September 18 — An Evening with Naomi Wolf

Tuesday, September 18, 2012
8pm (Reception 6:30-7:30pm)

An Evening with Naomi Wolf
in conversation with Terrence McNally
discussing her book, Vagina: A New Biography

Track 16 at Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue, Bldg C-1
Santa Monica, CA

PURCHASE TICKETS
$20, $40 includes Wolf’s book,
$34 signed book purchase only (shipping included to US destinations)
$95 includes the book + pre-event reception*

Naomi Wolf in the news…

— Review in The New Yorker

A provocative new book from the bestselling author of The Beaty Myth tackles female sexuality.

In her landmark bestsellers, Naomi Wolf has explored important subjects from the commercialization of childbirth and motherhood, to how media images of beauty are used against women.

Now, in Vagina: A New Biography, Wolf reveals scientific evidence of the direct link between a woman’s experience of her vagina, and her very sense of self.

Wolf asks: If the vagina and the brain are essentially parts of one network, then what do women really need – not only for sexual fulfillment, but for overall confidence, self-realization and well-being?

Join us at Live Talks Los Angeles as she discusses how science and history, religion and literature, have helped her to answer this question.

For more on Namoi Wolf, visit her website.

Terrence NcNally is host of Free Forum on KPFK which is heard in Los Angeles and New York. On his weekly radio show, McNally engages the most visionary thinkers, writers, and doers he can find to make sense of the current moment and shed light on the path ahead.

PURCHASE TICKETS

* Proceeds from tickets to the reception support the upcoming Live Talks Los Angeles emerging voices/authors series of events that commence in 2013

$20, $40 includes Wolf’s book,
$95 includes pre-event reception (6:30-7:30pm) plus book

Track 16 at Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue, Bldg C-1
Santa Monica, CA

September 5 — Molly Ringwald in conversation with Meghan Daum

Wednesday, September 5, 2012
8pm (Reception 6:30-7:30pm)

An Evening with Molly Ringwald
in conversation with Meghan Daum, Los Angeles Times columnist
discussing her debut fiction, When It Happens to You

Track 16 at Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue, Bldg C-1
Santa Monica, CA

PURCHASE TICKETS
$20, $40 includes Ringwald’s book,
$34 signed book purchase only (shipping included to US destinations)
$95 includes the book + pre-event reception*

* Proceeds from tickets to the reception support the upcoming Live Talks Los Angeles emerging voices/authors series of events that commence in 2013

Molly Ringwald in the news…

Q&A with Molly Ringwald, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times review of When It Happens To You
In the New York Times: Molly Ringwald talks about her new novel
On NPR:  A Novel Endeavor from Molly Ringwald

Film, television and Broadway star Ringwald’s debut fiction, When It Happens to You, “sizzles with rare insight about the reverberations of betrayal and of love.”

Molly Ringwald mines the complexities of modern relationships in this collection of linked stories, When it Happens to You.  She follows a Los Angeles family and their friends and neighbors as they negotiate the hazardous terrain of everyday life — revealing the deceptions, heartbreak, and vulnerability familiar to us all.

A stay-at-home mom grapples with age, infertility and an increasingly distant husband. A former children’s television star tries to rebuild his life after being hospitalized for “exhaustion.” An elderly woman mourns the loss of her husband and her estranged relationship with her daughter.  A single mother finds untapped reserves of strength to protect her flamboyant six-year-old son who wishes only to wear dresses. And in the devastating title story, a betrayed wife chronicles her pain and alienation, leading to an eviscerating denouement.

As the lives of these characters converge and diverge in unexpected ways, Ringwald reveals an eye for the universality of loss, love, and the search for connection. When It Happens to You is being called an auspicious literary debut by this well-known star of film, TV and Broadway.

Writer Gary Shteyngart (Super Sad True Love Story) says Ringwald “knows how families work and uses her considerable talents to make them come alive on the page.”  Writer Robin Black (If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This) says, “While we have been watching Molly Ringwald, she has clearly been watching us. These stories sizzle with rare insight about the reverberations of betrayal and of love.”

