In his new book, Twilight Of The Elites, journalist and MSNBC host Chris Hayes poses a challenge with special resonance for the MIT community -- Are the institutions which foster America's leadership class working as intended? Hayes' book covers ground as diverse as education, the financial sector, our political system and the Catholic church in an attempt to understand whether the American elite truly upholds the values of competition and meritocracy which it claims to espouse. His conclusions are troubling.

Hayes joined Atlantic Senior Editor and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Scholar Ta-Nehisi Coates in conversation on Tuesday November 13 at MIT's Simmons Hall for an election-year discussion on the future of our country and an assessment of its institutions.

Sponsors: Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, The Knight Science Journalism Program, Residential Scholars @ Simmons Hall, The William R. (1956) and Betsy P. Leitch Endowment