ALOUD @ Los Angeles Public Library

An Insomniac's Slant on Sleep

Deftly weaving memoir and wide-ranging scientific investigation, a life-long insomniac guides us through the hidden terrain of a devastating and little understood condition.

Fresh Approaches to Branding and Marketing

Resnick, who is one of Working Woman's Top 50 U.S. Women Business Owners began her career at the age of 19, when she founded a full-service advertising agency. She is behind the marketing success of brands such as POM Wonderful, Fiji Water and Teleflora. She and her husband Stewart also own Paramount Farms and Paramount Citrus Companies, making them the largest farmers of tree crops in the U.S.

The Domestic Drama: Novel Form or Formula?

American novelists are preoccupied with the tale of our (mostly dysfunctional) families. Unfortunately, contrary to Tolstoy's famous assertion, a lot of these unhappy families are starting to seem exactly alike. Two acclaimed novelists discuss ways to tell a true, new, enduring story of our most prized institution.

Between Fountainheads

New Yorker veteran Weschler discusses what it has been like, the past several decades, to be serving as Boswell simultaneously to two seemingly diametrically opposite giants of the contemporary art scene, Robert Irwin and David Hockney.

When Markets Collide: Investment Strategies in the Age of Global Economic Change

Global investment guru El-Erian is published widely on international economics and financial topics, has served as Managing Director of Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup in London and has enjoyed a 15-year career at the International Monetary Fund. He previously served as President and CEO of Harvard Management Company and as a member of the faculty of Harvard Business School.

Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran

A longtime Middle East correspondent for Time Magazine-now living in Tehran-- offers a stunning and unforgettable window into the maelstrom of Iranian life and gives voice to the Iranian psyche.

Sailing Home: Using the Wisdom of Homer's Odyssey

Fischer, a poet and well-known Zen teacher, deftly incorporates Buddhist, Judaic, and Christian thought-as well as his own unique understanding of life-into this reinterpretation of Homer's ancient story.

How We Decide

The author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist and creator of the Frontal Cortex blog draws on cutting-edge research and the real-world experience of a wide range of \"deciders\" to arm us with the tools we need to think harder (and smarter) about how we think.

Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life

Why have we evolved positive emotions like gratitude, amusement, awe and compassion? Keltner, professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, offers a profound study of how emotion is the key to living the good life.

The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet

The bestselling author and director of the world-famous Hayden Planetarium chronicles America's irrational love affair with Pluto, man's best celestial friend

The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk and Adventure in the Twenty-Five Years After 50

A renowned sociologist challenges the still-prevailing and anachronistic images of aging, tracing the ways in which wisdom, experience, and new learning inspire individual growth and cultural transformation.

The Element: A New View of Human Capacity

The author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative overcame polio to become one of the world's leaders in the development of creativity in business, education and human resources. Hear him hold forth on the potential and capacity of truly \"human\" resources.

Wallace Stegner & the Shaping of Environmental Consciousness in the West

A distinguished panel explores the legacy of one of the West's most influential writers, who fought for protection of the region's delicate environment as well as recognition of a Western regional base and influenced generations of environmental writers.

How to Live: A Search for Wisdom From Old People (While They Are Still on This Earth)

In his newest book, the Thurber-prize winning author interviews elder celebrities (among them Norman Mailer and LSD pioneer Ram Dass), reads deathbed confessions, Lao Tzu, William Burroughs' diaries, and considers the latest medical research on the brain as part of his quest to glean wisdom from the old (and wise) among us.

Thinking About Earthquakes: A Panel Discussion

It's been 15 years since the 1994 quake. Is L.A. more prepared for the next one? Are WE? A panel of experts air their views: Mariana Amatullo, director, The L.A. Earthquake: Get Ready project at Art Center College of Design; Michael Dear, Professor of Geography and Urban Planning at USC; Lucy Jones, Caltech and USGS seismologist; Dennis Mileti, Director of the University of Colorado Natural Hazards Center; David Ulin, author, The Myth of Solid Ground: Earthquakes, Prediction and the Fault Line B...

