Frmr. Vice Pres. Al Gore w/ Mayor Eric Garcetti

Saturday, July 29, 2017
1pm (note this is an afternoon event)
 
Former Vice President Al Gore
in conversation with Mayor Eric Garcetti

discussing his upcoming book,
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power

Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School
Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90404


SOLD OUT.
VIDEO WILL BE POSTED IN THE WEEK AFTER THE EVENT.

Doors open at 12:20pm.

“We’re seeing a tremendous amount of positive change. The basis is there but it’s still not enough…Our world faces a true planetary emergency. I know the phrase sounds shrill, and I know it’s a challenge to the moral imagination.”

Former Vice President Al Gore spends the majority of his time as the chairman of The Climate Reality Project, a nonprofit devoted to solving the climate crisis. He is the co-recipient, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, for “informing the world of the dangers posed by climate change.”

Gore was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, 1978, 1980, and 1982 and to the U.S. Senate in 1984 and 1990. He was inaugurated as the 45th vice president of the United States on January 20, 1993, and served eight years. Gore is the cofounder and chairman of Generation Investment Management. He is a senior partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and a member of Apple Inc.’s board of directors. 

An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power(2017) Official Trailer 
Al Gore, TED Talk, The Case for Optimism on Climate Change (Feb 2016)

The follow-up to his best-selling book, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power is an action handbook to help you learn the science, find your voice, and help solve the climate crisis. A companion documentary will be simultaneously released, opening July 28, 2017.

His best selling books include Earth in the Balance, An Inconvenient Truth, The Assault on Reason, Our Choice, and, most recently, The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change. 

Eric Garcetti is the 42nd Mayor of Los Angeles. His “back to basics” agenda is focused on job creation and solving everyday problems for L.A. residents.

Garcetti was elected four times by his peers to serve as President of the Los Angeles City Council from 2006 to 2012. From 2001 until taking office as Mayor, he served as the Councilmember representing the 13th District which includes Hollywood, Echo Park, Silver Lake, and Atwater Village — all of which were dramatically revitalized under Garcetti’s leadership.

Garcetti was raised in the San Fernando Valley and earned his B.A. and M.A. from Columbia University. He studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and the London School of Economics and taught at Occidental College and USC. A fourth generation Angeleno, he and his wife, Amy Elaine Wakeland, have a young daughter. He is a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy reserve and is an avid jazz pianist and photographer.

Michael Lewis with Mindy Kaling

Wednesday, January 25, 2017
8pm 
 
Michael Lewis
in conversation with Mindy Kaling
 
discussing his upcoming book,
The Undoing Project:
A Friendship That Changed Our Minds


Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School

Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90404

PURCHASE TICKETS — SOLD OUT
Will be posted on our Facebook page a few days later.

$45 General Admission seat + a copy of Undoing Project
$50 Reserved Section Seat + a copy of Undoing Project
$95 Reception (6:30-7:30pm) + Reserved Section Seat 
        + copy of Undoing Project

Michael Lewis’ bestsellers include Flash Boys, The Big Short, The Blind Side, Liar’s Poker and Moneyball.  Michael Lewis previously appeared with Malcolm Gladwell at Live Talks Los Angeles discussing his book, Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt. Watch the video.

“I read Lewis for the same reasons I watch Tiger Woods. I’ll never play like that. But it’s good to be reminded every now and again what genius looks like.” — Malcolm Gladwell

In The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds, Lewis brings his narrative gift to the fascinating collaboration between Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, whose Nobel Prize-winning theory of the mind altered our perception of reality. Kahneman and Tversky showed the ways in which the human mind errs, systematically, when forced to make judgments about uncertain situations. By undoing our assumptions about the decision-making process, Kahneman and Tversky’s breathtaking work created the field of behavioral economics, advanced evidence-based medicine, led to a new approach to government regulation, and made possible much of Lewis’s own writing, on topics from business to baseball.

The characters at the center of this story have the dramatic complexity of great literary figures, heroes both in the university and on the battlefield. Their breakthrough ideas were deeply linked to their extraordinary life experiences, and their findings might well have changed, for good, mankind’s view of its own mind.

Mindy Kaling is an actor, writer, producer, and director. She currently stars in the Hulu original comedy series The Mindy Project, which she also writes and executive produces. The show centers on Dr. Mindy Lahiri, a successful OB/GYN whose love of romantic comedies is wreaking havoc on her personal life. 

Before The Mindy Project, Mindy was best known for her work on the critically acclaimed, Emmy Award-winning NBC show The Office. In addition to directing, producing, and portraying celebrity-obsessed Kelly Kapoor, Mindy wrote 18 episodes of the series, including the Emmy nominated episode “Niagra.” 