Meghan Daum has been an opinion columnist at The Los Angeles Times since 2005. Her latest book, Life Would Be Perfect I Lived In That House, was published by Knopf in 2010. She is also the author of the essay collection My Misspent Youth and the novel The Quality of Life Report and her work has appeared in numerous magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper’s, and Vogue. She is currently at work on a book of essays about sentimentality.

PURCHASE TICKETS

$20, $40 includes Ringwald’s book,
$95 includes pre-event reception (6:30-7:30pm) plus book

Track 16 at Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue, Bldg C-1
Santa Monica, CA

Marcus Samuelsson in the news, we host him tomorrow at Live Talks Los Angeles, @livetalksla, @Marcuscooks

Tomorrow, we host acclaimed chef Marcus Samuelsson who will discuss his memoir, Yes! Chef with David Burtka of E! News at 8pm at Track 16 at Bergamot Station, Santa Monica.  Event details our website.

Samuelsson in the news…

 Los Angeles Times, July 3, Russ Parsons reviews Yes! Chef in the Los Angeles Times

 USA Today, July 8Chef Samuelsson serves up a revealing memoir

— New York Times, July 2, Chef’s Picnic: Marcus Samuelsson

— Wall Street Journal, June 29, Memoir of a Flavor: Chasing Top Chef

— Huffington Post, July 1, Chef Marcus Samuelsson on eating all over the world

 Business Week, June 26, Samuelsson memoir traces rise from Ethiopia to Obama

Samuelsson is the author of several award-winning cookbooks and the forthcoming memoir, Yes, Chef.  Among his many accolades:  the youngest chef to ever achieve two three-star reviews from The New York Times and he has been honored by the James Beard Foundation on multiple occasions including “Rising Star Chef” (1999), “Best Chef: New York City” (2003), and “Best International Cookbook” (2007). In 2010, Chef Samuelsson beat out 21 fellow chefs on the second season of the television competition Top Chef Masters on Bravo.

In 2010, Marcus opened Red Rooster Harlem,and was tasked with planning and executing the Obama Administration’s first State dinner. Samuelsson will be in conversation with David Burtka of E! News.


Chef Marcus Samuelsson in conversation with David Burtka of E! News.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012
8pm (Reception 6:30-7:30pm)

An Evening with Marcus Samuelsson
in conversation with David Burtka

discussing his memoir, Yes! Chef

Track 16 at Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue, Bldg C-1
Santa Monica, CA

PURCHASE TICKETS:  
$20, $40 includes Samuelsson’s book,
$95 includes the book + pre-event reception

Chef Marcus Samuelsson is an internationally acclaimed chef, author and philanthropist. He is the author of several award-winning cookbooks and the forthcoming memoir, Yes, Chef.  Among his many accolades, Chef Samuelsson is the youngest chef to ever achieve two three-star reviews from The New York Times and he has been honored by the James Beard Foundation on multiple occasions including “Rising Star Chef” (1999), “Best Chef: New York City” (2003), and “Best International Cookbook” (2007). In 2010, Chef Samuelsson beat out 21 fellow chefs on the second season of the television competition Top Chef Masters on Bravo, winning $115,000 for the UNICEF Tap Project.  In December 2010, Marcus opened Red Rooster Harlem, later earning two-stars from The New York Times.  Other recent accolades Chef Samuelsson has achieved include being tasked with planning and executing the Obama Administration’s first State dinner; hosting the President at his own restaurant; and being named on the “International Best Dressed List 2011” in Vanity Fair magazine. In March, 2012, Chef Samuelsson opened Ginny’s Supper Club in the space underneath Red Rooster Harlem.

David Burtka joined E! News as a correspondent in January 2012.  David began his acting career on the stage and in 2001 won the Clarence Derwent Award for most promising male performer for his role as The Boy in the American premiere of Edward Albee’s The Play About the Baby. He then made his Broadway debut in Edward Albee’s The Goat opposite Sally Field, followed by his acclaimed role as Tulsa in Sam Mendes’ Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters.

He has appeared on The West Wing, CSI: NY, How I Met Your Mother, Crossing Jordan and Steven Spielberg’s reality show On The Lot. David has also tested his acting chops on the big screen, with appearances in Regrets Only, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, and Woody Allen’s Hollywood Ending.

