Posts by Live Talks LA

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VIRTUAL EVENT TICKETS,
May 25, 3pm PT/6pm ET (click here)
TICKETS:
$35 Virtual Admission + audio book
*Includes access to watch the event on video-on-demand for five days after it airs. Audiobook will be emailed on the morning of the event, May 25.
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Hilarious and practical advice for how to up your small talk game from comedians, actors and self-appointed experts on chit-chat, Casey Wilson and Jessica St. Clair..
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Join comedians, actors, and self-appointed experts on chit-chat Casey Wilson and Jessica St. Clair for the launch of their original audiobook, which breathes new life into a lost art. In The Art of Small Talk, they share simple rules for how to achieve the connectedness we all crave with any and everyone. Backed by scientific research (conducted by real experts!) Casey and Jessica explain how to move past the perceived misery of idle chit-chat and start making magic out of the mundane—including entertaining tips that will take you from Hostile Beginner to Confident Expert. They’ll also share compelling insights on the importance of chatting up strangers. 
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Casey Wilson is an actress, writer, author, director, and podcaster. Her first book, The Wreckage of My Presence, was a New York Times bestseller and is currently being adapted for TV. Some of her more recent television credits include The Shrink Next Door alongside Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd and The Righteous Gemstones. Together with Danielle Schneider, Casey co-hosts the cult-favorite podcast, Bitch Sesh, which was nominated for a Critic’s Choice Award in 2019.   
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Actress and writer Jessica St. Clair initially gained notoriety by performing at the legendary Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York and Los Angeles. She went on to co-create and co-star in Best Friends Forever on NBC in 2012 and the critically-acclaimed Playing House, in 2014, which ran for three seasons on USA Network. She starred in not one—but two—space comedies: Space Force, opposite Steve Carrell, for Netflix and Avenue 5, opposite Hugh Laurie, for HBO. 
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Writer and performer Danielle Schneider co-created and starred in The Hotwives series for Hulu and recently wrote and recurred on Showtime’s Black Monday.Additional television credits include Hacks, Champaign, ILL, Community and Happy Endings. She has also written for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, NBC’s Kenan, USA’s Playing House, and Tru Tv’s I’m Sorry. Feature film writing credits with writing partner Dannah Phirman include Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Catfight and Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks at Them. Danielle can be heard weekly as the co-host of the beloved podcast Bitch Sesh alongside Casey Wilson, where the duo dish and dissect the latest happenings in the world of the Real Housewives and beyond.
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June Diane Raphael is an actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Her roles in both film and television have often centered on strong, multidimensional female characters, encouraging audiences to challenge stereotypes and embrace the power of women in all their diversity. June is most well known for her work on the long running Netflix series, Grace and Frankie, playing Brianna, Jane Fonda’s bold entrepreneurial daughter.  Her credits include: Abbott Elementary (ABC), The Morning Show (Apple TV+), Everything’s Trash (Freeform), Black Monday (Showtime), American Dad! and Big Mouth.  Other TV credits include Frasier (Paramount+), Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO), and Fresh Off the Boat (ABC).  Her film roles include the independent film, Scrambled, which premiered at SXSW 2023, 8-Bit Christmas, Long Shot, Blockers, The Disaster Artist, Unfinished Business, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Girl Most Likely.  
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Just added!
Melissa Rauch is an American actress and comedian, best known for her role as Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on the popular TV sitcom “The Big Bang Theory.” She currently stars in and executive produces “Night Court” on NBC. The show was recently picked up for a third season. Rauch began her acting career in the early 2000s, appearing in various TV shows and films. However, her breakthrough role came in 2009 when she joined the cast of “The Big Bang Theory” during its third season. Apart from her work on “The Big Bang Theory,” Rauch has also appeared in several other television shows, including “True Blood,” “The Office,” and “The Bronze,” a film she co-wrote and starred in. She has also provided voice work for animated series such as “The Secret Life of Pets” and “Ice Age: Collision Course.” Off-screen, Rauch has been involved in various philanthropic activities, supporting causes such as cancer research and education. Rauch’s performances have earned her critical acclaim and a dedicated fan following, making her one of the most recognizable faces in contemporary American television.