She is currently in production on Ocean’s 8 alongside Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway. She will next begin production on A Wrinkle in Time for Disney.

Aside from her work in film and television, Mindy is the author of the comedic memoir Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns), and her second memoir Why Not Me? was released in September 2015 —  both New York Times’ best-sellers.  She appeared at Live Talks Los Angeles in September 2015.

Andy Cohen with RuPaul

Thursday, December 1, 2016
8:00pm 

 
Andy Cohen
in conversation with RuPaul

discussing his upcoming book,
Superficial: More Adventures from the Andy Cohen Diaries
 

Barnum Hall
Santa Monica High School
600 Olympic Blvd, 
Santa Monica, CA 90405

ONLINE TICKET SALES HAVE ENDED.
A Limited number of tickets available at the door.
$40  General Admission Seat + 1 copy of Superficial
$50  Reserved Section Seat + 1 copy of Superficial
$75   Premium section Seat
          – Includes 2 books: Superficial + The Andy Cohen Diaries (paperback)
          – also includes a Live Talks Los Angeles tote bag per order

Superficial is the star-studded and sidesplitting follow up to The Andy Cohen Diaries.

Andy Cohen is the host and executive producer of Watch What Happens: Live. He is the executive producer of The Real Housewives franchise and hosts Bravo’s highly rated reunion specials. He tours nationally with Anderson Cooper on AC2, hosts Then & Now with Andy Cohen on Bravo and Radio Andy on Sirius XM. He has won an Emmy and two Peabody Awards for his work. The author of two New York Times bestsellers, Most Talkative and The Andy Cohen Diaries, he lives in New York City with his dog, Wacha.

On the Andy Cohen Diaries:
“After reading this funny, intimate, candid, honest diary of a year in Andy’s life, I couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Is Andy Cohen…Carrie Bradshaw?’” ―Sarah Jessica Parker

“The funniest thing I’ve done all year is read Andy Cohen’s Diaries. He has more genuinely funny and surprising encounters with celebrities and sublebrities in a day than I do all year. Then my name popped up. Now I just want to sue him.” ―Anderson Cooper

“Andy Cohen’s diaries are the literary equivalent of a Fresca and tequila.” ―Jimmy Fallon

The popular host of Watch What Happens: Live and executive producer of The Real Housewives franchise is back with a follow up to his bestseller, The Andy Cohen Diaries.

Since the publication of his last book, Andy has toured the country with his sidekick Anderson Cooper, hit the radio waves with his own Sirius station, Radio Andy, appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher despite his mother’s conviction he was not intellectually prepared, hosted NBC’s Primetime New Year’s Eve special, guest edited Entertainment Weekly, starred in Bravo’s Then & Now with Andy Cohen, offended celebrities with his ongoing case of foot-in-mouth disease, and welcomed home Teresa “Namaste” Giudice, from a brief stint in jail. Hopping from the Hamptons to the Manhattan dating world, the dog park to the red carpet, Cardinals superfan and mama’s boy Andy Cohen, with Wacha in tow, is the kind of star that fans are dying to be friends with. This book gives them that chance.

If The Andy Cohen Diaries was deemed “the literary equivalent of a Fresca and tequila” by Jimmy Fallon, Superficial is a double: dishier, juicier, and friskier. In this account of his escapades―personal, professional, and behind-the-scenes―Andy tells us not only what goes down, but exactly what he thinks of it.

RuPaul Charles was born and raised in San Diego and moved to Atlanta where he studied theatre at North Atlanta School of Performing Arts. In 1992 RuPaul achieved international fame with the hit song Supermodel (You Better Work) and has recorded a duet with Sir Elton John. He is a singer-songwriter of 13 solo albums including the latest Butch Queen. His books include Lettin’ It All Hang Out and Workin’ It. RuPaul has appeared in over 50 films and television sitcoms in addition to being the host of VH1’s The RuPaul Show and host and executive producer for Logo TV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race, for which he won an Emmy. He currently hosts the podcast What’s the Tee? With Michelle Visage. He splits his time between NYC and LA. 

 

Lisa Napoli with Frank Buckley

Thursday, November 17, 2016
8pm 
 
Lisa Napoli
in conversation with Frank Buckley
 
discussing her upcoming book,
Ray & Joan: The Man Who Made the McDonald’s Fortune and the Woman Who Gave It All Away


Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School

Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90404

RSVP/PURCHASE TICKETS*
General Admission tickets are free – RSVP HERE

$30   Reserved Section Seat + a copy of Ray and Joan
$35   Two Reserved Section Seats + a copy of Ray and Joan
* This event is part of our Newer Voices Series with authors with one or two books. The first 50 tickets purchased are invited to a pre-reception, 6:30-7:30pm.

