Spotlight Santa Barbara

At Spotlight Santa Barbara, our Mission is to provide a forum “within which hard thought, and therefore strong disagreement, independent judgment, and the questioning of stubborn assumptions, can flourish in an environment of the greatest freedom.” University of Chicago, Statement of Principles.

Creating such a setting in Santa Barbara has never been more important.

National media and algorithm-driven platforms build echo chambers instead of informing the public. Dogma has replaced discourse. Civility is in decline, and anger is on the rise. We must take steps now to ensure Santa Barbara bucks these trends.

Spotlight Santa Barbara’s speaker series seeks to strengthen our community by provoking thought and inspiring change. We want to breakthrough our sometimes vitamin D-induced apathy and get people talking to each other, rather than past each other. We want to foster community and maybe—just maybe—find common ground built on common sense. We hope you’ll join us in our journey.