Dear Friend,
Mark your calendar for February 11, 2026, and purchase your tickets for our third annual Samizdat Prize Gala at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida. One night a year, we celebrate those who demonstrate exemplary courage in the defense of free speech. Alan Dershowitz is such a needed human.
RSVP for the 2026 Samizdat Prize Gala
If Alan Dershowitz is being true to himself and his commitments, there is never a good time to honor him. He goes where his standout talent is not wanted.
Dershowitz defends those who have been pre-tried and found guilty in the court of public opinion and canceled from polite society.
RealClear honors Alan Dershowitz because of the continuity of his commitment to the exercise of free speech, particularly when it is difficult to defend. The ACLU lost its free-speech soul long ago. In contrast, Dershowitz has remained Dershowitz.
The Samizdat Prize is named after the underground publishing network in the former Soviet Union that carried the works of dissident truth tellers such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
When I started to explain to Professor Dershowitz the origin of the prize’s Russian name, he interrupted me. “No need to explain, David. I was in and out of Russia as Samizdat’s pro bono lawyer.”
Why dress up, show up, and overpay? Here’s why: We get the world we praise and support. If you honor and reward a behavior, you get more of it. If you don’t support what you need more of, you get less of it. We get bad movies because the Oscars incentivize anti-American navel gazing. We get one-sided journalism because the Pulitzer Prizes reward it.
Our Samizdat Prize honors First Amendment courage that improves our shared public lives. If you believe this is a good and necessary thing to do, support it. Come to the event and experience it. It is an ennobling experience. Alan Dershowitz will be honored alongside Graham Linehan and (in memoriam) Charlie Kirk.
Even if you can’t come to Palm Beach for the dinner, please consider supporting the prize with a donation. We can use your help.
We give out three prizes of $25,000 each, which is almost double what the Pulitzers award. This year marks RealClear’s 25th year in operation. America’s experiment in self-government is turning 250 and is showing its age. Our “Republic, if you can keep it” runs on free speech.
Our City on a Hill shines because it is polished by the free exercise of viewpoint diversity. Without free speech, the promise of our Declaration of Independence—our IPO for a free people and politics—is meaningless.
I hope you will join us. We are better, stronger, and more consequential together.
RSVP for the 2026 Samizdat Prize Gala
Will I see you there?
David DesRosiers
President
RealClear Media Fund
P.S. For questions regarding the Gala, as well as how to sign up, please contact RealClear’s Advancement Coordinator, Frank Filocomo, at frank@realclear.com.
P.P.S. I recently recorded an interview in which I spoke about this year’s honorees. To hear what I said about Alan and his importance, click here.
