Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series: Recent Episodes

Town Hall Seattle

The Arts & Culture series enriches our community with imagination and creativity. Whether reinventing the classics for a new audience or presenting an innovative new art form, these events are aimed at expanding horizons. From poetry to music to storytelling, this series leaves our audiences inspired, encouraged, and seeing the world with new eyes.

"It's a difficult thing, to separate legend from story from memory from fact."

Folklore and legend are critical components to any culture, passing tidbits of local history and lessons learned through generations. The idea of the folk hero in particular plays an important role in creating this legacy, rooted in the idea of benevolence and a direct connection to the people themselves. As a child, author Isaac Fitzgerald was always captivated by the tales of Johnny Appleseed, drawn in by family ties to the legend. Spurred on by his father's larger-than-life stories and a shared restlessness to leave home and discover what lies beyond, Fitzgerald found himself compelled to go on a new adventure.

In American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed, Fitzgerald sets out on a particularly ambitious hike: walk from Massachusetts to Indiana, following Appleseed's path and turning a childhood fascination into a year-long personal journey. American Rambler recounts both the tangible and emotional trails Fitzgerald uncovered along the way, littered with explorations of loss and grief, ritual and faith. Fitzgerald invites readers to meander beside him– stopping everywhere from grimy gas-station bathrooms to scenic apple picking destinations– with reflection, humor, and humility. Blending memoir, history, and travelogue through the American heartland, American Rambler presents a welcome step away from the breakneck pace of modern life and a return to the roots of connection.

Isaac Fitzgerald is the New York Times bestselling author of Dirtbag, Massachusetts. He is also the author of the bestselling children's book How to Be a Pirate as well as the co-author of Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them and Knives & Ink: Chefs and the Stories Behind Their Tattoos (winner of an IACP Award). He appears frequently on The Today Show, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Esquire, GQ, The Guardian, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and numerous other publications. He lives with his wife on the North Fork of Long Island.

Jon Mooallem is the author of three books, Wild Ones, This is Chance! and the essay collection Serious Face. He lives on Bainbridge Island.

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American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed Elliott Bay Book Company

Renowned picture book creators, Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, want people of all ages to understand and appreciate children's stories and how this art form enriches our individual lives and our culture. Speaking on the process of creating their latest collaboration, a board book series called Now I See, Barnett and Klassen have insights into what makes a great children's book using elements you can find both on and off the page.

This multi-award winning, New York Times bestselling duo operates differently than a lot of children's book creators. Typically, an author and illustrator don't directly collaborate, and yet these two find success in close conversations with each other. Using their unique perspectives, Barnett and Klassen also write a newsletter for adults, Looking at Picture Books, which examines the picture book as a respected art form.

Their Now I See board book collection applies that lens by celebrating the spare beauty and wonder of the changing seasons from the point of view of a child. A tree that has full green leaves in Now I See Summer sheds them in Now I See Fall. The snowy sky of Now I See Winter gives way to the rainy sky in Now I See Spring. And of course, the perfect hat changes with each season, too. Barnett and Klassen want to uplift the picture book as an art form, showing everyone of every age what goes into the making of great children's literature. They'll discuss the importance and value of picture books — and how they work. Kids are, of course, welcome, but the primary audience for these events is adults keen to learn more about picture books.

Mac Barnett, the 2025-2026 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, is a New York Times-bestselling author of stories for children. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages and has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. Some of his books include The First Cat in Space graphic novel series, illustrated by Shawn Harris, Twenty Questions, illustrated by Christian Robinson, and Santa's First Christmas, illustrated by Sydney Smith.

Jon Klassen is the New York Times-bestselling author and illustrator of numerous books, who was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2018 for his contributions to children's literature. His recent books include the Your Places board book series and The Skull, a #1 New York Times bestseller that earned six starred reviews and a piece in the New York Times Book Review in which Ransom Riggs refers to Jon as both "the dean of deadpan" and a "national treasure."

Jon Mooallem is the author of three books, Wild Ones, This is Chance! and the essay collection Serious Face. He lives on Bainbridge Island.

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Make Believe: On Telling Stories to Children (Hardcover) Elliott Bay Book Company

Even the Good Girls Will Cry: A '90s Rock Memoir presents an intimate look behind the scenes of an iconic era through the ever-reflective lens of musician Melissa Auf der Maur. In this debut memoir, Auf der Maur chronicles her journey through alternative music — from staffing ticket windows at local venues to navigating era-defining triumphs and turmoil under global spotlights.

A bohemian upbringing in Montreal and an early connection to music led her to put down roots in the local scene, working as a cassette DJ and showing up for bands like Nirvana, Jane's Addiction, Pavement, and Sonic Youth. A serendipitous sequence sets the stage for the next big step — a thrown beer bottle at a show, a long-shot fan letter to a PO Box, and before you know it Auf der Maur's band Tinker is opening for The Smashing Pumpkins and Billy Corgan is passing along a personal recommendation to Courtney Love.

In a whirlwind of life-changing moments, Auf der Maur joins Hole for their 1994 Live Through This world tour just after the deaths of Kurt Cobain and Hole's previous bassist Kristen Pfaff. Auf der Maur is swiftly flung into the eye of a hurricane, becoming part of a band plowing through grief by way of art on a brutally global stage. Auf der Mauroffers a backstage view to the raw reality of this tour, her relationship with Courtney Love in the wake of tragedy, and what kept Hole from spinning out of control.

And the show goes on from there – messy and unwieldy, but bringing compassionate nuance to the nostalgia of the '90s alternative era and Auf der Maur's personal journey to the other side of it. Part rock memoir, part travel diary, part psychedelic scrapbook – Even the Good Girls Will Cry stacks rockstar stories of the last analog decade alongside the intensely intimate musings of an artist who lived through the chaos.

Melissa Auf der Maur is an artist, producer, and musician known for her time as the bassist of the bands Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins. She is the co-founder and director of Basilica Hudson, a nonprofit multidisciplinary art center known for music festivals, film screenings, artist-in-residence programs, and community involvement. Her other projects include the solo albums Auf der Maur and Out of Our Minds, as well as photography collections shown by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and featured in publications including Spin, Elle, and Nylon.

Gillian G. Gaar is an award-winning journalist and author of over 20 books. She was a senior editor at the legendary Northwest music publication The Rocket for fourteen years. She served as project consultant on Nirvana's 4 box set With the Lights Out and as editorial assistant on Krist Novoselic's memoir Of Grunge and Government: Let's Fix This Broken Democracy! Her books includeShe's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll,Entertain Us: The Rise of Nirvana, Return of the King: Elvis Presley's Great Comeback, and World Domination: The Sub Pop Records Story.

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Even the Good Girls Will Cry: A '90s Rock Memoir Third Place Books

News anchor Lori Matsukawa is an award-winning journalist, author, and speaker who spent nearly 40 years at KING TV in Seattle. A trusted voice in Northwest media, she reveals how her childhood in multi-racial Hawai'i and traveling the world as Miss Teenage America led to a career she couldn't imagine. Despite discrimination and disappointment along the way, Matsukawa became the role model she wished she'd had. She helped change what viewers saw on the newscasts that entered their homes.

Matsukawa pursued her career at a time when society expected little from a person like her: a female of color from a working-class family who attended Hawai'i public schools. Yet, an astonishing series of events — highlighted by a year representing her country as Miss Teenage America during her senior year in high school — propelled her to keep breaking down stereotypes. Today, she continues to promote civic engagement and share stories to inspire the next generation of journalists.

Lori Matsukawa is an award-winning broadcast journalist with more than 40 years in the industry. She retired after 36 years as an anchor and reporter at KING TV in Seattle. Matsukawa received two Northwest Regional Emmy Awards, one in 2017 for her series "Prisoners in Their Own Land" and another in 2018 for "Shane Sato: Portraits of Courage." She is a co-founder of the Seattle Chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association and the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Washington. Matsukawa is also the author of Brave Mrs. Sato (2023), a contributor to Intersections: A Journalistic History of Asian Pacific America (2025), and Being There: Memoir of an Asian American Journalist, published in April 2026.

Mimi Gan is a multiple Emmy Award–winning former KING 5 colleague of Lori's and a longtime reporter and host. She is now the founder of Mi2 Media, where she produces short‑form social‑impact documentaries. Mimi was recently recognized as one of Seattle Magazine's Most Influential People: Equity, received the Stanford University Asian American Alumni Award, and currently serves as a trustee for the Wing Luke Museum and Seattle Children's Theatre.

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Being There: Memoir of an Asian American Journalist Elliott Bay Book Company

Join Wendy Norman, End‑of‑Life Planning Consultant, and Steven Schindler, Estate Attorney, for a grounded, practical conversation about the essentials of legacy planning — something every adult needs, no matter their age or stage of life. Together, they'll break down what a Will actually does, when a Trust might be the better tool, and what really happens — financially and procedurally — if someone dies without either. You'll also learn how a Durable Power of Attorney works while you're alive, why its authority ends the moment you die (and what takes over afterward), and how the absence of planning can leave families facing court processes they never expected.

Finally, Wendy and Steven will explore the part of planning that often gets overlooked: documenting and communicating your wishes. How you want your assets handled. Who do you want to receive what? Which charities or community organizations do you want to support? When you share these decisions ahead of time, you give your loved ones clarity, confidence, and one of the kindest gifts possible — peace of mind.

Wendy Norman has been researching and engaging with end-of-life issues for over 15 years. Wendy's interest was sparked by her mother's diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's in 2006. This is when she learned how important it is to have a plan before becoming ill, especially when cognitive decline is involved. Wanting to help others understand the value of pre-planning, Wendy became an end-of-life planning consultant in 2017. In 2019, she left a 25-year career in marketing and program management to invest her time and energy toward end-of-life planning, education and awareness. In 2020, she helped create and lead a team of volunteers to launch an education and awareness program called End of Life Ready hosted by End of Life Washington. Building on that experience, Known Wishes was created to broaden and deepen end-of-life education.

Steven J. Schindler is an estate attorney who helps individuals and families design comprehensive strategies to achieve their family, business, and charitable goals. His practice includes estate, will, trust, and tax planning and administration; planned charitable giving; nonjudicial dispute resolution; and the preparation of gift and estate tax returns. Known for his ability to tailor solutions to each client's unique circumstances, Steven guides clients through everything from optimizing tax advantages to developing meaningful charitable giving plans to navigating sensitive family dynamics with clarity and care. As an active member of the community, Steven serves as treasurer of the King County Cultural Development Authority (4Culture). He has also held leadership roles as president of the Estate Planning Council of Seattle, president of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section of the King County Bar Association, and served as a board member at End‑of‑Life Washington.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Known Wishes.

Join the team behind the popular podcast Planet Money and celebrate the publication of their new book, Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life. Book author and longtime contributor Alex Mayyasi, Planet Money host Kenny Malone, and visual host Jack Corbett will bring Planet Money's signature brand of storytelling to the stage and discuss some highlights from the new book, including unlikely origin stories, revealing truths about human behavior, and insightful suggestions for navigating chaotic times drawn from the latest ideas in economics. Daryl Fairweather, Chief Economist at Redfin, will be the special guest this evening. Come prepared to engage with the silly and the sublime and ask some questions of your favorite Planet Money hosts and reporters.

Alex Mayyasi is a longtime contributor to Planet Money. Previously he was the founding editor of Gastro Obscura, which earned two James Beard Awards, and published a bestselling travel book, and was also a writer and editor at Priceonomics. His writing on business and economics has appeared in publications such as Smithsonian, the Washington Post, and The Atlantic. Mayyasi also consults for the University of Chicago economics department. He's the co-author of You Are Under Arrest for Masterminding the Egyptian Revolution (a Memoir).

Kenny Malone is a cohost for NPR's Planet Money podcast. Before that, he was a reporter for WNYC's Only Human podcast. Before that, he was a reporter for Miami's WLRN. And before that, he was a reporter for his friend T.C.'s homemade newspaper, Neighborhood News. Malone's stories have investigated everything from abuse in Florida's assisted living facilities to health hackers building their own pancreas to the origins of seemingly made-up holidays like National Raisin Day. Or National Golf Day. Or National Splurge Day. His work has won the National Edward R. Murrow Award for Use of Sound, the National Headliner Award, the Scripps Howard Award, and the Bronze Third Coast Festival Award. He studied mathematics at Xavier University in Cincinnati and proudly hails from Meadville, PA, where the zipper was invented.

Daryl Fairweather is the chief economist of Redfin and author of Hate the Game: Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love, and Work. Her insights have been featured on 60 Minutes, CBS Evening News, as well as in the New York Times and Washington Post. Prior to joining Redfin she was a senior economist at Amazon working on problems related to employee engagement and managing a team of analysts.

Jack Corbett is the visual host of Planet Money's TikTok account. Corbett shot NPR's first TikTok about the stock market circuit breaker. His reporting style became a perfect fit for the pandemic and the new short-form world order it has left in its wake. Since then, Planet Money TikTok's unique style and sensibility have garnered a devoted, loyal fanbase of young and diverse audiences. Almost four years later, the channel has amassed a large, devoted following of almost 800,000. His TikToks have received almost 15 million likes. In 2023, Corbett's work on Planet Money's TikTok won an Edward R. Murrow award and he's also been recognized by the White House Press Photographers Association. Corbett studied experimental cinema at Ohio State University and started at NPR in 2019 as an intern on the Music team. In his first few weeks, Corbett pitched a documentary to Jazz Night in America, which went on to premiere as part of the Sundance Film Festival in 2021. Corbett lives, breathes and makes bread in The City of Angels, Los Angeles, California.

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Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life Elliott Bay Book Company

Have you ever reinvented yourself — even unintentionally? Bestselling author Maria Semple's latest novel, Go Gentle, tells the story of one woman's midlife transformation.

Adora Hazzard, a Stoic philosopher and divorcée living in New York City, believes that she has it all figured out. She's a working mom of a teenage daughter, she's relishing her freedom, and she regularly meets with a group of like-minded women she refers to her "coven" — a group she assembled herself and is working to expand. Adora's carefully curated life is going as planned until a chance meeting with a handsome stranger. She begins subverting people's expectations — perhaps most of all her own.

Soon, her normally orderly existence is upended by adventure and risk: black-market art deals, secret rendezvous, and international intrigue. If that isn't enough, secrets from her past return to visit her in the present.

Go Gentle's narrative raises that age-old question: In the battle between the mind and the heart, which one will win?

Maria Semple is the bestselling author of Today Will Be Different, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, and This One Is Mine. Her novels have been translated into forty languages. Before writing fiction, Maria wrote for TV. She lives in New York.

Ken Jennings is still the Jeopardy! record-holder for his 74-game streak on the beloved quiz show back in 2004. In 2020, he was named Jeopardy!'s "Greatest of All Time" and began hosting the show following the death of longtime host Alex Trebek later that year. Ken is the author of 14 books, most recently The Complete Kennections.

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Go Gentle: A Novel Elliott Bay Book Company

In a world so fraught with chaos and uncertainty, where can we find connection and hope? Author Terry Tempest Williams invites readers to learn about what she calls "The Glorians."

In her latest work, The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary, Williams explains that Glorians are not distant deities, but instead ordinary, often overlooked presences — animals, plants, memories, moments — that reveal our shared vulnerability and interconnectedness with the natural world. The Glorians can be as small as an ant or as commonplace as the night sky. Williams offers both personal and societal insight in her assertion that Glorians have much to teach and remind us about consciousness, connection, and courage.

In pages that explore subjects like climate change, finding wonder in the unexpected, and turning to deep reflection and intention, The Glorians invites us to imagine a better and more beautiful future in a time of uncertainty.

Terry Tempest Williams is the award-winning author of seventeen books of creative nonfiction, including the environmental classic, Refuge – An Unnatural History of Family and Place. Among her other books are Leap, Finding Beauty in a Broken World, When Women Were Birds, The Hour of Land – A Personal Topography of America's National Parks, and Erosion – Essays of Undoing. Her work has been translated and anthologized worldwide. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Letters and is currently the writer-in-residence at the Harvard Divinity School. She divides her time between Cambridge, Massachusetts and Castle Valley, Utah.

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The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary Elliott Bay Book Company

In her new memoir, Adult Braces, Lindy West brings readers along on an uproarious cross-country road trip as she unpacks her last few tumultuous years, rediscovers herself, and reinvents her marriage.

Through Shrill—the book and then the Hulu series—Lindy West became an inspiration. To this day, she is stopped on the street and hailed as a beacon of empowerment by women who felt badly for not conforming to a narrow set of societal norms—thin, straight, compliant. But behind the scenes, Lindy never felt like she was the self-actualized woman fans made her out to be. When she found herself in the throes of a deep depression, with her marriage and sense of self-worth hanging in the balance, she knew she needed to make a change.

In Adult Braces, Lindy shares the story of her rock bottom and of the journey she took to claw her way out of it. With her trademark candor and sense of humor, she examines her post-Shrill emotional implosion, her shifting feelings about traditional marriage, and her search for her long-lost self. She also tracks the highs and lows of her journey, from eye-opening natural wonders and kitschy roadside attractions to lackluster tourist traps and campground epiphanies. The result is an engaging and laugh-out-loud narrative of becoming as Lindy transforms from a passenger into the active navigator of her own life.

Lindy West is the author of three books: the New York Times bestselling memoir Shrill as well as the essay collections The Witches Are Coming and Shit, Actually. Lindy is a former contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and her work has appeared in This American Life, The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Vulture, Jezebel, and others. She is the co-host of the comedy podcast Text Me Back and the author of the e-mail newsletter Butt News. Lindy was a writer and executive producer on Shrill, the Hulu comedy adapted from her memoir, and she co-wrote and produced the independent feature film Thin Skin. She lives on the Olympic Peninsula in rural Washington state.

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Adult Braces: Driving Myself Sane Elliott Bay Book Company

Layering classic tropes of the mystery genre with a clever modern satire of the publishing industry, The Ending Writes Itself is the debut novel of "Evelyn Clarke," a new writing collaboration between best-selling authors V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke. Joined in conversation by local author and journalist Moira Macdonald, Schwab and Clarke explore their co-authoring venture and the twists and turns that await readers in their new take on a locked-room mystery thriller. How will the pages unfold for the six authors isolated with nothing but their own minds, a diabolical deadline, and a plot-driving incentive? Starting is often the hardest part. But getting to the end could be murder.

World-renowned best-selling novelist Arthur Fletch is a reclusive genius who captivates readers with iconic protagonists and fiendish twists. So when six struggling authors of different genres receive an invitation to spend a weekend on his private island off the coast of Scotland, they pack their bags. But the twists have gone further than ever this time, and the authors are greeted with a shocking secret– Arthur Fletch is dead… and his highly-anticipated last novel remains unfinished.

Desperate to publish, Fletch's agent and editor have summoned these writers hoping one of them can pen a worthy ending. To sweeten the deal, they pitch them the opportunity of a lifetime. Ghost write the final chapter and win an irresistible prize– a mind-boggling sum of money and a partnership that could relaunch their own careers and guarantee future bestsellers. And with that to motivate them, surely 72 hours is enough time to finish Fletch's magnus opus? All they have to do is write…

V.E. Schwab is the critically acclaimed author of over 20 books spanning middle-grade, young adult, and adult fiction. Her previous publications include the Villains and Shades of Magic series, as well as standalone novels The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and most recently, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. Her work has been featured by outlets including the New York Times, the Guardian, and Entertainment Weekly, and has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Cat Clarke is an author and screenwriter. She previously worked as an editor at Scholastic UK. Her previous writing projects include the novels Entangled, The Lost and Found, Girlhood, and We Are Young, as well as the film Something in the Water.

Moira Macdonald is the longtime arts critic for The Seattle Times. Her debut novel, Storybook Ending, was published in May 2025 by Dutton/Penguin Random House, and is being released worldwide in 18 languages.

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The Ending Writes Itself: A Novel Third Place Books

Although the present ubiquity of Apple is well-known, how much do you know about its past? Just in time for Apple's 50th anniversary, author and CBS correspondent David Pogue tells the history of the iconic company: how it was born, nearly died, and was revived under the legendary Steve Jobs, and how it later became the most iconic brand in the world.

On April 1, 1976, two men in their 20s, both named Steve, founded a modest startup. Their goal was to bring the power of computers to everyone. Over the next five decades, Apple revolutionized the tech landscape, introducing the public to many products that we use today and marrying technology with design.

Marking this 50th anniversary milestone is Apple: The First 50 Years, a 600-page, definitive account of the tech giant.

At this very special event, author David Pogue will share what he learned from interviewing 150 current and former Apple executives, designers, and engineers. He'll reveal, for the first time, some amazing origin stories (Apple II, iMac, iPod, iPhone). He'll draw some counterintuitive but powerful lessons from Apple's unlikely rise, fall, and rise. And he'll punctuate the evening with Apple song parodies at the piano (yes, really).

David Pogue is a seven-time Emmy Award winner for his stories on CBS Sunday Morning, a five-time TED speaker, host of twenty NOVA specials on PBS, and a New York Times bestselling author. He's written about Apple for his entire career, including thirteen years as a Macworld columnist, thirteen more as tech columnist for The New York Times, and twenty years as the #1 bestselling author of books about Macs and iPhones

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Apple: The First 50 Years Elliott Bay Book Company

From the mind of Brett Hamil, the cartoonist behind Doom Loop and co-producer of Joketellers Union, comes an utterly unique talk show. Starring Hamil's wistful handyman alter ego Burl Dirkman, Power Thru It! with Burl Dirkman will take the audience on a comedic journey of self-discovery, featuring interviews with local luminaries J. Kenji López-Alt and Tomo Nakayama, and cathartic activities designed to help you access your long-neglected emotional core. Prepare to cry real tears of joy!

Brett Hamil is a cartoonist and comedian living in Seattle. He publishes a weekly political cartoon, Doom Loop, for the South Seattle Emerald, and produces a critically acclaimed live comedy show, Joketellers Union at the Clock-Out Lounge. He's also the author of 3 graphic novels.

Tomo Nakayama has explored the lines between intimate indie folk, exuberant synth pop, and cinematic soundtracks for over two decades. His fourth album, Ocean, was released last year.

Kenji López-Alt is a former restaurant cook, New York Times columnist, and author of the James Beard Award–winning and bestselling books The Food Lab and The Wok, as well as the children's book Every Night Is Pizza Night.

Whether you know her from her short stories in The New Yorker or The Atlantic or from one of her bestselling novels, Lauren Groff is arguably one of the leading literary voices in the U.S. Groff will share from her new collection of short stories, Brawler, which reflects upon humanity's ceaseless battle between our dark and light angels.

Ranging from the 1950s to the present day and moving across age, class, and region––from New England to Florida to California––the nine stories in Groff's newest collection dive into the animal and the divine within us all.

The characters paint a different picture of the same theme: a young woman suddenly responsible for her disabled sibling; a hot-tempered high school swimmer in need of an adult; a mother blinded by the loss of her family; and a banking successor with a different kind of inheritance. Motivated by love, challenged by the double edges of other people's good intentions, they all try to do the right thing for as long as they can. It's through these stories that Groff illuminates what it means to be human.

Groff's popularity comes from her insight into human nature. Through her various stories, Brawler offers specific turning points in people's lives, highlighting all of our thin boundaries between love and fear, compassion and violence, reason and instinct, altruism and what it takes to survive.

Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and the New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, Fates and Furies, Matrix, and The Vaster Wilds, and the celebrated short story collections Delicate Edible Birds and Florida. She has won the Story Prize and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and has been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2024, she was named one of the "TIME 100 most influential people." Groff's work regularly appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Her work has been translated into thirty-six languages. She lives in Gainesville, Florida, where she and her husband run an independent bookstore, The Lynx.

Amber Flame is an interdisciplinary artist garnering residencies with Hedgebrook, Baldwin for the Arts, Millay Arts, and more. A former church kid from the Southwest, Flame's first collection of poetry, Ordinary Cruelty, published in 2017 through Write Bloody Press. Flame's second book, apocrifa, a love story told in verse, launched May 2023 from Red Hen Press. Flame is Deputy Publisher at Generous Press, a new romance venture publishing inclusive love stories, and Program Director for Hedgebrook, a literary organization serving women. Amber Flame is a queer Black dandy mama who falls hard for a jumpsuit and some fresh kicks.

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Brawler: Stories Elliott Bay Book Company

Remember that one time in 2019 when presidential candidate Andrew Yang promised a thousand dollars a month for a whole year to ten U.S. families if they donated to his campaign? Yang would like to address this. Pulling from his latest book titled Hey Yang, Where's My Thousand Bucks?, Yang shares stories from his remarkable life so far, including this viral moment during a live presidential debate.

Beyond championing universal basic income, Yang would like to bring a little humor into the world. In his candid and playful accounts, Yang examines where the U.S. sits today through the lens of his unexpected journey from entrepreneur to presidential candidate. Part political memoir, part comedy, and part interior monologue, his stories attempt to make complex ideas accessible and entertaining.

It's this entertainment that he sees as a unifying potential. Yang believes in the power of laughter, even in — and maybe especially in — trying times. For anyone frustrated with traditional political narratives, curious about the human behind the headlines, or simply looking for a light-hearted exploration of trying to improve life in the U.S., Yang wants to enlighten, entertain, and inspire. It's through this optimism, Yang hopes, that we can create real positive change.

Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur and the cofounder of the Forward Party, a new independent political movement dedicated to restoring the promise of American democracy. He was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 whose campaign outlasted over a dozen mainstream political officeholders and attracted support from hundreds of thousands of everyday Americans, dubbed "the Yang Gang." His best-selling books The War on Normal People and Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy helped introduce the idea of universal basic income and ranked choice voting into the mainstream. His most recent work was the novel The Last Election, co-written with Stephen Marche. Named by President Obama as a Presidential Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship, Yang is the founder of Humanity Forward and Venture for America, and founder and CEO of Noble Mobile. He lives with his family in New York.

Jonathan Ng Sposato is a serial entrepreneur, media executive, and impact investor who has helped shape the national tech and media landscape. He is the only entrepreneur to sell two startups to Google (Phatbits and Picnik) and a third, PicMonkey, to Shutterstock. He is chairman and co-founder of GeekWire, one of the country's most trusted technology news platforms. A former senior leader at Microsoft, Jonathan played a key role in the early development of Xbox, MSN applications, and major consumer initiatives. In 2016, he made national headlines by committing to invest exclusively in female-founded companies and has since been honored by organizations including American Women in Science, Vital Voices, and the University of Washington. He is the founder of JoySauce.tv, an American-Asian focused media channel recognized by the Center for Asian American Media and GLAAD, and hosts JoySauce Late Night. He also owns and publishes Seattle Magazine and Seattle Business Magazine, restoring the legacy titles to local ownership. His civic leadership has earned him the Seattle Mayor's Impact Award, and in 2024 he was inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame as a media trailblazer.

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Hey Yang, Where's My Thousand Bucks? And Other True Stories of Staggering Depth Elliott Bay Book Company

In less than 100 years, plastic has gone from a novel invention to a ubiquitous feature across the globe. Plastic is now found in everything from household objects to industrial mechanisms to inside human bodies themselves. Once a marvel of modern science, plastic has become so inextricably woven into our lives that imagining a world without it can seem impossible.

Backed by years of research and reflections taking place in real time with changing technology and environmental awareness, The Problem with Plastic critically examines the paradox of this material and how swiftly its integration has affected public health and the planet as a whole. The book explores how, despite being first celebrated for its innovations, plastic is now broadly recognized as a leading contributor to environmental pollution at every level, the climate crisis, and building waste levels that disproportionately impact marginalized communities that bear the brunt of petrochemical pollution.

Author and environmental policy expert Judith Enck, in collaboration with co-author Adam Mahoney and the Beyond Plastics project, strives to draw attention to the alarming extent that microplastics have infiltrated society and the ways consumers can challenge what they think about the roles they can play. Unpacking illusions about recycling, mechanisms of environmental racism, and deceptive greenwashing strategies, the authors emphasize the urgency of calling for real, actionable measures to push against the effects of the plastics industry. The Problem with Plastic highlights powerful stories of frontline resistance in places like Louisiana, Texas, and Appalachia, and seeks to equip readers with practical tools– including a "Household Waste Audit" to track and reduce plastic consumption and model policy guides for driving legislative change. Fortified with calls for individual responsibility, citizen action, and governmental regulations, The Problem with Plastic aims to show that while plastic is a formidable problem, coordinated efforts can lead to solutions.

Judith Enck is the founder and president of Beyond Plastics, whose goal is eliminating plastic pollution everywhere. She was appointed by President Obama to serve as regional administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2009 and served as deputy secretary for the environment in the New York Governor's Office. She is the co-author of The Problem With Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It's Too Late (The New Press; 2025). She is currently a professor at Bennington College and lives in upstate New York.

Bellamy Pailthorp covers the KNKX environment beat with an emphasis on climate justice, human health and food sovereignty. Bellamy likes reporting stories about how we will power our future while maintaining healthy cultures and livable cities. Fluent in German, Bellamy worked in Berlin and has a masters in journalism from Columbia University. She joined KNKX (then KPLU) in 1999. From 2000-2012, she covered the business and labor beat for KNKX. Outside work, she practices yoga, enjoys tasting new foods and is frequently on the water with her rowing team.

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The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It's Too Late Elliott Bay Book Company

When something wacky is going on in the Gatorverse, the Special Undercover Investigation Teams know that it's time to S.U.I.T. up! Join the team at S.U.I.T. headquarters with the newest book in John Patrick Green's InvestiGators spinoff series– Agents of S.U.I.T.: Sew Much Trouble.

Someone has stolen the Notorious P.I.G. food truck, and with it, Piggy Smalls' special BBQ sauce! But before super-spy Badgers Bongo and Marsha can solve the case, they need to solve the problems they're having with each other. To help them realize what a great team they truly are, General Inspector decides to split them up. Marsha gets placed on a super-secret pilot program with chameleon field agent, Cilantro. Meanwhile, Bongo is paired with Sven, the octopus lead designer of A.R.M.S (Apparel Manufacturing and Research Section), on a not-so-secret reality competition: "Sew You Think You Can Sew!"

But here's the rub: this season of the show includes a chef challenge, and underground sources say Piggy Smalls' notorious sauce was stolen to help one of the contestants win! Find out what saucy secrets Bongo, Marsha, and the rest of the mystery-solving squad can spill before the whole team unravels in Agents of S.U.I.T.: Sew Much Trouble!

John Patrick Green is a human with the human job of making books about animals with human jobs, notably the smash-hit graphic novel series InvestiGators. John is definitely a multiple New York Times-bestselling human author and not just a bunch of animals in a trench coat pretending to have a human job. With over four million copies of InvestiGators in print, John is a successful human being with only two hands and a normal amount of fur. He lives in a Brooklyn apartment that doesn't allow animals other than the ones living in his head.

Ben Clanton is the New York Times–bestselling author and illustrator of the Narwhal and Jelly series, whose picture books include the Ploof series (with Andy Chou Musser) and the Tater Tales series. He lives with his wife and kids in Seattle, Washington.

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InvestiGators: Agents of S.U.I.T.: Sew Much Trouble Brick and Mortar Books

Have you ever wished you could go inside of a book? You could travel to a new place, see new sights, potentially live a different life altogether — all from the page.

From New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn comes Astral Library, a fantastical novel where books are not merely objects, but doors to different worlds, different adventures, and different futures.

After growing up in the foster care system, protagonist Alix Watson came to believe one thing: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and letting her dreams of higher education fall to the wayside, Alix takes refuge in the reading room at the Boston Public Library, reading her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of faraway lands night after night. One day, she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless guardian of the Astral Library, where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives inside their favorite books. All seems well until a shadowy enemy emerges and threatens everyone inside.

As danger draws closer, Alix and the Librarian try to escape, fleeing places like the back alleys of the Sherlock Holmes series, the Regency-era drawing rooms of Jane Austen, and the decadent parties of The Great Gatsby, to name a few. In journeying through books, Quinn may offer insight into where readers truly belong.

Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of Southern California, she attended Boston University, where she earned bachelor's and master's degrees in classical voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga and two books set in the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye, and The Briar Club. The Astral Library is her first foray into magic realism. She and her husband now live in Maryland with their rescue dogs.

Elise Hooper spent several years writing for television and online news outlets before getting a MA and teaching high-school literature and history. Her debut novel The Other Alcott was a nominee for the 2017 Washington Book Award. Three more novels—Learning to See, Fast Girls, and Angels of the Pacific—followed, all centered on the lives of extraordinary but overlooked historical women. Her newest book, The Library of Lost Dollhouses, was inspired by a dollhouse that's been in her family for five generations. Elise lives in Seattle with her husband and two daughters.

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The Astral Library (Deluxe Limited Edition): A Novel Third Place Books

Hear from acclaimed author, essayist, and critic Thomas Mallon, whose novel Fellow Travelers (2007) inspired an opera and a SHOWTIME® miniseries. With exacting attention to historical detail, Mallon's novel brings to life the shameful era in the early 1950s known as the Lavender Scare, during which gay and lesbian federal employees were systematically expelled from government service. More recently, Mallon also published The Very Heart of It (2025), a collection of journal entries during his literary coming-of-age during the AIDS crisis in New York City. Reporter Katie Campbell, creator and host of the KUOW Book Club, joins Mallon for a lively discussion on these works and the lessons they hold for our own time.

Thomas Mallon's eleven books of fiction include Henry and Clara, Fellow Travelers, Watergate (a Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award), and Up With the Sun. He has also written volumes of nonfiction about plagiarism (Stolen Words), diaries (A Book of One's Own), letters (Yours Ever,) and the Kennedy assassination (Mrs. Paine's Garage), as well as two books of essays (Rockets and Rodeos and In Fact). A collection of his personal journals, The Very Heart of It: New York Diaries, 1983-1994, was published by Knopf in June 2025. Mallon's work appears in The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, and other publications. He received his Ph. D. in English and American Literature from Harvard University and taught for a number of years at Vassar College. His honors include Guggenheim and Rockefeller fellowships, the National Book Critics Circle citation for reviewing, and the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, for distinguished prose style. He has been literary editor of Gentlemen's Quarterly and deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and in 2012, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. An eight-part dramatic adaptation of his novel, Fellow Travelers, is now streaming on Showtime/Paramount+, and an opera based on the novel has had over a dozen productions throughout the United States. He is Professor Emeritus of English at The George Washington University and lives in Washington, D. C.

Katie Campbell is an editor and reporter for KUOW.org. She has covered a variety of local topics, including Seattle politics, elections, and the arts. She also co-hosts KUOW's weekly arts podcast, Meet Me Here, highlighting the local literary scene and visiting authors. In 2024, Katie created the KUOW Book Club, featuring stories and authors from the Pacific Northwest. Katie's picks have included classics, like Timothy Egan's The Good Rain, and recent hits, like Sonora Jha's The Laughter. Katie's interviews with the featured authors have given readers a chance to hear from some of the most talented writers in the region. All readers are invited to join the KUOW Book Club by signing up for the newsletter at kuow.org/books. Katie is a graduate of the University of Florida College of Journalism, a P-Patch gardener and an auntie. Find her on Bluesky: @katiecampbell.bsky.social

For many Americans, football is more than just a sport — it is a way of life. Year after year, it remains the most watched sport in the country, captivating millions every season. A recent study showed that 93 of the 100 most-watched programs on U.S. television were NFL football games. Football, whether we like it or not, is inescapable.

Chuck Klosterman, New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and critic, visits Town Hall just after Super Bowl Weekend to discuss his newest book, Football.

Here, Klosterman dissects the question of natural greatness, looks at football through various lenses such as gambling and war, explores the caricature of the uncompromising head coach, ponders the morality of necessary risk, and posits hypotheticals in which certain celebrities chose football over other fields.

Football explains the sport as not only a cultural phenomenon but as a "hyperobject" — an entity so large in scale that it is able to defy human perception and understanding. Klosterman seeks both to enlighten and amuse as he offers examples of how football is woven into our collective identity. Whether you are a diehard fan or a more passive viewer, Klosterman's latest work goes beyond football as just an athletic competition.

Chuck Klosterman is the bestselling author of nine nonfiction books, two novels, and a short story collection. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ (London), Esquire, Spin, The Guardian (London), The Believer, and ESPN. Klosterman served as the Ethicist for The New York Times Magazine for three years and was an original founder of the website Grantland with Bill Simmons. He was raised in rural North Dakota and now lives in Portland, Oregon.

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Football Elliott Bay Book Company

Get ready to laugh, swoon, and maybe cringe just a little—Love Me or Leave Me from Letters Aloud unleashes the wild side of romance in a whirlwind show packed with real letters from history's most lovelorn (and love-scorned) souls. With a cast of spirited actors, comedy crackles from every confession, break-up, and "did-they-really-write-that?" misadventure, all paired with lively music that sets hearts and funny bones tingling. It's an unfiltered anthology of grand gestures, awkward flirtations, ridiculous rejections, and letters so sincere (or spectacularly misguided) you can't help but cheer. Whether you arrive hopelessly romantic or deliciously cynical, you'll end the night loving every memorable misstep on the bumpy road to happily ever after.

Real letters, by real people, read by professional actors.

Since 2014, we have traveled the country sharing intimate letters written by individuals who have left their mark on history. With a power to evoke both laughter and deep emotion, these letters serve as a testament to humanity's extraordinary ability to unearth hope, purpose, and happiness amidst life's many challenges.

With live musical accompaniment and a dynamic slideshow, a Letters Aloud evening is guaranteed to inspire! (As one fan said, "It's a modern day 'A prairie Home Companion' – but with letters.")

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS

Paul Morgan Stetler is the creator and curator of Letters Aloud and a co-founder and former Artistic Director of Seattle's multi-award winning New Century Theatre Company. A well-known Seattle actor, Paul has appeared on numerous local stages over the past 20 years, including ACT Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Village Theatre, Seattle Children's Theatre, Intiman Theatre, and Empty Space Theatre, as well as numerous regional theatres across the country. He holds a BA in English Literature at Cal State Northridge and an MFA in Theatre Arts from Penn State University.

Basil Harris is a Seattle actor and musician who has worked extensively on stage here in Seattle, and in film and media. As a voice actor, he's a regular contributor to the audio dramas of Jim French's Imagination Theater. He also plays in the alt-pop band "Awesome", which has often appeared here at Town Hall. More at basilharris.com

Jen Taylor is a Seattle-based stage actor and voice performer whose career bridges some of the city's most respected theatres and one of pop culture's most iconic AI characters. She is widely recognized worldwide as the original voice of Cortana in the Halo video game series and Microsoft's digital assistant, a role she has carried from the first game through multiple sequels and into the live-action Halo television adaptation.

Jamie Maschler is a musician, music director, educator and an ambassador of the accordion. She is co-founder of the Brazilian bands Foleada, En Canto, and the accordion duo Creosote. She has been heard with the Pueblo Symphony, Seattle Symphony and Seattle Philharmonic. Jamie has also played the role of Nelly Friedman in Paula Vogel's award winning play Indecent twice.

For most people, trying to be smart with money is a hurdle that isn't going away anytime soon. And once you have a handle on the usual demands like bills, loans, and maybe even savings – what about the future? Long-term financial choices can be daunting and confusing, and isn't wealth management advice for the already wealthy? How do everyday people balance today's dreams and realities with tomorrow's security?

Tailoring her years of expertise for modern generations, bestselling author and CEO Vivian Tu wants to deconstruct the traditional framework of financial literacy and show readers how to invest in a future that supports their real needs and wants. In her newest book, Well Endowed, the internet's favorite money bestie seeks to show readers how to strategically spend, directing cash toward what matters most while positioning themselves to grow real, lasting wealth. This fun, practical roadmap aims to weigh in on all the big topics, addressing questions like:

Should I rent or buy a home? What about my car – do I finance, lease, or buy? Should I get life insurance? What about pet insurance or renters' insurance? How much should I be setting aside for retirement, and do I really need a prenup? Is generational wealth something I can actually work towards for my family?

Picking up where her first book left off, Tu breaks down the biggest financial decisions of your late twenties, thirties, and beyond, striving to teach you how to align your spending with your values, goals, and the legacy you hope to leave. Pulling from lessons learned as a former Wall Street trader and blending them with the honesty of your best friend, Tu expands on the basics of personal finance to present a smart, relatable guide for creating lasting stability for yourself and your loved ones. Well Endowed aims to make your money work harder so you can live richer in every sense.

Vivian Tu is an educator and award-winning media personality driven towards creating approachable lessons in financial literacy and money management. She is the founder and CEO of the digital media brand Your Rich BFF, host of the Networth and Chill podcast, and author of the New York Times bestselling book Rich AF. She is the Chief of Financial Empowerment with SoFi Technologies and has been named one of Forbes 30 Under 30.

Tori Dunlap has helped over 5 million women build their net-worth and self-worth through her New York Times bestselling book and the world's biggest financial podcast for women, both called Financial Feminist. After saving $100,000 at age 25, Tori quit her corporate job in marketing and founded Her First $100K to fight financial inequality by giving women actionable resources to better their money. A multi-million dollar business owner, Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and co-creator of Treasury, an investing education platform, Tori's work has generated a global movement for financial advocacy and women's rights.

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Well Endowed: The Secrets to Strategic Spending, Building a Financial Foundation for You and Your Family, and Creating Lasting Generational Wealth Elliott Bay Book Company

How can we be kind in today's fast-moving, intense world? Kindness is a choice we make every day, but it's also your superpower. Local author and educator Jackson Cooper, author of A Kids Book About Kindness (DK Kids, 2025), shares his insights on teaching the essential tools for kindness to families, parents, and the next generation of leaders.

A Kids Book About Kindness is an accessible, family-friendly introduction for children and their caregivers to learn the tools of being kind. Using a "Kindness Toolkit", author Jackson Cooper teaches readers the easy ways they can become kinder to one another and, most importantly, themselves.

Jackson Cooper (he/him) has spent his entire life leading with kindness and generosity. Growing up, he felt that kindness could solve the world's problems and dedicated his career and life to giving back through teaching, leading, and mentorship. He's worked for 15+ years in roles with nonprofit and government organizations, working for the State of North Carolina, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and was Executive Director of the American Genre Film Archive. He is a 40 Under 40 Honoree by Puget Sound Business Journal and was one of Musical America' Top 30 Global Arts Professionals. He teaches at UNC-Greensboro and Seattle University.

Dr. Laura Marie Rivera is a Mother, researcher, and host of the Motherhood Advantage podcast. After years of teaching and earning her Doctor of Education, she founded the nonprofit Intuitionship to help the world better understand the power of kindness, care, and connection. Her research appears in Beyond the Pipeline from ELMM Press, where she explores how care-centered experiences shape leadership and community.

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A Kids Book About Kindness A Kids Co.

Whether you know him from his award-winning and bestselling novel set in Puget Sound, Snow Falling on Cedars, or his columns in Pacific Northwest publications, Bainbridge writer David Guterson may be one of our region's most well-known writers. He's written a new novel, Evelyn in Transit, which explores what it means to live a righteous life, maybe even in spite of our imperfections.

Guterson's novel introduces Evelyn Bednarz, who is radically open-minded, formidably strong, and unusually clear-eyed about herself and others. Yet Evelyn has always been a misfit in society. She's easily bored, unsuited to life at school, asks odd questions about faith and time, and sees through conventions others take for granted. Seeking to be true to herself, she hitchhikes across the American West, taking odd jobs.

Meanwhile, in distant Tibet, another life unfolds: the life of a boy named Tsering, raised as a Buddhist monk in the mountains of Tibet, who eventually becomes a high lama. And yet, Evelyn and Tsering are linked, which Evelyn discovers when a trio of Buddhist lamas show up at her door to announce that her five-year-old son, Cliff, is the seventh reincarnation of the illustrious Norbu Rinpoche, recently deceased. The lamas' visit sets off a family crisis and a media firestorm over Cliff's future.

As he's done in his other writing, Guterson links the Pacific Northwest with universal human truths. Evelyn in Transit asks us what it might mean to "live the right way," and to closely examine humanity's strivings for transcendence.

David Guterson is the author of several novels: the national best seller Snow Falling on Cedars; East of the Mountains; Our Lady of the Forest, a New York Times Notable Book and a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year; The Other; and Ed King. He is also the author of two story collections, two books of poetry, a memoir, and the work of nonfiction Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, he lives in Washington state.

Karen Maeda Allman is a bookseller alum, having worked for over 30 years at Independent Bookstores (including as author events co-coordinator for the Elliott Bay Book Company). She has served on many jury and awards panels, including for the National Book Award for Translated Literature, the DSC Prize and the Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction. She's currently at Wales Literary Agency and also serves on the Board of Seattle Arts and Lectures.

Buy the Book Evelyn in Transit: A Novel Elliott Bay Book Company

Ever feel unenthused staring into the fridge night after night? Overwhelmed and over budget at the grocery store, yet somehow you still came home without what you need for the week? Been meaning to reorganize your pantry for months and don't even know where to start? Avid cook and recipe developer Jenn Lueke has been there herself, and she wants to help pull home cooks out of the fog of decision fatigue and into achievable, delicious choices worth savoring.

In her debut cookbook, Don't Think About Dinner, Lueke has combined a practiced hand at meal planning, financial acuity, and years of building recipes into a start-to-finish primer for success. After struggling as a college student with health problems and quick-fix "healthy" recipes that she often found impractical and costly, Lueke was motivated to build a plan around what was really important to her. A list of plants and proteins she wanted to eat, simple recipes to make the most of them, and a system to keep with it over time. This foundation brought her to a new relationship with food in her life, a growing business and digital platform shared with millions, and now to a fresh, flavorful collection of kitchen know-how with Don't Think About Dinner.

This goal-oriented guidebook aims to help home cooks get what they really want out of the kitchen – from building new skills to cutting down on spending and food waste to reducing mental load without giving up satisfaction. Don't Think About Dinner highlights everything home cooks may need to confidently approach every meal of the day—from shopping and stocking the pantry to storing and reheating leftovers, and everything in between. Lueke's engaging and comprehensive approach and vivid photography present weekly meal plan menus, resources, and over 125 recipes designed to fit your lifestyle needs.

Readers will find convenient prep-ahead breakfasts like Goat Cheese and Kale High-Protein Egg Muffins and takeout-alternative lunch faves like Barbecue Chicken Chopped Salad. Get dinner on the table in 30 minutes with Street Corn-Inspired Shrimp Skillet or take advantage of adaptable ingredient lists and plant-based options like Sheet Pan Butternut Squash Mac and "Cheese." With a fully stocked kitchen and plan in place, Don't Think About Dinner wants to show how much easier it can be to cook nourishing, budget-conscious, standout meals.

Jenn Lueke is an author, recipe developer, and digital creator focused on making nutritious food more accessible and leading people to more joyful, nourishing practices around cooking. She is known for her smart shopping tips, viral meal plans, and approachable strategies for kitchen confidence on her social platform, @jenneatsgoood. Her tips and recipes have been featured on Buzzfeed, Good Morning America, ABC News, and through her Substack, the eat goood newsletter.

Cailee Fischer is a food content creator and the voice behind Cailee Eats, where she shares easy, balanced meals and realistic kitchen moments. She's all about making cooking feel fun, doable, and delicious, like having your bestie right there in the kitchen with you. What started as posting simple dinner recipe videos during her PCOS journey has grown into a community of 1.6M+ on TikTok and Instagram and a full-time career centered on helping people feel confident in the kitchen.

Buy the Book Don't Think About Dinner: Save Time and Money with 125+ Easy, Nourishing, Delicious Recipes for Every Meal Elliott Bay Book Company

How far would you go to achieve your deepest dreams? That's the question author Karl Ove Knausgård explores in his latest novel, The School of Night. Internationally acclaimed and award-winning Norwegian author Knausgård is known for blending everyday characters with transcendent perceptions of reality, and this new installment of The Morning Star series continues this thread while examining the power of human ambition.

Set in 1985 London, a city rife with possibility and desire, Knausgård's story follows Kristian Hadeland, a young photographer who believes his art is destined for greatness. His family, however, never understood him, and his fellow photography students bore him. When he meets Hans, an eccentric Dutch artist, the future he yearns for is possible—as long as he is willing to sacrifice everything and stop at nothing.

Twenty-four years later, Kristian sees his dreams come true. A major retrospective of his work is held in New York City. Yet his past catches up to him, and Kristian's world begins to crumble. Success comes at a price, but is he prepared to pay it?

In a twist on Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, Karl Ove Knausgård questions what we will do to achieve success—and how far we are willing to fall. The fourth novel in The Morning Star series that collides the ordinary with the extraordinary, The School of Night is a tale about dark temptations and moral depravity, and what we forget when we bargain with the devil.

Karl Ove Knausgård's first novel, Out of the World, was the first ever debut novel to win the Norwegian Critics' Prize, and his second, A Time for Everything, was longlisted for the 2010 International Dublin Literary Award. The My Struggle cycle of novels has been heralded as a masterpiece wherever it has appeared. His work is published in thirty-five languages. Knausgaard's newest novel, The School of Night, will be published by Penguin Press in January 2026.

Elizabeth DeNoma wears a number of hats within the publishing world. She's a translator from Scandinavia languages (whose most recent work is SNOW: A History by Sverker Sörlin), a ghostwriter and developmental editor, as well as a literary agent at the boutique international agency of Sebes, Bisseling, and Kleuver.

Buy the Book The School of Night: A Novel Third Place Books

When Shogun was released last year on Hulu, it featured a great cast, spectacular visuals, and a gripping story. It was a commercial and critical success on release, and again when awards season came around. So of course, academic historians fretted. Were they concerned that it painted sixteenth-century Japan as another Game of Thrones (with more ninjas and fewer dragons)? Maybe a little. But most scholars were anxious because they understood how important the show would be, how profound an impact it would have, for years to come, on the public's perception of Japanese culture and history — all the more so because the story captures a moment of extraordinary significance, in such vivid detail, on such a vast canvas.

In this talk, David Spafford, Associate Professor of Premodern Japanese History at the University of Pennsylvania, takes a closer look at the complexities of the period and unpacks why this particular moment in history matters so much — and how the hit Shogun seriesdoes (or doesn't) help us understand it.

David Spafford was born and raised in Rome and first moved to the States to earn his PhD. He is currently Associate Professor of Premodern Japanese History in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches courses on samurai and the invention of the Way of the Warrior, on early modern urbanization, and on premodern law and violence. He is the author of A Sense of Place: The Political Landscape in Late Medieval Japan (2013), which explores the resilience of medieval regional identities and cultural geographies during the early Warring States period. In recent years, he has written about the role and boundaries of kinship in warrior society between 1450 and 1650. He is currently completing a short monograph on the writings of a sixteenth-century widow, known to us only as Jukeini, the only woman to rule a warrior domain.

Paul Atkins is professor of Japanese in the Department of Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he teaches and writes about the literature, drama, and culture of medieval Japan. He holds a Ph.D. in Japanese from Stanford University. Professor Atkins was awarded the William F. Sibley Memorial Translation Prize by the University of Chicago in 2011 and the Kyoko Selden Memorial Translation Prize by Cornell University in 2021 for his translations of classical Japanese texts into English. Publications include the monographs Teika: The Life and Works of a Medieval Japanese Poet (University of Hawai'i Press, 2017) and Revealed Identity: The Noh Plays of Komparu Zenchiku (Center of Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, 2006) as well as a number of articles.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Washin Kai. This event is sponsored by the UW Center for Japanese Studies and the UW Department of Asian Languages and Literature. Nominal support provided by Consulate-General of Japan in Seattle.

In the decades since his untimely passing at the age of thirty-two, Bruce Lee's body of work has grown to an undeniably lasting legacy. He went on to become globally recognized after his death, his influence acting as a cultural bridge between the East and West – popularizing martial arts and providing inspiration and momentum for a new arena of Western martial arts films. While the impact of his work can be seen across genres and generations, cultural historian and journalist Jeff Chang is hoping to highlight the barrier-breaking importance of Bruce Lee's life to the development of Asian American identity over the last fifty years.

In his new biography, Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America, Chang highlights areas of Bruce Lee's story that have been overshadowed by acclaim. Chang unpacks the stark reality of Bruce Lee as a baby born in segregated San Francisco and a youth living in war-ravaged, fight-crazy Hong Kong. As he found his way back to America as a teenager, Bruce Lee embraced West Coast counterculture and meshed it with the Asian worldviews and philosophies that reared him. Water Mirror Echo – a title inspired by Bruce Lee's own way of moving, being, and responding to the world – explores how these transitions and unique vantage points created a figure whose very presence helped shape the idea of what being an Asian in America is, at a critical time in the early development of the culture.

Chang presents this new work in conversation with a panel of figures directly affected by Lee's life– activist and former student Sue Ann Kay, long-time friend Doug Palmer, and daughter Shannon Lee. Water Mirror Echo layers an expertly collected archive of Lee's life with a thoughtfully nuanced analysis of the way Lee defied stereotypes and expectations. The complex biography draws from in-depth interviews, thousands of newly available personal documents, and features dozens of photographs from the family's archive, brought together by Chang's pursuit of heartfelt authenticity. Water Mirror Echo explores the man behind the iconography and shows Lee's growing fame ushering in something even more enduring: the creation of Asian America.

Jeff Chang is an award-winning writer, host, and cultural organizer. His previous books include the critically acclaimed Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, Who We Be: A Cultural History of Race in Post Civil Rights America, and We Gon' Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation. Chang has been a Lucas Artist Fellow and has received the American Book Award, the Asian American Literary Award, and the USA Ford Fellowship in Literature. He is the host of the podcasts Edge of Reason and Notes from the Edge. His bylines have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, The Guardian, and more.

Shannon Lee is an author, producer, speaker, and acts as the steward of her father's legacy. She is the founder and president of the Bruce Lee Foundation and the host of the Bruce Lee Podcast as well as the short-form podcast A Little Leeway. Her published books include the philosophical guide Be Water, My Friend, and the YA fantasy novel Breath of the Dragon.

Doug Palmer is a retired lawyer and the author of the memoir Bruce Lee: Sifu, Friend, and Big Brother published by Seattle-based Chin Music Press. He grew up in Seattle, where he met and learned gung fu from Bruce Lee. While attending Yale University, he spent a summer with Bruce and his family in Hong Kong. After graduating with a major in Chinese Studies and obtaining a law degree from Harvard Law School, he worked in Tokyo for 4-1/2 years.

Sue Ann Kay is a third-generation Chinese American with family roots to early Seattle Chinatown (late 1800s) and the current Chinatown International District (CID). She was Bruce Lee's first female student, relishing lessons that included Chinese philosophy and martial arts. Kay is currently involved with grassroots groups like the CID Coalition (aka "Humbows not Hotels") and Eggrolls. She is also a singer with the Seattle Raging Grannies.

Buy the Book Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America Wing Luke Museum

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Wing Luke Museum.

Elyse Myers is known to her 12 million followers as "The Internet's Best Friend," sharing relatable stories and comedic sketches while serving as an advocate for topics such as neurodiversity, impostor syndrome, body image, and more. Whether she's making people laugh with tales of disastrous dates or giving a voice to that awkward internal monologue many of us have, she has three simple goals behind everything she makes: To make people feel known, loved, and like they belong.

In That's a Great Question, I'd Love to Tell You, Elyse delivers a debut collection of deeply personal stories and hand-drawn illustrations, offering even more intimate reflections beyond what fans have seen on her social media, including:

Spending 7 Minutes in Heaven and accidentally friend-zoning her crush
How Lucy, the Magic 8 Ball keychain, changed her life by accident
The "meat cute" when she met her smoke show of a husband at a butcher's counter in Australia

Plus, stories of bad dates and almost-dates; the irresistible but hopeless urge to reinvent yourself; panic attacks and the escape routes they inspire; favorite pens and the systems for using them—all while navigating the art of loving and being loved, ideally at the same time.

Elyse Myers is a writer, comedian, and content creator who's known to her twelve million followers as "The Internet's Best Friend," sharing relatable stories and comedic sketches and serving as an advocate for topics such as neurodivergence, impostor syndrome, body image, and more. Whether she's making people laugh with stories of disastrous dates or giving a voice to that awkward internal monologue many of us have, she has three simple goals behind everything she makes: To make people feel known, loved, and like they belong. She hopes that by sharing her authentic and unfiltered self with the world, others will feel comfortable doing the same. Elyse lives in the Midwest with her husband, two sons, and her pillow pet named Wallace.

Buy the Book That's a Great Question, I'd Love to Tell You Elliott Bay Book Company

"Our cuisine, with its grits and black-eyed peas, crab cakes, red rice, and endless variations on the staple foods of the region, casts a spell that, if you're lucky, gets passed down with snapping string beans at the table and chewing cane on the back porch." – Michael W. Twitty

Cooking is more than just ingredients and instructions, and a big pot on the stove can act as a vessel for connection and culture just as much as it does for rice and beans. Exploring the contextual roots and legacies passed down through food culture has been a lifelong endeavor for culinary historian Michael W. Twitty, and his upcoming cookbook Recipes From the American South aims to unpack a bounty of knowledge and flavor for the home cook.

In the introduction to this thoughtfully rendered recipe collection, Twitty declares, "No one state or area can give you the breadth of the Southern story or fully set the Southern table."Recipes from the American South sets out on a journey to cover as much ground as possible through one of America's most foundational culinary landscapes — showcasing more than 260 beloved regional dishes rooted from the Louisiana Bayou to the Chesapeake Bay.

Layered with diverse origin stories and detailed annotations, Twitty brings readers an expansive collection of both iconic fare and lesser-known specialties. Chicken and Dumplings, She-crab Soup, Red Eye Gravy, Benne Seed Wafers, Hummingbird Cake, and Mint Juleps appear alongside Shrimp Pilau, Chorizo Dirty Rice, Sumac Lemonade, and Cajun Pig's Ears Pastry. Vibrant photography and Twitty's lyrical essays accompany the menu at every course, from biscuits and breads to mains and sides to sauces and sweets.

Through this cookbook, Twitty aims to showcase how the region's "multicultural gumbo" of influences have transformed staple ingredients into a lasting impact on American food culture as a whole. Expansive, authoritative, and beautifully designed — Recipes from the American South invites readers to take a seat at the kitchen table and learn how to cook, understand, and connect with every plate.

Michael W. Twitty is an acclaimed culinary historian, speaker, educator, and independent scholar with a focus on historic African American food and folk culture. He is the author of the two-time James Beard Award-winning book The Cooking Gene, as well as Rice and Koshersoul. His work has been featured in publications including the Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, PBS, and NPR's The Splendid Table, as well as Afroculinaria, his culinary history blog devoted to the preservation of historic African American foods and foodways.

Chef Kristi Brown has spent over three decades in the culinary industry, starting at a café in downtown Seattle. After graduating from Seattle Culinary Academy, she founded That Brown Girl Cooks Catering in the mid-1990s. Her mantra, "Everybody Gotta Eat," led her to co-found a community kitchen, earning widespread recognition. In the same era, Chef Kristi and her son Damon Bomar opened Communion R&B in Seattle's Central District. With praise from Conde Nast Traveler and The New York Times, the restaurant has become a beacon of unity and community.

Buy the Book Recipes from the American South Book Larder

Have you ever heard the phrase "healthy competition?" Competing is often viewed as a positive: we are told that it motivates us, drives innovation, and helps us excel. But what if this approach were mistaken, and competition actually causes more harm than good? In this panel discussion, author Ruchika T. Malhotra will be joined by Ijeoma Oluo, Ekin Yasin, and La'Kita Williams to explore the central ideas of her new book, Uncompete: Rejecting Competition to Unlock Success.

Author Ruchika Malhotra offers a different framework for success than what we are used to. Uncompete argues that competition leads to exhaustion, anxiety, burnout, and an isolating lack of community. It encourages a scarcity mindset and keeps us from reaching our true potential. Instead, Malhotra argues, we should be investigating this cultural norm and even rewriting it into ways that are likely unfamiliar, such as by tapping into benign envy or finding joy in other people's victories.

Drawing on interviews as well as Malhotra's own experiences working with corporations as an inclusion strategist, Uncompete promotes a culture of collaboration and mutuality. The book offers that this approach leads not only to a happier workplace, but one more likely to succeed. Likewise, it can also lead to happier and healthier lives even outside of work.

Malhotra subverts the dominant, dog-eat-dog paradigm and makes a radical argument: there is room for everyone at the table and everyone can succeed.

Ruchika T. Malhotra is the founder of Candour, a global inclusion strategy firm that has worked with some of the world's biggest organizations. She is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review and was a founding editor of The Establishment, a women-funded-and-led media website, has written for The New York Times, Forbes.com, TIME, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Quartz, The Seattle Times, and more. She was an adjunct faculty in Communications at University of Washington and Seattle University and is the author of INCLUSION ON PURPOSE: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work, MIT Press' top selling book of 2022.

Ijeoma Oluo is a Seattle-based writer, speaker, and internet yeller. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling first book, So You Want To Talk About Race, Mediocre, and Be a Revolution. Her work on race and gender has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and NBC News; and she has been featured on The Daily Show and NPR's All Things Considered. Named on the TIME 100 Next list and The Root 100, she's been awarded the Harvard Humanist of the Year Award, the American Humanist Association's Feminist Humanist Award, Gender Justice League's Media Justice Award, and the Equal Opportunity Institute's Aubrey Davis Visionary Leadership Award.

Dr. Ekin Yasin is a professor, researcher, and program leader with expertise in communication, emerging technologies, and leadership development. As Director of the Communication Leadership graduate program at the University of Washington, her work explores how technology transforms identity, storytelling, influence, and global communication. She collaborates with universities around the world on program development, AI-integrated curriculum design, and responsive education models that meet the needs of a shifting global landscape.

La'Kita Williams is the Founder and Principal Strategist of CoCreate Work, a future-focused coaching and consulting company specializing in executive coaching and organizational development. She holds a Master's in Social Work and is a Certified Professional Coach (CPC). La'Kita developed the 5 Components of Inclusive Culture, a step-by-step framework to help organizations, small businesses, and emerging companies build responsive workplaces that put humans first. La'Kita teaches graduate courses in the Department of Communication Leadership at the University of Washington, including Resilient and Inclusive Leadership for The Future of Work. She has been quoted in the New York Times, written for Harvard Business Review and MSNBC Know your Value, and has appeared on numerous podcasts to discuss leadership and the future of work.

