Town Hall Seattle and UW Engage present
UW Science Now
Gracie Rogers, Gretchen Stemmler, and Justin Applegate
Preserving Our Democracy
EVENT NOTES
Doors for this event will open at 6:30 PM. Town Hall events are approximately 75 minutes long.

New York Times bestselling author and former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade offers an exposé on what she frames as an escalating threat of far-right politics to both national security and American democracy. In The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government, McQuade draws on her decades of legal experience to argue how systems of organized crime and political opportunism exploit the levers of power — using corruption, cruelty, and chaos as tools to dominate institutions and eliminate accountability. McQuade exposes government tactics like information warfare, aggressive retribution, conformism enforced by fear, and pervasive dismantling of legal checks and balances, thereby attacking public interest and undermining justice in the process.
Weaving together courtroom stories, political analysis, and cautionary lessons from history, McQuade makes the case that the threats we face are not merely possibilities — they’re already here. The Fix is not just a warning, however. The book is also a call to action. McQuade offers reforms and strategies that she believes can reclaim the rule of law and recenter democracy with the power of the people. The Fix is for everyone concerned about America and for those prepared to take a stand.
Barbara McQuade is a professor from practice at the University of Michigan Law School, her alma mater, where she teaches courses in criminal law, criminal procedure, national security, and data privacy. She is also a legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and co-host of the #SistersInLaw podcast. From 2010 to 2017, McQuade served as the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. She was appointed by President Barack Obama and was the first woman to serve in her position. Earlier in her career, she worked as a sportswriter and copy editor, a judicial law clerk, an associate in private practice, and an assistant US attorney. McQuade is the author of the national bestseller, Attack from Within. She and her husband have four children and live in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Presented by Town Hall Seattle.
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Town Hall Seattle and UW Engage present
Gracie Rogers, Gretchen Stemmler, and Justin Applegate
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