in black and white photographs. In this second blog, Waagenaar visits the origin of the Cajun people....

BLOG SERIES

Cajun Culture - Portraits of South Louisiana

September 18, 2019

In our newest blog series, Dutch photographer Emile Waagenaar captures Cajun musicians in South Louisiana on film. Over the coming weeks we will showcase several of his images....

Introduction

Introduction to Jonathan Safran Foer

September 4, 2019

Moderator Hollis Kurman delivered the following introduction to Jonathan Safran Foer. Foer talked about his new book We are the Weather in which he explores climate change and how we are dealing with it all wrong....

SURVEY

Your opinion matters!

September 3, 2019

Share your thoughts on the John Adams Institute through our new survey and win two tickets to a John Adams event of your choice!...

Introduction

Introduction to Raymond Neutra

August 30, 2019

Moderator Natascha Drabbe delivered the following introduction to Raymond Neutra. Neutra talked about his father Richard Neutra, one of the most influential architects of the past century. Talking points were his father’s work and his relationship to architecture in America....

Introduction

Introduction to Hendrik Meijer

June 22, 2019

Moderator Roberta Haar delivered the following introduction to Hendrik Meijer. Meijer spoke about Senator Arthur Vandenberg, who paved the way for the creation of NATO by putting the greater good of the country ahead of partisanship....

BLOG

The Golden Rock

June 18, 2019

In the third episode of our blog series about the Dutch island of St. Eustatius, nicknamed ‘The Golden Rock’, we learn how the conquest of St. Eustatius by the British ended the American War of Independence, but not in the way they had envisioned....

BLOG

The Golden Rock

June 11, 2019

In this second episode of our new blog series about the Dutch island of St. Eustatius, nicknamed ‘The Golden Rock’, we learn how the American War of Independence offered new trading opportunities for the ‘double-dealing Dutch’....

BLOG

The Golden Rock

June 4, 2019

In this new blog series, journalist Willem de Bruin tells the story of The Golden Rock, the name by which the Dutch island of St. Eustatius was known in the eighteenth century and which played a decisive role in the birth of the United States....

Introduction

Introduction to Barry Eichengreen

May 28, 2019

Moderator Haroon Sheikh delivered the following introduction to Barry Eichengreen. Berkeley economist Eichengreen examined the concerns that populists raise from an economic and historical context....

Introduction

Introduction to Stephen P. Williams

May 22, 2019

Maarten van Essen, Program Director of the John Adams, delivered the following introduction to Stephen P. Williams. Williams explained what Blockchain is, how it works and what the implications are for the future of our world....

Introduction

Introduction to Kristen Roupenian

April 3, 2019

Moderator Els Quaegebeur delivered the following introduction to Kristen Roupenian. Roupenian discussed You Know You Want This, a collection of short stories that explore the complex – and often darkly funny – connections between gender, sex, and power....

Introduction

Introduction to Saskia Coenen-Snyder

March 15, 2019

Moderator Ronald Leopold delivered the following introduction to Saskia Coenen-Snyder. Coenen describes people’s experience of war through their senses: a new approach she calls ‘sensory history’....

Introduction

Introduction to Tommy Orange

January 17, 2019

Moderator Ellen de Bruin delivered the following introduction to Tommy Orange on February 14....

Introduction

Introduction to Michael Pollan

November 14, 2018

Moderator Joost de Vries delivered the following introduction to Jennifer Clement on January 16....

Essay Timothy Snyder (in Dutch)

Essay Timothy Snyder

October 23, 2018

In this compelling essay for De Groene Amsterdammer, Timothy Snyder, professor of history at Yale University, writes about Vladimir Putin’s so-called ‘politics of eternity’ which has been implemented since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Click here to read the article and here for Timothy Snyder’s up-coming event with the John Adams....

Introduction to Roger Ross Williams

October 5, 2018

Moderator Tracy Metz delivered the following introduction to Roger Ross Williams, film director of ‘American Jail’, on October 4 in Boom Chicago....

Article Jonathan Capehart

October 3, 2018

In this compelling article for the Washington Post, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jonathan Capehart writes about the imperiled Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh and the related issue of white (male) entitlement. Click here to read the article and here for this event with the John Adams....

VIDEO ALBRIGHT

Madeleine Albright and Frans Timmermans

July 5, 2018

You can watch the video of our event with Madeleine Albright, in conversation with Frans Timmermans, by clicking here. ...

Interview Matthew Desmond

Interview with Matthew Desmond

July 2, 2018

Katherine Oktober Matthews interviews Matthew Desmond on the contemporary American epidemic of evictions. Desmond will be speaking about his work at the John Adams Institute on July 4....

Introduction to Andrew Keen

Andrew Keen

May 25, 2018

Seije Slager delivered this introduction to Andrew Keen, author of ‘How To Fix The Future’, on May 24th in Pakhuis de Zwijger....

National Book Award

Jesmyn Ward wins second NBA for Fiction

December 8, 2017

2017 has been a stellar year for women writers. 15 of the 20 National Book Award finalists were women....

Introduction Colson Whitehead

by Maartje Laterveer

December 7, 2017

You can read the introduction of Colson Whitehead by Maartje Laterveer here....

Interview with Holly Krieger

The Creativity and Structure of Pure Mathematics

October 2, 2017

Holly Krieger will be speaking at John Adams Institute on October 10 about the beauty of symmetry, one of the most visibly aesthetic principles of math. We spoke with Holly to learn more about the creativity and structure of pure mathematics....

Featured Text Box 1d

Interview with Rina Mae Acosta

July 31, 2017

‘The Dutch are able to see children for who they are’

Happiness is something that every parent, regardless of country or culture, wishes for their children. As it turns out, the Dutch may be onto something: according to UNICEF studies of child well-being in 2007 and 2013, Dutch children are the happiest kids in the world. But why? In their book ‘The Happiest Kids in the...
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