Events

Jerry Saltz is the senior art critic at New York magazine and its entertainment site Vulture. He is the winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Criticism and a 2019 National Magazine Award. Before joining New York in 2007, Saltz had been art critic for The Village Voice since 1998, and was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize during his tenure there. A frequent guest lecturer, he has spoken at the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the Whitney Museum, and many others, and has appeared at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, the Rhode Island School of Design, the Art Institute of Chicago, and elsewhere.

“Inspiration leaps off the pages from Jerry Saltz’s new book on creativity. One wants to say he’s revealing secrets, but really, he’s revealing intuition—intuition formed from decades of thinking about art. This book is for the artist or non-artist, for the person who gets plain English, for the person who understands that practical talk can coax out the mystical messages that lie underneath.” 
 —Steve Martin

“How to Be an Artist has relevance way beyond the art world. With his typical clarity and compassion, Jerry Saltz outlines a path for anyone who wants to dedicate their lives to chasing something they believe in. Even as a chef, I have Jerry’s advice ringing through my brain at all times.”
—David Chang 
 
“I am so blown away by How to Be an Artist, because it takes the tools of the literal masters and offers them to whoever wants them. Any reader would be lucky to escape their self-doubt to indulge in this straightforward, funny, and delightful guide.”
—Jill Soloway

Art has the power to change our lives. For many, becoming an artist is a lifelong dream. But how to make it happen? In How to Be an Artist, Jerry Saltz, one of the art world’s most celebrated and passionate voices, offers an indispensable handbook for creative people of all kinds.

From the first sparks of inspiration–and how to pursue them without giving in to self-doubt–Saltz offers invaluable insight into what really matters to emerging artists: originality, persistence, a balance between knowledge and intuition, and that most precious of qualities, self-belief. Brimming with rules, prompts, and practical tips, How to Be an Artist gives artists new ways to break through creative blocks, get the most from materials, navigate career challenges, and above all find joy in the work.

Packed into this dazzling handbook are more than sixty tips, prompts, and insights, including: Embrace Genre Own Your Guilty Pleasures Look Hard, Look Openly Make Art for Now, Not the Future Make an Enemy of Envy Get Lost! and more–along with full-color artwork from visionaries ancient and modern, from Navajo sand artists to Rembrandt and Matisse, Vivian Maier and Hilma af Klint, Andy Warhol, Bill Traylor, and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. This beautiful and useful book will help artists of all kinds–painters, photographers, writers, performers–realize their dreams.

Jerry Saltz photo credit: Celeste Slowman

This event is being re-scheduled. More info here.
$46 General Admission + Book 
$20 General Admission 

From the best-selling author of Saving Capitalism and The Common Good, an urgent analysis of how the “rigged” systems of American politics and power operate, how this status quo came to be, and how average citizens can enact change.

Robert Reich is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations and has written fifteen books, including The Work of Nations, which has been translated into twenty-two languages, and the best sellers The Common Good, Saving Capitalism, Supercapitalism, and Locked in the Cabinet. His articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, and he writes a weekly column for The Guardian and Newsweek. He is co-creator of the award-winning film Inequality for All, and the Netflix original Saving Capitalism, and co-founder of Inequality Media. He lives in Berkeley. Visit his blog and website.

“In this book Robert Reich exposes the con job of America’s present manic hyper-capitalism. He exposes a ‘system’ that is defined less by free markets than by elite capture. He shatters the myths about rising tides and boats and slices of pie and whatever else those hackneyed people say, propelled by the insight that while money may not be a zero-sum situation, power is. And when America’s plutocrats use money to capture power to make sure that they monopolize future money, rage swells, human potential withers on the vine, and the soul of the country changes.”
—Anand Giridharadas, author, Winners Take All

Millions of Americans have lost confidence in our political and economic system. After years of stagnant wages, volatile job markets, and an unwillingness by those in power to deal with profound threats such as climate change, there is a mounting sense that the system is fixed, serving only those select few with enough money to secure a controlling stake. With the characteristic clarity and passion that has made him a central civil voice, Robert B. Reich shows how wealth and power have interacted to install an elite oligarchy, eviscerate the middle class, and undermine democracy. Using Jamie Dimon, the chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase as an example, Reich exposes how those at the top propagate myths about meritocracy, national competitiveness, corporate social responsibility, and the “free market” to distract most Americans from their accumulation of extraordinary wealth, and power over the system. Instead of answering the call to civic duty, they have chosen to uphold self-serving policies that line their own pockets and benefit their bottom line. Reich’s objective is not to foster cynicism, but rather to demystify the system so that we might instill fundamental change and demand that democracy works for the majority once again.