In his debut book We Survived the Night, artist and writer Julian Brave NoiseCat takes readers on a complex journey of Indigenous experience stemming from a childhood rich with culture and contradictions. Reeling from his father — a Secwépemc and St'at'imc artist haunted by a troubled past — abandoning his family, NoiseCat and his non-Native mother found themselves embraced and invigorated by their community. Supported by the urban Native population in Oakland, California and family on the Canim Lake Indian Reserve in British Columbia, NoiseCat was able to immerse himself in Native history and culture. Doing so bridged the gaps in his knowledge of his father's past and their stories and sent him on a journey to further his understanding of his people and himself.

Told in the style of a "Coyote Story" — a legend about the trickster forefather of NoiseCat's people, revered for his wit and mocked for his tendency to self-destruct — We Survived the Night brings a traditional artform nearly annihilated by colonization back to life on the page. NoiseCat explores his personal origins amidst recounting on-the-ground efforts to correct the erasure of Indigenous peoples across the continent. Over years spent researching and developing his voice as a storyteller, NoiseCat grapples with the generational trauma of North America's First Peoples and learns of the cultural, environmental, and political movements reshaping the future.

We Survived the Night dives into examples of Native endurance and modern achievements that NoiseCat studied in his journalistic endeavors — the historic ascent of the first Native cabinet secretary in the United States and the first Indigenous sovereign of Canada; the colonial origins and limits of racial ideology and Indian identity of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina; hauling the golden eggs of an imperiled fish out of the sea alongside the Tlingit of Sitka, Alaska. Blending history and mythology, research and personal memoir, NoiseCat seeks to reclaim a culture stripped away by years of colonization and the family ties that were severed in his youth. His voiced honesty and years of efforts link the past to the present, the community to the individual in a powerfully intimate depiction of contemporary Indigenous life.

Julian Brave NoiseCat is a writer, Oscar-nominated filmmaker, champion powwow dancer, and student of Salish art and history. His writing has appeared in publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New Yorker. NoiseCat has been recognized with numerous awards including the 2022 American Mosaic Journalism Prize and many National Native Media Awards. He was a finalist for the Livingston Award and multiple Canadian National Magazine Awards, and was named to the TIME100 Next list in 2021. His first documentary, Sugarcane, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Directed alongside Emily Kassie, Sugarcane premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where NoiseCat and Kassie won the Directing Award in U.S. Documentary. NoiseCat is a proud member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq̓éscen̓ and descendant of the Líl̓wat Nation of Mount Currie.

Joshua L. Reid (citizen of the Snohomish Indian Nation) is an associate professor of American Indian Studies and the John Calhoun Smith Memorial Endowed Associate Professor of History at the University of Washington, where he directs the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest. He is the author of The Sea Is My Country: The Maritime World of the Makahs.

Buy the Book We Survived the Night Elliott Bay Book Company

If you're into comics and graphic novels, you probably know of Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud. Telgemeier rose to "first-name-only status" among middle-grade readers with her adaptations of The Babysitters Club and award-winning autobiographical graphic novels including Smile and Guts. Scott McCloud is a leading comics theorist, having spoken and written about the art form since the 1980s. In fact, Telgemeier credits McCloud's work for inspiring her when she was a teenager. Now these two leading artists come together to discuss the unique power of comics and their new graphic novel, The Cartoonists Club.

Their book centers around four characters: Makayla, who is bursting with ideas but doesn't know how to make them into a story; Howard, who loves to draw but struggles to come up with ideas and his dad thinks comics are a waste of time; Lynda, who constantly draws in her sketchbook but keeps focusing on what she feels are mistakes; and Art, who simply loves being creative.

Throughout the book, Telgemeier and McCloud infuse how-to advice on comics creation that, they hope, will inspire a new wave of cartoonists. They both have seen renewed enthusiasm for the genre, especially among younger readers and are teaming up to provide an entertaining and practical guide to the magic of comics storytelling.

Raina Telgemeier is the #1 New York Times bestselling, multiple Eisner Award–winning creator of Smile, Sisters, and Guts, which are all graphic memoirs based on her childhood. She is also the creator of Drama and Ghosts, and is the adapter and illustrator of the first four Baby-sitters Club graphic novels. Facing Feelings: The Art of Raina Telgemeier is a companion catalog for an exhibition held at Ohio State University's Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. Raina lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. To learn more, visit her online at goraina.com.

Scott McCloud is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art; Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels; Zot!; and The Sculptor. He is a frequent lecturer on the power of visual communication, creator of the international 24-hour comic movement, and, in 2021, was inducted into the Will Eisner Awards Hall of Fame. His art and stories are available in more than 30 languages and on the web at scottmccloud.com

Buy the Book The Cartoonists Club Brick and Mortar Books

Arthur Oakes spends his days in a picturesque tableau of scholastic life – reading in the exceptional Rackham College library, dreaming against scenic Maine backdrops, entertaining a burgeoning romance with bold and brainy Gwen Underfoot. What more could a studious kid want? Surely not to be roped into a criminal endeavor by a local drug dealer and her partner, bent on committing a truly atrocious crime against the law and academia itself – stealing rare books from the college library. In his attempts to escape the dangers stacked against him, Arthur turns down a dark and unforeseen path into extraordinary loopholes and treacherous trickery.

In his newest novel King Sorrow, author Joe Hill brings together an eclectic group of Arthur's closest friends to scheme their way out of the peril breathing down their necks. Irrepressible moneybags Colin Wren, brave and beautiful Alison Shiner, the battling twins Donna and Donovan McBride, and with dear Gwen in the mix, they should absolutely be able to get Arthur out of this bind. Should be simple really – grab an ominous tome bound in the skin of its author, warp the very reality of the world around them, summon a dragon to do their bidding.

But turns out there's nothing simple about dealing with dragons, and this crew soon learns that supernatural deals with immensely powerful beasts should perhaps not be made so lightly. King Sorrow follows this group on their winding paths through both human and fantastical villainy, biting off more than they bargained for and facing a terrifying pattern to uphold. A new sacrifice must be chosen every year, or risk becoming King Sorrow's next meal.

Joe Hill is a best-selling author of novels, novellas, short stories, and comics exploring genres of horror, dark fantasy, and science fiction. His previous published works include the award-winning novels Heart-Shaped Box, NOS4A2, and The Fireman as well as the shorts collections Strange Weather, 20th Century Ghosts, and Full Throttle. He is also the co-creator of the long-running comic series Locke & Key, which was later adapted into a Netflix TV series.

Buy the Book King Sorrow: A Novel Elliott Bay Book Company

You're likely aware of the ongoing saga surrounding the ban on TikTok in the U.S., including the platform's brief offline period in January 2025. Have you ever wondered why restoring TikTok in the U.S. was one of the first actions President Trump took when he came to office? Why is this social media platform a top priority for some of the world's most powerful people? How did this tech giant become so wildly popular and a source of contention in international politics? Author of Every Screen on the Planet, Emily Baker-White, uncovers the answers.

After working within big tech companies' policy departments, Harvard-trained lawyer and investigative journalist Emily Baker-White has now focused on how platforms like TikTok influence the world around us. In her book, she charts TikTok's rise from the Chinese founders' ambitions to its emergence as the world's most valuable startup with 1.6 billion users worldwide. Its power––and potential surveillance and propaganda tool for strongmen––came to a dramatic crescendo with its ban and tenuous resurrection in January 2025.

Hear about the explosive reporting that actually caused TikTok to track Baker-White and led to an ongoing criminal investigation. Baker-White makes the case for how hawks in Congress have pushed the company to the brink while the U.S. government seeks backdoor access to observe and influence TikTok's data stream. Touching on politics, finance, business, and technology, she lays bare the stakes: The war for TikTok will either create a blueprint for autocrats to warp our information landscape or close the open internet as we know it.

Emily Baker-White is a technology reporter at Forbes, where her TikTok coverage has won awards. A Harvard Law School graduate and former criminal defender, she previously led the Plain View Project, an investigation into police misconduct on Facebook, and covered TikTok for BuzzFeed News.

Steve Scher is a writer, broadcaster, and interviewer. His children's book, The Moon Bear, came out in 2022. Over his 28 years on local public radio, he won awards for his incisive coverage of public affairs, breaking news and his beyond-the-headlines approach to issues. His in-depth interviews with award-winning authors, political leaders, scientists, artists and active citizens are noted for their intelligence and sensitivity. Most summers since 2009, he has taught a Communications Department class on interviewing at the University of Washington.

Buy the Book Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over Tiktok Elliott Bay Book Company

The Seattle Athenaeum and Town Hall Seattle welcomes Dr. Audrey Whitty, Director of the National Library of Ireland and Hibsen as they launch the inaugural Irish Arts & Literature Showcase. Dr. Whitty is in conversation with UW Teaching Professor and poet Frances McCue.

Dr. Audrey Whitty is an Irish archaeologist, librarian and curator. As Director of the National Library of Ireland, she oversees the work of the library in collecting, protecting and making accessible the recorded memory of Ireland. Whitty previously worked for the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) where she was curator of the ceramics, glass and Asian collections, in the Art and Industrial Division of the museum. While working with the museum, she was awarded a doctorate in the History of Art by Trinity College Dublin.

Frances McCue is an arts instigator who has spent her career connecting literature to community life. Known for her literary start-ups, she is the co-founder of Pulley Press, a new publishing imprint that celebrates poets and poetry from rural places, and she was the Founding Director of Richard Hugo House for its first decade. She also instigated the Poetry Brigade at the University of Washington. Currently, she is a Teaching Professor at the University of Washington where she has been the winner of the UW Distinguished Teaching Award. A poet and prose writer she has published six books—four of poetry and two of prose, including a book of essays about Richard Hugo. Her forthcoming book is Spark and Whistle: Thinking Like a Poet in Leadership and Life from Columbia University Press.

The National Library of Ireland collects, protects and makes accessible the recorded memory of Ireland. We collect, protect and provide access to over 12 million items and will continue to do so for decades to come. We provide access to the collections free of charge, at four sites and online to exhibitions and events and to our reference and research reading rooms.

Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum connects a dynamic literary community through a curated book collection, diverse programming, and opportunities for engaging conversations and transformative ideas.

The Irish Arts & Literature Showcase, organized and curated by Caroline Cumming and Paula Stokes, welcomes visiting Irish writers, publishers and artists in presenting a curated selection of lectures, conversations and workshops.

More at https://www.folioseattle.org/irisharts

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum.

You know that phrase, "We compare our insides to other people's outsides"? We're bombarded with others' achievements but see less of the steps – internal and external – it took to get there. These days, we feel an increased pressure to achieve, to pursue greatness. We reach for this mythical, impossible standard. Drawing from his book, Meditations for Mortals, Burkeman believes that if you accept the fact that you will never "get there," you can actually start making good choices that lead to a meaningful life.

Through this guiding philosophy, Burkeman calls "imperfectionism," we can tackle challenges in our daily lives: our finite time, the lure of distraction, the impossibility of doing anything perfectly, the feeling that the world is spinning out of control. How can we embrace our limitations? Or make good decisions when there's always too much to do? How do we shed the illusion that life will really begin as soon as we can "get on top of everything"? Pulling from the fields of philosophy, religion, literature, psychology, and self-help, Burkeman explores a combination of practical tools and daily shifts in perspective.

Burkeman offers a way to embrace our mortality, to in fact find solace and inspiration in it. In anxiety-inducing times, Burkeman believes that holding back in life is a guarantee for anguish, while living in just one moment at a time is the solution for getting to the things that matter most to you.

Oliver Burkeman worked for many years at The Guardian, where he wrote a popular weekly column on psychology, "This Column Will Change Your Life." His books include the New York Times bestseller Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals and The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking.

Buy the Book Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts Elliott Bay Book Company

Join us at Town Hall Seattle for As Many Weirdos As Possible (AMWAP), an evening of storytelling and portraiture that brings to life one of the most vibrant chapters of the Pacific Northwest music scene (1985-1995). This live program will feature musicians, artists, and community members sharing personal memories, projected alongside their documentary portraits as part of the ongoing AMWAP project.

Drawn from Poser Productions' mission to preserve and celebrate personal and cultural histories, this evening invites audiences to engage in a communal reflection on memory, music, identity, and place. Hosted by Nabil Ayers, President of Beggars Group U.S. and author of My Life in the Sunshine, whose work and story are deeply rooted in Seattle's independent music and cultural legacy.

Nabil Ayers is a longtime Seattleite who co-founded Sonic Boom Records in 1997 and played drums in several bands — most recently The Long Winters. He now lives in Brooklyn, where he is president of the Beggars Group of record labels. Ayers is the host of the Identified podcast and the author of the memoir My Life in the Sunshine (Viking), which he launched at Town Hall in 2022. He has written about music, race, and family for The New York Times, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, GQ, and NPR.

Riz Rollins has loved music since childhood, bringing joy to dance floors from clubs like Re-bar, to parties, parades and festivals. For over thirty-five years, he has shared the music that shaped his life and our community on KEXP.

Marco Collins was the guy behind the mic when Seattle accidentally unleashed grunge on the world. As flagship DJ and Music Director at 107.7 The End in the '90s, he helped break bands like Nirvana, Beck, Weezer, and Foo Fighters—shaping the sound of a generation in real time. He's worked across radio, labels, VH1, and stations like KEXP, but what really sets him apart is an obsessive love of music that's never once hit the snooze button. He's also the subject of The Glamour & The Squalor, a documentary chronicling his rise, fall, and refusal to shut up about bands you haven't heard of yet.

Steven Severin is co-owner of Neumos, Barboza, The Runaway Bar, and Life on Mars. He has served on Bumbershoot's Advisory Board and worked extensively with the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) to help secure the federal Shuttered Venue Operators Grant that saved independent venues during the COVID pandemic. He recently launched Walk Don't Run, a community art event activating downtown Seattle with music, visual art, and live performance. He's also spent nearly a decade with Save Our Sonics, advocating to bring the SuperSonics back to Seattle.

Paul Schurr played bass and sang backup vocals for Flop and Best Kissers in the World in the early 90s. He and his wife have four kids and live in Seattle.

Sheila Locke has been a force in Seattle's music scene for over forty years as a DJ, radio host, club owner, artist manager, and co-founder of NASTYMIX Records, original home of Sir Mix-A-Lot. From her first high school gig to breaking national ground with a gold record, she has left an indelible mark on the city's music history.

Chenelle "Chelly Chell" Marshall is a writer, poet, and creative spirit. She was a member of The Incredicrew, one of Seattle's earliest rap groups, who signed a multi-album deal with the label Ever Rap. Their single "He's Incredible" became a local hit and a landmark moment in Seattle's music history. Today, Chenelle continues to share her voice through poetry and storytelling and is the author of Poetic Lifeline. Her latest work, Through the Eyes of Her, is available now.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Poser Productions. Poser Productions is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike.

As we interact with endless sources of media and news every day, we tend to recognize the big names presenting to us and often have an opinion at the ready in terms of credibility and preference. But why did we develop those opinions in the first place, and how do we move forward with confidence when processing the continuous supply of new information gets more challenging all the time? According to Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, it all comes down to something innately human and critical to our collective success– trust.

In his upcoming book The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things That Last, Wales unites the origin story of one of the internet's go-to information sources with observations on how the guiding principles of the platform can be applied both on and offline. With 11 billion views every month in the English language alone, Wikipedia may be ubiquitous to us now, but it was a tough pitch at the beginning. Facing doubts from fellow professionals and concerns about the open user editing, Wales emphasizes that the core of the experiment was building a sense of trust. Not only getting strangers on the Internet to trust each other, but the institution itself trusting that people would not be abusive or uncivil, that they wouldn't unfairly change each other's contributions – ultimately trusting that people as a whole had good intentions. Wales continues to stress that trust is not inanimate– it is a living thing that can and should be cultivated.

The Seven Rules of Trust implores readers to use these central principles of trust, collaboration, and respect that helped found Wikipedia to maintain connection and critical thinking now in our modern age. While access to Internet resources, accurate citations, and other people's expertise has grown into what many view as a utility like water or electricity, Wales expresses concerns about the global crisis of credibility and knowledge. Wales considers how his organization– once an industry punchline– has become a worldwide presence in the same two decades that the public's trust in everything from information to government to social media has trended backwards. Compiling insights gained from years of experience and reflections with candid lessons learned in the early days of Wikipedia, The Seven Rules of Trust aims to act as an approachable guide to reinforcing a positive loop of accountability and creativity that can stand the test of time.

Jimmy Wales is the founder of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation. Named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People, he has been recognized by the World Economic Forum for his contributions to the global public good. He lives with his family in London.

Mónica Guzmán is the author of I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times; founder and CEO of Reclaim Curiosity; advisor at Braver Angels; and host of A Braver Way podcast. A Mexican immigrant, Latina, and dual US/Mexico citizen, she lives in Seattle with her husband and two kids and is the proud liberal daughter of conservative parents.

Buy the Book The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things That Last Third Place Books

Can art transform our brains for the better?

Local arts and health champion, Path with Art, in partnership with Seattle University and Town Hall Seattle, leads a conversation with Susan Magsamen, New York Times bestselling co-author of Your Brain on Art, and director of Johns Hopkins International Arts + Mind Lab, as well as the co-director of the Aspen Institute's Neuroarts Blueprint.

Susan shares the latest research demonstrating how individual and public health can be transformed through the arts.

When introduced in healing settings, arts engagement is associated with a reduction in the need for pain medication, reduced cortisol levels, decreased length of hospital stays, decreased incidence of depression, increased memory and cognitive function, and improved communication and behavioral skills.

This event explores how the emerging science of neuroarts is expanding the horizons of mental wellness and public health, with some of the most exciting developments taking place here in Seattle and across the world.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle, Path with Art, and Seattle University.

Do you live in a way that maximizes your well-being? Chances are, the answer to that question is no. Our modern way of living, some suggest, is incompatible with a thriving lifestyle. While the notion that many factors impact our overall health and wellness is not necessarily far-fetched, you may be surprised by the argument that some of the strongest factors are relational — both with one another and with the earth.

Family Physician and public health professor Dr. Wendy Johnson explores this concept in her newest book, Kinship Medicine: Cultivating Interdependence to Heal the Earth and Ourselves. Johnson asserts that the solution to many of the causal factors of poor health — loneliness, industrial diets, systemic inequality, profit-based healthcare — are about humanity's interconnectedness to people and planet. Examples in Kinship Medicine include information on how trauma can be passed down for generation and how eliminating one organism in an ecosystem can affect all others. Her work also posits that our relationship to non-human life is essential to our well-being, and community action is stronger than individual efforts.

With examples from public health, sociology, anthropology, human ecology, and her experience as a doctor, Dr. Johnson advocates for a shift in society that could lead to a healthier future.

Wendy Johnson is a family physician, public health professor, activist and writer who has spent her life advocating for a world where everyone can live long lives in equitable communities. Her career includes stints scaling up HIV treatment in Mozambique, overseeing an urban health department, and most recently, directing a community clinic in Santa Fe. She has a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins and holds faculty appointments at the University of Washington and the University of New Mexico. She currently practices family and addiction medicine in rural Northern New Mexico with El Centro Family Health. Dr. Johnson has been a vocal activist on many progressive issues locally and globally and is a two-time TEDx speaker.

Tessa Hulls is an artist, writer, and adventurer who is equally likely to disappear into the backcountry or a research library. Her debut graphic memoir, Feeding Ghosts, received the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, the Libby Book Award, and the Anisfield-Wolf Award, and was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and the Pacific Northwest Book Award, and nominated for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. She's pivoting her career to fuse her two great loves of creativity and the wilderness by becoming a comics journalist working with field scientists studying ecological resilience and climate change in remote environments, and she would love to hear from you if you want to partner with her on this endeavor.

Buy the Book Kinship Medicine: Cultivating Interdependence to Heal the Earth and Ourselves Third Place Books

Whether or not you’re a Sherlockian, whether or not you believe that Arthur Conan Doyle was the literary agent for Holmes and Watson and not the author of fantastical tales, you might be curious to learn that there’s a new mysterious Sherlock Holmes tale to untangle. Author, screenwriter, and director Nicholas Meyer would like to share that tale in his book, Sherlock Holmes and The Real Thing.

Picture the setting: London, 189–. The great city is brought to a standstill by a series of blizzards, and Sherlock Holmes is bored to distraction. It would take a miracle to bring a case to the detective’s door. . . But next thing you know, there are several corpses—and Holmes and his biographer, John H. Watson, MD, find themselves drawn into one of the most bizarre cases of the great detective’s career: the cutthroat world of big Art, where trickery and deceit abound.

Like any good Sherlock Holmes story, there seem to be more questions than answers. What makes a work of art worth killing for? Is it the artist, his mistress, his dealer, or his blackmailer? Who are the perpetrators? The accomplices? The victims? And just who is Juliet Packwood, with whom Watson has become infatuated? Oh, and there’s one other problem: Is this a genuine Holmes case or a clever forgery? Is this the real thing? Nicholas Meyer spins a tale for new and seasoned Sherlockians alike.

Nicholas Meyer is the “editor” of several Watson manuscripts, including The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, which spent forty weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. His screenplay of the film received an Oscar nomination. His film credits include writing and directing Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. He wrote and directed Time After Time, co-created Medici: Masters of Florence, and directed The Day After, about nuclear war that attracted the largest audience ever for a television movie.

George Meyer wrote for Late Night with David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, and The Simpsons. An Eagle Scout, he practices yoga and meditation and supports frog and turtle conservation. His favorite Grateful Dead song is “Unbroken Chain.”

Buy the Book Sherlock Holmes and the Real Thing Third Place Books

Who isn’t hoping for a quality partner to build a life with? Someone charming, reliable, with a great personality? But what happens when that sparkling personality is far darker around the edges than you realized? In her tensely thrilling new novel Don’t Let Him In, author Lisa Jewell explores the layers of truth and deception unraveling before three women who find themselves tied together by a man who has more secrets than any of them bargained for.

Nick Radcliffe seems to have it all – he’s a man of substance and good taste, with a smile that could melt the coldest heart and a knack for putting others at ease. He’s just what Nina Swann needed in her life after her husband’s unexpected death. But Nina’s adult daughter Ash has her suspicions. Nick seems too slick, too polished, too good to be true. Without telling her mother, Ash begins digging into Nick’s past… and uncovers more than unsettling findings.

Meanwhile, Martha is a florist living in a nearby town with her infant daughter and her devoted husband Alistair. It’s a lovely little life, until Alistair starts traveling more frequently for work, disappearing for days at a time. Frustrated and looking for answers, Martha plants a tracking device in his car. But nothing could’ve prepared her for the ride that was to come.

Nina, Ash, and Martha soon find themselves on a psychological collision course, hurtling toward a shocking truth far darker than anyone could have imagined. All three women are about to wish they had heeded the same warning: don’t let him in. But it’s certainly too late for that now – and the past won’t stay buried forever.

Lisa Jewell is a New York Times best-selling author of twenty-three novels, with work that has been translated into thirty languages. Her writing career has spanned more than twenty years, and she has spent over a decade focused on writing dark psychological thrillers, suspenseful mysteries, and crime fiction. Her previous books include None of This Is True, The Family Upstairs, and Then She Was Gone, as well as Invisible Girl and Watching You.

Andrea Dunlop is the author of five novels, including The Mother Next Door: Medicine, Deception, and Munchausen by Proxy, and the host and creator of Nobody Should Believe Me, an award-winning investigative true crime podcast about Munchausen by proxy. Andrea is the founder of Munchausen Support, the nation’s only non-profit dedicated to supporting survivors and families affected by MBP, and a member of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children’s MBP committee, where she serves alongside the country’s foremost experts. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children.

Buy the Book Don't Let Him In: A Novel Elliott Bay Book Company

`This is a dynamic and inspiring community panel on the joyful power of arts activism. In a time when many are facing systemic erasure — politically, socially, and culturally — Pottery Northwest is transforming art into resistance through equity-driven programming that uplifts Black, Brown, and LGBTQIA+ voices. Moderated by James Miles, the panel features ceramicist Aisha Harrison, former legislator Kirsten Harris-Talley, and Pottery Northwest Executive Director Ed King.

Leading Pottery Northwest is a privilege for Ed King after a career as an award-winning visual artist and ad agency art director in Miami. He has held roles as an arts administrator at ArtServe in Fort Lauderdale and the Chief Operating Officer of Creative Pinellas in St. Petersburg. King is deeply passionate about non-profit arts leadership, advocating daily for the financial well-being of working artists — a crucial element of a thriving creative economy. He is committed to fostering inclusivity and diversity, ensuring that the arts serve as a powerful tool for personal growth, community building, and social change.

Aisha Harrison is a studio and public artist working primarily in clay and bronze. Aisha is currently working on a solo show at Bainbridge Museum of Art in Fall 2025, as well as a large-scale outdoor public art commission with The University of Washington Tacoma and the Washington State Arts Commission to be unveiled in 2026. She has done residencies at Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Women’s Studio Workshop, and Baltimore Clayworks. Aisha has taught at Pottery Northwest, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Penland School of Crafts, The Evergreen State College, Bykota Senior Center, Baltimore Clayworks, University of Nebraska- Lincoln, and the Lux Center for the Arts.

Kirsten Harris-Talley (she/her) is Co-Founder of In The Works; building belonging, anti-racism, and repair practice with BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, women, and youth led organizations and movements. She previously served as a Seattle City Councilmember and a Washington State Representative. She is an activist and power building strategist; championing Reproductive Justice and the #BlackLivesMatter movement for abolition. Kirsten believes the personal is political – that which we practice is how we show up in the world – and she invites us to be whole, accountable, and caring.

James Miles, aka Fresh Professor, is a New York City artist and educator with 20 years of experience, now based in Seattle. He’s an Assistant Professor at Seattle University and the Chief Strategic Officer at Path with Art. James previously served at the Seattle’s Office of Economic Development, Third Stone, MENTOR Washington, and Arts Corps. He is the creator of the Fresh Education program, using original hip-hop music and theater to boost academic success in middle school classrooms. A graduate of Morehouse College and Brandeis University, James has provided professional development to teachers across the world. His mission is to reduce educational inequities using the arts. He is the author of Gotta Stay Fresh, and you can learn more about James at FreshProfessor.com.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Pottery Northwest.

Far more art is produced in a place like Seattle that is seen by the general public, in venues like galleries, museums, and art fairs. Who decides which art goes on display, and which work remains in the maker’s studio? A panel of art world experts discussed the often behind-the-scenes process that selects certain artists while sidelining others, and whether the current structure encourages or suppresses diversity, and where there is room for improvement.

Elisheba Johnson is a conceptual artist and curator for Wa Na Wari. She was previously a public art manager for Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture and the owner of Faire Gallery Cafe. In 2018, Elisheba started a public art practice with her collaborator Kristen Ramirez. She is currently a member of the Americans for the Arts Emerging Leaders Network advisory council and has won four Americans for the Arts Public Art Year in Review Awards for her work.

Judith Rinehart launched J. Rinehart Gallery in 2019 after more than a decade of working in Seattle galleries. As an arts advocate, she served for three years as treasurer of the Seattle Art Dealers Association, was the curator and panelist at the Seattle Emerging Arts Fair in 2018 and was the lead organizer of the Seattle Deconstructed Art Fair in 2020 & 2021. She is also one of the founders of Art + Culture Week, an initiative to celebrate Seattle’s visual arts, performing arts, and cultural communities.

Rock Hushka is the former Deputy Director and Chief Curator at Tacoma Art Museum, curating more than 50 exhibitions and 25 publications. While at TAM, Hushka received two National Endowment for the Arts Access to Artistic Excellence grants, an Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts Curatorial Fellowship, and a Getty Leadership Institute Fellowship. He recently transitioned careers, seeking to bridge the experiential learning of museum exhibitions to graphic design and educational technology.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Gage Academy of Art.

Many of today’s anti-trans sentiments revolve around the belief that things like gender-affirming care and nonbinary identities are part of a new trend. Yet, over a century ago, one doctor’s revolutionary work around gender and sexuality suggests otherwise. Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a German-Jewish sexologist and activist, grew famous (and infamous) for his theory of sexual relativity. While he may be largely forgotten, journalist Daniel Brook wants to reintroduce Hirschfeld to today’s discussion around gender and sexuality.

Drawing from his book, The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, Visionary of Weimar Berlin, Brook retraces Hirschfeld’s life and legacy. Living in an era when gay sex was a crime and gender roles were rigid, Hirschfeld taught that each person has their own unique mixture of masculinity and femininity. He advocated for gay rights and counseled patients toward self-acceptance. He also became part of Berlin’s cabaret scene and helped turn it into the world’s queer capital. But this was also during the rise of Nazis. They ransacked his Institute for Sexual Science and burned his books, nearly erasing his work from history.

Brook wants to bring him back into the next century. Brook argues that Hirschfeld’s life, and his gift for thinking beyond the confines of his world, have much to teach us. While the same societal fights continue, Brook believes there may be something new to learn from the past.

Daniel Brook is a journalist whose writing has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, Nation, and New York Times Magazine, and he is the author of several books, including A History of Future Cities and The Accident of Color: A Story of Race in Reconstruction. A New York native and a Yale graduate, Brook lives in New Orleans. He researched The Einstein of Sex in Berlin on a Robert and Ina Caro Research/Travel Fellowship.

Buy the Book The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, Visionary of Weimar Berlin (Hardcover) Third Place Books

Have you ever wondered how American cuisine came to be? When we look at food from around the world, we may more readily accept the complexity of its origins or their legacy in the culinary landscape. But it may be surprising to some that many of our country’s dietary customs likewise stem from culturally robust beginnings.

From a James Beard Cookbook Hall of Famer and the star of the Netflix docuseries High on the Hog, Dr. Jessica B. Harris comes her latest work, Braided Heritage: Recipes and Stories on the Origin of American Cuisine. This cookbook — replete with over 100 recipes — is paired with tales to help show how Indigenous, European, and African traditions intertwined to form an entirely new cuisine. Dr. Harris brings decades of cross-cultural and cross-continental research to map how our food arrived and adapted over generations.

Through this blending of peoples and practices, we have dishes like Clear Broth Clam Chowder and Enchiladas Suizas (which have both Indigenous and European roots). The book also discusses how African American food through the centuries has evolved based on region, migration, and innovation, resulting in classics like Red Beans and Rice and Peach Bread Pudding Cupcakes with Bourbon Glaze.

With recipes ranging from everyday meals to festive spreads, Braided Heritage offers reflections at the intersection of food, culture, and history.

Dr. Jessica B. Harris is the author, editor, and translator of seventeen books, including twelve cookbooks documenting the foods and foodways of the African diaspora. Her IACP Award–winning book High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America has been adapted into a Netflix series. Harris is a professor emerita at Queens College/CUNY in New York and has written extensively for scholarly and popular publications. She served as the culinary consultant for the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture and their lauded restaurant, the Sweet Home Café. She holds lifetime achievement awards from the Southern Foodways Alliance, the Soul Summit, and the James Beard Foundation, which also inducted Harris into the Cookbook Hall of Fame.

Chef Kristi Brown has spent over three decades in the culinary industry, starting at a café in downtown Seattle. After graduating from Seattle Culinary Academy, she founded That Brown Girl Cooks Catering in the mid-1990s. Her mantra, “Everybody Gotta Eat,” led her to co-found a community kitchen, earning widespread recognition. In the same era, Chef Kristi and her son Damon Bomar opened Communion R&B in Seattle’s Central District. With praise from Conde Nast Traveler and The New York Times, the restaurant has become a beacon of unity and community.

While the war in Ukraine continues to grab news headlines, the daily lives of Ukrainians remain opaque and mostly anonymous. What is it really like to live there during wartime? Historian Danielle Leavitt answers that question in her book, By the Second Spring: Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine. By going beyond familiar portraits of wartime heroism and victimhood, Leavitt reveals the human experience of the conflict.

A U.S. citizen who grew up in Ukraine, Leavitt draws on her deep familiarity with the country and online diaries to track a diverse group of Ukrainians through the first year of the war. Among others, she introduces Vitaly, whose plans to open a coffee bar in a Kyiv suburb fall apart when the Russian army marches through his town and his apartment building is split in two by a rocket; Anna, who drops out of the police academy and begins a tumultuous relationship with a soldier; and Polina, a fashion-industry insider who returns home from Los Angeles to organize relief.

To illuminate the complex resurgence of Ukraine’s national spirit, Leavitt also tells the story of Volodymyr Shovkoshitniy—a nuclear engineer at Chernobyl who went on to lead a daring campaign in the late 1980s to return the bodies of three Ukrainian writers who’d died in a Soviet gulag. Leavitt offers an interior history of Europe’s largest land war in seventy-five years—one that goes beyond the headlines about the conflict.

Danielle Leavitt holds a PhD in history from Harvard University, where she has been a fellow at the Ukrainian Research Institute. She grew up in both Ukraine and the United States, and currently lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. By the Second Spring is her first book.

Sasha Senderovich is Associate Professor of Slavic, Jewish, and International Studies at the University of Washington. He’s the author of How the Soviet Jew Was Made (2022), and co-editor and co-translator of In the Shadow of the Holocaust: Short Fiction by Jewish Writers from the Soviet Union (2026).

Buy the Book By the Second Spring: Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine (Hardcover) Elliott Bay Book Company

Ted Bundy, arguably the most notorious serial murderer of women in American history, committed many of his crimes in the landscape of the Pacific Northwest. But in the 1970s and ’80s, Bundy was just one perpetrator amid a large number of serial and violent acts across the region. Why were there so many, and so particularly gruesome? What caused the rise and then sudden fall of an epidemic of serial killing?

In Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers, nonfiction author and Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Fraser maps the lives and careers of Bundy and his infamous peers—the Green River Killer, the I-5 Killer, the Night Stalker, the Hillside Strangler, and even Charles Manson. Fraser’s research takes her around the Northwest as she seeks to uncover mysteries and investigate an overlapping pattern of environmental destruction. For example, in nearby Tacoma, Bundy’s ground zero, stood one of the most poisonous lead, copper, and arsenic smelters in the world. As Fraser’s investigation proceeds around our region and beyond, evidence mounts that the emissions from these smelters not only infected and sickened millions but also warped young minds, including some who grew up to become serial killers.

Whether a fan of true crime or noir novels, anyone curious about the minds and motivations of serial killers may find Murderland‘s findings of interest.

Caroline Fraser is the author of Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, which won the Pulitzer Prize as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Heartland Prize, and the Plutarch Award for Best Biography of the Year. She is also the author of God’s Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church, and her writing has appeared in the New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, and the London Review of Books, among other publications. She lives in New Mexico.

Bruce Lanphear, MD, MPH, a Professor at Simon Fraser University, has conducted research on the sources of lead exposure and impacts of lead poisoning for over 25 years. He led studies used by federal agencies to set standards for lead in air, water, and house dust. His studies also obliged federal agencies to conclude that no amount of lead is safe. Dr. Lanphear, who is a member of the US EPA’s science advisory panel for the national air lead standard, produces videos to show how human health is inextricably linked with the environment and to elevate efforts to prevent disease.

Buy the Book Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers (Hardcover) Third Place Books

A fur-trading schooner beached in 1811. A passenger liner lost in 1906. An almost-empty tanker broken on the shore in 1999. These shipwrecks, and thousands more, are why the northwest coast of North America is sometimes called the “Graveyard of the Pacific.” Drawing from his book, Wrecked, history professor and author Coll Thrush tells the stories of many vessels that met their fate along this rugged coast and how they open up conversations about colonialism, Indigenous persistence, and place-based history.

Shipwrecks are commemorated in museums, historical markers, folklore, place names, and the remains of the ships themselves. They’ve become a rich regional archive that has inspired Indigenous and settler survivors and observers to create meaning for these events. Thrush examines the ways in which shipwreck tales highlight––and debunk––myths of settler colonialism: the disappearance of Indigenous people, the control of an endlessly abundant nature, and the idea that the past would stay past.

There’s no doubt that shipwrecks capture our imagination. Thrush also shows that these disasters are passageways to deeper stories. Through a cultural history of this notorious part of the Northwest, Thrush demonstrates how the tales of shipwrecks reveal the fraught and unfinished business of colonization.

Coll Thrush is a professor of history at the University of British Columbia and founding co-editor of the Indigenous Confluences book series at the University of Washington Press. He is the author previously of Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place and Indigenous London: Native Travelers at the Heart of Empire.

Joshua L. Reid (citizen of the Snohomish Indian Nation) is an associate professor of American Indian Studies and the John Calhoun Smith Memorial Endowed Associate Professor of History at the University of Washington, where he directs the Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest. He is the author of The Sea Is My Country: The Maritime World of the Makahs.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and University of Washington Press.

Buy the Book Wrecked: Unsettling Histories from the Graveyard of the Pacific (Hardcover) Elliott Bay Book Company

You could argue that Dave Barry is the country’s class clown, but did you know that he actually was elected class clown in high school? It’s no wonder, then, that he’s made a career out of making fun of pretty much everything. So how in the world does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate newspaper column read by millions of people? Dave Barry will explain.

Barry draws from his latest book, Class Clown, to take us on a ride through his life so far, starting with a childhood largely spent throwing rocks for entertainment—there was no internet—and preparing for nuclear war by hiding under a classroom desk. He began his journalism career at a small-town Pennsylvania newspaper and somehow wound up as a humor columnist for The Miami Herald, where his boss encouraged him to write about anything that struck him as amusing and to never worry about offending anyone.

His columns were not popular with everyone: He managed to alienate a vast army of Neil Diamond fans and the entire state of Indiana. But he also developed a loyal following. Barry dives into all aspects of his life––the humor, absurdity, joy, and even sadness. Barry says the most important wisdom imparted by his Midwestern parents was never to take anything too seriously, which is a lesson that has served him well as a professional class clown.

Dave Barry is the author of more bestsellers than you can count on two hands, including Swamp Story, Lessons from Lucy, Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys, Dave Barry Turns Forty, and Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up. A wildly popular syndicated columnist best known for his booger jokes, Barry won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. He lives in Miami.

Brett Hamil is a cartoonist and comedian living in Seattle. He publishes a weekly political cartoon, Doom Loop, for the South Seattle Emerald, and produces a critically acclaimed live comedy show, Joketellers Union at the Clock-Out Lounge. He’s also the author of 3 graphic novels.

Buy the Book Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up Elliott Bay Book Company

Founded in 1970, NPR is America’s most powerful broadcast news network. Despite being overshadowed by the larger and more glamorous PBS, public radio has long been home to shows such as All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and This American Life that captivate millions of listeners in homes, cars, and workplaces across the nation. In On Air, a book fourteen years in the making, journalist Steve Oney tells the history of this institution, tracing the comings and goings of legendary on-air talents (Bob Edwards, Susan Stamberg, Ira Glass, Cokie Roberts, and many others) and the rise and fall and occasional rise again of brilliant and sometimes venal executives.

Oney depicts how NPR created a medium for extraordinary journalism—in which reporters and producers use microphones as paintbrushes and the voices of people around the world as the soundtrack of stories both global and local. Featuring details on the controversial firing of Juan Williams, the sloppy dismissal of Bob Edwards, and a $235 million bequest by Joan B. Kroc, widow of the founder of McDonald’s, On Air also chronicles NPR’s shift into the digital world and its early embrace of podcasting formats, establishing the network as a formidable media empire.

Steve Oney is a longtime journalist who worked for many years as a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Magazine and Los Angeles magazine. He has also contributed articles to many national publications, including Esquire, The Wall Street Journal, New York magazine, GQ, and The New York Times Magazine. His history of the lynching of Leo Frank, And the Dead Shall Rise, won the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award and the National Jewish Book Award. Oney was educated at the University of Georgia and at Harvard, where he was a Nieman Fellow. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Madeline Stuart.

Steve Scher is a writer, broadcaster, and interviewer. His children’s book, The Moon Bear, came out in 2022. Over his 28 years on local public radio, he won awards for his incisive coverage of public affairs, breaking news and his beyond-the-headlines approach to issues. His in-depth interviews with award-winning authors, political leaders, scientists, artists and active citizens are noted for their intelligence and sensitivity. Most summers since 2009, he has taught a Communications Department class on interviewing at the University of Washington.

Buy the Book On Air: The Triumph and Tumult of NPR Third Place Books

At 26, Ian Mackay loved the outdoors, natural sciences, and cycling. While studying as a biology undergrad at UC Santa Cruz, he crashed his bike into a tree on campus and forever changed his relationship with how he – and others like him – experienced nature. After sustaining a spinal cord injury that would leave him paralyzed from the shoulders down, Mackay was challenged with rehabilitating his body, his mental wellness, and his adventurous lifestyle. In Ian’s Ride: A Long-Distance Journey to Joy, author Karen Polinsky traverses both Ian’s personal journey to recovery against all the odds and the path his work has cleared for fellow nature lovers.

In this intimate memoir brought to life through more than one hundred hours of interviews, journal entries, and more, Polinsky depicts Ian’s story with heartfelt honesty. As he adapted to his new life in the Pacific Northwest with the help of his dedicated mother Teena, as well as family and friends, he grew inspired to revisit his bond with the outdoors. After years of personal growth, advocacy, and accessibility research, Ian has become a community leader, an innovator with Apple, and a world-record-breaking athlete. Ian’s Ride is an inspirational tale of perseverance and an adventure quest for nature lovers, endurance athletes, and anyone struggling with a life-changing loss or diagnosis. This deftly narrated saga examines the passions and challenges that inform how we exist in our hearts, our bodies, our communities, and our natural world.

Karen Polinsky is a novelist and playwright, as well as a former journalist and high school teacher. Her written works include the book Dungeness, the dance drama Heart of Stone, and more than a dozen staged plays.

Ian Mackay, a C2/3 quadriplegic, is a nature lover, mobility technology innovator, and endurance athlete. Mackay is the executive director of the nonprofit Ian’s Ride, which aims to increase accessibility to the outdoors. He also serves as an ambassador for the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and is a proud board member of The Here and Now Project, a chapter of the United Spinal Association.

Kenny Salvini is an award-winning writer and community organizer with a passion for promoting wellness, accessibility, and independence in the disability community. In 2013, Kenny cofounded The Here and Now Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a mission to connect and empower the mobility disability community in the Pacific Northwest. In his free time, Kenny does accessibility advocacy and training on the side and is a part-time contributor to New Mobility Magazine. In 2019, he was recognized by the United Spinal Association as their Advocate of the Year. Kenny graduated with honors from Central Washington University, where he majored in Electronics Engineering Technology, and was a two-time NCAA Division II Academic All-American in Men’s Wrestling. He currently lives in Sumner, Washington with his wife, Claire, and their four-year-old daughter, Ila.

Buy the Book Ian's Ride: A Long-Distance Journey to Joy Elliott Bay Book Company

In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, join Town Hall Seattle to hear Vietnamese author Susan Lieu discuss her memoir, The Manicurist’s Daughter. Susan will be in conversation with Executive Director of Friends of Little Saigon (FLS), Quynh Pham. Together, Susan and Quynh will discuss the impact of war with regards to trauma, memory, loss, and healing — as individuals and as a collective.

You may have already seen the work of Seattle author and performer Susan Lieu at Bumbershoot, Wing Luke Museum, or the Seattle Library. Her sold-out solo theatre performance in Seattle, 140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother, describes the true story of her mother’s death due to medical malpractice. No matter where you’ve seen her name, you already know she’s passionate about asking questions and seeking a better future.

In her new memoir, The Manicurist’s Daughter, Lieu asks questions about grief and body image through her family’s story. Refugees from the Vietnam War, Lieu’s family escaped to California in the 1980s. Upon arrival, her mother was their savvy, charismatic North Star, setting up two successful nail salons — until Lieu was eleven. That year, her mother died from a botched tummy tuck.

For the next twenty years, Lieu navigated a series of questions surrounding her mother’s death alone—until now. Sifting through depositions, tracking down the surgeon’s family, and enlisting the help of spirit channelers, Lieu uncovers the painful truth about her mother, herself, and the impossible ideal of beauty. But the answers she finds are also rooted in fierce determination, strength in shared culture, and finding one’s place in the world.

Susan Lieu is a Vietnamese-American author, playwright, and performer known for her autobiographical solo show, 140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother, which toured nationally to sold-out audiences. Her sequel, OVER 140 LBS, premiered at ACT Theatre’s SoloFest. She has performed at major events such as Bumbershoot and The Moth Mainstage, and her work has been featured by NPR and the L.A. Times. Susan co-founded Socola Chocolatier and is an activist who helped pass a law raising medical malpractice caps. Her debut memoir, The Manicurist’s Daughter (Celadon), is an Apple Book of the Month, a 2024 Best Book of The Smithsonian, NPR, and Elle Magazine, and has received accolades from The New York Times and The Washington Post. She was recently named one of Seattle Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2024.

Quynh Pham is the Executive Director of Friends of Little Saigon (FLS), a community development organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing Little Saigon’s cultural, economic, and historical vitality. Coming from a small business family, Quynh is passionate about supporting small immigrant- and refugee-owned businesses and fostering community-driven solutions for health, safety, and well-being.

From bestselling author Juliette Aristides comes an inspirational guide to thinking, making, and embodying the mind of a creative person.

The third Monacelli Studio title from Juliette Aristides, The Inner Life of the Artist, is an inspirational guide to thinking, making, and embodying the mind of a creative person. The book contains a series of short, insightful essays and significant, meaningful quotes by contemporary and historical artists, each accompanied by a moving and inspiring selection of nearly 100 past and present artworks to help enlarge our capacity for wonder. For those interested in drawing, painting, and other art forms, the book expands upon Atelier principles with fun, approachable, and practical exercises applied throughout, with an emphasis on cultivating the artistic mind, along with the hand and the eye. This is the perfect book to inspire all creative thinkers, presented in a visually arresting compact package and wrapped in a cerulean blue cloth case.

Juliette Aristides is a Seattle-based fine artist, author, and educator who seeks to understand and convey the human spirit through art. She has participated nationally in dozens of museum exhibitions including the solo shows Observations at the Reading Museum of Art in Reading, PA and A Life’s Work at the Customs House Museum in Clarksville, TN. Aristides is the author of six best-selling books including Lessons in Classical Drawing and Lessons in Classical Painting, which have been translated into several languages. Her seventh book, The Inner Life of The Artist publishes this April from Monacelli. Juliette has been the director of the Aristides Atelier for over 20 years and founded the first Atelier in the Northwest at Gage Academy in Seattle. Her Atelier’s achievements have been recognized in four consecutive exhibitions at the Maryhill Museum of Art. Aristides’ artwork and writing have garnered national media attention in publications such as Fine Art Connoisseur, American Art Collector, Artist’s Magazine, and American Artist. She has also been recognized as an Art Renewal Center “Living Master” and is the recipient of the prestigious Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant.

Michael Magrath received his BA in mythology and comparative religions at Reed College and his MFA in Sculpture and Public Art from the University of Washington in Seattle. Mike has studied in Florence and Rome, and taught at The Art Academy of London, The University of Washington, and the Gage Academy of Art where he began teaching in 2004. Since 2014, he has directed the Magrath Sculpture Atelier, where he also serves as Faculty Chair. His awards include the IFRAA best Religious Sculpture, the ART Renewal center First Prize in Sculpture.

Magrath brings a craftsman’s approach to sculpture, having come into art via the trades, working as a finisher, fabricator and foundryman. He also worked in college art programs for many decades, and so approaches teaching and artmaking from conceptual and maker-based perspectives. As such he seeks a marriage between elegance of concept and excellence in craftsmanship. As a teacher he seeks to demystify and make accessible to all the art making process. Magrath does both private and public commissions and has exhibited internationally. Clients include Microsoft, the University of Washington, the Archdiocese of Portland OR, as well as numerous private clients.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Gage Academy of Art.

Buy the Book The Inner Life of the Artist: Conversations from the Atelier Elliott Bay Book Company

These days, large-scale high-production music festivals take over major cities and regularly attract crowds of every genre — including the current version of Lollapalooza that draws a casual 400,000 people to its resident Chicago stomping grounds. But kick it back a few decades and this kind of maximalist mega-show wasn’t quite the norm it is now, especially for musical tastes outside of the mainstream. In their second collaborative book, Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival, music journalists Richard Bienstock and Tom Beaujour flash back to when the Lollapalooza we know now was a new tour concept bringing 1990s alternative artists and ideas center stage.

Lollapalooza first transports readers back to the festival’s origins – a 20+ city summer sprawl highlighting alternative music, art, and counterculture, conceived by Perry Farrell as a farewell tour for his band Jane’s Addiction. From 1991-1997, this breakthrough tour shifted the scope of live music experiences and helped forge a new path for the decade’s subcultures to reach the masses and the media. Bienstock and Beaujour have compiled hundreds of new interviews to dig into the dirt of how the historic festival came into being at every level – from headlining artists and record label execs to tour organizers and promoters to freakshow performers, stage crews, and roadies.

Lollapalooza is packed with gritty details of an era of shows that defied genres and drew crowds across style lines. Music, art, and politics drawing from alt-rock, goth, industrial, metal, punk, hip-hop, EDM, and avant-garde explorations – all coming together under one big tent. Featuring original interviews with iconic artists like Green Day, Patti Smith, Rage Against the Machine, Ice-T, Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, Jane’s Addiction, Tool, Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, Metallica, and many more, this collection amplifies voices that helped shape generations of contemporary thinkers, creative activists, and live music audiences.

Journeying through 90s nostalgia, uncensored first-hand accounts, and the long-term reverberations of a groundbreaking tour, Bienstock and Beaujour document a high-impact chapter of modern American music. A VIP pass to the action onstage and backstage, on the road and behind the scenes – Lollapalooza details the cultural shift of the alternative rock revolution and the echoes still heard through concert crowds today.

Richard Bienstock is a journalist, musician, and author whose work has been featured in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Spin. He is the executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine and former senior editor of Guitar World and has authored and co-authored books including Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck and Slash: An Intimate Portrait.

Tom Beaujour is a journalist, music producer, and engineer who has been featured in television shows like Orange is the New Black, A Handmaid’s Tale, and Criminal Minds. He is a co-founder and former editor-in-chief of Revolver and has contributed to Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Blender, and Billboard. He is the co-author of Nöthin’ But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the ’80s Hard Rock Explosion, alongside Richard Bienstock.

Mike Squires is a Seattle-based touring musician and the host of Couch Riffs Podcast since 2019. His touring and recording credits include Duff McKagan, Peter Hook, Ugly Kid Joe, Harvey Danger, and The Long Winters. Buy the Book Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story of Alternative Rock's Wildest Festival Third Place Books

What if none of this were real, but instead we were in a simulation? What would that mean about life, about the notion of reality, and about our own existence? From award-winning, Seattle-based author Daryl Gregory comes a story following two friends on a cross-country bus tour through glitches as they grapple with secrets, love, and family — issues that are not uncommon, except these take place in a simulated world.

When We Were Real follows longtime best friends JP and Dulin. When JP finds out his cancer has aggressively returned, Dulin decides it’s the perfect time for one last adventure: a week-long bus tour of the Impossibles, the glitches and geographic miracles that started cropping right after the Announcement that revealed our world to be merely a digital simulacrum. The outing promises to be the trip of a (not completely real) lifetime. Unlike other sci-fi hits like The Matrix or Vanilla Sky, these characters know they are simulations. Through this self-awareness, they — as well as readers — explore what it means to be human, to be alive or even real.

Through a cast of colorful characters (like a pregnant influencer determined to make her child too famous to be deleted) or the stops they make along the way (like a tunnel outside of time or a motivational-speaking avatar’s compound) JP and Dulin have no shortage of things to talk about as they venture toward the tour’s final stop, where the travelers may find out who is actually running the simulation.

When We Were Real aims to uncover the things that really matter in life, even in an artificial world.

Daryl Gregory is the award-winning author of numerous novels, including Revelator, Afterparty, and Spoonbenders, a Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy Award finalist. His novella We Are All Completely Fine won the World Fantasy Award and the Shirley Jackson Award. He currently resides in Seattle, Washington.

Matt Dinniman is a writer, artist, and musician (well, he’s a bass player) from Gig Harbor, WA. He is the author of several books, including the bestselling Dungeon Crawler Carl series.

Buy the Book When We Were Real: A Novel Third Place Books

Trans stories are not confined to political rhetoric and headlines. The world of creative writing is replete with narratives that explore complex worlds of gender and how identity intersects with people’s lives and relationships.

In a new collection of one novel and three stories, bestselling author Torrey Peters’s keen eye for the rough edges of community and desire push the limits of trans writing.

In Stag Dance, the titular novel, a group of lumberjacks working in an illegal winter logging outfit plan a dance that some of them will attend as women. When the most unlikely of the axmen announces his intention to dance as a woman, he finds himself caught in a strange rivalry, inviting a cascade of obsession, jealousy, and betrayal that culminates on the big night in an exploration of gender and transition.

A trio of shorter tales surround Stag Dance: “Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones” imagines a gender apocalypse brought about by an unstable ex-girlfriend. “The Chaser” presents a secret romance between roommates at a Quaker boarding school, and “The Masker” details a Vegas party weekend that turns dark when a young crossdresser must choose between two guides: a mystery man who thrills but objectifies her, or a veteran trans woman who offers sisterhood and cynicism.

Peters’ talk and work is especially timely surrounding ongoing conversations about trans rights in our nation but is an invitation to any fiction reader.

Torrey Peters is the bestselling author of the novel Detransition, Baby, which won the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and was named one of the 100 Best Books of the 21st Century by The New York Times. It was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize, a finalist for the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize, and longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She has an MFA from the University of Iowa and an MA in comparative literature from Dartmouth. Peters rides a pink motorcycle and splits her time between Brooklyn and an off-grid cabin in Vermont.

Aster Olsen is the author of the novella Performance Review. She lived most of her life in the gorgeous swampy parts of Florida people don’t visit on vacation, but now lives in Seattle, where she spends her time swimming in alpine lakes alongside aquatic insect larvae. A professional scientist, she rejects the binary oppositional positioning of STEM and Art and seeks to collapse and expand imposed categories and narratives to further understanding. Her writing is found in Lilac Peril, Hey Alma, Autostraddle, Inner Worlds, Itch.io, and elsewhere. She is the creator, editor, and publisher of TRANSplants Zine, a zine series about transness and place, and runs the trans open mic reading and art series please (t)read with me. Find more at asterolsen.com.

Ebo Barton comes from salt— from the moment before worlds converge. You may have seen Ebo’s work in the book Black Imagination and heard in the audiobook read by Grammy and Tony award winner Daveed Diggs. You have also seen Ebo’s work online on Write About Now, Button Poetry, and All Def Poetry channels. In 2016, they placed 5th in the World at the Individual World Poetry Slam. In 2017, they co-wrote and co-produced the award-winning play Rising Up. In 2018, they played “Invisible One” in Anastacia Renee’s Queer. Mama.Crossroads and reprised the role in 2019. Ebo debuted his first published collection of poetry, Insubordinate, in 2020. As the Director of Housing Services at Lavender Rights Project, and a Washington State LGBTQ Commissioner, Barton’s impact transcends artistic endeavors. A leader in arts and activism, Ebo Barton is committed to creating opportunities for others to organize, heal, and rejoice.

Corinne Manning is the author of the acclaimed story collection We Had No Rules. Once upon a time, they reimagined the publishing industry with the literary project The James Franco Review (it made sense from 2014-2017). Their creative work and literary criticism are published widely, including in The New York Times. Corinne lives in Seattle and works as a teaching artist through Seattle Arts & Lectures and their own mentorship project Deeper, Wider.

Amber Flame is an interdisciplinary artist garnering residencies with Hedgebrook, Baldwin for the Arts, Millay Arts, and more. A former church kid from the Southwest, Flame’s first collection of poetry, Ordinary Cruelty, was published in 2017 through Write Bloody Press. Flame’s second book, apocrifa, a love story told in verse, launched in May 2023 from Red Hen Press. Flame is Deputy Publisher at Generous Press, a new romance venture publishing inclusive love stories, and Program Director for Hedgebrook, a literary organization serving women. Amber Flame is a queer Black dandy mama who falls hard for a jumpsuit and some fresh kicks.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Seattle Public Library.

Buy the Book Stag Dance Charlie’s Queer Books

Why do people feel compelled to share stories? Why do we yearn to reach others with our words, beyond necessary communication? Storytelling is a vital facet of human culture and is constantly expanding as we create new ways to communicate through words, art, and tangible experience.

The Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington hosts an annual literary and storytelling series, Sacred Breath, featuring Indigenous writers and storytellers sharing their craft in the Seattle area. Storytelling offers a spiritual connection, a sharing of sacred breath. Literature, similarly, preserves human experience and ideals. Both forms are durable and transmit power that teaches us how to live. Both storytelling and reading aloud can impact audiences through the power of presence, allowing for the experience of the transfer of sacred breath as audiences are immersed in the experience of being inside stories and works of literature.

The series begins with an evening program at Town Hall Seattle featuring Arigon Starr and guest Roger Fernandes. A multitalented, multidisciplinary performer, Arigon Starr promises to deliver a mix of music, reading, art, and storytelling.

Arigon Starr is an enrolled member of the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma. Her father, Ken Wahpecome (Kickapoo) was a career Navy man and her mother, Ruth (Muscogee (Creek) / Cherokee / Seneca) was a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University. Starr is a storyteller in many mediums including music, comic books, and live theater. Across her many disciplines, she brings bold characters, contemporary perspectives, and the intention of countering negative Indigenous stereotypes. Her work has been highlighted in the publications First American Art and Native Peoples, featured on the national news program PBS News Hour and on the arts blog of the National Endowment for the Arts. Visit Arigon’s website to learn more.

About Sacred Breath

The Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington hosts an annual literary and storytelling series. Sacred Breath features Indigenous writers and storytellers sharing their craft in Seattle. Storytelling offers a spiritual connection, a sharing of sacred breath. Literature, similarly, preserves human experience and ideals. Both forms are durable and transmit power that teaches us how to live. Both storytelling and reading aloud can impact audiences through the power of presence, allowing for the experience of the transfer of sacred breath as audiences are immersed in the experience of being inside stories and works of literature.

How do you know if you are a good boss? Whether you’re in the C-Suite or middle management, you’re probably not reaching your full potential, according to Sabina Nawaz, Fortune 500 coach and author of You’re the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need). Unfortunately, it’s often hard to recognize pitfalls as a boss or know how to address them. Luckily, Nawaz has some ideas.

Pulling from over one thousand interviews at Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Motorola, Nordstrom, and the United Nations, Nawaz offers managers advice on how to succeed. Her proprietary data includes over two decades of coaching and in-depth research into the psychology of behavior and relationships. One key finding, she says, is that as our job expands, the added pressure to perform corrupts our actions, and our increased power blinds us to the impact of those actions. No one is immune to this. Even the most well-intentioned manager can quickly become the boss nobody wants to work for. Nawaz offers an in-depth framework for managing pressure and power with grace and intelligence.

Knowing if you’re a good boss doesn’t need to be a mystery. To be a good one, Nawaz says, is to manage yourself and others, navigate working relationships, and communicate effectively. You’ll know you’re a good boss when you’re doing these things, while also experiencing less stress and greater impact, becoming the boss everyone wants to work for.

Sabina Nawaz is an elite executive coach who advises C-level executives and teams at Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, nonprofits, and academic institutions around the world. Sabina gives dozens of keynotes, seminars, and conferences each year and teaches faculty at Northeastern and Drexel University. During her fourteen-year tenure at Microsoft, she went from managing software development teams to leading the company’s executive development and succession planning efforts for over 11,000 managers and nearly a thousand executives, advising Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer directly. She has written for and been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, NBC, Nasdaq, and MarketWatch.

Frank X. Shaw is the Chief Communications Officer at Microsoft, leading global communications strategy, storytelling, media relations, executive and employee communications, and more. With over 25 years of experience, he served as president of the Microsoft account at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide and has worked across government, entertainment, food, and retail sectors. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, he holds a journalism degree from the University of Oregon and serves on the boards of the Seattle YMCA and The LAGRANT Foundation.

Buy the Book You're the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need) The Elliott Bay Book Co.

Writer and prison abolitionist Keeonna Harris shares her intimate memoir, Mainline Mama, about the formidable challenge of raising a family separated by prison walls and how we can fight back against a broken Byzantine system.

Keeonna and Jason met as young teens. Only fourteen, Keeonna had never had a boyfriend before, dreamed of attending Spelman to become an obstetrician, and thought she was “grown.” Within a year she was pregnant, and Jason was in prison, convicted of a carjacking and sentenced to twenty-two years. Overnight Keeonna had become a “mainline mama,” a parent facing the impossible task of raising a child — while still growing up herself — with an incarcerated partner.

Keeonna recalls her harrowing journey in Mainline Mama, from learning to overcome the exhausting difficulties of navigating the carceral system in the United States, to transforming herself into an advocate for other women like her — the predominantly Black and brown women left behind to pick up the pieces of their families and fractured lives. She offers inspiration and solace, showing how to create moments of beauty, humanity, and love in a place designed to break spirits.

Mainline Mama is about creating self-love and community — crucial acts of radical resistance against a prison industrial complex that is designed to dehumanize and to separate and shut away incarcerated individuals and their loved ones from the world.

Keeonna Harris is a writer, storyteller, mother of five, and prison abolitionist. She is a Ph.D. Candidate at Arizona State University finishing her dissertation Everybody Survived but Nobody Survived: Black Feminism, Motherhood, and Mass Incarceration. Her memoir, Mainline Mama draws from her experiences as a Black woman, teen mother, and twenty years of raising children with an incarcerated partner and building community in the borderlands of the prison.

