Podcasts by Bay Area Book Festival Podcast

The Beauty and Urgency of Nature Writing from 2023-12-07T12:00

Erica Berry, Tom Comitta, and Talia Lakshmi Kolluri, moderated by Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí

Readers of fiction (too) often gloss over description of nature, but this session invites readers t...

Mysteries and Thrillers: Dangerous Destinations from 2023-11-30T12:00

Margot Douaihy, Catriona McPherson, T. Jefferson Parker, and Kwei Quartey, moderated by Laurie R. King

Get ready to pack your bags—but keep an eye on your passport, your valuables, and yo...

An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom: Master Slave Husband Wife from 2023-11-23T12:00

Ilyon Woo, interviewed by Dorothy Lazard

Scholars of American history have uncovered and recounted countless remarkable stories of the courage and resourcefulness of enslaved and formerly...

You're a Fraud from 2023-11-16T12:00

Kirstin Chen, Brendan Slocumb, and Kyla Zhao, moderated by Cheryl Popp

This one's an ode to the grifters, the con artists, the scammers: the characters who would gleefully pull one over o...

A(lexandra) P(etri's) US History from 2023-11-09T11:49

Alexandra Petri, interviewed by Joe Garofoli

Alexandra Petri is no stranger to making history—she became the youngest-ever columnist for the Washington Post. Now she casts her withering g...

Love on the Run from 2023-11-02T11:45

Marie Lu in conversation with Alisha Rai

Falling in love is always a rush—even more so when if you and your sexy sidekick are being chased by mobsters . . . or chasing them down yourselve...

Adam Hochschild on American Midnight and Democracy’s Crises from 2023-10-26T12:00

Adam Hochschild, introduced by Monika Bauerlein

In American Midnight: The Great War, A Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis, award-winning historian and journalist Adam Hochsch...

We Were Once a Family: Journalists Investigating Child Welfare from 2023-10-19T12:00

Roxanna Asgarian and Garrett Therolf, moderated by David Barstow

Roxanna Asgarian is joined by Garrett Therolf of the Investigative Reporting Program at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of...

We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies: In Exile from Tibet from 2023-10-12T12:00

Tsering Yangzom Lama, interviewed by Cherilyn Parsons

Very few novels by Tibetans have been translated into English and published in the United States. So we’re fortunate that award-winni...

Bridging the Distance: Nicole Chung and A Living Remedy from 2023-10-05T12:00

Nicole Chung, interviewed by Brooke Warner

Nicole Chung follows up her exquisite debut with a wrenching new memoir, written in the wake of her mother's death from cancer in the midst of t...

Even If Everything Ends: A Searing, Beautiful Novel on Life, Loss, and Today’s Climate Moment from 2023-09-28T12:00

Jens Liljestrand, interviewed by John Freeman

Be one of the first readers in the U.S. to meet the author of a novel that’s sweeping the globe: Jens Liljestrand with his debut Even If Ever...

Horror: History That Goes Bump in the Night from 2023-09-21T12:00

Jessica Johns, Nick Medina, and Francesca Maria, moderated by Ben Monroe

History—both personal and otherwise—comes back to haunt the living in these chilling tales of psychological and my...

Bay Curious from 2023-09-14T12:00

Olivia Allen-Price, interviewed by Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight, introduced by Emilio Garcia-Ruiz

From Grace Cathedral to the Marin Headlands, why are there so many labyrinths in the...

A Life in Books from 2023-09-07T12:00

Joan Frank, Dorothy Lazard, and Jane Smiley, moderated by John Freeman

Each of us has a different relationship with the books we read…and write. That is no less true if you’ve just publis...

Tasting History: A Delicious Journey Through the Past from 2023-08-31T12:00

Max Miller, interviewed by Brian Watt

If you've ever read Dickens and asked yourself, "What is gruel, anyway?" or wondered what would have been served at Macbeth's infamous feast, this se...

Science Fiction: Space Exploration from 2023-08-24T12:00

Mary Robinette Kowal, Annalee Newitz, and Megan O'Keefe, moderated by Evette Davis

Get ready to take off for the far reaches of the galaxy via three very different, but equally fascinatin...

Parable of the Sower Turns 30 from 2023-08-17T12:00

Ashia Ajani, Aya de Leon, and Camille Dungy, moderated by Devin T. Murphy

2023 marks the thirtieth anniversary of Octavia Butler's novel, which has only grown more relevant over the past ...

