Events

discussing his book,
Elf Unwrapped: Behind the Scenes of a Modern Christmas Classic – Andy Richter’s Oral History of the Making of Elf the Film That Became a Holiday Classic

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Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
at New Roads School
3131 Olympic Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90404
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PURCHASE IN-PERSON EVENT TICKETS
Thursday, November 19, 8pm
$50 General Admission ticket + signed book
$25 General Admission ticket
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PURCHASE VIRTUAL EVENT TICKETS (US Orders Only)
Wednesday, November 25, 6pm PT/9pm ET
$48 Virtual Admission + signed book (includes shipping to US addresses only). Includes access to watch the event on November 25 at 6pm PT/9pm ET and on video-on-demand for five days.
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Step into the magical world of ELF with this captivating oral history, written by beloved comedian and actor Andy Richter, who watched the on-set shenanigans unfold before his very eyes, and featuring a foreword by Will Ferrell
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Andy Richter is a comedian, actor, writer, and host. He’s best known for his many years as Conan O’Brien’s collaborator and sidekick. He has appeared in numerous television shows and films, some of them quite good. He is also the host of the Three Questions podcast and The Andy Richter Call-In Show, and enjoyed a longer-than-expected run on Dancing with the Stars. He’s based in Los Angeles.

Ever since Elf hit theaters, audiences around the world have fallen in love with the story of Buddy, the charming (and oversized) “elf” with a heart of gold. But what most people don’t know is that when the screenplay first hit Hollywood, no studio was willing to touch it. How, then, did such a risky gamble turn into one of the most beloved Christmas classics of all time?

In this laugh-out-loud oral history, comedian and co-star Andy Richter goes on a mission to find out by reconnecting with the very people who brought this festive vision to life. Through exclusive interviews, hilarious anecdotes, and heartfelt reflections with key players like Will Ferrell, Zooey Deschanel, director Jon Favreau, and many others, Andy ultimately unwraps the story of how a quirky holiday film about a human raised by elves became such an enduring cultural phenomenon.

Packed with never-before-seen photos, behind-the-scenes secrets, a foreword by Buddy himself (aka Will Ferrell), and a sprinkle of festive fun, this book is the perfect gift for anyone who believes in the magic of Christmas—and knows that the best way to spread holiday cheer is by singing loud for all to hear.

discussing his book,
Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State

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Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
at New Roads School
313 Olympic Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90404
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PURCHASE IN-PERSON EVENT TICKETS
Tuesday, November 10, 8pm
$50 General Admission ticket + signed book
$75 Two General Admission ticket + one signed book
$85 Reserved Section Ticket + two signed books*
*Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State
& Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service
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PURCHASE VIRTUAL EVENT TICKETS (US Orders Only)
Tuesday, November 17, 6pm PT/9pm ET
$48 Virtual Admission + signed book (includes shipping to US addresses only). Includes access to watch the event on November 17 at 6pm PT/9pm ET and on video-on-demand for five days.
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An inside look at the early days of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, as told by the public servants it targeted and one of America’s best storytellers.
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New York Times best-selling author Michael Lewis has published many books on subjects ranging from politics to Wall Street to sports. His books include: Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Big Short*, The Blind Side, The Undoing Project*, The Fifth Risk, The Premonition*, Going Infinite*, and Flash Boys*. He edited Who Is Government?, an anthology by an all-star team of writers exploring the consequential work of government workers.  Lewis is the creator and host of Apple’s #1-rated podcast Against the Rules, a searing look at what’s happened to fairness in American life through the lens of people who depend on public trust. He grew up in New Orleans and lives in Berkeley, California, with his family.
(*He has appeared on the Live Talks Los Angeles stage for these books. He has also interviewed Malcolm Gladwell and Walter Isaacson for us.)
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Blockers. It wasn’t a compliment. In the new Washington, it was the worst thing you could be―especially if you worked in the federal government and wanted to keep your job. A Blocker was a holdover, an impediment, someone who didn’t get the message―and, most of all, someone who didn’t belong.

Michael Lewis found six of them.

Blockers is the story of people who believed they had a calling, who were convinced they were doing something the country couldn’t do without, and then discovered they were no longer wanted. One kept Americans’ most sensitive tax data out of the wrong hands and another made sure that politicians and civil servants played by the rules. One figured out how to stop wildfires from destroying suburban neighborhoods, another helped uncover the mysteries of cystic fibrosis.

There was also a security guard.

It should come as no surprise that the writer who made subprime mortgages gripping (The Big Short) and who turned baseball statistics into poetry (Moneyball) could transform the first two years of the second Trump administration into a thriller about federal employees. But he does.

