Entrepreneur and bestselling author of The Lean Startup Eric Ries reveals how entrepreneurial principles can be used by businesses ranging from established companies to early-stage startups to grow revenues, drive innovation, and emerge as truly modern organizations poised to take advantage of the enormous opportunities of the 21st century.  

Walter Isaacson has been CEO of the Aspen Institute, chairman of CNN, and editor of Time magazine and is a professor of history at Tulane. He is the author of The Innovators; Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; and Kissinger: A Biography, and the coauthor of The Wise Men:Six Friends and the World They Made. Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, he weaves a narrative that connects the art produced by history’s most creative genius to his science. Michael Lewis returns to our stage to interview him.

Alice Hoffman is the author of more than thirty works of fiction, including The Rules of Magic, The Marriage of Opposites, Practical Magic, The Red Garden, the Oprah’s Book Club selection Here on Earth, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, and The Dovekeepers.  Jodi Picoult says, “Reading an Alice Hoffman book is like falling into a deep dream where senses are heightened and love reigns supreme. The Rules of Magic is no exception—as I tumbled into the story of three siblings desperate for and cursed by love, I never wanted to awaken.”

Television legend Ed Asner is well-known for his role on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and subsequent spin-off, Lou Grant. He has also made a name for himself as a trade unionist and a political activist. Ed. Weinberger has written for Bob Hope, Richard Pryor, and Johnny Carson. He wrote for and produced The Mary Tyler Moore Show, co-created Taxi, Dear John, and The Cosby Show. Their book is The Grouchy Historian: An Old-Time Lefty Defends Our Constitution Against Right-Wing Hypocrites and Nutjobs.

Diane Keaton is an Oscar-winning actress, director, and author. Her design aesthetic has been celebrated in several successful books that she produced, including California Romantica and House.  When Diane Keaton decided that she wanted to build her own home from the ground up, she took the advice of her dear friend, film director Nancy Meyers, and took to the boards of Pinterest to find inspiration. There she discovered the practical and the fantastical, elements and styles long adored and ones that she never knew she was drawn to. Keaton’s dream house was officially under way and this book that resulted is a compelling account of her that house, from idea to realization in brick, stone, and wood.   

Alice Waters comes to Live Talks Los Angeles to share her long awaited memoir. She is executive chef, founder, owner and of Chez Panisse Restaurant and Café in Berkeley, California. She also founded the Edible Schoolyard Project.  Waters has received the National Humanities Medal, the French Legion of Honor, the WSJ Magazine Humanitarian Innovator Award, and three James Beard Awards. Waters is the vice president of Slow Food International and the author of thirteen books.

We’e excited to welcome Yotam Ottolenghi back to our stage. He is the author of Plenty and Plenty More, and co-author of NOPI, Ottolenghi, and Jerusalem, which was awarded Cookbook of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals and Best International Cookbook by the James Beard Foundation. All five books were New York Times bestsellers.  Now Yotam Ottolenghi is sharing his secrets for making the very best baked goods, desserts, and confections in Sweet. The book features more than 120 recipes for delicious cookies, cakes, mini cakes, cheesecakes, confectionary, tarts, pies, puddings, and more.

Dan Goleman unveils new research that shows what meditation can really do for the brain. He is the New York Times bestselling author of the groundbreaking book Emotional Intelligence. A psychologist and science journalist, he reported on brain and behavioral research for The New York Times for many years. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including three accounts of meetings he has moderated between the Dalai Lama and scientists, psychotherapists, and social activists. Goleman is a founding member of the board of the Mind and Life Institute, a cofounder of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, and co-director of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations.