Among this year’s most acclaimed books is Tommy Orange’s debut novel “There, There”. The book begins with a poignant prologue describing the devastating history of genocide and violent removal of Native Americans from their lands, setting the stage for a contemporary story about the urban Native American experience in the city of Oakland. The characters’ lives are informed by their ancestors’ suffering, as well as the continued systematic discrimination against Native people. On February 25, 201...
Apr 07, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Preet Bharara served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017, before being fired by President Trump within a few weeks of his inauguration. Bharara is the host of the podcast Stay Tuned with Preet , and author of the book Doing Justice: A Prosecutor’s Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law. On March 26, 2019, Preet Bharara came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with Jeffrey Toobin, a staff writer at The New Yorker and a seni...
Mar 31, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Marlon James is best known for “A Brief History of Seven Killings”, a sweeping, violent novel about the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in 1976, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2015. His new novel “Black Leopard, Red Wolf” is the first in the “Dark Star Trilogy,” a fantasy series which James describes as an African Game of Thrones. On February 19, 2019, Marlon James came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with fellow author Jeff Chang....
Mar 24, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Michael Tubbs has devoted his political life to fighting economic inequality in Stockton -- the Northern California city where he was born and raised. Elected Mayor in 2016, Tubbs has worked to reinvent the formerly bankrupt city. This past year, he spearheaded a universal basic income pilot program. Already identified as a rising figure in the progressive movement, Tubbs isn’t even thirty years old yet, making him the youngest mayor of an American city of more than 100,000 people. On February 1...
Mar 17, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jad Abumrad is the creator and co-host of Radiolab, a program with a unique brand of storytelling that explores science, philosophy, and the human experience. Abumrad is also the creator of “More Perfect,” a podcast about how the Supreme Court shapes everything from marriage and money to public safety and sex. On February 8, 2019, Jad Abumrad came to The Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with Alexis Madrigal, staff writer at “The Atlantic”.
Mar 10, 2019•1 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rebecca Traister has spent her career writing about politics, media, and entertainment from a feminist perspective. In her most recent book, “Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger,” Traister tracks the history of female anger as political fuel - from suffragists protesting outside the White House during the First World War, to office workers vacating their building after Clarence Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court. On February 4, 2019, Rebecca Traister came to The Sydney ...
Mar 03, 2019•1 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Author Meg Wolitzer brings readers deep into the lives of others. A feminist thread runs through all of her work, including novels like “The Interestings” and “The Wife,” but nowhere is the subject of power more deeply investigated than in her newest book, “The Female Persuasion.” Campus assault, intergenerational feminism, debate, mentorship and ambition make it an especially timely story. On January 24 2019, Wolitzer came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater to be interviewed by The New Yorker’s Ad...
Feb 24, 2019•1 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. BJ Miller is a palliative care expert who has spearheaded a nationwide effort to change the way we approach death and dying. Rather than hospitalization and endless attempts at sustaining life, Miller advocates for a mindful, human-centered model of care that embraces dying not as a medical event, but a universally shared life experience. On January 22, 2019, BJ Miller came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater to talk with author Pico Iyer.
Feb 17, 2019•1 hr 18 min•Transcript available on Metacast It has been twenty-five years since Jeff Tweedy founded the seminal alt-country band Wilco. The band still performs together, while Tweedy contributes his talents to other projects too - musical, and now literary, with the publication of a 2018 memoir, “Let's Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc.” Tweedy’s newest solo album, “Warm,” is his most personal to date. On January 11, 2019, Jeff Tweedy came to The Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk...
Feb 10, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guests are activist and scholar Angela Davis, and historian Ibram X. Kendi. Throughout her lifetime, Angela Davis has been a passionate voice for human rights, working from the position that the battles for African American rights, women’s rights, gay rights, and prisoners’ rights, are interconnected. Dr. Kendi profiled Dr. Davis in his book “Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America.” On January 10, 2019, Angela Davis and Ibram X. Kendi came to the Sydney...
Feb 03, 2019•1 hr 21 min•Transcript available on Metacast James Forman Jr., a legal scholar and author, has devoted his life to fighting institutionalized racism. In his book, “Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America,” Forman writes about the war on crime that began in the 1970s, examining the role that African American judges, prosecutors, and leaders played and how it contributed to the mass incarceration of people of color. On December 13, 2018, Forman came to The Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with Lara Bazelon,...
Jan 27, 2019•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week on City Arts & Lectures, pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris talks about how exposure to violence and stress affects the developing brains and bodies of children - resulting in increased instances of substance dependence, and even heart disease or cancer. Harris is the founder of the Center for Youth Wellness and author of The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity . On December 3, 2018, Nadine Burke Harris came to the Nourse Theater in San Francisco to tal...
Jan 20, 2019•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kirsten Gillibrand has represented New York in the US Senate since 2009, where her major accomplishments include leading the effort to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and providing permanent health care and compensation to 9/11 first responders. She talks with KQED’s Marisa Lagos about her time in the Senate, being a mother and a legislator, the MeToo movement, and her new childrens’ book “Bold and Brave” profiling women suffragists.
Jan 13, 2019•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest is Jonathan Franzen, the author of celebrated novels including “The Corrections” and “Freedom.” On November 27, 2018, Franzen came to the Nourse Theater in San Francisco to read from his new essay collection, “The End of The End of The Earth.” Part social criticism, part personal examination, the essays consider Franzen’s love of birding, his writings and ruminations on climate change, and the underpinnings of family and friendship.
Jan 07, 2019•1 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest is comedian Al Madrigal, best known for his role as the "Senior Latino Correspondent" for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he helped shed light on racism and anti-immigrant sentiment. The veteran of stand-up comedy has gone on to co-found the podcast network "All Things Comedy". Madrigal currently stars in Showtime’s “I’m Dying Up Here”. He was interviewed at the Nourse Theater in San Francisco by Adam Savage on November 10, 2018.
