HistoryTalks event brings former presidents, athletes, and entertainers to Philly

A History Channel event at the Kimmel Center in Center City on Saturday drew former Presidents Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama for conversations about their careers and their hopes that the country they led will survive this era of political divisiveness.

Along with the former presidents, HistoryTalks featured conversations with former first lady Michelle Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, athletes like Tom Brady, and entertainers like Nicole Kidman and Delaware County native Tina Fey on the stage of a packed Marian Anderson Hall.

The invitation-only crowd cheered remarks that highlighted behaviors that can help overcome political polarization and move the nation toward the U.S. Constitution’s promise of a “more perfect union.”

“At the heart of our democratic project is not just policy, but it’s a set of moral commitments. It’s a set of values and ethical norms,” Obama said during his interview with historian Jon Meacham.

“We are going to get through these challenging times,” but not because there is a better 10-point policy, he said. “It’s because we find a way to reset ourselves around these moral commitments to freedom and treating people as we would like to be treated.”

The Philadelphia version of HistoryTalks — which took place just blocks from Independence Hall — was planned to coincide with the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations, but also at a critical juncture in history, said Paul Buccieri, president of the History Channel’s owner, A+E Global Media.

The History Channel had previously hosted HistoryTalks in New York, Washington, and Los Angeles.

Philadelphia-headquartered Comcast cosponsored the event. “This is really the 250 kickoff for us,“ chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said in opening remarks. He expressed hope the speakers would help people find a sense of community.

An off-the-record conversation between Bush and his daughter Jenna Bush Hager kicked off the invitation-only event. Former Philadelphia Eagle Jason Kelce then interviewed Brady, the former New England Patriots quarterback, also off the record.

Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, shared family history during their interview with author and podcast host Jay Shetty.

Biden relayed his oft-told tale about asking Jill five times to marry him before she said yes. “I wasn’t going to ask a sixth time,” he told the audience.

Bill Clinton and other speakers hit on the importance of working across national borders in an interdependent world.

“If you don’t believe in positive interdependence and collaboration being better than conflict, believe in compromise being better than division and brutality, we’re in a hell of a fix because the truth is that almost all of our challenges can only be met by cooperative efforts,” Clinton told actor Ted Danson.

The day was not all politics.

Michelle Obama told historian Doris Kearns Goodwin about her efforts to give daughters Malia and Sasha as normal a childhood as possible. “I tried to make the whole president thing go away when we were in their world,” she said.

Asked about how she is challenging herself, Kidman shared that she is learning to be a death doula, a person who helps individuals and families through the process of dying.

“You need a certain personality, and I found out that I have it,” she said during her interview with television personality Hoda Kotb.

Fey, who got her start in comedy in the Upper Darby Summer Stage youth theater program, recalled living here during the Bicentennial.

“It was the most exciting time. If I could purchase and move into Betsy Ross’ House — that’s so my core identity."