At Play on the Page from 2023-08-10T12:00

Mark Ciabattari, Katie Hafner, and Peter Hoey, moderated by Heather Scott Partington

All the creators in this session depict a world that is just slightly off-kilter from reality. Join th...

Memoir: The Meaning of Home from 2023-08-03T12:00

Vanessa A. Bee, Camille Dungy, and Kathryn Savage, moderated by Kristin Keane

In this memoir session, thoughtful considerations of home blend the authors' intimate perspectives w...

Reckoning: Falling, Femicide, and Dreaming the New World: A Conversation with Award-Winning Playwright and Activist V (formerly Eve Ensler) from 2023-07-27T12:00

V, interviewed by Deirdre English

Perhaps you're most familiar with V as the Tony Award-winning playwright (often under her former name Eve Ensler) of groundbreaking works. Or maybe you'v...

Awe: The Science of Everyday Wonder from 2023-07-20T12:00

Dacher Keltner, interviewed by Shawn Taylor

How do we begin to quantify the goose bumps we feel when we see the Grand Canyon, or the utter amazement when we watch a child walk for the fir...

Craft Chats: A Child's Perspective from 2023-07-13T12:00

Keenan Norris, Pilar Quintana, and Margaret Verble, moderated by Ethel Rohan

It's undeniable that we were all once children, but that doesn’t mean it's child's play for writers to center ...

Fiction and Technology: What Hath AI Wrought? from 2023-07-06T12:00

Akil Kumarasamy, Josh Riedel, Allie Rowbottom, Nina Schuyler, and Colin Winnette, moderated by Noah Stern

The authors in this session aren't afraid to use their fiction to contend with th...

Tricia Hersey: Rest Is Resistance from 2023-06-29T12:00

Tricia Hersey, interviewed by Ashara Ekundayo

In the instant New York Times bestseller “Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto,” Tricia Hersey, aka The Nap Bishop, shows us how to connect to the...

Finding Nature, Saving Time from 2023-06-22T12:00

Maddalena Bearzi and Jenny Odell, moderated by Alexis Madrigal

Time stretches out in front of us, but there is never enough of it and you simply cannot borrow, buy, or make more. Join Jen...

Writer to Writer: Written on the Body from 2022-11-10T12:00:05

Alyssa Songsiridej, Shruti Swamy, Anita Felicelli

How do writers represent the physicality of the human body, in all its frailty and its grace? Explore this question with electrifying deb...

The Ruptures of Leaving: Women Writers on Migration from 2022-11-03T12:00:30

Gabriela Garcia, Masha Rumer, Shugri Said Salh, Susie Meserve

How do immigrant mothers navigate the world, and what do they leave their daughters when they go? Join Susie Meserve in conve...

YA: Growing Up Queer Then and Now from 2022-10-27T12:00:29

Jen Ferguson, Laura Gao, Cinnamongirl Kailynn

These gifted authors offer historical and contemporary narratives of growing up queer.  Jen Ferguson’s “The S...

Collective Book Studio Presents: Mother's Day from 2022-10-20T12:00:54

Raquel Kelley, Meredith Rose Essalat, Kaitlin Soulé, Josephine Wai Lin, Cindy DiTiberio

A heartfelt and funny session about the joys and absurdities of modern motherhood. Raquel Kelley’s “Where’...

How to Write a Mystery from 2022-10-13T12:00:19

Dale Berry, Steve Hockensmith, Catriona McPherson, Gary Phillips, Laurie R. King

Four experts in suspense unravel the secrets to making pages turn. Your mentors in mystery are Dale Berry ...

Cataclysm or Cure-All?: Fiction Writers Engage with the Promises and Perils of Our Tech Future from 2022-10-06T12:00:50

Kate Folk, James Kennedy, Claire Stanford, Vauhini Vara, Lucile Culver

Four fiction writers, each with an exquisite ear for the tender absurdities of humanity, bring their craft to bear o...

Writer to Writer: Karen Joy Fowler and Lee Kravetz on Art and Life from 2022-09-29T12:00:55

Karen Joy Fowler, Lee Kravetz

Two novelists channel the worlds and minds of two mythologized historic figures. With “Booth,” Karen Joy Fowler (“The Jane Austen Book Club,” “We Are All Completely...

Fear and Loathing in San Francisco: Hunter S. Thompson's Savage Journey to Gonzo from 2022-09-22T12:00:43

Peter Richardson, Sam Quinones

Why is the wild, woolly writing of Hunter S. Thompson (“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”) still so relevant today? By inventing a whole new genre—”Gonzo jour...

