You’re invited to the forum
featuring DEREK THOMPSON!
APRIL 9, 2026 at carolina theatre
The Abundance Agenda: A Hopeful New Roadmap From Scarcity to Abundance
On April 9, The Charlotte Center hosts the Forum featuring Derek Thompson, New York Times bestselling author and former staff writer at The Atlantic, for a forward-looking conversation on how we can move from a world defined by scarcity to one shaped by abundance. With clarity and optimism, Thompson explores how bold ideas, innovative policies, and risk-taking strategies can help us unlock extraordinary growth and possibility.
In conversation with Aaron Houck, Thompson will draw from his book Abundance (co-written with Ezra Klein). Thompson will examine how to expand affordable housing, transform energy infrastructure, and spark a new wave of technological breakthroughs. He will highlight concrete ways businesses and governments can clear barriers to progress—like reducing red tape to accelerate building—and reveals how rethinking our legal, cultural, and political paradigms can open the door to an era of abundance.
About Derek Thompson
Derek Thompson is the hosts the widely followed Plain Language with Derek Thompson podcast, and a former staff writer at The Atlantic, where he wrote the popular “Work in Progress” newsletter. He is the author of Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction and the co-author of Abundance (with Ezra Klein). Known for his insightful and accessible style, Thompson has been featured on NPR, CNBC, and major media outlets as one of today’s most engaging voices on economics, culture, and innovation.
About Aaron Houck
Aaron Houck practices law at Robinson Bradshaw. His practice focuses on land use and zoning and development that requires coordination or negotiation with local governments. He is the former director of regional policy for the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute. Prior to that role, Aaron was a tenured professor of political science at Queens University of Charlotte.
Connect. Consider. Ignite. The program runs from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM including time for conversation, connections, and Q&A.
The Forum has a three-part structure:
• First third: Participants connect and build relationships in small break-out groups prompted by a question;
• Middle third: Participants consider a presentation that ends with the speaker posing a community-facing question;
• Final third: Participants discuss the question, igniting new ideas and interactions.
THE HUMANITIES | Languages | Literature | History | Philosophy | Religion | And More!
Participate in the important questions of our time. The Forum is a conversation and speaker series that brings people together to explore challenges and opportunities that affect human flourishing through the lens of the humanities and civic imagination.