And he does something else. He puts before us a clear question: If these public servants can’t survive in government today, then what does that say about us?

discussing his book,
The Law of the Sublime

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Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
at New Roads School
313 Olympic Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90404
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PURCHASE IN-PERSON EVENT TICKETS
Monday, November 9, 8pm
$55 General Admission ticket + signed book
$95 Reserved Section Seat + 2 signed books (The Law of the Sublime and The Laws of Human Nature)
$85 Two General Admission tickets + ONE. signed book (The Law of the Sublime)
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PURCHASE VIRTUAL EVENT TICKETS (US Orders Only)
Monday, November 16, 6pm PT/9pm ET
$50 Virtual Admission + signed book (includes shipping to US addresses only). Includes access to watch the event on November 16at 6pm PT/9pm ET and on video-on-demand for five days.
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From the author of the multimillion-copy bestsellers The 48 Laws of Power and The Laws of Human Nature comes a life-changing guide to transcending our own limits to master the power of the Sublime.
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Robert Greene is an internationally renowned expert on power strategies and human behavior. He is the New York Times bestselling author of The 48 Laws of Power, The 33 Strategies of War, The Art of Seduction, Mastery, The 50th Law (with 50 Cent), The Laws of Human Nature, and The Daily Laws, He lives in Los Angeles.  Greene appeared at Live Talks Los Angeles when his book The Laws of Human Nature was published.

We struggle today to find more meaning in our lives, and to experience the world in ways that go beyond the virtual. The Sublime connects us to the immense forces in the universe, to the inner worlds of other people, and even to other species, lifting us out of ourselves and giving us the dimensions and depths we yearn for in our lives.

Robert Greene is a trusted guide for millions of readers, distilling ancient wisdom and philosophy into essential texts for seekers of power, social strategies, and mastery. Now he offers a roadmap to the Sublime, showing us how to liberate ourselves from the constraints of contemporary life. Greene draws from science, mythology, history, the arts, nature, and more to teach us how to:

• Open our eyes to the strangeness of being alive on this planet
• Free our minds from conventional ways of thinking and perceiving
• Harness the intuitions and practices of ancient civilizations to transcend the banalities of modern life
• Reconnect with our childhood selves to perceive the world anew
• Draw on the power found at the fringes of human consciousness
• Access our deepest core self to unleash our natural creative powers

The Law of the Sublime opens us to a fuller, more intense relationship to life. Alongside awe-inspiring stories of sublime experiences, including death-defying encounters, astounding discoveries, and radical transformations of consciousness, Greene offers us exercises and meditations to connect with the Sublime that is all around us. This is another masterwork from Robert Greene that is an essential text for anyone in search of life’s deeper meaning.

discussing their book,
We Thought They’d Never Leave: Musings on Food and Family

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Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
at New Roads School
313 Olympic Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90404
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PURCHASE IN-PERSON EVENT TICKETS
Thursday, November 5, 8pm
$50 General Admission ticket + signed book
$75  Two General Admission tickets + ONE signed book
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PURCHASE VIRTUAL EVENT TICKETS (US Orders Only)
Thursday, November 12, 6pm PT/9pm ET
$48 Virtual Admission + signed book (includes shipping to US addresses only). Includes access to watch the event on September 17 at 6pm PT/9pm ET and on video-on-demand for five days.
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From Emmy, Tony, and Golden Globe winner Tony Shalhoub comes a delightful, heartfelt memoir about food, family, recipes, and the stories we pass down around the table..

Tony Shalhoub is an Emmy, Tony, and Golden Globe winning actor whose career spans film, television, and theater. He is best known for his roles in Monk, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Wings, and has appeared in dozens of acclaimed films and television projects. On Broadway, he has performed in The Band’s Visit, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, as well as Conversations with My Father, Golden Boy, and Act One. He has also received multiple Screen Actors Guild Awards, among numerous other honors recognizing his work on stage and screen. We Thought They’d Never Leave is his debut book.

Josie Adams is a writer, producer, and founder of House of Water, an independent production company focused on writing and development. She was adopted at birth from Omaha, Nebraska, and raised in Los Angeles. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children.  
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We Thought They’d Never Leave marks the literary debut of Tony Shalhoub, the beloved actor who, for the first time, has gathered delightful stories, memories, and recipes to create this timely, feel-good collection.

Written with his daughter, Josie Adams, the book is a humorous and heartfelt portrait of place, family, and food. At its center is the annual Shalhoub summer reunion in Door County, Wisconsin—a tradition that pulls ten siblings, their children, and their children’s children back to the same stretch of land, carrying decades of shared history with them.

Through rich vignettes drawn from his parents, his siblings, and the many summers spent crowded around long tables, Tony reflects on the meals, mishaps, and small moments that link one generation to the next—from his childhood in a lively Lebanese American household in Green Bay to the beautiful, chaotic gatherings that continue today. Along the way, he includes several family recipes that have stood the test of time.