Black Panthers: Inherit the Revolution from 2022-09-15T12:00:20

Kekla Magoon, Jetta Martin, Waldo Martin Jr., Cinnamongirl Olivia, Kimberly Cox Marshall

The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense rocked the world with a revolutionary vision whose legacy...

The Art of Translation from 2022-09-08T12:00:25

Forrest Gander, Christina MacSweeney, Megan McDowell, Achy Obejas, Nathan Scott McNamara

To translate an author’s work—staying faithful to their vision, style, and message, in a language ...

Relationships, Reckonings&Remembrances: A Reading by Three California Poets from 2022-09-01T12:00:28

Mai Der Vang, Amanda Moore, Christine No, Maw Shein Win

Three California poets navigate relationships, reckonings, and memory with unerring eyes. Join Mai Der Vang (“Yellow Rain”), Amanda Moore ...

What Has Oakland Taught Us?: A History of Disruptive Development and New Visions for Urban Planning from 2022-08-25T12:00:30

Majora Carter, John Kamp, James Rojas, Mitchell Schwarzer, Alexis Madrigal

Displacement, gentrification, the soaring cost of living: these issues have ravaged cities across the Bay and Am...

Revolution and Resilience: Global Politics in Fiction from 2022-08-18T12:00:01

Aamina Ahmad, Uzma Aslam Khan, NoViolet Bulawayo, Lance Knobel

Three supremely talented writers with a global perspective will open our eyes to historical and contemporary cycles of oppression a...

Total SF Book Club Live: Urban Hiking in San Francisco with Alexandra Kenin from 2022-08-11T12:00:37

Alexandra Kenin, Heather Knight, Peter Hartlaub

Ever wonder where to find a hiker's rugged dream in the big bad city? Alexandra Kenin (“Urban Trails: San Francisco”) has meticulously tracked all...

Werewolves and Monster Slayers: Transforming Horror in YA from 2022-08-04T12:00:38

Lily Anderson, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Rex Horner

Read about powerful young women with a side of killer fun. In Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s graphic novel debut “Squad,” Becca longs to be popular at her new...

J Dilla: The Beatmaker Who Changed The Way Musicians Play from 2022-07-28T12:00:04

Dan Charnas, Adam Mansbach

Discover a hidden genius—a man whom the greatest figures of contemporary pop call a “demigod” of music. J Dilla, who died in 2006 at the age of 32, never had a mainstr...

Crime: True and Imagined from 2022-07-21T12:00:13

Jessica Garrison, Tod Goldberg, Paul Holes, Megan Cassidy

What do crimes, real or fictional, reveal about human nature? Shedding light are legendary cold-case investigator Paul Holes (who...

Science Fiction: In Search of Hope from 2022-07-15T00:00:36

Charlie Jane Anders, Mike Chen, John Scalzi, Danielle Venton

These brilliant science fiction writers’ latest works find hope among the stars. In John Scalzi’s “The Kaiju Preservation Soci...

Historical Fiction: China and California from 2022-07-07T12:00:17

Carol Edgarian, Vanessa Hua, Jenny Tinghui Zhang, Jasmin Darznik

Chinese immigrants were instrumental in shaping California, despite prejudice and exploitation. The connection between the...

Shine Bright: Black Women in Pop Music from 2022-06-30T12:00:27

Danyel Smith, Mariecar Mendoza

From formerly enslaved poet Phyllis Wheatley to Mahalia Jackson to Tina Turner, brilliant Black women have been instrumental—indeed, foundational—in creatin...

Keep Calm and Go Quietly Mad from 2022-06-23T12:00:50

Molly Giles, Leslie Kirk Campbell, Sarah Moss

With book titles like “Wife with Knife: Stories that Cut” (by Molly Giles), “The Man With Eight Pairs of Legs” (by Leslie Kirk Campbell), and...

Writing a Path Out of Darkness: Writers on Mourning from 2022-06-16T12:00:59

Pik-Shuen Fung, Kristin Keane, Litt Woon Long, Deirdre English

These authors give voice to the unspeakable parts of grief. The protagonist of Pik-Shuen Fung’s “Ghost Forest” navigates her...

Splitting the World Open: An International Roundtable of Dangerous Women Writers from 2021-09-16T12:00

Spend an hour with three brilliant female authors, writing from and about multiple corners of the globe—India, the Middle East, North Africa, South America, the United States—with woman-focused ...