Jodi-Ann Burey (she/her) is a writer and critic who works at the intersections of race, culture, and health equity. Her debut book, Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work disrupts traditional narratives about racism at work and is forthcoming in 2025 with Flatiron Books.

Buy the Book Mainline Mama Elliott Bay Book Company

Celebrate culture and connection with Dinner at Our Place, the latest cookbook from the team behind Our Place, the makers of the beloved Always Pan®. Shiza Shahid, co-founder and CEO of the acclaimed cookware shares the brand’s mission to bring people together through the joy of cooking and dining. With contributions from 11 renowned chefs, tastemakers, and restaurateurs, the book presents over 100 recipes alongside curated menus designed to inspire memorable gatherings.

Each chapter of Dinner at Our Place is a fully crafted dining experience, complete with playlists, mood-lighting suggestions, and tips to elevate your hosting game. From Shiza Shahid’s cozy family dinners to Kia Damon’s creative take on Friendsgiving, the book offers a rich tapestry of culinary traditions and innovative approaches. Other highlights include Jen Monroe’s playful Valentine’s celebration, DeVonn Francis’s Caribbean-inspired feast, and Keegan Fong’s hot pot night with Mama Fong.

At this event, Shahid will share the stories behind the cookbook and the collaborations that shaped its pages. Learn how each menu came to life, explore the joy of hosting through recipes like Saffron Tachin and Whole Salt-Roasted Fish, and discover the deeper purpose of building connections through food. Whether you’re an experienced entertainer or new to the kitchen, this event is your invitation to celebrate the art of gathering.

Shiza Shahid is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Our Place, a mission-driven brand reimagining kitchenware for the modern, global kitchen. Before Our Place, Shiza co-founded the Malala Fund with Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, serving as its founding CEO to champion every girl’s right to education. She also launched NOW Ventures, an angel fund investing in mission-driven startups with a focus on female founders. Shiza has been recognized as one of TIME’s “30 Under 30 People Changing the World,” Forbes’ “30 Under 30 – Social Entrepreneurs,” and INC Magazine’s “Top Female Founders.” Her thought leadership has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Fast Company, and more. She’s also a sought-after speaker, frequently appearing at major events like Aspen Ideas Festival, Fortune Most Powerful Women, and the World Economic Forum.

Buy the Book Dinner at Our Place: Recipes for Gathering Elliott Bay Book Company

Environmental advocate and HOANW founder, Gerry Pollet moderates a conversation with debut author Kay Smith-Blum and investigative journalist and author, Joshua Frank. They will explore the real-life inspirations behind Smith-Blum’s novel, Tangles, and its themes of environmental justice and human resilience against the stark backdrop of the state of the cleanup today, highlighted in Frank’s non-fiction volume, Atomic Days. Don’t miss this chance to dive into an emotionally charged story that daylights the fallout—both literal and figurative—of America’s nuclear ambitions and the stark realities of the nuclear waste troubles today.

Kay Smith-Blum enters the nuclear discussion with her novel Tangles, a gripping historical thriller that weaves together mystery, personal struggles, and a government conspiracy. Set against the backdrop of Hanford’s radioactive history, the story follows young scientist Luke Hinson as he uncovers the hidden dangers of nuclear contamination while grappling with his thyroid cancer diagnosis and a haunting connection to Mary Boone, his former neighbor who vanished under mysterious circumstances. The narrative alternates between the 1940s when Mary fought to expose government cover-ups, and the 1960s, as Luke pursues the truth amid bureaucratic resistance and personal turmoil.

Investigative journalist and award-winning author, Joshua Frank, has been knee-deep in all things nuclear for almost a decade. His most recent book, Atomic Days daylights the most toxic place in America: Hanford. Once home to the United States’s largest plutonium production site, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state is laced with 56 million gallons of radioactive waste. The threat of an explosive accident at Hanford is all too real—an event that could be more catastrophic than Chernobyl. Frank provides a much-needed refutation of the myths of nuclear technology—from weapons to electricity—and shines a spotlight on the ravages of Hanford and its threat to communities, workers, and the global environment.

Kay Smith-Blum, a former business owner and Seattle School Board President, is lover of the natural world. An avid gardener, Smith-Blum founded Environmental Endeavors, the first greenhouse program in Seattle Public Elementary Schools. A fan of mid-20th-century history, Smith-Blum has penned two other manuscripts set in Texas, but the recent upheaval over leaking waste tanks at the Hanford site compelled her to write her debut novel, TANGLES. Named the Western WA Woman Business Owner of 2013, Smith-Blum has lived in Seattle for four decades. She works out her writer’s block in her sons’ gardens and the nearest lap pool. For more info see https://www.kaysmith-blum.com

Joshua Frank is co-editor of CounterPunch and co-host of CounterPunch Radio. His latest book is Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America. He is currently finishing up a book on the downside of the green energy revolution, to be published by Haymarket Books in the summer of 2025.

State Representative Gerry Pollet (46th District: North Seattle) is the co-founder (1987) and Executive Director of Heart of America Northwest, the region’s largest public group advocating for the cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. In 1986, Gerry wrote and directed the statewide ballot referendum which stopped Hanford from becoming the nation’s High Level Nuclear Waste dump. He continues to direct Heart of America Northwest, working closely with affected Tribal Nations. Gerry led efforts to stop the US Department of Energy from dumping radioactive chemical wastes into unlined ditches at Hanford in 2004 and continues working to protect the Columbia River from leaking High Level Nuclear Waste tanks.

Buy the book

Tangles: A Cold War Love Story and Mystery Queen Anne Book Company

Cities in postcards and sweeping film shots are all dramatic skylines and big recognizable features, but to really love a city is to know it on the ground level. The spaces that build community, shape culture, and support neighborhoods may not always be the flashiest silhouettes, but they’re often the most iconic to the people who live amongst them. This is something Vanishing Seattle knows all too well, as they’ve built an expansive media movement around shining lights on displaced small businesses and disappearing local institutions across the city. In their most recent collaborative endeavor, Signs of Vanishing Seattle: Places Loved and Lost, Cynthia Brothers and the Vanishing Seattle team have compiled a handheld visual scrapbook of spaces that have influenced Seattle culture over the decades.

In 2016, Cynthia Brothers took to social media under the title Vanishing Seattle to document restaurants, businesses, venues, and other local institutions being pushed out and shut down by shifting priorities, urban development, and gentrification. Over the years, Vanishing Seattle has brought countless people together over small businesses still trying to make it in a rapidly changing city and the growing number of old haunts that have closed for good. Via their own online community as well as through media coverage, award-winning documentary shorts, and public presentations, the group has strived to show and tell the ways these establishments shape culture and why people should care about keeping their doors open.

Signs of Vanishing Seattle draws from a 12,000-square-foot interactive exhibit dedicated to community-sourced local legacy that Brothers curated in the historic RailSpur building in 2023. This book preserves the ephemeral exhibit into physical form – combining photos of the original signage from shuttered establishments that was on display with the personal notes visitors left under the faded font of their once-favorite cafe or the bar where they saw their first punk show. Signs of Vanishing Seattle presents a first-hand visual history of the way gathering spaces, local commerce, and physical objects connect communities and hold memories long after the neon goes dark.

Cynthia Brothers is a born and raised Seattleite, nonprofit consultant, and the founder of the Vanishing Seattle project with a background in advocacy for immigrant rights, arts & culture, and online organizing. She is a founding member of the anti-displacement organizing group Chinatown-International District (CID) Coalition and has twice been named one of “Seattle’s Most Influential” by Seattle Magazine. Brothers and Vanishing Seattle have been featured in publications including the Seattle Times, the New York Times, Real Change, and Crosscut as well as outlets like King 5, KEXP, and KUOW.

Tom Eykemans is a designer and artist preoccupied with books and the Pacific Northwest from his studio at the historic Woodland Theater in Ballard. Born in Seattle and an alumnus of the University of Washington, he spent a decade designing books at UW Press and is now design director at Marquand Books. Tom is co-founder of the nonprofit Seattle Art Book Fair, owner of the independent Tome Press, advisor to ARCADE Magazine, and instructor at the UW School of Art. He has received many design recognitions, given numerous talks, contributed to various art shows, and has been featured in The Stranger, at SxSW, and by the Washington State Book Awards. He also studies and teaches traditional martial arts at the sixty-year-old Seattle Kung Fu Club in the C-ID.

Buy the Book Signs of Vanishing Seattle: Places Loved and Lost Third Place Books

Explore the uncomfortable conversations you’ve been eager for in a space that encourages open and safe expression. Weaving together storytelling, poetry, music, and panel interviews with powerful voices, Unlearningoffers the opportunity to address issues like discrimination, social justice, violence, and many other pressing (and often taboo) topics while healing and learning together.

Join Lindsey T.H. Jackson, a visionary social activist, podcaster, author, and CEO at LTHJ Global, for this first edition of Unlearning focusing on Misogynoir.

Misogynoir is the intersection of misogyny and anti-blackness. There is a specific kind of bias against and oppression of Black women. Have you examined your biases in an intersectional context? At this event, attendees will explore what misogynoir is and why we are all (regardless of race or gender) susceptible to it while learning strategies to recognize and combat misogynoir internally and in our communities.

Lindsey T.H. Jackson is a North American-based leader serving humans around the world. As CEO at LTHJ Global, Lindsey empowers people, leaders, and organizations to pursue and achieve their full potential. For 15+ years Lindsey has been authentically leading empowering entities for personal and organizational wellness. Lindsey specializes in executive coaching using the Enneagram, group facilitation, DEI training and implementation, and team development.

Dr. Moya Bailey is a professor at Northwestern University, the founder of the Digital Apothecary, and co-founder of the Black Feminist Health Science Studies Collective. Her work focuses on marginalized groups’ use of digital media to promote social justice, and she is interested in how race, gender, and sexuality are represented in media and medicine. She is the digital alchemist for the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network and the Board President of Allied Media Projects, a Detroit-based movement media organization that supports an ever-growing network of activists and organizers. She is a co-author of #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice and is the author of Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance. She is the director and producer for the forthcoming documentary, Misogynoir in Medicine.

Amelia Ransom, SPHR is Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Smartsheet. She is responsible for driving strategy and initiatives that impact, solidify and improve company culture. She also leads Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for the organization. Amelia has over 30 years of experience building and executing strategy within Human Resources and Business Operations in a world-class and customer-centric organization. In addition to DEI, her areas of expertise include leadership development, early in career engagement and executive level mentorship and advisement. Before joining Smartsheet, Amelia was the Sr. Director of Engagement and Diversity at Avalara. She created the company’s first DEI strategy and was responsible for improving company engagement scores each year. Prior to that, she held multiple regional and company-wide leadership positions at Nordstrom including store management, Diversity and Inclusion and Learning and Development Amelia serves on the boards of Evergreen Goodwill of Northwest Washington, The YWCA Seattle, King and Snohomish, Leadership Tomorrow Seattle and The Institute for Sustainable Diversity and Inclusion.

Fleur Larsen, of Fleur Larsen Facilitation, began facilitating 20 years ago on challenge course programs with youth and adults. Her style is based on sharp analysis, flexible thinking, joy, and purposeful results. Her work is relationship-based with connection, collaboration, and community as integral elements to reach goals. Currently, she works with several corporate and nonprofit groups facilitating retreats, trainings and workshops in addition to one-on-one coaching. Fleur’s work as a facilitator is focused on equity, social justice, diversity and inclusion, team building, emotional intelligence, experiential education and community development.

Throughout her storied career, Taylor Swift has kept her name in the news with chart-topping hits, aesthetic reinvention, and nonstop global influence. Over the years and across the genres, die-hard fans and scholars alike have chronicled the cultural phenomenon that is Taylor Swift. And long story short, pop music expert and self-described Taylor Swift aficionado Rob Sheffield has been along for the whole ride. In his newest book, Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music, Sheffield dives fearlessly into the labyrinth of Taylor Swift’s extensive artistic legacy, personal lore, and professional highlights.

From her diaristic songwriting to her command of live audiences to her media presence speckled with both acclaim and criticism, Sheffield presents a case for why Taylor Swift’s impact on the pop music landscape just hits different. Heartbreak Is the National Anthem reaches deep into the many award-winning chapters of Taylor Swift’s career, from teenaged girl with a guitar to multi-hyphenate record breaker. In this bejeweled biography, Sheffield explores the depths of the golden grip Taylor Swift has on style, storytelling, and her legions of fans across the globe.

Rob Sheffield is a music journalist and best-selling author who has extensively covered music, TV, and pop culture over the years. He is a longtime contributor to Rolling Stone and has previously contributed to Blender and Spin. His previous publications include music biographies On Bowie and Dreaming the Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World, as well as the autobiographical memoir Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time.

Buy the Book Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music Third Place Books

Access to the outdoors is a basic human need—from the granite under our feet during adventures or simply a breath of fresh air. Yet, that access isn’t equal. In the U.S., more than one in three people lack access to a park within a 10-minute walk of home, disproportionately affecting Black and Brown communities. The outdoor and climbing industries face similar challenges. Lack of diversity in leadership, limited funding, and gate-kept information make the climb steeper for many. However, climbers of color have risen to become some of the sport’s most accomplished athletes, demonstrating the potential that comes with overcoming barriers. By expanding diversity in leadership, increasing funding, and fostering open access to knowledge, we can create a more inclusive and level playing field for all climbers.

Join Trust for Public Land for an inspiring conversation with prominent Asian American climbers Cody Kaemmerlen, Kathy Karlo, and Nina Williams. Moderated by Trust for Public Land’s Northwest Director, Mitsu Iwasaki, panelists will delve into their personal journeys, discuss obstacles to equitable access to the sport, and explore the benefits of creating a more inclusive environment for everyone.

Cody Kaemmerlen is a passionate rock climber and advocate for inclusivity in the climbing community as well as the outdoors. He is the Director of Advancement Operations for NOLS and serves on the Board of Directors for the American Alpine Club. Based in Wyoming, Cody leads efforts to create welcoming and equitable spaces in the outdoors by addressing barriers to diversity and inclusion. With personal experiences as a South Korean adoptee raised in rural Oregon, he brings a unique perspective to his work. Cody’s commitment to equity is also highlighted in the film “Dear Mother,” where he delves into his identity and the challenges faced by people of color in the climbing world.

Kathy Karlo is a storyteller at heart who has dedicated herself to reshaping the narrative around climbing and the outdoors. As the creator and host of the For the Love of Climbing podcast, she dives into the emotional and vulnerable sides of the sport, while also amplifying the voices of those often left out of the conversation. Kathy also leads as Executive Director of No Man’s Land Film Festival, an all-women adventure film festival that challenges traditional narratives by showcasing female-driven stories. Through her work, Kathy strives to create a more inclusive outdoor space where everyone can feel empowered to share their authentic experiences.

Nina Williams is a professional rock climber recognized for her groundbreaking achievements in highball bouldering and trad climbing. Based in Boulder, Colorado, Nina has pushed the limits of what is possible, becoming the first woman to climb iconic routes like “Too Big to Flail” and “Ambrosia” in Bishop, California. Her climbing career is marked by a deep mental discipline, and she is passionate about access and mentorship in the climbing world. Beyond her personal accomplishments, Nina is committed to fostering inclusivity in outdoor spaces, working with organizations like Flash Foxy, Color the Crag, and the Women’s Climbing Symposium to ensure everyone can connect with nature. As Board President of the American Alpine Club and a Certified Professional Coach, Nina’s work reflects her belief in the power of the outdoors to inspire and uplift all communities.

Mitsu Iwasaki, our moderator for the evening, is the Associate Vice President and Northwest Director of Trust for Public Land. Born in Japan, Iwasaki’s family immigrated to Seattle, WA soon after he turned six years old. Growing up in the relative comfort of the suburbs, his parents felt it would be best to ‘build his character’ by sending him to work on a commercial fishing boat throughout his teenage summers in Chignik, Alaska. Those experiences sparked an enduring love for wild places, inspiring a life-long journey of adventure and exploration of both natural landscapes and his capacity as a person. He has been climbing, skiing, and running across our beloved northwest mountains and around the world for over three decades.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Trust for Public Land.

Celebrate women who rock in a discussion with the hosts of NPR music’s series Turning the Tables as they share their new book How Women Made Music: A Revolutionary History from NPR Music.

Uncovering the role women have played in shaping the music industry, editor Alison Fensterstockbrings long-overdue recognition to female artists, challenging traditional best album lists and highlighting overlooked contributions in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. By bringing together material from over fifty years of NPR’s coverage, Fensterstock underscores the enduring impact of women in music.

Audience members will gain insight into Joan Baez’s reflections on nonviolence as a musical principle, discover Dolly Parton’s favorite song and the story behind it, and learn about Nina Simone’s use of her voice as a tool against racism. The book also captures Odetta’s transition from classical music to folk as a way to express her anger over Jim Crow laws and Taylor Swift’s early uncertainties about her career. Music enthusiasts, songwriters, feminist historians, and anyone intrigued by the creative process are invited for a compelling evening of composition conversation at Town Hall.

Alison Fensterstock is a New Orleans-based writer and editor. A contributor to NPR Music since 2016, she’s written and edited for Turning the Tables and appeared on NPR programs including All Things Considered, World Café and Word of Mouth; her writing about popular music and culture has appeared in Rolling Stone, the NewYork Times, the Oxford American and MOJO, among others.

Emily Fox hosts and produces KEXP’s music interview show, Sound & Vision. Music and storytelling are her passions. Prior to working at KEXP, Emily was a host, producer, and reporter on Michigan Radio, WKAR and Seattle’s KUOW.

Rachel Flotard is the singer, songwriter and guitarist of the Seattle rock band Visqueen and mother of three. She manages artists at Red Light Management and previously served as Director of Operations at Fretboard Journal. Flotard is a creative producer and founded her own independent record label, Local 638 Records, inspired by her dad’s New York City Steamfitter’s Union. She continues to tour, record and collaborate with folks she loves.

Buy the Book How Women Made Music: A Revolutionary History from NPR Music The Elliott Bay Book Company

Combining digital technology with everyday salvaged materials, sculptor and composer Trimpin has invented ways of playing everything from giant marimbas to a 60-foot stack of guitars using MIDI commands. Taking inspiration equally from junkyards, museums, and concert halls, Trimpin creates eccentric and interactive instruments from found materials, including saw blades, toy monkeys, duck calls, beer bottles, Bunsen burners, slide projectors, turkey basters, and pottery wheels. Trimpin’s computer-driven musical contraptions defy the constraints of traditional instruments.

In conversation with Gage’s Gary Faigin, Trimpin will discuss specific projects from his career and share short videos that highlight his unique approach and philosophy.

Trimpin is a German born kinetic sculptor, sound artist, and musician currently living in Seattle and Tieton, Washington.

Trimpin’s work integrates sculpture and sound across a variety of media including fixed installation and live music, theater, and dance performance. Beginning in July 2005, several Washington museums engaged in a year-long survey of his work. A feature documentary film about the artist/inventor/composer’s life and work, TRIMPIN: The Sound of Invention, was produced and directed by Peter Esmonde.

Painter, critic, and author Gary Faigin is cofounder and Artistic Director of Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, as well as the school’s Still Life Atelier instructor. He has taught in art schools across the country including the National Academy of Design and the Parsons School of Design.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Gage Academy of Art.

When we think about consuming art, whether reading a book, visiting a museum, or maybe watching an outdoor performance act, we rarely consider the administrative efforts that go into making art possible. Creative administration is an evolving field that considers the innovation and organizational management necessary to create and present art. Artists find themselves having to balance their own vision, with the practicalities of physical production, collaboration, and so many other factors. Artists on Creative Administration: A Workbook from the National Center for Choreography, is a collection curated by Tonya Lockyer, containing firsthand accounts of creative administration in action.

Lockyer is focused on telling stories that can help others progress, making a point to state, “This book is for anyone looking for paths forward; for anyone who believes we are in an exceptional moment of change—change is happening and needs to happen.” Please join us at Town Hall for an expansive conversation on the arts, leadership, and the craft of creative administration.

Tonya Lockyer is an award-winning movement artist, choreographer, writer, and cultural curator. Lockyer was the executive and artistic director of Velocity Dance Center in Seattle from 2011 to 2018. Currently, she is also an adjunct professor in Arts Leadership at Seattle University. Her new anthology, Artists on Creative Administration, features the voices of thirty artists and arts workers, sharing their experiences as they navigate issues of equity, design, leadership, collaboration, family, ethics, and care.

Jackson Cooper is the Executive Director of the American Genre Film Archive, the world’s largest nonprofit archive and distributor dedicated to preserving, collecting, and presenting the greatest genre films of all time. In 2023, he was named one of the Top 30 Arts Professionals by Musical America magazine and was appointed by Governor jay Inslee to the Washington State Arts Commission in 2024. He serves on the faculties of both Seattle University and UNC-Greensboro where he teaches Fundraising and philanthropy. His first book entitled A Kids Book About Kindness was published in 2023 and his forthcoming book on Sustainable Fundraising will be published by Columbia Business School Publishing in 2026. He holds an MFA in Arts Leadership at Seattle University and a BA in Theatre/Business from UNCG which honored him with the university’s Young Alumni Award this past October 2024.

Buy the Book Artists on Creative Administration: A Workbook from the National Center for Choreography Elliott Bay Book Company

Join Modernist Cuisine founder and author Nathan Myhrvold to explore one of the world’s most beloved (and occasionally controversial) foods: bread. In this conversation that’s sure to be like naan other, Myhrvold will discuss his new book, Modernist Bread at Home, and why now is the perfect time to rise to the occasion and start making bread in your own kitchen. Myhrvold will draw on the Modernist Cuisine team’s extensive research to share some of his favorite insights, tips, and tricks from the book, all the info you knead to make better bread at home.

Nathan Myhrvold is founder of Modernist Cuisine and lead author of Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, Modernist Cuisine at Home, The Photography of Modernist Cuisine, Modernist Bread and the forthcoming Modernist Pizza. He has had a passion for science, cooking, and photography since he was a boy.

Nathan enrolled in college at the age of 14 and went on to earn a doctorate in theoretical and mathematical physics as well as a master’s degree in economics from Princeton University. He holds an additional master’s degree in geophysics and space physics and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He did postdoctoral work with Stephen Hawking at Cambridge University researching cosmology, quantum field theory in curved space-time, and quantum theories of gravitation before starting a software company that would be acquired by Microsoft.

Bethany Jean Clement is a food critic for the Seattle Times. Her writing has also appeared in multiple Best Food Writing anthologies, Food & Wine, The Stranger, Edible Seattle, Gourmet, and many other publications, as well as on the windows of the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. She is the former food writer and managing editor of The Stranger, and a former staff writer and managing editor for Seattle Weekly.

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The city of Rome is a legacy locale in countless areas of history and culture. For teenage refugee André Aciman, Rome was also a source of life-changing challenges, charms, and connections that would have a place in his heart for years to come. In his upcoming book Roman Year: A Memoir, Aciman recounts the ways his family adapted to the harsh realities of their transition and how he himself fell in love with the poetry and potential of a new home.

Roman Year transports readers back to a tumultuous chapter of Aciman’s youth as his Jewish family fled an era of growing political tension and waves of expulsions occurring in 1950’s Egypt. Leaving their notions of stability, economic status, and community behind in Alexandria, Aciman ushered his younger brother and their deaf mother into the unfamiliar expanses of Rome. Navigating newfound poverty, acting as interpreter through language barriers, and functioning as liaison amidst family conflicts led young Aciman towards escapism as he buried himself in books. It is here, bolstered by so many words and stories, that he regained his footing and began to truly explore his new city and himself.

Roman Year takes the form of a vivid multi-sensory snapshot, going beyond simple time and place in immersing readers in the author’s vantage point. Aciman revisits memories ranging from richly depicted sights, smells, and tastes to poignant personal reflections to uncompromising critical observations. This passionate retelling captures the formative elements of Roman life that shaped the perspective Aciman would carry with him into future chapters and well past those city limits. Roman Year unwaveringly explores a complicated coming of age story and the concept of home in a lush, layered landscape.

André Aciman is a professor, essayist, and author. He is currently a distinguished professor of comparative literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His previous publications include the novels Call Me By Your Name, Harvard Square, and Eight White Nights, the memoir Out Of Egypt, and the essay collection False Papers: Essays on Exile and Memory.

Marcie Sillman is an award-winning journalist based in Seattle. A former longtime reporter at KUOW radio, Marcie’s cultural features have appeared on NPR programs including Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition, as well as in national and international publications including Dance magazine. She co-hosted the podcast ‘Double Exposure’ and continues to write for the Seattle Times. She is the recipient of the 2019 Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award.

Buy the Book Roman Year: A Memoir The Elliott Bay Book Company

Join us for an exciting event with Tui T. Sutherland, the bestselling author behind the #1 New York Times and USA Today series Wings of Fire. Sutherland discusses the limited edition release of The Dragonet Prophecy, the first book in the series, offering insights into the world of dragons and the captivating characters that have enchanted readers around the globe. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from the author herself and dive into the adventure that has sparked imaginations everywhere.

Tui T. Sutherland is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Wings of Fire series, the Menagerie trilogy, and the Pet Trouble series, as well as a contributing author to the bestselling Spirit Animals and Seekers series (as part of the Erin Hunter team). In 2009, she was a two-day champion on Jeopardy! She lives in Massachusetts with her wonderful husband, two awesome sons, and two very patient dogs.

Ben Clanton is the New York Times–bestselling author and illustrator of the Narwhal and Jelly series whose picture books include Mo’s Mustache; Vote for Me!; Rot, the Cutest in the World!; Ploof (with Andy Chou Musser) and the Tater Tales series. He lives with his wife and kids in Seattle, Washington.

Buy the Book The Dragonet Prophecy: Limited Edition (Wings of Fire Book One) Brick & Mortar Books

Can you see the shape of your soul in the everchanging clouds? Your personal salvation in the giant expanse of sky?

For the ensemble cast of characters that make up the prairie community at the heart of The Mighty Red, existential questions are constantly close to the surface. In her newest novel, author Louise Erdrich immerses readers in the Red River Valley of the North and the complicated lives of its inhabitants. Argus, North Dakota is a town framed by the 2008 economic crisis, the consequences of climate change, and the dynamics of small-town drama. Thrown into motion by a chaotic teen love triangle and fretting about the future, Erdrich’s characters navigate impulsive choices, bitter secrets, and deeply rooted ties to their land and to each other.

The Red River Valley is home to dark realities and glimmering hopes, twisting together like winding late-night drives along dimly lit roads. As resources dwindle and viewpoints shift, love and life lurch forward in splendor, catastrophe, and absurdity. Bonds in the community are born and bolstered, disturbed and questioned, broken and mended. Laced with tender humor and humanity in the midst of devastating environmental circumstances, The Mighty Red paints a layered landscape of ordinary people surviving fraught times.

Louise Erdrich is an award-winning Native American author and poet whose writing spans novels, short stories, non-fiction, and children’s books. Her previously published works include The Plague of Doves, The Round House, and The Night Watchman. She is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the owner of the Native-focused independent teaching bookstore Birchbark Books in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Karen Russell is the author of five books of fiction, including The New York Times bestsellers Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove. She is a MacArthur Fellow and a Guggenheim Fellow, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the recipient of two National Magazine Awards for Fiction, the New York Public Library’s Young Lions Award, the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the 2023 Bottari Lattes Grinzane prize, and the 2024 Mary McCarthy Prize, among other honors. With composer Ellis Ludwig-Leone and choreographer and director Troy Schumacher, she cocreated The Night Falls, listed as one of The New York Times’s Best Dance Performances of 2023. She has taught literature and creative writing as a visiting professor at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, the University of California–Irvine, Williams College, Columbia University, and Bryn Mawr College, and was the Endowed Chair of Texas State University’s MFA program. She serves on the board of Street Books. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, she now lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, son, and daughter.

Buy the Book The Mighty Red: A Novel The Elliott Bay Book Company

What connects Seattle with Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, and Kenny G? How about the Melvins, Sleater-Kinney, and Foo Fighters? And Sir Mix-a-Lot, Macklemore, and Travis Thompson? If you don’t know, KEXP DJ and musician Eva Walker and music writer Jake Uitti can tell you.

Walker and Uitti have created a timeline of Seattle’s music evolution through the lens of 101 songs spanning 80 years, the culmination of which, they say, creates a distinct “Seattle sound.” In their book, The Sound of Seattle, they highlight notable music and musicians who have ties with the Emerald city. It all begins in 1942 when Washington-born Bing Crosby records what will become the world’s best selling single of all time, “White Christmas.” From there, Walker and Uitti explore multiple genres including jazz, rock, punk, riot grrrl, pop, rap, grunge, indie, emo, and more. This playlist, they believe, helped create Seattle’s culture.

With a foreword by Pearl Jam lead guitarist Mike McCready, The Sound of Seattle is organized by decade and includes interviews with Seattle legends like Heart’s Nancy Wilson, as well as sidebars showcasing musical landmarks throughout the city. Seattle has many connections to music, and Walker and Uitti would argue that the city is shaped by them, and in turn, shape the people living in it.

Eva Walker plays in the rock ‘n’ roll band The Black Tones and is a DJ at KEXP. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, she comes from a southern family of educators and music lovers. Her Louisiana-bred mother and grandparents have greatly influenced her music, work ethic, and manners. Eva believes in discovering, listening to, and experiencing music as much as possible. She has a deep love for Seattle music — from Jimi Hendrix to Jimmy James — and is an avid fan of classics, rediscoveries, and rare recordings.

Jake Uitti’s work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The Guardian, Interview, The Nation, The Athleticand many more publications. When not immersed mid-interview, Jake can be found in search of the city’s best fried chicken or cheese pizza slice. He is the co-author of memoirs with NBA stars Muggsy Bogues, Earl Cureton and Michael Ray Richardson, and co-author of The Sound of Seattle: 101 Songs that Shaped a City with his radio DJ wife. The son of Ivy League professors, Jake grew up amidst tomes of French literature, but soulful meals, thoughtful music, thrilling sports, and compelling conversations are his true loves.

Molly Sides is the dynamic frontwoman for the fiery all-female rock band Thunderpussy. A dancer, teacher, singer, songwriter and much more, she is incandescent.

Jimmy James is one of the world’s best guitar players. With a distinctive sound all his own, James has topped Billboard charts and is the consummate band leader in groups like The True Loves.

Evan Flory-Barnes is a bassist and composer who has been creating and performing music since high school. He has worked with a wide range of artists and bands across various genres, performing across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Africa.

Marco Collins has discovered and helped break more bands than some radio stations. His name is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and he’s a legend in his own time.

Buy the Book The Sound of Seattle: 101 Songs that Shaped a City Third Place Books

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Edward Burns is known for his work as an actor and filmmaker, and now he’s debuting his novel-writing skills in A Kid from Marlboro Road. Set in the 1970s, his novel follows an Irish-American family living on Long Island––elements inspired by Burns’s own childhood. This coming-of-age tale explores the impacts of family history, the growing independence in early adolescence, death and grief, and dynamic family relationships.

Burns tells the story through the eyes of a 13-year-old boy, Kneeney, who opens the tale at the wake of his beloved grandfather, Pop. The wake’s overflowing crowd of characters include sandhogs in their muddy work boots, elderly Irish women in black dresses, and cops in uniform.

Kneeney, an aspiring writer, weaves together stories about these characters and his immediate family: his older brother Tommy has no patience for rules and domesticities, and his father is emotionally elsewhere. His mother struggles with her own sadness, which threatens to envelop both her and Kneeney. Throughout Burns’s novel, Kneeney learns more about his family history while also experiencing more losses and a deepening understanding of the world around him.

Burns brings to life stories of characters based on his own childhood, portrayals of Irish-Americans who have inspired some of his films, and now, on the page.

Born in Woodside, Queens and raised on Long Island, Edward Burns has made fourteen feature films as writer-director-actor and starred in many films, including Saving Private Ryan. Burns’ first film, The Brothers McMullen, premiered in competition at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Grand Jury prize. The film also won “Best First Feature” at the 1996 Independent Spirit Awards. In 2015, he published Independent Ed, an inside look at his two decades as a pioneer in independent filmmaking. A Kid from Marlboro Road is his first novel, based on his childhood memories and the Irish American communities of the Bronx and Long Island.

Katy Sewall is the host and creator of “The Bittersweet Life” podcast. She’s a writer, podcast consultant, and a Public Radio professional frequently heard on 94.9 KUOW. She’s also the former Program Director at Town Hall.

Buy the Book A Kid from Marlboro Road: A Novel The Elliott Bay Book Company

As the daughter of immigrants, Sahaj Kaur Kohli grew up understanding what it means to straddle multiple cultures at once. She wrestled with questions like what it meant to forge one’s path, establishing personal values while embracing one’s origins; if prioritizing mental health meant a rejection of culture; how to set boundaries and engage in self-care when family and community are so important. Even after becoming a therapist herself, she saw those same gaps in the mental health world, leading her to wonder, like so many children of immigrants: what about us? Kohli’s latest book, But What Will People Say? Navigating Mental Health, Identity, Love, and Family Between Cultures, weaves together personal narratives with research.

She offers advice and tools for everything from navigating generational trauma, guilt, and boundaries, to breaking down stigmas around therapy and celebrating cultural duality. While mental health is arguably less stigmatized than before, models can often be individualistic and Eurocentric. Kohli aims to both democratize and decolonize the way we think about mental health and self-help, shifting the paradigm, incorporating community building, and speaking to those who are left out of the dominant narratives.

Sahaj Kaur Kohli, MaEd, LGPC, is the founder of Brown Girl Therapy (@BrownGirlTherapy), the first and largest mental health and wellness community organization for adult children of immigrants; a licensed therapist; and a columnist for the Washington Post’s advice column Ask Sahaj. Sahaj’s words and work have been featured in Today, Good Morning America, CNN, TED, The New York Times, HuffPost, and more. Sahaj also serves as a consultant, educator, and international speaker. She has sat on panels and delivered workshops and keynotes for nonprofits, higher education institutions, and the White House. This is her first book.

Ruchika T. Malhotra is the best-selling author of Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work. Ruchika is also the founder of Candour, an inclusion strategy practice. A former international business journalist, Ruchika is a regular contributor to The New York Times and Harvard Business Review and a recognized media expert on inclusive leadership and workplace culture. She is working on her next book, Uncompete: Dismantling a Competition Mindset to Unlock Liberation, Opportunity, and Peace.

Buy the Book But What Will People Say?: Navigating Mental Health, Identity, Love, and Family Between Cultures The Elliott Bay Book Company

Celebrate Native art and culture with Eighth Generation’s Inspired Natives Artists.

Learn why supporting Native-designed products and art is crucial, and how your support fosters Native prosperity while combating cultural appropriation.

Panelists: Founder of OXDX, Jared Yazzie (Navajo/Diné) is a self-taught graphic artist, entrepreneur, and designer known for his bold, graphic style that incorporates vibrant Diné motifs with messages of Native empowerment. Through his bold art and products, both with Eighth Generation and through his own brand OXDX, Jared works to increase awareness of Indigenous issues while simultaneously showcasing the beauty of Native culture.

Sarah Agaton Howes is an Anishinaabe-Ojibwe artist, teacher, and community organizer from Fond du Lac Reservation in Minnesota. Widely known for her handmade regalia and moccasins featuring Ojibwe floral designs, Sarah has grown from selling handmade earrings to becoming one of Eighth Generation’s best-selling artists in addition to having her own line of apparel, accessories, and more through her nationally-recognized brand, Heart Berry.

Michelle Lowden is the proud founder and owner of Milo Creations, which has grown in her years as an artist with Eighth Generation from hand-painted Pueblo jewelry to diving into the world of graphic art. Additionally, she now creates mental health content for social media, specifically designed to support the Indigenous community on their healing journey. An Inspired Natives® Collaborator since 2014, she is the first arts entrepreneur to participate Eighth Generation’s Inspired Natives® Project.

Nationally-recognized Plains artist John Isaiah Pepion (Piikani/Blackfeet) is an artist and educator living and working in Montana. His instantly-recognizable blend of traditional ledger art and contemporary motifs explores issues of modernity, symbols of Indigeneity, and cultural stories. John’s most recent accolades include several gallery shows as well as being the poster artist for Ken Burns’ PBS documentary, “The American Buffalo”.

Louie Gong (Nooksack) (M.Ed.), founder of Eighth Generation, is a highly influential Coast Salish artist, activist, and social entrepreneur with a knack for bringing people together. In 2008, he founded the iconic lifestyle brand Eighth Generation — the first Native-owned company to produce wool blankets — triggering a movement that has diverted millions of dollars from non-Native corporations to a new generation of Native-owned businesses and artists. By successfully disrupting a colonial system and then selling Eighth Generation to the Snoqualmie Tribe, the creative force completed the blueprint for how to merge values and business — something he refers to as the “Native American Dream.”

The Inspired Natives® Project, launched by Louie Gong in May 2014, is both a business initiative and an educational initiative. By collaborating with select arts entrepreneurs to manufacture products under the Eighth Generation brand, we hope to expand the Eighth Generation brand’s regional appeal while simultaneously increasing the arts entrepreneurs’ capacity and educating the public about the tangible costs of cultural appropriation.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Eighth Generation.

Imagine a world in which Gen Xers, millennials, and boomers interact with young people in ways that leave them feeling inspired, enthusiastic, and ready to contribute—rather than disengaged, outraged, or overwhelmed. That world may be closer than you think. In his new book, 10-to-25: The Science of Motivating Young People, psychologist David Yeager explains how to stop fearing young people’s brains and how to truly connect with them.

Neuroscientists have discovered that around age ten, puberty spurs the brain to crave socially rewarding experiences, such as pride, admiration, and respect, and to become highly averse to social pain, such as humiliation or shame. As a result, young people subtly read between the lines of everything we say, trying to interpret the hidden implications of our words to find out if we are disrespecting or honoring them. 10 to 25 helps adults develop an ear for the difference between the right and wrong way to respect young people and avoid frustrating patterns of miscommunication and conflict.

An essential event for anyone who interacts with young people, Yeagerseeks to offer long-term strategies to help nurture well-adjusted, independent, accomplished young people who contribute to society in positive ways—all while making our own lives easier.

David Yeager, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and the cofounder of the Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute. He is best known for his research conducted with Carol Dweck, Angela Duckworth, and Greg Walton on short but powerful interventions that influence adolescent behaviors such as motivation, engagement, healthy eating, bullying, stress, mental health, and more. He has consulted for Google, Microsoft, Disney, and the World Bank, as well as for the White House and the governments in California, Texas, and Norway. His research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and more. Clarivate Web of Science ranks Yeager as one of the top 0.1% most-influential psychologists in the world over the past decade.

Tricia Raikes is a philanthropist, advocate, and executive who works to advance racial justice and equity in our country. Tricia is the co-founder of the Raikes Foundation with her husband, Jeff. Together, they focus on transforming youth-serving systems to support healthy life outcomes and increased agency for young people. A longtime advocate for research universities, Tricia serves on the advisory boards for Stanford’s Graduate School of Education and the Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at the University of Nebraska. Tricia was recognized as a White House Champion of Change by President Obama for her work on youth homelessness.

Buy the Book 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People: A Groundbreaking Approach to Leading the Next Generation—And Making Your Own Life Easier Third Place Books

What is Indian food in America? The country’s identity as a melting pot makes for a diverse tapestry of flavors, but that doesn’t always equate to easily being able to identify one’s place in the culinary landscape.

In her debut cookbook Amrikan: 125 Recipes From the Indian Diaspora, acclaimed Food & Wine writer and editor Khushbu Shah presents instructions for preparing dinners, drinks, and desserts as varied as Saag Paneer Lasagna, Pani Puri Mojitos, and Masala Chai Basque Cheesecake. But Shah goes beyond instructions and ingredients, writing about the larger story of Indian food. In a 2019 interview with the New York Times, Shah said, “Food is undeniably intersectional. It’s impossible — it’s irresponsible — to deny it.” Amrikan is replete with images and essays that illuminate this fusion of cuisine and culture, showcasing the links between food and identity.

Khushbu Shah is a food writer and journalist who resides in Los Angeles, California. She was most recently the restaurant editor at Food & Wine magazine, where she crisscrossed the United States several times over on the hunt for the country’s best new chefs. She is the youngest person and the first person of color to ever hold that title. You can also find her work in the New York Times, Washington Post, GQ, Eater, and more. Additionally, her writing has been featured in the Best American Food Writing anthologies, and she has made appearances on television shows like Ugly Delicious. Khushbu grew up in Michigan, where her immigrant parents raised her with a deep appreciation for spices and good fruit. This is her debut cookbook.

J. Kenji López-Alt is a chef, parent, and New York Times best-selling author of The Food Lab, The Wok and Every Night Is Pizza Night. He is a wildly popular New York Times food columnist; cohost of The Recipe podcast with Deb Perelman; and host of Kenji’s Cooking Show, which has more than a million subscribers on YouTube. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Buy the Companion Book Amrikan: 125 Recipes From the Indian Diaspora Book Larder

Jesmyn Ward, the two-time National Book Award winner, has returned with a new novel about an enslaved girl in the years before the Civil War. Let Us Descend, an Oprah’s Book Club pick, describes a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation.

In Let Us Descend (the title inspired by a line in Dante’s Inferno) the protagonist Annis is sold by her father, a white slaveowner. In the face of unspeakable circumstances on her way south, Annis seeks comfort from memories of her mother and stories of her African warrior grandmother. She soon opens herself to a world beyond this world, one teeming with spirits: of earth and water, of myth and history; spirits who nurture and give, and those who manipulate and take. The tale explores themes of family separation, belief, and the harsh history of chattel slavery in antebellum America. While Annis leads readers through the descent, Ward’s work aims to be a story of rebirth and reclamation.

Jesmyn Ward received her MFA from the University of Michigan and is currently a professor of creative writing at Tulane University. She is the author of the novels Where the Line Bleeds and Salvage the Bones, which won the 2011 National Book Award, and Sing, Unburied, Sing, which won the 2017 National Book Award. She is also the editor of the anthology The Fire This Time and the author of the memoir Men We Reaped, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Ijeoma Oluo is a writer, speaker, and internet yeller. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller So You Want to Talk About Race and, most recently, Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America. Her work has been featured in the Guardian, the New York Times, and the Washington Post, among many other publications. She was named to the 2021 Time 100 Next list and has twice been named to the Root 100. She received the 2018 Feminist Humanist Award and the 2020 Harvard Humanist of the Year Award from the American Humanist Association. She lives in Seattle, Washington.

Buy the Book Let Us Descend: A Novel The Elliott Bay Book Company

Dynamic dishes, rich backgrounds, and a legacy of flavor are all on the menu in Marisel Salazar’s debut cookbook Latin-ish: More Than 100 Recipes Celebrating American Latino Cuisines. Building on her heritage with years of research and travel, Salazar takes fellow cooks and food enthusiasts on a flavor-packed journey through the Latine diaspora. This collection of recipes draws from a wide range of community-driven cooking and immigrant experience, translated into the kitchens of today. Latin-ish is a unique deep dive into regional Latine food influences across the geography of the United States – from Floribbean to Tex-Mex, from Alta California to NYC Latine, and more.

Latin-ish combines lively origin stories with step-by-step directions and vibrant photography to guide readers in putting together playful plates of food and history. Thoughtfully organized and contextualized, Salazar aims to provide a little something for every craving – day or night. Dig into indulgent breakfasts like Guava Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls, boost your snack game by crunching into a Mango Chamoy Salad or Yuca Fries with Cilantro Lime Aioli, warm your dinner guests up with Arkansas Tamales or Cuban Pizza, and treat yourself at the end of a long day with a slice of Plantain Upside-Down Cake or a Oaxaca Old-Fashioned. The recipes of Latin-ish raise a glass to a diverse spread of Latine roots while leaving ample room to grow in an ever-evolving corner of the modern American culinary landscape.

Marisel Salazar is a writer, cook, recipe developer, and host with a focus on cultural context in the food world. She is the creator of the column Eating Off Duty for the Michelin Guide. Her writing, recipes, and on-camera work has been featured on platforms such as Zagat, Infatuation, Food & Wine, NYT Cooking, The Spruce Eats, and Thrillist. She is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Newswomen’s Press Club of New York, and the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Agueda Pacheco Flores is a journalist in Seattle with a focus on Latinx culture and Mexican American identity. She was previously an arts and culture writer at Crosscut where she enjoyed writing about Chicano galleries, Cumbia in the Pacific Northwest as well as shining a light on emerging Latinx artists. Before Crosscut, she worked for The Seattle Times, where she was a general assignment reporter covering breaking news, crime, and federal courts. Originally from Queretaro, Mexico, Pacheco Flores is inspired by her own bicultural upbringing as an undocumented immigrant and proud Washingtonian. Her work has appeared in The Seattle Globalist, Seattle Weekly, The Daily, and the South Seattle Emerald.

Buy the Book Latin-Ish: More Than 100 Recipes Celebrating American Latino Cuisines Book Larder

Have you ever thought about music not just as entertaining, but as something healing? Research suggests that the benefits of music can go beyond just jamming to catchy tunes. Neuroscientist and New York Times best-selling author of This Is Your Brain on Music Daniel J. Levitin explores this idea in his new book, I Heard There was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine.

Levitin’s recent release discusses music as one of humanity’s oldest medicines and explores the deep connections between music and healing that have been found across the globe. I Heard There Was a Secret Chord explores the curative powers of music, showing us how and why it can be one of the most potent therapies today. He gathers and synthesizes the results of numerous studies on music and the brain, demonstrating how music can contribute to the treatment of a host of ailments, from neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s to cognitive injury, depression, and pain.

Levitin incorporates interviews with multiple musicians, from Sting to Kent Nagano to Mari Kodama. And Levitin himself is not only an acclaimed scientist but an award-winning musician and composer in his own right, living the very nexus he explores in his work. I Heard There Was a Secret Chord makes an argument for the critical role music has played in human biology, illuminating the neuroscience of music and its profound benefits for people of all ages who engage with it.

Daniel J. Levitin is a neuroscientist, musician, and the author of four New York Times best-selling books, including This Is Your Brain on Music. He is dean emeritus at Minerva University, professor emeritus at McGill University, and visiting professor at UCLA. A saxophonist, guitarist, bass player, and vocalist, he has worked as a producer and recording consultant.

Brian Nova is considered one of the top Jazz Guitarists/Vocalists in the nation, in addition to being Director of Jazz Studies at Seattle University from 1990-1996. Nova has 7 recordings of his own as well as appearing on 70+ artist’s recordings. His latest CD release, The Brian Nova Collective, features Brian’s Trio with many of his favorite artists like Shelly Berg, Laurence Hobgood, Tom Scott, Larry Dunlap and others.

Marc McKennon is a talented multi-instrumentalist and scientist from Seattle. Starting out on the piano, he branched out to stringed instruments, eventually falling in love with the dobro. Although it is traditionally a bluegrass instrument, Marc fearlessly takes his dobro into the realms of jazz, rock, folk, country, and pretty much anywhere else he can. When he isn’t playing music, he is engaged in cancer and neurologic drug research and development as a PhD organic chemist.

Buy the Book I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine The Elliott Bay Book Company

In early 2021, popular artist Anna Marie Tendler checked herself into a psychiatric hospital following a year of crippling anxiety, depression, and self-harm. Over two weeks, she underwent myriad psychological tests, participated in numerous therapy sessions, connected with fellow patients, and experienced profound breakthroughs, such as when a doctor noted, “There is a you inside that feels invisible to those looking at you from the outside.” In her new book, Men Have Called Her Crazy, Tendler recounts her hospital experience as well as pivotal moments in her life that preceded and followed.

As the title suggests, many of these moments are impacted by men: unrequited love in high school; the twenty-eight-year-old she lost her virginity to when she was sixteen; the frustrations and absurdities of dating in her mid-thirties; and her decision to freeze her eggs as all her friends were starting families. This literary self-portrait examines the unreasonable expectations and pressures women face in the 21st century. Yet as overwhelming and despairing as that can feel, Tendler ultimately offers a message of hope. Early in her stay in the hospital, she says, “My wish for myself is that one day I’ll reach a place where I can face hardship without trying to destroy myself.” By the end of the book, she fulfills that wish.

Anna Marie Tendler is an artist and writer. She holds a master’s degree in costume studies from New York University. She lives in Connecticut with her three cats, Chimney, Moon, and Butter.

Jen Soriano is a Filipinx writer and movement builder who has long worked at the intersection of grassroots organizing, narrative strategy, and art-driven social change. Jen is the author of Nervous: Essays on Heritage and Healing and the chapbook Making the Tongue Dry, as well as the co-editor of Closer to Liberation: A Pina/xy Activist Anthology.

Buy the Book Men Have Called Her Crazy: A Memoir The Elliott Bay Book Company

Here in Washington State, we are surrounded by a vast landscape of natural resources. When you are enjoying the outdoors, do you ever wonder about the state of these resources or the role that we play in their preservation?

Big River: Resilience and Renewal in the Columbia Basin is a new book-in-progress and visual storytelling campaign exploring the Columbia River system and its expansive watershed, from sea to source. The project seeks to explore the river’s complexities and illuminate its beauty geologically, ecologically, and culturally. It also explores the current challenges and the people and communities seeking solutions and sustainability.

The book includes the work of award-winning wildlife and outdoor photographer David Moskowitz, landscape and history author Eileen Delehanty Pearkes, former Seattle Civic Poet and Washington Poet Laureate Claudia Castro Luna, and contributions from members of the various communities and cultures whose lives are touched by this river, such as Indigenous tribes across the watershed who have called for new management strategies to establish better outcomes now and secure the river for future generations.

The future is uncertain, but Big River hopes to serve as both an educational and inspirational resource to support the ongoing efforts of conservation organizations to push for sound management of this important body of water.

This event is part of a series of international book events celebrating the book launch of Big River, and is cohosted by Save Our Wild Salmon, a diverse, nationwide coalition working together to restore wild salmon and steelhead to the rivers, streams, and marine waters of the Pacific Northwest. Big River explores the Columbia River watershed as one living, interdependent entity that embraces a broad cultural and ecological perspective

Photographer, author, wildlife biologist, and tracker David Moskowitz is the author of Caribou Rainforest, Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest, and Wolves in the Land of Salmon, and coauthor of Peterson’s Field Guide to North American Bird Nests. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Sierra, High Country News, and Audubon Magazine, as well as by organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation, Endangered Species Coalition, and Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Eileen Delehanty Pearkes explores landscape, history, and the human imagination through writing, maps, and visual notebooks, focusing on Indigenous culture and the power of water. She has researched the international Columbia River basin for more than two decades. Pearkes is the author of The Geography of Memory, A River Captured: The Columbia River and Catastrophic Change, and The Heart of a River.

Claudia Castro Luna served as Washington State Poet Laureate for several years. She is the author of Cipota Under the Moon, One River, A Thousand Voices, and There’s a Revolution Outside, My Love, among others. Born in El Salvador, Castro Luna arrived in the US in 1981. Living in English and Spanish, she teaches and writes in Seattle.

Cindy Marchand is a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes (Sinixt/Lakes Band). She serves as secretary of the executive committee, chair of the fisheries committee and vice-chair of the natural resources committee. She works extensively on environmental issues in the United States and Canada, serves as the Eastern Representative of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Regional Tribal Operations Committee and Commissioner for the Upper Columbia United Tribes.

Buy the Book Big River: Resilience and Renewal in the Columbia Basin The Elliott Bay Book Company

What does it mean to bear witness to a city in flux, where the echoes of inequality, gentrification, and community resistance reverberate through its streets? Author and activist Reagan Jackson’s collection of essays, Still True, poses this question and chronicles her journey into the world of journalism. Equal parts personal testament, structural interrogation, and social criticism, Jackson offers a profound reflection on the evolving landscape of Seattle.

By illuminating the struggles and triumphs of marginalized communities, Jackson reinforces our collective resolve in the face of adversity. Jackson offers a glimpse into the interconnectedness of human experiences and the enduring quest for social justice.

Join us for a discussion about Jackson’s book and the ever-changing landscape of our city.

Reagan Jackson believes in creating communities of belonging and the efficacy of critical thinking followed by action. She is a multi-genre writer (poet, novelist, award-winning journalist, children’s book author), an artist, activist, and international educator with an abiding love of justice, spirituality, and traveling to new places. Reagan is passionate about providing young people with opportunities and support. To that end, she is the co-executive Director of Young Women Empowered and has taken over two hundred youth abroad to Japan, Guatemala, and Mexico respectively. She is the cohost and producer of the Deep End Friends Podcast.

Quenton Baker is a poet, educator, and Cave Canem fellow. Their current focus is black interiority and the afterlife of slavery. Their work has appeared in The Offing, Jubilat, Prairie Schooner, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. They are a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and the recipient of the 2018 Arts Innovator Award from Artist Trust. They were a 2019 Robert Rauschenberg Artist in Residence and a 2021 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow. They are the author of we pilot the blood (The 3rd Thing, 2021) and ballast (Haymarket Books, 2023).

Bettina Judd is an interdisciplinary writer, artist, and performer whose research focus is on Black women’s creative production and use of visual art, literature, and music to develop feminist thought. Her book Feelin: Creative Practice, Pleasure, and Black Feminist Thought (Northwestern University Press, December 2022) argues that Black women’s creative production is feminist knowledge production produced by registers of affect she calls “feelin.” She is currently Associate Professor of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington.

Buy the Book Still True: The Evolution of an Unexpected Journalist Third Place Books

Headlines from around the world flash on our television screens and appear on our newsfeeds, but we don’t always know what life is like for journalists who often risk their lives to deliver the news.

New York Times columnist, Pulitzer Prize winner, and bestselling author Nicholas D. Kristof has penned a memoir, Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life about his four decades in and out of the newsroom — not only as a reporter but also as a foreign correspondent, bureau chief, and columnist. Since 1984, Kristof has worked almost continuously for the New York Times and has reported from around the globe, crossing cultural and continental lines. Kristof witnessed and wrote about some of the most memorable events in this century: the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, the Yemeni civil war, the Darfur genocide in Sudan, and the epidemic of addiction that swept through his hometown in rural Oregon and a broad swath of working-class America.

Readers of Chasing Hope will learn about Kristof’s colleagues as well as laymen who impacted his life, such as the dissident whom he helped escape from China and a Catholic nun who browbeat a warlord into releasing kidnapped schoolgirls. Kristof believes that he has seen some of the worst of humanity as well as the best. The memoir details Kristof’s long and eventful career as a journalist and examines ideas of global citizenship forged over a lifetime.

Nicholas D. Kristof is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times, where he was previously bureau chief in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo. He is the co-author, with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, of five previous books: Tightrope, A Path Appears, Half the Sky, Thunder from the East, and China Wakes. He was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes, one with WuDunn in 1990 for their coverage of China, and the second in 2006 for his columns on Darfur.

Timothy Egan is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter and the author of nine other books, most recently the highly acclaimed A Pilgrimage to Eternity and The Immortal Irishman, a New York Times bestseller. His book on the Dust Bowl, The Worst Hard Time, won a National Book Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. His account of photographer Edward Curtis, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, won the Carnegie Medal for nonfiction.

Buy the Book Chasing Hope: A Reporter's Life Third Place Books

When given the option, most people will go out of their way to avoid risking life and limb. However, the world is full of people who face untold dangers daily, by circumstance or by choice, and walk through life with a greater understanding of death than many possess. After a career as a war reporter and examiner of dangerous occupations, Sebastian Junger would’ve considered himself well-versed in the realities of dire consequences. Yet when a quiet afternoon at home resulted in a first-hand near fatality, he found himself ill-prepared to examine his experience. In his newest book, In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife, Junger reaches into the darkness of near-death and the many questions waiting on the other side of survival.

In this introspective memoir meets heavy-hitting medical drama, Junger sets out to grapple with the seemingly unanswerable queries and concerns that haunted him after suffering a nearly lethal ruptured aneurysm. Weighing a background that praised the empirical against the old ghosts that appeared to him at his most critical moments, atheist-identified Junger ventures even further into the unfamiliar by following a line of deeply human questions. How do we begin to process the brutal fact that any of us might perish unexpectedly on what begins as an ordinary day? And what happens to a person, emotionally and spiritually, when forced to reckon with such existential questions? In My Time of Dying explores the intersection of science, religion, and philosophy and turns the examination inward when pondering how we best continue to live once we become truly aware that no one is immune to death.

Sebastian Junger is a best-selling author, award-winning journalist, and documentary filmmaker with a focus on stories of war, occupational risk, and trauma. His reporting and writing have been featured in Vanity Fair, where he serves as a contributing editor, National Geographic Adventure, Harper’s, and The New York Times Magazine. His previous publications and works include the books The Perfect Storm, War, Tribe, and Freedom as well as the Academy Award-nominated documentary film Restrepo. He is the founder and director of Vets Town Hall, an organization that provides veterans with opportunities to speak about their experiences.

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You’re planning a road trip — you’ve got snacks, you’ve got directions from Los Angeles to New York, and you’ve got a deep sense of curiosity and longing as the home you know fades quickly into your rearview mirror.

For the forty-five year old artist at the heart of Miranda July’s All Fours, the pull towards the unknown proves a little too tempting. She pulls off the highway a mere thirty minutes from home, but far enough away to dive headfirst into a journey of surprises, thrills, and the authentic absurdity of human connection.

In her upcoming second novel, Miranda July spins her seasoned comedic skills with thoughtful nuance to craft an exploration of identity and desire in mid-life womanhood. What does our protagonist expect, and what is expected of her, and how much should she care about those expectations in the first place? All Fours is a quest for experiences as much as answers and July has plenty of pit stops planned for readers to stock up on discovery, sexy sparks, and personal reinvention.

Miranda July is a director, filmmaker, artist, and author. Her works include the award-winning collection of short stories No One Belongs Here More Than You and New York Times bestselling novel The First Bad Man, as well as the films Me and You and Everyone We Know and Kajillionaire. Her writing has been featured in The Paris Review, Harper’s, and the New Yorker.

Laurie Frankel is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of five novels, including her new one, Family Family, as well as One Two Three and This Is How It Always Is. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Poets & Writers, Publisher’s Weekly, and other publications. She is the recipient of the Washington State Book Award and the Endeavor Award.

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Many of us have sought information about our family history, trying to solve those unanswered questions about our predecessors. In the quest for truths about others through examining their lives and lineage, we may also find truths about ourselves in the process.

In his latest release and nonfiction debut, The Dead Don’t Need Reminding: In Search of Fugitives, Mississippi, and Black TV Nerd Shit, New York Times bestselling author Julian Randall braids past with present as he retraces the life of his grandfather, a white-passing patriarch driven from a town in Mississippi, all the way to Randall’s own internal battles with depression and how he ultimately emerged from its depths.

Randall weaves pop culture into his pages, exploring grief, family, emotional health, and the American way with a medley of media ranging from Into the Spiderverse and Jordan Peele movies to BoJack Horseman and the music of Odd Future.

Seattle writer Ally Ang joins Randall in conversation for an evening of laughter, tears, and everything in-between.

Julian Randall is a contributor to the #1 New York Times bestseller Black Boy Joy and his middle-grade novel, Pilar Ramirez and the Escape From Zafa, was published by Holt in 2022. He has received fellowships from Cave Canem, Tin House, and Milkweed Editions. He is the winner of the 2019 Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award from the Publishing Triangle, the 2019 Frederick Bock Prize, and a Pushcart prize. His poetry has been published in The New York Times Magazine, Ploughshares,and POETRY. His first book, Refuse, won the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. He lives in Chicago.

Ally Ang is a gaysian poet and editor based in Seattle, Washington. Their work has been published in Queer Nature: A Poetry Anthology, Nepantla: An Anthology Dedicated to Queer Poets of Color, Foglifter, Columbia Journal,and elsewhere. They are a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, a Tin House workshop alum, and a 2022 Jack Straw Writers Program fellow. Ang holds a BA in sociology and Asian American studies from Wellesley College and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Washington. They are currently working on their first full-length poetry collection. When not writing, Ang can be found gazing longingly at bodies of water or doting on their cat, Gomez.

Our Hollowness Sings by Ruth Dickey explores human brokenness, navigating themes of loss, grief, and the quest for healing. Through seasons of profound absence, particularly the loss of her mother, Dickey crafts a poetic journey tethered to the earth, transforming grief into affirmations and blessings.

The collection celebrates the human spirit’s resilience, offering striking insights into everyday spaces and the complexities of life. With honesty, humor, and heartbreak, Dickey’s poems embrace the full spectrum of human experience, transcending pain to reach for joy and renewal. In navigating devastation with precision and grace, she guides readers through the delicate balance of memory, sorrow, and the enduring power of connection and imagination.

Ruth Dickey is the executive director of the National Book Foundation and has spent over twenty-five years working at the intersection of community building, writing, and art. She was a 2017 fellow with the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Program and served as a judge in fiction for the 2019 National Book Awards. The recipient of a Mayor’s Arts Award from DC, Ruth’s first book, Mud Blooms (Harbor Mountain Press, 2019), was a finalist for the National Poetry Series and received a 2019 Silver Nautilus. Our Hollowness Sings is her second book.

Rebecca Hoogs is the author of Self-Storage (Stephen F. Austin University Press) which was a finalist for the 2013 Washington State Book Award in Poetry, and a chapbook, Grenade (GreenTower Press). Her poems have appeared in Poetry, AGNI, FIELD, Crazyhorse, and others. She is the Executive Director of Seattle Arts & Lectures.

Buy the Book Our Hollowness Sings Phinney Books

When it comes to our own mortality, one big thing that we all share is that we absolutely have to face it and most of us have no idea how to begin. Through her work as a death doula, Alua Arthur has honed the skills to aid others in navigating these uncertain seas- from the many logistics within end-of-life care to the often unpredictable cravings for human connection and understanding. These vulnerable moments can be colored by many emotions—pain, confusion, joy, regret, and release. Arthur’s passion for her work shapeshifts to meet people where they are and guide them towards where they want to be. To Arthur, grappling with the challenges that await us starts way earlier than that final chapter. It isn’t something to fear and dread and it’s an endeavor we definitely should not be doing alone.

