ALOUD @ Los Angeles Public Library

This first sweeping history of Parks’ life challenges perceptions of her as an accidental actor in the civil rights movement. Theoharis offers a compelling portrait of the working class activist who stared poverty and discrimination squarely in the face and never stopped rebelling against them in both the segregated South and North. Ericka Huggins—former political prisoner, human rights activist, poet and teacher-- who met Parks during her days of Black Panther activism-- joins the discussion. *Click HERE to see photos from the program!

A Tribute to Wanda ColemanWith Terrance Hayes and Douglas KearneyMusic By David Ornette CherryAnd featuring Stephen Kessler, Ron Koertge, Laurel Ann Bogen, Charles Harper Webb, Michael Datcher, Suzanne Lummis, Sesshu Foster, Jack and Adelle Foley, Brendan Constantine, Cecilia Woloch, Robin Coste Lewis, and Austin Straus.*Click HERE to see photos from the program!

In a series of meditative essays, the award-winning writer Richard Rodriguez turns his perceptive gaze to the desert-- in both the physical and spiritual sense-- in a quest to understand his relationship to the “desert God” and to terrorists who kill in the name of that same God. He delves into what it means to be a gay, devout, Roman Catholic in his 60s — attempting to make sense of a world and a religion that have both rejected him at times. His peregrinations take him beyond the Middle East—to San Francisco, Paris, Las Vegas and Malibu. He writes about the rise of atheism in America after 9/11, the modern evasion of place, and the uses of doubt for religious believers. *Click HERE to see photos from the program!

Queens of NoiseMusic, Feminism and Punk: Then and NowExene Cervenka, Evelyn McDonnell, and Allison WolfeMcDonnell’s Queens of Noise: The Real Story of The Runaways is a testimonial to the inspiration and insecurity of the trailblazer, a look at the Los Angeles music scene of the 70s and women on the run. Joined by Exene Cervenka of seminal L.A. punk band X and Riot Grrrl Allison Wolfe—veteran journalist McDonnell will lead a discussion on music making and selling, legacies and the women who are breaking new ground.*Click HERE to see photos from the program!

Co-presented with The Broad museumThe Un-Private Collection:Artist as ActivistShirin NeshatIn conversation with Christy MacLearWorld-renowned visual artist and filmmaker Shirin Neshat’s provocative yet poetic work addresses issues of social repression among women, in her native Iran and beyond. Through haunting allegory and imagery, she portrays women as complex individuals with desires and ambitions, who move between intense private feelings and public life. Reachingbeyond her own identity, Neshat also addresses broader concerns about cultural beliefs and the power of the erotic.*Click here to see photos from the program!

Robert Capa photographed her as a toddler; she chatted with Brando and Steinbeck in her living room. Academy Award-winning actress/director Anjelica Huston shares from A Story Lately Told: Coming of Age in Ireland, London, and New York with Colm Tóibín, one of Ireland’s greatest living writers. Huston’s memoir illuminates the unconventional life of the daughter of director John Huston and prima ballerina Enrica Soma. She recounts her childhood, early romances, and the successful modeling career that helped launch her acting career. A Story Lately Told follows Anjelica from the Irish estate where she spent her childhood to the dynamic cultural scenes of London in the ‘60s and New York in the ‘70s where she spent her teens and early adulthood. The evening also celebrates Huston’s Irish upbringing through readings, song, and rare footage of the Huston clan in County Galway. *Click here to see photos from the program!

The Gods of GuiltMichael Connelly In conversation with author Miles CorwinIn Connelly’s newest courtroom drama, lawyer Mickey Haller defends a murder case in which the murder victim was his very own former client, a prostitute he thought he’d rescued and put on the straight and narrow path.  Haller is forced to find justice for both of his clients, living and dead.  As he faces the “gods of guilt,” he must struggle with personal demons for a shot at his own redemption.  Connelly discusses the mysteries of crime writing with Miles Corwin, acclaimed author and former crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times.*Click here to see photos from the program! 

