Past Events

March 1

Andrew Friedman with Ruth Reichl

Andrew Friedman has chronicled the life and work of some of the best American chefs. He is the author of Knives at Dawn: America’s Quest for Culinary Glory at the Bocuse d’Or, the World’s Most Prestigious Cooking Competition and coeditor of the internationally popular anthology Don’t Try This at Home. He has also coauthored more than two dozen cookbooks and memoirs with chefs. Chefs, Drugs and Rock & Roll transports readers back in time to witness the remarkable evolution of the American restaurant chef in the 1970s and 1980s. 

February 26

David Mamet with Ricky Jay

David Mamet, one of the most extraordinary writers in contemporary American literature, has written twenty-three plays, eight collections of essays, two novels, five children’s books, two books of poetry, and eighteen films, including The Verdict and Wag the Dog, for which he received Academy Award nominations. State and Main is his seventh feature as a writer-director, after House of GamesThings ChangeHomicideOleannaThe Spanish Prisoner, and The Winslow Boy. Mamet has received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for Glengary Glen Ross.

February 7

Kathy Freston with Bruce Friedrich

Kathy Freston is a bestselling author and wellness expert with a focus on healthy eating and conscious living. Her books include The Lean, Veganist, Quantum Wellness, and The One.  Bruce Friedrich is Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Good Food Institute and Co-Founder of New Crop Capital. His opinion pieces have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune. He lectures frequently and all over the world about the future of food.

February 1

David Frum with Larry Wilmore

David Frum is a senior editor at the Atlantic and the author of nine books, including the New York Times bestseller The Right Man. From 2001 to 2002, he served as a speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush.  Frum explains why President Trump has undermined our most important institutions in ways even the most critical media has missed, in this thoughtful and hard-hitting book that is a warning for democracy and America’s future.

January 30

David Cay Johnston with Terrence McNally

David Cay Johnston is a Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporter and bestselling author of The Making of Donald Trump. He writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast and Investopedia.com as well as frequent opinion pieces for other publications. “One of America’s most important journalists” (The Washington Monthly), winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and author of the New York Times bestseller The Making of Donald Trump, David Cay Johnston examines the Trump Administration’s policies in its first one hundred days, showing how its actions affect our jobs, finances, safety, and much more.

January 29

Daymond John with Sam Rubin

Daymond John is CEO and founder of FUBU, a celebrated global lifestyle brand with over $6 billion in sales. He is one of the country’s most visible and respected entrepreneurs as one of the stars of ABC series Shark Tank. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Power of Broke, as well as the bestsellers Display of Power and The Brand Within. Daymond has received over 35 awards, including Brandweek Marketer of the Year and Ernst & Young’s New York Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He is CEO of The Shark Group, a consulting firm whose clients range from Fortune 500 companies to new media businesses to celebrities. President Obama appointed Daymond a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship, a position focused on promoting entrepreneurship around the world.

 

January 25

James Syhabout with Roy Choi

Anthony Bourdain says of James Syhabout: “With Hawker Fare, Syhabout has done more than any other person in the world to get the word out about this unfairly, unnecessarily secret country and cuisine, and he’s done so with the most perfect invitation ever invented by mankind: spicy, fishy, MSG-y bowls of goodness. And BBQ. This book will make you a better person. That’s before you even try any of the recipes.”

January 24

Jessica Yu with Julie Hébert

Jessica Yu is a prolific filmmaker known for both her scripted and nonfiction work, which includes the Academy Award-winning short Breathing Lessons. Jessica also directs episodic TV including Grey’s Anatomy, Parenthood, and most recently 13 Reasons Why. Her documentaries have focused on art, social justice, and the environment.  In Garden of the Lost and Abandoned, Jessica Yu turns her keen filmmaker’s eye on the story of Gladys Kalibbala, a Ugandan “orphan sleuth,” who writes the Lost and Abandoned column for Uganda’s largest newspaper in an effort to reunite castaway children with their estranged families. 

January 22

Michael Shermer with Adam Felber

Michael Shermer is the publisher of Skeptic magazine, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, and a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University. He is the author of The Moral Arc, The Believing Brain, and many other bestselling titles.  In his most ambitious work yet, Michael Shermer sets out to discover what drives humans’ belief in life after death. Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopia delves into humanity’s obsession with the afterlife and the quest for immortality. 

January 11

Breakfast with

Pete Souza

Pete Souza was the Chief Official White House Photographer for President Obama and the Director of the White House Photo Office.  

Obama: An Intimate Portrait includes a foreword by President Obama, in which he writes, “Over those eight years, Pete became more than my photographer—he became a friend, a confidant, and a brother.” This is the definitive visual biography of the Obama presidency, including never-before-seen photos of the administration, the president, and his family. Souza’s photographs and poignant behind-the-scenes captions and stories that accompany them, communicate the pace and power of our nation’s highest office.