BY KAREN BOSSICK

Explore what Americans can learn about authoritarianism from China when foreign correspondent Kathleen McLaughlin gives a free presentation at Ketchum’s Community Library.

McLaughlin will present “Inequality and the Rise of Authoritarianism: Lessons from China to the U.S.” at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 3, at The Community Library.

The talk will examine how socioeconomic inequality has given rise to authoritarianism around the world. It will also examine parallels between China and the United States right now and offer suggestions on how Americans might protect their democracy and democratic norms.

McLaughlin, who is based in Butte, Mont., is spending three weeks in the Wood River Valley as the Writer-in-Residence at the historic Ernest and Mary Hemingway House, which is managed by The Community Library. She is working on a variety of projects while here.

“I'm so grateful to The Community Library for this gift of time and space in a place with such apparent creative energy,” said McLaughlin. “While I'm here in Ketchum, I'll be wrapping up an edited anthology collection, beginning work on a new book of my own, as well as working on a radio documentary for the BBC World Service. Having unrestricted solo time and space in a gorgeous setting to really focus on these projects is invaluable.”

McLaughlin worked as a foreign correspondent in China for 16 years where she covered labor unrest, politics and health and science. Her work centers on socioeconomic class, labor rights and inequality around the world, and how those factors shape global, national and local politics.

While in Beijing, she uncovered problems in China’s electronics supply chains and China’s health aid to Africa. She was the only American journalist allowed into Tibet on an independent reporting trip following riots in 2008.

Her 2023 book, Blood Money: The Story of Life, Death, and Profit Inside America's Blood Industry, an investigation of the global plasma industry, sheds light on the erosion of social safety nets in the United States that has quietly led millions of Americans to sell their blood to get by.

To see McLaughlin’s presentation in person, RSVP at https://thecommunitylibrary.libcal.com/event/14209496. The program will also be livestreamed and available to watch at https://vimeo.com/event/4992404.