In her debut book Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End, Arthur details how her life’s work around death has informed and reshaped the ways she thinks we can embrace life while we’re still living it. She touches on many encounters with death- from her background layered with the harsh realities of political refuge to mental illness to the firsthand experience of what advocacy for the dying really looks like. Equal parts intimate memoir, thoughtful exploration, and message of encouragement, Briefly Perfectly Human gives context to the author’s deep and ever growing relationship with our innate impermanence. Through her storytelling, Arthur aims to explain why we should sit at the table to learn from some of our most painful questions and complicated truths about death- and she invites readers to pull up a chair.

Alua Arthur is a writer, keynote speaker, and prominent death doula working to bring visibility to the world of death positivity. She is the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization. Her work has been featured in national media outlets such as Vogue, Los Angeles Times, The Cut, The New Yorker, and Refinery29. She has made appearances on CBS’s The Doctors, Disney’s Limitless docu-series, and at the 2023 TED conferences with her TED Talk Why Thinking About Death Helps You Live a Better Life.

Rebecca Crichton started her “Encore Career” as Executive Director of NWCCA in 2012 after 21 years with The Boeing Company. She refashioned her skills and knowledge as a writer, curriculum designer, and leadership development coach to offer Creative Aging programs at many Seattle area venues. An active participant in the local aging community, she writes regularly for 3rd Act Magazine.

Buy the Book Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End Third Place Books

Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, in the 1990s, Hanif Abdurraqib witnessed a golden era of basketball, one in which legends like LeBron James were forged and countless others weren’t.

In his new book, There’s Always This Year, Abdurraqib tells his story of a lifelong love of the game with a lyrical, historical, and emotionally rich exploration of who we think deserves success, the tension between excellence and expectation, and the very notion of role models, woven together with intimate, personal storytelling.

“Here is where I would like to tell you about the form on my father’s jump shot,” Abdurraqib writes. “The truth, though, is that I saw my father shoot a basketball only one time.”

No matter the subject — whether it’s basketball, music, or performance — Hanif Abdurraqib sends out a clarion call to radically reimagine how we think about our culture, our country, and ourselves.

Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio, and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant. His most recent book, A Little Devil in America, was the winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Gordon Burns Prize and a finalist for the National Book Award. His first collection of essays, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, was named one of the books of the year by NPR, Esquire, BuzzFeed, O: The Oprah Magazine, Pitchfork, and Chicago Tribune, among others. Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest was a New York Times bestseller and a National Book Critics Circle Award and Kirkus Prize finalist and was longlisted for the National Book Award. He is a graduate of Beechcroft High School.

Growing up in the mountains of Utah, Cory Richards was constantly surrounded by the outdoors and was taught how to ski, climb, mountaineer, and survive in the wild. Despite a seemingly idyllic childhood, the Richards home was fraught with violence, grief, and mental illness. After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and dropping out of high school, Richards subsumed himself in the worlds of photography and climbing, seeking out the farthest reaches of the world to escape the darkness. Then, in the midst of a wildly successful career in adventure photography, a catastrophic avalanche changed everything, forcing Richards to confront the trauma of his past, evaluate his own mental health, and learn to rewrite his story.

In his new book, The Color of Everything, Richards recounts his adventures of climbing and the thrill of chasing summits, as well as his tumultuous life off the mountains. Accompanied by photos from his career, Richards’ memoir captures the musings of an unquiet mind grappling with success, the cost of fame and addiction, and what it takes to excavate the roots of trauma and climb out.

Cory Richards is an internationally renowned photographer, filmmaker, and author of the memoir The Color of Everything. He is the first and only American to climb one of the world’s 8000m peaks in winter. His documentation of the climb and aftermath of the experience was made into the award-winning documentary COLD and appeared on the cover of the 125th anniversary issue of National Geographic. Richards is a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, Photographer Fellow, and a two-time recipient of an Explorers Grant. He has photographed twelve feature assignments for the magazine. He has an active speaking career, in which he speaks about conservation, mental health, leadership, and vulnerability.

Marcus Harrison Green is a columnist for The Seattle Times. A long-time Seattle resident, he is the founder of the South Seattle Emerald, which focuses on telling the stories of South Seattle and its residents.

Buy the Book The Color of Everything: A Journey to Quiet the Chaos Within Third Place Books

Get ready to tantalize your taste buds and elevate your cooking game.

Embark on a culinary journey with Seriously, So Good, featuring recipes crafted with love by Carissa Stanton, the creative force behind the food blog Brocc Your Body.

Originating from her passion for food and community, Carissa’s philosophy centers on enjoying meals without restrictions, embracing balance, and savoring every bite. With a focus on feeling good about what you eat, Stanton invites readers to explore a stress-free approach to cooking, empowering readers to create mouth-watering dishes that nourish both body and soul.

Join us for an experience that celebrates the joy of cooking and the pleasure of sharing meals with loved ones, all while embracing a positive and balanced outlook on food and life.

Carissa Stanton of the popular blog and social media accounts, Brocc Your Body, believes that all food has a place in a healthy diet, and that balance is the key to everything in life. Her passion for movement and well-being led her to a degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in fitness, health, and nutrition from San Diego State University. Stanton has always been in love with food—she learned how to cook from anyone who would let her follow them around in the kitchen—parents, aunts and uncles, neighbors, and friends. Her recipes are approachable, nourishing, and always fun. Stanton’s goal is not just to share delicious recipes, but to show you just how exciting and easy cooking can be.

Rachael DeVaux is the author of the New York Times bestselling cookbook Rachael’s Good Eats. Rachael is a registered dietitian and personal trainer with a loyal community on Instagram. She grew up in Washington and graduated from Oregon State University, where she started the Rachael’s Good Eats Instagram account as a college student. She now shares recipes, intuitive eating strategies, and effective workouts with more than 725,000 followers. Rachael launched her fitness-focused brand in 2021, Recreation Sweat supplying activewear, fitness accessories, workout guides, and she further encourages her community to move their bodies. DeVaux lives in Seattle with her husband, Bridger.

Buy the Book Seriously, So Good: Simple Recipes for a Balanced Life (A Cookbook) The Elliott Bay Book Company

What is it like to grow up as a sociopath? Is it possible to lead a normal, successful life after such an earth-shattering diagnosis?

In her memoir, Sociopath, Patric Gagne sheds light on the often misunderstood disorder. From a young age, Gagne grappled with feeling different from her peers, unable to experience emotions like fear, guilt, or empathy. This disconnect led her down a tumultuous path of theft, deception, and violence in search of something to replace the emptiness she felt.

Despite being diagnosed as a sociopath in college, Patric faced a bleak prognosis with no hope for treatment or a normal life. Surrounded by societal perceptions of sociopaths as monstrous figures, her future appeared grim until a reconnection with an old flame sparked a glimmer of hope. With newfound determination and support, she embarked on a journey to challenge stereotypes and prove that those with sociopathy can lead fulfilling lives filled with love and hope.

Patric Gagne is a writer, former therapist, and advocate for people suffering from sociopathic, psychopathic, and anti-social personality disorders. She earned a PhD in clinical psychology with a dissertation that examined the relationship between sociopathy and anxiety. This research became the groundwork for her continued studies on sociopathic disorder, as well as the foundation for her memoir. She did her undergraduate work at UCLA and earned her masters and doctorate at the California Graduate Institute of The Chicago School.

Katy Sewall is the host and creator of “The Bittersweet Life” podcast. She’s a writer, podcast consultant, and a Public Radio professional frequently heard on 94.9 KUOW. She’s also the former Program Director at Town Hall.

Buy the Book Sociopath: A Memoir Elliott Bay Book Company

Do you ever think of what you eat as being political? Back in 2017, celebrity chef Mario Batali sent out an apology letter for the sexual misconduct allegations made against him and infamously included a recipe—for pizza dough cinnamon rolls. Shortly after Batali’s recipe, went viral, Popular blogger Geraldine DeRuiter decided to make the recipe and then she wrote about it. Her subsequent essay, which documented each step of her cinnamon roll preparation but also tackled topics like misogyny in the food world, was read millions of times, lauded by industry luminaries such as Martha Stewart, and landed DeRuiter in the middle of an unanticipated media firestorm. Who knew dessert could be so controversial?

If You Can’t Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury is DeRuiter’s new essay collection. The James Beard Award–winning blogger behind The Everywhereist addresses an array of topics, from being “hangry” to receiving death threats to meal-planning for the apocalypse. If You Can’t Take the Heat aims to connect the broader culture to the culinary.

This event may interest those curious about how patriarchy, pop culture, and plated dishes intersect, or who are just seeking some levity.

Geraldine DeRuiter is the James Beard Award-winning blogger behind The Everywhereist and the author of All Over the Place: Adventures in Travel, True Love, and Petty Theft. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, Marie Claire, and Refinery 29. She lives in Seattle with her husband, Rand, and the two of them are developing a culinary-themed video game.

Scott Heimendinger is an inventor, culinary technologist, and the founder of Seattle Ultrasonics, as well as a former JBFA judge and a member of the Sous Vide Hall of Fame.

Buy the Book If You Can't Take the Heat: Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury The Elliott Bay Book Company

Go from “what the heck is this” to “how does it taste so good” in a celebration of misfit vegetables.

Maybe you just discovered celery root (a lumpy, softball-sized bulb), at the grocery store. Or perhaps you received watermelon radishes in a CSA package. Did a parsnip catch your eye at the farmers’ market? Even vegetables you think you know, like cabbage or brussels sprouts, will reveal next-level flavor with the right recipe.

Becky Selengut has made it her mission to take less popular — or even outright scorned vegetables like beets and okra — and cook them into irresistible dishes. It’s all about knowing how to cook or serve them and what herbs and spices to incorporate. In Misunderstood Vegetables, Selengut highlights 25 vegetables, with recipes alongside history, step-by-step preparation, and storage tips. Organized by season, recipes include Feta and Citrus Salad, Charred Chard with Spicy Chile Oil, and Celery Root Gratin.

Calling all plant-curious citizens, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to explore the world of unusual and underused produce like never before.

Becky Selengut is an author, instructor, podcaster, and chef based in Seattle. Her books include: How to Taste, Shroom, Good Fish, and Not One Shrine. Her latest book Misunderstood Vegetables is slated for publication by W.W. Norton (Countryman Press) for February 20, 2024. Selengut is the co-host of the local foods podcast Field to Fork. When Selengut is not the chef aboard the M/V Thea Foss, she forages, makes a mean Manhattan, and shares her life with her sommelier wife April Pogue and their lovably loony pointer mix Izzy.

Bethany Jean Clement is a food critic for the Seattle Times. Her writing has also appeared in multiple Best Food Writing anthologies, Food & Wine, The Stranger, Edible Seattle, Gourmet, and many other publications, as well as on the windows of the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. She is the former food writer and managing editor of The Stranger, and a former staff writer and managing editor for Seattle Weekly.

Buy the Book Misunderstood Vegetables: How to Fall in Love with Sunchokes, Rutabaga, Eggplant and More Third Place Books

Town Hall's 2024 Scratch Night featuring the work-in-progress of our Artist-in-Residence Maia Brown

In collaboration with Brivele bandmate, Stefanie Brendler, Maia crafts an intimate evening that dives deep into the Yiddish archives of anti-fascist poetry and song, offering a glimpse into their creative process.

Maia Brown, a visual artist, Yiddish musician, and educator, brings a rich background in oral history and fine art to this exploration, alongside Stefanie Brendler, a multi-talented Seattle-based artist, composer, and member of the klezmer brass band Shpilkis. This evening comprises a stirring blend of storytelling and music, echoing the resilience and resistance found within Yiddish tradition.

About the Artists

Maia Brown (she/her) is a visual artist, Yiddish musician, writer, translator, and educator. Brown has a background in oral history and fine art, including a Watson Fellowship to study storytelling and advocacy in South Africa and the North of Ireland. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts at Goddard College. She is a dedicated student and teacher of her own tradition as well as the many ways people have reached out to each other across communities.

Stefanie Brendler is a Seattle-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, visual artist, translator, storyteller, and union stagehand. The founder of Seattle’s premier klezmer brass band Shpilkis, Stefanie is also a member of the Yiddish folk-punk band Brivele. Despite the constant toil under capitalism, heteropatriarchy, and nationalism, Stefanie’s artistry reflects the joys of life as a queer Jew.

Brivele, a Seattle-based ensemble, blends Yiddish song, anti-fascist and labor balladry, folk-punk, and contemporary protest themes into powerful vocal harmony. Meaning “little letter” in Yiddish, Brivele symbolizes the journey songs undertake, crossing borders and time, carrying tales of love, resistance, and resilience. Rooted in the Yiddish anti-fascist tradition, their repertoire merges satire, remembrance, and political commentary, echoing the voices of ancestors in today’s struggles. With an irreverent spirit, Brivele proudly embraces Diaspora heritage, singing in Yiddish as a testament to the enduring relevance of our mixed-up, impure Yidishkayt.

About Town Hall Residencies

Every year, Town Hall selects exceptional local artists and scholars for paid residencies where they engage with Town Hall programs and collaborate with our programming team to develop original events for the community. Read more about our residency program here.

WORKS CITED:

"Music in Concentration Camps: 1933-1945" by Guido Fackler
Passionate Pioneers: The Story of Yiddish Secular Education in North America, 1910-1960 by Fradle Pomerantz Freidenreich
"The birth and long life of ‘Peat Bog Soldiers’ on its 90th anniversary" by Fiete Ausländer
"Memories of a Jewish American red diaper baby" by Susan Gosman

Explore the life cycle of Seattle artists in a dynamic round table discussion hosted by Sarah Traver, director of Traver Gallery.

Join the conversation on transforming artistic practice into a flourishing and creative career within the vibrant artistic landscape of Seattle. Esteemed artists Esther Ervin, Henry Jackson-Spieker, Steve Jensen, Pohlman Knowles, and Jeanne Marie Ferraro all connected with Pratt Fine Arts Center, will share their experiences in developing their practices across diverse disciplines, including glass, installation, jewelry, metal, printmaking, public art, sculpture, and wood.

Gain valuable insights from these working artists as they delve into the unique challenges and successes of navigating the Seattle art scene. Whether you’re an aspiring artist or an art enthusiast, this discussion promises a deep exploration of artistic growth and the diverse pathways to establishing a fulfilling career within the rich cultural tapestry of Seattle.

Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with the life stories and creative journeys of these influential artists.

Esther Ervin, a visual artist from Somerville, New Jersey, holds a BS in Biology from UC Irvine and an MFA in Fine Art/Illustration from CSU Long Beach. Her diverse experiences include teaching in the Peace Corps in Colombia and later focusing on art, with a particular interest in the environment, politics, and abstraction. Her jewelry has been exhibited internationally. She is an active member of various art organizations, including the Seattle Metals Guild, the Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA), and the Black Arts West Alumni Association as an honorary.

Henry Jackson-Spieker is a multidisciplinary artist focusing on sculpture and site-specific installations, combining glass, bronze, steel, wood, fiber, and light. His sculptures explore tension, balance and reflection through the merging of contrasting materials. He creates public art installations at Midtown Commons in Seattle, The Seattle Center, Method Gallery, and Wa NA Wari Gallery. Jackson-Spieker has been teaching glass blowing and bronze casting at Pratt Fine Arts Center for the past seven years.

Steve Jensen has been a working artist for over 45 years. Raised around family fishing boats in Seattle, his art reflects deep maritime roots. His latest “VOYAGER” collection is inspired by his Scandinavian fisherman and boat builder heritage, symbolizing journeys into the unknown. From 2015 to 2023, Jensen exhibited solo at major Washington state venues, including the Seattle Art Museum, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, and many others. Featured on Channel 9’s Art as Voyage and Amazon Prime’s The Story of Art in America (episode 10, 2023), his compelling work has garnered widespread recognition.

Sabrina Knowles and Jenny Pohlman (Pohlman Knowles) marked a quarter-century of collaboration in 2018 with the exhibition “SYNCHRONICITY: Twenty-Five Years of Collaboration” at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art. They have undertaken six international journeys, morphing their experiences into sculptural stories to share what they have learned about healing, compassion, and the power of the human spirit through assemblages of sculpted glass and fabricated steel. Their work is in the collections of Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Henry Ford Museum, Museum of American Glass, and Tacoma Art Museum among others.

Jeanne Marie Ferraro was raised in a working-class family in Cleveland, Ohio, and found her artistic passion in childhood while observing the pouring of liquid metal into steel beams with her father. A storyteller across various media Jeanne’s art has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including in Canada and Portugal, and is part of private collections. Alongside her artistic endeavors, Jeanne has dedicated forty years to teaching visual art, currently focusing on glassblowing, drawing, and painting at the Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle.

Sarah Traver, President of Traver Gallery

Since joining her father’s business in 2004, Sarah Traver has been the President of Traver Gallery, overseeing all aspects from strategy to installation. With degrees in art and education, she emphasizes the gallery’s mission as a space for learning and idea-sharing. Sarah, beloved by artists and the community, also serves on the boards of Artist Trust and Pratt Fine Arts Center.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Pratt Fine Arts Center.

Looking back through history, it is obvious that the presence of music has had a profound impact on the daily lives of humans, our cultural rituals, and the evolution of civilization as a whole. Yet in public discourse, we still tend to separate conversations about music from those about civics or politics. We frame music as a product for entertainment when in reality the practice of music is deeply tied to the way our communities are structured and function.

Shain Shapiro is the director of the global nonprofit Center for Music Ecosystems, and author of This Must Be The Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better. In his book, Shapiro examines the way music affects the building, managing, and governing of a city.

Told through personal stories from cities around the world — including London, Melbourne, Nashville, Austin, and Zurich — This Must Be the Place demonstrates how integral music is to everyday life, yet how consistently music is ignored in public policy. Specifically, Shapiro references the transformative role that artists and musicians played in revitalizing elements of our post-pandemic world.

In addition to spotlighting the connection between music and building cities, This Must be the Place serves as a guide and toolkit for music enthusiasts, artists, and activists who seek to utilize music as a tool for reinventing their community.

Join Shain Shapiro at Town Hall, for an examination of the way music informs the building of a city, and how we can use music to strengthen our communities going forward.

Shain Shapiro, Ph.D. is one of the world’s leading music and cultural policy thinkers. He is the founder and chairman of economics consultancy Sound Diplomacy, founder and director of the global nonprofit Center for Music Ecosystems and author of This Must Be The Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better. Shain has pioneered the work of music cities and music ecosystem policy, where music is written into how cities and places plan and invest in their future.

Gregory Scruggs is a Seattle-based journalist. He is a correspondent for leading international cultural magazine Monocle and also works on the features desk at The Seattle Times. His reporting on how public policy impacts music scenes have been published in outlets such as The New York Times, Bloomberg CityLab, VICE, Next City, Seattle Weekly, and The Stranger.

Buy the Book This Must Be the Place: How Music Can Make Your City Better Third Place Books

What do we learn when an anthropologist and a historian talk about food? Across endless eras, landscapes, and civilizations, humanity’s relationship with food has played the part of one of the landmark features of culture and community. We feel this on both the micro and macro scale — from learning a recipe passed down through generations of one’s own family to the excitement of exploring an unfamiliar local market in a city far from home.

Culinary curiosity invites us all to the table, and through their new book, Ways of Eating, authors and storytellers Benjamin Wurgaft and Merry White are here to serve.

Wurgaft and White aim to introduce readers to the interwoven worlds of global food history and food anthropology, exploring how we’re not just what we eat, but where, why, and how we came to eat it in the first place. Throughout their collaborative work, Wurgaft and White embark on a world tour of anthropological accounts and vivid storytelling, paying visits to Panamanian coffee growers, Japanese knife forgers, and the medieval age of women brewing beer.

Ways of Eating explores the influence of migration and politics in shaping both group identity and global culinary practices, from the Venetian spice trade to the Columbian Exchange to the parallels between ancient Roman garum and contemporary Vietnamese nớc chấm. There are as many dynamics at play across the world of food anthropology as spices in a well-stocked pantry, and Ways of Eating seeks to understand and follow them from the plate back to the kitchen, the farm, and the field.

Co-authors Benjamin A. Wurgaft and Merry I. White are a son and mother duo with backgrounds in history, philosophy, anthropology, and the social study of food. Merry White is a Professor of Anthropology at Boston University, with a specialization in Japanese social and food culture. Their previous publications include White’s Coffee Life in Japan and Wurgaft’s Meat Planet: Artificial Flesh and the Future of Food. This is their first book written together.

Born in New England, Peter Miller is a graduate of Williams College and Harvard Graduate School of Education. He moved to Seattle in November 1970, a time when one could rent a home from a nearby phone booth with the instructions, “the key is under the mat, I will come meet you this week.” In 1975, Miller opened a bookshop in Wallingford, with its first lecture series featuring Tom Robbins and Alan Furst. In 1980, he opened an architecture bookshop in Pioneer Square, relocating it to the market in 1983. Thirty years later, he moved again to Belltown, in association with George Suyama Architects. The shop is now situated in Pioneer Square between First Avenue and the water. Additionally, Miller served as a member of the Seattle Design Commission from 1998 to 2001. Peter has authored three books: Lunch at the Shop, Five Ways to Cook Asparagus, and How to Wash the Dishes, with a fourth book set to be released in May, titled Shopkeeping.

Buy the Book Ways of Eating: Exploring Food through History and Culture Third Place Books

The Village Voice aimed to show readers something that mainstream publications wouldn’t: live theater productions climbing through the scaffolding of off-Broadway venues; moments in music from hip-hop to jazz to punk; New York City civil issues, like corrupt landlords; and global issues, like the AIDS crisis. Through decades of independent reporting and first-hand accounts within the myriad subcultures of New York, the Village Voice built a journalistic legacy of lived experience, bold critique, and political activism. One can’t help but wonder, what it must have been like to be one of the writers, editors, or photographers who was in on the action.

In her debut book, The Freaks Came Out to Write, Tricia Romano shares her journey from intern to contributor at the Village Voice, and the multi-generational significance of the weekly paper that reached far beyond the neighborhoods of New York City.

Romano’s accounts include over 200 interviews that span decades and feature influential figures such as Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead, feminist writers Vivian Gornick and Susan Brownmiller, the post-punk band Blondie, and many other acclaimed individuals in the realms of art, politics, and society. Romano ties it all together in an expansive oral history that tells the story of journalism, New York City and American culture — and the most famous alt-weekly of all time.

Tricia Romano is a writer, columnist, and editor whose work has been published in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Elle, the Los Angeles Times, and of course the Village Voice, among others. Her column, Fly Life, dug into the underbelly of New York nightlife and she has penned award-winning stories on music and culture. She has served as a fellow at MacDowell, Millay, and UCross, a staff writer at the Seattle Times, and as editor-in-chief of the Stranger, Seattle’s own alternative newsweekly.

Dan Savage is a sex-advice columnist, a podcaster, an author, and has appeared on numerous television shows. Formerly the editor of the Stranger, Dan’s sex-advice column “Savage Love,” is syndicated worldwide. He has published seven books and his weekly sex advice podcast Savage Lovecast.

Jane Levine worked for more than 30 years at alternative weeklies. She started as an intern at Chicago Reader in 1973 and returned to serve as publisher from 1994 to 2004. In between, she held business-side positions at Los Angeles Reader, North Carolina Independent, and Seattle Weekly.

Buy the Book The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture Third Place Books

What does it mean to be a proudly queer Indigenous woman in the United States today?

Sasha LaPointe, winner of the 2023 Pacific Northwest Book Award for her memoir, Red Paint, shares a new collection of essays that navigate the complexities of indigenous identity, challenge stereotypes, and address cultural displacement and environmental concerns. Thunder Song draws inspiration from her family’s rich archive and the work of her late great-grandmother and weaves together stories that demonstrate the profound intersections of community, commitment, and conscientious honesty.

Described as “unapologetically punk,” the essays in Thunder Song segue from the miraculous to the mundane, from the spiritual to the physical, as they examine the role of art — in particular, music — and community in helping a new generation of indigenous people claim the strength of their heritage while defining their own path in the contemporary world.

Celebrate cultural diversity as LaPointe explores how we shape our understanding of the world, hoping to inspire a new era of conscientious living.

Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe is a Coast Salish author from the Nooksack and Upper Skagit Indian tribes. She is the author of Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk, winner of a Pacific Northwest Book Award, the Washington State Book Award for Creative Nonfiction/Memoir, and an NPR Best Book of the Year, and the poetry collection Rose Quartz. She received a double MFA in creative nonfiction and poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts. She lives in Tacoma, Washington.

Dawn Pichón Barron of Chowanoke/Choctaw/Mexican-Chihuahua/European heritage, is the Academic Director of the Native Pathways Program and Creative Writing Faculty at the Evergreen State College. She founded and curated the Gray Skies Reading Series 2009-2019. Her chapbook, ESCAPE GIRL BLUES, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2018.

Buy the Book Thunder Song The Elliott Bay Book Company

If you’re a part of the Seattle arts scene, chances are you’ve come across Tessa Hulls. She has a hand in many local creative communities, including Seattle Arts & Lectures (where you might have spotted her illustrations on the 2021 Summer Book Bingo Card!), the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, and the Henry Art Museum. She’s also the lead artist in the Wing Luke Museum exhibit “Nobody Lives Here,” which explores the impacts of how the I-5 construction ran right through the Chinatown International District in the 1960s.

It’s no surprise then that Hulls is passionate about mixing art and historical research, looking at how past events echo throughout daily relationships today. She explores these themes in her debut book, Feeding Ghosts, a graphic novel memoir that tells the story of three generations of women in her family: her Chinese grandmother Sun Yi; her mother, Rose; and herself. Sun Yi, who fled Communist China for Hong Kong, published a celebrated memoir about her persecution and survival, but then later succumbed to mental illness.

Determined to face the history that shaped her family, Tessa exposes the wounds that haunt generations and the love that holds them together. Hulls is a self-proclaimed “compulsive genre-hopper,” mixing personal and political histories with travel writing and visual art. This might explain why she’s so well-intertwined in Seattle’s art scene, using her creativity to build community and create conversations about the impacts of our shared history.

Tessa Hulls is an artist, a writer, and an adventurer. Her essays have appeared in The Washington Post, Atlas Obscura, and Adventure Journal, and her comics have been published in The Rumpus, City Arts, and SPARK. She has received grants from the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture and 4Culture, and she is a fellowship recipient from the Washington Artist Trust. Feeding Ghosts is her first book.

Putsata Reang is a Cambodian-born author and a journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Politico, The Guardian, Ms., The San Jose Mercury News, and The Seattle Times, among other publications. She is an alumna of residencies at Hedgebrook, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and Mineral School, and she has received fellowships from the Alicia Patterson Foundation and Jack Straw Cultural Center.

Buy the Companion Book Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir Third Place Books

Have you ever lost something or someone dear to you? Though it ranges in severity and impact, loss is a shared human experience – an inevitable, inescapable part of life.

Praised for her humor and sharp wit, essayist and novelist Sloane Crosley delivers her first memoir Grief is for People, exploring how loss can take many forms. After the pain and confusion of losing her closest friend Russell to suicide – which occurred only a month after also losing prized possessions and her sense of safety following a burglary – Crosley looks for answers, even where they may be elusive. She seeks solace not only in those close to her but in art and philosophy as well, hoping for a useful framework outside the oft-cited five stages of grief. Crosley’s readership may not have seen this side of the author, but will nevertheless recognize those observations and examinations of the human condition interlaced with levity that popularized her earlier writings.

Grief Is for People seeks to upend the traditional grief memoir and offer both consolation and challenge to standard conceptions of mourning. Crosley’s talk is for anyone in a current time of sorrow or who has experienced a loss and might welcome a discussion beyond platitudes.

Sloane Crosley is the author of the novels Cult Classic and The Clasp and three essay collections: Look Alive Out There and the New York Times bestsellers I Was Told There’d Be Cake and How Did You Get This Number.

Benjamin Gibbard is a multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of Death Cab for Cutie, formed in 1997, and one half of the electronic duo The Postal Service. Gibbard released his debut solo album “Former Lives” in 2012, and he has scored two films. Gibbard is an avid ultra-marathon runner and a longtime resident of Seattle.

Buy the Companion Book Grief Is for People: A Memoir The Elliott Bay Book Company

You’d be hard-pressed to find a person whose life went unchanged in 2020, arguably one of the most consequential years in human history. It marked an unprecedented time, left indelible memories in our minds, and set off ripple effects we still feel even today. Disruption of normal life was nearly universal; however, the ways in which we experienced disruption were varied.

Acclaimed sociologist and bestselling author Eric Klinenberg’s latest work 2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed offers an account of a single year in modern history told through the stories of seven New Yorkers. From an elementary school principal to a bar manager, a subway custodian to a political aide, the book sheds light on the human experience of that fateful time four years ago, illuminating both individual and collective uncertainty, fear, loss, and hope.

Although the book is centered on New York City, 2020 also explores the political spheres of the nation’s capital and beyond, as well as epidemiological battles, policies, and movements worldwide. Set against the backdrop of a tense presidential election and social unrest, Klinenberg offers a window into a recent time of reckoning and an invitation to examine ourselves and our experiences.

Eric Klinenberg is the Helen Gould Shepard Professor in the Social Sciences and director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. He is the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Modern Romance and author of Palaces for the People, Going Solo, Heat Wave, and Fighting for Air. He has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Wired, and This American Life. He lives in New York City.

Margaret O’Mara is the Scott and Dorothy Bullitt Professor of American History at the University of Washington. Margaret is a leading historian of Silicon Valley and the author of two acclaimed books about the modern American technology industry: The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America (Penguin Press, 2019) and Cities of Knowledge: Cold War Science and the Search For The Next Silicon Valley (Princeton, 2005). She also is a historian of the American presidency and author of Pivotal Tuesdays: Four Elections that Shaped the Twentieth Century (Penn Press, 2015). She is a coauthor, with David Kennedy and Lizabeth Cohen, of the widely used United States history college textbook, The American Pageant (Cengage). Buy the Companion Book 2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed The Elliott Bay Book Company

Three expert guests discuss the implications of AI and the fine arts in a conversation moderated by Steve Scher.

Scientist and founder of the Artists and Machine Intelligence program at Google, Blaise Agüera y Arcas, will offer his “news from the front” about the latest developments in AI capabilities, and what he foresees ahead. Alex Alben, technology executive, author, and law professor, will review the implications of AI to the artist from the point of view of intellectual property: is anything on the internet up for grabs, or is compensation for image “borrowing” a possibility? Finally, painter Jason Puccinelli, who uses AI as one of his tools in image creation, will talk about what he finds exciting and useful, and what he finds problematic, about this new resource.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Gage Academy of Art.

Hip-hop education is more than just music; it’s a dynamic tool for fostering student success and intellectual growth.

James Miles, known as the Fresh Professor, is renowned for his engaging teaching style. By infusing lessons with content that’s inspirational, intellectually engaging, and relevant to students’ lives, Miles demonstrates how teachers can use hip-hop education to help students better retain information and think critically about concepts inside and outside the classroom.

Miles will be joined by a panel of experts with backgrounds ranging from educators to artists who will talk about ways to ignite curiosity, ensure comprehension, and provide differentiation options for all kinds of learners. Weaving performance into their discussion, they will talk about the impact of hip-hop on their lives, how it shows up in current events, and the implications for education. At the program break, DJ Topspin will play music, followed by a discussion of James’s book, Gotta Stay Fresh.

James Miles, aka Fresh Professor, is a New York City artist and educator with 20 years of experience, now based in Seattle. He’s an Assistant Professor at Seattle University and serves as the Creative Economy Manager at Seattle’s Office of Economic Development. James has a rich history, including leadership roles at Third Stone, MENTOR Washington, and Arts Corps. His innovative Fresh Education program, using hip-hop and theater for academic success, has influenced educators worldwide. A graduate of Morehouse College and Brandeis University, James empowers teachers globally through professional development. His mission is to reduce educational inequities using the arts.

DJ Topspin aka Blendiana Jones is established as a musical pillar in the Northwest and across the world. He (seemingly) easily weaves a complex blend of hits and unearthed genre-spanning gems from both past & present eras, creating a musical tapestry all his own. Born from a Jamaican father and Panamanian mother, the pulse of the diaspora in the form of dancehall/reggae/soca/afrobeat is always present in his musical displays. He’s recently showcased them DJing in The Kingdom of Bahrain for the 2nd time in as many years, and has previously produced a weekly countdown show broadcasted throughout Tanzania (where he’s spun 3x so far) and to other African nations.

Moses Sun is an afro-abstractionist working in assemblage, painting, video, animation, and public art that explores the intersection of Pan-Africanism and the world’s diasporas. Moses Sun fuses hip-hop, jazz, afro-futurism, and the black southern diaspora of his childhood into a mix of visuals that blurs the lines between digital and analog art. His interdisciplinary practice comes from the hip-hop ethos of grinding in the studio, creating multiple tracks (series of works) that he remixes into new works. His search for common ground between diasporas has led to collaborations with Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum, SAM, Frye Art Museum, Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle Hebrew Academy, and Africatown Plaza.

Idris Goodwin is a multi-award-winning storyteller of stage, audio, screen, and page. Currently serving as Artistic Director of Seattle Children’s Theater, Idris writes, directs, programs, and /or produces relevant content for intergenerational audiences. Goodwin is the author of over 75 dynamic and diverse original plays. Committed to access and impact, Goodwin’s work is widely produced across the country by professional, community, and academic institutions alike.

Olisa Enrico is an artist, educator and administrator who engages the unique power of art to cultivate community and culture. Olisa spent her childhood writing music and performing, traversing genres and rooted in hip hop as her primary form of expression. She branched out to theater and found passion for the power of story to reveal and heal. Olisa provides performances, professional development, curriculum development, consultations and workshops through her business, Praxis Essentials.

Many of us talk to our pets daily, but what would you do if your pet could talk back? What do you think they would say?

When Bunny, a fluffy, black-and-white sheepadoodle, was eight weeks old, her guardian Alexis presented her with an odd gift: a button programmed to say “outside” when pressed. Within a few weeks, Bunny was using it all the time, and Alexis, encouraged by Bunny’s progress, continued to introduce more buttons and more words.

Three years later, Bunny can now communicate using over one hundred buttons, stringing together important, relatable, philosophical phrases such as “Love you Mom,” “Dad went poop,” and “Ugh why?” In I Am Bunny, Alexis chronicles not only how Bunny learned to “talk,” but also the profound impact their journey has had on her life.

Caring for Bunny revealed to Alexis a path to self-acceptance if not complete self-love, and as their relationship developed their ability to communicate deepened. Through charming anecdotes about day-to-day life with Bunny, explorations into prior animal language studies, and plenty of irreverent humor, daring, and heart, Alexis tells the story of how she and Bunny have become so inspiringly close and explores the ancient and unique bond between dog and guardian that so many of us know leads to a deeper, more meaningful life.

Alexis Devine is an artist and entrepreneur hailing from Seattle, Washington. She was a longtime creator of wearable art before her sheepadoodle, Bunny, known as “What About Bunny” on social media, became an internet sensation in the fall of 2020. Bunny is part of an ongoing canine cognition research study at the Comparative Cognition Lab at UCSD. Alexis is a Licensed Family Dog Mediator, Fear Free Certified Professional, and Certified Canine Enrichment Technician. Her goal is to further our understanding of the power of connection and the importance of empathy, meeting her dogs where they are and understanding them on their terms first to facilitate trust and promote an environment that supports them as the incredible creatures they are.

Sarah Stremming (she/her) is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants who hosts the popular podcast Cog Dog Radio. She consults on challenging dog behavior cases, lectures other professionals worldwide, and runs a dynamic membership out of her home office in Redmond, Washington. Known for popularizing “decompression walks” she believes what is best for dogs is usually best for their human companions, too. Sarah competes in the dog sports of Agility and Obedience and can often be found deep in the woods beside her Icelandic sheepdog and three border collies.

I Am Bunny The Elliott Bay Book Company

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Seattle’s theatre community demonstrated resilience and adaptability, navigating through challenging times to envision a new era for the performing arts.

Arts journalist and educator Misha Berson will moderate an open discussion about Seattle’s current theatrical landscape with the respected artistic directors of three of the city’s most popular stage companies: John Langs, head of the long-running ACT Theatre; Karen Lund, producing artistic director of Taproot Theatre in Greenwood; and Dámaso Rodríguez, the new artistic director of the Tony Award-honored Seattle Repertory Theatre.

Misha Berson was the chief theatre critic for The Seattle Times for 25 years. Now a freelance writer and teacher, her work appears in The Seattle Times, American Theatre, and other publications, and she is the author of four books, most recently Something’s Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Northwest Center for Creative Aging.

Join us for a conversation between former Town Hall Seattle Writer-in-Residence Sarah Salcedo and Washington State Poet Laureate Arianne True. Together, they will discuss how they negotiate the intersections of neurodivergence, art, and artistic careers. After a discussion, there will be a reading of Arianne’s poems and a section from the in-progress novel that Sarah began during her Town Hall residency in 2022, which has also been funded by 4Culture.

Arianne True (Choctaw, Chickasaw) is a queer poet and teaching artist from Seattle, and has spent most of her work time working with youth. She’s received fellowships and residencies from Jack Straw, the Hugo House, Artist Trust, and the Seattle Repertory Theater, and is a proud alum of Hedgebrook and of the MFA program at the Institute of American Indian Arts. She lives near the Salish Sea with her cat. Arianne is the 2023-2025 Washington State Poet Laureate.

Sarah Salcedo is an award-winning filmmaker, illustrator, and author. She was the Spring 2022 Writer-in-Residence for Town Hall Seattle and attended both the 2022 Tin House Winter and Summer Workshop for fiction. Her first film, Promised Land, debuted in festivals in 2016. She is currently at work on her next two documentaries with her partner and collaborator, Vasant Salcedo. She has received multiple grants from 4Culture and Artist Trust for her fiction and film work.

To learn more about our speakers, or read their work prior to the event, please visit their websites and social media below: Arianne True: Website | Instagram Sarah Salcedo: Website | Instagram

You’re invited to celebrate thirty years of homeless women organizing, writing, and creating change!

In 1993, homeless and formerly homeless women in Seattle came together to create WHEEL (Women’s Housing, Equality, and Enhancement League) to organize for increased safety and shelter and advocate for changes to end homelessness. Now, in 2023, it’s time to commemorate the 30th anniversary of WHEEL and 20th anniversary of WHEEL’s Homeless Remembrance Project, an initiative that has endowed the city with enduring memorials for homeless individuals. As if this weren’t enough, it is also the 15th anniversary of the publication of Beloved Community: The Sisterhood of Homeless Women in Poetry, a moving anthology published by Whit Press, which continues to resonate with community members.

Discover new, powerful voices from current WHEEL members as they share their stories and insights. Following the presentation, engage in a Q&A session to delve deeper into the issues at hand.

Beloved Community – The Sisterhood of Homeless Women in Poetry

When Stephanie Land set out to write her memoir, Maid, she never could have imagined what was to come.

Handpicked by President Barack Obama as one of the best books of 2019 and later adapted into the hit Netflix series Maid, Stephanie’s escape out of poverty and abuse in search of a better life inspired millions.

Maid was a story about a house cleaner, but it was also a story about a woman with a dream. In her new book, Class, Land takes us with her as she finishes college and pursues her writing career. Facing barriers at every turn including a byzantine loan system, not having enough money for food, navigating the judgments of professors and fellow students who didn’t understand the demands of attending college while under the poverty line — Land finds a way to survive once again, finally graduating in her mid-thirties.

Class paints an intimate portrait of motherhood as it converges and often conflicts with personal desire and professional ambition. Who has the right to create art? Who has the right to go to college? And what kind of work is valued in our culture? Class grapples with these questions, offering a searing indictment of America’s educational system and an inspiring testimony of a mother’s triumph against all odds.

Stephanie Land is the author of the New York Times bestseller Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive, called “a testimony…worth listening to,” by The New York Times and inspiration for the Netflix series Maid. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and many other outlets. Her writing focuses on social and economic justice and parenting under the poverty line. She is a frequent speaker at colleges and national advocacy organizations. Find out more at Stepville.com.

Sara K. Runnels is a seasoned humor writer, copywriter and writer-writer living in Seattle, WA. She is a regular contributor to The New Yorker, and her satire has been featured in McSweeney’s, Betches and Overheard, among other publications that respect scintillating wordplay. Sara has also spent more than 15 years pushing corporate boundaries by writing extremely fun and edgy copy for a variety of popular brands (including airlines, TV networks and dating apps—all of life’s necessities). Her witticisms, viral one-liners and sharp social commentary can be found, quite literally, all over the internet (@omgskr). She specializes in clever dating and relationship content, and always has something to say about politics, pop culture and the Pacific Northwest. She is currently working on a funny novel in between episodes of terrible reality TV.

Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education The Elliott Bay Book Company

What exactly is art and why does it matter to us?

Philosopher of the mind Alva Noë explores the answers to these questions, arguing that we need art and philosophy to fully understand human nature. After all, our modern way of life is permeated with the aesthetic––the arts are an integral part of every human culture on the planet.

Our lives supply art with its raw materials, but art, Noë argues, remakes life by giving us resources to live differently. Because of this, Noë believes that art is the truest way of understanding ourselves. He suggests that neither biology, cognitive science, nor artificial intelligence can tell a complete story of us. In making these claims, Noë explores examples from his latest book, The Entanglement—in artworks and seeing, writing and speech, and choreography and dancing—and looks at a range of scientific efforts to explain what it means to be human.

Through his work, Noë believes that natural science has its limits in fully understanding the human experience. He lays out the argument that art and philosophy play essential roles in trying to know ourselves. Challenging the idea that art is simply a cultural curiosity and that philosophy has been replaced with science, Noë suggests a new way of thinking about human nature.

Alva Noë is a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is a member of the Center for New Media, the Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, and the Program in Critical Theory. His many books include Strange Tools: Art and Human Nature and Learning to Look: Dispatches from the Art World.

The Entanglement: How Art and Philosophy Make Us What We Are Third Place Books

If you thought billionaire success stories all looked pretty similar, prepare to be surprised.

From middle-class Midwestern beginnings, Sheila Johnson went from an accomplished violinist who married young to become one of the most accomplished businesswomen in America. A co-founder of the popular network Black Entertainment Television (BET) and the first African-American woman billionaire, Johnson rose to become an entrepreneur and philanthropist at the highest levels.

Her new book, Walk Through Fire: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Triumph is filled with candor and emotion as Johnson recounts her many challenges, both in her professional life and thirty-three-year marriage. From battling self-doubt and institutional racism to losing a child, suffering domestic emotional abuse, and plunging into a deep depression from her divorce, Johnson has faced no shortage of hardships. And yet, out of that pain came renewed purpose and meaning. In the third act of her life, Johnson has not only made her mark as the founder of Salamander Hotels & Resorts and the only Black female co-owner of three professional sports teams but has also finally found true love.

Walk Through Fire is at once a story of the American dream and the deeply personal portrait of one woman who, despite heartache and obstacles, finally found herself and her place in the world. Johnson’s deeply personal account of love and loss, tragedy and triumph is an example of overcoming toxicity, discovering her true self, and at last finding happiness in work and life.

Sheila Johnson is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, co-founder of BET, founder, and CEO of Salamander Hotels & Resorts, and the only African American woman to have a principal shareholder stake in three professional sports teams.

Gin Hammond is an award-winning Harvard University/Moscow Art Theatre graduate, as well as an actor, writer, director, and has performed onstage both nationally and internationally. She is also the author of the recently released historical fiction novel Returning The Bones which she wrote after a decade of interviews with the main character.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Northwest African American Museum.

Community partner: Seattle Black Business Network

Walk Through Fire: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Triumph Third Place Books

Have you ever dreamed of being famous? Imagined what it would be like to have all your dreams come true? Recognition, adoration, basking in the limelight. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? But dig a little deeper and you’ll find that “The Road To Fame” is a prickly path, filled with twists & turns, backstabbing & betrayals.

Experience a captivating journey into fame as the performers of Letters Aloud bring to life personal and illuminating letters from renowned figures like Stephen King, Dorothy Parker, Vincent Van Gogh, Emily Dickinson, Bruce Lee, Oprah Winfrey, and Tom Hanks, and explore the steep cost and evolving nature of what it means to be “famous” from those who have traversed its path.

A riotously funny, movingly poignant, and thought-provoking experience brought to life by a gifted ensemble of professional actors, with live musical accompaniment, and a dynamic slide show, “Before They Were Famous” is a show that leaves audiences with smiles on their faces and much to discuss on their drive home.

Letters Aloud is a performing arts company that brings to life intimate, thought-provoking, and often humorous stories hidden within private letters of the past.

Their performances are a unique combination of literature, theatre, and live music that celebrates the beauty of the written word and the human experience. (If you take NPR’s Selected Shorts, cross it with The Moth podcast and add just a pinch of the old A Prairie Home Companion, you pretty much have their show…except, of course, with letters.)

They believe that letters are more than just pieces of paper; they are windows into the past, bridges between people, and tools for empathy and connection. Reading them aloud in front of an audience makes for a truly unique and powerful collective experience.

Whether you’re a fan of literature, history, or simply good storytelling, we invite you to join us on a journey through the written word. Letters Aloud is a celebration of the human spirit and we look forward to sharing it with you.

About the Performers:

PAUL MORGAN STETLER

Paul is the creator and curator of Letters Aloud and a co-founder (and former Co-Artistic Director) of Seattle’s multi-award-winning New Century Theatre Company. A well-known Seattle actor, Paul has appeared on numerous local stages over the past 20 years, including ACT Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Village Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Intiman Theatre, and Empty Space Theatre, as well as numerous regional theatres across the country. He holds a BA in English Literature at Cal State Northridge and an MFA in Theatre Arts from Penn State University.

BASIL HARRIS

Basil Harris is a Seattle actor and musician who has worked extensively on stage and in film and media. As a voice actor, he’s a regular contributor to the audio dramas of Jim French’s Imagination Theater. He also plays in the alt-pop band “Awesome”, which will be appearing here at Town Hall in December. More at basilharris.com

CLAUDINE MBOLIGIKPELANI NAKO

Claudine is an actor out of Seattle, Washington, and a core company member of the prestigious ACT Theatre where she has appeared in numerous plays and is a two-time Gregory Award Winner for her work on stage. Film/TV credits include Everything Sucks!, Raising Dion, and Outside In (Netflix); Three Busy Debras on HBO Max and Grimm on NBC. Up next: directing Stew by Nora Howard at ACT Theatre, March 15-31.

RAY TAGAVILLA

Ray Tagavilla is a UW Drama Program graduate and a recipient of the 2012, 2014 Gregory Award for Best Supporting Actor for Jesus Hopped the A Train and A Small Fire and 2016 for Lead Actor for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. His most recent theater credits were Two Mile Hollow at Intiman Theater, Titanish at Seattle Public, and recent film credits were Three Busy Debras with Adult Swim/HBO Max.

ALEXANDRA TAVARES

Alexandra Tavares is one of Seattle’s most treasured theatre actors. She most recently portrayed Caliban in Seattle Rep’s The Tempest, as well as The Winter’s Tale, The Odyssey, Constellations (nominated for Outstanding Actress), Three Tall Women, and The Great Moment at Seattle Rep. She is a co-founder of The Seagull Project and has performed with them as Nina in The Seagull, Masha (nominated Outstanding Actress) in The Three Sisters, and Yelena in Uncle Vanya. She holds an M.F.A. in acting from the University of Washington.

JAMIE MASCHLER

Jamie is a musician, music director, educator and ambassador of the accordion. She is co-founder of the Brazilian bands Foleada, En Canto, and the accordion duo Creosote. She has been heard with the Pueblo Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Seattle Philharmonic. Jamie has also played the role of Nelly Friedman in Paula Vogel’s award-winning play, Indecent, twice.

From the artistic director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet and former principal dancer for the New York City Ballet comes a deeply personal memoir about one artist’s journey from boyhood to ballet.

Peter Boal’s extensive background in ballet offers a unique glimpse into the world of dance with his diverse repertoire and artistic achievements, including collaborations with prominent choreographers and dancers, Boal’s perspective resonates with both seasoned ballet enthusiasts and those new to the art form. Boal will discuss his journey as well as the challenges and triumphs of his career.

Serving as a platform for fostering a deeper understanding of ballet’s impact on contemporary culture, Boal’s insights into the creative process, his role in shaping Pacific Northwest Ballet’s repertoire, and his dedication to nurturing emerging talents within the dance community offer attendees the chance to gain insights into the dedication and discipline required in ballet, as well as the broader artistic influences that have shaped Peter Boal’s journey.

Whether one is an ardent ballet aficionado or simply curious about the world of dance, this event is poised to offer an enriching experience for all.

Peter Boal is the Artistic Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet School. Born in Bedford, New York, he received his training at the School of American Ballet while performing children’s roles with New York City Ballet. George Balanchine invited Boal to join the company as an apprentice in 1983, and he continued to dance for NYCB until his retirement in 2005. He has staged works by Balanchine, Ulysses Dove, and Jerome Robbins for PNB, PNB School, and other companies. His memoir, Illusions of Camelot, was released in 2023.

Jackson Cooper is a nationally recognized queer arts leader who currently serves as the Major Gifts Manager at Pacific Northwest Ballet and a member of their Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility committee. In addition to his role at the ballet, Cooper serves as an Adjunct Professor for Seattle University’s Arts Leadership program. Cooper is an accomplished writer, with two upcoming publications: A Kids Book About Kindness which comes out this year and a book on fundraising through Columbia Business School Press due out in 2026.

Illusions of Camelot: A Memoir Third Place Books

Who is the most successful woman to ever compete on Jeopardy!?

Amy Schneider’s impressive forty-game winning streak was accompanied by an even greater prize – the joy of being herself on national television and blazing a trail for openly queer and transgender people around the world. Join Amy as she shares her singular journey that led to becoming an unlikely icon and hero to millions.

Amy Schneider is an American software engineer and recent Jeopardy! champion. Following an impressive forty-game winning streak, she became the most successful woman ever to compete on Jeopardy!. She is second all-time in the show’s history, trailing only Ken Jennings. Amy is also the first openly transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions. She has been covered in People, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, USA TODAY, and more, and she has appeared on Good Morning America.

Mimi Zima is a DJ, performer, and recording artist who has been an integral part of Seattle’s music and queer nightlife scenes for nearly a decade. She gained wider recognition in 2020 with the release of her underground rave hit “Back of the Truck.” In her original music and her DJ sets, she strives to boldly confront transmisogyny and to encourage trans women and queer people at large to liberate themselves from shame and repression.

In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life Phinney Books

Professor Scott Méxcal sits down with three of Seattle’s preeminent tattoo artists to chat about life behind the needle. In this discussion, they will explore the history of tattooing, tattoo cultural traditions, and the personal journeys of tattoo artists Sonrisa Barron, Suzanna Fisher, and Dustin Burt.

About the artists:

Sonrisa Barron is the owner and lead artist at Serpent Tattoo LLC, established in 2023 in Olympia, WA. With a Bachelor’s degree from Evergreen State College and extensive training via a long-term apprenticeship, Barron specializes in neo-traditional and illustrative tattoo styles. Barron believes that tattooing is not just about creating a beautiful piece of art, but also about creating an energetic exchange that promotes healing and clarity.

Suzanna Fisher was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and has always felt lucky to live amongst the beauty and diversity that can be found here. Shortly after graduating with a degree in Visual Art from the University of Washington, Suzanna began a tattoo apprenticeship and the fates were forever sealed. Tattooing allows Suzanna to collaborate with clients to realize their vision of personal adornment through a shared appreciation of nature and with respect for this ancient art. Suzanna has been tattooing professionally since 2007 and has owned and operated Bellwether Tattoo in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle since 2014.

Dustin Burt specializes in realistic tattoos through the Black and Grey tattoo technique and has developed a style of his own. With a degree from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and over ten years of tattooing experience, Dustin Burt strives to continually develop as an artist while providing the highest caliber of artwork to his clients. In 2021 Dustin was featured in MoPop’s tattoo exhibition “Body of Work: Tattoo Culture.

About the Moderator:

Scott Méxcal is a public artist, scholar, and art activist. Born and raised in Albuquerque New Mexico, Scott grew up amongst the Nopal and Yucca learning the fundamentals of Chicano Street Art. In 2000, Scott moved to the PNW to earn his BFA from Northwest College of Art and later studied classical painting at Gage Academy of Art in the Aristides Atelier. In 2022, Scott was awarded an MFA through Prescott College in Social and Environmental Practice Art. Scott has lectured at the Seattle Artists of Color Expo and Symposium (ACES), created public art projects, commissions, and exhibitions throughout Seattle, and supports the fight to close the NW Detention Center with Tsuru for Solidarity and La Resistencia.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Gage Arts Academy.

Sages from Cicero to Oprah have told us that forgiveness requires us to let go of negative emotions and that it has a unique power to heal our wounds.

In Failures of Forgiveness, Myisha Cherry argues that these beliefs couldn’t be more wrong — and that the ways we think about and use forgiveness, personally and as a society, can often do more harm than good. She presents a new and healthier understanding of forgiveness — one that will give us a better chance to recover from wrongdoing and move toward “radical repair.”

Cherry began exploring forgiveness after relatives of the victims of the mass shooting at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina, forgave what seemed unforgivable. It appeared to her that many people were more inspired by these acts of forgiveness than they were motivated to confront the racial hatred that led to the killings. She was determined to better understand forgiveness and its role in creating radical change.

In a conversation with José Jorge Mendoza, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Washington, Cherry will explore the facets of forgiveness. Using concepts from her book, Cherry examines how forgiveness can go wrong in families, between friends, at work, and in the media, politics, and beyond. By showing how to forgive differently, Cherry wants to transform how people deal with wrongdoing and open a new path to true healing and reconciliation.

Myisha Cherry is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of California, Riverside, where she also directs the Emotion and Society Lab. She is the author of The Case for Rage: Why Anger Is Essential to Anti-Racist Struggle and UnMuted: Conversations on Prejudice, Oppression, and Social Justice,which draws on her popular podcast UnMute. She has been widely featured in the media, including the Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, the Atlantic, BET, and the podcast Pod Save the People.

José Jorge Mendoza is an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Washington. He is an editor at Radical Philosophy Review and the author of  The Moral and Political Philosophy of Immigration: Liberty, Security, and Equality(Lexington Books 2017). His current research deals with issues concerning migration ethics, Latinx identity, and racial justice.

Failures of Forgiveness: What We Get Wrong and How to Do Better The Elliott Bay Book Company

Design theory helps us understand how and why visual information impacts us the way that it does, and how we communicate and receive that information via the design choices we encounter. It affects how we relate to new art and technology, what we buy, and who we uplift in our society. But how have we arrived at the current norms of modernist design, and which voices have been at the forefront of establishing these practices?

In her book Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice Guidebook, author Dori Tunstall sets out to challenge the paths through European-based standards and practices that have classically informed the design world. In historically excluding the cultures of Indigenous, Black, and People of Color communities, Tunstall argues that modernist design has oppressed the people whose lands and lives it sought to reshape, thus advancing the global project of colonization. This guidebook is focused on the transformation of design theory and practice by addressing these harms and recentering these communities globally across the realm of design.

Tunstall stitches together over 15 years of research and lived experience in the design field, presenting a look at how understanding the decolonization effort offers infinite possibilities within the world of modernist design.

Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall is an educator, advocate, and leader within the intersectional design world. Her work has been featured in Print magazine, Fast Company, AIGA’s Eye on Design, and Design Observer, among other venues. She currently serves as Dean of the Faculty of Design at Ontario College of Art and Design University, Toronto, and is the first Black person to hold such a post globally.

Decolonizing Design: A Cultural Justice Guidebook Third Place Books

Time travel may not be possible, but two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author Colson Whitehead transports readers back to the 1970s with the latest edition in his Harlem Saga.

The second in a trilogy that began with the successful Harlem Shuffle, Crook Manifesto blends dark elements with humor to feature the gritty realities in New York City’s complex history. From Blaxploitation films, America’s Bicentennial Celebrations, and the Jackson Five, Whitehead shows popular culture as it was five decades ago, to high crime rates, social unrest, swelling racial tension, and anti-police sentiment that seem to mirror life today. The novel is an unembellished exploration of harsh truths. Yet in between the corruption, theft, violence, and a motley crew of hustlers and hitmen is Whitehead’s perhaps unexpected exploration into the meaning of family, adding greater depth to the narrative.

Colson Whitehead’s kaleidoscopic portrait of Harlem explores a city under siege and a turbulent decade, told through the eyes of a colorful cast over multiple years. Fans of this novel’s predecessor will appreciate the reprisal of earlier characters and familiar situations, and new readers may be drawn to Crook Manifesto’s unique blend of dark comedy, caper, and commentary on the urban landscape.

Colson Whitehead is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Underground Railroad, which in 2016 won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and the National Book Award and was named one of the Ten Best Books of the Year by The New York Times Book Review. Other books include The Noble Hustle, Zone One, Sag Harbor, The Intuitionist, John Henry Days, Apex Hides the Hurt, and The Colossus of New York. He is also a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a recipient of the MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships. He lives in New York City.

Robert Sindelar has been a bookseller for over 32 years. He is the Managing Partner of Third Place Books (est. 1998), an independent bookstore with 3 locations in the greater Seattle area. Robert has served on the Board of Directors of the American Booksellers Association including serving as its Board President from 2017-2019.

Crook Manifesto
Third Place Books

If you’ve kept up with current affairs or politics over the past decade, James Comey is likely a familiar name. Between 2013 and 2017, Comey served as the seventh director of the FBI and has been at the center of headlines about the Clinton email controversy, the Russian interference hearing, and his dismissal by former president Trump. Yet before the headlines and prior to his time with the FBI, James Comey had already led a uniquely extensive career, holding positions as a prosecutor, defense lawyer, general counsel, teacher, and author.

Now Comey is entering the world of literary fiction with the release of his debut crime novel, Central Park West. Drawing on his career in Federal Law Enforcement as well as his time prosecuting members of the mob, Comey grounds his narrative in a level of realism that can only be achieved through insider knowledge and lived experience.

The story begins as a multi-year case against a powerful mobster finally cracks and an unimpeachable witness takes the stand. But just when it seems like the defendant can be put away for good, a note containing information on a high-profile murder blows the case back open. The result is an investigation riddled with conspiracy, corruption, and danger.

Join James Comey at Town Hall as he discusses Central Park West, named the “Most Anticipated Read of 2023” by Reader’s Digest and Newsweek.

James Comey has been a prosecutor, defense lawyer, general counsel, teacher, writer, and leader. He most recently served in government as Director of the FBI. His best-selling book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership was published in 2018 and made into a 2020 television limited-series. His second book, Saving Justice: Truth, Transparency, and Trust, also a New York Times bestseller, was published in 2021. Jim, as he is known to family and friends, and his wife, Patrice, live in Virginia and are the parents of five and grandparents (so far) of three.

Steve Scher is a podcaster and interviewer and has been a teacher at the University of Washington since 2009. He worked in Seattle public radio for almost 30 years and was Senior Correspondent for Town Hall Seattle’s In The Moment podcast.

Central Park West: A Crime Novel
Third Place Books

The tomato gets no respect. Never has. Stored in the dustbin of history for centuries, accused of being vile and poisonous, appropriated as wartime propaganda, subjected to being picked hard-green and gassed, even used as a projectile, the poor tomato is the Rodney Dangerfield of foods.

Yet, the tomato is the most popular vegetable in America (and, in fact, the world). It holds a place in America’s soul like no other vegetable and few other foods. Each summer, tomato festivals crop up across the country; John Denver had a hit single titled “Homegrown Tomatoes;” and the Heinz tomato ketchup bottle, instantly recognizable, is in the Smithsonian.

Author William Alexander is on a mission to get tomatoes the respect they deserve. Supported by meticulous research but told in a lively, accessible voice, Ten Tomatoes that Changed the World will seamlessly weave travel, history, humor, and a little adventure (and misadventure) to follow the tomato’s trail through history. A fascinating story complete with heroes, con artists, conquistadors, and no surprise, the Mafia, this book is a mouth-watering, informative, and entertaining guide to the good that has captured our hearts for generations.

William Alexander is a New York Times bestselling author and the writer of three critically-acclaimed books, including The $64 Tomato: How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden. He’s been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition and Weekend Edition and has written for the New York Times, the LA Times, Saveur, and others.

Ten Tomatoes that Changed the World: A History
Third Place Books

Often when we think of cinema, the first places that come to mind are New York or Los Angeles. But did you know that hundreds of films and television shows are set in cities around the Pacific Northwest?

From popular series like Twin Peaks to blockbuster book adaptations like Twilight, culture writer David Schmader’s new book Filmlandia!: A Movie Lovers Guide to the Films and Television of Seattle, Portland, and the Great Northwest highlights more than 200 film and television entertainments created and centered in our region.

Extensively researched and curated by Schmader, Filmlandia! explores the oft-overlooked film culture of The Pacific Northwest. The author shows a culture that is thriving and robust, one that is finally given space to be celebrated in a guide that aims to be visually arresting and compelling – much like the films themselves.

Classics like Sleepless in Seattle are discussed, but so are little-known documentaries, including multiple about Nirvana legend Kurt Cobain. Schmader put in a lot of screen time and research for this release, resulting result is over 200 TV and film entries that feature synopses (with healthy doses of levity and insight), behind-the-scene facts and trivia, and regional scenic highlights. Sidebars showcase the television shows that shaped the public’s perception of the region (such as Twin Peaks, Shrill, and Portlandia), filmmakers like Gus Van Sant and Lynn Shelton, queer cinema, silent films, and more.

This is a talk for any cinephile or anyone with a curiosity about a lesser-known aspect of Pacific Northwest culture!

