Clara Bingham
Award-Winning Journalist & Author of The Movement
Clara Bingham
Award-Winning Journalist & Author of The Movement
Biography
Clara Bingham is an award-winning journalist and author whose work has focused on social justice and women’s issues. She is the author of four books. Her latest, The Movement: How Women’s Liberation Transformed America 1963-1973 (Simon & Schuster, 2024), is the first oral history of the second wave feminist movement. Bingham lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Clara Bingham is an award-winning journalist, and author whose work has focused on social justice and women’s issues. Her most recent book The Movement: How Women’s Liberation Remade America 1963-1973 (Simon & Schuster, 2024) was a best seller and received rave reviews. The Movement is written in a similar oral history narrative style to her previous book, Witness to the Revolution: Radicals, Resisters, Vets, Hippies, and the Year America Lost its Mind and Found its Soul (Random House 2016). Bingham’s second book, Class Action: The Landmark Case that Changed Sexual Harassment Law, which she co-wrote with Laura Leedy Gansler, (Doubleday in 2002) was adapted into the 2005 feature film North Country (Warner Bros), for which Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand both won Oscar nominations. Bingham is also the author of Women on the Hill: Challenging the Culture of Congress (Times Books 1997).
Bingham produced the 2011 feature documentary The Last Mountain which premiered at the Sundance Film festival. Earlier, Bingham worked as a Washington, D.C. correspondent for Newsweek where she covered the White House and 1992 presidential campaign. Her free-lance writing has appeared in many publications including, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, Ms., Vogue, The Washington Monthly, and United Press International. Bingham graduated from Harvard University in 1985 with a degree in History and Literature. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband Joseph Finnerty. The paperback of The Movement will be released in March 2026.
Speaker Videos
Clara Bingham Speaking Reel
The Movement: How Women's Liberation Transformed America 1963-1973 Clara Bingham
Seriously Entertaining: Clara Bingham on “Be Not Afraid”
Speech Topics
Telling America’s Truth: A People’s History of Protest & Power
Clara Bingham has spent her career amplifying the voices of those who have risked everything to challenge injustice and shape the course of American history. In this keynote marking the 250th anniversary of America, she draws from her body of work—including Witness to the Revolution, Women on the Hill, and The Movement—to trace a powerful throughline: real progress has always come from the bottom up. Through first-person accounts and investigative reporting, Clara captures the courage, outrage, and resilience of everyday Americans who became catalysts for change. Her keynote is both a tribute to the past and a call to honor the voices that continue to push our democracy forward.
Life Before Roe v. Wade: A Historical Look at Women’s Rights and Reproductive Freedom
Clara Bingham brings to life the untold stories of women navigating a world before Roe v. Wade, when reproductive healthcare was criminalized and choices were limited by law and culture alike. Through riveting historical accounts and firsthand narratives, she examines how that era shaped the modern women’s rights movement. Clara invites audiences to reflect on just how far we’ve come — and how fragile that progress remains. This talk is both a wake-up call and a tribute to those who paved the way.
Lessons from the Women’s Liberation Movement: Organizing, Activism, and Social Change
Drawing from her extensive research and interviews, Clara Bingham unpacks the courage, strategy, and solidarity that defined the Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1960s and 70s. With powerful stories of grassroots activism, she highlights the tactics that sparked systemic change — many of which are still relevant in today’s social justice struggles. Clara shows how modern organizers can draw strength and clarity from their predecessors, reminding us that history is not only something to remember but something to build from.
The Women’s Movement: Then & Now
In this sweeping and deeply personal keynote, Clara Bingham draws a direct line between the trailblazers of second-wave feminism and today’s gender equity advocates. She explores how far the movement has come, where it has stalled, and what’s still at stake. Through storytelling that bridges generations, Clara brings history into urgent conversation with the present. This is a timely and motivating talk for anyone who cares about the past, present, and future of women’s rights.
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