Everyday Bias | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation
Date and Time
Sep 24, 2026 6:00 pm
Location
14th & V
2021 14th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20009
Sep 24, 2026 6:00 pm
14th & V
Claims of bias have been used to attack institutions and individuals for years now. Yet few truly understand the concept of bias or recognize the paradox in the proposed solutions, which are often more biased than the status quo.
Fortunately, there’s an opportunity for critical thinking on bias with the release of a new edition of Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives (Bloomsbury Academic, September 3). Co-authors Howard J. Ross and son Jake Ross explain that bias is a normal function of the human brain, not a bad habit of bad actors. We all have biases that are grounded in our lived experiences; the important thing is how to mitigate them so we can treat each other fairly and respectfully.
Two new chapters make this edition urgent. The Cost of the Attention Economy traces how platforms built to maximize engagement, not truth, algorithmically push us toward the extremes. Hey Siri, Are You Biased? turns the lens on artificial intelligence, from facial-recognition systems that misidentify marginalized people to hiring algorithms trained on biased human decisions. Bias doesn’t disappear when it’s automated. It scales.
The book’s signature tool, the PAUSE model — Pay attention, Acknowledge your assumptions, Understand your perspective, Seek different perspectives, Examine your options — gives individuals and organizations a concrete practice for interrupting bias in real time, built on research showing that awareness, without shame, is enough to change behavior.
Howard Ross and Jake Ross are joining us on the Busboys stage to share more about this “important guide to seeing oneself the way others might” (Ken Burns, Historian and Filmmaker). Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Howard and Jake will be signing following the program.
This event is free and open to all. Doors open to guests at 5:30pm. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of EVERYDAY BIAS will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person and will not be livestreamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books
Howard J. Ross has spent over four decades helping organizations build stronger cultures. A sought-after speaker and founder of consulting firm Cook Ross, he found himself a personal target of the outrage around diversity, equity and inclusion work in 2020. He’s the author of the 2014 bestseller Everyday Bias, Our Search for Belonging (2018) and Reinventing Diversity (2011); has written on bias for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review; and for a decade was a monthly guest on DC NPR affiliate WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show.
Jake Ross is a leadership coach, organizational consultant, former startup COO and community builder who specializes in creating cultures of belonging. As founder and CEO of BelongTogether he’s devoted his career to studying, teaching, and practicing the art of nurturing belonging. He holds a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, received his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and resides in the San Francisco Bay area.
BOOK DETAILS
Everyday Bias
Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives
By Howard J. Ross and Jake Ross
September 3, 2026 | Hardcover, 336 Pages, $28
