Events
Meb Keflezighi
Thursday, March 21, 2019
8pm (6:30-7:30pm Reception)
An Evening with
Meb Keflezighi
26 Marathons: What I’ve Learned About Faith, Identity, Running, and Life From Each Marathon I’ve Run
Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School
Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Blvd.,
Santa Monica, CA 90404
PURCHASE TICKETS
$53 Reserved Section Seat + Book
$43 General Admission Seat + Book
$20 General Admission Section Seat
$95 Reception (6:30-7:30pm), Reserved Section Seat & Book
Four-time Olympian and winner of the New York and Boston marathons shares lessons learned from each of the 26 marathons he’s run in his storied career.
Meb Keflezighi ‘s victory at the 2014 Boston marathon made him the first American man to win the race in 31 years. A four-time Olympic marathoner and winner of the New York marathon, Meb is also the founder of the MEB Foundation, which funds programs that promote fitness and other positive lifestyle choices for children. He lives in San Diego, CA.
“Meb is as great a champion as I’ve ever known, and an even better person. 26 MARATHONS is the perfect roadmap for your journey to the top of the mountain. This radiantly brilliant treatise on life through sport, family, faith, perseverance and persistence epitomizes everything that I strive for, and on a path that Meb has already traveled. Thank you, for shining the light, for being the true giant among us, and for showing us that tomorrow is worth the effort to get there.
Run on, beam on, teach on, carry on.” — Bill Walton, Former NBA champion & MVP
When Meb Keflezighi ran his final marathon in New York City on November 5, 2017, it marked the end of an extraordinary distance-running career. As the first person in history to win both the Boston and New York City marathons as well as an Olympic marathon medal, Meb’s legacy is forever cemented.
Meb’s last marathon was also his 26th, and each of those marathons has come with its own unique challenges, rewards, and outcomes. In 26 Marathons, take on those legendary races alongside Meb—every hill, bend, and unexpected turn of events that made each marathon an exceptional learning experience, and a fascinating story.
26 Marathons offers the wisdom Meb has gleaned about life, family, identity, and faith in addition to tips about running, training, and nutrition. He shows runners of all levels how to apply the lessons he’s learned to their own running and lives. Equal parts inspiration and practical advice, 26 Marathons provides an inside look at the life and success of one of the greatest runners living today.
Gretchen Rubin with Annabelle Gurwitch
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
8pm
Gretchen Rubin
in conversation with Annabelle Gurwitch
discussing her book,
Outer Order, Inner Calm:
Declutter and Organize to Make More Room for Happiness
Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School
3131 Olympic Blvd.,
Santa Monica, CA 90404
PURCHASE TICKETS
$40.00 Reserved Section + Book
$30.00 General Admission section + Book
$20.00 General Admission section
Gretchen Rubin writes on the linked subjects of habits, happiness, and human nature. She’s the author of several books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Four Tendencies, Better Than Before, and The Happiness Project. A member of Oprah’s SuperSoul 100, Rubin’s books have sold more than three million copies worldwide, in more than 35 languages, and on her daily blog, she reports on her adventures in pursuit of habits and happiness. She also has a podcast, Happier with Gretchen Rubin. Rubin started her career in law, and was clerking for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor when she realized she wanted to be a writer. She appeared at Live Talks Los Angeles for her two recent books — in conversation with Daniel Siegel for The Four Tendencies. (video), and with Lisa Napoli for Better Than Before (video).
Annabelle Gurwitch is a New York Times bestselling author, actress, and activist. Her most recent book is Wherever You Go, There They Are, Stories About My Family You Might Relate To. Her writing has appeared in the New Yorker, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times. She was the co-host of the popular series, Dinner and a Movie, and a regular NPR commentator for numerous years. She appeared at Live Talks Los Angeles when her book, I See You Made an Effort: Compliments, Indignities, and Survival Stories from the Edge of 50, was published.
“Once you’ve read Gretchen Rubin’s tale of a year spent searching for satisfaction, you’ll want to start your own happiness project and get your friends and family to join you. This is the rare book that will make you both smile and think—often on the same page.” —Daniel H. Pink, Drive
Her new book is, Outer Order, Inner Calm: Declutter and Organize to Make More Room for Happiness. For most of us, outer order contributes to inner calm. And for most of us, a rigid, one-size-fits-all solution doesn’t work.
The fact is, when we tailor our approach to suit our own particular challenges and habits, we’re then able to create the order that will make our lives happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative.