David Schmader is a writer and performer devoted to exploring his obsessions, from homophobic rock stars and pray-away-the-gay Christians to trash cinema and legalized drugs. His solo plays have been performed in theaters across the US. From 1998–2015, Schmader was staff writer and editor for Seattle’s Pulitzer-winning newsweekly The Stranger, where he wrote the issue-opening column “Last Days: The Week in Review.” He is the world’s foremost authority on the glorious terribleness of the movie Showgirls, hosting annotated screenings of Paul Verhoeven’s notorious stripper drama at cinemas all over North America and providing the commentary track for the Showgirls DVD. He is the author of Filmlandia: A Movie Lover’s Guide to the Films and Television of Seattle, Portland, and The Great Northwest and Weed: The User’s Guide, published by Sasquatch Books.

Kathy Fennessy is a Seattle Film Critics Society board member, an approved critic for Rotten Tomatoes, and a regular contributor to Rock and Roll Globe, Seattle Film Blog, and Video Librarian. She has also written or spoken about film for Amazon, KEXP’s Sound and Vision, KUOW’s All Things Considered, Minneapolis’s City Pages, the Northwest Film Forum, the Seattle International Film Festival, and The Stranger. She was born in Connecticut, raised in Alaska, and works in development at Cascade Public Media/KCTS 9. She is a Whitman College graduate and has lived in the Pacific Northwest for 35 years.

Filmlandia!: A Movie Lover's Guide to the Films and Television of Seattle, Portland, and the Great Northwest
Third Place Books

Every year, Town Hall selects exceptional local artists and scholars for paid residencies where they engage with Town Hall programs and collaborate with our programming team to develop original events for the community. Findings Night is the final presentation for Residents to showcase what they have worked on at Town Hall. Learn more about our residencies here.

Sally James, Scholar-in-Residence

The Year 12 project asks about a pivotal period in a young person’s growth when what’s swirling around us in news, music or culture may leave a permanent imprint on our identities. Through shared stories from community members and scientific explanations of why this year is so important, the audience will be encouraged to revisit their own Year 12.

On May 30th, Sally will be joined by these three storytellers:

Sydney Floryanzia, a Ph.D student in Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington, is working on developing drug-delivery methods to cross the blood-brain barrier

Charles Mudede is both a journalist and a filmmaker who’s works can be found in The Stranger and other publications. Two of his films, Police Beat and Zoo, premiered at Sundance, and Zoo was screened at Cannes.

Bryn Nelson is a Seattle-based author, journalist, and editor who specializes in scientific, environmental, medical, and travel-related stories. His new book, Flush: The Remarkable Science of an Unlikely Treasurehas tapped into all four of those interests.

Sally James is a writer whose curiosity about people has taken her from jails to hospitals to schools to research labs. Once a staff member on daily newspapers, she has been an independent writer on medicine and science for many years. She has reported stories for the South Seattle Emerald, Parentmap, and Seattle Business magazines, as well as other outlets. She is the mother of three adult children and lives in Seattle with her husband and a noisy cat. She is a former president of the Northwest Science Writers Association, a nonprofit supporting science communication.

Have you ever heard the beginnings of a tale involving someone from Florida and not been at least a little intrigued?

New York Times bestselling author, Pulitzer Prize winner, and actual Florida Man Dave Barry returns with Swamp Story, a compelling novel that blends crime and comedy set in the state known for its unbelievable occurrences.

New mom Jesse Braddock is trapped in a tiny cabin deep in the Everglades with her infant daughter and ex-boyfriend, a wannabe reality TV star whose handsome exterior belies a disappointing personality. Broke and desperate for a way out, Jesse stumbles across a long-lost treasure that she believes could solve all her problems if she can figure out how to keep it away from some dangerous men who are in pursuit of said fortune — and now Jesse.

Meanwhile, a man named Ken Bortle of Bortle Brothers Bait and Beer schemes to lure tourists to his failing store by making viral videos of the “Everglades Melon Monster.” The Monster is in fact an unemployed alcoholic named Phil wearing a Dora the Explorer costume head. Incredibly, this plan actually works, inspiring a horde of overzealous TikTokers to swarm the swamp searching for the monster at the same time villains are on the hunt for Jesse’s treasure. And if that weren’t enough Floridian chaos, a presidential hopeful arrives in the Everglades to start his campaign.

Needless to say, author Dave Barry’s new caper full of mayhem is unpredictable. But this is fitting — it is, after all, Florida.

Dave Barry is the author of more bestsellers than you can count on two hands, including Lessons from Lucy, Dave Barry’s Complete Guide to Guys, Dave Barry Turns Forty, and Dave Barry Is Not Making This Up. A wildly popular syndicated columnist best known for his booger jokes, Barry won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. He lives in Miami.

Swamp Story
The Elliott Bay Book Company

Once upon a time, there was a gigantic mess named Jen Sincero.

She bought the cheapest toothpaste, dated all the wrong people, drove broken cars, and made zero money. A decade later, Jen is now a world-renowned author, success coach, and motivational speaker and celebrating the 10th anniversary of her blockbuster bestseller, You Are a Badass (new edition on sale April 11th).

A lot can change in ten years, especially considering 2013 looks a hell of a lot different than 2023 but one thing remains: in order to kick ass, you must first lift up your foot.

Jen Sincero is getting the band back together for the You Are A Badass Anniversary Tour and hitting the road to celebrate her timeless and beloved how-to-guide that has transformed lives and inspired a movement. With her signature “jenisms,” she will make sure you leave the event with a modern-day understanding of why you are how you are, how to love what you can’t change, how to change what you don’t love, and, of course, how to use The Force to kick some serious ass.

Jen Sincero is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and motivational cattle prod who’s helped countless people transform their personal and professional lives via her products, speaking engagements, newsletters, seminars, and books. Her #1 New York Times bestseller, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life, has remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over five years, has sold over 5 million copies worldwide, is available in over 40 languages, and continues to grow in popularity around the globe. Her follow-ups, You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth, You Are a Badass Every Day, and Badass Habits are written with the same signature sass, down-to-earth humor and blunt practicality that made You Are a Badass a beloved bestseller and Jen a celebrated voice in the world of self-development.

You Are a Badass
The Elliott Bay Book Company

Growing up, Chasten Glezman Buttigieg didn’t always fit in.

He felt different from his father and brothers, who loved to hunt and go camping in the rural, conservative small town where he lived. Back then, blending in was more important than feeling seen.

So, when Chasten realized he was gay, he kept that part of himself hidden away for a long, painful time. With incredible bravery, and the support of his loved ones, Chasten eventually came out — and when he did, he learned that being true to himself was the most rewarding journey of all.

Finding acceptance and self-love can seem like a tremendous challenge, but it’s never impossible. With honesty, courage, and warmth, Chasten relays his experience in this young adult adaptation of his memoir, about growing up in America and embracing his identity, while inspiring young people across the country to do the same.

I Have Something to Tell You — For Young Adults is a hopeful, candid memoir by the husband of a former Democratic presidential candidate about growing up gay in his small Midwestern town.

Chasten Glezman Buttigieg grew up in Traverse City, Michigan. He is a teacher, advocate, and husband of former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. Chasten currently lives with Pete; their two children, Gus and Penelope; and their two rescue dogs, Buddy and Truman, in Northern Michigan. I Have Something to Tell You — For Young Adults is his second book.

Naomi Ishisaka is the Assistant Managing Editor for Diversity and Inclusion and the Social Justice Columnist for The Seattle Times. She is a journalist and photographer who focuses on racial equity and social justice.

I Have Something to Tell You — For Young Adults The Elliott Bay Book Company

Can we still love the work of Hemingway, Polanski, Naipaul, Miles Davis, or Picasso? Should we love it?

In this unflinching, deeply personal book that expands on her instantly viral Paris Review essay, “What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?” Claire Dederer asks: Does genius deserve special dispensation? Is male monstrosity the same as female monstrosity? Does art have a mandate to depict the darker elements of the psyche? And what happens if the artist stares too long into the abyss? She explores the audience’s relationship with complicated artists, asking: How do we balance our undeniable sense of moral outrage with our equally undeniable love of the work?

In a more troubling vein, she wonders if an artist needs to be a monster to create something great. And if an artist is also a mother, does one identity inexorably, and fatally, interrupt the other? Highly topical, morally wise, honest to the core, Monsters is certain to incite a conversation about whether and how we can separate artists from their art.

Claire Dederer is a bestselling memoirist, essayist, and critic. Her books include the critically acclaimed Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning, as well as Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses, which was a New York Times bestseller. Poser has been translated into eleven languages, optioned for television by Warner Bros., and adapted for the stage.

Sonora Jha is the author of the memoir How to Raise a Feminist Son and the novel Foreign. After a career as a journalist covering crime, politics, and culture in India and Singapore, she moved to the United States to earn a PhD in media and public affairs. Dr. Jha’s op-eds, essays, and public appearances have been featured in the New York Times, on the BBC, in anthologies, and elsewhere. She is a professor of journalism at Seattle University. Her new novel, The Laughter, has opened to rave reviews from The New York Times, Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, and others.

Angela Garbes is the author of Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change, called “a landmark and a lightning storm” by the New Yorker. Essential Labor was named a Best Book of 2022 by both the New Yorker and NPR. Her first book, Like a Mother, was also an NPR Best Book of the Year. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, New York Magazine, and featured on The Daily Show with Trevor Noahand Fresh Air with Terry Gross. A first-generation Filipina American, Garbes lives with her family on Beacon Hill.

Monsters The Elliott Bay Book Company

Side Notes from the Archivist is a preservation of Black culture viewed through a feminist lens. The Archivist leads readers through poems that epitomize youthful renditions of a Black girl coming of age in Philadelphia’s pre-funk ’80s; episodic adventures of “the Black Girl” whose life is depicted through the white gaze; and selections of verse evincing affection for self and testimony to the magnificence within Black femme culture at-large.

In her uniquely embracing and experimental style, Anastacia-Reneé documents and celebrates diverse subjects, from Solid Gold to halal hotdogs; as homages and reflections on iconic images, from Marsha P. Johnson to Aunt Jemima; and as critiques of systemic oppression forcing some to countdown their last heartbeat.

Anastacia-Reneé (she/they) is a queer, hybrid writer, educator, retro-flector, artist, speaker, and podcaster. She is the author of Side Notes from the Archivist (2023) and Forget It (2017), and they were selected by NBC News as part of the list of “Queer Artists of Color Dominate 2021’s Must See LGBTQ Art Shows.” She was a former Seattle Civic Poet (2017-2019), Hugo House Poet-in-Residence (2015-2017) Jack Straw Curator, and Arc Artist Fellow (2020). Her work has been anthologized in Teaching Black: The Craft of Teaching on Black Life and Literature; Home is Where You Queer Your Heart; Furious Flower: Seeding the Future of African American Poetry; Afrofuturism: Black Comics and Superhero Poetry, and many others. Their work has appeared in Hobart, Foglifter, Auburn Avenue, Catapult, Alta, Torch, Poetry Northwest, A-Line, Cascadia Magazine, Hennepin Review, Split this Rock, Ms. Magazine, and others. Reneé has received fellowships and residencies from Cave Canem, Hedgebrook, VONA, Ragdale, Mineral School, and The New Orleans Writers Residency.

Quenton Baker is a poet, educator, and Cave Canem fellow. Their current focus is black interiority and the afterlife of slavery. Their work has appeared in The Offing, Jubilat, Vinyl, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. They are a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and the recipient of the 2018 Arts Innovator Award from Artist Trust. They were a 2019 Robert Rauschenberg Artist in Residence and a 2021 NEA Fellow. They are the author of we pilot the blood (2021) and ballast (2023).

Side Notes from the Archivist

Town Hall Seattle and Gage Academy of Art present Preston Singletary: Honoring Stories Through Glass-Blowing.

The art of Preston Singletary has become synonymous with the relationship between European glass-blowing traditions and Northwest Native art. His artworks feature themes of transformation, animal spirits, and shamanism through elegant blown glass forms and mystical sand-carved Tlingit designs.

Singletary learned the art of glass blowing by working with artists in the Seattle area including Benjamin Moore and Dante Marioni. As a student and assistant, he initially focused on mastering the techniques of the European tradition. In 1993 he traveled to Sweden and was immersed in the Scandinavian design community where he met his future wife Åsa and lived there for 6 months.

Throughout his over thirty years of glass-blowing experience, he has also had opportunities to learn the secrets of the Venetian glass masters by working with Italian legends Lino Tagliapietra, Cecco Ongaro, and Pino Signoretto. In 2010, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Puget Sound.

Now recognized internationally, Singletary’s artworks are included in museum collections such as The British Museum (London, UK), The Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA), The Seattle Art Museum (Seattle WA), the Corning Museum of Glass (Corning, NY), the Mint Museum of Art and Design (Charlotte, NC), the Heard Museum (Phoenix, AZ), and the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC).

Preston Singletary maintains an active schedule by teaching, lecturing, and exhibiting internationally. In 2009, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA, launched a major mid-career survey of his work, entitled “Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire, and Shadows”. In 2018 he launched a new traveling exhibition with the Museum of Glass, titled “Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight”, which pushes the boundaries of glass as a medium for storytelling. His latest work is a large Killer Whale Totem created entirely in lead crystal and standing at nearly eight feet tall.

Every year, Town Hall selects exceptional local artists and scholars for paid residencies where they engage with Town Hall programs and collaborate with our programming team to develop original events for the community. For our Spring 2023 residency, we’re lucky enough to have both a Scholar- and an Artist-in-Residence. This Scratch Night will showcase their work in progress.

Scholar in Residence: Sally James Sally James is a writer whose curiosity about people has taken her from jails to hospitals to schools to research labs. Once a staff member of daily newspapers, she has been an independent writer on medicine and science for many years. Most recently, she’s reported stories for the South Seattle Emerald, Parentmap, Seattle and Seattle Business magazines, and other outlets. She is the mother of three adult children and lives in Seattle with her husband and a noisy cat. She is a former president of the Northwest Science Writer’s Association, a nonprofit supporting science communication.

Focus while in Residence: In the words of Sally, “The Year 12 project is asking about a pivotal time in a young person’s growth when what’s swirling around us in news, music, or culture may leave a permanent imprint on our identities.

Laura Kastner, Ph.D., a clinical professor of psychology at the University of Washington, will join James onstage to talk about the brain changes that happen around age 12. Kastner is the author of several books about adolescence and parenting. You can participate in Sally’s Year 12 project here: Share your Year 12 Stories!

Sometimes the impact of our actions and interactions can be vaster and longer lasting than we can predict.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever ― and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

This event will have CART transcription.

Victoria “V. E.” Schwab is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, including the acclaimed Shades of Magic series, Villains series, Monster of Verity duology, Cassidy Blake series, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Her work has received critical acclaim and been featured in the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post, and more translated into more than two dozen languages, and has been optioned for television and film. When she’s not haunting Paris streets or trudging up English hillsides, she lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is usually tucked in the corner of a coffee shop, dreaming up monsters.

Nisi Shawl is the multiple award-winning author and editor of over a dozen books, including Nebula Award finalist Everfair, two volumes of the New Suns anthology series, and Filter House, co-winner of the 2009 Otherwise Award. Recent titles include the horror collection Our Fruiting Bodies and the middle-grade historical fantasy Speculation.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue The Elliott Bay Book Company

Join award-winning NPR journalist Ari Shapiro for an evening of conversation about his memoir and tales from his storied broadcast career.

The beloved host of “All Things Considered” is known for his adventurous spirit and insatiable curiosity, which has served him well whether he’s traveling on Air Force One with President Obama, navigating war-torn countries, or following community leaders fighting for social justice. His new memoir, The Best Strangers In the World, details all of this and more in captivating essays and is a true love letter to journalism.

Shapiro will be joined by special guests as he shares insights from his life spent listening.

Ari Shapiro is the host of NPR’s ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, the most listened-to radio news program in the United States. He won the Edward R. Murrow Award for coverage of the Trump Administration’s asylum policies on the US-Mexico border. The COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW honored him with a laurel for his investigation into disability benefits for injured veterans. The American Bar Association awarded him the Silver Gavel for exposing the failures of Louisiana’s detention system after Hurricane Katrina. And at age 25, Shapiro won the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize for an investigation of methamphetamine use and HIV transmission. Shapiro makes frequent appearances as a guest singer with the “little orchestra” Pink Martini. He created the original one-man show, HOMEWARD, in 2016. Since 2019, he has performed and toured the stage show OCH AND OY with Tony Award winner Alan Cumming. He lives in Washington, DC. https://www.npr.org/people/2101154/ari-shapiro

Dan Shapiro, an innovative entrepreneur, and five-time CEO has dedicated his career to helping people bring their ideas to life. With accomplishments spanning software, board game design, and laser technology, Dan’s pursuits are fueled by curiosity and inventive problem-solving.

Inspired by his passion for teaching his children, Dan created Robot Turtles, the bestselling board game in Kickstarter history. Robot Turtles teaches programming principles to kids as young as preschool, and has been sold everywhere, from Target to the Museum of Modern Art. As CEO and cofounder of Glowforge, the 3D laser printer company, Dan shattered crowdfunding records by raising $27.9M in 30 days. Glowforge now helps millions of people around the world bring their creative ideas to life.

Dan’s accomplishments have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, and on the front page of the New York Times. He holds more than 30 patents for his creations and lives in Seattle with his wife and teenage twins.

The Best Strangers in the World Third Place Books

Movies, books, and TV shows tell us we should’ve already found our people — those close, always dependable, tried-and-true forever friends — by the time we’re adults (and if we haven’t, there must be something wrong with us). But it’s often easier said than done. Where do you find close friends beyond childhood or school? Is it even possible?

Like many people navigating adulthood, Lane Moore thought she would have friends by now. Sure, Moore has plenty of casual acquaintances and people she likes hanging out with, but she wanted to find her people — the ones she lists as her emergency contact, the ones she calls when something funny or horrible happens, the ones who bring over soup over when she’s sick as she would do for them — her chosen family.

You Will Find Your People is the groundbreaking guide to making and keeping the friends we’ve all been desperately waiting for. In this follow-up to her best-selling book How to Be Alone, Moore shows us how to make real friends as an adult, cope with friend breakups, navigate friendships with coworkers, roommates, and family members, and provides real tools on how to create healthy boundaries with friends to deepen your bonds. Through hilarious personal anecdotes and hard-won wisdom, Moore teaches us how to finally work through our fears and past hurts, to bravely cultivate and maintain the lifelong friendships we deserve.

Lane Moore is an award-winning stand-up comedian, actor, author, and musician. Moore is the creator of the hit comedy show Tinder Live, and the bestselling author of How To Be Alone and the forthcoming You Will Find Your People. Moore’swriting has appeared everywhere from The New Yorker to The Onion, and she is the former sex and relationships editor at Cosmopolitan, where she received a GLAAD Award for her groundbreaking work expanding the magazine’s queer coverage.Moore is the frontperson in the band It Was Romance and lives in Brooklyn with her dog-child, Lights.

Angela Garbes is the author of Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change, called “a landmark and a lightning storm” by the New Yorker. Essential Labor was named a Best Book of 2022 by both the New Yorker and NPR. Her first book, Like a Mother, was also an NPR Best Book of the Year as well as a finalist for the Washington State Book Award in nonfiction. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, and New York Magazine, and featured on The Daily Show with Trevor Noahand Fresh Air with Terry Gross. A first-generation Filipina American, Garbes lives with her family on Beacon Hill.

Lindy West is a former contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, and is the author of Shit, Actually, the New York Times bestselling memoir Shrill, and the essay collection The Witches Are Coming. Her work has also appeared in This American Life, The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Vulture, Jezebel, and others. She is the co-founder of the reproductive rights destigmatization campaign #ShoutYourAbortion. Lindy is a writer and executive producer on Shrill, the Hulu comedy adapted from her memoir. She co-wrote and produced the independent feature film Thin Skin.

You Will Find Your People Third Place Books

Defiance had provoked Lisa Thompson to enter the male-dominated world of high-altitude mountaineering, but defiance could only take her so far.

After a harrowing battle with cancer, Lisa realized she needed to understand what motivated her to take greater and greater risks in the mountains. Finding Elevation chronicles Thompson’s path from novice climber to world-class mountaineer, as she becomes the second American woman to summit K2, which is considered by many to be the deadliest mountain in the world.

More than a climbing memoir, Finding Elevation is a deeply personal examination of motivation and the human spirit. It is a story of what can happen when we finally stop letting others define our limits and instead trust that we are capable of more. In this inspiring book, Thompson reaches beyond the mountain to tell a story of heartbreak, resilience, and the discovery that we are responsible for defining our own boundaries, finding our own happiness, and facing our fears head-on.

Lisa Thompson is a mountaineer, cancer survivor, and sought-after speaker and coach. Growing up in the flat, humid farmlands of Illinois, she relied on adventure as a distraction, always knowing that she’d someday leave her hometown for something bigger. She soon became the first person in her extended family to graduate from college. She worked for twenty-five years as an engineer and in leadership roles at technology companies.

Since she began climbing in 2008, Lisa has summited some of the most challenging mountains in the world, including Everest. She has completed the Seven Summits, reaching the top of the highest peak of each of the seven continents. Through her company, Alpine Athletics, and other platforms, Lisa shares her message of strength and resilience with corporate and private groups worldwide. She lives in Seattle with her golden retriever, Chevy, who loves the mountains almost as much as she does. You can learn more about Lisa at www.lisaclimbs.com.

Alexandra Oliva is the author of two novels, Forget Me Not and The Last One, which was a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist as well as a Seattle Times Best Book of 2016. Her work has been translated into over twenty-five languages and her writing has appeared in The New York Times. Originally from the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, Ali was a first-generation college student, graduating from Yale University in 2005. She later earned her MFA in Creative Writing from The New School in New York City and soon afterward moved to the Pacific Northwest. She now lives on Seattle’s Eastside with her husband, dog, and young son.

Finding Elevation: Fear and Courage on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain Third Place Books

Born and raised on her family’s 7-acre ranch in Auburn, Washington, African American sculptor Marita Dingus has been exhibiting her artwork locally and internationally for over 30 years. Working almost exclusively with found objects of every possible variety, Dingus’s work is a commentary on the enslavement of African people, recycling, and the politics of poverty. Her signature African-inflected figures of all sizes have become a familiar sight in the region, having been shown at galleries, museums, outdoor installations, and even on the walls of Town Hall Seattle, where her piece “Woman as the Creator” can be viewed on the 1st Floor.

Gary Faigin talks with her about her long career and where she plans to go from here.

Marita Dingus attended Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia (BFA, 1980) and San Jose State University (MFA, 1985). She has received a Visual Art Fellowship from Artist Trust (1994), a John S. Guggenheim Fellowship (1999), and the Morrie and Joan Alhadeff PONCHO Artist of the Year Award (2005).

Dingus has had solo shows at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter and The Stenersen Museum, both in Norway (2002, 2006), as well as the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, WA (2005 – 2006). Her work has been included in Nature/Culture organized by The Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh (2006 – 2008), Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC (2006 – 2007) and 21st Century American Women Artists at the Residence of the United States Ambassador to NATO in Brussels, Belgium (2006 – 2010). Her work is in many regional museums and corporate collections. Dingus currently lives and works in the state of Washington and is represented by Traver Gallery in Seattle.

Painter, critic, and author Gary Faigin is cofounder and Artistic Director of Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, as well as the school’s Still Life Atelier instructor. Faigin also serves as a Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, where he teaches facial expressions to graduate animation students and works on a research team studying the human perception of stylized facial expressions. He has taught in art schools across the country including the National Academy of Design and the Parsons School of Design. In 2001, Faigin published his first book, The Artist’s Complete Guide to Facial Expression, which has since been translated into seven languages and reprinted sixteen times.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and the Gage Academy of Art.

You look good for your age.” “You’re too young to understand.”

In employment decisions, family discussions, medical care, and even in birthday cards, assumptions about being “over the hill” or “a lazy kid” are common. What do you wish society would stop saying about your generation? How can we talk about age and aging in a more positive, affirming way? In this interactive and fun talk, Dori Gillam welcomes individuals from every generation to explore how we can begin valuing all ages — including our own.

Dori Gillam is a speaker and writer, inspiring older adults to age creatively. She writes for 3rd Act Magazine, is a member of the Speaker’s Bureau for Humanities Washington, Board Chair for the NW Center for Creative Aging, Charter Member of the Age Friendly Seattle Coalition, and volunteers with Habitat for Humanity building houses around the world. Dori cared for her parents for the last seven years of their lives and performs a story about them at local theaters and conferences. With a BS degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Washington, Dori has worked for Sound Generations, AARP, and the Bayview Retirement Community. She is proud to have been born and raised in Seattle, does a mean tap-dance to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” and has climbed Mt. Rainier and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Dori’s daughter, son-in-law, and grandson live in California.

Northwest Center for Creative Aging (NWCCA) advocates for the creativity, vitality, and wholeness inherent in all of us. As we age, we discover new capacities and new interests. We seek activities that expand our minds, strengthen our bodies, and open our hearts. We recognize the necessity of interdependence, humor, generosity, and gratitude to bolster us during challenging times.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Northwest Center for Creative Aging.

Why are mystery novels so captivating? Well, name a better way to be thrilled without ever having to leave your own home … For over 30 years, #1 New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George has been penning page-turners for crime novel enthusiasts around the globe. This winter, the Seattle-based writer is back with the paperback release of her latest book Something to Hide. This book is #21 in George’s A Lynley Novel series, known for involving crimes that are “deeply shocking and suspenseful.”

This time, Acting Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeants Barbara Havers and Winston Nkata investigate the murder of one of their own: a police detective sergeant who was working on a special task force in North London’s Nigerian community. When an autopsy reveals the murderous act that precipitated her death, Lynley is assigned to the case, which he soon learns has far-reaching and unexpected cultural associations. Lynley, Havers, and Nkata must sort through the lies of people whose superficial cooperation masks the damage they do to one another. And just when we think we know who the killer is, George turns the tables.

With a combination of adventure, sociocultural implications, and engaging characters, Something to Hide is a world familiar to seasoned readers of George’s writing, and enrapturing to newcomers.

Elizabeth George is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-one psychological suspense novels, four young adult novels, two books of nonfiction, and two short-story collections. Her work has been honored with the Anthony and Agatha awards, two Edgar nominations, and both France’s and Germany’s first prize for crime fiction. She lives in Washington State.

Moira Macdonald is a longtime arts critic for The Seattle Times, writing primarily about books, movies and dance.

Something to Hide: A Lynley Novel (Hardcover) Third Place Books

The Billboard Hot 100 began in 1958, and for many, that little countdown list provokes some strong feelings of nostalgia. Did you listen in while gathered around a family-room radio? A walkman? Blasted through a car stereo, waiting in the driveway until you heard the #1 song of the week? The way we access music might have changed drastically over the decades, but the Billboard Hot 100 still reigns supreme as the industry-standard record chart. And it has a story to tell.

Beloved music critic Tom Breihan started to tell some of that story when he launched his Stereogum column, “The Number Ones,” in early 2018. With the goal to write about every #1 hit in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, in chronological order, he’s still in the early aughts after four years. And the column has taken on a life of its own, sparking online debate and occasional death threats, and now, its own book.

In The Number Ones, Breihan explores twenty pivotal #1s throughout chart history to tell a remarkably fluid and connected story of music, from the Brill Building songwriters to the Beatles and the Beach Boys; from Motown to Michael Jackson, Prince, and Mariah Carey; and from the digital revolution to the K-pop system. He also illuminates what makes indelible ear candy across the decades—including dance crazes, recording innovations, television phenomena, disco, AOR, MTV, rap, compact discs, mp3s, social media, memes, and much more — leaving us to wonder what future eras of music will hold.

Tom Breihan is the senior editor at the music website Stereogum, where he writes “The Number Ones,” a column where he reviews every #1 hit in the history of the Billboard Hot 100. He’s written for Pitchfork, the Village Voice, the AV Club, GQ, and the Ringer, among others. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his wife and kids. He is seven feet tall.

Tom Nissley is the owner of Phinney Books and Madison Books in Seattle, and the author of A Reader’s Book of Days. He has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington and in 2010 won eight games on Jeopardy!.

The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music Phinney Books

As an art critic and a museum staffer, Erin Langner was skeptical of what she would find when she visited the Las Vegas Strip for the first time in the mid-2000s. To her surprise, she returned whenever the opportunity arose, seeking to understand her attraction to this “escape” destination — and the personal histories it conjured.

The architecture of the Mirage casino surfaced the vacations to Florida that bandaged her grieving family together in the wake of her mother’s death. An encounter with a fake Venus de Milo during a bachelorette party shed light on her identity construction as a woman. An impersonator show evoked the rituals we create as we navigate loss. Together, the essays of Souvenirs from Paradise become a guide to holding fantasy and reality together in one glimpse, in order to better understand our impulses and ourselves.

Souvenirs from Paradise was selected as the winner of Zone 3 Press’s Creative Nonfiction Book Award by Wendy S. Walters.

Erin Langner writes about art, architecture and identity. She is a regular contributor to Hyperallergic and METROPOLIS magazines. Her writing has also appeared or is forthcoming in publications including Fourth Genre, december, The Offing, The Normal School, Hobart, The Brooklyn Rail and Pidgeonholes. Langner is the recipient of a Jack Straw Writers fellowship (2022) and the Good Hart Artist Residency (2023). She earned her M.A. in Museology from the University of Washington and her B.A. in Humanities from the University of Colorado. She lives in Seattle with her husband and daughter and works on exhibitions and publications at the Frye Art Museum. Souvenirs is her debut essay collection.

Jen Graves is a stepmother, a mother, a dog mother, a couples and family therapist, sometimes adjunct faculty, and — back when she had the honor of publishing Erin Langner’s writing at The Stranger — a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Criticism.

Souvenirs from Paradise Phinney Books

For years, consumers have been promised a simple, carefree digital future. We could live, work, learn, and play from the comforts of our homes, and have whatever we desire brought to our door with the flick of a finger. Instant communication would bring us together. All this technological convenience would give us more time to focus on what really mattered.

When the pandemic hit, for many, that future transformed into the present almost overnight. But the reviews aren’t great. It turns out that people like leaving the house, instant communication can spread more anger than joy, and convenience seems to take away time rather than giving it to us. Oops.

But as David Sax argues in his new book The Future is Analog, we’ve also had our eyes opened. There is nothing about the future that has to be digital, and embracing the reality of human experience doesn’t mean resisting change. Sax explores work, school, leisure, and more, asking perceptive and pointed questions: what happens to struggling students when they’re not in a classroom? If software is built for productivity, who tends to the social and cultural aspects of our jobs? Can you have religion without community?

For many people, the best parts of quarantine were the least digital ones: baking bread, playing board games, going hiking; using our hands, hugging our children and breathing fresh air. Sax suggests that if we want a healthy future, we need to choose community over convenience and humanity over technology.

David Sax is a writer, reporter, and speaker who specializes in business and culture. His book The Revenge of Analog was a #1 Washington Post bestseller, was selected as one of Michiko Kakutani’s Top Ten books of 2016 for The New York Times, and has been translated into six languages. He is also the author of three other books: Save the Deli, which won a James Beard award, The Soul of an Entrepreneur, and The Tastemakers. He lives in Toronto.

The Future Is Analog: How to Create a More Human World (Hardcover) Third Place Books

There’s no denying it: Work relationships can be hard. The stress of dealing with difficult people can dampen creativity and productivity, degrade the ability to think clearly and make sound decisions, and cause people to disengage. We might lie awake at night worrying, withdraw from work, or react in ways we later regret — rolling our eyes in a meeting, snapping at colleagues, or staying silent when we should speak up. Too often we grin and bear it as if we have no choice.

But people can only endure so much thoughtless, irrational, or malicious behavior. In Getting Along, workplace expert and Harvard Business Review podcast host Amy Gallo identifies eight familiar types of difficult coworkers: the insecure boss; the passive-aggressive peer; the know-it-all; the biased coworker; and others — and provides strategies tailored to dealing constructively with each one. She also shares principles that will help you turn things around, no matter who you’re at odds with.

Taking the high road isn’t easy, but Gallo offers a crucial perspective on how work relationships really matter, as well as the compassion, encouragement, and tools you need to prevail on your terms. Through relatable, sometimes cringe-worthy examples and the latest behavioral science research, Gallo offers practical advice for navigating your toughest relationships at work — and building interpersonal resilience in the process.

Amy Gallo is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review, where she writes about workplace dynamics. She is the author of the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict and cohosts HBR’s Women at Work podcast. As a speaker and workshop facilitator, Gallo has helped thousands of leaders deal with conflict more effectively and navigate complicated workplace dynamics. She is a graduate of Yale University and has a master’s in public policy from Brown University.

Ruchika Tulshyan is the founder of Candour, a global inclusion strategy firm. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times and Harvard Business Review. As a keynote speaker, Ruchika has addressed audiences at organizations like NASA, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and U.S. Congress. Ruchika is on the Thinkers50 Radar list and Hive Learning’s Most Influential D&I Professionals. She is a former business journalist who is now regularly quoted as a media expert in outlets like NPR, The New York Times, and Bloomberg. Ruchika is the author of The Diversity Advantage: Fixing Gender Inequality in the Workplace and Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work.

Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People)
Third Place Books

Imagine a world where decisions are decided by the roll of a pair of dice. What to eat? Roll the dice. Who to marry? Roll again. How to die, and when? Get rolling. We can only imagine how different our lives might be if we surrendered every decision to the unpredictable fall of two numbered cubes.

From Penn Jillette — yes, that Penn Jillette of the legendary duo Penn & Teller — comes Random: a crime novel that aims to bring Jillette’s magic from the stage to the page, inviting readers into a caper story that explores ideas like faith and fate with irreverence, wit, and humor.

In Random, Las Vegas native Bobby Ingersoll finds out that he has inherited a crushing gambling debt from his father of ill repute, just two weeks before his twenty-first birthday. The debt is owed to the deplorable Fraser Ruphart who oversees a bottom-rung criminal empire, and Bobby’s prospects of paying off the note, which is due the day he turns 21, are bleak.

In the nick of time, Bobby stumbles on enough cash to pay off the crime lord and change his family’s fortune. Perhaps even more significantly, Bobby finds that he has become a “believer” of sorts. But Bobby does not consign his big break to a higher power — what Penn Jillette hero ever could? Instead, he devises and devotes himself to Random, a philosophy where his life choices are based entirely on the roll of his “lucky” dice. What follows is an amusing exploration that’s less about what defines us and more about what divines us.

Random combines the intellectual curiosity of Richard Dawkins with the humor and grit of an Elmore Leonard antihero, and its protagonist is Jillette’s creative solution to navigating the chaos of the post-truth era.

Penn Jillette is a cultural phenomenon as a solo personality and as half of the world-famous Emmy Award–winning magic duo Penn & Teller, whose live show spent years on Broadway and is now the longest-running headlining show in Las Vegas. The pair have their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Jillette cohosted the Showtime series Penn & Teller: Bullshit! which was nominated for thirteen Emmy Awards and won him a Writers Guild Award. He currently cohosts the CW Network competition series Penn & Teller: Fool Us! His weekly podcast, Penn’s Sunday School, was the number one downloaded podcast on iTunes during its debut week and was named by iTunes as Best New Comedy Podcast. He is the author of numerous books, including the nonfiction New York Times best-selling books Presto!: How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales and God No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales; the novel Sock; and the essay collection Every Day Is an Atheist Holiday!

Random (Hardcover)
Elliott Bay Books

Before there was Kate Beaton, the New York Times bestselling cartoonist of Hark! A Vagrant, there was Katie Beaton of the Cape Breton Beatons — specifically Mabou, a tight-knit seaside community where lobster is as abundant as beaches, fiddles, and Gaelic folk songs. With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, Katie heads out west to take advantage of Alberta’s oil rush — part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can’t find it in the homeland they love so much. Katie encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands, where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet is never discussed.

Beaton’s natural cartooning prowess is on full display as she draws colossal machinery and mammoth vehicles set against a sublime Albertan backdrop of wildlife, northern lights, and boreal forest. Her first full length graphic narrative, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands blends history, politics, and memoir in an untold story of Canada: a country that prides itself on its egalitarian ethos and natural beauty while simultaneously exploiting both the riches of its land and the humanity of its people.

Beaton is joined in discussion by memoirist and New York Times bestseller Claire Dederer.

Kate Beaton is a Canadian cartoonist who appeared on the comics scene in 2007 with her online work Hark! A Vagrant. She has published two books with Drawn & Quarterly: Hark! A Vagrant and Step Aside Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection, which spent five and six months on the New York Times graphic bestseller list respectively. She has also appeared on best-of-the-year lists from Time, The Washington Post, Vulture, E!, and more. She has also published two picture books: King Baby and The Princess and the Pony. Beaton lives in Cape Breton, Canada.

Claire Dederer is a bestselling memoirist, essayist, and critic. Her books include the critically acclaimed Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning, as well as Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses, which was a New York Times bestseller. Poser has been translated into eleven languages, optioned for television by Warner Bros., and adapted for the stage. A longtime contributor to The New York Times, her work has also appeared in The Paris Review, The Atlantic, The Nation, Vogue, and many other publications. She began her career as the chief film critic for Seattle Weekly.

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (Hardcover)
Elliott Bay Books

Before there was Kate Beaton, the New York Times bestselling cartoonist of Hark! A Vagrant, there was Katie Beaton of the Cape Breton Beatons — specifically Mabou, a tight-knit seaside community where lobster is as abundant as beaches, fiddles, and Gaelic folk songs. With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, Katie heads out west to take advantage of Alberta’s oil rush — part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can’t find it in the homeland they love so much. Katie encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands, where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet is never discussed.

Beaton’s natural cartooning prowess is on full display as she draws colossal machinery and mammoth vehicles set against a sublime Albertan backdrop of wildlife, northern lights, and boreal forest. Her first full length graphic narrative, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands blends history, politics, and memoir in an untold story of Canada: a country that prides itself on its egalitarian ethos and natural beauty while simultaneously exploiting both the riches of its land and the humanity of its people.

Beaton is joined in discussion by memoirist and New York Times bestseller Claire Dederer.

Kate Beaton is a Canadian cartoonist who appeared on the comics scene in 2007 with her online work Hark! A Vagrant. She has published two books with Drawn & Quarterly: Hark! A Vagrant and Step Aside Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection, which spent five and six months on the New York Times graphic bestseller list respectively. She has also appeared on best-of-the-year lists from Time, The Washington Post, Vulture, E!, and more. She has also published two picture books: King Baby and The Princess and the Pony. Beaton lives in Cape Breton, Canada.

Claire Dederer is a bestselling memoirist, essayist, and critic. Her books include the critically acclaimed Love and Trouble: A Midlife Reckoning, as well as Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses, which was a New York Times bestseller. Poser has been translated into eleven languages, optioned for television by Warner Bros., and adapted for the stage. A longtime contributor to The New York Times, her work has also appeared in The Paris Review, The Atlantic, The Nation, Vogue, and many other publications. She began her career as the chief film critic for Seattle Weekly.

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (Hardcover)
Elliott Bay Books

Jonathan Franzen is known for being, well, a little bit of everything: cantankerous and compelling, celebrated and controversial. Known for his vivid character development, his six novels have provoked commentary of all sorts from each end of the spectrum and everywhere in-between. Unsurprisingly, when Franzen — dubbed by TIME as “The Great American Novelist”— releases a new book, people pay attention; his latest novel, Crossroads, is no exception.

In Crossroads, it’s December 23, 1971, and heavy weather is forecast for Chicago. Russ Hildebrandt, the associate pastor of a liberal suburban church, is on the brink of breaking free from a joyless marriage — unless his wife, Marion, who has her own secret life, beats him to it. Their eldest child, Clem, is coming home from college on fire with moral absolutism, having taken an action that will shatter his father. Clem’s sister, Becky, long the social queen of her high-school class, has sharply veered into the counterculture, while their brilliant younger brother Perry, who’s been selling drugs to seventh graders, has resolved to be a better person. Each of the Hildebrandts seeks a freedom that each of the others threatens to complicate.

The story of a Midwestern family at a pivotal moment of moral crisis, Crossroads explores the history of two generations with humor and complexity that resonates with our contemporary times.

Jonathan Franzen is the author of six novels, most recently Crossroads and Purity, and five works of nonfiction, including The Discomfort Zone, Farther Away, and The End of the End of the Earth. Among his honors are the National Book Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Award, the Heartland Prize, Die Welt Literature Prize, the Budapest Grand Prize, and the first Carlos Fuentes Medal awarded at the Guadalajara International Book Fair. Franzen is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the German Akademie der Künste, and the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. An ardent bird-watcher, he has served on the board of the American Bird Conservancy since 2008, and has received the EuroNatur Award for his work in bird conservation.

Tom Nissley is the owner of Phinney Books and Madison Books in Seattle, and the author of A Reader’s Book of Days. He has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington and in 2010 won eight games on Jeopardy!.

Crossroads: A Novel (Paperback)
Third Place Books

Jonathan Franzen is known for being, well, a little bit of everything: cantankerous and compelling, celebrated and controversial. Known for his vivid character development, his six novels have provoked commentary of all sorts from each end of the spectrum and everywhere in-between. Unsurprisingly, when Franzen — dubbed by TIME as “The Great American Novelist”— releases a new book, people pay attention; his latest novel, Crossroads, is no exception.

In Crossroads, it’s December 23, 1971, and heavy weather is forecast for Chicago. Russ Hildebrandt, the associate pastor of a liberal suburban church, is on the brink of breaking free from a joyless marriage — unless his wife, Marion, who has her own secret life, beats him to it. Their eldest child, Clem, is coming home from college on fire with moral absolutism, having taken an action that will shatter his father. Clem’s sister, Becky, long the social queen of her high-school class, has sharply veered into the counterculture, while their brilliant younger brother Perry, who’s been selling drugs to seventh graders, has resolved to be a better person. Each of the Hildebrandts seeks a freedom that each of the others threatens to complicate.

The story of a Midwestern family at a pivotal moment of moral crisis, Crossroads explores the history of two generations with humor and complexity that resonates with our contemporary times.

Jonathan Franzen is the author of six novels, most recently Crossroads and Purity, and five works of nonfiction, including The Discomfort Zone, Farther Away, and The End of the End of the Earth. Among his honors are the National Book Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Award, the Heartland Prize, Die Welt Literature Prize, the Budapest Grand Prize, and the first Carlos Fuentes Medal awarded at the Guadalajara International Book Fair. Franzen is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the German Akademie der Künste, and the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. An ardent bird-watcher, he has served on the board of the American Bird Conservancy since 2008, and has received the EuroNatur Award for his work in bird conservation.

Tom Nissley is the owner of Phinney Books and Madison Books in Seattle, and the author of A Reader’s Book of Days. He has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington and in 2010 won eight games on Jeopardy!.

Crossroads: A Novel (Paperback)
Third Place Books

From the authors of 2020’s Tiny Imperfections comes a new novel that takes a humorous but candid look at issues like race, religion, parenting, and love through the lens of female friendship.

Never Meant to Meet You features protagonist Marjette Lewis, a self-proclaimed “fixer” and kindergarten teacher facing the challenges of raising a son on the verge of manhood, entering her first year without her best friend (the campus “Black-up”) at the private school, and dealing with an ex-husband who is the source of chronic vexation. In contrast to Marjette, her white, Jewish neighbor Noa Abrams appears perfect on the outside, and Marjette is too focused on her own matters to butt in to her neighbor’s business affairs this time.

But when tragedy strikes Noa’s family and an unexpected students enters Marjette’s classroom, she is forced to face both her neighbor and her own disappointment — as well as the possibility of new love. Through laughter, tears, and expanding our pre-conceived notions of family and kinship, Marjette and Noa find common ground, common goals, and a strength they didn’t know they had.

Alli Frank and Asha Youmans are coauthors of Tiny Imperfections (Random House, 2020), and Alli is a contributing essayist in the anthology Moms Don’t Have Time to: A Quarantine Anthology. Alli has worked in education for more than twenty years, from boisterous public high schools to small, progressive private academies. A graduate of Cornell and Stanford Universities, she lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two daughters. Alli became a Tall Poppy Writer in 2022.

Asha Youmans spent two decades teaching elementary school students. A graduate of University of California, Berkeley, Asha lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and has two grown sons. Asha is a fabulous home cook who loves storytelling and connecting with others by making them smile. In 2022, Asha joined with Alli as a Tall Poppy Writer.

Learn more about Alli Frank and Asha Youmans at www.alliandasha.com.

Tara Conklin is a writer and former lawyer whose first novel, The House Girl, was a New York Times bestseller, #1 IndieNext pick, Target book club pick, and has been translated into eight languages. Her second novel, The Last Romantics (2019) was an instant New York Times bestseller and major book club pick. Her latest novel Community Board will be released March 28, 2023.

Never Meant to Meet You

Imagine having an identical twin on the other side of the world — one you had no idea existed. That was the reality for sisters Isabella and Hà, born in Việt Nam but adopted and raised separately across the globe. One sister remained in a rural Vietnamese village that often went without electricity; the other grew up with a wealthy white family in the American suburbs. Their respective upbringings were worlds apart, both geographically and otherwise. The pair were reunited in their teenage years in a highly anticipated, but fraught meeting.

After learning about Isabella and Hà, award-winning journalist and UC Irvine professor Erika Hayasaki began interviewing the sisters, as well as their biological and adoptive families, in 2016. Hayasaki traced the girls’ diverging childhoods all the way to their reunion and the complicated years that followed.

Hayasaki’s qualitative research now culminates in a richly textured story, Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family. The book presents Hà’s and Isabella’s stories from their perspectives, exploring complex topics including transnational and transracial adoption, class, Asian and Asian-American identity, nature vs. nurture, and sisterhood. Somewhere Sisters is at once a compelling and intimate account of forging one’s own identity as well as a meditation on the meaning of family and belonging.

Erika Hayasaki teaches in the Literary Journalism Program at the University of California, Irvine. She is a journalist interested in the intersections of identity, race, psychology, inequality, science, technology, history, and the human condition. Her stories have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Wired, The Atlantic, Marie Claire, MIT Technology Review, Slate, and many others. She is a former New York-based national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, where she spent nine years covering breaking news and writing feature stories.

She is the recipient of several fellowships, and her award-winning science writing has been featured in Longform’s Best of Science writing of 2016 and 2017, and notably selected in the Best American Science and Nature Writing 2019. Her previous book, The Death Class: A True Story About Life, was published in 2014.

Grace Madigan is the Arts & Culture reporter for KNKX radio. She’s done stories covering everything from local musicians to Sue Bird’s legacy. The stories she seeks out are the ones that touch on identity and race. She grew up in the Seattle area and is an adoptee from China which is an experience she’s written about before. Her favorite way to connect with her cultural heritage is through food.

Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family (Hardcover)
Third Place Books

Most kids’ today are very tech savvy, whether they’re playing video games, watching streaming services, interacting on social media, or even — as the pandemic quickly showed us — attending school virtually. Tech companies have become a huge part of kids’ lives, but at what cost? Who benefits and how does technology and consumer capitalism affect child development? Susan Linn, one of the world’s leading experts on the impact of technology on children, is working to find the answers to these questions.

There’s a growing body of research detailing the harms of excessive immersion in the unregulated, powerfully seductive, profit-driven world of the “kid-tech” industry. In Who’s Raising the Kids? Susan Linn explores the roots and consequences of this monumental shift toward a digitized, commercialized childhood. She identifies specific impacts on kids’ values, relationships, and their learning experiences.

Even before the pandemic and the boom of online learning, kids have been important consumers for a range of tech, media, and toy companies. Linn delivers compelling evidence that consumer capitalism and technology marketed to enhance children’s lives actually negatively impacts kids.

Together at Town Hall, Seattle’s renowned literary figure (and Linn’s sister!) Nancy Pearl, talks with Linn about the context and impact of technology on today’s children.

Susan Linn is a psychologist, award-winning ventriloquist, and a world-renowned expert on creative play and the impact of media and commercial marketing on children. She was the Founding Director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (now called Fairplay) and is currently research associate at Boston Children’s Hospital and lecturer on psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Susan and her work have been featured on TODAY, Good Morning America, 60 Minutes, The Colbert Report, Dateline, NPR’s Marketplace, The New York Times, The Washington Post, POLITICO, TIME, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, and many other outlets. The author of Consuming Kids, The Case for Make Believe, and Who’s Raising the Kids? she lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Nancy Pearl is a librarian, best-selling author, literary critic and the former Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book at Seattle Public Library. Inspired by her childhood librarians, she received her MLS from the University of Michigan in 1967 and worked in the public library systems in Detroit, Tulsa, and Seattle.

She is the creator of the internationally recognized community reads program, which began in 1998 as “If All Seattle Read the Same Book” and was the inspiration for the Archie McPhee “Librarian Action Figure.” Her many awards and honors include the Women’s National Book Association Award in 2004; the Librarian of the Year Award from Library Journal and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association in 2011; and the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community by the National Book Foundation in 2021.

Pearl is a frequent speaker at literacy organizations, libraries, and community groups throughout the world, and comments on books regularly on KWGS, Tulsa, Oklahoma Public Radio. Book Lust with Nancy Pearl is her monthly book show on the Seattle Channel. She authored the popular Book Lust series, four titles filled with recommendations of good books to read. She is also the author of George & Lizzie (Touchstone Books, 2017) and co-authored The Writer’s Library: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives (HarperOne, 2020).

Who's Raising the Kids?: Big Tech, Big Business, and the Lives of Children (Hardcover)
Third Place Books

Juan Alonso-Rodríguez describes his paintings and sculptures as an on-going exploration of abstraction based on forms both found in nature, and those conceived by human ingenuity. From horizon lines to his father’s wrought iron railing designs, memories of sights and sounds of his Caribbean origins always play an integral part in his creativity. He is influenced by the organized balance, pattern, and symmetry found in nature as well as that of architecture that lives in harmony with the natural world.

In the first Gage art talk of the season, Scott Méxcal interviews Alonso-Rodríguez about how he “accidentally” became a professional artist, his long career in the Pacific Northwest, being Latinx, the changing Seattle landscape, and the process of art as meditation.

Cuban-born Juan Alonso-Rodríguez is a self-taught artist whose transition from music to visual arts coincided with his move to Seattle in 1982. His work has been exhibited throughout the U.S. and is included in permanent collections such as Tacoma Art Museum, Portland Art Museum, and Henry Art Gallery. He has won a Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award, The Neddy Fellowship, and the DeJunius Hughes Award for Activism. In 2019 he received an Artist Trust Fellowship and the Washington State Governor’s Arts Award for an Individual Artist. He was selected Lecturer for the 2021 University of Washington Libraries’ Artist Images.

Scott Méxcal (né McCall) is a cultural worker in the genre of socially engaged practice art. Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Scott’s ancestors have lived on both sides of the Rio Grande for countless generations. Descended from indigenous people and Spanish/European colonizers, he has called the traditional homeland of the Duwamish people, Seattle, Washington, his home for the past 20 years. Scott has contributed to the creative cultural fabric of the city as a graphic designer, a public artist, a youth art mentor, and art activist. His work has hung in numerous exhibitions throughout the city and surrounding area.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and the Gage Academy of Art.

Do you have a strong opinion about things like the Oxford comma, splitting infinitives, or whether to use punctuation in a text message? Well, you’re not alone. When Ellen Jovin set up her first Grammar Table outside her Manhattan apartment building and invited people to ask her questions, it took only around thirty seconds for the first visitor to arrive. Dozens more followed with their own grammatical inquiries and Grammar Table became an instant hit. Word of its success spread — attracting the attention of outlets like the New York Times, NPR, and CBS National News.

Jovin decided to take it on the road, traveling across the United States to answer questions from people from all walks of life: writers, lawyers, editors, businesspeople, students, bickering couples, and anyone else who uses words. These experiences led to her latest work, Rebel With a Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian.

Jovin, a self-proclaimed “grammar nerd” is no stranger to writing, having penned three other books that help people with mastery of the English language and its nuances. Rebel, however, is not just another guide to polishing our prose or satisfying our age-old linguistic curiosities or longstanding phobia of semicolons. It is punctuated with linguistic debates from tiny towns to the nation’s largest cities, and a testament to the social power that grammar wields to both delight and divide us.

Even the most ardent of logophiles will learn something in this talk that is sure to entertain as well as enlighten.

Ellen Jovin is a cofounder of Syntaxis, a communication skills training consultancy, and is the author of three other books on language. She is also the creator of a traveling pop-up grammar advice stand called the Grammar Table, whose adventures serve as the basis of this book. Ellen has a B.A. from Harvard College in German studies and an M.A. from UCLA in comparative literature, and has studied twenty-five languages for fun. She lives with her husband, Brandt Johnson, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Rebel With A Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian (Hardcover)
Third Place Books

When someone recommends a book to you that you end up loving, something special happens: you feel closer to that person somehow, understood on some unspoken level. That could be one of the reasons why Zibby Owens, a top influencer in the book publishing world, has garnered a passionate fanbase of her own as the host of the award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books™.

While Owens spends most of her time discussing other author’s books, she’s now ready to tell her own story, Bookends, which is a deeply personal memoir about her journey to finding her voice and rewriting her story — all stemming from her lifelong love of books.

Her vivacious energy, authenticity, and steadfast support of authors started in childhood, a precedent set by the profound effect books and libraries had on her own family. But after losing her closest friend on 9/11 and later becoming utterly stressed out and overwhelmed by motherhood, Zibby was forgetting what made her her. She turned to books and writing for help.

Just when things seemed particularly bleak, Zibby unexpectedly fell in love with a tennis pro turned movie producer who showed her the path to happiness: away from type A perfectionism and toward “letting things unfold organically.” What “unfolded” was a meaningful career, a great love, and finally, her voice, now heard by millions of listeners.

Owens shares her story while exploring things like relationships, love, food issues, the writing life, and finding one’s true calling. There’s something powerful about sharing the love of books, and Owens tells us just how powerful that can be.

Zibby Owens is an author, podcaster, publisher, CEO, and mother of four. Zibby founded Zibby Owens Media, a privately-held media company designed to help busy people live their best lives by connecting to books and each other. One division is Moms Don’t Have Time To, the home for Zibby’s podcasts, publications (including two anthologies), and communities. The other is Zibby Books, a publishing home for fiction and memoir, co-founded with Leigh Newman. Her award-winning podcast, Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books, has been downloaded millions of times. She is a regular columnist for Good Morning America, Katie Couric Media, and Moms Don’t Have Time to Write on Medium. Her upcoming memoir, Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature, comes out July 1, 2022. She is also the author of the children’s book, Princess Charming. She lives in New York with her husband and four children.

Julia Quinn is the author of the wildly popular Bridgerton books, now a Netflix original series produced by Shondaland Media. She is a graduate of Harvard & Radcliffe Colleges and briefly attended Yale School of Medicine before deciding to pursue a full-time writing career. She is the author of nineteen consecutive New York Times bestsellers. In March 2021, all eight Bridgerton novels were on the NYT list at the same time, a record for an adult fiction author. Her novels have been translated into 41 languages, and in the United States alone, there are over 20 million copies of her books in print.

Bookends: A Memoir Of Love, Loss, And Literature
University Book Store

When someone recommends a book to you that you end up loving, something special happens: you feel closer to that person somehow, understood on some unspoken level. That could be one of the reasons why Zibby Owens, a top influencer in the book publishing world, has garnered a passionate fanbase of her own as the host of the award-winning podcast Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books™.

While Owens spends most of her time discussing other author’s books, she’s now ready to tell her own story, Bookends, which is a deeply personal memoir about her journey to finding her voice and rewriting her story — all stemming from her lifelong love of books.

Her vivacious energy, authenticity, and steadfast support of authors started in childhood, a precedent set by the profound effect books and libraries had on her own family. But after losing her closest friend on 9/11 and later becoming utterly stressed out and overwhelmed by motherhood, Zibby was forgetting what made her her. She turned to books and writing for help.

Just when things seemed particularly bleak, Zibby unexpectedly fell in love with a tennis pro turned movie producer who showed her the path to happiness: away from type A perfectionism and toward “letting things unfold organically.” What “unfolded” was a meaningful career, a great love, and finally, her voice, now heard by millions of listeners.

Owens shares her story while exploring things like relationships, love, food issues, the writing life, and finding one’s true calling. There’s something powerful about sharing the love of books, and Owens tells us just how powerful that can be.

Zibby Owens is an author, podcaster, publisher, CEO, and mother of four. Zibby founded Zibby Owens Media, a privately-held media company designed to help busy people live their best lives by connecting to books and each other. One division is Moms Don’t Have Time To, the home for Zibby’s podcasts, publications (including two anthologies), and communities. The other is Zibby Books, a publishing home for fiction and memoir, co-founded with Leigh Newman. Her award-winning podcast, Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books, has been downloaded millions of times. She is a regular columnist for Good Morning America, Katie Couric Media, and Moms Don’t Have Time to Write on Medium. Her upcoming memoir, Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature, comes out July 1, 2022. She is also the author of the children’s book, Princess Charming. She lives in New York with her husband and four children.

Julia Quinn is the author of the wildly popular Bridgerton books, now a Netflix original series produced by Shondaland Media. She is a graduate of Harvard & Radcliffe Colleges and briefly attended Yale School of Medicine before deciding to pursue a full-time writing career. She is the author of nineteen consecutive New York Times bestsellers. In March 2021, all eight Bridgerton novels were on the NYT list at the same time, a record for an adult fiction author. Her novels have been translated into 41 languages, and in the United States alone, there are over 20 million copies of her books in print.

Bookends: A Memoir Of Love, Loss, And Literature
University Book Store

Poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, widely known for penning the famous words, “I know why the caged bird sings!” in his poem, Sympathy. Born in 1872, Dunbar was one of the first African American writers to be internationally recognized in the wake of emancipation. But while his extraordinary talent was celebrated, a deeper examination of his life reveals much about Black fame, and the cultural response to it, near the turn of the century.

In a meticulously researched biography, author and scholar Gene Andrew Jarrett describes the person behind the fame, offering a revelatory account of a writer whose celebrity as the “poet laureate of his race” hid the private struggles of a man who felt like a “caged bird” that sings.

While audiences across the United States and Europe flocked to enjoy his literary readings, Dunbar privately bemoaned shouldering the burden of race as an artist. He came to regard his fame as a curse as well as a blessing. Jarrett’s work illustrates the tension that Dunbar held throughout his brief, astonishing life.

Beautifully written and full of historical artifacts, Jarrett offers a richly detailed and nuanced portrait of Dunbar and his work, transforming how we understand the life and times of a central figure in American literary history. And in some ways, Jarrett has given Dunbar a chance to tell his own story, to share the fully actualized person that he was. Rather than a caged writer under the category of race, we get to honor the human behind the poetry on the 150th anniversary of his birth.

Gene Andrew Jarrett is Dean of the Faculty and William S. Tod Professor of English at Princeton University. He is the author of Representing the Race: A New Political History of African American Literature and Deans and Truants: Race and Realism in African American Literature. He is also the coeditor of The Collected Novels of Paul Laurence Dunbar and The Complete Stories of Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Tom Morgan is the Program Director for Race and Ethnic Studies and an Associate Professor of English at the University of Dayton. His research focuses on the politics of narrative form, African American haiku, the short story in late nineteenth-century periodical culture, and, of course, Paul Laurence Dunbar. His published work includes essays on James Weldon Johnson, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Richard Wright, Kate Chopin, and Stephen Crane, and he edited The Complete Stories of Paul Laurence Dunbar with Gene Andrew Jarrett. He is currently working on a new edition of Dunbar’s poetry.

Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Life and Times of a Caged Bird

Nabil Ayers has been part of the music scene in many capacities: musician, record-label creator, band manager, music executive, and founder of Seattle’s Sonic Boom Records. He is also an author, writing about music and race for the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and many others.

Now Ayers has written a new memoir, My Life in the Sunshine: Searching for My Father and Discovering My Family, about his relationship with his father, Black jazz musician Roy Ayers; being a mixed-race person in the United States; and his work in the music industry.

While Ayers’ famous musician father was rarely present in his life, he still turned out to be a strong influence, showing up in Ayers’ love of music and his eclectic career in the music industry. Motivated by his father’s absence, Ayers researched and connected with other extended family members and discovered the existence of several half-siblings, as well as a paternal ancestor who was enslaved. Following these new family connections, Nabil meets and befriends the descendant of the plantation owner, which strangely paves the way for him to make meaningful connections with other extended family he never knew existed.

In conversation with KEXP’s Cheryl Waters, Ayers discusses his drive to understand his roots and redraw the lines that define family and race.

Nabil Ayers has written about race and music for The New York Times, NPR, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and GQ. Ayers is the President of Beggars Group US, where he has run campaigns for The National, Big Thief, Grimes, Future Islands and St. Vincent, as well as reissue campaigns including Pixies’ album Doolittle which was certified Platinum in 2019.

At age 25, Ayers and his business partner opened Seattle’s Sonic Boom Records store, which they sold to a longtime customer in 2016. As a drummer Ayers has performed in several bands including The Long Winters and Tommy Stinson. On his own record label, The Control Group/Valley of Search, Ayers has released music by Cate Le Bon, Lykke Li, The Killers, PJ Harvey, Patricia Brennan, and his uncle, the jazz musician Alan Braufman.

Ayers lives with his wife in Brooklyn, NY.

For more than 25 years, radio DJ and producer Cheryl Waters has been enriching people’s lives through artist advocacy and music discovery at the influential Seattle radio station KEXP. A lifelong music lover, Cheryl’s career in radio began in 1994 as a volunteer DJ at the station, then-known as KCMU, while she was working as an environmental scientist. Since 2005, Cheryl has been the host of the Midday Show on KEXP, a daily music program where she interviews and champions a wide spectrum of musicians from KEXP’s studios in Seattle, WA, as well as at remote broadcasts in cities ranging from New York and Austin to Mexico City and Reykjavik. In her role as the station’s Live Performances Manager, Cheryl curates and books more than 300 live sessions at KEXP each year, which have collectively received over 1 billion views worldwide on KEXP’s YouTube channel, which has over 2 million subscribers.

