As co-host of CBC Radio's As It Happens for a decade and a half, Carol Off interviewed over 25,000 people, giving her a unique vantage point on this era of increasing polarization. In her bestselling book At a Loss for Words, she explores how language has been distorted and weaponized, and what happens when we lose our shared meaning for words like democracy, freedom and truth.

For our first event of this season, Carol Off will appear in conversation with former Vancouver City Councillor, Andrea Reimer.

Carol Off is a journalist who co-hosted the multi-award-winning CBC radio program, As It Happens, for almost sixteen years. Before that, she covered news and current affairs in Canada and around the world. As a radio correspondent, she reported on politics in Ottawa and Quebec. As a television journalist, she covered the break-up of Yugoslavia; the 9/11 attack on the United States; the election of Vladimir Putin; and politics, conflicts and culture throughout Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Africa. Her first bestselling book, The Lion, The Fox and the Eagle: A Story of Generals and Justice in Yugoslavia and Rwanda, was published in 2000. Since then, she’s written three more award-winning works of narrative non-fiction, including, most recently, All We Leave Behind: A Reporter’s Journey into the Lives of Others, winner of the British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.

Andrea Reimer is an Adjunct Professor of Practice at UBC’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. She started her public work as a community organizer and in 2002 was elected to the Vancouver School Board. In 2008, Andrea co-chaired Gregor Robertson’s successful campaign for Mayor, ran for Council herself, and went on to be elected to three terms on Vancouver City Council. After leaving municipal politics, Andrea was awarded a prestigious Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design where she studied and taught about urban policy and strengthening democracy. She has been recognized with a number of awards including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award and the World Green Building Council Chairman’s Award. 

The bookseller for this event is Book Warehouse, and you can order a copy of At a Loss for Words here.

BC Libraries Present is a virtual author series that brings exciting conversations to library users in every corner of British Columbia.

This series is a project of BC’s public library federations, coordinated by Public Library InterLink, with the generous financial support of the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.

Carol Off: At a Loss for Words