Dec 30, 2018•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Peter Sagal, host of NPR’s “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!”, is an accomplished playwright, actor, and now - marathoner, and author of the new book “The Incomplete Book of Running”. Sagal came to the Nourse Theater on November 9, 2018. He talked to Michael Krasny about the work of putting together one of public radio’s most popular humor news programs, as well as his dedication to running.
Dec 23, 2018•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Eileen Myles is the author of more than twenty books of essays, fiction, and poetry including “Chelsea Girls” and “I Must Be Living Twice.” On November eighth, 2018, Myles came to the Nourse Theater in San Francisco to read from the new poetry collection, “Evolution,”and to talk with Stephen Best about struggling to be a writer in 1970s New York, running for president, and the experimental writing movement New Narrative.
Dec 17, 2018•1 hr 15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest is Abbi Jacobson, a comedian and author who’s best-known as half of the creative duo behind the series “Broad City” On November 3, 2018, Jacobson came to the Nourse Theater for a conversation with her longtime friend and fellow comedian, D’Arcy Carden. The two talked about friendship, collaboration, and Jacobson’s solo cross-country road trip last year on the heels of a devastating break-up - which forms the basis for her new book “I Might Regret This”....
Dec 10, 2018•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Does artificial intelligence reflect the biases of those who create it? Can discrimination live on digital platforms and become part of the logic of everyday algorithmic systems? Kate Crawford, co-founder of the AI Now Institute at New York University and an expert on the social impacts of big data, discusses bias in artificial intelligence with Indre Viskontas.
Dec 04, 2018•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast This program presents a gathering of feminist thought leaders to celebrate the publication of Jill Soloway’s book “She Wants It: Desire, Power, and Toppling the Patriarchy.” Soloway is the creator and showrunner of “Transparent” and “I Love Dick”. On October twenty-fifth, 2018, City Arts & Lectures hosted Hannah Gadsby, best-known for her comedy performance “Nanette”, Lili Loofbourow, Susan Stryker, and Faith Soloway, for an evening of comedy, music, debate and conversation, hosted by Jill S...
Nov 26, 2018•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Director, producer, and writer * Barry Jenkins * has received sweeping critical acclaim for his films, which notably depict black and queer experience through a nuanced and expressive lens. His 2016 film Moonlight received the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture — Drama. Jenkins is currently in production on The Underground Railroad, a series based on Colson Whitehead’s novel of the same name, and his forthcoming film, an...
Nov 18, 2018•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast A staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992, Susan Orlean has written with wit and endless curiosity about subjects ranging from umbrella inventors to origami artists, from the figure skater Tonya Harding to treadmill desks, gospel choirs, and taxidermy. She is the author of Rin Tin Tin and The Orchid Thief , which was the basis for the feature film adaptation starring Meryl Streep. In her newest work, T he Library Book , Orlean reopens the unsolved mystery of the most catastrophic library fire...
Nov 13, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Doris Kearns Goodwin ’s new book, Leadership in Turbulent Times , is a culmination of five decades of studying American Presidents. Combining her signature storytelling with essential lessons from four of our nation’s presidents—Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson—Goodwin explores their unique journeys to recognize themselves as leaders, the ways in which they navigated adversity, and how they emerged to confront the challenges and contours of their ...
Nov 04, 2018•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, City Arts & Lectures features Michelle Goldberg, Jennine Capó Crucet, and Roxane Gay, all of whom are contributors to the New York Times Op-Ed section. The program includes stand-up comedy, conversation, and a live version of Roxane Gay’s advice column. This co-presentation with The New York Times was recorded at the Nourse Theater in San Francisco on October 19, 2018, and hosted by Rachel Dry, editor of the Times’ Sunday Review.
Oct 28, 2018•1 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a cultural landscape filled with endless pundits and talking heads, Fran Lebowitz stands out as one of our most insightful social commentators. Often considered heir to the crown of Dorothy Parker, her essays and interviews have been featured in Interview and Mademoiselle. Her books include Metropolitan Life, Social Studies , the children’s book Mr. Chas and Lisa Sue Meets the Pandas , and the novel Exterior Signs of Wealth . Lebowitz has long been a talk show regular, appearing on those host...
Oct 21, 2018•1 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest is Sally Field. She got her start acting on TV in situation comedies like “Gidget" and “The Flying Nun”, before doggedly pursuing a career in film at a time when television talent was not always welcome in Hollywood. Against those odds, Field went on to portray dozens of iconic characters, in films including “Steel Magnolias,” “Norma Rae,” and “Lincoln.” Her new memoir is “In Pieces”. On September twenty-eighth, 2018, Sally Field came to the Nourse Theater in San Francisco and talked w...
Oct 14, 2018•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast The host of the New York Times podcast The Daily, Michael Barbaro, the show’s producer Annie Brown, and frequent guest Kevin Roose, discuss how they create the show and the role of social media.
Oct 07, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Writers Mohsin Hamid and Pico Iyer talk about the space where art and politics converge.
Sep 30, 2018•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Gary Shteyngart reads from his latest book, "Lake Success", and talks with Isabel Duffy about his writing methods, his love of luxury watches and roadside diners, and Soviet humor.
Sep 23, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, Questlove and Boots Riley join us for a conversation about art, activism, and the creative process. Questlove is a founding member of The Roots , a seminal hip hop band out of Philadelphia. Boots Riley is the writer and director of the film Sorry to Bother You and frontman of The Coup , a radical hip-hop band from Oakland. On April twenty-first, 2018, Questlove and Boots Riley were interviewed by Carvell Wallace at the Nourse Theater in San Francisco....
Sep 14, 2018•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
