Monica Lewinsky is coming to New Bedford to talk about ending cyberbullying. We want to know what you think.

Monica Lewinsky will be in New Bedford in May to talk to the region about the culture of humiliation that is widespread in U.S. society and what can be done about it.

The social activist will have a lot to share based on her own experience of being shamed by a nation and her recent advocacy and TED talk about ending cyberbullying.

If you don’t recall or are too young to have experienced it, Monica was the target of repeated personal attacks and name-calling after a 1998 federal investigation revealed she and then-President Bill Clinton had a sexual relationship. In 2018, she posted a video on Twitter in which she reads the many brutal things people have said, and continue to say, about her.

The New Bedford Lyceum, of which The Standard-Times is a partner organization, invited Lewinsky to the region to foster a conversation around a topic that transcends any one incident. Today, online harassment has been personally experienced by roughly four-in-ten Americans and 62% consider it a major problem, according to a 2017 survey by Pew Research Center.

The Lyceum exists to support civic and respectful debate on important topics like cyberbullying. Past Lyceum events have brought journalist Bob Woodward, women's rights activist Gloria Steinem, and television host and comic W. Kamau Bell to the city. Learn more about Monica's May 15th show at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center here.

In the spirit of respectful debate and conversation, we'd like to hear your thoughts about the scandal and Monica's experience of harassment and bullying, and are asking people to consider what they thought about her, and her role in Bill Clinton’s impeachment, in the late 1990s and how you feel today, in a post-#MeToo world.

What’s changed, if anything?

Use the form below to let us know.