David graduated from University of Michigan and Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Pasadena. When he’s not reporting on entertainment news or acting, he keeps himself busy with Gourmet M.D, the Los Angeles-based catering company he owns.

PURCHASE TICKETS

$20, $40 includes Samuelsson’s,
$95 includes pre-event reception (6:30-7:30pm)

Track 16 at Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue, Bldg C-1
Santa Monica, CA

June 22 — Rock Bottom Remainders w/ Stephen King, Dave Barry, Amy Tan, Mitch Albom, Scott Turow and more at The El Rey

Friday, June 22, 2012

An Evening with The Rock Bottom Remainders
a concert featuring Stephen King, Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Scott Turow,
Mitch Albom, Matt Groening, James McBride, Roy Blount, Jr.,
Ridley Pearson, Greg Iles & Sam Barry

with special guest, Roger McGuinn of The Byrds

The El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036

6:30-7:30 pm — Reception
8:30 pm — Concert (doors open at 7:30 pm)

PURCHASE TICKETS
$40 — Concert (doors open at 7:30 pm)
$200 — Concert + Pre-reception (6:30-7:30 pm)
$295 — Concert + Reception + signed lithograph by the band (illustration at left by David Horsey)
*$150 — Signed lithograph (includes shipping)
*$300 — Signed books by all participating band members (includes shipping)
* These ticket options do not include concert tickets. Orders will be shipped after the concert. 

At Live Talks Los Angeles, we typically feature conversations, but we are excited to be producing a concert featuring some luminaries of the literary world.  The Rock Bottom Remainders — the all author rock band — will perform at the El-Rey Theatre, June 22.  Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, whom we featured in conversation in November 2011, joins as musical guest.

Marking the band’s 20th anniversary, the band has decided its 20 year run will mark the end and will host their final public concert at the El Rey  Theatre on Friday, June 22. The show is part of the band’s final two city concert tour –The Past Our Bedtime Tour.

Confirmed for the concert are Stephen King, who hasn’t performed with  the band since 2007; Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Mitch Albom, Scott Turow, Matt Groening, James McBride, Greg Iles, Ridley Pearson, Roy Blount, Jr,  and Sam Barry.  The band dedicates these two concerts to founder Kathi Goldmark, who passed away on May 24th after a courageous battle with cancer.

On the upcoming concert Stephen King, who plays rhythm guitar says, “A few years ago, Bruce Springsteen told us we weren’t bad, but not to try to get any better otherwise we’d just be another lousy band. After 20 years, we still meet his stringent requirements. For instance, while we all know what ‘stringent’ means, none of us have yet mastered an F chord.”
King adds, “I’m looking forward to reuniting with all my bandmates. We’re older but not dead. Some of us can remember all of the words; all of us can remember some of the words; but NONE of us can remember all of the music. That’s why they call it rock and roll.”

Dave Barry, co-lead guitarist, chimes in, “It’s not that we had a ‘creative  differences’ issue, or some in the band wanted to launch solo music careers, but the fact is that we can no longer play an entire set without aving to pee.” Barry adds, “We realize the Rolling stones are celebrating 50 years this year, but we don’t want to reach the point where our stage  moves involve motorized scooters.”

Since the band’s founding in Anaheim in 1992 — at a book convention — they have strictly performed to support causes, and have raised over $2 Million for various literacy causes. Proceeds from the El Rey show will benefit the Los Angeles Downtown Women’s Center, the Midnight Mission and the launch of an Emerging Author Series at Live Talks Los Angeles.

David Westin in the news, speaks at Live Talks Biz on 5/31 w/ @willow_bay on tv news

We host David Westin, former president of ABC News on May 31st in conversation with Willow Bay talking about the tv news business.  His memoir, Exit Interview, was recently released. Ticket info here.

David Westin in the news…

— Wall Street Journal, May 22, Channeling the News

— Mediabistro, May 22, Former ABC News President Recalls Iraq Regret, ABC Layoffs

— FoxNews, May 22, Judging Fairmess in the Media (on O’Reilly Factor)

— Marketplace, May 22, On the state of the news today

— Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC, May 23, David Westin on his time at ABC News