LIVE! From City Lights

(From May 2017)China Miéville reads from October: The Story of the Russian Revolution, published by Verso Books. On the centenary of the Russian Revolution, China Miéville tells the extraordinary story of this pivotal moment in history. China Miéville is the multi-award-winning author of many works of fiction and non-fiction. His fiction includes The City and the City, Embassytown and This Census-Taker. He has won the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Arthur C. Clarke awards. His non-fiction includes the photo-illustrated essay London’s Overthrow and Between Equal Rights, a study of international law. He has written for various publications, including the New York Times, Guardian, Conjunctions and Granta, and he is a founding editor of the quarterly Salvage.

Anna Merlan discussing the subject of her new book, Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power, published by Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt & Co. A riveting tour through the landscape and meaning of modern conspiracy theories, exploring the causes and tenacity of this American malady, from Birthers to Pizzagate and beyond. Anna Merlan is a journalist specializing in politics, crime, religion, subcultures, and women's lives. Merlan is a senior staff writer at Vice features. She was previously a senior reporter at Jezebel and staff writer at the Village Voice and the Dallas Observer. Republic of Lies is her first book. She lives in New York.

(From January 2018) Jenn Pelly and Greil Marcus celebrating a new edition in the 33 & 1/3 series, The Raincoats, by Jenn Pelly and published by Bloomsbury Academic. Co-presented by the Rock and Roll Book Club of San Francisco. In this short book – the first on the Raincoats – author Jenn Pelly tells the story of the group's audacious debut album, which Kurt Cobain once called "wonderfully classic scripture." Pelly builds on rare archival materials and extensive interviews with members of the Raincoats, Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Hole, Scritti Politti, Gang of Four, and more. She draws formal inspiration from the collage-like The Raincoats itself to explore this album's magic, vulnerability, and strength. Jenn Pelly is an editor at Pitchfork. Her writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, SPIN, The Wire, and The Village Voice. Pelly's book on feminist punk band The Raincoats was published in October 2017 as part of Bloomsbury's 33 ⅓ series. Greil Marcus is a music journalist, cultural critic, and author of numerous notable books. He is the author of Mystery Train, Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of the 20th Century, Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes, and many others. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine, The Beleiver, Village Voice, Art Forum, Pitchfoirk, Creem, and numerous others.

Ramesh Srinivasan and Shahid Buttar discussing Ramesh's new book, Beyond the Valley: How Innovators around the World are Overcoming Inequality and Creating the Technologies of Tomorrow, published by The MIT Press. How to repair the disconnect between designers and users, producers and consumers, and tech elites and the rest of us: toward a more democratic internet. Ramesh Srinivasan is Professor of Information Studies and Design Media Arts at UCLA. He makes regular appearances on NPR, The Young Turks, MSNBC, and Public Radio International, and his writings have been published in the Washington Post, Quartz, Huffington Post, CNN, and elsewhere.

(From February 2014) Jeff VanderMeer reads from his novel Annihilation, part one of the Southern Reach Trilogy, published in 2014 by FSG. (Includes a very interesting snapshot of City Lights c. 2014 with Peter Maravelis's intro of upcoming readings at the time..!).

Savannah Shange in conversation with Patrick Camangian discussing the subject of Savannah Shange's new book, Progressive Dystopia: Abolition, Antiblackness, and Schooling in San Francisco, published by Duke University Press. In Progressive Dystopia, Savannah Shange explores the potential for reconciling the school's marginalization of Black students with its sincere pursuit of multiracial uplift and solidarity. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and six years of experience teaching at the school, Shange outlines how the school fails its students and the community because it operates within a space predicated on antiblackness. Seeing San Francisco as a social laboratory for how Black communities survive the end of their worlds, Shange argues for abolition over either revolution or progressive reform as the needed path toward Black freedom. Savannah Shange is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and principal faculty in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Patrick Camangian is an associate professor in the Teacher Education Department at the University of San Francisco. He has been an English teacher since 1999, beginning in the Los Angeles Unified School District where he was awarded "Most Inspirational Teacher" by former mayor Richard Riordan and the school's student body. Professor Camangian currently volunteers in the Oakland Unified School District teaching English. He has collaborated with groups such as California's People's Education Movement, the Education for Liberation national network, and San Francisco's Teachers 4 Social Justice.

(From May 2015) Peaches in conversation with Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens discussing the book, What Else Is in the Teaches of Peaches, a photograph book chronicling her life and performances with text from Peaches, Yoko Ono, Ellen Page, and Michael Stipe, published by Akashic Books.

Jairus Victor Grove in conversation with David Goldberg discussing the subject of Jairus's book, Savage Ecology: War and Geopolitics at the End of the World, published by Duke University Press. Jairus Victor Grove is Director of the University of Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies and an Associate Professor of International Relations. Dr. Grove received his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in 2011. His research focuses on the relationship between disruptive technology and global warfare and also the end of the world. David A. M. Goldberg is a writer, teacher, cultural critic, media developer and native San Franciscan. His work focuses on those nasty spots where racism and digital technology appear to be combining forces to produce a new kind of sentient evil.

Susan Steinberg reading from her new novel, Machine, published by Graywolf. Machine is a dazzling and innovative leap forward for a writer whose most recent book, Spectacle, gained her a rapturous following. Machine revolves around a group of teenagers—both locals and wealthy out-of-towners—during a single summer at the shore. Susan Steinberg is the author of Spectacle, Hydroplane, and The End of Free Love. She is the recipient of a United States Artists Fellowship, a National Magazine Award, and a Pushcart Prize. She teaches at the University of San Francisco.

Daniel Handler in conversation with John McMurtrie celebrating Daniel Handler's new novel, "Bottle Grove," published by Bloomsbury Books. A razor-sharp tale of two couples, two marriages, a bar, and a San Francisco start-up from the best-selling, award-winning novelist.