Posts by Live Talks Los Angeles
Russell Brand with Dr. Drew Pinsky
8pm
Russell Brand
in conversation with Dr. Drew Pinsky
Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions
Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School
Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90404
PURCHASE TICKETS*
$50 General Admission Section Seat
$60 Reserved Section Seat
* All tickets include a pre-signed copy of Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions
Russell Brand is an English comedian, actor, radio host, activist, and author of several bestselling books, including the New York Times bestsellers My Booky Wook and Revolution. He has had a number of major film roles including parts in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek. He rose to fame as host of television’s Big Brother’s Big Mouth. He’s been in all the twelve-step fellowships going, started his own men’s group, is a therapy regular and a practiced yogi. Funded by his profits from Revolution, Russell opened a nonprofit coffee house in London run as a social enterprise by former drug addicts in abstinence-based recovery programs. He lives in London, England. Visit his website.
Recovery: Freedom from Our Addictions is the definitive guide to addiction from someone who has struggled with heroin, alcohol, sex, fame, food, and staring at their phone.
“This manual for self-realization comes not from a mountain but from the mud…My qualification is not that I am better than you but I am worse. I am an addict.” —Russell Brand
This is an age of addiction. America is plagued by crises involving drugs, alcohol, and opioids, and our society is consumed with addictions like work, stress, bad relationships, and digital media. We are facing an epidemic so all-encompassing that many of us don’t even realize we are in its grasp. Russell Brand is here to provide a recovery plan, and make sense of the ailing world. While he’s worked on this material as part of his comedy and previous bestsellers, he’s never before shared the tools that really took him out of it, that keep him clean and clear.
With a powerful mix of honesty, humor, and compassion, Brand tells his intimate yet universal story and shares the practical advice and wisdom he has been taught through his fourteen and a half years of recovery. He speaks to those suffering along the full spectrum of addiction – from serious, life-threatening misuse of substances, to the subtler habits we use to hold our lives together, like food, technology, or unhealthy relationships.
Dr. Drew Pinsky is a diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Addiction Medicine and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. He was for many years an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
Pinsky is a New York Times bestselling author and co-author of the first academic study on celebrities and narcissism published in the Journal of Research in Personality. He is the author of 5 books, several medical journal articles and contributor to textbooks.
Known to his fans as Dr. Drew, Pinsky currently hosts “Midday Live” on KABC in Los Angeles. He is also host of multiple podcasts including: “The Adam & Drew Podcast,” “This Life,” and “Weekly Infusion.” Pinsky’s long career in television and radio started in 1983 with the seminal nationally syndicated call-in show “Loveline,” that later became a hit MTV show with co-host Adam Carolla.
Alice Waters with Jonathan Gold
8pm (Reception, 6:30-7:30pm)
Alice Waters
in conversation with Jonathan Gold
Coming to My Senses:
The Making of a Counterculture Cook
Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School
Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90404
PURCHASE TICKETS — SOLD OUT
Video from the event will be posted week of Oct 9.
$45 General Admission Seat + book
$55 Reserved Section Seat +book
$95 Reception (6:30-7:30pm)* + Reserved Seat + book
$20 General Admission Seat (on sale Sep. 4)
*includes selections prepared from recipes by Alice Waters
Alice Waters on Sex, Drugs and Sustainable Agriculture, (New York Times, Aug 22, 2017)
“I feel that good food should be a right and not a privilege, and it needs to be without pesticides and herbicides. And everybody deserves this food.”
Alice Waters is executive chef, founder, owner and of Chez Panisse Restaurant and Café in Berkeley, California. She also founded the Edible Schoolyard Project. Waters has received the National Humanities Medal, the French Legion of Honor, the WSJ Magazine Humanitarian Innovator Award, and three James Beard Awards. Waters is the vice president of Slow Food International and the author of thirteen books.