What Happens When a Woman Tells Her Whole Truth w/Gina Frangello, Brooke Warner from 2021-09-09T12:00

Gina Frangello’s new memoir, Blow Your House Down, was met with wide acclaim, impassioned support, and also the judgments and criticisms that people love to lob at women who write about their au...

Book Launch Event: The Confession of Copeland Cane, with author Keenan Norris in conversation with Dr. Michael Datcher from 2021-09-02T12:00

Love, Loss, and Meaning in Life: World-Renowned Therapist Irvin Yalom&Joyce Carol Oates from 2021-08-19T12:00

A powerful conversation between renowned psychiatrist Irvin Yalom & one of the most honored authors in American letters, Joyce Carol Oates. This heartfelt talk explores universal questions of in...

How to Dream the World You Want: Nnedi Okorafor&Jeff VanderMeer with Isabel Yap from 2021-08-12T12:00

Lager and Love Can’t Pay the Bills: 2020 Booker Prize Winner Douglas Stuart on his Masterpiece, Shuggie Bain from 2021-08-07T12:00

Douglas Stuart enraptured readers worldwide in 2020 when his debut novel, Shuggie Bain, took the world’s top literary award, the Booker Prize. Shuggie Bain was a labor of love that drew from his...

Green Rabbits Glowing at the End of the World from 2021-07-29T12:00

Hear from two highly respected journalists who also happen to be speculative fiction writers. Annalee Newitz is an award-winning novelist (The Future of Another Timeline) and a science, technolo...

When Everything Falls Apart, How Does the Heart Survive? Orville Schell and Yiyun Li on China, Tolstoy, and the Power of Art, with Adam Hochschild from 2021-07-16T12:00

A journalist and renowned expert on China, Schell has penned his first novel, drawing on his knowledge of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution and on his conviction that art and love can outlive bru...

There’s a Revolution Outside, My Love from 2021-07-08T12:00

The power of words to spark change and detonate oppression has never been more needed than it is today. Join Listen

Create, Connect, and Inspire: Julia Cameron on The Listening Path from 2021-06-24T12:00

Having enri...

The Ties that Bind: Ann Patchett on Family, Fortune, and the Search for Self from 2021-02-18T13:00

Ann ...

Racing Towards Wonder with bestselling novelist Jane Smiley from 2020-12-10T13:00

Pulitzer Pr...

Power of Protest: Lessons from Hong Kong from 2020-11-24T13:00

Listen

Meaning in the Music: A Conversational Duet with Fantastic Negrito and Timbuktu from 2020-11-10T13:00

Two-time Gr...

Women Lit #UNBOUND: Poised to Soar: Nature-Writing Sensation Helen Macdonald with Vesper Flights from 2020-11-05T13:00

Listen

How the Constitution Can Save Us from 2020-11-03T13:00

Listen

Food Is Fundamental from 2020-10-29T12:00

Where can w...

Embracing the Other from 2020-10-27T12:00

Late Congre...

Writing a New World Into Existence: Lessons from Literary Futurism from 2020-10-22T12:00

It’s been d...

The Radical Necessity of Nonviolence from 2020-10-20T12:00

“The choice...

Politics, Race, and the State of Play in our Nation from 2020-10-16T20:29:41

W. Kamau Be...

Merlin Sheldrake and Michael Pollan on Entangled Life from 2020-10-13T12:00

In this conversation, Merlin Sheldrake and bestselling writer Michael Pollan delve into “The Wood Wide Web”: an enchanting “superorganism” whose secrets just might save the world. Merlin’s rivet...

Rewrite Your Story: Embracing the Divine Feminine with Alexandra Roxo and Carol Queen from 2020-10-08T12:00

This episode includes passages that may not be appropriate for all listeners. Why is it so hard for so many of us to claim our own power? “Because,” writes Alexandra Roxo in her debut, F*ck Like...

Real Change with Mindfulness Teacher Sharon Salzberg from 2020-10-06T12:00

Author of Real Happiness and columnist for the Peabody Award-winning On Being, Sharon Salzberg has built a devoted fanbase and major excitement for her latest book, Real Change. A renowned figur...

America’s Most Unusual Marriage: Adam Hochschild on Rebel Cinderella from 2020-10-01T12:00

Trust Adam ...

What Comes Naturally: The Science and Soul of Nature Writing from 2020-09-29T12:00

In this panel sponsored by Heyday, four authors meet at a crossroads between hard science and visual sumptuousness. Obi Kaufmann turns his artist’s palette on California’s most contested natural...

Braving Deep Waters: Female Fearlessness and Friendship with Sue Monk Kidd and Lisa See from 2020-09-24T12:00

Dive into a...