Lisa Napoli was among the first journalists to cover the digital age as a staff reporter and columnist for The New York Times and its CyberTimes. She then appeared as an on-air technology reporter and columnist for MSNBC and as a host and reporter for public radio’s Marketplace. Her first book, Radio Shangri-La, chronicles her time in and around the Kingdom of Bhutan, where she was invited to help start a radio station at the dawn of democratic rule. For four years, she covered arts and culture for the acclaimed public radio station KCRW. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she currently lives in Los Angeles, where she leads an award-winning cooking group for homeless women on Skid Row.  

Ray and Joan is about many things: mid-20th century US cultural history; post-WW2 emergence of fast food culture; addiction and its impact on the family; addiction treatment (the early days of, in particular;) philanthropy that precedes the grandeur of Buffett and Gates; the no-nukes movement of the 80s; the San Diego Padres; the mass media’s influence on all of the above, and, most importantly of all, the complexity of marriage.

When Lisa went to cover the fate of a crumbling peace sculpture in front of the Santa Monica courthouse for radio station KCRW, she didn’t know she’d spend the next five years tracking down the story of Joan Kroc, one of the greatest and little known philanthropists of the twentieth century.  The heiress to the McDonald’s fortune had anonymously funded the 26-foot tall mushroom cloud by Paul Conrad, titled Chain Reaction, at the height of the no-nukes movement.  Lisa knew just two things about Joan: that she had given a landmark posthumous gift to NPR, and that at one point she’d run the baseball team she’d inherited from her late husband.  But she found it curious that a woman who lived in San Diego would come to fund a polarizing artwork nowhere near her home. When Lisa went in search of a biography, she couldn’t find one—so she decided to write one.  Soon, she disccovered: why no book yet existed about Joan; that writing about Joan meant writing about Ray, and learning about the roots of the fortune that the third wife of the founding chairman of McDonald’s ultimately gave away.

Frank Buckley is an anchor of KTLA Morning News. Frank joined KTLA in June 2005 from CNN where he had been a national correspondent. Frank is also host of the “Frank Buckley Interviews” podcast.

Frank’s reporting experiences have taken him around the world and have included assignments covering the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, politics for CNN, frequent reporting from the White House during George W. Bush’s presidency, natural disasters in Japan, the Los Angeles riots, the Hong Kong handover, the OJ Simpson trial and countless other stories in Southern California and across the U.S.

Prior to KTLA and CNN, Frank reported for Los Angeles station KCAL-TV, WXII-TV in Winston-Salem, N.C., and at KESQ-TV in Palm Springs. He has also written for the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit News.

 

 

 

Mark Oldman — Wine tasting & Talk

Sunday, November 6, 2016
4:00pm Wine Tasting & Talk

 
An Afternoon with Mark Oldman
 
discussing his upcoming book,
How to Drink Like a Billionaire:
Mastering Wine with Joie de Vivre
 


William Turner Gallery
Bergamot Station Arts Center
2525 Michigan Avenue,
Santa Monica, CA 90404 

PURCHASE TICKETS 
$50 Reserved Section seat + Book
$30 General Admission Seat
* includes wine tasting

Taste six billionaire-worthy wines at this special wine event with one of America’s most popular wine experts.  Oldman will show you how to drink like the 1% – without spending like one. 

Mark Oldman is one the country’s leading wine personalities. Bon Appètit described his style as “winespeak without the geek.” Twice the winner of the Georges Duboeuf Best Wine Book of the Year Award, his books—Oldman’s Guide to Outsmarting Wine and Oldman’s Brave New World of Wine—have been called the “perfect book” by the Wall Street Journal and the “perfect primer” by The New Yorker. Oldman’s appearances at the country’s top gastronomic festivals are considered must-see events in the world of food and wine. He has been the wine expert for Pottery Barn, lead judge in the PBS television series “The Winemakers,” and the wine correspondent for the Food Network. Keenly interested in innovating in the areas of education and consumer advocacy, Oldman also founded and ran the career portal Vault.com for a decade until its successful sale to a private equity firm. 

