There was a time when presidents spoke in complete sentences instead of in unhinged tweets. In his comic, coming-of-age memoir, David Litt takes us back to the Obama years – and charts a path forward in the age of Trump. David Litt entered the White House in 2011 and left in 2016 as a special assistant to the president and senior presidential speechwriter. Described as the “comic muse for the president,” David was the lead writer on four White House Correspondents’ Dinner presentations and has contributed jokes to President Obama’s speeches since 2009. He is currently the head writer/producer for Funny Continue reading…

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 Continue reading…

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.

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.  

Russell Brand is an English comedian, actor, radio host, activist, and author of several bestselling books, including the New York Times bestsellers My Booky Wook and Revolution. He has had a number of major film roles including parts in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek. In his new book, he shares with a powerful mix of honesty, humor, and compassion his intimate yet universal story and shares the practical advice and wisdom he has been taught through his fourteen and a half years of recovery. He speaks to those suffering along the full spectrum of addiction – from serious, life-threatening misuse of substances, to the subtler Continue reading…

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 Continue reading…

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.

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.”

Gretchen Carlson has been honored as one of TIME‘s 100 Most Influential People. She is a journalist and news anchor and a tireless advocate for female empowerment. Formerly, Carlson was co-host of the cable morning news show, Fox and Friends, as well as the host of her own signature show, The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson.  Since making the decision to speak out against sexual harassment, she has sparked an international conversation about the pervasiveness of the problem. In Be Fierce: Stop Harassment and Take Your Power Back, Gretchen shares her own experiences, as well as powerful and moving stories from Continue reading…

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 Continue reading…

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.  

Poet, activist, mother, and professor, Nikki Giovanni was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. She has received nineteen honorary degrees from colleges and universities; numerous achievement, humanitarian, and recognition awards from government, private, and public organizations, including Woman of the Year for Ebony, Mademoiselle, Essence, and Ladies Home Journal magazines and seven NAACP Image Awards. She was also the first recipient of the Rosa Parks Woman of Courage Award.

Social scientist and three-time #1 New York Times bestseller Brené Brown has sparked a global conversation about the experiences that bring meaning to our lives – courage, vulnerability, love, belonging, shame, and empathy. She has spent the past sixteen years studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of three #1 New York Times bestsellers – The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, and Rising Strong. Her TED talk – The Power of Vulnerability – is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world with over 30 million views.

From the creator of Dilbert, an unflinching look at the strategies Donald Trump used to persuade voters to elect the most unconventional candidate in the history of the presidency, and how anyone can learn his methods for succeeding against long odds. Scott Adams is the creator of Dilbert, one of the most popular comic strips of all time. He has been a full-time cartoonist since 1995, after 16 years working in the technology realm at a major bank and later a phone company. His many bestsellers include The Dilbert Principle, Dogbert’s Top Secret Management Handbook, and How To Fail At Almost Everything And Still Win Big. He Continue reading…

Chris Matthews is the host of MSNBC’s Hardball. He is the author of Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero; Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked; Kennedy and Nixon; Hardball; and now Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit. With his bestselling biography Jack Kennedy, Chris Matthews shared a new look at one of America’s most beloved Presidents and the patriotic spirit that defined him. Now, with Bobby Kennedy, Matthews returns with a gripping, in-depth, behind-the-scenes portrait of one of the great figures of the American twentieth century.

Matthew Weiner has been entertaining audiences for two decades, most recently as writer, creator, executive producer, and director of Mad Men, one of television’s most honored series. He also worked as a writer and executive producer on The Sopranos, along with several comedy series. Critics have described Matthew Weiner’s writing as compelling, seductive, smart, insightful, and original.  Now comes this master storyteller’s brilliant, unnerving debut novel, Heather, The Totality. He will be interviewed by Susan Orlean.  

Over five decades, John Mauceri’s extraordinary career has brought him not only to the world’s greatest opera companies and symphony orchestras, but also to the musical stages of Broadway and Hollywood, as well as the most prestigious halls of academia. Regarded as the world’s leading performer of the music of Hollywood’s émigré composers, he has taken the lead in the preservation and performance of many kinds of music and has supervised/conducted premieres by composers as diverse as Debussy, Stockhausen, Korngold, Bernstein, Hindemith, Elfman, Ives, and Shore. Mauceri has over 70 albums to his name, and is the recipient of Grammy, Continue reading…

Dan Rather is one of the world’s best-known journalists. He’s interviewed every president since Eisenhower over his six-decade career, and covered almost every important dateline in the United States and around the world. His work has earned him Emmy and Peabody Awards. At a moment of crisis over our national identity, Dan Rather has been reflecting—and writing passionately almost every day on social media—about the world we live in, what our core ideals have been and should be, and what it means to be an American. Now, in a collection of original essays, the venerated television journalist celebrates our shared values Continue reading…

From the author of the bestselling Why We Suck, comes a searing comic look at these divisive times, skewering liberals and conservatives alike with a signature dose of sarcasm and common sense.  He is an actor, writer, producer, singer and comedian. He was the star and co-creator of Rescue Me, which ran for seven seasons. His film credits include playing Captain George Stacy in Marc Webb’s film, The Amazing Spider-Man, Cleveland Browns Head Coach Vince Penn in Ivan Reitman’s film, Draft Day, and as the voice of Francis in A Bug’s Life and Diego in the Ice Age franchise. From 2015 to 2016, Leary wrote and starred in the comedy series, Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll on FX.