“….every time you’re going to the grocery store, you’re voting with your dollars. Support your farmers’ market. Support local food. Really learn to cook.”
Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People: Alice Waters on the Edible Schoolyard
Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook is the long-awaited memoir from cultural icon and culinary standard-bearer Alice Waters. In it, she recalls the circuitous road and tumultuous times leading to the founding of what is arguably America’s most influential restaurant. Moving from a repressive suburban upbringing to Berkeley in 1964 at the height of the Free Speech Movement and campus unrest, she was drawn into a bohemian circle of charismatic (mostly male) figures whose views on design, politics, film, and food would ultimately inform the unique culture on which Chez Panisse was founded.
Dotted with stories, recipes, photographs, and letters, Coming to My Senses is a quietly revealing look at one woman’s evolution from a rebellious yet impressionable follower to a respected activist, and how she established the iconic institution that redefined American cuisine for generations of chefs and food lovers alike.
Jonathan Gold is the restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times. He won the Pulitzer Prize in criticism in 2007 and was a finalist again in 2011. A Los Angeles native, he began writing the Counter Intelligence column for the L.A. Weekly in 1986, wrote about death metal and gangsta rap for Rolling Stone and Spin among other places, and is delighted that he has managed to forge a career out of the professional eating of tacos.
Yotam Ottolenghi
8pm (Reception, 6:30-7:30pm)
An Evening with
Yotam Ottolenghi & Helen Goh
discussing their upcoming cook book,
Sweet
Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School
Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90404
PURCHASE TICKETS
$50 General Admission Seat + book
$60 Reserved Section Seat +book
$95 Reception + Reserved Seat + book
$20 General Admission Seat (on sale Sep. 2)
“Here is my confession: I rarely go a day without a slice or bite or square of something sweet.” —Yotam Ottolenghi
We’e excited to welcome Yotam Ottolenghi back to our stage. Yotam Ottolenghi is the author of Plenty and Plenty More, and co-author of NOPI, Ottolenghi, and Jerusalem, which was awarded Cookbook of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals and Best International Cookbook by the James Beard Foundation. All five books were New York Times bestsellers. He began his culinary career as a pastry chef. Ottolenghi lives in London, where he owns an eponymous group of restaurants.
Helen Goh is a pastry chef, longtime Ottolenghi collaborator, and the Ottolenghi product developer. Head pastry chef at one of Melbourne’s landmark restaurants, she moved to London, went to meet Yotam, and they have been baking and discussing the sweeter things in life ever since. She lives in West London.
Watch the video of Yotam Ottolenghi in conversation with Russ Parsons at Live Talks Los Angeles (Oct 2014)
Yotam Ottolenghi’s shakshuka recipe
Widely beloved for his beautiful, inspirational, and award-winning cookbooks, Ottolenghi has created another must-have for home cooks. Fully illustrated with stunning color photographs, Sweet: Desserts from London’s Ottolenghi is an enticing cookbook filled with over 120 recipes for confectionary treats and firmly rooted in the Ottolenghi tradition of abundance, inclusion, and celebration; conceived with love and a generous dusting of flair.
Many of the recipes contain his signature ingredients and flavors: things such as rose petals, figs, saffron, orange blossom, star anise, pistachio, almond, cardamom, and cinnamon. In a happy accident, there are more than 30 gluten-free recipes, as well as nut-free offerings.
Amy Scattergood is the food editor for the Los Angeles Times. She has degrees from Yale Divinity School, the Iowa Writers Workshop and the Cordon Bleu and has written a book of poetry and co-written a whole grain cookbook. Although originally from Iowa, she’s lived in L.A. for a long time now and will continue to do so, as long as tacos and the Pacific Ocean exist.