International Thrills: #1 Scandinavian Bestseller Lars Kepler from 2020-09-22T12:00

Swedish sus...

A Cursed Blessing: The Hidden Gifts in Times of Trial: A Conversation with David Talbot and Sir Michael Moritz from 2020-09-17T12:00

Bestselling...

Ready, Set, Publish with Courtney Maum from 2020-09-15T12:00

Brooke Warn...

Unplugging in a Virtual World: Tiffany Shlain on 24/6 from 2020-09-10T12:00

At a time w...

Shedding Light, Vanquishing Fear: End-of-Life Planning with the Experts from 2020-09-08T12:00

In this enl...

One Person, No Vote: Carol Anderson in Conversation with Congresswoman Barbara Lee from 2020-09-03T12:00

Carol Ander...

Coming Together When Things Fall Apart: Giving Voice to Emotional Truth in our Times from 2020-09-01T12:00

Best-sellin...

Unrigging the Rules for the Rising American Electorate: David Daley and Steve Phillips from 2020-08-27T11:00

The past few years have been infused with political engagement from a diverse electorate. For every victory, however, there’s an equally coordinated attempt to disenfranchise these citizens. Bes...

Queens of Mystery: Writer to Writer with Meg Gardiner and Rachel Howzell Hall from 2020-08-25T11:00

Listen to t...

Courts, COVID-19&Voter Suppression from 2020-08-20T11:00

How much ca...

Strange Hotel: Irish Literary Sensation Eimear McBride from 2020-08-18T11:00

Eimear McBr...

Vote At Home with Amber McReynolds and Jesse Wegman from 2020-08-13T11:00

The electio...

Sacred and Profane: Debut Novelist Chelsea Bieker on “Godshot” from 2020-08-11T11:00

We’re thril...

No Place to Shelter: What COVID-19 Reveals About Inequality: A Conversation with Leading Journalists and Activists from 2020-08-06T11:00

Homelessnes...

The Witness We Bear: Writer to Writer with Jericho Brown and Nikky Finney from 2020-08-04T11:00

In this tra...

Parenting in a Time of Crisis from 2020-07-31T00:14:46

Parents all...

University of San Francisco MFA in Writing Presents: Impossible Choices and Unspeakable Acts from 2020-04-02T11:00

These novelist-teachers from the University of San Francisco MFA in Writing program dig into the challenges of writing characters haunted by their pasts. They share the narrative tools they use ...

Unlikely Alliances and Other Surprises in Historical Fiction from 2020-03-26T11:00

These historical novels transport us to worlds full of surprising connections that cross divisions of class, race and more. These authors explore power dynamics and tricky relationships from 193...

A Unique Feminine Mystique: The Female Detective from 2020-03-19T11:00

These writers are as fierce as their female crime fighters. Their protagonists confront corrupt cops, solve mysterious deaths while juggling personal woes, quash terrorism and try to stay alive ...

The Uninhabitable Earth from 2020-03-12T11:00

One New York Times reviewer called journalist David Wallace Wells’ “The Uninhabitable Earth” ”the most terrifying book I have ever read.” It also is one of the most important. Both literary and ...

The Unbreakable Human Spirit: Albert Woodfox on Survival in Solitary from 2020-03-05T12:00

One of the “Angola 3,” Albert Woodfox endured four decades of solitary confinement for a crime he did not commit. In our closing keynote session, Woodfox will be interviewed by Mother Jones repo...

A Conversation with Tayari Jones from 2020-02-27T12:00

Tayari Jones can “touch us soul to soul with her words,” said Oprah, who dubbed Jones’ newest novel a Book Club pick for 2018. In her work, Jones takes the scars of the American South, including...

A Stranger’s Journey: Race, Identity, and Craft from 2020-02-20T12:00

To write race and ethnicity well, we need the right tools and the right reading list. Join four writer-teachers of color as they unpack the questions of identity that drive their writing, mark t...

Let The World Move: Speculative Fiction From the Periphery from 2020-02-13T12:00

These masterful storytellers tackle the mysterious, the wild,the terrifying and the magical in their speculative fiction. With enthralling work that defies convention, they are creating a cultur...

San Francisco State University MFA Program Presents: Who’s Got The Power? from 2020-02-06T12:00

Let’s talk about power: who has it, how it flows and how it shapes the stories we write in overt and hidden ways. Novelists from the San Francisco State University MFA program investigate how po...

