Events

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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

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VIRTUAL EVENT ONLY, April 16 (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
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Following City on Fire and City of Dreams, City in Ruins is the explosive, impossible-to-put-down conclusion to bestselling author Don Winslow’s epic, genre-defining crime trilogy. This is the book Winslow has announced will be the final one of his extraordinary career.
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Don Winslow, a former investigator, anti-terrorist trainer and trial consultant, is the author of twenty-five acclaimed, award-winning international bestsellers. He’s recently written a series of acclaimed short stories for Audible narrated by four-time Oscar nominee Ed Harris. Among Winslow’s many novels adapted for the screen: Savages, a feature film by three-time Oscar-winning writer-director Oliver Stone and the epic Cartel trilogy was adapted as a weekly series on FX. Additional Winslow books are currently in development at Paramount (The Winter of Frankie Machine), Netflix (Boone Daniels), Warner Brothers (Satori), Sony (City on Fire, City of Dreams, City in Ruins) and Working Title (Crime 101.)
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“It’s a crime classic. Winslow’s best book, by far. You won’t put it down.” — Stephen King on City of Dreams
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Ranging from the gritty back rooms of Providence, RI to the power corridors of Washington, DC and Wall Street to the golden casinos of Las Vegas, City in Ruins is an epic crime novel of love and hate, ambition and desperation, vengeance and compassion.

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VIRTUAL EVENT TICKETS (click here)
April 12, 6pm PT/9pm ET
TICKETS:
$48 Virtual Admission + signed book
(includes shipping to US addresses only)
*Includes access to watch the event on video-on-demand for five days after it airs
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The scene-stealing star of Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids comes to our stage with a candid and hilarious memoir that chronicles her unconventional journey to Hollywood success.
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Rebel Wilson is an Australian actress, director, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She’s known for her roles in the Pitch Perfect series, Bridesmaids, How to be Single, Senior Year, The Hustle, Jojo Rabbit, and more.
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Jess Cagle is SiriusXM’s Chief Entertainment Anchor and host of The Jess Cagle Show. Before joining SiriusXM in 2019, Cagle was Editor In Chief of People magazine and Editorial Director of Entertainment Weekly. He has co-hosted ABC’s Oscar red-carpet pre-show and appeared as a critic and contributor for CBS News. He is currently a senior fellow at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy.
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For decades, actress Rebel Wilson focused on her career, making a name for herself through her iconic roles in Pitch Perfect, Bridesmaids, and Isn’t It Romantic. Now, she’s ready to chronicle the emotional and physical lessons she learned, as well as her most embarrassing experiences. 
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Rebel Rising follows Wilson’s incredible journey of “making it,” as she continuously questioned, “Am I good enough? Will I ever find love? Will I ever change and become healthy?” From fertility issues, weight gain and loss, sexuality, overcoming shyness, rejections, it’s all here. This memoir shows us how to love ourselves while making us laugh uncontrollably.

(this event was taped with an audience on March 12, 2024)

