Lectures & Conversations

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…

The history of DC is also the history of its bridges. In the late 1790s, the first bridges, now completely gone, connected the new Federal City to the outside world. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, more and bigger crossings arose to support industry, allow the expansion of suburbs, commemorate cultural and civic leaders, and…