Yancey Strickler is a writer and the cofounder and former CEO of Kickstarter, the Public Benefit Company that pioneered crowdfunding and has helped artists and creators bring more than 100,000 creative projects to life. (The New York Timeshas called Kickstarter “the people’s NEA.”) He left Kickstarter in 2017, and now travels the globe as an in-demand public speaker focused on recalibrating how individuals and businesses can better understand what’s valuable and in their rational self-interest. He is also a cofounder of the artist resource The Creative Independent, which publishes daily essays by artists and creators on the creative process. He previously worked as a music critic, writing for Pitchfork, The Village Voice, and Spin, among other outlets. He’s been profiled in Wired, Financial Times, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Forbes, and Vox and has given keynotes at SXSW, the Sundance Film Festival, Atlantic Ideas Festival, Techcrunch Disrupt, Web Summit, and more. He was one of Fortune’s 40 Under 40, on Vanity Fair‘s New Establishment list, and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. 

This event is being re-scheduled. More info here.
$40 General Admission seating + Book 
$50 Reserved Section seating + Book
$20 General Admission Section Seating

From the best-selling author of Saving Capitalism and The Common Good, an urgent analysis of how the “rigged” systems of American politics and power operate, how this status quo came to be, and how average citizens can enact change.

Robert Reich is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations and has written fifteen books, including The Work of Nations, which has been translated into twenty-two languages, and the best sellers The Common Good, Saving Capitalism, Supercapitalism, and Locked in the Cabinet. His articles have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, and he writes a weekly column for The Guardian and Newsweek. He is co-creator of the award-winning film Inequality for All, and the Netflix original Saving Capitalism, and co-founder of Inequality Media. He lives in Berkeley. Visit his blog and website.

“In this book Robert Reich exposes the con job of America’s present manic hyper-capitalism. He exposes a ‘system’ that is defined less by free markets than by elite capture. He shatters the myths about rising tides and boats and slices of pie and whatever else those hackneyed people say, propelled by the insight that while money may not be a zero-sum situation, power is. And when America’s plutocrats use money to capture power to make sure that they monopolize future money, rage swells, human potential withers on the vine, and the soul of the country changes.”
—Anand Giridharadas, author, Winners Take All

Millions of Americans have lost confidence in our political and economic system. After years of stagnant wages, volatile job markets, and an unwillingness by those in power to deal with profound threats such as climate change, there is a mounting sense that the system is fixed, serving only those select few with enough money to secure a controlling stake. With the characteristic clarity and passion that has made him a central civil voice, Robert B. Reich shows how wealth and power have interacted to install an elite oligarchy, eviscerate the middle class, and undermine democracy. Using Jamie Dimon, the chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase as an example, Reich exposes how those at the top propagate myths about meritocracy, national competitiveness, corporate social responsibility, and the “free market” to distract most Americans from their accumulation of extraordinary wealth, and power over the system. Instead of answering the call to civic duty, they have chosen to uphold self-serving policies that line their own pockets and benefit their bottom line. Reich’s objective is not to foster cynicism, but rather to demystify the system so that we might instill fundamental change and demand that democracy works for the majority once again.

This event is being re-scheduled. More info here.
$53  Reserved Section seating + Book 
$43  General Admission seating + Book
$20 General Admission Seating (on sale Feb 14, 10am)

Barry Sonnenfeld is a filmmaker and writer who broke into the film industry as the cinematographer on the Coen Brothers’ first three films: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, and Miller’s Crossing. He also was the director of photography on Throw Mamma from the Train, Big, When Harry Met Sally, and Misery. Sonnenfeld made his directorial debut with The Addams Family in 1991, and has gone on to direct a number of films including Addams Family Values, Get Shorty, and the first three Men in Blacks. His television credits include Pushing Daisies, for which he won an Emmy, and most recently Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.

“If I went to prison, and I saw that Barry Sonnenfeld was going to be my cellmate, I would think, ‘Oh, this will be a breeze.'”―Jerry Seinfeld

“The extraordinary thing about Barry is how many truly strange and amazing chapters he’s had in his life.”―Neil Patrick Harris

“Barry’s memoir is amazingly honest and brazenly hilarious. Now excuse me, I need to take a shower and try to get some of those images out of my head.”―Cheryl Hines

Film and television director Barry Sonnenfeld’s outrageous and hilarious memoir traces his idiosyncratic upbringing in New York City, his breaking into film as a cinematographer with the Coen brothers, and his unexpected career as the director behind such huge film franchises as The Addams Family and Men in Black, and beloved work like Get Shorty, Pushing Daises, and A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Barry Sonnenfeld’s philosophy is, “Regret the Past. Fear the Present. Dread the Future.” Told in his unmistakable voice, Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother is a laugh-out-loud memoir about coming of age. Constantly threatened with suicide by his over-protective mother, disillusioned by the father he worshiped, and abused by a demonic relative, Sonnenfeld somehow went on to become one of Hollywood’s most successful producers and directors.

Written with poignant insight and real-life irony, the book follows Sonnenfeld from childhood as a French horn player through graduate film school at NYU, where he developed his talent for cinematography. His first job after graduating was shooting nine feature length pornos in nine days. From that humble entrée, he went on to form a friendship with the Coen Brothers, launching his career shooting their first three films.