What Does It Mean to Be Human? Rethinking Belonging at the Frontier of Genetic Engineering from 2020-01-30T12:00

New biomedical technologies — from prenatal testing to gene editing techniques — raise questions about how far we should go in retooling the human genome. Two leading thinkers, George Estreich (...

Queer Poetics from 2020-01-23T12:00

Franny Choi (“Soft Science”), Tommy Pico (“Junk”), Brenda Shaughnessy (“The Octopus Museum”) and Sam Sax (“Bury It”) bring us genre-bending work as playful as it is subversive. Bursting with que...

Prophet of Freedom: Frederick Douglass from 2020-01-16T12:00

Join David Blight, 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner, American history scholar and author of the new, definitive biography “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom,” a Top Ten Book of 2018 by the New Yo...

A Celebration of The Paris Review from 2020-01-09T12:00

Known for promoting new talent alongside established voices, The Paris Review publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, graphic literature, interviews and more in its bound quarterly issues and onl...

On Not Mothering from 2020-01-02T12:00

Often regarded with pity or disdain, women who don’t mother are made to feel like failures. But what possibilities are opened by a child-free life? Brazen in their vulnerability, these authors b...

Not So Polite After All: Canadian Writers Challenge the Status Quo from 2019-12-26T12:00

Award-winning Canadian writers converge on one stage to recount their adventures in literary risk-taking and rule-breaking. Hear from Esi Edugyan (“Washington Black”), Sheila Heti (“Motherhood”)...

Nordic Noir from 2019-12-19T12:00

One of the Festival’s most popular sessions is back, featuring some of Scandinavia’s most scintillating mystery writers. With the support of Iceland Naturally, the Icelandic Literature Center, t...

No Happy Endings, No Easy Answers: Seeking Truth Through Trauma from 2019-12-12T12:00

How do we reckon with what haunts us most? These writers pick apart trauma to understand its source, pushing past reductive conclusions and condemnations in pursuit of a fuller truth. Moderated ...

Mystery and Tragedy in Tibet: Interview with Bestselling Author Eliot Pattison from 2019-12-05T12:00

Eliot Pattison’s work, which uses the lens of mystery fiction to illuminate the harsh treatment of Tibetans under Chinese rule, has earned him both literary and humanitarian honors. Pattison joi...

When Reality Meets Science Fiction from 2019-12-04T15:55:31

Large-scale, far-in-the-future stories tend to get most the glory in the sci-fi canon. But what happens when reality already feels like science fiction? Like George Orwell’s ‘1984,’ near-future ...

The Lies That Bind: Kwame Anthony Appiah on Identity from 2019-11-28T12:00

Through history and philosophy, Kwame Anthony Appiah, weekly columnist for The New York Times, explores the compulsion to define and gather around identity. How do groups struggling for justice ...

Enough Is Enough: Fighting Economic Injustice from 2019-11-21T12:00

Anger about economic injustice drives political change. Anand Giridharadas (“Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World”) speaks with Robert Reich (“The Common Good”), to reveal h...

Facing the World Through Fantasy: An Interview with Justina Ireland from 2019-11-14T12:00

In “Dread Nation,” Justina Ireland explores an alternate Civil War where zombie-slaying biracial teenager Jane McKeene finds herself in a desperate fight for her life. Ireland talks with author ...

Horizon: Interview with Barry Lopez from 2019-11-07T12:00

Taking us from pole to pole and across decades, “Horizon,” the latest by celebrated humanitarian Barry Lopez, glimmers with insights on our place in this world and on writing as a way of living ...

Critic’s Choice: Three Young 21st Century Writers Rocking the Literary World from 2019-10-31T11:00

The former president of the National Book Critics Circle talks with Bay Area authors you won’t want to miss: a National Book Award finalist for a poignant collection of short stories, a debut au...

Candace Bushnell at the The Commonwealth Club from 2019-10-30T13:30

The landscape of sex, love and romance in New York City has undergone dramatic changes in the 20 years since Candace Bushnell published the iconic Sex and the City, which broke down maj...

The Business of Brutality: Slavery and the Foundations of Capitalism from 2019-10-24T11:00

Look around. How much of our infrastructure — from roads and bridges to factories and food supplies — was built on the backs of American slaves? Three writer-researchers examine how the brutal h...

An evening with Terry Tempest Williams from 2019-10-23T19:34:45

Terry Tempest Williams, a woman whose writings are as lyrical and formidable as her name, has been heralded as an “activist laureate.” She’s best known for her classic Refuge: An Unnatural H...