Gretchen Rubin has found that getting control of our stuff makes us feel more in control of our lives. By getting rid of things we don’t use, don’t need, or don’t love, we free our minds (and our shelves) for what we truly value.
With a sense of fun, and a clear idea of what’s realistic for most people, Gretchen Rubin suggests dozens of manageable steps for creating a more serene, orderly environment—one that helps us to create the lives we want.
Isaac Mizrahi with Jenni Konner
Thursday, February 28, 2019
8pm
Isaac Mizrahi
in conversation with Jenni Konner
discussing his book,
I.M.: A Memoir
Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School
Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90404
PURCHASE TICKETS
$75.00 first three rows (includes book)
$55.00 Reserved Section section (includes book)
$45.00 General Admission section (includes book)
$20.00 General Admission
Isaac Mizrahi (Libra) performs cabaret across the country, has written two books, hosted his own television talk show, and made countless appearances in movies and television. He has directed and designed many productions for the stage and screen. He founded his design company in 1987, was the star and co-creator of the documentary Unzipped, and was the subject of a large-scale, mid-career survey at the Jewish Museum in New York City. He currently develops projects in television, theatre, and literature through his own production company, Isaac Mizrahi Entertainment.
Jenni Konner is a writer, director, and producer best known for executive producing CAMPING, a HBO limited series, and GIRLS, which ran for six acclaimed seasons on HBO. She began her career as a writer on Judd Apatow’s celebrated television series, UNDECLARED. Konner resides in Los Angeles, where she runs her production company I Am Jenni Konner Productions. Konner’s additional producing credits with former producing partner Lena Dunham include the HBO documentaries IT’S ME, HILARY: THE MAN WHO DREW ELOISE and SUITED. Konner and Dunham launched the bi-weekly feminist newsletter Lenny Letter in 2015 and established publishing imprint Lenny Books with Random House in 2017. Konner is currently producing films at Netflix and New Regency and continuing to develop series at HBO.
“I.M. has everything! It’s colorful, hysterical, touching, bold, and heartbreaking. It’s about coming of age, creativity, being yourself, Jewish mothers, fashion, art, loss, and glamour. I loved it.” ―Andy Cohen, New York Times bestselling author of Superficial
“Isaac Mizrahi is a true Renaissance man. He can do it all! He’s managed to live several lives in one lifetime.”
―RuPaul
Isaac Mizrahi is sui generis: designer, cabaret performer, talk-show host, a TV celebrity. Yet ever since he shot to fame in the late 1980s, the private Isaac Mizrahi has remained under wraps. Until now.
In I.M., Isaac Mizrahi offers a poignant, candid, and touching look back on his life so far. Growing up gay in a sheltered Syrian Jewish Orthodox family, Isaac had unique talents that ultimately drew him into fashion and later into celebrity circles that read like a who’s who of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: Richard Avedon, Audrey Hepburn, Anna Wintour, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Meryl Streep, and Oprah Winfrey, to name only a few.
In his elegant memoir, Isaac delves into his lifelong battles with weight, insomnia, and depression. He tells what it was like to be an out gay man in a homophobic age and to witness the ravaging effects of the AIDS epidemic. Brimming with intimate details and inimitable wit, Isaac’s narrative reveals not just the glamour of his years, but the grit beneath the glitz. Rich with memorable stories from in and out of the spotlight, I.M. illuminates deep emotional truths.
Bernard-Henri Lévy with Terrence McNally
Friday, February 22, 2019
7:45-8:15am Continental Breakfast
8:15-9:15am Talk
(Please note this is a morning event)
Breakfast with
Bernard-Henri Lévy
The Empire and the Five Kings:
America’s Abdication and the Fate of the World
Gensler
Downtown Los Angeles
500 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
PURCHASE TICKETS
$46 General Admission Seat + Book
$20 General Admission Seat
One of the West’s leading intellectuals offers a provocative look at America’s withdrawal from world leadership and the rising powers who seek to fill the vacuum left behind
Bernard-Henri Lévy is a philosopher, activist, filmmaker and author of more than thirty books including The Genius of Judaism, American Vertigo, Barbarism with a Human Face, and Who Killed Daniel Pearl? His writing has appeared extensively in publications throughout Europe and the United States. His documentaries include Peshmerga, The Battle of Mosul, The Oath of Tobruk and Bosna! Lévy is co-founder of the antiracist group SOS Racisme and has served on diplomatic missions for the French government.