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VIRTUAL EVENT TICKETS,
March 17, 3pm PT/6pm ET (click here)
TICKETS:
$40 Virtual Admission + signed book (includes shipping to US addresses only)
*Includes access to watch the event on video-on-demand for five days after it airs
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From one of the leading grief therapists, Conscious Grieving is a compassionate and accessible guide to grieving offering a new framework for understanding and navigating loss..
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Claire Bidwell Smith is a therapist specializing in grief and the author of four books of nonfiction, published in 22 countries: The Rules of Inheritance, After This: When Life is Over Where Do We Go?, Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief, and Anxious Grief: A Clinician’s Guide to Supporting Grieving Clients. Claire offers numerous online programs for grief in addition to working with people one-on-one, as well as training other clinicians to work in the field of grief and loss. Led by her own experiences with grief, and fueled by her work in hospice and private practice, Claire strives to provide support for all kinds of people experiencing all kinds of grief. Claire has written for and been featured in many publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, Scientific American, The Los Angeles Times, CNN, MSNBC, Forbes, The Today Show, The Chicago Tribune, Oprah Magazine, and Psychology Today. She is devoted to expanding the conversation about grief and loss. Visit her website. 
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Conscious Grieving is a book for anyone seeking guidance and support after loss.  What does it mean to grieve consciously? Most of the time, when we lose someone we love, it feels like grief is just happening to us. We feel out of control, and overwhelmed. Claire reminds us that while loss is something that inevitably happens to all of us, how we choose to grieve is up to us. When we can consciously engage with our grief, rather than avoiding it, we can access profound pathways to healing.
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Conscious Grieving offers a new framework for each stage of grief: Entering, Engaging, Surrendering, and Transforming.
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* Entering – staying present and taking care of ourselves as we navigate the shock and upheaval of a new loss. 
*Engaging – navigating that first year after a loss by staying in tune with our needs as more complicated feelings of depression, guilt or anger surface.
*Surrendering – facing the changes to our identity and who we are becoming in the face of loss.
*Transforming – through ritual, honor, hope, and grace, and learning to carry our grief with intention so that we can continue to grow, heal, and thrive.
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Grief asks a lot from us. But the ability to grieve is a birthright. We grieve throughout our lifetimes. We grieve the deaths of loved ones yes, but also moves, divorce, illness, injustice, time lost, changes in the world and healing from these losses requires that we evaluate everything we ever considered meaningful. Healing means making our lives worth the pain we endure when we lose someone we love. And transforming through grief is an opportunity afforded to all. 
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Alua Arthur is a death doula, recovering attorney, and the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization that exists to support people as they answer the question, “What must I do to be at peace with myself so that I may live presently and die gracefully?” Going with Grace works to improve and redefine the end-of-life experience for people rooted in every community using the individual lived experience as the foundation. Alua has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Vogue, Refinery29, The Doctors, and InStyle.  Arthur is the author of the upcoming book, Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End.

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VIRTUAL EVENT TIX AVAILABLE, March 11 (click here)
TICKETS:
$45 Virtual Admission + signed book (shipping to US addresses only)
*Includes access to watch the event on video-on-demand for five days after it airs
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From award-winning journalist Kara Swisher comes a witty, scathing, but fair accounting of the tech industry and its founders who wanted to change the world but broke it instead.
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Award-winning journalist Kara Swisher is the host of the podcast On with Kara Swisher and the cohost of the Pivot podcast with Scott Galloway. She was also the cofounder and editor-at-large of Recode, host of the Recode Decode podcast, and co-executive producer of the Code conference. A former contributing opinion writer for The New York Times and host of its Sway podcast, Swisher has also worked for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. This is her third book.
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Burn Book: A Tech Love Story is part memoir, part history and, most of all, a necessary recounting of tech’s most powerful players— the inside story we’ve all been waiting for of modern Silicon Valley and the biggest boom in wealth creation in the history of the world. It’s a witty, scathing, but fair accounting of the tech industry and its founders who wanted to change the world but broke it instead.
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While tech titans bragged they would “move fast and break things,” Kara Swisher was moving faster and breaking news. Covering the explosion of the digital sector in the early 1990s, she developed a long track record of digging up and reporting the truth of this new world order. Her consistent scoops drove one CEO to accuse her of “listening in the heating ducts” and for Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg to once say: “It is a constant joke in the Valley when people write memos for them to say, ‘I hope Kara never sees this.’”
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It’s only a slight exaggeration to say Swisher has interviewed everyone. Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Bob Iger, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Meg Whitman, Peter Thiel, and Mark Zuckerberg are just a few who Swisher made sweat—figuratively and, in one famous case, literally.
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Ted Sarandos was named co-CEO of Netflix in July 2020. He has been responsible for all content operations since 2000, and led the company’s transition into original content production that began in 2013 with the launch of the series House of Cards, Arrested Development  and Orange Is the New Black among numerous others. Ted was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2013 and received the Producers Guild of America Milestone Award in 2019. He is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, a trustee of the American Film Institute, and on the boards of Exploring the Arts and Spotify.