EMBERS: A Jazz Opera in Poems

A female boxer, a madwoman stuck in Purgatory, and an irreverent angel meet across space and time to explore redemption and forgiveness in this concert reading of a work-in-progress adapted from Wolverton's novel-in-poems. Cherry plays keyboards and conducts a jazz quartet to accompany the actors who will bring to life the poetry and song. Performed by: D'Lo, Marisol de Jesus, O-Lan Jones, Phil Meyer, Cesili Williams and David Ornette Cherry with Organic Roots: Justo Almario, reeds; Ollie Elder ...

Gentrification, Neo-Feudalism, and the Colonists on Your Block: The Real Costs of a Latte

Things I've Been Silent About: A Memoir in Moments

The author of Reading Lolita in Tehran uses her life to transform the way we see the world and to \"remind us of why we read in the first place.\"

The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution

Combining two fascinating and contentious disciplines -- art and evolutionary science -- a philosopher, professor and founder/editor of the popular Arts & Letter Daily, argues that human tastes in art are shaped by Darwinian selection.

Out of Exile: The Abducted and Displaced People of Sudan

Decades of conflicts and persecution have driven millions from their homes in all parts of the northeast African country of Sudan. Many thousands more have been enslaved as human spoils of war. Writers and surprise guests read alongside Sudanese refugees who recount their lives before their displacement, the reasons for their flight, and their hopes of someday returning home.

The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia

Miller, book critic and co-founder of salon.com, fell in love with the Narnia books as a child. In this intellectual adventure story, she returns to Lewis' classic fantasies to see what mysteries Narnia still holds for adult eyes.

Creative Capitalism: A Conversation with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Other Economic Leaders

Meet Michael Kinsley...TIME magazine columnist, and noted journalist who discussed his just-released book, Creative Capitalism at the ALOUD Business Forum in December. Nothing short of a revolution in thinking, Creative Capitalism is a collection of interviews and essays with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and other key financial figures discussing the need to reinvent capitalism to benefit the world's poorest citizens. The book is intended to fuel debate, raise questions and inspire action. Kinsley...

An Evening of Spoken Word and Cello

Selected readings from Marisela Norte's debut collection of poetry, Peeping Tom Tom Girl, performed by long time friends and collaborators Norte y Gaitan.

Poetry Reading and Panel Discussion Part II

Three distinctive voices in contemporary American poetry read their work and engage in an informal group discussion on their craft.

Poetry Reading and Panel Discussion Part I

Three distinctive voices in contemporary American poetry read their work and engage in an informal group discussion on their craft.

Philanthrocapitalism

After building two Fortune 500 companies from the ground up, Eli Broad is devoting his full time and attention to philanthropy that uses entrepreneurship to advance the public good in education, science and the arts. In his book, Philanthrocapitalism, Matthew Bishop and co-author Michael Green examine how social investors, such as Broad, are using business acumen to reshape the way charitable giving is taking place.

An Evening with Toni Morrison

In 1993, the Nobel committee lauded Toni Morrison \"who, in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.\" Come celebrate this magnificent author and her new novel, A Mercy.

Alphabet Juice

America's funnyman celebrates the electricity, the juju, the breeding, the sonic and kinetic energies of letters and their combinations, reminding us that "every time you use disinterested to mean uninterested, an angel dies."

ALOUD Science Series: On Seeing and Being - Seeing the Divine

How, in this age of scientific rationalism, can we begin to understand religious visions and mystical experiences--now being reported by a growing number of people on the nightly news, across the internet, and by word-of-mouth? Dr. Lisa Bitel and Dr. Michael A. Arbib discuss visions from the Middle Ages to today, especially the tensions between cultural, spiritual, and neurological explanations for extraordinary sights, and consider new ways to understand these mysterious phenomena.Made possible...

Building Experiences

Considered one of the top 100 influential people in Southern California (Los Angels Times), Tim Leiweke is a visionary leader at the forefront of change in downtown Los Angeles, creating a dining and entertainment district with Staples Center and LA Live. The collection of companies owned or operated by AEG are considered to be one of the world's leading presenters of sports and entertainment programming.