“Bernard-Henri Lévy puts his deep first-hand knowledge of the world together with his extraordinary gift for horizontal thinking―leaping easily from epoch to epoch and from one philosophical idea to the next―to offer a startling and persuasive picture of this moment of decisive historical transition.”―Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon and At the Strangers’ Gate
In is new book, The Empire and the Five Kings, Bernard-Henri Lévy says that the United States was once the hope of the world, a beacon of freedom and the defender of liberal democracy. Nations and peoples on all continents looked to America to stand up for the values that created the Western world, and to oppose autocracy and repression. Even when America did not live up to its ideals, it still recognized their importance, at home and abroad.
But as Lévy lays bare in this powerful and disturbing analysis of the world today, America is retreating from its traditional leadership role, and in its place have come five ambitious powers, former empires eager to assert their primacy and influence. Lévy shows how these five—Russia, China, Turkey, Iran, and Sunni radical Islamism—are taking steps to undermine the liberal values that have been a hallmark of Western civilization.
The Empire and the Five Kings is a cri de coeur that draws upon lessons from history and the eternal touchstones of human culture to reveal the stakes facing the West as America retreats from its leadership role, a process that did not begin with Donald Trump’s presidency and is not likely to end with him. The crisis is one whose roots can be found as far back as antiquity and whose resolution will require the West to find a new way forward if its principles and values are to survive.
Terrence McNally is a communications consultant who helps organizations tell better stories. You may recognize him as 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
Howard Schultz with Maria Shriver
Thursday, February 21, 2019
8pm
Howard Schultz
in conversation with Maria Shriver
discussing his book,
From the Ground Up:
A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America
Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School
3131 Olympic Blvd.,
Santa Monica, CA 90404
PURCHASE TICKETS (ON SALE DEC 14, 10am)
$55.00 Reserved Section + Book
$45.00 General Admission section + Book
$20.00 General Admission section (on sale January 21, 10am)
Howard Schultz is former Chairman and CEO of Starbucks, where he has been recognized for his leadership, business ethics, and efforts to strengthen communities. He and his wife, Sheri, have pledged extensive support to help veterans make successful transitions to civilian life through the Schultz Family Foundation’s Onward Veterans initiative. Schultz is the bestselling author of Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul and Pour Your Heart Into It. For updates from Howard Schultz, sign up here.
Maria Shriver is a mother of four, an Emmy and Peabody award-winning journalist, a seven-time New York Times best-selling author, an NBC News Special Anchor and the founder of the nonprofit The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement, which is funding groundbreaking research and seeking to understand why two-thirds of the people with Alzheimer’s are women.
Always curious about the world, Maria has devoted her life to reporting and interviewing some of the biggest changemakers of our time. In addition to her work for NBC News, she is also the founder of the media enterprise Shriver Media, which produces award-winning documentaries and films, bestselling books and an immensely popular weekly email newsletter called “The Sunday Paper.”
Shriver’s life and career are driven by her fervent belief that everyone has the ability to be an “Architect of Change” and move humanity forward in their own way.Her latest book “I’ve Been Thinking…” and its new companion “I’ve Been Thinking…The Journal” — both which were instant bestsellers — were created to offer wisdom, guidance, and inspiration to those seeking to create a meaningful life of their own.
“Howard Schultz’s story is a clear reminder that success is not achieved through individual determination alone, but through partnership and community. Howard’s commitment to both have helped him build one of the world’s most recognized brands. It will be exciting to see what he accomplishes next.”—Bill Gates
From the Ground Up is a bold, dramatic work about the new responsibilities that leaders, businesses, and citizens share in American society today—as viewed through the intimate lens of one man’s life and work.
What do we owe one another? How do we channel our drive, ingenuity, even our pain, into something more meaningful than individual success? And what is our duty in the places where we live, work, and play? These questions are at the heart of the American journey. They are also ones that Howard Schultz has grappled with personally since growing up in the projects and while building Starbucks from eleven stores into one of the world’s most iconic brands.
In From the Ground Up, Schultz looks for answers in two interwoven narratives. One story shows how his conflicted boyhood—including experiences he has never before revealed—motivated Schultz to become the first in his family to graduate from college, then to build the kind of company his father, a working-class laborer, never had a chance to work for: a business that tries to balance profit and human dignity.
A parallel story offers a behind-the-scenes look at Schultz’s unconventional efforts to challenge old notions about the role of business in society. From health insurance and free college tuition for part-time baristas to controversial initiatives about race and refugees, Schultz and his team tackled societal issues with the same creativity and rigor they applied to changing how the world consumes coffee.
