ADF – PEP Talks

In the novel American Democracy Forever, Charlie Durand created the PEP Talks Bureau (People, Entertainment, Politics) as a subsidiary of the Forum Media Group (FMG). Patterned after the TED Talks, he had enjoyed during his first lifespan, Life 1, Charlie initially saw PEP Talks as a means of broadcasting Forum Club ideas to the general public. The PEP Talks bureau did not, itself, sponsor, or present PEP Talks, leaving this to individual Forum Clubs:

“Any club could engage any of its speakers, depending on availability. Subjects ranged through traditional academic subjects: technology, entertainment, politics, and cultural phenomena. Controversies could be discussed if done in an even-handed way. Not acceptable to the PEP Talk Bureau were extremists of any flavor, nor were talks on any of the pseudo-sciences, conspiracy theories, religious preaching, or personal polemics.”

Speakers were encouraged to use the audio, video, and multi-media facilities of Forum Productions, Inc. when developing their presentations, as well as its speech coaches. The results were visually consistent high-energy shows that were loved by audiences. PEP Talks were always entertaining as well as informative. Without being too obvious about it, they always included messages in favor of liberal democracy and the issues promoted by the Democratic party and opposed by the Republican party.

“With heavy publicity from the Forum Clubs, public PEP Talks were well attended and became a means for the Forum Clubs to recruit new members and earn operating funds.”

While “politics” is part of the name of PEP talks, they were not ostensibly political in the support of a particular political party. Instead, one act in a PEP Talk was usually a short presentation about the political events of the day that put them in an historical context, thereby showing how American political ideas had evolved and how they affected current life. Jon Meacham, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Heather Cox Richardson, all prominent historians, were popular speakers.  They left it to their audience’s judgement whether the arc of American thought tended toward liberalism or autocracy, which party best served their interests, and what they should consider doing to protect American democracy.

Not all speakers were serious academics. PEP Talks included music, comics, and skits that spoofed various aspects of American culture, values, religion, and politics. Comedians Anthony Atamanuik, and Alex Baldwin stared in skits in which they impersonated Donald Trump, mocking him mercilessly. The ventriloquist Jeff Dunham and his Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton puppets, who were dressed to represent Satan and the Virgin Mary, portrayed a battle between good and evil.  And the radio and TV stars Marissa Hardy and Alec Foote provided a warm, homespun interpretation of family life.

After 2010, when Trumpism held sway over sizable portions of the American population, the PEP Talks put increased emphasis on saving American democracy from the threat of autocracy and dictatorship.

“Charlie was billed as the headliner of a PEP Talk show being held in San Antonio, Texas to counter a Donald Trump rally in Austin, Texas. The 2,500 seats of the Rudder Auditorium at Texas A&M University had been sold out for weeks. Charlie looked out from stage-left at the sea of faces in those seats. He examined the stage; it was decorated with patriotic, red, white, and blue bunting. American and Texas flags were on stands at stage-right. On the back wall was a large screen on which was projected the well-known painting by John Trumbull of the Founding Fathers in Independence Hall as they signed the Declaration of Independence. Above the screen the words “American Democracy Forever” were projected in large letters. And on both sides of the stage, there were large, horizontally displayed, bright-blue flags with the letters “ADF” on a white field.”

Videos of PEP Talks were widely distributed via Forum Media Group TV shows, VCR tapes, and later via YouTube, thereby making them universally available. Showings of PEP Talks were popular during Forum Club meetings, leading to discussions and action plans that spread throughout the network of Forum Clubs. A PEP Talk speaker could be confident that his words were not just heard and forgotten. They were remembered, discussed, and acted upon, and that was the true power of the PEP Talks.