Talking Volumes series kicks off with author, politician, firebrand Stacey Abrams

Stacey Abrams is known as a gifted debater, a voting rights advocate credited with helping turn Georgia blue(ish), a nimble politician and a fluid writer. But if you want to hear about her screw-ups, talk to her five siblings.

Abrams, who will kick off the Minnesota Star Tribune and MPR News’ Talking Volumes series Sept. 10 with a discussion of her thriller “Coded Justice,” is the second of six high-achieving siblings. And with a variety of areas of expertise, including biology, religion and anthropology, they all read her books before they’re published.

“They tell me where I am wrong and bad before anyone else does,” said Adams, whose speech is often punctuated by hearty chuckles. “They’re all voracious readers and they read through very different lenses.”

Abrams will discuss siblings, artificial intelligence, inequity in health care, her two runs for the Georgia governor’s office and more with MPR’s Kerri Miller at the Fitzgerald Theater Wednesday. The following was edited for length and clarity:

Q: There is lots going on in “Coded Justice.” What did you start with?

A: I wanted to write about AI and I wanted to find a way in that didn’t demonize it. I really think about this technology, which is ubiquitous but opaque to people. How could I make it accessible and how could I do so with a conversation that is, on its face, a sympathetic conversation but that has all these tentacles and tendrils we don’t think about? And that, for me, means health care and veterans and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Q: You were writing about AI because it’s a big part of all our lives?

Q: Which got you thinking about the book?

A: I find it deeply dismaying to know less than a teenager does about something, something that she can lord over me. So I started exploring AI.

Q: What do you hope to convey about AI, now that you’ve taken this deep dive?

A: We often ascribe to AI — and we do this with numbers, as well — a certain intelligence. We tend to presume that what we build has the ability to be better than we are. To my mind, that relieves us of responsibility. We have to think more deeply about what we decide to do, what we build, and how we deploy those tools — if we want them to be what we designed them to be, as opposed to being weaponized to destroy.

Q: Avery Keene shares a few characteristics with you, including that she’s Black and a lawyer. Is she a version of you?

Q: She definitely makes mistakes in “Coded Justice,” which your siblings would say is another thing you have in common?

A: Absolutely. She needs help. She’s not someone who needs to be right when she makes a pronouncement. One of my favorite scenes in “Coded Justice” is the argument with her friends. I want her to have to confront her own weaknesses and blind spots. I’d say that, like many writers, I test out who I am in the stories I tell. But she’s her own person. And I don’t walk around with a switchblade [like Avery does]. There’s that.

Q: Can Stacey Abrams learn from Avery Keene?

A: Absolutely. It’s one of the most important reasons I like writing. I write because I want to learn more. Whether it’s “While Justice Sleeps” and doing deep dives into biogenetic technology, or “Rogue Justice” and learning about the energy grid and cryptocurrency, I am always learning.

Q: You’ve spoken about wanting to understand the villains in your books, so they are not caricatures. Does that translate to the real world?

Q: At events like Talking Volumes, are readers interested in discussing your books or other topics?

A: I’m grateful, because I have a multidimensional life, that my books often give me a chance to engage people who came for the book but stayed for the democracy conversation.

Talking Volumes with Stacey Abrams

Who: Sponsored by the Minnesota Star Tribune and MPR News.

When: 7 p.m., Sept. 10.

Tickets: $35, mprevents.org.

“Not to be a skeptic, but dozens of companies are in the clinical space. Why is Camasca worth so much?” Avery waved away her question as the realization hit her. “Ahh … your service population. You’re not simply helping Grandma avoid the ER. Your company is going after the military and the billions of dollars in Defense Department-adjacent contracts. You’ll own the world by telling everyone you can save it.”

“A bit snarky, but you’re not wrong. If we can fix military health care, we’ll be unstoppable. And noble. A lucrative combination.”

“Cynical.”

“Yet true. Rafe remembers what it was like to have to treat patients on the fly during his deployments. Patients rolled in with incomplete medical records, and life-threatening wounds or mysterious illnesses. He and his colleagues had to guess at what might help or exacerbate their conditions. Worse, there was usually no good way to track their health after they left his care.”

Avery agreed, which begged a very important question. So she asked, “You’ve got the DoD, the VA, and Wall Street at your feet. Why do you need me?”

Before Freedman could answer, a man entered the room without knocking and firmly shut the door. A deep voice explained, “Because we could lose everything unless you can help us prove no one here committed murder.”