Invitation: RD Author Salon with Greg Garrett, Author of WHITE LIES

The live event is limited to paid subscribers, but a 25% discount is available.

Dear Redeeming Democracy readers,

Because I’ve been busy wrapping up the manuscript to my forthcoming book, BACKSLIDE, it’s been a while since we’ve had an Author Salon. I’m thrilled to announce that the next RD Author Salon will be held via Substack+Live on Tuesday at 12pm ET. (Note the different format—instructions on joining below).

My good friend and colleague Greg Garrett will join me to talk about his important new book, White Lies: Dismantling Ten Cultural Myths about Race, which will be published by Oxford University Press on July 1. It’s available for preorder now, so you can join us for the conversation on Tuesday and have the book arrive at your front door the next day.

As a reminder, these occasional live events are for paid subscribers only. But good news—I’m still offering a 25% discount on all annual paid subscriptions through July 4th. You can upgrade to a discounted paid subscription with the button below and get access to future author salons throughout the year.

I hope you’ll join Greg and me for this lively conversation at this important time of reflection about our nation’s history and future.

Robby

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How to Join the Substack+Live Author Salon

I’ll be hosting a live conversation for paid subscribers on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern.

This will be a paid-subscriber-only event, held directly on Substack. Paid subscribers can join by clicking the live event link below, by opening the reminder from Substack, or by going to the Substack app when the event begins. (Note: You do NOT have to pre-register as you have in the past).

How to join:

1. Make sure you are logged in to Substack with the account connected to your paid subscription.

2. Click the event link: https://open.substack.com/live-stream/258439?utm_source=live-stream-scheduled-upsell

3. A few minutes before noon ET on June 30, open the link or check your Substack app/Activity notifications and join from there.

For the smoothest experience, I recommend installing or updating the Substack app and turning on Substack notifications so you receive the live reminder when the event begins.

Because this event is reserved for paid subscribers, free subscribers who would like to attend can upgrade with a 25% discount before the event here:

I hope you’ll join Greg and me live on Tuesday. You’ll have a chance to hear from Greg directly and to post questions in the chat. If you miss it, I’ll email a link to the conversation the next day.

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About Greg Garrett and White Lies

About Greg

Greg Garrett is the Carole McDaniel Hanks Professor of Literature and Culture at Baylor University and Canon Theologian for the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris, France. Greg’s also become a friend, and some of you may remember my conversation with him at the American Cathedral in Paris or our last author salon conversation on his last book, The Gospel According to James Baldwin. He has published over thirty books, including A Long, Long Way: Hollywood's Unfinished Journey from Racism to Reconciliation (2020). Greg also writes the Good Trouble substack newsletter.

What I Had to Say About White Lies

"As our nation revisits and revivifies America's story in 2026, White Lies helps us discern both the truth of our challenging past and the shape of a hopeful future where we might live into the promise of racial equality and justice for all. Greg Garrett has given us an indispensable gift, a clear-eyed guide for navigating this challenging era of cultural change and backlash."
-- Robert P. Jones, president and founder, PRRI; NY Times bestselling author of Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation after the Christian Turn Against Democracy

About White Lies

For centuries, white men in the West have cultivated and perpetuated a set of false narratives about Black people in order to subjugate and maintain power over them. Some of these myths originated abroad but flourished in America, while others were cultivated solely on American soil. All of them, however, continue to find expression in the present as white supremacy strains to maintain its privilege.

White Lies analyzes ten of the most dangerous and pervasive of these myths and observes how they still emerge in political discourse, legislation, pop culture, and religion. This racist rhetoric is present in the words of Abraham Lincoln, George Wallace, and Donald Trump, and the power of white Christian nationalism often evokes these myths, sometimes so subtly listeners may not be conscious of how they are being manipulated. White Lies connects the dots between past narratives, images, and ideas, and present speech about violence, urban life, the suburbs, voter and welfare fraud, and white saviors. It explores myths that individuals and communities may employ to avoid confronting racism, including the notion that America is either post-racial or that white people are the group most liable to suffer discrimination. While these myths continue to spread, White Lies also notes some of the powerful competing narratives which seek to correct them.

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ICYMI at Redeeming Democracy