My Life in the Sunshine: Searching for My Father and Discovering My Family (Hardcover)
Elliott Bay Books

David Duchovny is best known for his television roles as FBI agent Fox Mulder on The X-Files (1993-2002 and 2016-2018) and writer Hank Moody on Californication (2007-2014), both of which earned him Golden Globe awards. Beyond his extensive on-screen accomplishments, which include dozens of other films and television shows, he’s also a musician and the writer of four novels. Duchovny last joined us at Town Hall to talk about his 2016 book, Bucky Fcking Dent; this June, we’re pleased to welcome him back to discuss his latest title, The Reservoir.*

Inspired by Duchovny’s own quarantine times in New York City, The Reservoir follows an unexceptional man living during an exceptional time. Ridley, a former Wall Street veteran, looks back on his life during his days of quarantined solitude and examines his wins, failures, career, relationships, and family. Brooding night after night, he gazes out his picture window high above the Central Park Reservoir and spots a flashing light in an apartment across the park. It’s almost as if a lonely quarantined person is signaling him in Morse code. Who are they? And are they in trouble? Determined to identify the mystery person, Ridley leaves the safety of his apartment to save his hypothetical damsel in distress and descends into a surreal and dangerous world of conspiracies, madness, and sickness. As he spirals further into mysteries of love, life, and fatherhood, he realizes that the key to it all might lie deep beneath the freezing waters of the reservoir.

Join us at Town Hall as Duchovny discusses his latest novel’s twists, turns, and reflections of our disorienting and distanced times.

David Duchovny is an award-winning actor, writer, director, New York Times best-selling author, and singer-songwriter. With an acting career spanning more than three decades, Duchovny is a two-time Golden Globe winner and four-time Emmy nominee. He is a prolific author whose fourth novel, Truly Like Lightning, was published in February 2021. His previous novels include the New York Times bestseller Holy Cow, Bucky Fcking Dent, and Miss Subways. As a musician, Duchovny has released three studio albums, Hell or Highwater, Every Third Thought, and Gestureland*.

Jess Walter is a former National Book Award finalist and winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, the author of seven novels, one book of short stories, and one nonfiction book. His work has been translated into 32 languages, and his fiction has been selected three times for Best American Short Stories as well as the Pushcart Prize and Best American Nonrequired Reading. His stories, essays, and journalism have appeared in Harper’s, Esquire, Playboy, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Ploughshares, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and many others.

Buy the Book: The Reservoir (Hardcover) from Elliott Bay Books

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Typically held at bars and nightclubs, drag is a form of entertainment in which a performer uses clothing and makeup to impersonate a particular gender identity, usually of the opposite sex. Yet drag is so much more than nightclub entertainment — it provides community, instills self-confidence, and can even save lives.

Join drag king performer Ceasar Hart and explore the history of drag culture and why it is so important for many in the LGBTQ+ community. Discover the impact of this art form, and how it can be used not only to raise awareness and advocate for LGBTQ+ acceptance, but also as a powerful vehicle for individual self-expression.

Ceasar Hart (he/him) has been a drag king performer in the Pacific Northwest for over a decade. Alongside graduating recently from Washington State University with a bachelor’s degree in communications, he has produced his own drag shows in Grays Harbor and co-hosted stages for both Seattle Pride and Seattle PrideFest. Hart lives in Grays Harbor.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Humanities Washington.

According to census data, the greater Seattle area is home to the fifth-largest Filipino American population in the U.S — the majority of which arrived in the area after 1965. From the 1950s to 1970s, Filipino Americans, or Pinoys, faced serious hardships and struggles with racism, discrimination, and exploitation. It was a difficult life for many. The struggle persists today, with the U.S. seeing a steep rise in discrimination and violence against Asian Americans since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a new collection of autobiographical essays, Uncle Rico’s Encore, award-winning author Peter Bacho shared stories that illuminate the Filipino American experience. Bacho related vivid stories of community, generational connection, defiance, and activism, including resistance to the union-busting efforts of the federal government and organizing for decent housing and services for elders. He also illustrated the Filipino American experience of the era through intimate moments of everyday life in familiar places such as Madison Beach, Beacon Hill, and Madrona Park.

The result is a tribute to Filipino Seattle and the people who contributed to Pacific Northwest culture, arts, business, and politics, while also offering a glimpse into the national Asian American experience.

Peter Bacho is the author of six books: Cebu, Dark Blue Suit, Boxing in Black and White, Nelson’s Run, Entrys, and Leaving Yesler. His books have received several awards, including the 1992 American Book Award. He is an adjunct professor at The Evergreen State College Tacoma Campus. Bacho was born in Seattle, Washington and grew up in Seattle’s Central District.

Robert Flor is a poet and playwright whose work has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, and his plays have been performed at the Rainier Arts Center, the Eclectic Theater, and in the Filipino Community of Seattle. He was born in Seattle and grew up in Seattle’s Central District and Rainier Valley.

Buy the Book: Uncle Rico's Encore: Mostly True Stories of Filipino Seattle

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and the Wing Luke Museum, with introductions by Joël Barraquiel Tan, Executive Director of the Wing Luke Museum. Sponsored by the Boeing Company.

When the Seattle Art Museum opened the Olympic Sculpture Park on the urban waterfront in 2007, it changed the way people could interact with art and experience the city’s environment. The fact that it’s free and open to everyone makes the park one of the most inclusive places to see art in the Pacific Northwest.

The sculpture park contains pieces like Alexander Calder’s red sculpture The Eagle, Jaume Plensa’s giant head Echo, and Neukom Vivarium, a 60-foot nurse log in a custom-designed greenhouse, among many others. Although many people believe that the greatest work of art at the park is the park itself and the way it connects with its surroundings. Because of the efforts of the Seattle Art Museum and the city, instead of being filled with private condo buildings, this former industrial site has become a welcoming part of the waterfront for the public to enjoy sculptures, activities, and the gorgeous Elliott Bay views.

The new book Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park: A Place for Art, Environment, and an Open Mind, pays homage to the interconnected spirit of the park. Mimi Gardner Gates — the director of the Seattle Art Museum (1994–2009) at the time of the Sculpture Park’s conception and creation — edited this collection of writings and images about the park and how public-private partnerships can create innovative civic spaces. Other contributors include Barry Bergdoll, Lisa Graziose Corrin, Renée Devine, Mark Dion, Teresita Fernández, Leonard Garfield, Jerry Gorovoy for Louise Bourgeois, Michael A. Manfredi, Lynda V. Mapes, Roy McMakin, Peter Reed, Pedro Reyes, Maggie Walker, and Marion Weiss.

Seattle Times journalist Lynda V. Mapes and SAM curator Catharina Manchanda joined Gates in discussion about the remarkable waterfront park and how it might inspire future innovation in civic spaces.

Mimi Gardner Gates was director of the Seattle Art Museum for fifteen years and is now director emerita, overseeing the Gardner Center for Asian Art and Ideas. Previously, she spent nineteen years at Yale University Art Gallery, the last seven-and-a-half of those years as director. She is a fellow of the Yale Corporation; Chairman of the Dunhuang Foundation; Chairman of the Blakemore Foundation; a trustee of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum; a trustee of the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, and serves on the boards of the Yale University Art Gallery, the Northwest African American Museum, the Terra Foundation, and Copper Canyon Press. Dr. Gates formerly chaired the National Indemnity Program at the National Endowment for the Arts and served on the Getty Leadership Institute Advisory Committee.

Lynda V. Mapes is a journalist, author, and close observer of the natural world, and covers natural history, environmental topics, and issues related to Pacific Northwest indigenous cultures for The Seattle Times. Over the course of her career she has won numerous awards, including the international 2019 and 2012 Kavli gold award for science journalism from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest professional science association. She has written six books, including Orca Shared Waters Shared Home, winner of the 2021 National Outdoor Book Award, and Elwha, a River Reborn.

Catharina Manchanda joined the Seattle Art Museum as the Jon & Mary Shirley Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art in 2011. Notable exhibitions for SAM include Pop Departures (2014-15), City Dwellers: Contemporary Art from India (2015), Figuring History: Robert Colescott, Kerry James Marshall, Mickalene Thomas (2017), and Frisson: The Richard E. Lang and Jane Lang Davis Collection (2021). Prior to joining SAM, she was the Senior Curator of Exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. She has also worked in curatorial positions at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She is the recipient of numerous international awards including an Andy Warhol Foundation grant, Getty Library Research grant, and others.

Buy the Book: Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park: A Place For Art, Environment, And An Open Mind from University Book Store

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

It’s no surprise that people love short stories. They hold all the elements of a great novel — an intriguing theme, characters that seem to come to life, and storytelling that lingers even after the last page — all packaged in a brief, delightfully readable package. It’s no wonder that award-winning author Don Lee has returned to short stories in his latest book, The Partition, 21 years after his landmark debut collection, Yellow, was published.

In The Partition, Lee explored Asian American identity and the estrangement, alienation, and longing for connection that can come with it. Spanning decades, his nine novelistic stories traverse an array of cities from Tokyo to Honolulu to Boston, touching on encounters in local bars, restaurants, and hotels. Lee once said that his 2013 novel, The Collective, is about “sex, drugs, and rock and roll,” all while diving into the minds of relatable characters. The Partition follows a similar vibe.

With almost acrobatic storytelling and characters that richly portray the human psyche, The Partition incisively examines heartbreak, identity, family, and relationships through characters searching for answers to universal questions: Where do I belong? How can I find love? What defines an authentic self? They’re the kinds of questions that leave you wondering and examining your own life — all trademarks of great short stories, told by a seasoned storyteller.

Don Lee is the author of the story collection Yellow and the novels Country of Origin, Wrack and Ruin, The Collective, and Lonesome Lies Before Us. He has received an American Book Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction. He lives in Baltimore with his wife, the writer Jane Delury,and teaches in the MFA program in creative writing at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Rob Arnold is a Chamorro poet with nearly two decades of experience in literary publishing and related positions. Currently he is the interim executive director of Hugo House. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Ploughshares, the Gettysburg Review, Hyphen, and Poetry Northwest, among others. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has received support from the Somerville Arts Council, the Jack Straw Cultural Center, and Artist Trust.

Buy the Book: The Partition (Hardcover) from Elliott Bay Books

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

As a hockey-loving kid from Minnesota, Jim Weber always had a competitive spirit and a knack for leadership. In the seventh grade, he wrote that he wanted to become an NHL hockey player, and his second choice was to someday run a successful company. Although his hockey dreams didn’t quite pan out, Weber further honed his leadership skills in college, earning his undergrad in business management followed by an MBA from the Tuck School of Business.

As Weber’s career continued to grow, he worked in banking and held leadership roles with several large consumer product brands, including Pillsbury and Coleman. But in 2001, Weber’s career — and the trajectory of a local athletic brand — shifted when he became the CEO of Brooks Running and put a purpose-driven approach at the center of it all. The struggling brand had seen four CEOs in the past two years, and the staff betting pool had him lasting four months. Weber devised a one-page strategy that he believed would save the company and lay the foundation for Brooks to become a leading brand in running. It would require courage, conviction, and fortitude for the team to out-execute much larger brands. But as the saying aptly goes, the process was a marathon, not a sprint; as Brooks blossomed, it caught the attention of Warren Buffett, who declared it a standalone subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in 2012.

Today, people yearn for authentic leadership and the desire to attach to brands and people they can trust. In his new book, Running with Purpose, Weber shared some of his most powerful insights and leadership principles that he believes are essential to building trust and drawing people to a purpose bigger than themselves.

Joined in conversation with avid Seattle runner and radio personality John Richards, Weber offered a framework for anyone looking to apply purpose in their life – both professionally and personally.

Jim Weber has been the CEO of Brooks Running Company since 2001. Weber’s professional journey includes leadership roles for several consumer product brands such as chairman and CEO of Sims Sports, president of O’Brien International, vice president of The Coleman Company, and various roles with The Pillsbury Company. Weber was also managing director of U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Seattle Investment Banking practice and a commercial banking officer at Norwest Bank Minneapolis (now Wells Fargo). He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management and a Master of Business Administration degree with high distinction from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

John Richards is the KEXP Program Director and host of The Morning Show on KEXP. He has helped turn the Seattle radio station into one of the most loved and trusted public radio stations in the world. John is also the creator and host of KEXP’s Running Podcast, a mix of music and inspiration for runners, and hosts the Dr. and the DJ podcast with his wife Dr. Amy Lindsey. He is the owner of the bar Life on Mars on Capitol Hill and the father of two boys and one dog.

Buy the Book: Running with Purpose: How Brooks Outpaced Goliath Competitors to Lead the Pack (Hardcover) from Third Place Books

This event is sponsored by Brooks Running.

In Black Writers Unmasked, members of the African-American Writer’s Alliance will share African proverbs, wisdom, love, hope, and readings from their new anthology.

AAWA Members participating in this event are listed below, and their biographies are available here.

Gail Haynes
Georgia S. McDade
Helen J. Collier (co-facilitator)
Lola E. Peters
Minnie A. Collins (co-facilitator)
Noni Ervin
Rolyat Mosi
Traci Harrell

About the African-American Writers’ Alliance

The African-American Writers’ Alliance is a diverse and dynamic collective of Seattle-area writers of African descent that provides an informal and supportive forum for new and published writers.

They help one another polish their skills, provide peer review, and create opportunities for public readings and other media venues. Ultimately the group encourages members to publish individually and collectively. Their stories — triumphs, tragedies, and whatever is within and between the two — are the history of African Americans.

Presented by Town Hall Hall Seattle and the African-American Writers’ Alliance.

Sometimes it feels like we’re living the same day over and over again. We wake up in the same bed, eat the same breakfast, do the same tasks, and talk to the same people, just coasting along and going through the motions. Taking a vacation can offer a temporary break from the mundane; at the same time, it only reinforces the sameness of daily life.

In Adrienne Celt’s new novel End of the World House, Bertie and Kate are longtime best friends who are about to be separated when Kate moves to a different city. The world is enmeshed in conflict, but a ceasefire gives them a chance to head to Paris for a vacation and one last hurrah.

While in Paris, a mysterious person offers them an exclusive tour of the Louvre museum, where things quickly start to go awry. The apocalypse heats up, the friends become separated, and Bertie starts reliving the same day over and over. As Bertie tries to find Kate and get things back on track, she faces an ever-changing mystery and distortions of time and reality.

As we make our way out of our own pandemic time loop, Celt offers a timely and comedic story of female friendship and breaking free of the humdrum.

Adrienne Celt is originally from Seattle, but now lives in Tucson, Arizona. She is the author of two previous novels: Invitation to a Bonfire and The Daughters, which won the 2015 PEN Southwest Book Award for Fiction and was named a Best Book of the Year by NPR. Adrienne is also a cartoonist, and she publishes a weekly webcomic at LoveAmongtheLampreys.com.

Ruth Joffre is the author of the story collection Night Beast, which was longlisted for The Story Prize. Her fiction and poetry have appeared or are forthcoming in Kenyon Review, Lightspeed, Gulf Coast, The Masters Review, Pleiades, The Florida Review Online, Wigleaf, Baffling Magazine, and the anthologies Best Microfiction 2021 and 2022, Unfettered Hexes, and Evergreen: Grim Tales & Verses from the Gloomy Northwest. A graduate of Cornell University and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Ruth lives in Seattle, where she serves as Prose Writer-in-Residence at Hugo House.

Buy the Book: End of the World House: A Novel (Hardcover) from Third Place Books

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Join Town Hall Seattle Writer-in-Residence Sarah Salcedo, author John Wiswell, and author Ross Showalter for a virtual-only event as they share their short fiction and discuss the power of stories, creative processes, and the beauty and difficulties inherent in bringing their disabilities into their own work.

Sarah Salcedo is an award-winning filmmaker, illustrator, and author. Her writing has been published in Luna Station Quarterly, Hobart After Dark, Not Deer Magazine, Pacifica Literary Review, The Future Fire, Hypertext Magazine, Words & Sports Quarterly, and elsewhere. Her poetry has been featured at The Daily Drunk and their Marvelous Verses anthology. She is the Spring 2022 Writer-in-Residence for Town Hall Seattle and attended the 2022 Tin House Winter Workshop.

John (@Wiswell) is a disabled writer who lives where New York keeps all its trees. He is a winner of the Nebula Award for Best Short Story for “Open House on Haunted Hill,” as well as a finalist for the Hugo, Locus, World Fantasy, and British Fantasy Awards. His work has appeared at Uncanny Magazine, the LeVar Burton Reads Podcast, Tor.com, Lightspeed Magazine, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, among other fine venues.

Ross Showalteris a Deaf queer writer based in the Pacific Northwest. His short stories, personal essays, and critical pieces have been published in The New York Times, Electric Literature, Strange Horizons, Catapult, Black Warrior Review, and elsewhere. His work has been a finalist for the Best of the Net anthology, included on Entropy Magazine’s Best of the Year lists, and supported by the Anderson Center and Deaf Spotlight. He earned his BFA in creative writing from Portland State University and he currently teaches creative writing courses in UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

On the first stop of the “Las cuatro esquinas Tour” around the United States, Dr. Adriana Pacheco and Seattle Escribe bring together a panel of key players in education, culture, and literature to discuss names, topics, trends and voices in literature by writers of hispanic heritage and their impact on the culture.

The literature of writers from Spanish-speaking countries who write from the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain is impacting the world in an unprecedented way. Awards, publishing houses, curated lists, and translations of new books give proof of the movement. Hablemos, escritoras has followed these changes and recognizes synergies that mark our contemporary world, as well as the causes and motivations that have driven the phenomenon.

This talk, part of the 2022 “Las cuatro esquinas Tour” around the United States, will allow for conversations with cultural advocates, members of the community, and especially readers about what we have learned after years of work. Most importantly, it offers space to learn what is happening in our region, the challenges we face, and the road that still needs to be traveled in recognizing new names, topics, and trends. The tour’s goal is to broaden the scope of the conversation beyond regional borders and to encourage and foster meaningful, nationwide conversations about the presence, impacts, and influences of literature, language, and the hispanic culture in the United States.

This event will be presented in English.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle, Seattle Escribe, and Hablemos, escritoras.

Participants

Catalina Marie Cantú (Xicana) is of Indigenous Mexican/Madeiran heritage and is a multi-genre writer, interdisciplinary artist, Jack Straw Fellow, and Alum of VONA/Voices and The Mineral School. She has received funding from Artists’ Trust, Hugo House, Centrum, and Hedgebrook. Her poems and stories have been published widely and anthologized. Cantú earned a B.A. in La Raza Studies and a J.D. from the University of Washington, where she was a co-founding member of the groundbreaking Latinx groups MEChA and Teatro del Piojo. As a volunteer attorney, she managed the King County Bar Association Bilingual Spanish Legal Clinic. She is a co-founding member and current Board President of La Sala Latinx Artists and former chair of Los Norteños NW Latino Writers. As a writer, Cantú’s goal is to bring her Latinx BIPOC family viewpoint to the page and provide stories to connect readers to themselves and their familias. She is currently finishing her braided essay collection and her first YA novel. She lives on the unceded traditional land of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically, the first people of Seattle, the Duwamish People.

Miguel Guillén joined ArtsWA in 2016 and currently serves as Program Manager for the Grants to Organizations program. As a seasoned arts administrator, Miguel provides support to community-based arts organizations and projects, small arts groups, and artists across Washington. He has previously managed arts programs for the private sector. Born in Mexico and raised in the Skagit Valley of Washington State, Miguel received an Arts Management Certificate from Seattle Central College. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle. He is a practicing visual artist.

Claudia Castro Luna is an Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate fellow (2019), WA State Poet Laureate (2018-2021), and Seattle’s inaugural Civic Poet (2015-2018). Castro Luna’s newest collection of poetry, Cipota Under the Moon, is forthcoming in May of 2022 from Tia Chucha Press. She is also the author of One River, A Thousand Voices, the Pushcart-nominated Killing Marías, which was also shortlisted for WA State 2018 Book Award in poetry, and the chapbook This City. Her most recent non-fiction is in There’s a Revolution Outside, My Love: Letters from a Crisis. Living in English and Spanish, Claudia writes and teaches in Seattle on unceded Duwamish lands where she gardens and keeps chickens with her husband and their three children.

Alfonso Mendoza is a Mexican author that has written and published more than forty peer reviewed academic articles and chapters in the areas of economics, finance, and social sciences. As a creative writer, he enjoys writing short stories and poetry. Alfonso was a founding member of Seattle Escribe and participated as a student in the first writing workshop. Since then, he has remained in close contact with creative writing and the writers in the group. He is the current president of Seattle Escribe.

José Luis Montero is passionate about storytelling regardless of the medium. After dabbling in radio, photography, and filmmaking, he turned his artistic attention towards the written word, both in English and Spanish. He was born and raised in Mexico and has lived most of his adult life in Seattle. He earned a certificate in Literary Fiction from University of Washington and a Master in Narrative and Poetry from Escuela de Escritores in Madrid. Upon his return from Spain, he worked as a production intern for Copper Canyon Press and assistant editor of poetry for Narrative Magazine before becoming a resident of the Jack Straw Writers Program in 2021. He is the former president of Seattle Escribe, a nonprofit promoting Spanish literature, and currently serves on the board of Seattle City of Literature.

Dr. Adriana Pacheco was born in Puebla, Mexico and is a naturalized American Citizen. She sits at, and is the former Chair of, the International Board of Advisors at University of Texas Austin. She is an Affiliate Research Fellow at Llilas Benson, a Texas Book Festival Featured Author (2012), has several publications in collective books and magazines and has edited several books like Romper con la palabra. Violencia y género en la literatura mexicana contemporánea (Eón, 2017), and Para seguir rompiendo con la palabra. Dramaturgas, cineastas, periodistas y ensayistas mexicanas contemporáneas (Literal/Eón, 2021). She is the founder and producer of Hablemos Escritoras podcast and its accompanying encyclopedia, and founder of the first online bookstore for the United States focusing on women writing in Spanish or of Hispanic heritage: Shop Escritoras. She is currently working on several new books.

Rubi Romero has worked as a content and policy manager, technical account manager, and UX Researcher at Amazon. In addition, Rubi serves as one of the leaders for Latinos@; an affinity group at Amazon, as a Career Development Director, and as a project manager for the Hispanic Heritage Month. Rubi graduated from the University of Washington with a Master’s Degree in Digital Business and a B.A. in Communications and Sociology. Previously, she was a Project Manager for Microsoft and a Program Director for a non-profit organization where she built a State Program to assist Latino Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Human Trafficking. Rubi is originally from Mexico City and has lived in Seattle since 1994.

Kristen Millares Young is a journalist, essayist and novelist. Named a Paris Review staff pick, her debut novel Subduction won Nautilus and IPPY awards. Her short stories, essays, reviews and investigations appear most recently in the Washington Post, The Rumpus, PANK Magazine, the Los Angeles Review, and others, as well as the anthologies Alone Together, which won a Washington State Book Award in general nonfiction, and Advanced Creative Nonfiction: A Writer’s Guide and Anthology. She is the editor of Seismic: Seattle, City of Literature, a 2021 Washington State Book Award finalist in creative nonfiction. A former Hugo House Prose Writer-in-Residence, Kristen was the researcher for the New York Times team that produced “Snow Fall,” which won a Pulitzer Prize.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Examples of Northwest Coast art appear in museums and collections throughout our region, but what does it mean when there is no word for “art” in the language of the people who created it? How might the Indigenous definition of art be far more expansive — demonstrating rich kinship connections and manifesting spiritual power — than a non-Indigenous framework? For anyone who regularly engages with art, these are compelling questions of accountability and cultural respect.

In Unsettling Native Art Histories on the Northwest Coast, coeditors Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse and Aldona Jonaitis considered how Northwest Coast art is inseparable from its communities, demonstrating kinship connections, manifesting spiritual power, and far beyond.

Together with over a dozen other contributors, the book brings Indigenous understandings of art to the foreground, recognizing its rich context and historical erasure within the discipline of art history. Aiming to “unsettle” Northwest Coast art studies, the collection of essays centers voices that uphold Indigenous priorities, integrates the expertise of Indigenous knowledge holders about their artistic heritage, and questions current institutional practices.

Bunn-Marcuse, Jonaitis, and Neel joined us for a virtual discussion about decolonization work in museums, the role of women in transmitting cultural knowledge, examining artwork as living documents, and more.

Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse is director of the Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Native Art, curator of northwest Native art at the Burke Museum, assistant professor of art history at the University of Washington, and coeditor of In the Spirit of the Ancestors: Contemporary Northwest Coast Art at the Burke Museum.

Aldona Jonaitis is former director of the University of Alaska Museum of the North, professor of anthropology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and author of Art of the Northwest Coast and The Yuquot Whalers’ Shrine.

Lou-ann Ika’wega Neel is the granddaughter of Ellen Kakasolas Neel, and is also a practicing visual artist in the areas of wood carving, jewelry, textiles, and digital design. Lou-ann was the Repatriation Specialist at the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria, B.C. There, her work involved reconnecting artists with the treasures created by their ancestors and assisting First Nations communities to ensure the safe return of their Ancestors’ Remains to their respective homelands.

Buy the Book: Unsettling Native Art Histories on the Northwest Coast Edited by Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse and Aldona Jonaitis

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Jonathan Galassi is an acclaimed poet, translator, and longtime publisher at Farrar, Straus and Giroux who has built a life around the art of language. His poetry, described as “direct and plain-spoken,” by The New York Times, is known for illuminating the human experience and its multitudes, from nature and fatherhood to love and partnership. In addition to poetry, Galassi is a novelist. His newest book, School Days, asks fundamental questions about love and sex, friendship and rivalry, desire and power, and the age-old dance of benevolence and attraction between teacher and student.

In School Days, Sam Brandt is a long-term resident of Connecticut’s renowned Leverett School. As an English teacher, he has dedicated his life to providing his students with the same challenges, encouragement, and sense of possibility that helped him and his friends become themselves at the school half a lifetime ago.

When Sam is asked to help investigate a charge involving the abuse of one of his former classmates by a teacher, Sam is flooded with memories of his closest friends and mentors. Sam’s search for the truth becomes a quest to get at the heart of Leverett, then and now. The school changed enormously over the years, but at its core lie assumptions about privilege and responsibility untested for more than a century. And Sam’s assumptions about his own life are shaken, too, as he struggles to understand what really happened all those years ago.

Jonathan Galassi is the President and Publisher at Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Previously, he worked in publishing at Random House and Houghton Mifflin, later joining FSG, where he also served as editor-in-chief and executive editor before becoming president. He is also a poet and a translator of poetry, especially for the works by Giacomo Leopardi and Eugenio Montale. His poetry has earned him the Guggenheim Fellowship and the position of Honorary Chariman for the Academy of American Poets. He is the recipient of the Maxwell E. Perkins Award, which recognizes an editor, publisher, or agent who “has discovered, nurtured and championed writers of fiction in the U.S.” His first novel, Muse, was published in 2015, and he is the author of three poetry collections.

Juan Carlos Reyes is an essayist and fiction writer who has published the novella A Summer’s Lynching and the collection Elements of a Bystander. His essays and short stories have appeared in West Branch, Waccamaw, Florida Review, and Moss, among others. He received an Artist Trust Storyteller Grant and a PEN USA Emerging Voices Fellowship and is the most recent Board President of Seattle City of Literature. He has taught creative writing with the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project and with Stetson University’s MFA of the Americas and is currently an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Seattle University.

Buy the Book: School Days: A Novel by Jonathan Galassi

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is a prolific writer, passionate speaker, multicultural educator, and activist on Asian Pacific American issues. In her new collection of essays, You Cannot Resist Me When My Hair Is in Braids, she navigated the space between cultures and reflects on lessons learned from both Asian American elders and young multiracial children. It’s a rich space, filled with linguistic nuance that Wang so deftly weaved throughout her writing.

In the aftermath of a messy divorce, Wang writes in hope of beginning to build a new life with four children, bossy aunties, unreliable suitors, and an uncertain political landscape. Her essays are peppered with a wide range of topics, including cooking food to show love, surviving Chinese School, being an underpaid lecturer, finding love in a time of elections, crying with children separated from their parents at the border, charting the landscape of frugal/hoarder elders during the pandemic, witnessing COVID-inspired anti–Asian American violence while reflecting on the death of Vincent Chin, teaching her sixteen-year-old son to drive after the deaths of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd, and trusting the power of writing herself into existence.

Within the lyric essays, Wang found the courage and hope to speak out for herself and for an entire generation of Asian American women.

Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is an award-winning poet, essayist, journalist, activist focused on issues of Asian America, race, justice, and the arts. Her writing has appeared at NBCAsianAmerica, PRIGlobalNation, Center for Asian American Media, Detroit Journalism Cooperative, Cha Asian Literary Journal, Kartika Review, Drunken Boat, and the Joao Roque Literary Journal. She co-created a multimedia artwork for Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, is a Knight Arts Challenge Detroit artist, and is a Communities Correspondent for the PBS NewsHour out of Dearborn/Detroit.

Buy the Book: You Cannot Resist Me When My Hair Is in Braids (Made in Michigan Writers) (Paperback) from Third Place Books

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When the Hart-Celler Act passed in 1965, opening up U.S. immigration to non-Europeans, it ushered in a whole new era. But even to the first generation of Asian Americans born in the U.S. after that milestone, it would have been impossible to imagine that sushi and boba would one day be beloved by all, that a Korean boy band named BTS would be the biggest musical act in the world, that one of the most acclaimed and popular movies of 2018 would be Crazy Rich Asians, or that we would have an Asian American Vice President. Not to mention the creators, performers, entrepreneurs, and influencers making it all happen, both behind the scenes and on the screen. And then there are the activists and representatives who continue to fight for equity, building coalitions and defiantly holding space for Asian American voices and concerns. And still: Asian America is just getting started.

Authors Jeff Yang, Phil Yu, and Philip Wang offered a love letter to and for Asian Americans in RISE — a scrapbook of voices, emotions, and memories from an era in which Asian American culture was forged and transformed. On an intimate, humorous tour through the pop-cultural touchstones and sociopolitical shifts of the past 30-plus years, Yang, Yu, and Wang chronicled how we arrived at today’s unprecedented diversity of Asian American cultural representation. From a step-by-step guide to a night out in K-Town to a handy “Appreciation or Appropriation?” flowchart, they celebrated the path from the past to the present through nostalgia and shared experiences.

Jeff Yang has been observing, exploring, and writing about the Asian American community for over thirty years. He launched one of the first Asian American national magazines, A. Magazine, in the late ’90s and early 2000s, and now writes frequently for CNN, Quartz, Slate, and elsewhere. He has written/edited three books — New York Times-best-selling memoir, I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action; Once Upon a Time in China, a history of the cinemas of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Mainland; and Eastern Standard Time: A Guide to Asian Influence on American Culture.

Phil Yu is the founder and editor of the popular Asian American news and culture blog, Angry Asian Man, which has had a devoted following since 2001. His commentary has been featured and quoted in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and elsewhere.

Philip Wang is the co-founder of the hugely influential production company Wong Fu Productions. Since the mid-2000s, his creative work has garnered over 3 million subscribers and half a billion views online, as well as recognition from NPR and CNN for its impact on Asian American representation.

Buy the Book: Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now (Hardcover) from Elliott Bay Books

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Growing up as an autistic and legally blind person, actor Mickey Rowe was told that he couldn’t be a part of the mainstream world. As Rowe navigated adulthood, he was ignored and misunderstood by classmates and colleagues, infantilized by theatre directors, and even barred from earning minimum wage, all because he is autistic. But for Rowe, the structure and repetition of theatre productions made sense — after all, he spent his entire life acting to pass as neurotypical.

In 2017, Rowe became the first openly autistic actor ever to play any autistic role in a professional performance setting, taking on the lead role of Christopher Boone in the Tony Award-winning play, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Today, Rowe is a prolific performer and speaker, a husband and father, and the author of Fearlessly Different: An Autistic Actor’s Journey to Broadway’s Biggest Stage.

Together at Town Hall with writer Laurie Frankel, Rowe discussed his new book and how the things that make us different can turn out to be our biggest strengths.

This event provided CART transcription and ASL interpretation.

Mickey Rowe (he/him) has had a prolific and varied career as an actor, director, consultant, and public speaker, and is highly sought-after nationally and internationally. He was the first autistic actor to play Christopher Boone, the lead role in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. This also made him the first openly autistic actor ever to play any autistic role in a professional performance setting. He has also appeared in the title role in Amadeus and more. Rowe has been featured in The New York Times, New York Times Magazine, PBS, Vogue, Playbill, NPR, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, and Forbes. He has keynoted at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Kennedy Center, Yale University, Columbia University, and others. Mickey was the founding Artistic Director of National Disability Theatre, which works in partnership with Tony Award-winning companies such as La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.

Laurie Frankel is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of four novels, including her most recent One Two Three and This Is How It Always Is. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Publisher’s Weekly, People Magazine, Lit Hub, The Sydney Morning Herald, and other publications. She is the recipient of the Washington State Book Award and the Endeavor Award. Her novels have been translated into more than twenty-five languages and have been optioned for film and TV. A former college professor, she now writes full-time in Seattle, Washington where she lives with her family and makes good soup.

Buy the Book: Fearlessly Different: An Autistic Actor's Journey to Broadway's Biggest Stage (Hardcover) from Third Place Books

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It’s no surprise that fair, equitable, and respectful practices bolster engagement and motivation in the workplace. Being inclusive is, quite simply, the right thing to do. But we’re notoriously bad at it. Why? As Ruchika Tulshyan explained in her new book, Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work, inclusion doesn’t just happen: it takes attention, awareness, and regular practice. It takes real work, and there isn’t a simple 5-step plan for building a suddenly and permanently inclusive organization.

But we can make regular progress toward inclusion and diversity, starting now. Tulshyan took us to the specific intersection of gender and racial bias, as experienced by women of color in the workplace. She explained the importance of using leadership privilege for good by exposing bias (women of color have more to lose by speaking up), and why the popular concept of “leaning in” doesn’t work (but dismantling structural bias does). Tulshyan offered best practices that encourage leaders and organizations of all kinds to promote inclusion and diversity. It’s possible, she argued, by creating psychological safety and trust, and through continuous practice.

Tulshyan is joined in The Great Hall by author Ijeoma Oluo, who penned the forward for the book, for the launch of Inclusion on Purpose.

Ruchika Tulshyan is the founder of Candour, a global inclusion strategy firm. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times and Harvard Business Review. As a keynote speaker, Ruchika has addressed audiences at organizations like NASA, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and U.S. Congress. Ruchika is on the Thinkers50 Radar list and Hive Learning’s Most Influential D&I Professionals. She is a former business journalist who is now regularly quoted as a media expert in outlets like NPR, The New York Times, and Bloomberg. In addition to Inclusion on Purpose, Ruchika is the author of The Diversity Advantage: Fixing Gender Inequality in the Workplace (2015).

Ijeoma Oluo is author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, So You Want to Talk About Race, and Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America. Her work on race has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. Oluo was named one of the most influential people of 2021 on the TIME 100 list, has been twice named to the Root 100, and earned numerous awards for her work, including the 2018 Feminist Humanist Award and 2020 Harvard Humanist of the Year Award.

Buy the Book: Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work (Hardcover) from Elliott Bay Books

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. This event is sponsored by The Boeing Company.

We Need a Reckoning is a deeply powerful collection of poetry, essays, and memoir by women and non-binary people of color in the Tacoma, Washington area. Organized into five parts — wind, soil, water, sky, and breath – and featuring creative writing by thirty-one contributors, the collection is simultaneously a rallying cry for the land and people we build our homes in; a spell for strength and safe passage through tribulation; and a celebration of the power and brilliance of women.

In a panel discussion moderated by Blue Cactus Press publisher Christina Vega, contributors Krista Pérez, Katharine Threat, Lydia K. Valentine, and Jesi Hanley Vega discussed their work, performed readings from We Need a Reckoning, and invited questions from audience members.

Panelists

Krista Pérez, founder and president of the Tacoma Women of Color Collective (TWCC), has spent the bulk of her education and career learning and prioritizing anti-racist, equitable, and community-centered work. Her multi-disciplinary perspective allows her to view her work through several lenses which include being the daughter of an immigrant father and migrant worker mother, her undergraduate degree in law, economics and public policy, small business/entrepreneurial knowledge, and passion for community organizing. These experiences inform the work that Krista has done through TWCC, The Community Market (her PoC-centered market), and her equity consulting business, Pérez Consulting.

Katharine Threat is a mixed-race writer from the D.C. area who focuses her writing on the subjects of race, identity, and the concept of home. She graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a BA in Art History and English Creative Writing and is passionate about generating and maintaining safe spaces for young artists to express themselves and share their art. She wants to work with contemporary artists of all media and foster sympathetic, earnest, and socially active communities through art.

Lydia K. Valentine, is a playwright and poet, director and dramaturg, editor and educator. Her proudest accomplishment, though, is being a mom to two creative, intelligent, and caring individuals and activists. In her own writing and the projects to which she contributes through Lyderary Ink, Lydia seeks to amplify the voices of those who are often stifled, ignored, and marginalized in what has been the accepted narrative of the United States. Lydia’s first poetry collection, Brief Black Candles, was published in November 2020 by Not a Pipe Publishing. She is the current Tacoma Poet Laureate.

Jesi Hanley Vega is a native of The Bronx and a transplanted Tacoman. A former screenwriter and documentary filmmaker, Jesi now finds joy as a book editor, writing instructor, and communications consultant. When not working, Jesi loves writing fiction, practicing guitar, and bouncing on her mini-trampoline. She’s also a fantastic cook. Jesi is the mom of two and the stepmom of two more, and is deeply grateful for her loving partner, Marc.

Moderated by Christina Vega.

Buy the Book: We Need a Reckoning: Poetry, Essays, and Memoir by Women and Nonbinary People of Color from Blue Cactus Press

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Elizabeth Cady Stanton is a famous suffragette who demanded a woman’s right to vote. Margaret Sanger was a sex educator who popularized the term “birth control” and helped establish the precursor of Planned Parenthood. Sheryl Sandberg is the COO of Facebook and has told women to pursue their dreams by leaning in. They’re all celebrated feminists. However, they fought for the few, not the many.

In The Trouble with White Women, author Kyla Schuller argued that white feminist politics dispossess the most marginalized people to liberate themselves. Schuller proposed that the only way to have true feminism is through intersectionality. To achieve true feminism, the fight for it has to be in tandem with racial, economic, sexual, and disability justice. Schuller profiles lesser-known Black, Indigenous, Latina, and trans activists who are addressing these issues through a different lens. The shortcomings are many and the goals have yet to be reached.

Kyla Schuller is Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Faculty Director of the Women’s Global Health Leadership Certificate Program at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. She is the author of The Biopolitics of Feeling: Race, Sex, and Science in the Nineteenth Century (2018), and her writing has appeared in The Rumpus, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Post Road.

Dr. Sophie Lewis is a visiting scholar at The Alice Paul Center for Research on Gender, Sexuality and Women at the University of Pennsylvania, and a member of the teaching faculty of the Philadelphia branch of the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research. She is the author of Full Surrogacy Now: Feminism Against Family (2019). Her non-academic writing has appeared in The New York Times, Boston Review, The Nation, and many others.

Buy the Book: The Trouble with White Women: A Counterhistory of Feminism (Hardcover) from Third Place Books

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

The best-selling Boeing 737 plane took its first commercial flight in 1968. Since then, the aircraft has been updated and modified across four generations; the most recent being the 737 MAX, officially put into service in 2017. Not long after, in 2018 and 2019, two tragic crashes resulted in the deaths of 346 people, and flights of the 737 MAX were grounded for nearly two years. Today, with design revisions and additional training and maintenance requirements mandated by the FAA, the planes are again taking flight.

In his new book, Flying Blind, investigative journalist Peter Robison claimed that there’s more to the story. He probed deeper into what went wrong through exclusive interviews with current and former employees of Boeing and the FAA, industry executives and analysts, and family members of the crash victims. In conversation with Seattle Times journalist Dominic Gates, Robison discussed business culture and how it can threaten both industries and lives.

Peter Robison is an investigative journalist for Bloomberg and Bloomberg Businessweek. He is a recipient of the Gerald Loeb Award, the Malcolm Forbes Award, and four “Best in Business” awards from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, with an honors degree in history from Stanford University, he lives in Seattle with his wife and two sons.

Dominic Gates is an Irish-American aerospace journalist for The Seattle Times, former math teacher, and Pulitzer Prize winner. He has been assigned to cover Boeing for The Times since 2003. Gates was a co-recipient of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting alongside Steve Miletich, Mike Baker, and Lewis Kamb for their coverage of the Boeing 737 MAX crashes and investigations.

Buy the Book: Flying Blind: The 737 MAX Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing (Hardcover) from Elliott Bay Books

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In 1962, Summit Magazine tantalized readers with a tale of the Riesenstein peaks, a majestic (and untamed) mountain range in British Columbia. The article described the lofty granite walls and wondered allowed who would be the first to attempt to climb it.

If you’ve never heard of the Riesenstein peaks, it’s because they don’t exist. Three mountaineers crafted the hoax as an exercise in geographic mis-information, and it inspired a quest for a North American Shangri-La.

Her new book Imaginary Peaks details the cartographical mystery of the Riesenstein Hoax within the larger context of climbing history. In conversation with Seattle Met’s Allison Williams, she detailed the seemingly endless quest, within the climbing community, for newly discovered peaks and claims of first ascent.

Katie Ives is a renowned writer in international climbing community. In 2016 she received the H. Adams Carter Literary Award from the American Alpine Club. She has participated in the Banff Mountain and Wilderness Writing Program and has served as a judge for the Boardman-Tasker Award, and a jury member, panelist, and panel moderator at the Banff Mountain Book Festival. Ives is editor in chief at Alpinist magazine and lives in Cambridge, Vermont.

Buy the Book: Imaginary Peaks: The Riesenstein Hoax and Other Mountain Dreams (Hardcover) from Third Place Books

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Town Hall is thrilled to once again partner with Gage Academy of Art to bring audiences a series of talks that explore the remarkable creative work of four Washington artists.

Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo of Lead Pencil Studio are known for building entirely new worlds that explore the limits of physical space and challenge human perception. Conducted at an architectural scale, their interdisciplinary work incorporates sculpture, photography, writing, drawing, and beyond. One of their most recent and easily-accessed works can be encountered while doing an everyday task: catching the train. Deep below the streets of the new University District Link light rail station, Lead Pencil Studio’s 300-foot-long sculpture, Fragment Brooklyn, reflects elements of historic city architecture from around the globe. Windows, fire escapes, and rooftops bring the outside in, while video screens rotate through vignettes of nature, apartment and student life, and historical events from the U-District area.

Together with Gage Academy of Art cofounder and Artistic Director Gary Faigin, the artists will discuss the innovative research behind the U-District artwork, along with other related artworks.

Annie Han + Daniel Mihalyo: LEAD PENCIL STUDIO

Korean-born Annie Han and U.S.-born Daniel Mihalyo have been collaborating as Seattle-based Lead Pencil Studio since 2002, working in the area of installation art and sculpture at the architectural scale. Their work ranges widely in mediums, materials, scales, and disciplines with a pervading interest in structure, space, and landscape. With professional training in art and architecture, their mediums include ceramics, photography, video, sculpture, drawing, design, and installation. Their work is exhibited throughout the U.S. with locations in Europe and Asia. They are the recipients of the Rome Prize, Contemporary NW Art Award, Architecture League of NY Emerging Voice, Creative Capital Foundation Visual Arts Award, Lucas Artist Fellowship at Montalvo, and the New York Prize from the Van Alen Institute.

Painter, critic, and author Gary Faigin is cofounder and Artistic Director of Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, as well as the school’s Still Life Atelier instructor. Faigin also serves as a Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington, where he teaches facial expressions to graduate animation students and works on a research team studying the human perception of stylized facial expressions. He has taught in art schools across the country including the National Academy of Design and the Parsons School of Design. In 2001, Faigin published his first book, The Artist’s Complete Guide to Facial Expression, which has since been translated into seven languages and reprinted sixteen times.

Presented by Gage Academy of Art and Town Hall Seattle.

The human face is a marvel. Just try to imagine the map of information contained in its creases and folds: the face holds stories of history, heritage, and emotion. Yet, despite the reverence deserved by such a wondrous bit of human biology, there are countless ways to try and “fix” faces. Digital filters smooth and blur; surgical procedures tighten, remove, and shape in a quest to defy time. Why?

Filmmaker and author Justine Bateman examined the aggressive ways that society reacts to the aging of women’s faces in her book Face: One Square Foot of Skin. Drawing from her own experiences and interviews with nearly 50 women, Bateman recounted their stories through fictional vignettes to explore what it is that causes society to view women’s aging faces as undesirable and invisible. She explored ageism and rejects the assumption that faces need fixing in the first place, suggesting that it’s high time to move on from judging people’s worth based on the appearance of their face.

Justine Bateman is a director, producer, and author with an impressive, decades-long resume in film and TV that includes Family Ties, Satisfaction, Arrested Development, and many more. She earned a Golden Globe nomination and two Emmy nominations. Her previous book, Fame, was published in 2018; her writing has also been published by Dame, Salon, and McSweeney’s.

Buy the Book—Face: One Square Foot of Skin (Hardcover) from Third Place Books

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Alex Tizon (1959-2017) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who built a career telling the stories of people at the margins. The underdogs. The forgotten ones. Everyday people. Immigrants, criminals, and folks on the fringe. Tizon believed that every human had a story to tell; they only needed to be invited to share it. In Invisible People: Stories of Lives at the Margins, Tizon’s friend and former colleague, Sam Howe Verhovek, brought his stories together in a deeply human collection of work.

Tizon had a knack for illuminating the stories of people typically hidden from view. From UFO-tracking outliers to immigrants from Cambodia and Laos, Verhovek brought such tales together to paint a rich and empathetic picture of humanity. Included is one of Tizon’s most important and controversial stories, which appeared on the cover of The Atlantic just months after his death in 2017. “My Family’s Slave” offered a painful and personal account of Eudocia “Lola” Tomas Polido, the enslaved woman who raised him and his siblings in the Philippines and later in America in the 1960s and 70s. Tizon’s exploration of personal ethics, family loyalty, human rights, and positions of power remain critical conversations to continue now, more than ever; Invisible People helps us keep them going.

Alex Tizon was an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon. He served on The Seattle Times staff for 17 years and won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting along with two colleagues. He was the second Philippine-born journalist to win a Pulitzer. He served as the Seattle bureau chief of the Los Angeles Times, contributed to Newsweek and 60 Minutes, andwas a frequent contributor to The Atlantic. He was also the author of the award-winning memoir Big Little Man: In Search of My Asian Self.

Sam Howe Verhovek is a former national correspondent for The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. He has been writing for newspapers since high school and was editor-in-chief of The Stanford Daily during his senior year of college. After graduation, he was hired by New York Times columnist and editor James Reston for a one-year “clerkship” to serve as Mr. Reston’s assistant in the Washington bureau. He also worked as a reporter for the Asahi Evening News in Tokyo and as a journalism teacher in Beijing before returning to The New York Times as a metro reporter in New York.

Melissa Tizon is the widow of late Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Alex Tizon. Trained as a journalist, Melissa is the vice president of national communication for Providence, one of the largest health systems in the U.S. She has lived in Seattle for more than 20 years.

Buy the Book: Invisible People: Stories of Lives at the Margins (Hardcover) from Elliott Bay Books

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Did video really kill the radio star? There’s no doubt that the expansion of visual technology played a huge role in the evolution of communications and entertainment, but consider the modern successes of podcasts and music streaming services. With over 2 million podcasts in existence and over 400 million people worldwide subscribers to some form of online music streaming service, audio remains alive and well; it still holds plenty of power to create intimacy, spark the imagination, and entertain us. There’s nothing quite like it.

Veteran broadcaster Ross Reynolds took us on a journey from the first century of radio to today’s world of audiobooks, internet streaming, podcasts, and smart speakers. How has audio transmission changed society and what makes it such a powerful form of communication despite decades of change? Reynolds explored these questions and more, and encouraged our in-person and virtual audience members to share stories of their formative audio experiences.

Ross Reynolds is KUOW’s executive producer for community engagement, before which he was a program host for 16 years. His awards include the 2011 Public Radio News Directors First Place in the call-in category for Living in a White City. In 2015, he was named to the University of Washington Communication Alumni Hall of Fame.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle in partnership with Humanities Washington as part of their Speakers Bureau program.

When tackling topics of systemic racism, it’s all too easy to build narratives centered around white men and toxic masculinity. But white women have long held seats at the table— from their pre-Civil War ability to buy and sell enslaved people to the million-plus women members of the KKK, and beyond— as systems of white supremacy were built and maintained. We cannot skirt around the gendered roles of white women in systemic racism if we, as a society, hope to dismantle systems of oppression. We need to make space for a deeper understanding; Seattle anti-racist facilitators Ilsa Govan and Tilman Smith offer just such a space in their new book, What’s Up with White Women? Unpacking Sexism and White Privilege in Pursuit of Racial Justice.

Govan and Smith offer a frank yet compassionate guide for white women interested in becoming more effective in cross-cultural, anti-racist practices. The authors dive into stories of white women’s experiences with sexism, racism, and white privilege and discuss how white women harm BIPOC (and themselves) by colluding with systems of oppression. They cover how white women often hijack conversations on race. And they provide guiding questions and actions for strengthening anti-racism practices. After all, the opportunity for deeper understanding comes with a powerful companion: the unique opportunity to take action.

Ilsa Govan has extensive experience as a facilitator, consultant, writer, and social justice activist. As Co-Founder of Cultures Connecting, she has led conversations about racial equity at workshops and conferences across the country. Prior to Cultures Connecting, Ilsa worked as an Equity and Race Specialist for Seattle Public Schools where she was tasked with addressing institutional racism in a large organization. She is the co-author of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Strategies for Facilitating Conversations on Race. Ilsa is deeply invested in examining how her own identity influences her interactions with others, particularly through the lens of privilege and oppression.

Tilman Smith has been an educator and project manager for over thirty-five years, serving as a teacher, administrator, college instructor, caucus facilitator, trainer, and coach. She has facilitated workshops throughout the country on the topics of racial justice, white privilege, internalized sexism, and internalized white superiority. Currently, Tilman partners with government, educational, and non-profit agencies as a race-based caucus organizer, facilitator, trainer, and executive coach. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in French and History from the University of Colorado and her Master’s Degree in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College Northwest.

Karena Hooks is a Leader, Organizer, Transformational Coach, Mentor, Educator, and Facilitator with over 20 years of experience working with individuals and organizations at all stages of life. Her roots run deep in the fields of Social Justice, Organizational Development and Leadership, and Community-based Systems Change for nonprofit/non-governmental, public, and private sectors globally. She serves as Adjunct Faculty at Columbia University’s School of Social Work online program and was recently featured on KING 5’s award-winning series, Facing Race.

Buy the Book: What's Up with White Women?: Unpacking Sexism and White Privilege in Pursuit of Racial Justice (Paperback) from Elliott Bay Books

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation online click here.

Anatole France once said, “Until one has loved an animal a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” Susan Orlean’s soul has been awake for a very long time, indeed.

The award-winning author brings forth On Animals, a collection of writings about our relationship with animals, done throughout her illustrious career. Orlean brought a keen eye and a warm sensibility to the animals that we eat, tame, and make our pets; animals that are wild and wondrous, and animals that could very well eat us. Orlean was 6-years-old when she wrote a book called Herbert the Near-Sighted Pigeon. She hasn’t stopped writing about animals since. The collection includes pieces on backyard chickens (of which she has a clutch), backyard tigers (one woman had twenty-three of them), famous whales, and hard-working donkeys. Delightful and profound, On Animals celebrates our collective existence in this soulful world.

Susan Orlean has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1982. She is the New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including The Library Book, Rin Tin Tin, and The Orchid Thief, which was made into the Academy Award-winning film Adaptation. She also writes a weekly column for Medium, runs a book club on Literati, and writes for television, including How to With John Wilson (HBO) and the forthcoming adaptation of The Library Book.

Leigh Calvez has worked as a scientist, naturalist, nature writer, and teacher. Her writing has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, High Country News, The Ecologist, Ocean Realm, The Christian Science Monitor, The Seattle Times, and more. She is also the author of New York Times bestseller, The Hidden Lives of Owls, and the award-winning The Breath of a Whale.

Buy the Book: On Animals (Hardcover) from Elliott Bay Books

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation online click here.

How old were you when you got your first cell phone? Did “going online” ever involve listening to a series of pained squeaks and static, willing the family PC to connect to…whatever it is it connected to? Today, children are presented with a sparkling array of digital tools that many of us could barely fathom as kids. How are parents and caregivers supposed to guide small humans into the digital realm without feeling completely overwhelmed?

Instead of telling children what NOT to do online, EdTech expert Richard Culatta argued we should spend more time teaching kids HOW to navigate the online world. Cyberbullies happen. Social media isn’t going away, and neither are online games. In his new book, Digital for Good, Culatta helped caregivers prepare kids for navigating the tricky situations they will undoubtedly encounter as they move through the digital world, and offers straightforward advice for raising good digital citizens.

Richard Culatta is the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), a nonprofit serving education leaders in 127 countries. Prior to joining ISTE, Richard was the chief innovation officer for the state of Rhode Island, and was appointed by President Barack Obama to lead the US Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology from 2013-2015.

Dr. Margaret Morris is a clinical psychologist focused on how technology can support wellbeing. She is an affiliate faculty member in the Information School at the University of Washington and a research consultant. Morris is the author of Left to Our Own Devices: Outsmarting Smart Technology to Reclaim Our Relationships, Health and Focus.

Buy the Book: Digital for Good: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World (Hardcover) from Third Place Books

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Seattle’s Child.

It’s been a watershed year. Social justice, and all that it means to us, is both in our grasp and slipping through our fingers. Seattle journalist Marcus Harrison Green, a dear friend and frequent collaborator with Town Hall Seattle, knows this well. Growing up black in South Seattle, Green has seen both the sharp rise of the Black Lives Matter movement and the murk of police brutality in tandem.

Based on experience, Green offered sharpness and clarity about racism as it pervades all aspects of our society – from classrooms and police patrolled streets, to the newsroom. He also writes about religion, mental health, human morality, and what his beloved grandmother taught him – and now teaches us.

Marcus Harrison Green is a columnist for The Seattle Times. A long-time Seattle native, he is the founder of the South Seattle Emerald, which focuses on telling the stories of South Seattle and its residents.

Michele Matassa Flores is executive editor of The Seattle Times.

Buy the Book: Readying to Rise: Essays (Paperback) Elliott Bay Books

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation online click here.

Phyllis Wheatley, the first African-American author of a published book of poetry, wrote, “Imagination! Who can sing thy force?/Or who describe the swiftness of thy course?”. Wheatley could very well have been calling to the Black creatives, writers, orators, and leaders who would follow her. The imaginative force of Malcolm X and Toni Morrison, James Baldwin and Ta-Nehisi Coates, Barack Obama and Langston Hughes are imparted by Farah Jasmine Griffin in a series of meditations on the fundamental questions of art, politics, and the human condition in Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature.

Griffin blends memoir with a deep reading of the Black community’s rich panoply of artists and thinkers who have made an indelible mark on America. By poring over the poems of Phyllis Wheatley, the speeches of Frederick Douglass, the lyrics of Billie Holiday, the novels of contemporary Jesmyn Ward, and others, Griffin sheds light on what it means to be human. Through this lens, Griffin explores deeper questions and themes of justice, slavery, racism, segregation, mass incarceration, and more, all the while calling the names of those recently lost, like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

Both a celebration of Black America, and a meditative renunciation of what America has denied its Black citizenry, Griffin gives vivid tribute.

Farah Jasmine Griffin was the inaugural chair of the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department at Columbia University. She is a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship recipient.

Buy the Book: Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature (Hardcover) Elliott Bay Books

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

In Hungary, one summer’s night in 1969, Judy Temes’ family packed the car for, what was supposed to be, a vacation to Vienna. Judy’s parents took her 12-year-old brother and left her behind. She was five-years-old and was given to her grandmother.

Her family wasn’t taking a vacation. They were escaping Hungary’s totalitarian regime. Her father, a doctor who survived the Holocaust, was using tourist visas that allowed entry into a Western country. Such visas were given under one particular condition. One child had to be left behind. This was the government’s way to ensure that citizens who left the country would return.

Girl Left Behind is Judy Temes’s memoir, a story in which she didn’t know why her family left her, nor if she’d ever see them again. It’s a story of loss and trauma, the horrors of political strife and the cost of immigration policies. It’s the story of what it means growing up without a sense of home until you define it yourself.

Judy Temes is a Seattle-based teacher, writer, and journalist whose work has been published in The Boston Globe, The Patriot Ledger, and other publications.

Tina Schumann is a widely published poet and editor of the anthology Two-Countries, U.S. Daughters, and Sons of Immigrant Parents. Her work has appeared in The American Journal of Poetry, Ascent, Michigan Quarterly Review, Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, and read on NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac.

Buy the Book: Girl Left Behind (Paperback) Third Place Books

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In the beginning there was a bit. And then the pixel: a particular packaging of those bits. With the coming of the pixel, the organizing principle of most all modern media. Nearly every picture in the world is now composed of pixels: cell phone photos and Mars Rover transmissions, book illustrations and video games. Pixels and digital images are now all but synonymous.

Pixar cofounder Alvy Ray Smith offered in his new book, A Biography of the Pixel, simple but profound ideas that unify the dazzling varieties of digital image making. Pixel’s development begins with Fourier waves, proceeds through Turing machines, and ends with the first digital movies from Pixar, DreamWorks, and Blue Sky. Don’t know what a Fourier wave is? Don’t have a clue what a Turing machine does? Smith makes hard-to-understand concepts accessible to the layperson. Every field has now been touched by the small and mighty pixel – from the arts to technology; from business to entertainment. Smith opens our eyes to show how pictures composed of invisible stuff become visible.

Alvy Ray Smith co-founded Pixar and Altamira Software. He was the first Director of Computer Graphics at Lucasfilm and the first Graphics Fellow at Microsoft. He has received two technical Academy Awards for his contribution to digital moviemaking technology.

Charles C. Mann is a correspondent for The Atlantic, Science, and Wired, has also written for Fortune, The New York Times, Smithsonian, and Vanity Fair, among others. He is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestseller 1493. He has also written for the TV network HBO and the series Law & Order.

Buy the Book: A Biography of the Pixel (Leonardo) (Paperback) Third Place Books

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Have you ever visited the defunct coal chutes on Capitol Hill? Do you know where you can find a 100-year-old sidewalk or the nearest pocket park? Susanna Ryan, local cartoonist and creator of Seattle Walk Report, was joined by Crosscut’s Knute “Mossback” Berger for a fresh look at Seattle’s hidden historical gems.

Ryan gave us a preview of her new book Secret Seattle with a visual presentation exploring the weird and wonderful hidden history behind some of the city’s most overlooked places, architecture, and infrastructure. Local history buffs, walking enthusiasts, and armchair explorers alike can revel in the hidden locales uncovered, and revealed, by Ryan.

Self-taught cartoonist, illustrator, and designer Susanna Ryan is the artist behind Seattle Walk Report, a popular comic series hosted on Instagram and published as a book in 2019. With her keen eye for Seattle’s overlooked landmarks and everyday ephemera, she captured everything that makes the Emerald City magical. Her work has appeared in Seattle Magazine, The Stranger, Seattle Refined, The Evergrey, and the Seattle Review of Books, as well as on KOMO News and 107.7 The End.

Knute “Mossback” Berger is Crosscut’s Editor-at-Large and host of the Mossback’s Northwest TV series on KCTS 9. He writes about politics and regional heritage. Previously he served as Editor-in-Chief of Seattle Weekly, Editor & Publisher of Eastsideweek, and as Managing Editor of Washington Magazine. He is Editor-at-Large for Seattle Magazine and has written two books, Pugetopolis and Space Needle, Spirit of Seattle. He is a regular commentator on KUOW-FM and a Rainier Club Fellow.

Buy the Book: Secret Seattle (Seattle Walk Report): An Illustrated Guide to the City's Offbeat and Overlooked History (Hardcover)
Third Place Books

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At first sight of Frida Kahlo’s painting The Two Fridas, author Emily Rapp Black felt an instant connection with the artist. An amputee from childhood, Rapp Black grew up with a succession of prosthetic limbs, and learned she had to hide her disability from the world. Kahlo sustained lifelong injuries after a horrific bus crash and her own right leg was eventually amputated. In Kahlo’s art, Rapp Black recognized her own life.

In this astoundingly personal presentation, Rapp Black joined us with fellow author Lidia Yuknavitch to explore her own story and her attachment to Kahlo. With candor and vulnerability, she chronicled how Kahlo’s art reflected her own, from numerous operations, to the compulsion to create, to silent pain. She told the story of losing her infant son to Tay-Sachs, giving birth to a daughter, and learning to accept her body. Rapp Black examined how the experiences and art of another can help shape our own lives—and inspire us to find a way forward when all seems lost.

Emily Rapp Black is the author of Poster Child: A Memoir, The Still Point of the Turning World, Sanctuary, and Frida Kalho and My Left Leg. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including Vogue; The New York Times; Time; The Wall Street Journal; O, The Oprah Magazine; and the Los Angeles Times. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times Book Review and is the nonfiction editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books. Rapp is currently an associate professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, where she also teaches medical narratives in the university’s School of Medicine.

Lidia Yuknavitch is the author of the bestselling novels The Book of Joan, a cli fi restorying of Joan of Arc, The Small Backs of Children, and Dora: A Headcase. Her memoir The Chronology of Water is currently being adapted for film by Kristen Stewart. Her book The Misfit’s Manifesto is based on her TED Talk “On The Beauty of Being a Misfit.” Her book of short stories, Verge, was published in 2020, and her next novel, Thrust is forthcoming. She founded the creative lab Corporeal Writing in Portland, Oregon.

