Library Talks

This week on the podcast, we welcome renowned photographer Sally Mann, whose works are included in the permanent collections at the Whitney Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among many others. Mann came to the Library this spring to celebrate the release of her latest book, “Hold Still: A Memoir With Photographs.” In this conversation with NYPL’s Jessica Strand, Mann discusses memory, mortality, and how she crafted a striking personal history through image and narrative.

This week, we’re excited to welcome legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog, whose numerous, award-winning films have made him one of the most influential directors of New German Cinema and contemporary film around the world. In a conversation co-presented by the Onassis Cultural Center of New York, Herzog talks to NYPL’s Paul Holdengraber about Ancient Greek literature and its influence on his cinematic work over the past half-century.

This week, we’re celebrating Pride Month with popular writer and gay activist Dan Savage, author of the advice column "Savage Love" and creator of the Emmy-winning "It Gets Better" campaign. Along with fellow writer and political commentator Andrew Sullivan, Savage came to the Library back in 2013 to mark the release of his latest book, “American Savage.” In this entertaining and thought-provoking conversation, Sullivan and Savage talk about moralism, marriage, and monogamy.

This week, we’re thrilled to welcome Suzanne Farrell, one of George Balanchine’s most celebrated muses and a legendary figure in the ballet world. The world-renowned dancer inspired some of Balanchine's finest choreography, and today, she helps maintain his legacy as founder of the Balanchine Preservation Initiative and her own ballet company at The Kennedy Center. In a thought-provoking conversation with NYPL’s Paul Holdengraber, Farrell reflects on Balanchine, ballet, and her influence on both.

This week, we’ll be hearing from a panel of writers and innovators on the often talked about, but rarely understood, Bitcoin. New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper, whose book “Digital Gold” tells the story of this trail-blazing virtual currency, will be joined on stage by Gavin Andresen, the programmer who has been leading the Bitcoin project since 2010, and Fred Wilson, one of the biggest venture capitalists backing the project. In a conversation moderated by New York Times columnist and CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin, this group of powerful thinkers discusses virtual currency and the future of money in the digital age.

This week, we’re excited to welcome Damien Echols, whose bestselling memoir “Life After Death” describes how he was falsely convicted of three murders and spent nearly eighteen years on death row. He’s joined by performer and activist Henry Rollins for a conversation about prison life, holding onto memories, and how to stay hopeful in the worst of times.

In his first public discussion of the show from beginning to end, "Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner sits down with writer A.M. Homes to talk about the show’s themes, the fates of its characters, and the enigmatic final episode.

He's written a memoir Not My Father's Son. He's Eli Gold on The Good Wife. He's been Nightcrawler in X-2: Men United and Hamlet and Mr. Elton in the film adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. He's Alan Cumming, and we're so pleased to share his recent appearance at Books at Noon in this week's episode of the New York Public Library podcast.

Internationally renowned fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg comes to NYPL for a conversation with Rhonda Garelick, award-winning scholar and author of “Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History.” Together, von Furstenberg and Garelick discuss success, women taking the lead, and what it means to be a fashion icon.

In this inspiring conversation with NYPL President Tony Marx, Sotomayor talks about her early life in the Bronx, the importance of education, and her rise to becoming one of the most powerful women in America today.