How to watch Martin Baron discuss ‘Collision of Power’ at the L.A. Times Book Club

Journalist Martin Baron joined the L.A. Times Book Club Oct. 11 to discuss his new book, “Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos and the Washington Post.”

Baron opened up about his career, the future of journalism and his interactions with President Donald Trump in a conversation with Los Angeles Times Executive Editor Kevin Merida at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

When Trump called Baron, the former Washington Post editor says the president told him, “ ‘I’m not a child,’ which I thought was actually kind of childish,” Baron recalled.

You can watch the entire conversation on YouTube, Facebook and X, the platform previously known as Twitter.

L.A. Times Executive Editor Kevin Merida, left, and former Washington Post editor Martin Baron, right, at USC.

(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

Baron led the Washington Post from 2013 to 2021. In “Collision of Power,” he details how he navigated both a new president who declared journalists “the enemy of the people” and a billionaire owner who took over a historic American newspaper, launched a digital transformation and coined the motto “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”

Audience members listen attentively as L.A. Times Executive Editor Kevin Merida and former Washington Post editor Martin Baron discuss “Collision of Power” at book club night.

(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

In a recent interview, Baron said he had no interest in producing a personal memoir.

“I don’t think that my life is all that interesting. The exception is what I have done in public life. That’s what I felt was important. That’s what I think is consequential. I think people are entitled to know why I made the decisions I did as the executive editor.”

Before running the Post, Boston Globe and Miami Herald newsrooms, Baron worked from 1979 to 1996 at the L.A. Times as a reporter, business editor, Column One editor and editor of the Orange County edition. The 2015 Oscar-winning film “Spotlight” showcased how Baron and the Boston Globe staff exposed a molestation scandal in the Catholic Church.

“Collision of Power” is the October selection of the L.A. Times Book Club, which brings Southern California together every month to share a common read and hosts community conversations with authors and newsmakers.

Kevin Merida, left, and Martin Baron, right, talked about their experience working together at the Washington Post.

(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

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