Buy the Book: Frida Kahlo and My Left Leg (Hardcover)
Elliott Bay Books

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In postwar America, there was arguably no newspaper comic strip more recognizable than Charles Schulz’s Peanuts. It was everywhere, not just in thousands of daily newspapers. For nearly fifty years, Peanuts was a mainstay of American popular culture in television, movies, and merchandising, from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to the White House to the breakfast table.

Most people have come to associate Peanuts with the innocence of childhood, not the social and political turmoil of the 1960s and 1970s. Some have even argued that Peanuts was so beloved because it was apolitical. The truth, according to history professor Blake Scott Ball, is that Peanuts was very political. Whether it was the battles over the Vietnam War, racial integration, feminism, or the future of a nuclear world, Ball argued in his book Charlie Brown’s America: The Popular Politics of Peanuts that the strip was a daily conversation about very real hopes and fears and the political realities of the Cold War world. In conversation with comic book editor Gary Groth, he drew upon thousands of fan letters, interviews, and behind-the-scenes documents to reveal that Charles Schulz used his comic strip to project his ideas to a mass audience and comment on the rapidly changing politics of America. Don’t miss this historical journey through the tumultuous decades of the Cold War as seen through the eyes of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Peppermint Patty, Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanuts gang.

Blake Scott Ball is Assistant Professor of History at Huntingdon College. He served as assistant director for the New Summersell Center Public History Initiative at the University of Alabama, and as an editor for the Southern Historian graduate history journal.

Gary Groth is an American comic book editor, publisher, and critic. He is editor-in-chief of The Comics Journal, and co-founder of Fantagraphics Books, which he established In 1976 with Michael Catron and Kim Thompson. Groth’s Comics Journal is known for applying rigorous critical standards to comic books. It disparages formulaic superhero books and work-for-hire publishers, and has favored artists like R. Crumb and Art Spiegelman. Groth also founded the Harvey Awards, one of the comic industry’s oldest awards. Groth lives and works in Seattle. Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9780190090463

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From Homer to Helen Keller, from Dune to Stevie Wonder, from the invention of Braille to the science of echolocation. What is the common thread between them?

In this stunningly personal and informative presentation, writer and educator M. Leona Godin explored the fascinating history of blindness, interweaving it with her own story of gradually losing her sight. In conversation with blind author and illustrator Keith Rosson, and based on her book There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness, Godin probed the ways in which blindness has shaped our ocularcentric culture, challenging deeply ingrained ideas about what it means to be “blind.” They explored the history of blindness being used to signify such things as thoughtlessness, irrationality, and unconsciousness, while at the same time blind people have been othered as the recipients of special powers as compensation for lost sight. With insight from her own life as a person who began losing her vision at age 10, Godin illuminated the often surprising history of both the condition of blindness and the myths and ideas that have grown up around it. Don’t miss this important and enlightening discussion that reveals just how essential blindness and vision are to humanity’s understanding of itself and the world.

M. Leona Godin is a writer, performer, and educator who is blind. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times; Playboy; O, The Oprah Magazine; and Catapult, where she writes the column, “A Blind Writer’s Notebook.” She was a 2019 Logan Nonfiction Fellow and has written and produced two theatrical productions: The Star of Happiness and The Spectator & the Blind Man. She founded the online magazine Aromatica Poetica as a venue for exploring the arts and sciences of smell and taste; not specifically for, but welcoming to, blind readers and writers. She has lectured on art, accessibility, disability, and technology at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, Rice University, and the American Printing House for the Blind, among other venues.

Keith Rosson is the author of the novels The Mercy of the Tide, Smoke City, and Road Seven, and the story collection, Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons. His short fiction has appeared in Cream City Review, PANK, December, Grasslimb Journal, and more. He’s also a legally blind illustrator and graphic designer, which offers its own unique challenges and rewards.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9781524748715

Watch this program for ASL and captions.

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In Living Color: Angie Rubio Stories, author Donna Miscolta traced the social education that a Mexican American girl receives as she experiences and responds to microaggressions and systemic racism in and out of school. Unfortunately, though Living Color is fiction, many of the incidents depicted in Angie Rubio’s life are inspired or derived from Miscolta’s own girlhood. To further explore the topics of racism, family, and identity, Miscolta participated in a class with Anne Liu Kellor called “Shapeshifting: Reading and Writing the Mixed-Race Experience.” They joined us, along with two other writers from the class, Rebecca Delacruz-Gunderson and Sarah McQuate, to discuss the course and the importance of writing to see ourselves.

The panel of four—all of whom identify as mixed-race—shared why they took the class, and what resonated most for them in terms of the readings, prompts, and discussions. What themes occupy mixed-race writers and what does writing about them resolve? What awareness of themselves as mixed-race writers did they bring to the class, and what did they take away? What do they think is their biggest obstacle as a mixed-race writer? Who are they writing for? They examined all of these questions and more. Join them for readings from their work, and an essential conversation about identity and the significance of art that provides mirrors, windows, and doors.

Donna Miscolta’s third book of fiction Living Color: Angie Rubio Stories was published in September 2020. Her story collection Hola and Goodbye was published in 2016. She’s also the author of the novel When the de la Cruz Family Danced. She has work forthcoming in Indomitable/Indomables: A multigenre Chicanx/Latinx Women’s Anthology. Find her at donnamiscolta.com

Sarah E. McQuate is a half-Black, half-white scientist turned science writer. McQuate has science stories published in a variety of outlets, including Nature and Science. McQuate lives in Seattle and writes about research news from the University of Washington’s College of Engineering and Information School. She is also working on telling her own story. You can learn more about Sarah at sarahmcquate.com.

Anne Liu Kellor is a mixed-race Chinese American writer, editor, coach, and teacher based in Seattle. She is the recipient of fellowships from Hedgebrook, Seventh Wave, Jack Straw Writers Program, 4Culture, and Hypatia-in-the-Woods. Her essays have appeared in publications such as Longreads, Fourth Genre, Witness, New England Review, and more. Kellor’s memoir, Heart Radical: A Search for Language, Love, and Belonging, traces her migrations between China, Tibet, and America, and is forthcoming in September 2021. You can pre-order or learn more at www.anneliukellor.com

Rebecca Delacruz-Gunderson is a half Filipina, half White Washingtonian who loves reading, running, writing, and hiking. She has worked in college counseling at The Bush School, served as Field Director for State Senator T’wina Nobles’ campaign, lived in Singapore for five months as the employee of a startup, tutored local students, and taught essay writing classes. She aspires to be a high school English teacher and is very excited to begin her Masters in English at the University of British Columbia this fall.

This project was supported, in part, by a grant from 4Culture. Presented by Town Hall Seattle.

To hyphenate or not to hyphenate, that is the question. It has been a central point of controversy since before the imprinting of the first Gutenberg Bible. And yet, the hyphen has persisted, bringing and bridging new words and concepts.

In conversation with Rich Smith, Associate Editor of The Stranger, academic and anthropologist Pardis Mahdavi shared an introduction to the hidden life of an ordinary thing—the hyphen. With support from her book Hyphen, she took us on a journey through the history of the hyphen from antiquity to the present. Along the way, she uncovered the politics of the hyphen and the role it plays in creating identities, revealing the quiet power of a writing convention concept to speak to the travails of hyphenated individuals all over the world. Herself a hyphenated Iranian-American, she weaved in her own experiences of struggling to find a sense of self amidst feelings of betwixt and between, as well as those of three other individuals. Join us for this compelling conversation about the powerful ways that language and identity intertwine.

Pardis Mahdavi is Dean of Social Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a Professor in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University. She is a non-fiction writer with 20 years of experience as an anthropologist, public health researcher, and expert in sexual politics around the globe. She is the author of five books, including the first book on the sexual politics of modern Iran, Passionate Uprisings: Iran’s Sexual Revolution. A former journalist turned academic, she has written for Ms. Magazine, Foreign Affairs, The Huffington Post, Jaddaliyya, and more. Her work has been covered in documentaries, radio shows, podcasts, and media outlets, including CNN, PBS, NPR, and Publisher’s Weekly.

Rich Smith is the Associate Editor of the Stranger, where he covers politics and books. He’s also the author of the poetry collection All Talk. Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781501373909

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Throughout history, humans have been driven by the quest for two cherished ideals: community and freedom. The two don’t coexist easily. We value individuality and self-reliance, yet are utterly dependent on community for our most basic needs, a fact which has never been more clear than over the last year. Bestselling author Sebastian Junger created an experiment to examine that tension between individualism and dependence that lies at the heart of what it means to be human, and he joined us to share what he has learned.

Encompassed in his book Freedom, Junger told us about his journey walking the railroad lines of the East Coast with three friends—a conflict photographer and two Afghan War vets. In conversation with veteran and author Matt Gallagher, he related about dodging railroad cops, sleeping under bridges, cooking over fires, and drinking from creeks and rivers, ultimately forging a unique reliance on one another. Weaving in research on primatology, boxing strategy, the history of labor strikes, Apache raiders, the role of women in resistance movements, and the brutal reality of life on the Pennsylvania frontier, he presented a stunning examination of the primary desire that defines us—freedom.

Sebastian Junger is the New York Times bestselling author of The Perfect Storm, Fire, A Death in Belmont, War, and Tribe. As an award-winning journalist, a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, and a special correspondent at ABC News, he has covered major international news stories around the world and has received both a National Magazine Award and a Peabody Award. Junger is also a documentary filmmaker whose debut film Restrepo (co-directed with Tim Hetherington) was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

Matt Gallagher is a Wake Forest graduate and US Army veteran. He’s the author of the novels Youngbloodand the memoir Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War. He holds an MFA in fiction from Columbia and has written for The New York Times, Esquire, and The Paris Review.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781982153410

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“Chickens are a lot more mainstream than veganism and a little bit like kombucha: super weird twenty years ago, now somewhat more popular and made even more so by logos, brands, and hashtags.” So begins Gina Warren’s book Hatched: Dispatches from the Backyard Chicken Movement. In this presentation that is part memoir, part food and sustainability discussion, Gina G. Warren sat down with renowned fellow chicken aficionados Chicken Mike and Nicole Graham to dig into the history and food politics of the backyard chicken movement.

Together, they provided their deeply personal experiences with the movement’s social and cultural motivations, the regulations it faces, and the ways that chicken owners build community. Warren shared other interviews with urban agriculture advocates, entrepreneurs, animal rights campaigners, and chicken enthusiasts, exploring America’s complex relationship with animals and what it means to be a conscious eater. Join them for this enlightening, unique, charming story that offers a fresh perspective and invited us to ask questions about sustainable farming, industrial agriculture, and our connections with the animals we love.

Gina G. Warren writes about animals, the natural world, and human relationships for publications such as Orion, Creative Nonfiction, and Terrain.org. She raises a flock of two dozen chickens in her South Louisiana backyard.

Chicken Mike and Nicole Graham live in Houston, Texas and own an urban based educational chicken business called The Garden Hen. They started their business in 2012 educating youth across Houston about the life cycle of a chicken. These efforts have spawned a program they bring to students of all ages called Project Life Cycle: The Chicken reaching over 20,000 students as of spring 2021. Along the way, The Grahams have become Houston’s premier chicken coop builders, building over 250 coops. Most of the coops are designed by Chicken Mike and Nicole, including the needs of their clients to make the perfect coop. Along with their “chicken ecosystem” growing, they have three beautiful daughters ages ranging from 5-17. Actually four, if you count Pinecone the chicken…

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9780295748627

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One thing that seems to be true in all generations of American life is that it can be challenging to summon the courage to follow your dreams in a material world. In this conversation with writers Eric M. Johnson and Thomas McGuane, they considered this difficulty paralleled with their own work and lives. Through the lens of Johnson’s debut novel—a story of a young man who must decide what he stands for in the midst of Wall Street greed and family civil war—and McGuane’s fiction and life, they shared their struggles and triumphs on the path to following their own dreams. With short readings from their respective works, they touched on writing, life, and fly fishing. Don’t miss this riveting discussion from two consummate American writers.

Thomas McGuane is an American writer. He began contributing fiction to The New Yorker in 1994. He has written ten novels, including the National Book Award-nominated Ninety-Two in the Shade, as well as six nonfiction essay collections and two short-story collections. His work has been anthologized in the “Best American Stories,” “Best American Essays,” and “Best American Sporting Essays.” His most recent book is Cloudbursts: Collected and New Stories.

Eric M. Johnson is an American journalist, author, and outdoorsman. His current journalistic focus is aerospace – from Boeing’s 737 MAX crisis to Elon Musk’s SpaceX – and he has covered former President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, breaking national news, and transportation since joining Reuters in 2011 in Chicago. He has also been a staff reporter for Sun-Times Media Group and covered sports for the Observer, in London.

Buy the Books

Cloudbursts: Collected and New Stories by Thomas McGuane

Whenever a Happy Thing Falls by Eric M. Johnson

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The United States is the only country in the world that sentences thirteen and fourteen-year old offenders, mostly youth of color, to life in prison without parole, regardless of the scientifically proven singularities of the developing adolescent brain. In 1991, Ian Manuel, then fourteen, was sentenced to life without parole for a non-homicide crime. Today, thirty years later, he is neither in prison nor dead. His story has been told many times by highly regarded experts in their field–judges, prosecutors, juvenile probation officers, sociologists, journalists. But he joined us now to share his own story.

Contained in his book My Time Will Come: A Memoir of Crime, Punishment, Hope, and Redemption, Manuel offered a powerful testimony of his life. From growing up homeless in Central Park Village in Tampa, a neighborhood riddled with poverty, gang violence, and drug abuse, to his efforts to rise above his own circumstances, he told how he found himself imprisoned for two thirds of his life, eighteen years of which were spent in solitary confinement. The at-once wrenching and inspiring story covers how he endured the savagery of the United States prison system, and how his victim, the young white mother of two whom he shot, forgave him and advocated for his freedom. Led by renowned lawyer Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative, a crusade to address the cruelty of our judicial system led to Manuel’s freedom. Capturing the fullness of his humanity, don’t miss this presentation where Manuel offered affecting praise to the capacity of the human will to transcend adversity through determination and art, most especially his own dedication to writing poetry.

Ian Manuel lives in New York City. He is a poet and motivational speaker at schools and social organizations nationwide.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9781524748524

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Paul Shoemaker believes America is approaching a looming inflection point. The author and social impact leader says that the massive upheavals over the last year is emblematic of how the social, economic, and health challenges facing us in the 2020s are radically different from those we faced even one generation ago. But far from feeling downtrodden by this challenge, Shoemaker argued that this can be an opportunity for undoing and expelling old ways of thinking and working and being. In his book Taking Charge of Change: How Rebuilders Solve Hard Problems, he introduced us to the leaders and change agents he dubs “Rebuilders,” and the five vital traits they use to solve big problems.

He sat down with one of those Rebuilders, retired Seahawk wide receiver Doug Baldwin, who Shoemaker profiled and celebrated for exemplifying the trait of “24-7 authenticity.” Together, they discussed Baldwin’s background, and how Baldwin thinks about his own leadership. He discussed his leadership on the field, elucidating how authenticity is especially relevant and important in a team setting, as well as his leadership now off the field, as he gears up to build the Family First Community Center in Renton. They considered the leadership of athletes speaking out on subjects outside of sports, and the power and responsibility in doing so. Join them for this optimistic conversation about the future of leadership, the cohesive skills to foster to become a Rebuilder, and how to be an agent of change amidst challenges.

Paul Shoemaker is the Founding President of Social Venture Partners International, a global network of thousands of social innovators, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and business and community leaders. Before that, he spent over a decade as a global thought leader at Microsoft, Nestle, and as a consultant. He has spoken at TEDx and United Nations events, and has written for the Stanford Social Innovation Review and Huffington Post.

Doug Baldwin spent eight years in the NFL learning and unlearning identity. He is a believer in redemption. He was raised in Florida where he learned to survive, and attended Stanford where he learned curiosity. He is a proud husband and father. Mostly, he is a striving human aiming to serve.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9781400221691

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“By turns raw and mystical, steeped in loss but also reconciliation, it is a book that challenges our preconceptions, in regard to content and form.” So says author David L. Ulin about The Spring, the debut book from author Annie Connole. Connole joined writer Frances McCue in a virtual conversation about the book-length lyric essay. Together, they explored the themes in the book, which examine grief and transformation through the lens of mystical animal appearances following the death of the narrator’s partner. Traversing the wild landscapes of the American West, it combines prose and photography to create a lucid, dream-like vision of visitations and allegorical animal encounters with Snake, Owl, Horse and Dragonfly, among others. Connole invited us to experience a bit of that mysticism as she shares from the stirring, elegiac tale of death, love, rebirth, and friendship.

Annie Connole is a writer living in the Mojave Desert. She was born and raised in the rocky highlands of Helena, Montana. Her work has appeared in literary journals including The Rumpus. Connole received a BA from The New School where she studied art and philosophy and an MFA in Creative Writing from University of California Riverside — Palm Desert.

Frances McCue is a poet, writer, and teacher whose lifelong work is to connect literature to community life. For its first decade, 1996-2006, McCue was the founding director of Richard Hugo House. She has published six books, three were finalists for the Washington State Book Award in poetry, history and biography, and one book of poems, The Bled, was the winner in 2011. Her other books include The Car That Brought You Here Still Runs and Timber Curtain. Her most recent book is I Almost Read the Books Whole, a “book-jacket blurbs as poems.”

Buy the Book: https://www.chinmusicpress.com//product-page/the-spring

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Anna Sale wants you to have that conversation. You know the one. The one that you’ve been avoiding or putting off, maybe for years. The one that you’ve thought “they’ll never understand” or “do I really want to bring that up?” or “it’s not going to go well, so why even try?” The founder and host of WNYC’s popular podcast Death, Sex & Money presented her case for discussing the tough topics that all of us encounter in conversation with author and fellow hard-talk-haver Angela Garbes.

Sale used the best of what she’s learned from her podcast—and has collected in her book Let’s Talk About Hard Things—to argue that when we have the courage to talk about hard things, we learn about ourselves, others, and the world that we make together. Through the lens of five of the most fraught conversation topics—death, sex, money, family, and identity—she moved between memoir, fascinating stories of Americans opening up about their lives, and expert opinions to show why having tough conversations is important. She shared thoughts on how to do them in a thoughtful and generous way. Anna revealed why she believes that listening may be the most important part of a tough conversation, that the end goal should be understanding without the pressure of reconciliation, and that there are some things that words can’t fix (and why that’s actually okay). With a personal touch, Sale offered a profound meditation on why communication can connect us instead of divide us, and how we can all do better.

Anna Sale is the creator and host of Death, Sex & Money, the podcast from WYNC Studios, where she’s been doing interviews about “the things we think about a lot and need to talk about more” since 2014. Before that, she covered politics for public radio for years. She’s contributed to Fresh Air and This American Life.

Angela Garbes is the author of Like a Mother, an NPR Best Book of 2018 and finalist for the Washington State Book Award for Nonfiction. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, New York, The Cut, Bon Appetit, and featured on NPR’s Fresh Air. She also cohosts The Double Shift, an acclaimed podcast that questions the status quo of motherhood in America. She lives with her family on Beacon Hill.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9781501190247

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Ronit Plank was six years old when her mother left her and her four-year-old sister for India to follow Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a cult guru at the center of Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country and whose commune was responsible for the largest biological attack on US soil. This was the beginning of a very long road to Plank grappling with the toll her mother’s leaving took, measuring her self-worth by her mother’s absence.

In this stunningly personal presentation, Plank joined us with storyteller Alice Ikeda to share from her coming-of-age memoir When She Comes Back. Plank told us about her father, who’d left the family the previous year, stepping up and bringing the young Ronit and her sister to live with him. She explored how, on the surface, his nurturing was the balm that she sought, but she soon took on the role of partner and confidant to him, and substitute mother to her sister. Though they have a relationship now, Plank examined the pain a child feels when she discovers that her love for her mother is not enough to make that parent stay. With this intimate story of resilience and reconciliation, Plank and Ikeda invited us to a raw conversation about family members who leave, writing memoirs about family, the ethics for memoirs, and why personal stories matter.

Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and podcaster whose work has been seen in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Rumpus, The Iowa Review, and American Literary Review, among others. She is host and producer of the award-winning podcast And Then Everything Changed featuring interviews with survivors, authors, thought leaders, and people in recovery about pivotal moments in their lives and decisions that have defined them. When She Comes Back is her first book and her short story collection Home Is A Made-Up Place will be published in 2022.

Alice H. Ikeda has been in pursuit of stories that spur courageous conversations from the inception of her career. Her work has been seen on Emmy-nominated programs for networks such as NHK Television Japan, RTP Portugal, CTV Canada, PBS, History Channel, A&E, Discovery Channel, Fine Living Network, Lifetime Television, HGTV, and others. She is currently a principle with Ikeda/Vanderburg Productions where she continues her pursuit of interviews and stories with social impact.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781945060199

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

“The finest rock songwriter after Dylan.” “The best electric guitarist since Hendrix.” Who is this man? A man who packed more than a lifetime of experiences into his late teens and twenties? None other than international and longtime beloved music legend Richard Thompson.

The master of British folk music joined us with an intimate look at the early years of his career, encapsulated in his memoir Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice 1967-1975. In this conversation with Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis, Thompson took us on a moving journey through the pivotal years of 1967 to 1975, when he formed the band Fairport Convention with some schoolmates and helped establish the genre of British folk rock. The journey then took us through a heady period of massive tours, where he crossed paths with the likes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and Jimi Hendrix. But while there were some high highs, there were undoubtedly some low lows. The eight-year period was also marked by change, upheaval, and tragedy. Join us for a conversation that vividly captures the life of a remarkable artist during a period of creative intensity, in a world on the cusp of change.

Richard Thompson‘s widely beloved early work within the band Fairport Convention revived British folk traditions, and his duet albums and performances with Linda Thompson are legendary. His songs have been covered by Elvis Costello, David Byrne, Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, and REM, among others. He continues to write and perform, and to tour widely. He lives in New Jersey.

J Mascis is a musician, producer, and film composer, best known as the frontman of the influential indie rock trio Dinosaur Jr. He started as a founding member of the hardcore band Deep Wound, until co-founding Dinosaur Jr. in 1984. In 1991, Dinosaur Jr. disbanded and Mascis released More Light, his first recording under the moniker J Mascis + The Fog. He often plays with other bands in addition to performing solo, and has been heavily involved behind the scenes producing and mixing records for highly regarded acts.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781616208950

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In publishing today, some of the most expressive, form-breaking, innovative writing seems to come from Native authors. While the written tradition often overlooks Indigenous authors, in recent years we have seen a small increase in Native people telling their own stories in their own ways.

In a conversation facilitated by author Kristen Millares Young, authors Elissa Washuta and Theresa Warburton joined us to discuss other worlds present in Native women’s literatures. Following their co-editing of the an anthology collecting essays by contemporary Native writers, they discussed their individual books, White Magic: Essays and Other Worlds Here: Honoring Native Women’s Writing in Contemporary Anarchist Movements, respectively. Together, they shared thoughts on the unique and essential voices that Native women can contribute to the overall storytelling landscape. Don’t miss this fundamental exploration of inheritance, land, heartbreak–and hope for the future.

Elissa Washuta is a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and a nonfiction writer. She is the author of My Body Is a Book of Rules and Starvation Mode. With Theresa Warburton, she is co-editor of the anthology Shapes of Native Nonfiction: Collected Essays by Contemporary Writers. She has received fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Capital, Artist Trust, 4Culture, and Potlatch Fund. Washuta is an assistant professor of creative writing at The Ohio State University.

Theresa Warburton lives in Lummi, Nooksack, and Coast Salish Territories in Bellingham, WA. She is an Associate Professor of English at Western Washington University where she is also affiliate faculty in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Canadian-American Studies. Along with Elissa Washuta, she is the co-editor of Shapes of Native Nonfiction: Collected Essays by Contemporary Writers. She is also the author of Other Worlds Here: Honoring Native Women’s Literatures in Contemporary Anarchist Movements.

Kristen Millares Young is the author of the novel Subduction. The editor of Seismic – Seattle, City of Literature, Millares Young served as the 2018-2020 Prose Writer-in-Residence at Hugo House. Anthologized in Alone Together, Latina Outsiders and Advanced Creative Nonfiction, her essays appear in the Washington Post, Literary Hub, and the Guardian. Millares Young was the researcher for the New York Times team that produced “Snow Fall,” which won a Pulitzer. From 2016 to 2019, Kristen was board chair of InvestigateWest, a nonprofit newsroom that she co-founded to protect vulnerable peoples and places of the Pacific Northwest.

Buy the Books

White Magic By Elissa Washuta

Other Worlds Here: Honoring Native Women's Writing in Contemporary Anarchist Movements By Theresa Warburton

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Marlon Peterson grew up in 1980s and 90s Crown Heights, raised by Trinidadian immigrants. Amid the routine violence and crack epidemic that would come to shape the perception of his neighborhood, Peterson spent his childhood preaching the good word alongside his father, a devout Jehovah’s Witness. The specter of the American Dream loomed large, and with his achievement of 6th grade valedictorian, it seemed within reach. But in the aftermath of physical and sexual trauma, Peterson made a series of choices that led to his first arrest, getting shot, and his participation in a robbery that resulted in two murders. At 19, Peterson was charged and later convicted; he served ten years in prison.

During his incarceration, Peterson immersed himself in anti-violence activism, education, and prison abolition. He continues this work today, and he joined us now to recount his coming of age story, contained in his book Bird Uncaged: An Abolitionist’s Freedom Song. With his own story, Peterson challenged the typical “redemption” narrative and our assumptions about who deserves justice. With vulnerability and insight, he exposed what he sees as the hollowness of the American Dream; the daily violence and trauma of poverty, policing, and enforced masculinity; and the brutality of incarceration. Don’t miss this powerful 21st century abolitionist story, that demands a shift from punishment to healing, an end to mass incarceration, and a new vision of justice.

Marlon Peterson is the principal of The Precedential Group, a social justice consulting firm. He is host of the Decarcerated Podcast, a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity, a member of the ASpen Global Leadership Network, and a 2015 recipient of the Soros Justice Fellowship. He contributed to Kiese Laymon’s How to Kill Yourself and Others in America and Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin’s How We Fight White Supremacy. His writing has appeared in Ebony, THe Nation, USA Today, Colorlines, and more.

Buy the Book: https://bookshop.org/books/bird-uncaged-an-abolitionist-s-freedom-song-9781549111440/9781645036517

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The roster of Warner Brothers Records and its subsidiary labels reads like a roster of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Prince, Van Halen, Madonna, Tom Petty, R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers, and dozens of others. But the most compelling figures in the Warner Bros. story are the sagacious Mo Ostin and the likely crew of hippies, eccentrics, and enlightened execs who were the first in the music business to read the generational writing on the wall in the mid-60s. How did they do it? And what can we learn about the the industry today and to come from these unique operators?

Journalist and music biographer Peter Ames Carlin joined us to celebrate the story of this innovative label, in conversation with musician and Tom Petty biographer Warren Zanes. Contained in his book, Sonic Book: The Impossible Rise of Warner Bros. Records, from Hendrix to Fleetwood Mac to Madonna and Prince, Carlin captured the rollicking story of what is arguably the most successful record label in the history of rock and roll. He explored how newly tapped label president Mo Ostin called his team together in 1967 to share his grand strategy for the struggling company: “We need to stop trying to make hit records. Let’s just make good records and turn those into hits.” He introduced a raucous and inspiring story: of how one prolific company conquered the music business by focusing on the music rather than the business. With the knowledge of that seemingly groundbreaking business model, Carlin and Zanes considered how the label’s history intersects with the role of record companies for artists and music lovers of today and tomorrow.

Peter Ames Carlin is a writer and the bestselling author of several books, including Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon and Bruce, the biography of Bruce Springsteen. Carlin has also been a free-lance journalist, a senior writer at People in New York City, and a television columnist and feature writer at The Oregonian in Portland. A regular speaker on music, writing, and popular culture, Carlin lives in Portland, Oregon.

Warren Zanes is a bestselling author and Grammy-nominated documentary producer. The former Executive Director of Steven Van Zandt’s Rock and Roll Forever Foundation and VP of Education and Programs at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Zanes has taught at several American universities and is presently teaching at New York University. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, the Oxford American, and more. He is the editor of collections on Jimmie Rodgers and Tom Petty, and has written books including Dusty in Memphis, Revolutions in Sound: Fifty Years of Warner Bros. Records, and Petty: The Biography.

Buy the Books:

Sonic Book: The Impossible Rise of Warner Bros. Records, from Hendrix to Fleetwood Mac to Madonna and Prince

Petty: The Biography

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What kind of beat is irresistible to listeners, and how is it achieved? What makes a musical collaboration successful? What can musical minds teach us about innovation? They don’t think like we do, and in the creative process, they don’t act like we do. R. Michael Hendrix believes it isn’t a coincidence that some of the world’s most respected creators, like Jimmy Iovine and Bjork, are also entrepreneurs.

The designer and musician joined us to share from interviews he conducted for his book Two Beats Ahead: What Musical Minds Teach Us About Innovation. He discussed conversations with some of the biggest names in music, and how their musical strengths correlate to innovative business practices: with Justin Timberlake, he spoke about the importance of demoing; with Jimmy Lovine, the essentials of acute listening. Hendrix shared secrets to maximizing results in a collaboration from Beyoncé and Pharrell Williams. He imparted the importance of experimentation from musical pioneers Imogen Heap and Radiohead, and provided us with a front-row seat to a conversation about producing with T Bone Burnett and Hank Shocklee, co-founder of Public Enemy. With clear and concise mindsets that any entrepreneur or innovative thinker can put into practice, Hendrix offered us a one-of-a-kind presentation that shows us how to thrive in an evolving world, from some of top creative geniuses of our time.

R. Michael Hendrix is a Partner and Global Design Director at IDEO, a design and innovation consulting firm. He has delivered design keynotes at Fast Company, Wired, SXSW, American Institute of Graphic Arts, and others, plus music keynotes at SXSW Music, Sonar Plus, and Moogfest. He is also an Assistant Professor of Music Business/Management at Berklee College of Music, and a regular guest lecturer for professional societies and universities across the globe.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781541730588

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The message that the patriarchy and toxic masculinity negatively impacts men and boys as well as women has gotten louder in recent years. But what does that understanding mean for mothers who want to raise feminist sons? Seattle University journalism professor Sonora Jha joined us to offer her own thoughts about this complex and important question.

In a deeply personal conversation with bestselling author Ijeoma Oluo, Jha shared her journey to raise a feminist son as a single immigrant woman of color in America. A story of struggling, failing, and eventually succeeding, she offers much-needed insight and actionable advice, pulled from her book How to Raise a Feminist Son: Motherhood, Masculinity, and the Making of My Family. Jha and Oluo discussed everything from teaching consent to counteracting problematic messages from the media, family, and the culture at large, arguing that we have big work to do when it comes to our boys. Jha presented wide-ranging research, showing us all how to be better feminists and better teachers of the next generation of men. Don’t miss this crucial conversation that will resonate with feminists who hope to change the world, one kind boy at a time.

Sonora Jha, PhD, is an essayist, novelist, researcher, and a professor of journalism at Seattle University. She is the author of the novel Foreign, and her op-eds and essays have appeared in the New York Times, the Seattle Times, The Establishment, DAME, and in several anthologies. She grew up in Mumbai and has been Chief of Metropolitan Bureau for the Times of India and contributing editor for East magazine in Singapore. She teaches fiction and essay writing for Hugo House, Hedgebrook Writers’ Retreat, and Seattle Public Library.

Ijeoma Oluo is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller So You Want to Talk About Race and the recently-released Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America. Her work on race has been featured in the New York Times and the Washington Post, among many others.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9781632173645

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

For many generations, Americans were sold the idea of upward mobility. But today’s generations are unfortunately and unexpectedly struggling with downward mobility, both financial and emotional. A new essay collection gives irreverent and empathetic voice to this generation, hurtling into their next chapter with no safety net, and author Annabelle Gurwitch joined us to discuss this unique book.

In conversation with writer Susan Orlean, Gurwitch shared passages from You’re Leaving When?: Adventures in Downward Mobility, and about her inspiration for writing it. She explored her own experience with embracing homesharing, welcoming a housing-insecure young couple and a bunny rabbit into her home, as well as relearning to parent one pronoun at a time when her college student child sheds the gender binary. With humor, she related diving into the dating pool and flunking the magic of tidying up. In a time when so many believed they had a semblance of security but wound up with a fragile economy, Gurwitch offered stories of resilience, adaptability, low-rent redemption, and the kindness of strangers. She invited us to timely and eminently relatable conversation.

Annabelle Gurwitch is the author of I See You Made an Effort; Wherever You Go, There They Are; You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up (coauthored with Jeff Kahn); and Fired! (also a Showtime Comedy Special). She’s written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, and Los Angeles Magazine, and was a regular contributor to NPR. The longtime cohost of Dinner & a Movie, she performs with the Moth Mainstage and at arts centers around the country.

Susan Orlean is an author and staff writer for The New Yorker. She’s written numerous books, including The Library Book and Animalish, as well as contributing to several others.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781640094475

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Was Shakespeare a timeless prophet, a verbal innovator, a technical genius, a man who encapsulated the human condition as no one else has? Well, sort of. But Shakespeare expert Emma Smith argued that much of what we are taught about Shakespeare is not important. She contended that the inconsistencies and uncertainties in his plays are not a problem, but rather the thing that makes them so enduringly relevant.

Smith joined us to share from her electrifying new study of the Bard’s work, contained in her book This Is Shakespeare. She brought us into the world Shakespeare inhabited as he emulated his blockbuster rivals and flirted with dangerous issues of succession politics, religious upheaval, and technological change. Time and again, he posed awkward questions rather than offering simple answers, involving the audience in working out their significance. Smith pulled Shakespeare off the high pedestal he’s been placed on and into the messy scuffle for meaning in this unique and illuminating presentation.

Emma Smith is professor of Shakespeare Studies at Oxford University. She has published widely on Shakespeare and other early dramatists. She lives in Oxford, England.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781984898159

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Seattle Shakespeare.

Fly fishing, historian Mark Kurlansky has found, is a battle of wits, fly fisher vs. fish–and the fly fisher does not always (or often) win. The targets–salmon, trout, and char; and for some, bass, tarpon, tuna, bonefish, and even marlin–are highly intelligent, wily, strong, and athletic animals. The allure, Kurlansky learns, is that fly fishing makes catching a fish as difficult as possible. There is an art, too, in the crafting of flies. Beautiful and intricate, some are made with more than two dozen pieces of feather and fur from a wide range of animals. The cast as well is a matter of grace and rhythm, with different casts and rods yielding varying results.

Kurlansky joined us to share this and other insights he has learned from a lifetime of loving fly fishing, collected in his book The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing. Known for his micro-histories, deep dives into specific subjects, he married that reputation with a subject that has captivated him for decades. Combining history, craft, and personal memoir, he invited us all, devotees of the sport or not, to explore the necessity of experiencing nature’s balm first-hand.

Mark Kurlansky is the New York Times bestselling author of Cod, Salt, Paper, The Basque History of the World, 1968, The Big Oyster, International Night, The Eastern Stars, A Continent of Islands, and The White Man in the Tree and Other Stories. He spent ten years as Caribbean correspondent for the Chicago Tribune.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781635573077

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Have you ever wanted to ask Enrique Iglesias, Descemer Bueno, and Gente De Zona about their 2014 hit “Bailando”? What’s the story behind that Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine hit “Conga,” the one you that makes it irresistible to move? How does Daddy Yankee feel about being the “King of Reggaeton,” and were he and Luis Fonsi surprised by the outcry when the “Despacito” lyrics were translated to English?

Billboard’s VP of Latin music Leila Cobo joined us in conversation with local journalist Agueda Pacheco Flores to answer all of our burning questions about the last five decades of the genre, gathered in her book Decoding “Despacito”: An Oral History of Latin Music. She collected oral histories—veritable treasure trove of never-before heard anecdotes and insight—from interviews with a who’s who of Latin music artists, executives, observers, and players. From the salsa born and bred in the streets of New York City, to Puerto Rican reggaetón and bilingual chart-toppers, she took us inside the hits, to the inner sanctum of the creative minds behind the tracks that have defined eras and become hallmarks of history.

Leila Cobo is a classical pianist, novelist, and executive Editor for Billboard. She has published two award-winning novels, The Second Time We Met and Tell Me Something True. Her biography on Jenni Rivera remained among the top 10 most-sold books in Spanish in the United States for more than 25 consecutive weeks and was named a top read by publications such as Latina and People en Español.

Agueda Pacheco Flores is a journalist in Seattle with a focus on Latinx culture and Mexican American identity. She was previously an arts and culture writer at Crosscut where she enjoyed writing about Chicano galleries, Cumbia in the Pacific Northwest as well as shining a light on emerging Latinx artists. Originally from Queretaro, Mexico, Pacheco Flores is inspired by her own bicultural upbringing as an undocumented immigrant and proud Washingtonian.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9780593081334

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Sponsored by The Boeing Company.

Tracing his grandparents’ exile from Eastern Europe to South America through to his own experiences, anthropologist Claudio Lomnitz joined us with a stunningly personal study of the intersections between Jewish and Latin American culture.

Drawing on his memoir about his immigrant family, Nuestra America: My Family in the Vertigo of Translation, Lomnitz weaved a fascinating culture study. Beginning with his grandparents, he explored how they became involved in the Peruvian leftist intellectual milieu and its practice of connecting Peru’s indigenous past to an emancipatory internationalism that included Jewish culture and thought. After being thrown into prison, his grandparents were exiled to Colombia, and then journeyed to Chile during World War II. From there, Lomnitz took us to Israel in the 1950s, and finally to his own youth, living with his parents in Berkeley, California, and Mexico City. With keen psychological insight, he invited us to a glimpse at the worldview, culture, and spirit of countries such as Peru, Colombia, and Chile—from the perspective of educated Jewish emigrants imbued with the hope and determination typical of those who escaped Europe in the 1920s.

Claudio Lomnitz is an anthropologist, historian, and critic who works broadly on Latin American culture and politics. He is Professor of Anthropology at Columbia University. Lomnitz’s books include Death and the Idea of Mexico and The Return of Comrade Ricardo Flores Magón, among many others. As a regular columnist in the Mexico City paper La Jornada and an award-winning dramaturgist, he is committed to bringing historical and anthropological understanding into public debate.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781635420708

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A young woman outlaw in 1894 and a new look at the life of George Washington: what could these two stories have in common?

Perhaps more than you’d think. Both introduce a new look at an often romanticized area of American history, seen through a feminist lens. Authors Anna North and Alexis Coe joined us in conversation about rewriting history in genres that are often dominated by men. With North’s novel Outlawed and Coe’s nonfiction You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington, they considered what their unique perspectives can bring to the analysis and storytelling of these recognizable tales. North discussed her intention to dust off the myth of the old West, and to reignite the glimmering promise of the frontier with an entirely new set of feminist stakes. Coe shared about her form-shattering and myth-crushing biography of America’s first president, including her issues with past male biographers. Join them for a look at subversion of the Western and biographical genres that asks: what other kinds of stories would be transformed by being told from a new point of view?

Anna North is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the author of two previous novels, America Pacifica and The Life and Death of Sophie Stark, which received a Lambda Literary Award in 2016. She has been a writer and editor at Jezebel, BuzzFeed, Salon, and the New York Times, and she is now a senior reporter at Vox.

Alexis Coe is the award-winning author of Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis (soon to be a major motion picture). Coe has frequently appeared on CNN and the History Channel, and has contributed to The New York Times, The New Yorker, and many other publications. She is a host of Audible’s Presidents Are People Too! and No Man’s Land.

Buy the Books

Alexis Coe: You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington
Anna North: Outlawed

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Born to two parents who never graduated high school, Dr. Ronald A. Crutcher grew up to become a leader at the highest levels of academia and the arts. As a child musician, he met with Coretta Scott King. As an adult educator, he sat at Maya Angelou’s holiday table.

But it is Dr. Crutcher’s success as a Black intellectual steering through highly charged social issues that makes his story both unforgettable and urgently important, and he joined in conversation with Seattle University’s Dr. Quinton Morris us to share some lessons as captured in his memoir I Had No Idea You Were Black: Navigating Race on the Road to Leadership. He related how he navigated “cancel culture” at the University of Richmond, where he serves as President in the heart of the former Confederacy, and how he taught Northeast liberals the true meaning of functional diversity during his time as President of Wheaton College in Massachusetts. Don’t miss this compelling presentation that offers lessons on life and leadership while bridging America’s cultural divides.

Dr. Ronald A. Crutcher is a national leader in higher education and a distinguished classical musician and Professor of Music. He became President and Professor of Music at the University of Richmond in 2015. Previously, he served for ten years as President of Wheaton College in Massachusetts. He is a former member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and sits on the board of the Richmond Symphony.

Dr. Quinton Morris enjoys a multifaceted career as a concert violinist, educator, filmmaker and entrepreneur. He is the director of chamber and instrumental music and an associate professor of violin and chamber music at Seattle University, the co-chair of the Seattle Arts Commission and the Artist-Scholar in Residence for Classical King FM 98.1. He is also the executive director and founder for Key to Change, a string studio that provides violin lessons to middle and high school students living in South King County.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9781734979121

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A tiny, fastidiously dressed man emerged from Black Philadelphia around the turn of the century to mentor a generation of young artists including Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Jacob Lawrence and call them the New Negro — the creative African Americans whose art, literature, music, and drama would inspire Black people to greatness.

Professor Jeffrey Stewart brought Alain Locke’s story to the forefront with his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke. In celebration of its paperback release, Stewart joined us in conversation with Northwest African American Museum’s LaNesha DeBardelaben to explore Locke’s legacy and his impact in promoting the cultural heritage of Black people. Stewart narrated the education of Locke and explored both Locke’s professional and private life, including his relationships with his mother, his friends, and his white patrons, as well as his lifelong search for love as a gay man. Stewart and DeBardelaben considered Locke’s promotion of the literary and artistic work of African Americans—buoyed by looking to Africa to find the proud and beautiful roots of the race—and examined how he helped establish the idea that Black urban communities could be crucibles of creativity. Don’t miss this thought-provoking conversation about the man who became known as the Father of the Harlem Renaissance.

Jeffrey Stewart is a professor of Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Paul Robeson: Artist and Citizen and 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About African American History.

LaNesha DeBardelaben is Executive Director of the Northwest African American Museum and serves as National President of the Board of Directors of the Association of African American Museums (AAAM).

Buy the Book: https://bookshop.org/books/the-new-negro-the-life-of-alain-locke/9780195089578

Presented by Northwest African American Museum and Town Hall Seattle.

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Colin Bryar started at Amazon in 1998; Bill Carr joined in 1999. With twenty-seven years of Amazon experience between them, much of it in the early aughts—a period that brought products and services including Kindle, Amazon Prime, Amazon Studios, and Amazon Web Services to life—Bryar and Carr joined us, in conversation with Chris Devore, to offer unprecedented access to the Amazon way as it was refined, articulated, and proven to be repeatable, scalable, and adaptable.

Bringing recollections from their book Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon, these two long-serving former Amazon executives shared how Amazon’s fourteen leadership principles inform decision-making at all levels and reveal how the company’s culture has been defined by four characteristics: customer obsession, long-term thinking, eagerness to invent, and operational excellence. Bryar and Carr explained the set of ground-level practices that ensure these are translated into action and flow through all aspects of the business, and offered replicable steps for applying it at your own company. Join Bryar and Carr as they presented a practical guidebook for finding corporate success.

Colin Bryar joined Amazon in 1998 — four years after its founding — and spent the next 12 years as part of Amazon’s senior leadership team. After Amazon, he and his family relocated to Singapore for two years where Bryar served as Chief Operating Officer of e-commerce company RedMart. Colin is co-founder of Working Backwards LLC where he coaches executives at both large and early-stage companies on how to implement the management practices developed at Amazon.

Bill Carr joined Amazon in 1999 and spent more than 15 years with the company. As Vice President of Digital Media, Carr launched and managed the company’s global digital music and video businesses, including Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Amazon Studios. After Amazon, Carr was an Executive In Residence with Maveron, LLC, and, later, the Chief Operating Officer of OfferUp. Today Carr is co-founder of Working Backwards LLC where he coaches executives at both large and early-stage companies on how to implement the management practices developed at Amazon.

Chris DeVore is Managing Partner of Founders’ Co-op and the former Managing Director of Techstars Seattle. As a community volunteer, Chris co-chaired the City of Seattle’s Economic Development Commission, partnered with the University of Washington to create Startup Hall (a commercial innovation space located on the UW Campus).

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781250267597

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation online click here.

Grammy Award-winning bass player and author Victor L. Wooten invites us to imagine a world he has created in his book The Spirit of Music. This is a world where three musicians are mysteriously summoned to Nashville, the Music City, to join together with Victor himself to do battle against the “Phasers,” whose blinking “music-cancelling” headphones silence and destroy all musical sound. Perhaps that world sounds similar to ours, where the soundtrack of our lives plays in tiny earbuds while music and all it encompasses is disappearing all around us.

In this multimedia talk, Wooten invited us to stretch our imaginations and our awareness of our interaction with music. In this wholly unique presentation, he inspired and provided a poignant reminder of the healing power—and the humanity—in music.

Victor L. Wooten is an American bass player, composer, producer, and five-time Grammy Award winner, as well as an original member of the jazz and bluegrass band Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. He is also the author of the parable The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music.

Buy The Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9780593081662

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation online click here.

For over two decades, family constellations facilitator and therapist Lisa Iversen has been working with groups, including descendants of ancestors who have perpetrated harm or been victimized in circumstances of injustice. This work has led to a timely and thoughtful discussion about the intersection of gender and white privilege, a collection of essays that brings together twelve white women who explore the role of whiteness in collective moments of immigration, colonialism, slavery, and war. In Whiteness Is Not an Ancestor, these writers from the US, Canada, and the UK disentangle themes of innocence, grief, race, privilege, and belonging in their families and ancestries.

Iversen joined us, along with two contributors to the collection—essayists June BlueSpruce and Anne Hayden—in a discussion moderated by Dr. Bonnie Duran, Professor in the UW Schools of Social Work and Public Health. Together, they explored their relationships with whiteness, sharing the genealogical research, family documents, and deep reflections that informed their contributions to the collection. They invited us to engage with difficult truths of history, including concerns about the fate of democratic nations sourced in whiteness—and to continue the work of dismantling racism and healing collective historic trauma.

Lisa Iversen is the director of the Center for Ancestral Blueprints and CAB Publishing. She is the author of Ancestral Blueprints: Revealing Invisible Truths in America’s Soul.

June BlueSpruce is a writer, intuitive healer, Systemic Family Constellations facilitator, and activist. Her work has been published in a poetry chapbook, several anthologies and journals, and scientific articles. She writes about dreaming, healing, and social change on her blog.

Anne Hayden is a student of nature and of the human heart. She has taught and mentored students in the Eco-Psych field through Fairhaven College of WWU and Antioch College. As a trained initiation guide, she has guided nature-based, experiential programs for groups and individuals through Northwest Soul Quest for 25 years.

Bonnie Duran, DrPH (Opelousas/Coushatta Descendent) is a Professor in the Schools of Social Work and Public Health at the University of Washington. She has worked in public health and social care research, education, and practice with a focus on Native Americans/Indigenous peoples and other communities of color for over 35 years.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781735305028

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Third Place Books.

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Most of us grew up with images of African women that were purely anthropological–bright displays of exotica where the deeper personhood seemed tucked away. Or they were chronicles of war and “poverty porn.” But now, curator Catherine E. McKinley draws on her extensive collection of historical and contemporary photos to present a visual history spanning a hundred-year arc (1870–1970) of what is among the earliest photography on the continent. These images tell a different story of African women: how deeply cosmopolitan and modern they are in their style; how they were able to reclaim the tools of the colonial oppression that threatened their selfhood and livelihoods.

In conversation with fellow curator and designer Erika Massaquoi, McKinley joined us to share photos and stories from her striking and subversive work containing those images, The African Lookbook: A Visual History of 100 Years of African Women. Together, they discussed the the dignity, playfulness, austerity, grandeur, and fantasy-making of African women across centuries that are captured in the photos. McKinley also shared photos taken by Europeans of African women, and they examined the relationships between white men and the Black female sitters where—and the profound resistance expressed in unexpected ways to this exploitation. They invited us to explore the range and beauty captured in a one-of-a-kind collection of photographs—and how sewing machines and the camera became powerful tools for protest.

Catherine E. McKinley is a curator and writer whose books include the critically acclaimed Indigo, a journey along the ancient indigo trade routes in West Africa, and The Book of Sarahs, a memoir about growing up Black and Jewish in the 1960s–80s. She’s taught creative nonfiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College and Columbia University. The McKinley Collection, featured here, is a personal archive representing African photographies from 1870 to the present. She lives in New York City.

Erika Dalya Massaquoi is a designer and curator. Her curatorial work includes exhibitions for the Seattle Art Museum, the Frye Museum of Art, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) List Visual Arts Center, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. Her publications include DISGUISE: Masks and Global African Art (Yale University Press). She has taught digital media, cinema, and contemporary art classes at Yale University, NYU and The New School. Massaquoi is also founder & CEO of The OULA Company, a womenswear business that designs and manufactures vibrant garments from African Wax Fabric that are sourced globally and made in the USA.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9781620403532

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Fujitaro Kubota, whose unique gardens transformed Seattle’s landscape in the 20th century, immigrated to the US in the early 20th century, worked as a nurseryman, and eventually bought 20 acres of clear-cut forest in southern Seattle that he shaped into a beautiful and enduring Japanese garden. He also created a memorable garden in the Minidoka prison camp while he was incarcerated there during World War II; upon his return to Seattle, he focused on Kubota Garden, which had fallen into disrepair.

Today, Kubota Garden serves one of Washington’s most diverse zip codes. Now, novelists, poets, artists, and community members examine Kubota’s legacy in Spirited Stone: Lessons from Kubota’s Garden. In this panel discussion moderated by poet Shin Yu Pai, contributors to Spirited Stone Dr. Charles Johnson, Nathan Wirth, and Marcus Harrison Green talked about their connections to Kubota Garden and how it has inspired them.

Dr. Charles Johnson is professor emeritus at the University of Washington. He is the author of 25 books, a novelist, philosopher, essayist, literary scholar, short-story writer, cartoonist, illustrator, and a screen-and-teleplay writer. Dr. Johnson’s most recent publications are The Way of the Writer: Reflections on the Art and Craft of Storytelling, his fourth short story collection, Night Hawks, and GRAND: A Grandparent’s Wisdom for a Happy Life.

Nathan Wirth is a self-learned photographer who seeks to express his unending wonder for the fundamental fact of existence. In his work, he attempts to focus on the silence that we can sometimes perceive in between the incessant waves of sound that often dominate our perceptions of the world. Wirth currently makes his living teaching English Composition at City College of San Francisco.

Marcus Harrison Green is the founder and publisher of the South Seattle Emerald, a columnist for The Seattle Times, a former Reporting Fellow with YES! Magazine. After an unfulfilling stint working for a Los Angeles based hedge-fund in his twenties, Marcus returned to his community determined to tell its true story, which led him to start the South Seattle Emerald, and eventually move on to cover the area as a reporter for the Seattle Times.

Shin Yu Pai is a podcast correspondent and produces Lyric World: Conversations with Contemporary Poets for Town Hall. She is a former Town Hall Inside / Out artist-in-residence and served as the fourth Poet Laureate of the City of Redmond from 2015 to 2017. She is the author of ten books of poetry, including most recently Ensō.

Buy the Book: https://store.chinmusicpress.com/product/spirited-stone-lessons-from-kubota-s-garden

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Kubota Garden Foundation.

Become a Town Hall Seattle member or make a donation here.

The era of the Enlightenment, which gave rise to our modern conceptions of freedom and democracy, was also the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. How were those conceptions impacted by the coinciding racism? History professor Tyler Stovall believes they are intricately intertwined, and argues that being free has long meant being white.

In this conversation with local activist ChrisTiana ObeySumner, Stovall joined us to explore the complex relationship between racism and freedom in France and the United States, the two leading nations that have claimed liberty as the heart of their national identities. With takeaways from his book White Freedom: The Racial History of An Idea, he brought us from the Age of Revolution to today, challenging the notion that racism is somehow a paradox or contradiction within the democratic tradition, and endeavoring to demonstrate how white identity is intrinsic to Western ideas about liberty. Don’t miss this conversation that is sure to provide vital new perspectives on the inherent racism behind our most cherished beliefs about freedom, liberty, and human rights.

Tyler Stovall is professor of history and dean of the Graduate School of Arts and SCiences at Fordham University. HIs books include Transnational France: The Modern History of a Universal Nation; Paris Noir: African Americans in the City of Light; and The Rise of the Paris Red Belt.

ChrisTiana ObeySumner (they/them) is a Black/Indigenous, Queer, Non-Binary, and Multiply disabled person. They are a community organizer and activist, and CEO of Epiphanies of Equity LLC, a social equity consulting firm that particularly specializes in social change, intersectionality, antiracism, and disability justice.

Buy the Book: https://bookshop.org/books/white-freedom-the-racial-history-of-an-idea/9780691179469

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Amidst the danger of Nazi-occupied Island of Jersey in the British Channel, two French women, Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe, drew on their skills as Parisian avant-garde artists to write and distribute “paper bullets”—wicked insults against Hitler, calls to rebel, and subversive fictional dialogues designed to demoralize Nazi troops. History professor Jeffrey Jackson joined us with the history of the audacious anti-Nazi campaign undertaken by this unlikely pair.

In this presentation, Jackson drew on his book Paper Bullets: Two Artists Who Risked Their Lives to Defy the Nazis to weave a timeline of Lucy and Suzanne’s resistance. Better remembered today by their artist names, Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, he explored how their actions were even more courageous because of who they were: lesbian partners known for cross-dressing and creating the kind of gender-bending work that the Nazis would come to call “degenerate art.” They also had communist affiliations in Paris, where they attended political rallies with Surrealists. He shared how they were betrayed in 1944, tried, and sentenced to death, ultimately surviving and continuing their fight even in jail by spreading a message of hope to other prisoners. Jackson invites us to a compelling story that has not been told before, about the galvanizing power of art, and of resistance.

Jeffrey H. Jackson is Professor of History at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. An expert on European history and culture, he is the author of Paris Under Water: How the City of Light Survived the Great Flood of 1910 and Making Jazz French: Music and Modern Life in Interwar Paris. He has appeared in documentary films and helped develop “Harlem in Montmartre: A Paris Jazz Story” for PBS’s Great Performances.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781616209162

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To make a donation or become a member click here.

Art is fundamental. While in some places and times, it may be deemed nonessential or decorative, the reality is that it is a fundamental expression from one human to another, of curiosity, of perspective, of connection. Now an icon of theatre and film, Andre Gregory, joined us to share stories from a life lived for art.

With his co-writer Todd London, Gregory pulled from his non-linear not-memoir This Is Not My Memoir to look back at his life in this livestreamed presentation. Gregory told of his Russian Jewish family who fled Germany to Paris, where he was born in 1934. He wove a fantastical tale from wartime Paris to golden-age Hollywood, from avant-garde theaters to monasteries in India—with some stops along the way to meet some famous, larger-than-life personalities. More than anything, Gregory and London create a portrait of an artist confronting his later years, reflecting on the answer to a question that has perhaps never been more poignant: what does it mean to create art in a world that often places little value on the process of creating it?

Andre Gregory has been directing in New York for more than half a century. He has collaborated on film versions of his theatre productions with Wallace Shawn, Louis Malle, and Jonathan Demme. The now legendary My Dinner with Andre was created by Gregory, Shawn, and Malle. He is also an actor, writer, teacher, painter, and author of the poetry collection, Bone Songs.

Todd London is an author whose books include An Ideal Theater, The Importance of Staying Earnest, and several novels. A past winner of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism, he was the inaugural recipient of the Visionary Leadership Award for contributions to the American Theater.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9780374298548

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

The Cold Moon occurs in late December, auguring the arrival of the winter solstice. Approaching the winter solstice of his own life, author Roger Rosenblatt embarked upon writing Cold Moon: On Life, Love, and Responsibility, dedicated to the three most important lessons he has learned over his many years.

In this conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Muldoon, Rosenblatt delved into those three lessons: an appreciation of being alive, a recognition of the gift and power of love, and the necessity of exercising responsibility toward one another. He presented poetic reflections on these vital learnings, and discusses how they can represent a tonic for these perilous and fearful times, attesting to the value of our very existence. Rosenblatt lifts the spirit and offers purpose in this touching, affecting presentation.

Roger Rosenblatt is the author of five New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and three Times bestsellers. He has written seven off-Broadway plays and his essays for TIME Magazine and the PBS News Hour have won two George Polk Awards, the Peabody, and the Emmy, among others. In 2015, he won the Kenyon Review Award for Lifetime Literary Achivement. He held the Briggs-Copeland appointment in the teaching of writing at Harvard. He is Distinguished Professor of English and Writing at SUNY Stony Brook/Southampton.

Paul Muldoon was born in County Armagh in 1951. He now lives in New York. A former radio and television producer for the BBC in Belfast, he has taught at Princeton University for thirty years. He is the author of over a dozen collections of poetry, including Moy Sand and Gravel, for which he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize, and Selected Poems 1968-2014.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781885983886

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

The COVID-19 crisis has led to a moment of grief, isolation, and uncertainty that is nearly unprecedented in recent memory. How are we changing as a result, both as individuals and a society? In response to the pandemic, author and editor Jennifer Haupt rallied 90 authors, her publisher, and other business partners to explore the impact in Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19, all proceeds of which benefit the Book Industry Charitable Fund.

Haupt joined us in conversation with three contributors to Alone Together: Lidia Yuknavitch, Claudia Castro Luna, and Amber Flame. They shared readings from the book, and engaged in a panel discussion moderated by KUOW’s Zaki Hamid to explore the importance of creativity and resistance in this moment. For anyone who has been feeling the isolation keenly, we invite you to this conversation as a lifeline for negotiating how to connect and thrive during this time.

Jennifer Haupt is the editor/curator of Alone Together. Haupt’s essays and articles have been published in O: The Oprah Magazine, Parenting, The Rumpus,, and many other publications. She also curates the popular Psychology Today blog, “One True Thing,” a collection of essays and interviews for authors and readers. She is the author of In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills, and is currently working on her second novel and a creative nonfiction book. She lives in Seattle, and teaches at Hugo House and elsewhere.

Amber Flame is a writer, composer, and performer, whose work has garnered artistic merit residencies with Hedgebrook, Vermont Studio Center, and more. Flame served as the 2017-2019 poetry writer-in-residence at Hugo House, and is a queer Black single mama just one magic trick away from growing her unicorn horn.

Claudia Castro Luna is the Washington State Poet Laureate (2018-2021), Seattle’s first Civic Poet (2015-2017), an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow, and author of This City; One River, A Thousand Voices; and Pushcart-nominated Killing Marias.

Lidia Yuknavitch is the author of the memoir The Chronology of Water and the novels The Small Backs of Children, Dora: A Headcase, and The Book of Joan.

Zaki Hamid (moderator) is Director of Community Engagement at KUOW. He is an Arab immigrant from Jordan, in the US since 1994 and in Seattle since 2003. Before KUOW, he was the program director at Humanities Washington. He teaches classes on film and mass media at Everett Community College.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9781771682282

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Washin Kai. To become a Town Hall Seattle member or make a donation click here.

“Ebo Barton is the queer echo to the first whisper of revolution.” This is what author Tara Hardy had to say about spoken word poet Ebo Barton’s first collection of poetry, Insubordinate, which explores Barton’s discovery of themselves, acknowledging their history, and navigating a world not ready for their existence. Barton invited us to hear selections from their collection, and join in conversation with Hardy about the work and generally about being in a body in the world.

A leader in arts and activism, Ebo Barton is committed to creating opportunities for others to organize, heal, and rejoice. From weekly open mics to curated shows like Alchemy Poetry with Ben Yisrael to educating across the country at various institutions, 2020 Jack Straw Writing Fellow and 2016 5th ranked poet in the world, Ebo Barton’s written, performative, and community work demands societal reckoning.

Tara Hardy is a working class, Queer, Femme, Disabled poet and founder of Bent, a writing institute for LGBTQ+ people in Seattle. She is a daughter of the United Auto Workers and has worked in social justice movements most of her life. Currently, she teaches at University Beyond Bars, Hugo House, and The Evergreen State College. Hardy is the author of two books; her second book, My, My, My, My, My, won a Washington State Book Award.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9781792345067

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Long neglected in world history, the Ottoman Empire was a hub of intellectual fervor, geopolitical power, and enlightened pluralistic rule. Yet, despite its towering influence and centrality to the rise of our modern world, the Ottoman Empire’s history has for centuries been distorted, misrepresented, and even suppressed in the West, historian Alan Mikhail believes—and he joined us to present a vitally needed recasting of Ottoman history.

Mikhail was joined in conversation with history and politics professor Reşat Kasaba, to share insight from his book God’s Shadow: Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World. Drawing on previously unexamined sources from multiple languages, and with original maps and illustrations, Mikhail weaved a dramatic biography of Sultan Selim I. He challenged us to recalibrate our sense of history, adroitly using Selim’s life to upend prevailing jingoistic “rise of the West” theories, recasting Christopher Columbus’s voyages as a bumbling attempt to slay Muslims, and showing the Ottomans moves to elevate former slaves while other states were deep in the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade. Don’t miss this game-changing presentation that radically reshapes our understanding of the importance of Selim’s Ottoman Empire in the history of the modern world.

Alan Mikhail is a professor of history and chair of the Department of History at Yale University. As a leading historian of his generation, he has reforged our understandings of the past through his previous prize-winning books on the history of the Middle East: Nature and Empire in Ottomon Egypt: An Environmental History; Water on Sand: Environmental Histories of the Middle East and North Africa; The Animal in Ottoman Egypt; and Under Osman’s Tree: The Ottoman Empire, Egypt, and Environmental History.