Throughout, Schultz introduces a cross-section of Americans transforming common struggles into shared successes. In these pages, lost youth find first jobs, aspiring college students overcome the yoke of debt, post-9/11 warriors replace lost limbs with indomitable spirit, former coal miners and opioid addicts pave fresh paths, entrepreneurs jump-start dreams, and better angels emerge from all corners of the country.
From the Ground Up is part candid memoir, part uplifting blueprint of mutual responsibility, and part proof that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. At its heart, it’s an optimistic, inspiring account of what happens when we stand up, speak out, and come together for purposes bigger than ourselves. Here is a new vision of what can be when we try our best to lead lives through the lens of humanity.
Roger McNamee with Willow Bay
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
8pm (6:30-7:30pm Reception)
Roger McNamee
in conversation with Willow Bay
Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre
New Roads School
Herb Alpert Educational Village
3131 Olympic Blvd.,
Santa Monica, CA 90404
PURCHASE TICKETS
$50 Reserved Section Seat + Book
$40 General Admission Seat + Book
$20 General Admission Seat
$95 Reception (6:30-7:30pm), Reserved Section Seat & Book
The story of how a noted tech venture capitalist, an early mentor to Mark Zuckerberg and investor in Facebook, woke up to the serious damage Facebook was doing to our society and set out to try to stop it.
Roger McNamee has been a Silicon Valley investor for 35 years. He co-founded successful funds in venture, crossover and private equity. His most recent fund, Elevation, included U2’s Bono as a co-founder. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Roger plays bass and guitar in the bands Moonalice and Doobie Decibel System and is the author of The New Normal and The Moonalice Legend: Posters and Words, Volumes 1-9. He has served as a technical advisor for seasons two through five of HBO’s “Silicon Valley” series and was also responsible for raising the money that created the Wikimedia Foundation. He previously appeared at Live Talks Los Angeles to interview Robert Reich.
Willow Bay is a veteran broadcast journalist and new media strategist, Willow Bay is USC Annenberg’s first female dean. She was the first woman to co-anchor CNN’s flagship daily financial news program, Moneyline, a reporter and anchor for ABC News’ Good Morning America/Sunday, and a correspondent for Good Morning America and World News Weekend, among others. As senior editor and senior strategicadviser at The Huffington Post, she managed editorial content and growth initiatives for the pioneering online news site. Since joining the USC Annenberg faculty in 2014 as director of the School of Journalism, she has launched the state-of-the-art Annenberg Media Center in Wallis Annenberg Hall, accelerated curricular innovations and vastly expanded the school’s partnerships with key media and technology partners.
“McNamee puts his finger on serious problems in online environments, especially social networking platforms. I consider this book to be a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the societal impact of cyberspace.” — Vint Cerf, internet pioneer
If you had told Roger McNamee even three years ago that he would soon be devoting himself to stopping Facebook from destroying our democracy, he would have howled with laughter. He had mentored many tech leaders in his illustrious career as an investor, but few things had made him prouder, or been better for his fund’s bottom line, than his early service to Mark Zuckerberg. Still a large shareholder in Facebook, he had every good reason to stay on the bright side. Until he simply couldn’t.
ZUCKED is McNamee’s intimate reckoning with the catastrophic failure of the head of one of the world’s most powerful companies to face up to the damage he is doing. It’s a story that begins with a series of rude awakenings. First there is the author’s dawning realization that the platform is being manipulated by some very bad actors. Then there is the even more unsettling realization that Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are unable or unwilling to share his concerns, polite as they may be to his face.
And then comes the election of Donald Trump, and the emergence of one horrific piece of news after another about the malign ends to which the Facebook platform has been put. To McNamee’s shock, even still Facebook’s leaders duck and dissemble, viewing the matter as a public relations problem. Now thoroughly alienated, McNamee digs into the issue, and fortuitously meets up with some fellow travelers who share his concern, and help him sharpen its focus. Soon he and a dream team of Silicon Valley technologists are charging into the fray, to raise consciousness about the existential threat of Facebook, and the persuasion architecture of the attention economy more broadly — to our public health and to our political order.
Zucked is both an enthralling personal narrative and a masterful explication of the forces that have conspired to place us all on the horns of this dilemma. This is the story of a company and its leadership, but it’s also a larger tale of a business sector unmoored from normal constraints, just at a moment of political and cultural crisis, the worst possible time to be given new tools for summoning the darker angels of our nature and whipping them into a frenzy. Like Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window, Roger McNamee happened to be in the right place to witness a crime, and it took him some time to make sense of what he was seeing and what we ought to do about it. The result of that effort is a wise, hard-hitting, and urgently necessary account that crystallizes the issue definitively for the rest of us.