In conversation with Arwa Mahdawi

Referred to by bestsstelling author Rebecca Traister as “exhilarating, good humored, and forward looking,” Kristen R. Ghodsee’s Everyday Utopia is a two-millennia examination of diverse civilizations’ boldest dreams of and experiments in ideal societies. Ghodsee is also the author of six other books, including the acclaimed and bestselling Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence, which has been translated into 14 languages. A professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, she has contributed articles to numerous publications, including The New Republic, The New York Times, and Le Monde Diplomatique; and she has appeared on dozens of television shows, radio programs, and podcasts.

Arwa Mahdawi is a London-born, Philadelphia-based writer, speaker, and business consultant. Arwa is the author of Strong Female Lead, a book urging us to reconsider our preconceptions about leadership and laying out a blueprint for the types of leaders we need in a time of permacrisis. She writes a weekly column for The Guardian covering everything from politics to pop culture. She is also the creator of the viral website Rent-A-Minority, which is an ‘Uber for diversity.’ (Yes, before you ask, it’s satire.)