Reşat Kasaba, an expert in the history and politics of the Middle East, has taught undergraduate and graduate students at the Jackson School at UW for over 30 years. He served as the director of the Jackson School for 10 years, completing his tenure in June 2020. Kasaba has written and edited seven books and over 40 articles.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781631492396

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To make a donation or become a member click here.

Only a few years after the 2013 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Blackfish—an independent documentary film that critiqued the treatment of orcas in captivity—visits to SeaWorld declined, major corporate sponsors pulled their support, and performing acts cancelled appearances. And that was just the beginning of the impact of documentary films.

Producer and scholar Caty Borum Chattoo joined us in conversation with producer Marcia Smith to examine the role of social-issue documentaries in civic imagination and social critique, with support from her book Story Movements: How Documentaries Empower People and Inspire Social Change. Today’s documentaries interrogate topics like sexual assault in the US military (The Invisible War), racial injustice (13th), government surveillance (Citizenfour), and more. Chattoo argued that artistic nonfiction films are changing public conversations, influencing media agendas, mobilizing communities, and capturing the attention of policymakers. In this exceedingly relevant discussion, she invited us to consider how documentaries can disrupt dominant cultural narratives through complex, creative, often investigative storytelling.

Caty Borum Chattoo is Executive Director of the Center for Media & Social Impact and Assistant Professor at the American University School of Communication. She is an award-winning documentary producer, scholar, professor, and strategist working at the intersection of social change communication, documentary, and entertainment storytelling. She is also the co-author of A Comedian and An Activist Walk Into a Bar: The Serious Role of Comedy in Social Justice.

Marcia Smith is president and co-founder of Firelight Media, which produces documentary films, provides artistic and financial support to emerging filmmakers of color, and builds impact campaigns to connect documentaries to audiences and social justice advocates. Under her leadership, Firelight Media was honored with a MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Firelight Media’s flagship Documentary Lab program has supported more than 80 emerging filmmakers over the past decade, who have premiered at festivals such as Sundance, and gone on to earn numerous festival, Peabody, and Emmy Awards.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9780190943417

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here.

Ever wondered what nonbinary and gender nonconforming really mean? Genderqueer writer Stuart Getty joined us with a charming guide that answers that question and many more.

In this livestreamed presentation, Stuart Getty unpacks all your burning questions in a fun, visual way, in conversation with local comedian Max Delsohn. With clips from their short documentary, and insight from their book How to They/Them, Getty introduced a gender-friendly primer that emphasizes that it’s about more than just bathrooms and pronouns—it’s about gender expression and the freedom to choose how to identify. While the pronoun they might only be for some, Getty shared how that freedom to choose is for everyone. Don’t miss this friendly, gentle introduction to gender, which starts with they/them pronouns as an entry point but covers so much more.

Stuart Getty is a genderqueer writer, speaker, and filmmaker who works at IDEO, a design and consulting firm. Their short film theyTHEM has toured at festivals, and they regularly give talks at SXSW, TEDx, CreativeMornings, and elsewhere.

Max Delsohn is a comedian and writer from Seattle. Their comedy has been featured in 10,000 Laughs, Second City’s Break Out Comedy Festival, 208 Comedy Festival, Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, Intersections Festival, and StandUp NBC. They have published writing in The Rumpus, CutBank, and The Sonora Review, amongst other places. They are currently an MFA candidate in creative non-fiction at The Ohio State University.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9781632173133

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here or text TOWN HALL to 44321.

Comedian, actor, and father Michael Ian Black wants to get (mostly) serious about the trouble with masculinity. He shared a heartfelt letter to his college-bound son—which also happens to be his book A Better Man: A (Mostly Serious) Letter to My Son—to offer a poignant look at boyhood, reveal his own complicated relationship with his father, and explore the damage caused by the expectations placed on boys to “man up.” Black searches for the best way to help his son be part of the solution, not the problem, in a world in which the word “masculinity” now goes hand in hand with “toxic.” With humility and inspiration for us all, Black invites us to find the path forward together as we navigate the complex gender issues of our time.

Michael Ian Black is an actor, comedian, and writer who started his career with the sketch comedy show The State on MTV. Black is the author of several books for children, including the award-winning I’m Bored, I’m Sad, and I’m Worried, and the parody A Child’s First Book of Trump. His books for adults include the memoirs You’re Not Doing It Right and Navel Gazing, and the essay collection My Custom Van.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9781616209117

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To make a donation or become a member click here or text TOWN HALL to 44321.

For better or worse, Wagner is often considered the most widely influential figure in the history of music. Around 1900, the phenomenon known as Wagnerism saturated European and American culture. Anarchists, occultists, feminists, and gay rights pioneers saw him as a kindred spirit. Then Adolf Hitler incorporated Wagner into the soundtrack of Nazi Germany, and the composer came to be defined by his ferocious antisemitism.

In this livestreamed conversation, music critics Alex Ross and Ann Powers took a nuanced look at Wagner, with reflections from Ross’s book, Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music. They discussed how the composer of such colossal creations as The Ring of the Nibelung, Tristan und Isolde, and Parsifal came to have such a many-sided legacy. In a journey of passionate discovery, they invited us to consider how artistry can be undone by an ideology of hate—and urging us toward a more honest idea of how art acts on the world.

Alex Ross has been the music critic for The New Yorker since 1996. His first book, the international bestseller The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and won a National Book Critics Circle Award. His second book, the essay collection Listen to This, received an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2008 and a Guggeinheim Fellow in 2015.

Ann Powers is NPR Music’s critic and correspondent. Her books include Good Booty: Love and Sex, Black and White, Body and Soul in American Music, Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America, and (with the artist) Tori Amos: Piece By Piece. She is the co-editor, with Evelyn McDonnell, of Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Rap, and Pop, the first published anthology of women music writers. In 2017, she founded Turning the Tables, an ongoing NPR initiative re-centering the popular music canon on marginalized, underestimated, and forgotten voices.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9780374285937

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Seattle Opera. To become a Town Hall member or make a donation click here or text TOWN HALL to 44321.

During the Pacific War, more than 200,000 Korean girls were forced into sexual servitude for Japanese soldiers. Barely 10 percent survived to return to Korea, where they lived as social outcasts. Since then, self-declared comfort women have come forward only to have their testimonies and calls for compensation largely denied by the Japanese government. In One Left, author Kim Soom tells a fictionalized story of a comfort woman, kidnapped at the age of thirteen to live a life of horror, who embarks on a painful journey to connect with the last known comfort woman to assure her she’s not alone.

Constructed from extensive research and the testimonies of dozens of comfort women, this essential and emotional novel—the first Korean novel devoted to this subject—would be inaccessible for English-speaking readers without the work of translators Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton. The married couple have made it their life’s work to translate Korean literature, especially after realizing they made an “ideal translation team”—Bruce is a native speaker of English who knows Korean, and Ju-Chan is a native speaker of Korean who knows English. They joined us for a livestreamed short reading and discussion of their most recent translation, One Left, and the vital importance of translated works in the literature landscape.

Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton are the translators of numerous volumes of modern Korean fiction, most recently the novels Mina by Kim Sagwa and The Catcher in the Loft by Ch’ŏn Un-yŏng. Their translations of Korean short fiction appear in journals such as The Massachusetts Review, Granta, and Asymptote. Among their awards and fellowships are two U.S. National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowships and the first residency at the Banff International Literary Translation Centre awarded to translators from any Asian language. Bruce Fulton is the inaugural holder of the Young-Bin Min Chair in Korean Literature and Literary Translation, Department of Asian Studies.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9780295747668

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Korean American Historical Society.

To become a Town Hall member or make a donation click here or text TOWN HALL to 44321.

Every year, Town Hall selects exceptional local artists and scholars for paid residencies. This fall, Town Hall’s Artist in Residence Hailey Tayathy designed a new piece which will serve as a visual installation of Town Hall’s land acknowledgement, written by the elders and youth of UNEA Clear Sky Native Youth Council. In this special presentation, Tayathy will be reflecting on the art they have created during their residency, on the process of creation and collaboration with other Coast Salish youth, and on how their work might impact future audience members and Town Hall supporters once it is installed in the Forum entry.

Hailey Tayathyis a member of the Quileute Nation, a visual artist, and Seattle’s premier Native American drag queen. They use their queer Native experiences to inform their unique brand of drag. They aim to bring healing to Indigenous communities and to show everyone that Indigiqueers are still here and are stronger and more beautiful than colonized minds can imagine.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Urban Native Education Alliance.

To support Town Hall or become a member click here or text TOWN HALL to 44321.

The Deep End Friends podcast is an exploration of liberation, healing, hope, joy, and wholeness. What does it mean to be free? What are Black people doing to heal themselves and the world? Hear from incredible people from all walks of life about their journeys, what they are doing to thrive and how they are contributing to broader movements of empowerment and liberation.

Co-hosts Reagan Jackson and Anastacia-Renee joined us via livestream to record a live episode of Deep End Friends featuring a wide range of unique perspectives about Black healing, including anthropology student Mary Hall-Williams; movement artist TAQUEET$; Victoria Santos, the Co-Executive Director of Young Women Empowered; and Rocky Lester, founder of One Race One Humanity. Listen in as they dive deep with these incredible guests on the healings they bring to the community and the world, and the importance of Black healing in this particular moment of our evolution as a country.

Reagan Jackson is a writer, artist, international educator, prayer practitioner, and seeker of truth. She is currently a Program Director for Young Women Empowered and a columnist for the Seattle Globalist. She is an award-winning journalist who contributes regularly to the Seattle Globalist and South Seattle Emerald. Her self-published works include two children’s books, Coco LaSwish: A Fish from a Different Rainbow and Coco LaSwish: When Rainbows Go Blue, and three collections of poetry God, Hair, Love, and America; Love and Guatemala; and Summoning Unicorns.

Anastacia-Renee is a multi-genre writer, educator, and interdisciplinary artist. She is the recipient of the 2018, James W. Ray Distinguished Artist Award for Washington artists (Artist Trust), and has served as the Seattle Civic Poet from 2017-2019, and the 2015-2017 Poet-in-Residence at Hugo House. She is the author of five books: Forget It, (v.), 26, Kiss Me Doll Face, and Answer(Me).

Mary Hall-Williams is a student in the University of Washington’s Anthropology department. She is conducting honors research on automatic and intentional coping mechanisms in response to Viral Black Death and racism. She is also a co-founder of Blackout Healing. In the past, Mary has worked as a youth pastor at Damascus Missionary Baptist Church, in partnership with African American Reach and Teach Health Ministry (AARTH), with youth-led homeless outreach and gardening and sustainability efforts, and most recently with Working Washington on initiatives for domestic workers rights.

Victoria Santos is the Co-Executive Director of Young Women Empowered. She is a leader who works for social justice and racial equality with institutions, schools, and community organizations in the US and internationally. Victoria is a Spanish-fluent Afro-Latina immigrant born in the Dominican Republic. Her commitment to social justice and service has expressed itself in many forms over the past 30 years, including designing programs, community advocacy, facilitating groups, and community development in the US and internationally. Victoria emphasizes intersectional awareness, individual and collective healing, and commitment to compassionate action.

Rocky Lester is a gifted mystic and healer, a spiritual leader, and founder of One Race One Humanity. He has studied cross-cultural and spiritual modalities from across the world alongside his mentors and teachers, seeking first his own healing and then using the lessons learned to aid in the healing of others. Rocky’s belief in the healing of the human spirit through conversation led him to work with the Washington State Corrections Hero’s Journey Project. He sat on the board of LGBTQ Allyship and widened his vision in the creation of One Race One Humanity in 2018. One Race One Humanity is a platform for healing cross-culturally with the intention to establish a coalition in standing for all people’s basic human rights.

Born and raised in Seattle, TAQUEET$ is a movement artist with a style all her own. Her tagline “The Physical Representation of Sound” helps to describe what can be seen from a TAQUEET$ performance piece. From a childhood studying dance with Spectrum Dance, Danec Chance, and T.T.A.A.P.P. Central, as she got older, she began to explore less classical styles of dance. In 2015, she became a resident performer at The Pink Door, performing well over 50 freestyles.This summer, TAQUEET$ is leading a group of teens from Coyote Central in creating a long-form performance piece.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here or text TOWN HALL to 44321.

Dr. Madeline Levine contends that the role of parent has evolved into an unhealthy relationship with achievement and stress. The COVID-19 epidemic is throwing many into dual roles as both parent and full-time teacher, leaving many to wonder how to best serve our children—and what the long-term effects will be on their education.

Levine joined us for this livestream event with insight from her book Ready or Not: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Uncertain and Rapidly Changing World, offering some relief by tearing down the myth that good grades, high test scores, and college acceptances should define the parenting endgame. She showed how these parenting practices, combined with a desperate need to shelter children from discomfort and anxiety, are setting future generations up to fail spectacularly.

Drawing on fields from neuroscience to epigenetics, as well as extensive research gleaned from captains of industry, entrepreneurs, military leaders, scientists, academics, and futurists, Levine identified the skills that children need to succeed in a tumultuous future: adaptability, mental agility, curiosity, collaboration, tolerance for failure, resilience, and optimism. Listen in as Levine offers us day-to-day solutions for raising kids who are prepared, enthusiastic, and ready to face an unknown future with confidence and optimism.

Dr. Madeline Levine, PhD, is a clinician, consultant, educator and speaker, and the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Price of Privilege and Teach Your Children Well. She is a cofounder of Challenge Success, a project of the Stanford Graduate School of Education that provides families and schools with the practical, research-based tools they need to create a more balanced and academically fulfilling life for kids.

Buy the Book: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9780062657756

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To become a member or make a donation click here or text TOWN HALL to 44321.

Award-winning reporter Erica Barnett her first sip of alcohol when she was thirteen. By her late twenties, her addiction became inescapable. By the time she was in her late thirties, she had run the gauntlet of alcoholism, and volatile relationships, blackouts, and unsuccessful stints in detox defined Barnett’s life. Barnett joins us via livestream, drawing from her book Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery to share moments of her life along with essential new insights into addiction and treatment.

In conversation with author Claire Dederer, Barnett expands on her personal story to confront the dire state of addiction in America. She tackles the rise of alcoholism in American women over the last century, and highlights the lack of rehabilitation options available to addicts. With startling frankness, she questions the efficacy of mottos touted by Alcoholics Anonymous and long-standing treatment ideas like “rock bottom,” arguing that you can always go lower than your lowest point. These words and programs did not reflect her experience and indeed she found them detrimental—an experience that made her wonder if the same was true for others who are struggling with addiction. Barnett considers whether these programs do enough to discover the root causes of addiction in the course of providing treatments. In a brave example of vulnerability, Barnett invites us to an intimate recollection of her own struggles with alcoholism, and offers a hopeful story of a hard-fought path to sobriety.

Erica C. Barnett is an award-winning political reporter. She started her career at the Texas Observer, the venerable progressive magazine cofounded by Molly Ivins, and went on to work as a reporter and news editor for the Austin Chronicle, Seattle Weekly, and The Stranger. She now covers addiction, housing, poverty, and drug policy at her blog, The C Is for Crank. She has written for a variety of local and national publications, including The Huffington Post, Seattle Magazine, and Grist.

Claire Dederer is a Seattle native and the author of two critically acclaimed memoirs, and a forthcoming nonfiction book investigating good art made by bad people. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Paris Review, The Atlantic, and many other publications. She is also an educator, having taught at Hugo House, the University of Washington, Pacific University, and other universities across the country.

Buy the Book: https://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9780525522324

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. To make a donation online click here, or text TOWN HALL to 44321.

From reproductive rights and the wage gap to #MeToo and #TimesUp—gender inequality permeates nearly every aspect of our culture. According to award-winning psychology professor Joanne Bagshaw, the message that our society sends to women and girls is clear: you’re not enough. In conversation with Washington at-large City Councilmember Kirsten Harris-Talley, Bagshaw offered tools for women everywhere to navigate sexist institutionalized power structures, attitudes, and events that are outside of our control. With advice from her book The Feminist Handbook: Practical Tools to Resist Sexism and Dismantle the Patriarchy, Bagshaw helped us confront negative messages that have been deeply internalized by our society, combat the effects of gender and race discrimination, and create lasting change through activism and community. Join Bagshaw and Harris-Talley as they untangle the role that sexism and discrimination plays in our lives, our mental health, and our overall sense of well-being.

Joanne L. Bagshaw, PhD, is an award-winning professor of psychology and women’s studies at Montgomery College. She is also an ASSECT-certified sex therapist with a private practice in Maryland, where she lives with her husband and daughter. Joanne writes the popular feminist blog, The Third Wave for Psychology Today.

Kirsten Harris-Talley is a community educator, policy strategist, and activist for reproductive justice and police accountability. Harris-Talley is the interim Executive Director of NARAL Pro-choice Washington and in 2017 served city-wide as a Councilmember of the Seattle City Council.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Forum on March 3, 2020.

Celebrate the magnificence of waterbird migration along the Pacific Flyway—the 10,000-mile migratory corridor from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego. Join the authors of the book Pacific Flyway, along with wildlife photographer Gerrit Vyn, and discover the vast network of saltwater and freshwater habitats linked by millions of waterbirds who migrate between their breeding and overwintering grounds. Through stunning photography, migration sounds, and amazing video footage, explore the extraordinary stories of these remarkable birds that convert food, air, and water into a mileage plan that has few equals in the animal world.

Delve into the daunting array of survival challenges these birds face—widespread habitat loss and degradation resulting from global climate change and unparalleled human disturbance—and learn about research and conservation efforts by biologists, wildlife photographers, and citizen activists striving to combat these conditions. Traverse the Pacific Flyway and engage with the lives of waterbirds that exemplify the connectedness, complexity, and wonder of the natural world.

Audrey DeLella Benedict is a biologist, writer, and naturalist. She is the founder and director of Cloud Ridge Naturalists, a nonprofit natural history education and conservation publishing program now in its 40th year.

Dr. Robert Butler is an ornithologist, author, filmmaker, artist, and adjunct professor of biological sciences at Simon Fraser University. He has watched, listened to, and lived among birds for 40 years in a variety of environments.

Dr. Geoffrey Hammerson retired after 32 years as a research zoologist for The Nature Conservancy and NatureServe. He has taught university courses focusing on bird biology for 40 years.

Gerrit Vyn is a wildlife and conservation photographer and cinematographer best known for his work documenting endangered birds and covering conservation stories around the world for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. He is a Senior Fellow at the International League of Conservation Photographers.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Forum on February 19, 2020.

Our children’s first digital footprints are made before they can walk—even before they are born. More and more parents are using fertility apps to aid conception, posting ultrasound images to social media, installing baby monitors with built-in AI, and storing terabytes of baby pictures in the cloud. Educator Leah Plunkett arrived at Town Hall to examine the implications of this phenomenon, which she calls “sharenthood”—adults’ excessive digital sharing of children’s data.

Drawing from her book Sharenthood: Why We Should Think before We Talk about Our Kids Online, Plunkett cautioned parents, teachers, and other trusted adults against unwittingly compiling digital dossiers for children that could be available to everyone—friends, employers, law enforcement—forever. She outlined the mistakes adults make with kids’ private information, the risks that result, and the legal system that enables “sharenting.” Plunkett unpacked the faulty assumptions made by our legal system about children, parents, and privacy. Join Plunkett for a discussion of why we should think before we share our kids’ data—the internet, she says, needs to forget.

Leah Plunkett is Associate Dean for Administration, Associate Professor of Legal Skills, and Director of Academic Success at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. She is Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Forum on February 18, 2020.

Recent years have witnessed significant progress toward gender equality—from the ousting of prominent men accused of sexual misconduct to the unprecedented popularity of the 2019 Women’s World Cup. Following the shocking, infuriating accounts shared as part of the #MeToo movement, sociologist and philosopher Raphaël Liogier felt compelled to reassess toxic masculinity as the deepest root of gender inequality and its many manifestations. Liogier took Town Hall’s stage to share reflections from his essay Heart of Maleness, mapping out the crucial work still to be done, first and foremost addressing the core male fantasy about women’s bodies and minds.

Liogier contended that the archetypal Prince Charming and a monstrous predator such as Harvey Weinstein are two sides of the same coin. He asserted they are the products of a worldview that not only places a man’s desires above a woman’s but also doubts whether women are fundamentally capable of knowing what they want. He unpacked the influence of society’s deep-seated fantasy of male dominance—from the brazenness of Donald Trump, who brags about groping women, to the hypocrisy of outspoken progressives whose private behavior belies their so-called feminist ideals. Join Liogier's examination of the underlying causes of gender inequality and how we can fight against it.

Raphaël Liogier is a French sociologist and a philosopher. He is a professor at Sciences Po Aix-en-Provence and also teaches in Paris at the International College of Philosophy, founded by Jacques Derrida, and is a visiting scholar at Columbia University, at the Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Great Hall on February 18, 2020.

Like trigger warnings and gender-neutral bathrooms, pronouns are sparking a national debate. They’re prompting new policies in schools, workplaces, and even prisons. Pioneering linguist Dennis Baron joined us with insight into our pronoun patterns, drawing from his book What’s Your Pronoun: Beyond He and She. Baron lent us essential insight into understanding how twenty-first-century culture has evolved based on past pronoun use—and how our modern day usage is nothing new. He highlighted how Shakespeare used singular-they; women invoked the generic use of he to assert the right to vote (while those opposed to women’s rights invoked the same word to assert that he did not include she); and people have been coining new gender pronouns, not just hir and zie, for centuries. Join Baron for an illuminating look at the role pronouns have played—and continue to play—in establishing our rights and our identities.

Dennis Baron professor emeritus of English and linguistics at the University of Illinois, has long been a national commentator on language issues, from the Washington Post to NPR and CNN.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Forum on February 16, 2020.

Even as a teenager, Julie Blacklow displayed qualities that marked her as a natural for reporting—courage, tenacity, and a willingness to get in anyone’s face if it served her mission to help people. On the other side of her forty-year career, Blacklow arrived at Town Hall with a retrospective on her time spent as one of the first women in television news in America. In conversation with famed intimacy and sexuality researcher Pepper Schwartz, Blacklow drew from her book Fearless—Diary of a Badass Reporter to reflect on her decades in the television news business, where she met thousands of people and learned along the way how to ask questions in the worst—and best—moments of their lives. Blacklow presented an unforgettable memoir spanning her dramatic television career, cancer, and dozens more extreme highs and lows.

Julie Blacklow is an Emmy Award-winning journalist for KING-TV with more than forty years in the television news business. Among the first generation of women in television news in the United States, she encountered the entire spectrum of humanity from movie stars to murderers and regular people overcoming everyday obstacles.

Pepper Schwartz is an acclaimed author and researcher who has devoted her life to furthering the fields of intimacy and sexuality. Schwartz serves as AARP’s first Love & Relationship Expert & Ambassador and teaches at the University of Washington in Seattle, and has authored many articles and 25 books on love, sexuality, and commitment.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Forum on February 15, 2020.

“Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” asked a cover story in The Atlantic, citing skyrocketing rates of anxiety and suicide among young smartphone users. But what does the research actually say about how tech use affects our happiness? Is the modern “techlash” too pessimistic? Gather for a Think & Drink with Humanities WA to examine whether the rise of technology is just the latest punching bag for age-old issues like addiction and depression.

Listen in as a panel of experts explore key questions about the impact of rising tech use on our health and well-being. Are smartphones changing the way we focus, socialize, and experience emotion? Can phones actually help us lead happier, more meaningful lives? Join us for a discussion of how the little devices in our pockets could be having a big effect on our minds.

Featuring University of Washington professors at the iSchool, David Levy and Alexis Hiniker, and Seattle University professor, Joshua Johnston. Moderated by University of Washington professor, Paul Franco.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle, Humanities WA, & iSchool at the University of Washington. Recorded live in The Forum on February 12, 2020.

In her mid-twenties, at the height of tech industry idealism, New Yorker writer Anna Wiener left a job in book publishing for the promise of the new digital economy. She landed at a big-data startup in the heart of the Silicon Valley bubble—a world of surreal extravagance, dubious success, and fresh-faced entrepreneurs hell-bent on domination, glory, and (of course) progress. Drawing from her book Uncanny Valley, Wiener deftly charted the tech industry’s shift from self-appointed world savior to democracy-endangering liability, alongside a personal narrative of aspiration, ambivalence, and disillusionment.

In conversation with author and journalist Kristi Coulter, Wiener recalled her arrival to Silicon Valley amidst a massive cultural shift as the tech industry rapidly transformed into a locus of wealth and power rivaling Wall Street. She mused on the company ski vacations and in-office speakeasies, boyish camaraderie and ride-or-die corporate fealty which revealed a new image of Silicon Valley—one of a region in far over its head, enriching itself at the expense of the idyllic future it claimed to be building. Wiener brought us a rare first-person glimpse into high-flying, reckless startup culture at a time of unchecked ambition, unregulated surveillance, wild fortune, and accelerating political power. Listen in as Wiener and Coulter presented a cautionary tale and a revelatory interrogation of a world reckoning with consequences its unwitting designers are only beginning to understand.

Anna Wiener is a contributing writer to The New Yorker, covering Silicon Valley, startup culture, and technology. Her writing has appeared in n+1, The Atlantic, Wired, The New Republic, New York, Harper’s, and the Times Magazine.

Kristi Coulter is the author of the memoir-in-essays Nothing Good Can Come from This. Her work has appeared in The Paris Review, New York Magazine/The Cut, The Awl, Glamour, Vox and other publications.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Forum on February 1, 2020.

How can poetry expand our understanding of civic life? Poet and former Town Hall Artist-In-Residence Shin Yu Pai invited us to the first of her Lyric World discussions, exploring the role of poetry as it stokes our curiosity and gives voice and attention to the human experience.

Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma is a poet, magician, and musician who brings together many diverse practices in his creative expression. Pruiksma touched upon the similarities between poetry, magic, and music to explore the boundaries and edges of what’s visible and to gaze more deeply into the nature of wonder.

Joined in conversation with Seattle-based poet Melanie Noel, Pruiksma illuminated the ways that different languages alternately obscure or reveal truth. Together they asked us to suspend our judgement and embrace the not-knowing that defines these art forms.

Throughout their discussion, experience a performance by kora player and griot-trained jeli Ibrahim Arsalan. In West African society, the jeli preserved ancient stories and traditions through song, throughout the generations. They are believed to have deep connections to spiritual, social, and political powers.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and KUOW.

Lyric World: Conversations with Contemporary Poets is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike and supported by The Windrose Fund and the City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture.

Seattle is one of the wealthiest and fastest-growing cities in the nation, but that growth has come often at the expense of the Indigenous people who first lived here. In a forthcoming piece in Bitterroot and the South Seattle Emerald, writer Marcus Harrison Green examined how Native citizens in Seattle are pushing for greater representation, and how non-Native Seattle residents and officials can improve the relationship with Indigenous residents of this traditional Coast Salish territory.

Green joined along with Fern Renville and Russell Brooks for a panel discussion moderated by Bitterroot editor Maggie Mertens, exploring ways the city can best recognize its Indigenous roots and residents, and whether reparations should be a component of that process.

Russell Brooks (Southern Cheyenne) is the executive director of Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theatre in Seattle.

Marcus Harrison Green is the publisher of the South Seattle Emerald.

Rachel Heaton (Muckleshoot) is the co-founder of Mazaska Talks, a tool that supports community divestment from banks that finance fossil fuel development.

Maggie Mertens is the managing editor of Bitterroot magazine.

Fern Renville (Dakota) is the CEO of SNAG Productions.

Robin Little Wing Sigo is the director of the Suquamish Research & Strategic Development Department and a member of the Suquamish Tribal Council.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle, South Seattle Emerald, and Bitterroot.

Pop music surrounds us—in our cars, over supermarket speakers, even when we are laid out at the dentist—but how often do we really hear what’s playing? Musicologist Nate Sloan and songwriter Charlie Harding brought us a masterclass in pop music, illuminating the essential musical concepts behind two decades of chart-topping songs. With insight from their book Switched on Pop, based on their eponymous podcast, Sloan and Harding gave us the tools we need to interpret our modern soundtrack. They revealed musical insights such as how a single melodic motif follows Taylor Swift through every genre that she samples, André 3000 uses metric manipulation to get listeners to “shake it like a Polaroid picture,” or Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee create harmonic ambiguity in “Despacito” that mirrors the patterns of global migration. Join Sloan and Harding and learn to engage with the timeless concepts within the music of today, and start listening to familiar tracks in new ways.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Forum on January 21, 2020.

At the intersection of art and organizing, activists have found success combating white supremacy. Town Hall presented one such activist award-winning poet, educator, and Take Em Down NOLA coalition co-founder A Scribe Called Quess? He delivered poems from his latest book Sleeper Cell, investigating the institutionalized racism and disenfranchisement of Black youth.

A Scribe Called Quess? told the story of a struggle that culminated with the successful organizing of Take Em Down NOLA to remove four white supremacist monuments in New Orleans in 2017. He explored the history of white supremacist symbolism in New Orleans from a global and deep time perspective, zooming in to the decades long struggle to remove these symbols. Along the way, A Scribe Called Quess? connected the symbols of white supremacy that litter New Orleans to the history of racist violence that they reflect and endorse to the present day systemic oppression and state sanctioned violence they give license to. Listen in as A Scribe Called Quess? presented a poetic and civic exploration of the fight against white supremacy.

A Scribe Called Quess? is a 2-time national poetry slam champion and founding member of Slam New Orleans. He is also an educator, actor, playwright, activist and organizer.

Nikkita Oliver is a Seattle-based creative, community organizer, abolitionist, and attorney. She is also a case manager for Creative Justice, an arts project aimed at transforming the criminal legal system and providing space for young people to be self-empowered and self-determined.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Project Pilgrimage. Recorded live in The Forum on January 17, 2020.

Pamela Paul and Maria Russo want to encourage our children to develop a lifelong love of reading. They presented insight from their book How to Raise a Reader, an illustrated journey offering clear, practical wisdom for instilling a love of literature in our kids. In conversation with author Maria Semple, Paul and Russo presented curated reading lists and inspiring advice for developing rituals around reading, building a family library, or finding ways to engage a reluctant reader. They debunked common myths, assuaged parental fears, and delivered invaluable lessons that are both positive and easy to act on. Listen in as Paul, Russo, and Semple explored new and lively approaches to cultivating a love of reading in younger generations.

Pamela Paul is the editor of The New York Times Book Review and oversees books coverage at The New York Times. She is also the host of the weekly podcast The Book Review.

Maria Russo is the children’s books editor of The New York Times Book Review. She has been a writer and editor at The Los Angeles Times, The New York Observer, and Salon.

Maria Semple is the author of the novels Today Will Be Different, This One is Mine, and Where’d You Go, Bernadette. She also wrote for the TV shows 90210, Mad About You, Arrested Development and others.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Forum on January 13, 2020.

Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Winter Festival brings together some of the finest musicians in the world, offering six exceptional chamber music concerts and a fun Family Concert during the last two weekends of January. To prepare us for this incredible festival, SCMS and Town Hall presented a special preview discussion focused on the immortal string quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven, nine of which will be performed at the Winter Festival by the Ehnes Quartet.

Geoffrey Block, musicologist and author of Experiencing Beethoven: A Listener’s Companion, presented a brief overview of the composition of Beethoven’s string quartets, which traversed the breadth of his compositional life. He shared his favorite passages in these legendary pieces of the chamber music repertoire, unpacking the techniques of this legendary composer and highlighting what makes them special and memorable. Sit in for a preview of the SCMS Winter Festival!

Geoffrey Block is Distinguished Professor of Music History Emeritus at the University of Puget Sound. Block has published widely on Charles Ives, American musical theater and film, Beethoven, and Schubert. His recent books include The Richard Rodgers Reader, Richard Rodgers, Experiencing Beethoven: A Listener’s Companion, and Schubert’s Reputation from His Time to Ours. He is also general editor of the Yale Broadway Masters series and series of Oxford’s Broadway Legacies.

About Seattle Chamber Music Society: Each year, SCMS presents a winter festival in January and summer festival in July at Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall in Benaroya Hall. In addition to its high quality performances, SCMS offers community engagement programs for adults, youths and the community-at-large to encourage audience appreciation and understanding of chamber music. These programs bring audiences of all ages in close contact with musicians and their music through informal, accessible and enjoyable formats.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Seattle Chamber Music Society. Recorded live in The Forum on January 12, 2020.

How can our connections with animals transform our mental, physical, and spiritual lives? Journalist and author Richard Louv presented perspectives from his book Our Wild Calling, exploring the future of human/animal coexistence. He asserted that sharing our lives with animals can serve as an antidote to a growing epidemic of human loneliness, and help us tap into the empathy required to preserve life on Earth.

Louv shared interviews with researchers, theologians, wildlife experts, indigenous healers, psychologists, and others to show how people are communicating with animals in ancient and new ways; how dogs can teach children ethical behavior; how animal-assisted therapy may transform the mental health field; and what role the human/animal relationship plays in our spiritual health. He reported on wildlife relocation and on how the growing populations of wild species in urban areas are blurring the lines between domestic and wild animals. Join Louv as he made the case for protecting, promoting, and creating a sustainable and shared habitat for all creatures—and building something that many of us long for in the age of technology: real connection.

Richard Louv is a journalist and the author of ten books, including Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, The Nature Principle, and Vitamin N. Translated into twenty languages, his books have helped launch an international movement to connect children, families, and communities to nature. He is co-founder and chair emeritus of the nonprofit Children & Nature Network, which supports a new nature movement. Louv has written for the New York Times, Outside magazine, Orion Magazine, Parents, and many other publications.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and North Cascades Institute. Recorded live in The Great Hall on November 19, 2019.

Music can be a powerful tool for helping us cope with the loss of the ones we love—especially when our community comes together to experience that music live. KEXP’s morning show host John Richards invited us to a special community evening on death and music at Town Hall. Richards shared his inspirations for his annual “Mom Show,” a program of remembrance and reflection that began as a memorial for the loss of his mother. Richards took an honest look at how a community shares their experiences of death and music, presenting special musical guests, personal stories from past years of the program, and an exploration into the intersection of these two distinct veins of life and how they feed into one another. Join Richards for a live heartfelt program urging us to handle death through music and community.

Artists:
A tribute to Shawn Smith
Super-Krewe
Oh, Rose
Adra Boo
Hey Marseilles
Puget Soundworks

Hosted By:
John Richards
Amy Lindsey Richards

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and KEXP. Recorded live in The Great Hall on November 13, 2019.

Mo Rocca has always loved obituaries. He has relished the chance to read about the remarkable lives of world leaders, captains of industry, innovators, and artists. But according to Mo, not every notable life has gotten the sendoff it deserves. He set out to right that wrong with Mobituaries, his book profiling the people who have long fascinated him—from the 20th century’s greatest entertainer to a forgotten Founding Father to sitcom characters gone all too soon.

Mo was joined in conversation with podcaster and broadcaster Steve Scher to share the stories of the people who made a difference, but whose lives—for some reason or another—were never truly examined. There’s Thomas Paine, whose Common Sense lit the fuse for the American Revolution—and whose paltry obit summed up his life thusly: “He had lived long, did some good, and much harm.” And then there’s screen icon Audrey Hepburn. She remains a household name, but how much do we know about her wartime upbringing and how it shaped the woman we fell in love with? And what about Billy Carter and history’s unruly presidential brothers? Were they ne’er-do-well liabilities…or secret weapons? Rocca and Scher delivered an insightful and unconventional account of the people who made life worth living for the rest of us, bringing these men and women back to life like no one else can.

Mo Rocca is a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning, host of The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation, and host and creator of the Cooking Channel’s My Grandmother’s Ravioli. He has appeared on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and four seasons as a correspondent on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and is the author of All the Presidents’ Pets, a historical novel about White House pets and their role in presidential decision-making.

Steve Scher is a Seattle-based journalist and radio host. He served at KUOW for 28 years on programs such as Weekday and The Record. He currently hosts and produces the podcast At Length with Steve Scher, and is the Chief Correspondent for Town Hall’s insider podcast In The Moment.

Recorded live in The Great Hall by Town Hall Seattle on November 12, 2019.

How do you talk to kids about death? Author Caroline Wright wondered the same thing when she was diagnosed with an aggressive, terminal brain cancer as a mother to her young sons. Now, having lived a year past her prognosis and written a children’s book to help children know the undying love of a parent, Caroline joined us at Town Hall with a mission to help other parents find hope and agency with similar diagnoses. Wright was joined by a panel of leading experts in the fields of children’s bereavement and cancer to discuss the complicated issue of what to say to our kids to comfort them when facing loss. They outlined strategies for talking about tragedy with children, and highlighted the importance of building community during times of loss. Wright offered us tools for helping our children navigate grief—tools which we can use to face tragedy in our own lives and overcome grief ourselves.

Caroline Wright is a cook, author, and terminal brain cancer patient. After her diagnosis she focused her career on her two sons and the connection that comes from telling her story. She’s written three cookbooks and is the author of Lasting Love, her children’s book about the enduring love of a parent. Caroline lives in Seattle, Washington with her family.

PANEL:

Jim Cubbage is a co-founder, trip leader, and treasurer for Wild Grief, a non-profit that runs several programs to merge the healing power of nature and peer grief support. He facilitated grief support groups for Sound Care Kids through Providence Hospice for 11 years.

Dr. Lamont Green DSW, LSWAIC is currently the Lead Youth and Young Adult Homelessness Planner for King County. Green has worked for the past seventeen years to serve homeless youth within the region, and is deeply invested in his belief for social change.

Heidi Howard, MA, LMHC, CDP is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who has been in the mental health field for almost 30 years working with adolescents and families. She has worked with many clients affected by grief in schools, hospitals, residential treatment programs, and private practice.

Juliana Perez, MSW was the Executive Director of Safe Crossings Foundation for almost seven years, raising money and awareness to help children cope with grief. Recently she became a Spiritual Health clinician (chaplain) at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

Amy Thompson, MA, LMHC is a Counselor with Providence Hospice of Seattle and Program Coordinator for Safe Crossings, a program that provides free support for children, teens, and families in King County who are anticipating or have experienced the death of a significant person in their lives.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Forum on November 9, 2019.

Artist and critic Jenny Odell sees our attention as the most precious—and overdrawn—resource we have. Town Hall joined with UW Communication Leadership Graduate Program to present Odell on Town Hall’s stage, in conversation with political reporter Austin Jenkins. Odell and Jenkins addressed the dilemma of life in an age of constant distraction. They advocated for us to reclaim our own attention, redefining what we think of as productivity and reconnecting with the people and places that surround us. Odell rebuked the idea that we must be online all the time, highlighting the corporate profit models built around cultivating our compulsion to stay logged in for fear of “missing out.” Together Odell and Jenkins invited us to a critical discussion about how to coexist with ubiquitous technology and arrived at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress.

Jenny Odell is a multidisciplinary artist and writer based in Oakland, California. Her work examines the ways in which attention (or lack thereof) leads to consequential shifts in perception at the level of the everyday. Odell has exhibited work locally and internationally, and her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Salon, the Paris Review, McSweeney’s, and Sierra Magazine.

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the public radio Northwest News Network. He is also the host of “Inside Olympia” on TVW, Washington’s C-SPAN network. Austin is a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle and Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and the University of Washington Communication Leadership Program with media support by Crosscut. Recorded live in The Great Hall on November 1, 2019.

In times fraught with tensions across borders, some of the most critical stories are those that bring us closer to the people on the other side. Legendary travel writer Paul Theroux came to our stage with just such stories in On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey, a recollection of his drive along the entire length of the US/Mexico border and his deep foray into the hinterlands on the back roads of Chiapas and Oaxaca. Theroux met in conversation with radio host Katy Sewall to uncover the rich, layered world behind today’s brutal headlines. He visited Zapotec mill workers in the highlands and attends a Zapatista party meeting, communing with people of all stripes who remain south of the border even as their families brave the journey north. Just south of the Arizona border, in the desert region of Sonora, Theroux showed us a place brimming with vitality yet visibly marked by both the US Border Patrol looming to the north and mounting discord from within. With signature humanizing sensibility, Theroux and Sewall delved into this firsthand exploration of a region in conflict and a key to understanding the immigration debates boiling around the world.

Paul Theroux has spent his life crisscrossing the globe in search of the histories and peoples that give life to the places they call home. He is the author of many highly acclaimed books, including the novels The Lower River and The Mosquito Coast and the renowned travel books Ghost Train to the Eastern Star and Dark Star Safari.

Katy Sewall is a radio host, writer, podcast consultant, and storyteller. She is the Senior Producer and co-host of The Bittersweet Life podcast, and was the senior producer of KUOW’s “Weekday” with Steve Scher. She has worked on Radiolab and A Prairie Home Companion, and is the former Program Director at Town Hall.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Great Hall on October 16, 2019.

What does it mean to create a better future—literally? Speculative fiction author Annalee Newitz, founding editor of io9, arrived at Town Hall with musings on their book The Future of Another Timeline, a story of time travel, murder, and the lengths we’ll go to protect the ones we love.

The story follows two young women in two different times: Beth in 1992, who starts on a path of escalating violence after abetting the murder of a friend’s abusive boyfriend; and Tess in 2022, who sets out to use time travel to create a safer future by fighting for change at key moments in history—only to come face to face with a group of dangerous travelers bent on stopping her at any cost. Tess and Beth’s lives intertwine as war breaks out across the timeline–a war that threatens to destroy time travel and leave only a small group of elites with the power to shape the past, present, and future. Join Newitz for an exploration of the vast and intricate forces of history and humanity, and grapple with the central question: is it possible for a single person’s actions to echo throughout time?

Annalee Newitz writes science fiction and nonfiction. They are the author of the novel Autonomous, nominated for the Nebula and Locus Awards, and winner of the Lambda Literary Award. Their work has appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, Popular Science, Ars Technica, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic, among others.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Forum on October 10, 2019.

Has the internet made hate more infectious? Personalized feeds and sophisticated algorithms can direct us to content and communities that reinforce our most radical ideas and worst impulses—and dare us to act on them. Humanities WA invited us to a discussion as part of their Think and Drink series, encouraging us to explore the benefits of a connected world and ask whether the internet is built for hate. In collaboration with the iSchool at the University of Washington, Humanities WA presented a panel of speakers to help us examine the proliferation of online hate. They identified how a rise in hate groups, coupled with multiple mass shootings that incubated in dark online corners, has raised urgent questions about how the web has affected the way we treat one another. From trolling to White Nationalism, explore the mechanics of online hate, the responsibilities of tech companies and governments, and what we should—and shouldn’t—do to try to stem the tide.

Panelists:

Anna Lauren Hoffmann is a researcher, writer, and educator working at the intersections of data, technology, culture, and ethics. She is an Assistant Professor with The iSchool at the University of Washington, whose work centers on issues in information, data, and ethics.

Shankar Narayan is the Director of the Technology and Liberty Project at the ACLU of Washington. He works to bring values of fairness, transparency, and accountability to surveillance and machine learning technologies, and to lift the voices of impacted communities.

Eric Davis is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Bellevue College. He has also taught Ethnic Thought and Culture at Pierce College, as well as Multicultural Communication at Cascadia Community College and Introduction to Multicultural Studies at Shoreline.

Presented by Humanities Washington, the iSchool at the University of Washington, and Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Forum on October 9, 2019.

Clara Pluton and Val Nigro are stand-up comedians, radio hosts, and real-life lesbian lovers dishing out the sapphic dirt! They joined us at Town Hall for a live taping of their co-hosted podcast Hot Takes with Hot Dykes, diving into queer fantasia interpreted through a modern lens. They encouraged us to push ourselves to reinterpret, reassess, and reanalyze dyke culture that has been left before us. As they say, “nothing exists in a vacuum and y’all know we love to process.” Listen in for a live conversation about self-criticism, public engagement, and examination of dyke culture.

Clara Pluton is a Seattle based stand-up comedian and radio personality. They’re the co-host of 104.9 KHUH FM Hollow Earth Radio’s Hot Takes with Hot Dykes where they and fellow comedian girlfriend Val Nigro serve the sapphic dish.

Val Nigro is a stand-up comedian, actor, and radio personality who has been hailed for her “intense sense of inrony” and “always finding a way to bring up astrology.” Val co-hosts the hit radio show and podcast Hot Takes with Hot Dykes, and she has performed in comedy festivals and lesbian living rooms across the nation.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Forum on September 24, 2019.

The Deep End Friends podcast is an exploration of liberation, healing, hope, joy, and wholeness. What does it mean to be free? What are people of color doing to heal themselves and the world? Hear from incredible people from all walks of life about their journeys, what they are doing to thrive and how they are contribution to broader movements of empowerment and liberation.

Co-hosts Reagan Jackson and Anastacia-Renee took Town Hall’s stage to record a live episode of Deep End Friends featuring an in-depth interview with author and activist Virgie Tovar. They discussed Tovar’s work as a leading lecturer on body image and a fighter against fat discrimination. Listen in for a live episode of Deep End Friends—hear these powerhouse activists explore advice for women who are ready to break up with diet culture.

Reagan Jackson is a writer, artist, international educator, prayer practitioner, and seeker of truth. She is currently a Program Manager for Young Women Empowered and a columnist for the Seattle Globalist. She is an award-winning journalist who contributes regularly to the Seattle Globalist and South Seattle Emerald. Her self-published works include two children’s books, Coco LaSwish: A Fish from a Different Rainbow and Coco LaSwish: When Rainbows Go Blue, and three collections of poetry God, Hair, Love, and America, Love and Guatemala, and Summoning Unicorns.

Anastacia-Renee is a multi-genre writer, educator, and interdisciplinary artist. She is the recipient of the 2018, James W. Ray Distinguished Artist Award for Washington artists (Artist Trust), and has served as the Seattle Civic Poet from 2017-2019, and the 2015-2017 Poet-in-Residence at Hugo House. She is the author of five books: Forget It, (v.), 26, Kiss Me Doll Face, and Answer(Me).

Virgie Tovar is an author, activist and one of the nation’s leading experts and lecturers on fat discrimination and body image. She is the founder of Babecamp, a 4-week online course designed to help women who are ready to break up with diet culture. She started the hashtag campaign #LoseHateNotWeight and in 2018 gave a TedX talk on the origins of the campaign. She is a contributor for Forbes and pens a weekly column called Take the Cake on Ravishly.com.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Forum on September 9, 2019.

Chase Jarvis and Brandon Stanton are two creative powerhouses. They’ve been through the creative trenches and produced amazing work, and both consider establishing a creative practice to be as valuable and urgent as exercise or nutrition. They met onstage at Town Hall for a conversation highlighting Chase’s new book Creative Calling—centered on the notion that creativity isn’t a skill, it’s a habit available to everyone. From beginners to lifelong creators, entrepreneurs to executives, astronauts to zookeepers, Jarvis and Stanton explored strategies for everyone to focus the creative forces inside and unleash them to transform our lives and deliver vitality to everything we do.

Jarvis and Stanton unpacked and reframed the creative process with the “IDEA” system: Imagine your big dream, whatever you want to create—or become—in this world; Design a daily practice that supports that dream—and a life of expression and transformation; Execute on your ambitious plans and make your vision real; and Amplify your impact through a supportive community you’ll learn to grow and nurture. Harness your creativity and learn how small, daily actions can help us to supercharge our innate creativity and rediscover our personal power in life.

Chase Jarvis is well known as a photographer, director, and fine artist. He is the co-founder of CreativeLive, the world’s largest live streaming creative education website, as well as the host of the weekly video series Chase Jarvis Raw and the Chase Jarvis Live podcast.

Brandon Stanton is an author, photographer, and blogger. He is the creator of the photoblog and book Humans of New York, featuring hundreds of portraits and excerpts of the lives of people living in New York City. He is one of Time magazine’s “30 Under 30 People Changing The World.”

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Recorded live in The Great Hall at Town Hall Seattle on September 23, 2019.

Explore and reimagine what space means in Seattle’s rapidly transforming socio-environmental landscape in this immersive and interactive evening with TUF, the Seattle collective that focuses on uplifting marginalized folks including people of color, women, queer, trans, and gender nonconforming identities. Artists from across multiple disciplines took the stage for a showcase of art, dialogue, and performances that investigate crucial questions about our city. How do we build the spaces that we want to live in? Why is space needed in a city for art? How do we hold space for each other?

TUF engaged us with art installations throughout Town Hall, plus ongoing DJ skill share workshops, panel discussions, live music, and more. Join TUF for a showcase from artists who challenge white-cis-male power structures within electronic music, art, and media—and experience opportunities to connect and collaborate through the spaces we share.

Episode Timeline

@ 00:01:10 — Vanessa Molano book talk in Forum

@ 00:33:00 — First Panel Discussion in Forum

@ 01:45:00 — Second Panel Discussion in Forum

Performing Artists
-Abdu Ali [DrumBOOTY / Baltimore]
-Dos Leches [BabexHouse Collective / TUF]
-IVVY [TUF]
-Vanessa Molano [TUF]
-MMMelt [Thriftease / TUF]

Visual and Installation Artists
-Gia Valente [TUF]
-Úna Blue [TUF]
-Chelsea Rodino
-Jax Braun
-Alexis Silva
-JRAT [Wardrobe Therapy
-Kem-Sea [TUF]
-Grey Ellis [TUF] + Katie Twiss

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and TUF. Recorded live at Town Hall Seattle on September 21, 2019.

Lauded author Amitav Ghosh arrived on Town Hall’s stage to present his newest book, Gun Island. His novel focuses on Deen, a dealer of rare books who is used to a quiet life spent indoors. But as his once-solid beliefs begin to shift, he is forced to set out on an extraordinary journey; one that takes him from India to Los Angeles and Venice via a tangled route through the memories and experiences of those he meets along the way.

There is Piya, a fellow Bengali-American who sets his journey in motion; Tipu, an entrepreneurial young man who opens Deen’s eyes to the realities of growing up in today’s world; Rafi, with his desperate attempt to help someone in need; and Cinta, an old friend who provides the missing link in the story they are all a part of. It is a journey that will upend everything he thought he knew about himself, about the Bengali legends of his childhood, and about the world around him. Sit in for an exploration of Ghosh’s beautifully realized globetrotting, folkloric adventure, a story of family and heritage, of a search for belonging in a destabilized world—and of a man whose faith in the world and the future is restored by two remarkable women.

Amitav Ghosh is the author of the acclaimed and bestselling Ibis trilogy, which includes Sea of Poppies (short-listed for the 2008 Man Booker Prize), River of Smoke, and Flood of Fire. His other novels include The Circle of Reason, which won the Prix Médicis étranger, and The Glass Palace. Ghosh holds two Lifetime Achievement awards and four honorary doctorates. In 2007 he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest honors, by the President of India.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle as part of the 2019 Homecoming Festival. Recorded live in The Forum on September 19, 2019.

What would happen to an astronaut’s body if it were pushed out of a space shuttle? Do people poop when they die? Can Grandma have a Viking funeral? Every day, funeral director Caitlin Doughty receives dozens of questions about death. Doughty took Town Hall’s stage, bringing us wisdom from her book Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death to offer a blend of her scientific understanding of the body and the intriguing history behind common misconceptions about corpses. She offered factual, hilarious, and candid answers to urgent questions about what happens if you die on an airplane, the best soil for mummifying your dog, and whether or not you can preserve your friend’s skull as a keepsake. Join Doughty for a look into the fascinating truths about what will happen (to our bodies) after we die.

Caitlin Doughty is a licensed mortician and the New York Times best-selling author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and From Here to Eternity. She is the creator of the “Ask a Mortician” web series and founder of The Order of the Good Death.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle as part of the 2019 Homecoming Festival. Recorded live in the Forum on September 16, 2019.

In politics, we’re often told not to get lost in the weeds. But at Vox, they love the weeds! Vox voices and regular hosts Matthew Yglesias, Jane Coaston, and David Robert took the stage for a live recording of The Weeds podcast delving into the areas where politics becomes policy—the kind that shapes our lives. Sit in for a live recording of The Weedsand dig into the weeds on important national issues, health care, immigration, housing, and everything else that matters.

Recorded live in The Great Hall at Town Hall Seattle on September 10, 2019.

We’re throwing open the doors of our newly renovated building for a full-day takeover by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks! Parks took the Great Hall stage to deliver a rendition of her fast-paced and high-energy lecture “A Million Suggestions From Suzan-Lori Parks,” communicating a million humorous and useful pieces of advice for our modern lives. Then she presented a Town Hall-commissioned piece of writing based on her award-winning work 365 Days/365 Plays. Offered as a companion piece to the Robert Pinsky poem that inaugurated the space 20 years ago, Parks brought us a stage performance that’s short on the page but alludes to action in perpetuity—a reflection of the Great Hall’s bustling civic energy.

Join us for an exploration of the creative process and unforgettable events with one of the most acclaimed playwrights of our time.

Suzan-Lori Parks is the first African-American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. She is a MacArthur “Genius” Award recipient, and in 2015 was awarded the prestigious Gish Prize for Excellence in the Arts. Her project 365 Days/365 Plays (where she wrote a play a day for an entire year) was produced in over 700 theaters worldwide, creating one of the largest grassroots collaborations in theater history.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle. Community Partners: Hansberry Project, Hedgebrook, Hugo House, Intiman Theatre, Allison Narver, New City Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle University Department of Performing Arts and Arts Leadership.

Recorded live in the Great Hall on Saturday, September 7, 2019.

How do we approach designing our cities in equitable ways? Colleen Echohawk, Executive Director of the Chief Seattle Club, and Ben Franz-Knight, urban planner and former Executive Director of Pike Place Market, join us for a conversation reflecting on the relationship between white privilege and urban design. They outline the ways that native populations are victimized by patterns of development. Join Echohawk and Franz-Knight as they highlight troublesome patterns in our ever-changing city’s cycles of expansion—and explore the potential for reframing our urban narrative by creating an ethic of design centered on indigenous knowledge.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Chief Seattle Club. Recorded live in The Forum by Town Hall Seattle on September 4, 2019.

In the 1970’s, Philip K. Dick, Terence McKenna, and Robert Anton Wilson pioneered the emergence of a new psychedelic spirituality founded in American counterculture. These three authors changed the way millions of readers thought, dreamed, and experienced reality—and now journalist Erik Davis joined us to explore how their writings reflected and shaped the seismic cultural shifts taking place in America today.

With insight from his book High Weirdness, Davis examined the published and unpublished writings of these vital, iconoclastic thinkers, as well as their own life-changing mystical experiences. Davis explored the complex lattice of the strange that flowed through America’s West Coast at a time of radical technological, political, and social upheaval. Sit in for a glimpse of Davis’ new theory of the weird as a viable mode for a renewed engagement with reality.

Erik Davis is a journalist, critic, podcaster, counter-public intellectual whose writings have run the gamut from rock criticism to cultural analysis to creative explorations of esoteric mysticism. He is the author of Techgnosis: Myth, Magic and Mysticism in the Age of Information, The Visionary State: A Journey through California’s Spiritual Landscape, and Nomad Codes: Adventures in Modern Esoterica.

Recorded live in the Forum at Town Hall Seattle on August 16, 2019.

Liminal dreaming occurs at the boundaries of consciousness between waking and sleep. To guide us in harnessing one of the most unusual human experiences, Jennifer Dumpert presented a comprehensive array of practical exercises for accessing and lingering in our liminal dream states. She explored the brain states which together create our experience of dreaming—hypnagogia, the hallucinatory dream state through which we pass as we sink into sleep, and hypnopompia, the mesmerizing dreams we experience as we surface back into waking. Dumpert offered us techniques to harness the power of hypnagogia and hypnopompia and engage our dreaming minds to help us answer personal or intellectual questions or even, she says, encourage the healing process. Join Dumpert to learn about the power of liminal dream states to create an ideal circumstance for deep meditation, provide altered consciousness experiences, and offer each of us insight into the depths of our own psyche.

Jennifer Dumpert is a San Francisco-based writer and lecturer, and the founder of the Oneironauticum, an international organization that explores the phenomenological experience of dreams as a means of experimenting with mind.

Recorded live in The Forum at Town Hall Seattle on August 14, 2019.

America’s twenty-plus year struggle with opioid addiction has affected communities of all sizes and walks: from wealthy suburbs to distressed towns in Central Appalachia; from disparate cities to once-idyllic farm towns. Journalist Beth Macy joined us to help us comprehend the heartbreaking trajectory of this epidemic with insight from her book Dopesick, illustrating how this national crisis has persisted for so long and become so firmly entrenched.

Macy introduced us to the families and first responders struggling to ameliorate this epidemic, outlining how opioid drug abuse unites Americans across geographic and class lines. From the introduction of OxyContin in 1996, Macy parses how America embraced a medical culture where overtreatment with painkillers became the norm. She brought each facet of the crisis into focus through unsparing yet deeply human portraits: unemployed individuals using painkillers both to numb the pain of joblessness and pay their bills, privileged teens trading pills in cul-de-sacs, and even high school standouts falling prey to prostitution, jail, and death. Join Macy for stories that highlight the spirit and tenacity of those facing addiction and working to build a better future for themselves and their families.

Beth Macy is a journalist who writes about outsiders and underdogs. Her writing has won more than a dozen national journalism awards, including a Nieman Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard and the 2013 J. Anthony Lukas Word-in-Progress award for Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local—and Helped Save an American Town.

Recorded live in The Forum at Town Hall Seattle on August 12, 2019.

Since their introduction to industrial societies, psychedelics have been hailed as catalysts for personal and societal change. Researcher David Nickles delved into recent discoveries surrounding these compounds and the experiences they can bring. He highlighted friction around questions of who should control access to these experiences and who gets to craft the social narratives around them.

Nickles examined the challenges of access, social control, and power dynamics that have crystallized since the psychedelic revolution of the 1960’s. He highlighted the ways which profit-motivated corporations and advocates of psychedelic mainstreaming have exerted control over public narratives about psychedelics under the pretense of addressing mental health epidemics. He urged us to examine psychedelics as tools for grappling with widespread social and political maladies—declining global ecosystem, the #MeToo movement, and the ongoing failures of late capitalism—rather than merely the next chic self-improvement product. Join Nickles for a conversation about fighting commodification and exploring culture through a psychedelic lens.

David Nickels is an underground researcher and moderator for The DMT-Nexus community. He has worked on numerous harm reduction projects including KosmiCare, Check-In, TLConscious, DanceWize, and The Open Hyperspace Traveler. He’s offered cultural critiques and commentary on psychedelics and radical politics, as well as novel phytochemical data for psychedelic preparations at venues around the world.

Recorded live at The Forum at Town Hall Seattle on July 24, 2019.

The only two creatures on earth that go through menopause are human women and female killer whales. This esoteric fact became a strange point of fascination as author Darcey Steinke grappled with her own hard experiences with menopause—first came hot flashes, then insomnia, then depression. Steinke struggled to understand what was happening to her, and all her research slammed her up against a culture of silence and sexism.

To offer a guiding hand to understanding menopause in a complex, spiritual, and intellectually engaged way, Steinke joins us at Town Hall in conversation with marine biologist Dr. Deborah Giles to share thoughts on Flash Count Diary, Steinke’s powerful exploration into aspects of menopause that have rarely been written about. She delves into the changing gender landscape brought on by reduced levels of hormones, the actualities of transforming desires, and the realities of prejudice against older women. Steinke reveals menopausal insights from throughout history: how seventeenth century women who had hot flashes in front of others could be accused of being witches, that the model of Marcel Duchamp’s famous Étant donnés was a post-reproductive woman, and that seeing whales in the wild can lead to orcagasms. Listen in with Steinke and Giles for an honest, feminist story about the intimations of mortality that menopause signals—and her argument for the ascendency, beauty, and power of the post-reproductive years in women’s lives.

Darcey Steinke is the author of the memoir Easter Everywhere and the novels Milk, Jesus Saves, Suicide Blonde, Up Through the Water, and Sister Golden Hair. With Rick Moody, she edited Joyful Noise: The New Testament Revisited. Her books have been translated into ten languages, and her nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Boston Review, Vogue, Spin, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and The Guardian.

Dr. Deborah Giles received her PhD from the University of California Davis in 2014. Her master’s thesis and PhD dissertation both focused on the federally listed southern resident killer whales. Formerly the research director at the Center for Whale Research, she is currently a resident scientist and lecturer at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Labs, where she teaches Marine Mammals of the Salish Sea and Marine Biology.

Recorded live in The Forum at Town Hall Seattle on July 8, 2019.

In 2005, freelance food writer Ed Levine sought an unlikely dream: to control his own fate and create a different kind of food publication that would unearth the world’s best bagels, the best burgers, the best hot dogs—the best of everything edible. Levine joined us, in conversation with his Chief Culinary Advisor J. Kenji López-Alt, to tell the story of how he built a community for people who took everything edible seriously, from the tasting menu at Per Se and omakase feasts at Nobu down to mass-market candy, fast food burgers, and instant ramen.

Levine drew from his book Serious Eater, recalling how over a decade ago he created a blog for $100 called Serious Eats—and how the site quickly became a home for foodie obsessives who didn’t take themselves too seriously. He outlined how the site grew in in popularity, attracting talented tasters and recipe developers even as it stood on unsteady ground and felt like every day could be its last. Levine revealed how stubbornness and passion for Serious Eats put his marriage, career, and relationships with friends and family at risk in order to keep his dream alive. Sit in with Levine and López-Alt for the mouthwatering and heartstopping story of building—and almost losing—one of the most acclaimed and beloved food sites in the world.

Ed Levine is the founder (his employees affectionately call him the overlord) of Serious Eats, as well as creator and host of the Serious Eats podcast, Special Sauce. In 2016, Ed was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America.

J. Kenji López-Alt is the Chief Culinary Advisor for Serious Eats, as well as chef and partner at Wursthall, a German-inspired California beer hall and restaurant in San Mateo. His first book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science is a New York Times Bestseller.

Recorded live in the Great Hall at Town Hall Seattle on June 26, 2019.