David Litt with Matt Walsh
8pm
David Litt
in conversation with Matt Walsh
Thanks, Obama: My Hopey Changey White House Years
Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School
Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90404
PURCHASE TICKETS
$40 General Admission Seat + book
$50 Reserved Section Seat +book
$20 General Admission Seat
There was a time when presidents spoke in complete sentences instead of in unhinged tweets. In his comic, coming-of-age memoir, David Litt takes us back to the Obama years – and charts a path forward in the age of Trump.
David Litt entered the White House in 2011 and left in 2016 as a special assistant to the president and senior presidential speechwriter. Described as the “comic muse for the president,” David was the lead writer on four White House Correspondents’ Dinner presentations and has contributed jokes to President Obama’s speeches since 2009. He is currently the head writer/producer for Funny or Die’s office in Washington, DC. David has also written for The Onion, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Cosmopolitan, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and the New York Times.
“David Litt has done the impossible: written a smart, insightful, and funny White House memoir you don’t have to be a political junkie to love. Even better, he takes us back to a saner more compassionate time when our president liked to read.”—Judd Apatow
“David Litt is a natural storyteller and an absolute joy.”—Tig Notaro
“Funny and warm, David Litt knows how to make people laugh regardless of their political affiliation.”—Mike Birbiglia
More than any other presidency, Barack Obama’s eight years in the White House were defined by young people – twenty-somethings who didn’t have much experience in politics (or anything else, for that matter), yet suddenly found themselves in the most high-stakes office building on earth. David Litt was one of those twenty-somethings. After graduating from college in 2008, he went straight to the Obama campaign.
In his refreshingly honest memoir, Litt brings us inside Obamaworld. With a humorists’ eye for detail, he describes what it’s like to accidentally trigger an international incident or nearly set a president’s hair aflame. He answers questions you never knew you had: Which White House men’s room is the classiest? What do you do when the commander in chief gets your name wrong? Where should you never, under any circumstances, change clothes on Air Force One? With nearly a decade of stories to tell, Litt makes clear that politics is completely, hopelessly absurd.
But it’s also important. For all the moments of chaos, frustration, and yes, disillusionment, Litt remains a believer in the words that first drew him to the Obama campaign: “People who love this country can change it.” In telling his own story, Litt sheds fresh light on his former boss’s legacy. And he argues that, despite the current political climate, the politics championed by Barack Obama will outlive the presidency of Donald Trump.
Full of hilarious stories and told in a truly original voice, Thanks, Obama is an exciting debut about what it means – personally, professionally, and politically – to grow up.
Two-time Emmy-nominated actor Matt Walsh currently stars in HBO’s award-winning comedy series Veep as Mike McLintock, the sharp-witted, deadpan Director of Communications to the first female U.S. Vice President, Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Walsh earned his two Emmy nominations in 2016 and 2017 for his role on Veep, and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Veep in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
His film credits include Office Christmas Party; Paul Feig’s re-boot of Ghostbusters; and the Zack Galifianakis and Jon Hamm film Keeping Up With the Joneses; and Brigsby Bear. His upcoming films include David Wain’s A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2017) and Melissa McCarthy’s Life of the Party (2018).
Previously, he was a correspondent for The Daily Show, starred in his Spike TV’s sports comedy Players, and appeared on HBO’s Hung, NBC’s Outsourced, NBC’s Community, ABC’s Happy Endings, Adult Swim’s Children’s Hospital, NTSF:SD:SUV::, IFC’s Comedy Bang Bang, Comedy Central’s Drunk History, and Nick Swardson’s Pretend Time. He has appeared in such features as Semi-Pro, Old School, Bad Santa, Road Trip, Elf, Role Models, Step Brothers, The Hangover, Due Date, Ted, Into the Storm, Hits, and Get Hard.
Walsh is a founding member of the famed national improv-sketch comedy theatre Upright Citizens Brigade, which has schools and venues in New York and Los Angeles.
