City Arts & Lectures

Among this year’s most acclaimed books is Tommy Orange’s debut novel “There, There”. The book begins with a poignant prologue describing the devastating history of genocide and violent removal of Native Americans from their lands, setting the stage for a contemporary story about the urban Native American experience in the city of Oakland. The characters’ lives are informed by their ancestors’ suffering, as well as the continued systematic discrimination against Native people. On February 25, 2019, Tommy Orange came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater to be interviewed by Jeff Chang, author of “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop” and the Vice President of Narrative, Arts, and Culture at Race Forward.

Preet Bharara served as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017, before being fired by President Trump within a few weeks of his inauguration. Bharara is the host of the podcast Stay Tuned with Preet, and author of the book Doing Justice: A Prosecutor’s Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law. On March 26, 2019, Preet Bharara came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with Jeffrey Toobin, a staff writer at The New Yorker and a senior legal analyst at CNN.

Marlon James is best known for “A Brief History of Seven Killings”, a sweeping, violent novel about the attempted assassination of Bob Marley in 1976, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2015. His new novel  “Black Leopard, Red Wolf”  is the first in the “Dark Star Trilogy,” a fantasy series which James describes as an African Game of Thrones. On February 19, 2019, Marlon James came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with fellow author Jeff Chang.

Michael Tubbs has devoted his political life to fighting economic inequality in Stockton -- the Northern California city where he was born and raised.  Elected Mayor in 2016, Tubbs has worked to reinvent the formerly bankrupt city. This past year, he spearheaded a universal basic income pilot program. Already identified as a rising figure in the progressive movement, Tubbs isn’t even thirty years old yet, making him the youngest mayor of an American city of more than 100,000 people. On February 13, 2019, Mayor Tubbs came to The Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with Dan Pfeiffer, co-host of Pod Save America and a former senior advisor to President Obama. Join me now for a conversation with Mayor Michael Tubbs.

Jad Abumrad is the creator and co-host of Radiolab, a program with a unique brand of storytelling that explores science, philosophy, and the human experience. Abumrad is also the creator of “More Perfect,” a podcast about how the Supreme Court shapes everything from marriage and money to public safety and sex. On February 8, 2019, Jad Abumrad came to The Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with Alexis Madrigal, staff writer at “The Atlantic”.

Rebecca Traister has spent her career writing about politics, media, and entertainment from a feminist perspective.  In her most recent book, “Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger,” Traister tracks the history of female anger as political fuel - from suffragists protesting outside the White House during the First World War, to office workers vacating their building after Clarence Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court. On February 4, 2019, Rebecca Traister came to The Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco, to talk with Lara Bazelon, a professor of law at the University of San Francisco.  

Author Meg Wolitzer brings readers deep into the lives of others. A feminist thread runs through all of her work, including novels like “The Interestings” and “The Wife,” but nowhere is the subject of power more deeply investigated than in her newest book, “The Female Persuasion.” Campus assault, intergenerational feminism, debate, mentorship and ambition make it an especially timely story. On January 24 2019, Wolitzer came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater to be interviewed by The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik.

Dr. BJ Miller is a palliative care expert who has spearheaded a nationwide effort to change the way we approach death and dying. Rather than hospitalization and endless attempts at sustaining life, Miller advocates for a mindful, human-centered model of care that embraces dying not as a medical event, but a universally shared life experience. On January 22, 2019, BJ Miller came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater to talk with author Pico Iyer.

It has been twenty-five years since Jeff Tweedy founded the seminal alt-country band Wilco. The band still performs together, while Tweedy contributes his talents to other projects too - musical,  and now literary, with the publication of a 2018 memoir, “Let's Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc.” Tweedy’s newest solo album, “Warm,” is his most personal to date. On January 11, 2019, Jeff Tweedy came to The Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with the writer George Saunders, author of  “Lincoln in the Bardo.”

Our guests are activist and scholar Angela Davis, and historian Ibram X. Kendi. Throughout her lifetime, Angela Davis has been a passionate voice for human rights, working from the position that the battles for African American rights, women’s rights, gay rights, and prisoners’ rights, are interconnected. Dr. Kendi profiled Dr. Davis in his book “Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America.” On January 10, 2019, Angela Davis and Ibram X. Kendi came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco, to talk with Jeff Chang about the connections between capitalism, racism and sexism, and ways that activists, and all citizens, can move forward.