Meet the Democrat Even Republicans Love: An “Independent Thinkers” Conversation with Kody Kinsley

Join Duke University professor Frank Bruni for a conversation with Kody Kinsley, the former Secretary of Health and Human Services for North Carolina, about strategies for working across party lines, how he thinks Democrats could better communicate with voters who are skeptical of the party, and ways in which all of us can move beyond political tribalism to find common ground. Kody Kinsley was the state's top health official, under Gov. Roy Cooper, from early 2022 to early 2025. He played a pivotal role in persuading the state's Republican lawmakers to approve Medicaid expansion - and insure hundreds of thousands of previously uninsured North Carolinians - under the Affordable Care Act. That success prompted the publication The Assembly, in a lengthy profile, to call him state Republicans' "favorite Democrat." A native of Wilmington, N.C., Kinsley grew up without health insurance and was the first person in his family to attend college. Frank Bruni teaches at Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy as part of the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media and Democracy. He's also a longtime writer for The New York Times and the author of five bestselling books, including, most recently, The Age of Grievance, about the sources of - and remedies for - America's political divisions. The "Independent Thinkers" series of Frank's conversations with public figures who defy reductive political labels is part of the Provost's Initiative on Pluralism, Free Inquiry and Belonging. This is the first conversation in the series. The second will be with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Nov. 10. For attendees needing parking accommodations, please use the Bryan Center Parking Garage located at 136 Science Drive, Durham, NC 27710. To register, click on the More Event Information button below.