Part memoir and part family-history—full of games, gatherings, and Shalhoub lore, plus twenty recipes—We Thought They’d Never Leave is a love letter to food, family, tradition, and the kind of loud, affectionate, ever-growing family reunion that somehow always makes room for one more at the table.

discussing his debut novel,
Soulhider

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Bezdek Center for the Performing Arts
at Cross Roads School
1736 22^nd Street, 
Santa Monica, CA 90404
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PURCHASE IN-PERSON EVENT TICKETS
Tuesday, October 27, 8pm
$55 General Admission ticket + signed book
$65 Reserved Section Ticket + signed book
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PURCHASE VIRTUAL EVENT TICKETS (US Orders Only)
Tuesday, November 3, 6pm PT/9pm ET
$50 Virtual Admission + signed book (includes shipping to US addresses only). Includes access to watch the event on November 3 at 6pm PT/9pm ET and on video-on-demand for five days.
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Dan Aykroyd makes his literary debut with this mind-bending, page-turning speculative adventure about a regular guy caught up in a battle between warring aliens, told with equal doses of humor, suspense, and cosmic intrigue.

Dan Aykroyd is an Emmy winning, Oscar and Grammy nominated actor best known for his roles in Ghostbusters, Coneheads, Trading Places, and Driving Miss Daisy, among many others. He currently hosts The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd for The History Channel for which he also serves as Executive Producer. 
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Matt Dinniman is the #1 NYTs bestselling author of the Dungeon Crawler Carl book series.

discussing his book,
Vibe: The Secrets of Strong Connections in a Lonely World

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Robert Frost Auditorium
4401 Elenda St,
Culver City, CA 90230
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PURCHASE IN-PERSON EVENT TICKETS
Thursday, October 22, 8pm
$55 General Admission ticket + signed book
$75 Reserved Section ticket + signed book and tote bag
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PURCHASE VIRTUAL EVENT TICKETS (US Orders Only)
Thursday, October 29, 6pm PT/9pm ET
$50 Virtual Admission + signed book (includes shipping to US addresses only). Includes access to watch the event on October 29 at 6pm PT/9pm ET and on video-on-demand for five days.
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New York Times bestselling author Adam Grant illuminates the surprising science of chemistry and closeness.

Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist at Wharton, where he has been the top-rated professor for seven straight years. His books have sold millions of copies, he is one of TED’s most popular speakers, and his podcasts have over 100 million downloads; he hosts Re:Thinking and cohosts The Curiosity Shop with Brené Brown. Adam has been recognized as the one of the world’s most influential management thinkers. Grant received his BA from Harvard University and his PhD from the University of Michigan, and he is a former Junior Olympic springboard diver and magician. 

Award-winning actress Jennifer Garner has starred in a wide range of films including Alias, Dallas Buyers Club, Love Simon and Juno. Most recently, she’s appearing in Apple TV’s The Last Thing He Told Me, for which she also serves as executive producer. Previous credits include Family Switch and Yes Day. She will next star in and executive produce Mrs. Claus, the Yes Day sequel, as well as the upcoming Netflix comedy One Attempt Remaining.   Garner is co-founder and chief brand officer of the childhood nutrition company, Once Upon a Farm. She also serves as a trustee with Save the Children

“Vibe is an indispensable guide for enriching your interactions with loved ones, extended family, coworkers, difficult people, and even strangers. It’s so potent, it might even work for your first encounter with a space alien.” —Neil deGrasse Tyson

When we vibe with other people, it fuels our happiness and success. Yet building meaningful ties is one of the most pressing problems of our time. As face-to-face interaction gives way to digital screens, communication gets outsourced to AI, and the world becomes more polarized, our loneliness crisis shows no signs of slowing.

To reveal how we can forge faster, stronger, and longer bonds, Adam Grant offers groundbreaking studies, expert insights, and myth-busting stories. Filled with the eye-opening takeaways that have brought millions of readers to his books, Vibe teaches us that similarity is not necessary for solidarity, chemistry doesn’t always happen quickly, and closeness doesn’t always take time.

Along the way, Grant introduces us to a crew of astronauts who learned to trust people they don’t like, a comedy troupe that swears by taking time apart as a key to staying together, a band that grew closer by learning to fight more, and a journalist who designed a gathering that led to seventy-eight marriages. He also opens up about his personal struggles to find his place as a shy introvert and the lessons that propelled his transformation into an enthusiastic convener. Through these examples and more, Grant uncovers the keys to creating deeper relationships and tighter communities.

Vibe will change how you interact with people. No matter how good you are at connecting, you can always get better—and help others get better too.