Marc Maron says of Patricia Williams: “Mind-blowing. She was able to elevate her personal stories of horror, sadness, violence, insanity into something that people can understand and relate to and see into a world that many of us don’t know.”  Patricia Williams, the fifth child of an alcoholic single mother, came of age in Atlanta at the height of the crack epidemic. At 12, she had her first boyfriend; by 15 she was a mother of two. Williams wanted to give her children the kind of life she’d always dreamed of, but with no education or job skills her options were slim. Thus began Williams’ lucrative career as a drug dealer. After numerous run-ins with the law and a stint behind bars, Williams decided to turn her life around. She now goes by the stage name Ms. Pat and enjoys a successful career as a comedian. Williams lives in Indianapolis with her husband and three children.

In celebration of The Simpsons thirtieth anniversary, the show’s longest-serving writer and producer Mike Reiss, offers a humorous look at the writing and making of the legendary Fox series that has become one of the most revered artistic achievements in television history. Joining him will be Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart Simpson), Yeardley Smith (voice of Lisa Simpson), Mike Scully(writer/producer) & David Silverman (animator/director).

Mark Seliger’s extraordinary portfolio is 30 years in the making. Hebegan shooting small assignments for Rolling Stone in 1987; in 1992 he became their chief photographer, a position he kept for 15 years. During the course of his time at the magazine, he photographed more than 125 covers. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, ELLE, GQ, Vogue Italia, New Yorker, Purple, and in museums and galleries worldwide. He has captured some of the most iconic images of the most famous and influential faces of our time, including Kurt Cobain, Nelson Mandela, Leonardo DiCaprio, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Emma Stone, Angelina Jolie, Bruce Springsteen, David Byrne, Matthew Barney, Jennifer Lawrence, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, Jerry Seinfeld, Jay-Z, Misty Copeland, Amy Schumer, and Paul McCartney.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ​is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, a six-time NBA champion and the league’s only six-time MVP. He is has a national platform as a regular contributing columnist for newspapers and magazines around the world, such as The Guardian and The Hollywood Reporter. A New York Times best-selling author, he has written 14 books, including two recent memoirs: Becoming Kareem for young readers, and Coach Wooden and Me about his lifelong friendship with famed UCLA coach John Wooden.

Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister of Israel discusses his memoir, My Country, My Life: Fighting for Israel, Searching for Peace. Ehud Barak served as Israel’s Prime Minister from 1999 to 2001. He was the leader of the Labor Party from 2007 until 2011, and Minister of Defense, first in Olmert’s and then in Netanyahu’s government from 2007 to 2013. Before entering politics, he was a key member of the Israeli military, occupying the position of Chief-of-Staff. His memoir tells the unvarnished story of his―and his country’s―first seven decades; of its major successes, but also its setbacks and misjudgments. He offers candid assessments of his fellow Israeli politicians, of the American administrations with which he worked, and of himself. 

Marcia Gay Harden, one of America’s most revered actresses discusses her memoir at Live Talks Los Angeles. In 1993, she originated for Broadway the now-iconic role of Harper Pitt in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, a performance that earned her a Tony Award nomination. In 2001, she won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her portrayal of the painter Lee Krasner in Pollock and in 2009, she won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Veronica in Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage. Her films include Miller’s Crossing, The First Wives Club, Mystic River (for which she received a second Academy Award nomination), Into the Wild, Magic in the Moonlight, and Fifty Shades of Grey. Her television credits include Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Newsroom, How to Get Away with Murder, and Code Black. In this poetic and inspiring memoir, she uses the imagery of flowers and the art of Ikebana to depict the unique creative bond that she has had with her mother throughout the years—and how, together, they are facing her mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary street artist, graphic designer activist and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene.  He is best known for his Barack Obama “Hope” poster, which he created in support of the 2008 presidential campaign. His work has been included in the collections of several museums, including the Smithsonian, LACMA the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Henry Rollins, former fronter of legendary punk band Black Flag, is a multi-talented musician, writer, journalist, activist, and actor. 

At a moment when we are facing an epidemic of incivility and hate—with divisive political speech, online trolling, and hate crimes escalating—popular CNN commentator Sally Kohn sets out to discover why we hate and how can stop it.   Sally Kohn is one of the leading progressive voices in America. She is currently a CNN political commentator and a columnist for The Daily Beast. Kohn was previously a Fox News contributor, and she has been a frequent guest on MSNBC. She writes regularly for media outlets including the Washington Post, the New York Times, New York Magazine, Refinery29, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Yahoo, Salon, Time and many more.

He makes the case that one percenters like him should pay their fortune forward in a radically simple way: a guaranteed income for working people.

Chris Hughes is the co-founder of the Economic Security Project, a network of policymakers, academics, and technologists working to end poverty and rebuild the middle class through a guaranteed income. He co-founded Facebook as a student at Harvard and later led Barack Obama’s digital organizing campaign for President. Hughes was the owner and publisher of The New Republic magazine from 2012 to 2016.  He makes the case that one percenters like him should pay their fortune forward in a radically simple way: a guaranteed income for working people.