Alison Bass learned as a child to challenge the status quo. As an adult, she not only challenged but smashed it as a scrappy outlier, establishing herself as a respected and award-winning investigative journalist in a male-dominated industry. Bass grew up in Bryn Gweled, Pennsylvania (an unusual cooperative community founded by Quakers) where she gained a unique view of the world that compelled her to question everything while remaining empathetic and open-minded. Bass was the first reporter at The Boston Globe to write about the molestation of children by Catholic priests—a decade ahead of the Spotlight team investigation chronicled in the 2016 movie that won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

This program has been sponsored by the Friends of the Edgartown Free Public Library.