How to Drink Like a Billionaire is not just the best guide for drinking wine stylishly, but Mark Oldman offers his readers a comprehensive yet fun approach to one of our favorite topics. It’s colorful, charismatic and innovative from beginning to end!”— Marcus Samuelsson, chef, restaurateur, and author

In How to Drink Like a Billionaire: Mastering Wine with Joie de Vivre —his eagerly anticipated, unapologetically joyful new book. 
 
Oldman—whom Publishers Weekly called “the ideal mix of wine connoisseur, showman, and everyday dude”—spills all on how to imbibe like an insider while avoiding the pretension, snobbishness, and geekiness that still surrounds so much of wine. 
 
Mark Oldman shares: 
• How to zero in on moderately priced bottles that drink way above their cost
• How to increase your drinking pleasure with, among other things, big bottles, a Breathalyzer, a Spanish porron, and more
• Can’t tell your Cabernet Franc from Carménère? In a first for a wine book, Oldman ranks the most satisfying alternatives to the major wine styles
• Why the price of wine is not proportionate to quality
• Crave Margaux on a Merlot budget?  Oldman reveals delicious, affordable substitutes for the world’s most iconic wine 
• How to swirl wine for maximum effect
• Which wine flaws are fine to overlook
• Why you should giggle at overly specific food and wine matches
• Techniques to guard against overzealous pourers and bottle stranders
• How to avoid being a slave to wine trends 
• Don’t know what to say about that glass of Pinot Noir? Mark provides fascinating glossaries of insider lingo and French expressions that will help readers convey instant savoir-faire 
• The best (and worst) wines to gift as a gift
 

Carole Bayer Sager with Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds

Wednesday, October 26, 2016
8pm 
 
Carole Bayer Sager
in conversation with Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds
 

discussing her memoir,
They’re Playing Our Song


Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School

Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90404

PURCHASE TICKETS
$45 General Admission seat + a copy of Sager’s book
$50 Reserved Section Seat + a copy of Sager’s book
$20 General Admission seat
$38 Book only purchase (includes tax, handling and shipping anywhere in the US)

Carole Bayer Sager is an Oscar, Grammy and two time Golden Globe winner.  For five decades, she has been among the most admired and successful songwriters responsible for lyrical contributions to over 400 songs.  She recorded three solo albums and with Marvin Hamlisch and wrote the hit Broadway musical They’re Playing Our Song. She has collaborated with some of the greatest composers and musical artists of our time, including Bette Midler, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Carole King, among many others. She is a member of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and was awarded a Star on Hollywood Boulevard.  
 
“Carole braids together lyrics the way Venus and Serena spin aces – repeatedly, miraculously – and this book is one of the best, most lasting songs she has ever written.”—Carly Simon
 
“Every few pages you’ll say to yourself, ‘I didn’t realize she wrote that.’”
Steve Martin
 
In her memoir, They’re Playing Our Song, Carole Bayer Sager shares the remarkably frank and darkly funny story of her life in and out of the recording studio, from her fascinating (and sometimes calamitous) relationships to her collaborations. There are tales of her two most significant collaborations (both of which were romantic) — Marvin Hamlisch, with whom she wrote Nobody Does It Better; and for 10 years she wrote songs and was married to Burt Bacharach, during which time they wrote That’s What Friends Are For which raised over 2 million dollars for AIDS research.  This book will fascinate anyone interested in the craft of songwriting and the joy of collaboration.  It’s also a deeply personal account of how love and heartbreak made Bayer Sager the woman, and the writer, she is. It reveals an unexpected side of Carole, a deeply personal account of a frightened and insecure woman finding her way. 

Interviewing Carole on the Live Talks stage is her friend, musical powerhouse and 11-time Grammy Award winner Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, who’s written and produced more than 26 number-one hits.  His triple-platinum breakthrough album, Tender Lover, launched him into international superstardom in 1989. Last year’s Return of the Tender Lover was his first solo album in seven years. 
 
From Whitney Houston to Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin to Mariah Carey, Babyface has worked with an encyclopedia of the greatest artists of our time. His most recent productions include collaborations with Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Ledisi, Colbie Caillat, Jennifer Hudson and Ariana Grande.  The prolific music man counts more than 150 top 10 R&B and pop hits, 42 R&B No. 1 hits and 51 top 10 pop hits (including 16 No. 1’s). His Grammy-award winning duet album with Toni Braxton, Love, Marriage and Divorce, was released in 2014. 
 
Babyface and Carole recently teamed up with songwriter Bruce Roberts on the Hillary Clinton campaign theme song, Stronger Together, sung by Jessica Sanchez.  Babyface boasts an honor few other celebrities can: A stretch of I-65, which runs through his home town of Indianapolis, was named for him in 1999.