The Soft Vengeance of a Freedom FighterAlbie SachsIn conversation with Renee Montagne, co-host of NPR’s “Morning Edition” As an activist lawyer and leading member of the African National Congress, Albie Sachs lost his right arm and the sight in one eye when his car was bombed by agents of South Africa’s security forces in 1988. After recuperating in London, he returned to South Africa and played a key role in drafting its democratic constitution. Nelson Mandela appointed him a judge in the new constitutional court, where Sachs made a number of landmark rulings, including recognizing gay marriage. Sachs, a man with a remarkable ability to extract positive emotions from wounding events, shares with us South Africa’s experience in healing divided societies. *Click here to see photos from the program!

L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My FoodRoy ChoiIn conversation with Evan Kleiman, host of “Good Food,” KCRW 89.9FM Roy Choi, border-crossing chef and co-founder of the Kogi BBQ taco truck, pays homage to the city that he loves in this memoir, a tale of his journey from childhood afternoons at his parents’ Korean restaurant, to pizza-fueled studying at the Culinary Institute of America, to becoming one of America’s most acclaimed chefs. Join us as Choi takes a break from the kitchen to talk about his new book, L.A. SON, a flavorful love letter to Los Angeles. *Click here to see photos from the program! 

Making History GraphicJoe Sacco and Gene Luen YangIn conversation with Charles Hatfield, author and professor of English, CSUN Hailed as the creator of war reportage comics, Joe Sacco uses darkly funny short form comics to recount conflicts, including his latest book The Great War, an illustrated panorama of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Gene Luen Yang, author of the acclaimed graphic novel American Born Chinese, brings clear-eyed storytelling and magical realism to tell parallel stories of two young people caught up on opposite sides of China’s violent Boxer Rebellion in his new work, Boxers and Saints. Join these two daring writers for a conversation on how the graphic novel and graphic non fiction —rising from the frontlines of popular culture—can serve our understanding of history. *Click here to see photos from the program!

Co-presented with the Levantine Cultural Center The Pomegranate Lady and Her SonsGoli TaraghiIn conversation with author Reza Aslan The In her new collection of selected stories, Taraghi—one of Iran’s best-known and most critically acclaimed authors—draws on her childhood experiences in Tehran, adult exile in Paris, and subsequent returns to post-revolution Tehran . Her stories are, as Azar Nafisi writes, “filled with passion, curiosity, empathy, as well as mischief—definitely mischief.” Listen in as Taraghi shares from The Pomegranate Lady and Her Sons, made fully accessible to the English-speaking audience for the first time. *Click here to see photos from the program!

Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for IdentityAndrew SolomonIn conversation with Tom Curwen, staff-writer Los Angeles TimesThe National Book Award-winning author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression, mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges in his new book. From families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, to children who are prodigies or transgender —Solomon illuminates the universal experiences of difference and the triumph of love. *Click here to see photos from the program!

Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth?Alan WeismanIn conversation with Ursula K. Heise, professor of English and faculty, UCLA Institute of the Environment and SustainabilityWeisman offers a long awaited follow-up to The World Without Us, his brilliant thought experiment that considered how the Earth could heal if relieved of humanity’s constant pressures. Now, after traveling to more than 20 countries to ask four questions that experts agreed were probably the most important on Earth—he explores the complexity of calculating how many humans this planet can hold without capsizing. **Click here to see photos from the program!

Tell, Not Show: The Pleasure of Not Writing for the MoviesAlice McDermottIn conversation with Brighde Mullins, playwright and director, USC Masters of Professional Writing programSeven years after the publication of the extraordinary novel After This, the National Book Award-winning author returns with Someone, a transformative novel about childhood, adolescence, motherhood and old age, deftly stitched together by McDermott’s lyrical voice. McDermott takes the stage to discuss this masterful portrait of the 20th-century Irish-American family. **Click here to see photos from the program!

Moby Dick: How Scientists Came to Love the WhaleD. Graham BurnettIn conversation with Amy Parish, primatologist and Darwinian feministHow was our understanding of whales transformed from grotesque monsters, useful only as wallowing kegs of fat, to playful friends of humanity and bellwethers of environmental devastation? Burnett, a historian of science and energetic polymath, offers a sweeping history of how science, politics, and simple human wonder have transformed our way of seeing these behemoths from below. * Part of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles and Los Angeles Public Library’s month-long citywide initiative "What Ever Happened to Moby Dick?" **Click here to see photos from the program!