Lectures & Conversations

There is hardly a corner of Washington, DC, and the surrounding area that has not been touched by the plans developed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. (1870-1957).  Known as Rick,…

No part of life in the United States has been untouched by Donald Trump’s relentless weaponization of the Justice Department. This is a cautionary tale about how, once a president…

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has systematically reshaped and disrupted the Pentagon through high-profile purges of military leadership, the dismantling of advisory and civilian-protection programs, and aggressive institutional restructuring. The Pentagon…

The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the March on Washington   This discussion is part of Hill Center's Benjamin Drummond Emancipation Day Celebration series, named in honor of the Naval Hospital's first patient, African American seaman Benjamin Drummond   From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Franchise comes the little-known story of the pioneering Black women…

Duncan Spencer fell  in love with boats at the age of six. Eight decades later, that  passion still carries him across open water—and through the  remarkable stories of a life shaped by adventure, endurance, and reflection. In My Boats: A Life by Sail and  Oar, Spencer recounts sailing  across the Atlantic five times, including a  record-setting crossing in…

Hill Center launched its new public affairs discussion series At Issue in April, 2025. The series examines the many critical issues we are faced with today. Hannah Natanson spearheaded a major series of investigative reports for The Washington Post documenting the Trump administration's effort, at the outset of his second term, to dismantle much of…