Gretchen Rubin with Daniel Siegel
8pm
Gretchen Rubin
in conversation with Daniel Siegel
The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People’s Lives Better, Too)
Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School
Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90404
PURCHASE TICKETS
$40 General Admission Seat + book
$50 Reserved Section Seat +book
$20 General Admission Seat (on sale August 18)
Gretchen Rubin is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestsellers, Better Than Before, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. A member of Oprah’s SuperSoul 100, her books have sold more than two million copies worldwide, in more than thirty-five languages, and on her popular daily blog, she reports on her adventures in pursuit of habits and happiness. She also has a an award-winning podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin. Rubin started her career in law, and was a clerk for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. She last appeared at Live Talks Los Angeles in March 2015. Watch the video.
During her multibook investigation into understanding human nature, Gretchen Rubin realized that by asking the seemingly dry question, “How do I respond to expectations?” we gain explosive self-knowledge. She discovered that based on their answer, people fit into four categories: Upholders, Questioners, Obligers, and Rebels. Understanding our own particular tendency allows us to make better decisions, meet deadlines, suffer less stress, and engage more effectively.
How do you respond to expectations? What is your tendency?
Take the quiz.
More than 600,000 people have taken her online quiz, and managers, doctors, teachers, spouses, and parents already use the framework to help people make significant, lasting change.
With sharp insight, compelling research, and hilarious examples, Rubin’s The Four Tendencies can help you be happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative.
Dr. Daniel J. Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, where he also helped to establish the Mindful Awareness Research Center. He also heads up the Mindsight Institute, an educational center devoted to promoting insight, compassion, and empathy in individuals, families, institutions, and communities. Dr. Siegel’s books include three New York Times bestsellers: Brainstorm, and, with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D, The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline. As a lecturer, he’s spoken before King of Thailand, Pope John Paul II, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, at Google University, and TEDx. He appeared at Live Talks Los Angeles for his book, Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human (Sep. 2016) Watch the video. More recently, he interviewed Jack Kornfield for Kornfield’s book, No Time Like the Present: Finding Freedom, Love, and Joy Right Where You Are. (Jun. 2017) Watch the video.
Bryan Cranston with Sam Rubin
4pm (doors open at 3pm)
Bryan Cranston
in conversation with Sam Rubin
discussing his memoir,
A Life in Parts
Fox Performing Arts Center
3801 Mission Inn Avenue
Riverside, CA 92501
PURCHASE TICKETS
$75 Premium Seats (1st three rows)*
$60 Orchestra 1*
$50 Orchestra 2*
$40 Balcony*
*Tickets include a signed copy of Bryan Cranston’s memoir
Bryan Cranston won four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Walter White in AMC’s Breaking Bad. In 2014 he won a Tony Award for his role as Lyndon B. Johnson in the bio-play All the Way. In film, Cranston has won two Screen Actors Guild Awards and received an Academy Award nomination for his leading role in Trumbo. Among his numerous television and film appearances, he was nominated for a Golden Globe and three Emmys for his portrayal of Hal in FOX’s Malcolm in the Middle.
—Jane Kaczmarek
–Aaron Paul
Sam Rubin is the entertainment reporter for the KTLA Morning News. Rubin hosts the Emmy-nominated “Live from the Academy Awards,” syndicated nationally by Tribune Entertainment, “Sneaks,” a series of movie preview shows produced in conjunction with the Los Angeles Times, as well as a show for the Reelz Channel. He is a recipient of a Golden Mike Award for Best Entertainment Reporter from the Radio & Television News Association and, as part of the KTLA Morning News team, earned an Associated Press Television-Radio Award for Best News Broadcast.
In addition to his activities at KTLA, he also reports for Tribune’s WGN-TV in Chicago. Nationally, Rubin provides reports for “On Air With Ryan Seacrest,” “Show Buzz,” and CNN. On the radio, Rubin reports for Los Angeles’ KNX-AM. Rubin has been previously at Live Talks Los Angeles interviewing Alan Cumming, Garry Marshall, Terry Gilliam and Aasif Mandvi.