Though Sonnenfeld had no ambition to direct, Scott Rudin convinced him to be the director of The Addams Family. It was a successful career move. He went on to direct many more films and television shows. Will Smith once joked that he wanted to take Sonnenfeld to Philadelphia public schools and say, “If this guy could end up as a successful film director on big budget films, anyone can.” This book is a fascinating and hilarious roadmap for anyone who thinks they can’t succeed in life because of a rough beginning.

Rob Reiner first came to fame as a two-time Emmy Award winning actor on the landmark television series All In the Family.  He went on to become an acclaimed director of some of the most popular and influential motion pictures. His work ranges from the satire This Is Spinal Tap to dramas like Stand By Me, Misery, A Few Good Men, and Ghosts of Mississippi to romantic comedies like When Harry Met Sally,to the enduring uncharacteristic The American President, to The Princess Bride. His now 20 films also include The Bucket List, Flipped, LBJ starring Woody Harrelson and most recently Shock and Awe, about the run up to the war in Iraq which stars Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Jessica Biel, James Marsden, and Reiner himself. Reiner is also a dedicated political activist. In California in 1998 he passed a tobacco tax initiative to fund early childhood development.  And for seven years he chaired California’s First Five Commission to oversee the implementation of the initiative.  In 2003 he led the effort to save Ahmanson Ranch from an environmentally harmful development in the Santa Monica Mountains.  He and his wife, Michele helped form The American Foundation for Equal Rights, which filed a federal lawsuit to overturn California’s Prop 8.  Their victory at the Supreme Court paved the way for marriage equality nationwide. 

“Thriller fiction at its absolute finest—and it could happen for real. But not to me, I hope.” —Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series

Lee Goldberg Photo Credit: Roland Scarpa

Wednesday, March 11, 2020
7:45-8:15am Continental Breakfast
8:15-9:15 Talk

Live Talks Business Forum with
Michelle King
Director of Inclusion at Netflix

discussing her book,
The Fix: Overcome the Invisible Barriers That Are Holding Women Back at Work

Gensler
500 South Figueroa Street
Downtown Los Angeles, CA 90071

This Event is being re-scheduled. New date will be posted as soon as confirmed.
$46 General Admission (includes book)
$20 General Admission
* Tickets include continental breakfast 7:45-8:15am, and a book signing follows the event

Michelle P. King is the Director of Inclusion at Netflix. She is a leading global expert in gender and organizations,  and was most recently head of the UN Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change. Michelle has spent her career advancing women in innovation and technology, leading global diversity and inclusion programs and advocating for women at work. She is an Advisory Board member for Girl Up, the United Nations Foundation’s adolescent girl campaign, and host of The Fix, a podcast that shares the stories, challenges and triumphs of women across innovation, technology and entrepreneurship. She speaks frequently on the topic of gender equality, and contributes regularly to Forbes on the topic of women’s advancement at work. Her work has been published in Harvard Business Review, Huffington Post, Scoop and TIME magazine. Michelle is a published, award winning academic with a PhD, a Masters in Psychology, and an MBA. For more, visit her website.

“So much about the world of work—from workplace culture to our definition of success—was created by men, and it’s not working for women or indeed for men. And it’s no surprise that women pay a disproportionately high price for their participation. That’s why The Fix, is so important. It’s a passionate, practical roadmap for addressing inequality and finally making our workplaces work for women.” — Arianna Huffington, founder of Thrive Global

For years, we’ve been telling women that in order to succeed at work, they have to change themselves first—lean in, negotiate like a man, don’t act too nice or you’ll never get the corner office. But after sixteen years working with major Fortune 500 companies as a gender equality expert, Michelle King has realized one simple truth—the tired advice of fixing women doesn’t fix anything.

The truth is that workplaces are gendered; they were designed by men for men. Because of this, most organizations unconsciously carry the idea of an “ideal worker,” typically a straight, white man who doesn’t have to juggle work and family commitments. Based on King’s research and exclusive interviews with major companies and thought leaders, The Fix reveals why denying the fact that women are held back just because they are women—what she calls gender denial—is the biggest obstacle holding women back at work and outlines the hidden sexism and invisible barriers women encounter at work every day. Women who speak up are seen as pushy. Women who ask for a raise are seen as difficult. Women who spend hours networking don’t get the same career benefits as men do. Because women don’t look like the ideal worker and can’t behave like the ideal worker, they are passed over for promotions, paid less, and pushed out of the workforce, not because they aren’t good enough, but because they aren’t men.

In this fascinating and empowering book, King outlines the invisible barriers that hold women back at all stages of their careers, and provides readers with a clear set of takeaways to thrive despite the sexist workplace, as they fight for change from within. Gender equality is not about women, and it is not about men—it is about making workplaces work for everyone. Together, we can fix work, not women.