City Arts & Lectures

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Emily St. John Mandel Sep 27, 2026

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Our guest this week is Emily St. John Mandel, a writer whose work experiments with literary noir, speculative fiction, and horror. Her bestselling books include The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility, and herpost-apocalyptic novel Station Eleven was adapted into a limited series for HBO. This year, Mandel returns with her new novel Exit Party, diving into a future United States locked in a new civil war. It is within this painful landscape that Mandel explores freedom, surveillance, and the possibility of a better world.

On September 18, 2026, Emily St. John Mandel came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with Daniel Handler, the author of numerous books for all ages – sometimes under the pen name Lemony Snicket.

Bryan Stevenson Sep 20, 2026

Show notes

Civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson has dedicated his career to helping the poor, defending the incarcerated, and fighting for equality and justice. He is the founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative. The nonprofit has won major legal challenges eliminating excessive and unfair sentencing, exonerating innocent death row prisoners, confronting abuse of incarcerated people, and ending mandatory life-without-parole sentences for children. His book Just Mercy is a New York Times bestseller, and was made into a film starring Michael B. Jordan. On September 10, 2026, Bryan Stevenson came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with Lisa Armstrong, a journalist and professor at the UC Berkeley School of Journalism.

Wendell Berry - In Memoriam Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

This week, we remember the life of writer, poet, farmer, and environmentalist Wendell Berry, by listening back to a 2010 conversation with fellow writer and activist Michael Pollan.

Berry was of America’s most influential voices on agriculture and the environment, and he wrote with a calm and compelling vision about our relationship with the land, our work, and our communities. Among his best-known books: The Unsettling of America, What Are People For?, and The Peace of Wild Things.

After studying at the University of Kentucky and Stanford, and teaching at New York University, Berry returned to his native Henry County, Kentucky in the 1960s. There, he and his wife, Tanya, began farming. Berry spent the rest of his life in Kentucky, farming and writing poems, novels, and essays about tending the land, about community, and the costs of an increasingly industrialized society.

Berry was also an activist, protesting the Vietnam War, mountaintop-removal coal mining, and nuclear power, and he inspired generations of environmentalists, farmers, food activists, and writers.

Berry died on August 31, 2026, at his home in Port Royal, Kentucky. He was 92.

Gloria Steinem - In Memoriam Sep 06, 2026

Show notes

This week, we remember the life of Gloria Steinem – legendary feminist, activist, and journalist, with a rebroadcast of a conversation recorded in San Francisco on November 9, 2015.

For more than half a century, Gloria Steinem was one of the most influential voices for women’s rights, equality, and social justice.

Steinem began her journalism career in New York, gaining national attention with an undercover investigation of the working conditions at the Playboy Club. In 1971, she co-founded Ms. Magazine, a groundbreaking publication that centered women’s lives in the larger political and cultural conversation.

Steinem was a mentor to generations of women - whether through her writing, her activism, or simply her example, Steinem offered women an invitation to speak out, organize, and imagine a different future. City Arts & Lectures’ founder, Sydney Goldstein, was one of those women, and Gloria was a guest onstage many times - and lent her advice and support offstage.

Gloria Steinem died on September 3, 2026, in New York. She was 92.

In this 2015 appearance, Steinem talked with filmmaker, activist and artist Chinaka Hodge, after the publication of her memoir, My Life On The Road.

Encore - Robert Reich Aug 30, 2026

Show notes

Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, is one of today’s leading voices addressing issues of income inequality. Reich served in three presidential administrations, and recently retired from teaching at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Policy after nearly 20 years. His classes were among the most popular on campus, and the end of his teaching career inspired the documentary “The Last Class”. Reich publishes extensively on social media and is the author of more than 20 books including his 2025 memoir, “Coming Up Short”.

On July 23, 2025, Reich spoke with Monika Bauerlein, the CEO of the Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit multimedia news organization that houses Mother Jones magazine and the radio show and podcast Reveal.

Edwidge Danticat Aug 23, 2026

Show notes

Essayist and novelist Edwidge Danticat moved from Port-au-Prince to the United States at the age of twelve and began writing about Haitian culture and the immigrant experience when she was just 13. Danticat has gone on to write numerous critically acclaimed books, and currently teaches at Columbia University. On August 3, 2026, Danticat talked about her most recent novel, Dey, with Lisa Armstrong, Associate Dean at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

Laverne Cox Aug 23, 2026

Show notes

Emmy-nominated actress and activist Laverne Cox rose to fame through her role on Orange is the New Black, quickly becoming an important voice for transgender rights. In her debut memoir Transcendent, Cox delves into her traumas, gender identity, transition, and, in the end, her journey to healing.

Laverne Cox spent years tirelessly working to make it as an actress before her breakout, Emmy-nominated role in Orange Is the New Black. She studied dance, acted in off-Broadway shows, and worked in restaurants, all while honing her craft. Now, she has appeared in award-winning movies and shows, produced the award-winning documentary The T Word, and become a leading voice advocating for queer and transgender people. In her debut memoir Transcendent, Cox delves into her traumas, gender identity, transition, and, in the end, her journey to healing.

On June 11, 2026, Laverne Cox came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco for an on-stage conversation with filmmaker, writer, and actress Cheryl Dunye.

Encore - Arundhati Roy Aug 16, 2026

Show notes

This is an encore presentation of a program originally broadcast in October of 2025. Arundhati Roy’s internationally best-selling novels include The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Her nonfiction works engage elegantly and passionately with class and power, among other issues. Roy’s new memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, examines her childhood in Kerala, India, and a mother whose commitment to justice and education made her a powerful force in the community – but whose volatility made for a challenging family life that included emotional abuse. On September 19, 2025, Arundhati Roy came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to read from her memoir and hold an on-stage conversation with journalist Deepa Fernandes.

Encore - Vivek Murthy Aug 09, 2026

Show notes

Dr. Vivek Murthy served as the Surgeon General of the United States under both Presidents Obama and Biden. In that capacity, Murthy shaped the federal response to the opioid epidemic, the rise of e-cigarettes, the Flint, Michigan water crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Murthy has pushed to reduce access to social media for young children, pointing out the harmful effects of bullying, a lack of in-person interactions, and harassment. Recently, Murthy has written about and spoken on the negative health effects of loneliness, calling it an “epidemic” that increases the risk of early death and other social problems. On April 16, 2024, Vivek Murthy came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk about how to combat loneliness with public radio journalist David Greene.

Yotam Ottolenghi Aug 02, 2026

Show notes

Yotam Ottolenghi is a celebrated chef and bestselling cookbook author whose newest book, Simple Too, comes out in October 2026. He is the restaurateur and chef-patron of six London-based Ottolenghi delis, as well as the NOPI and ROVI restaurants. Ottolenghi has been a weekly columnist for The Guardian (UK) for over sixteen years and is a regular contributor to The New York Times. His commitment to the championing of vegetables, as well as ingredients once seen as “exotic”, has led to what some call “The Ottolenghi Effect.” On February 23, 2026. Yotam Ottolenghi came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater to childhood stories, recipes, and insights into his groundbreaking approach to cuisine – as well as audience confessions about their culinary disasters.

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