Past Events

September 19

Gretchen Rubin with Daniel Siegel

In Gretchen Rubin’s practical and authoritative examination, The Four Tendencies, the bestselling author of Better Than Before and The Happiness Project identifies the four personality types that motivate everything we do. A member of Oprah’s SuperSoul 100, Rubin is a thought-provoking and influential writer on the linked subjects of habits, happiness, and human nature.

September 10

Bryan Cranston with Sam Rubin

Bryan Cranston won four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Walter White in AMC’s Breaking Bad. In 2014 he won a Tony Award for his role as Lyndon B. Johnson in the bio-play All the Way. In film, Cranston has won two Screen Actors Guild Awards and received an Academy Award nomination for his leading role in Trumbo. Among his numerous television and film appearances, he was nominated for a Golden Globe and three Emmys for his portrayal of Hal in FOX’s Malcolm in the Middle.  

August 15

Jason Calacanis with Shawn Gold

Jason Calacanis is a technology entrepreneur, angel investor, and the host of the popular weekly podcast This Week in Startups. He’s the founder of a series of conferences that bring entrepreneurs together with potential investors. As a “scout” for top-tier Silicon Valley venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and later as an angel investor, Jason has invested in 150 early-stage startups including 4 that have achieved billion-dollar valuations.

July 29

Frmr. Vice Pres. Al Gore w/ Mayor Eric Garcetti

Former Vice President Al Gore spends the majority of his time as the chairman of The Climate Reality Project, a nonprofit devoted to solving the climate crisis. He is the co-recipient, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, for “informing the world of the dangers posed by climate change.” Gore served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1977-83) and to the U.S. Senate (1984-92). He was inaugurated as the 45th vice president of the United States on January 20, 1993, and served eight years.  The follow-up to his best-selling book, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power is an action handbook to help you learn the science, find your voice, and help solve the climate crisis. A companion documentary will be simultaneously released, opening July 28, 2017.

July 8

Senator Al Franken with Chelsea Handler

Sen. Al Franken has represented Minnesota in the United States Senate since 2009. Before entering politics, Al spent 37 years as an award-winning comedy writer, author, and radio talk show host. In this candid personal memoir, the honorable gentleman from Minnesota takes his army of loyal fans along with him from Saturday Night Live to the campaign trail, inside the halls of Congress, and behind the scenes of some of the most dramatic and/or hilarious moments of his new career in politics.

June 26

An Evening with

Nathan Hill

Nathan Hill‘s short fiction has appeared in many literary journals, including The Iowa Review, AGNI, The Gettysburg Review, and Fiction, where he was awarded the annual Fiction Prize. A native Iowan, he lives with his wife in Naples, Florida. The Nix is his first novel.  John Irving says, “The Nix is a mother-son psychodrama with ghosts and politics, but it’s also a tragicomedy about anger and sanctimony in America. . . .  Nathan Hill is a maestro.” 

June 22

Brian Merchant on the history of the iPhone

 June 29, 2017, marks the 10th anniversary of the device that changed our world—the iPhone.  In the One Device, Brian Merchant dives into the secret history of the invention that changed everything-and became the most profitable product in the world.  The One Device is a roadmap for design and engineering genius, an anthropology of the modern age, and an unprecedented view into one of the most secretive companies in history. This is the untold account, ten years in the making, of the device that changed everything.

 
June 6

Jack Kornfield with Dan Siegel

In his first major book in several years, the inspiring author of the classic A Path with Heart, Kornfield, invites us into a new awareness. Through his signature warmhearted, poignant, often funny stories, with their Aha moments and O. Henry-like outcomes, Jack shows how we get stuck and how we can free ourselves, wherever we are and whatever our circumstances. Renowned for his mindfulness practices and meditations, Jack provides these keys for opening gateways to immediate shifts in perspective and clarity of vision, allowing us to see how to change course, take action, or—when we shouldn’t act—just relax and trust.

June 5

Scott Turow with Paul Levine

Complex and surprising, Scott Turow’s new novel, Testimony, confirms once again why he is known as the master of the legal thriller, and how his work has found fans like John Grisham, who said “Scott is still the best lawyer-novelist,” Daniel Silva, who calls him, “The master of the courtroom drama,” and Steven King, who said “I came away feeling amazed and fulfilled, as we only do when we read novelists at the height of their powers.” Testimony is a page-turning legal thriller about an American prosecutor’s investigation of a refugee camp’s mystifying disappearance.

May 24

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with Bill Walton

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 50 years of friendship with Coach John Wooden — brought together by the game of basketball — formed one of the most enduring and meaningful relationships in sports history. Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee. Since retiring, he has been an actor, a basketball coach, columnist, and the author of several New York Times bestsellers. On the court, Abdul-Jabbar led UCLA to three national champions, and was named the Outstanding Player in the NCAA for each of those years. Wooden coached UCLA for 27 seasons and won more NCAA championships than any other coach in history. Off the court, they transcended their athletic achievements to gain even wider recognition and tremendous national respect.