“The drawings and essays in this book do a lot more than just describe the birds. They carry a sense of discovery through observation and drawing…The birds that inhabit Amy Tan’s backyard seem a lot like the characters in her novels.” —David Allen Sibley, from the foreword
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In 2016, Amy Tan grew overwhelmed by the state of the world. In search of peace, the bestselling author turned toward the natural world just beyond her window and, specifically, the birds visiting her yard. What began as an attempt to find solace turned into something far greater—an opportunity to savor quiet moments during a volatile time, connect to nature in a meaningful way, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired.
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The Backyard Bird Chronicles maps the passage of time through daily entries, thoughtful questions, and beautiful original sketches. With boundless charm and wit, she charts her foray into birding and the natural wonders of the world.

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A gorgeous, witty account of birding, nature, and the beauty around us that hides in plain sight, written and illustrated by the best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club
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Amy Tan is the author of several novels, including The Joy Luck Club and The Bonesetter’s Daughter. She is a co-producer and co-screenwriter of the film version of The Joy Luck Club and is on the board of American Bird Conservancy. She lives in Sausalito, California. 

“The drawings and essays in this book do a lot more than just describe the birds. They carry a sense of discovery through observation and drawing…The birds that inhabit Amy Tan’s backyard seem a lot like the characters in her novels.” —David Allen Sibley, from the foreword
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In 2016, Amy Tan grew overwhelmed by the state of the world. In search of peace, the bestselling author turned toward the natural world just beyond her window and, specifically, the birds visiting her yard. What began as an attempt to find solace turned into something far greater—an opportunity to savor quiet moments during a volatile time, connect to nature in a meaningful way, and imagine the intricate lives of the birds she admired.
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The Backyard Bird Chronicles maps the passage of time through daily entries, thoughtful questions, and beautiful original sketches. With boundless charm and wit, she charts her foray into birding and the natural wonders of the world.

Rev. Rodrick Echols serves as Pastor at Neighborhood Congregational Church, UCC in Laguna Beach, CA. He is a graduate of both Brown University and the School of Theology at Boston University. With 20 years of professional experience in the religious ecosystem, he is a pastor in transition to a new world where the largest religion in America is now no religion. His insatiable curiosity causes him to wonder about the possibilities of human spirituality untethered from religion.

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The forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas and their fifty-year sisterhood, a legacy erased from history—until now.
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“This is the kind of history I wish I learned as a child dreaming of the stage!” —Misty Copeland, author of Black Ballerinas: My Journey to Our Legacy
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The forgotten story of a pioneering group of five Black ballerinas, the first principals in the Dance Theatre of Harlem, who traveled the world as highly celebrated stars in their field and whose legacy was erased from history until now.

At the height of the Civil Rights movement, Lydia Abarça was a Black prima ballerina with a major international dance company—the Dance Theatre of Harlem. She was the first Black ballerina on the cover of Dance magazine, an Essence cover star, cast in The Wiz and on Broadway with Bob Fosse. She performed in some of ballet’s most iconic works with her closest friends—founding members of the company, the Swans of Harlem, Gayle McKinney, Sheila Rohan, Marcia Sells, and Karlya Shelton—for the Queen of England and Mick Jagger, with Josephine Baker, at the White House, and beyond.

Some forty years later, when Lydia’s granddaughter wanted to show her own ballet class evidence of her grandmother’s success, she found almost none, but for some yellowing photographs and programs in the family basement. Lydia had struggled for years to reckon with the erasure of her success, as all the Swans had. Still united as sisters in the present, they decided it was time to share their story themselves.

Captivating, rich in vivid detail and character, and steeped in the glamor and grit of professional ballet, The Swans of Harlem is a riveting account of five extraordinarily accomplished women, a celebration of their historic careers, and a window into the robust history of Black ballet, hidden for too long.

Lydia Abarca Mitchell is a founding member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, where she danced lead roles in Agon, Bugaku, Swan Lake and many more. She has been featured on the covers of Dance and Essence and in print ads for Avon and Revlon. She performed in the movie The Wiz, and in Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ on Broadway. She has been the rehearsal director at Atlanta’s Ballethnic for over 20 years.

Sheila Rohan is a founding member of Dance Theatre of Harlem, where she was a soloist in Geoffrey Holder’s Dougla, Arthur Mitchell’s Rhythmetron, and more. She was soloist and ballet mistress for the Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theatre and toured China and Korea with the Myung Sook Chun Dance Company. She performed the role of Rosa Parks in Gordon Parks’s televised ballet Martin and, as a choreographer, assisted legends such as Louis Johnson, and Walter Rutledge among others. 

Marcia Lynn Sells began her life in the arts as a ballerina at Dance Theatre of Harlem and, before that, in the Cincinnati Ballet. In 2021, she became the first Chief Diversity Officer for the Metropolitan Opera. Previously, she held positions in the private and public sectors including Reuters America, the National Basketball Association, Columbia University School of Law, Harvard Law School, and the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. 

Karlya Shelton-Benjamin began dancing at age 4 with the Colorado Concert Ballet (currently Colorado Ballet). At 17, she became the first person of color to represent the United States in the prestigious Prix de Lausanne ballet competition in Switzerland. She performed around the world with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, is a founding member of Peridance, has taught and coached at Oakland Ballet and Cleo Parker Robinson Dance.

Karen Valby

Karen Valby is a writer living in Austin, Texas. She’s the author of the books The Swans of Harlem and Welcome to Utopia. Her work has appeared in Vanity Fair, where she is a frequent contributor, as well as in The New York Times, O Magazine, Glamour, Fast Company, and EW, where she spent fifteen years writing about culture. 

Bonnie Boswell is an award-winning producer/reporter, talk show host, broadcast commentator, writer, speaker, and moderator.

Bonnie Boswell

Bonnie is currently the executive producer/reporter of Bonnie Boswell Reports, a feature news series leading into PBS NewsHour on PBS SoCal, and Bonnie Boswell Presents, a documentary series producing programs such as A Conversation with Pastor James Lawson and Attorney Bryan Stevenson and Saving Moms broadcasting on PBS stations nationwide and streaming on PBS.org. 

Bonnie is also the executive producer of The Powerbroker: Whitney Young’s Fight for Civil Rights, a film about her uncle, one of the “Big Six” national leaders of the 1960s civil rights movement, presented by PBS’ Independent Lens. First Lady Michelle Obama introduced the documentary at the White House calling it “very moving and powerful.” The Powerbroker was an HBO, CNN, and Saatchi & Saatchi “Best Documentary” finalist. 

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VIRTUAL EVENT TICKETS, May 11 (click here)
TICKETS:
$45 Virtual Admission + signed book (includes shipping to US addresses)
*Includes access to watch the event on video-on-demand for five days after it airs

* This virtual event was taped with an audience on May 6th.

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One of America’s most beloved historians artfully weaves together biography, memoir, and history. In An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, Doris Kearns Goodwin takes you along on the emotional journey she and her husband, Dick Goodwin embarked upon in the last years of his life.
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Doris Kearns Goodwin’s work for President Johnson launched her career as a presidential historian. Her first book was Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream. Next was the Pulitzer Prize–winning No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Homefront in World War II. She earned the Lincoln Prize for Team of Rivals, in part the basis for Steven Spielberg’s film Lincoln, and the Carnegie Medal for The Bully Pulpit, about the friendship between Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Her last book, Leadership: In Turbulent Times was the inspiration for a History Channel docuseries which she executive produced. 
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They were married to each other for forty-two years and to American history even longer. In his twenties, Dick was one of the brilliant young men of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier. In his thirties he both named and helped design Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” and was a speechwriter and close advisor to Robert Kennedy. Doris Kearns was a twenty-four-year-old graduate student when she was selected as a White House Fellow. She worked directly for Lyndon Johnson and later assisted on his memoir.
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Over the years, with humor, anger, frustration, and ultimately, a growing understanding, Dick and Doris argued over the achievements and failings of the leaders they served and observed, debating the progress and unfinished promises of the country they both loved.
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The Goodwins’ last great adventure involved opening the more than three hundred boxes of letters, diaries, documents, and memorabilia that Dick had collected for more than fifty years—an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, illuminating public and private moments of a decade when individuals were powered by the conviction that they could make a difference; a time, like today, marked by struggles for racial and economic justice.
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Terrence McNally was the longtime host of Free Forum on KPFK. He now hosts a weekly interview show on the Progressive Voices Network on TuneIn and a monthly podcast for a science institute at Harvard. All his podcasts can be found at iTunes and TerrenceMcNally.net