How to Make Sense of the 2024 Election

Join the Frederick E. Berry Institute of Politics on Wednesday, March 27 at 10:45 am - 12:00 pm for this workshop about making sense of the 2024 election. With vast experience in political campaigning, reporting, and consulting, a panel of distinguished guests will share their knowledge of how to best follow the 2024 presidential race and how to make sense of the current political climate. Panelists will discuss the importance of being educated about the process, having a healthy skepticism, and looking beyond social media silos. This event will be in-person in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Room on the second floor of the Ellison Campus Center.

Speakers include:

• Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Senior Opinion Writer and Columnist for Boston Globe Opinion
• James Pindell, National Political Reporter
• Scott Spradling, President of The Spradling Group
• Moderated by Alison King, Berry IOP Fellow & Political Journalist

RSVP to this event.

Following this event, we invite students and faculty from the Media and Communications department to join us for lunch with Alison King and the panelists. This Media and Communications lunch will be at 12:30 - 2:00 pm in Veterans Hall on the Second Floor of Ellison Campus Center. RSVP for this lunch.

Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Senior Opinion Writer and Columnist for Boston Globe Opinion

Kimberly Atkins Stohr is a Boston Globe senior opinion writer and columnist with more than 20 years of experience covering politics, policy and law. She is an on-air political analyst for MSNBC, a frequent panelist on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and co-host of the popular Politicon legal news podcast #SistersInLaw. Based in Washington DC, Kimberly focuses primarily on national political and legal analysis. But she has also written deep-dive series on other pressing topics for Globe Opinion, including the award-winning project on the racial wealth gap in collaboration with the Boston University's Center for Antiracist Research antiracism publication The Emancipator. She also authored a five-part Globe Opinion series on the climate and social justice impacts of the fashion industry. She has won numerous awards, and in 2023 was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Previously, Kimberly was the first Washington DC-based news correspondent for WBUR. She has also served as the Boston Herald’s Washington bureau chief, guest host of C-SPAN’s morning call-in show Washington Journal, and a Supreme Court reporter for Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and its sister publications. She has appeared as a political and legal commentator on a host of national and international television and radio networks, including CNN, Fox News, NBC News, PBS, NPR, Sky News (UK), and CBC News (Canada). Before launching her journalism career, she was a civil trial and appellate litigation attorney in Boston, where she argued in a number of courts, including the Massachusetts Appeals Court and the federal 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals. Kimberly hails from Detroit, and is a graduate of Wayne State University, Boston University School of Law and Boston University College of Communication, and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

James Pindell, National Political Reporter

James Pindell is a Boston Globe political reporter who reports and analyzes American politics, especially in New England. He re-joined the Globe in 2015 after a previous stint for the Globe’s Washington Bureau in 2006-2008. He has previously worked for the Des Moines Register, Indianapolis Star, and WMUR-TV in New Hampshire. He also co-founded three media start-ups, two of which he sold. James has been an on staff political analyst for NBC/MSNBC and WBUR. His work has also appeared in Politico Magazine, The Economist, New York Magazine, Campaigns and Elections Magazine, and New Hampshire Magazine, where he wrote a monthly politics column for 15 years. James is a graduate of Drake University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Scott Spradling, President of The Spradling Group

Scott Spradling is an Emmy award winning former reporter, anchor and political director for WMUR-TV in Manchester, NH. He spent 15 years in local media, both radio and tv.  He has become an in-demand political commentator for the last decade and appears regularly on local, regional and national political programming. Since 2008, Scott has operated his consulting firm, The Spradling Group, and works on a variety of major projects in New Hampshire, with clients of all sizes and backgrounds. He specializes in working with media, political and business leaders to address public awareness, crisis communications, project development, grassroots and government relations. Scott has twins who are sophomores in college and also sings in a 12-piece band when he has five spare minutes. 

Alison King, Berry IOP Fellow and Award-Winning Political Journalist

Alison King is an award-winning journalist with over 30 years of experience in the broadcasting industry. She spent most of her career covering politics in New England, including leading the local, state and regional political coverage for NBC Boston/NECN from 1995 until her retirement from TV in April 2023. She has covered seven presidential elections and interviewed every Republican and Democratic presidential candidate since 1996. King has also reported and produced three documentaries, including “Ted Kennedy: Last Liberal Standing,” “The Education of Deval Patrick,” and “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of New Hampshire.” She has won several awards for her reporting including 4 Emmys, 2 Gracies and 3 Associated Press awards.