City Arts & Lectures

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Progressive Prosecuting: Chesa Boudin and Kim Foxx Apr 03, 2022

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San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin was elected to office in 2020 after a campaign focused on improving public safety and reforming the criminal justice system. Kimberly M. Foxx is the first African American woman to lead the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office –the second largest prosecutor’s office in the country– with a vision for transforming the office into a fairer, more forward-thinking agency focused on rebuilding the public trust, promoting transparency, and being proactive in making all communities safe. On March 22, 2022, the two spoke with Lara Bazelon about what it looks like to be a progressive prosecutor. They addressed data about crime rates, the misleading notion that progressives aren’t interested in convicting criminals, tensions between prosecutors and the police force, and formative childhood experiences that led each of them to work in criminal justice reform.

From the Archives: Madeleine Albright Mar 27, 2022

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We’re celebrating the life of the late Madeleine Albright this week with an encore of her 2008 City Arts & Lectures appearance.. Madeleine Albright was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1937. She and her family were refugees who fled Nazi invaders, eventually emigrating to the US in 1948. Albright went on to earn 8 academic degrees, including both a master’s and doctorate from Columbia University. Her tenacity and flair for foreign policy led Bill Clinton to appoint her as the first female Secretary of State. During her tenure, Albright concentrated on a bipartisan approach to foreign policy, which made her remarkably popular both at home and abroad. Albright died on March 23, 2022, at the age of 84.

On October 13, 2008, Madeleine Albright came to the Herbst Theater in San Francisco to be interviewed on stage by Roy Eisenhardt. She had just published “Memo to the President-Elect”.

Jacob Ward Mar 20, 2022

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Journalist Jacob Ward of NBC News talks about our growing reliance on artificial intelligence. His new book is “The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices, and How to Fight Back”. He draws on interviews with over 100 scientists, as well as his own reporting on behavior shaping technology. It’s both an investigation into the negative effects of artificial intelligence and a plan for combating them. On March 15, 2022, Jacob Ward talked with Lauren Schiller, host of the radio show and podcast “Inflection Point”.

Jack Kornfield and Anne Lamott Mar 13, 2022

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Jack Kornfield trained as a Buddhist monk in the monasteries of Thailand, India and Burma. He has taught meditation internationally since 1974 and was one of the key teachers to introduce Buddhist mindfulness practice to the West. He is co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and a founding teacher of the Spirit Rock Center in Woodacre, California. Over the past 40 years, Kornfield has taught around the world, led International Buddhist Teacher meetings with the Dalai Lama, and worked with many of the great teachers of our time. His many books include The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology, A Path with Heart, and After the Ecstasy, the Laundry.

Loved for her ability to write eloquently, gracefully, and often hilariously about complicated subjects, Anne Lamott has written on subjects ranging from alcoholism and single parenting to religion and writer’s block. She is the author of seven novels including Hard Laughter, Rosie, and Crooked Little Heart, as well as four bestselling books of nonfiction: Operating Instructions, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life,Traveling Mercies, and Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith. Her latest book, Dusk, Night, Dawn: On Revival and Courage serves as an inspiring guide to restoring hope and joy in our lives.

On February 15, 2022, the two friends talked about navigating uncertain times – what Lamott calls the “COVID College” - and finding compassion for others, even those who hurt us.

Jeremy Denk Mar 06, 2022

Show notes

Our guest is Jeremy Denk, one of America’s foremost pianists. Winner of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the Avery Fisher Prize, Denk is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He returns frequently to Carnegie Hall and has recently appeared with ensembles including the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. In addition to phenomenal technique, Denk brings a deep knowledge of music history and composition to his performances – and to his writings on music, including his memoir, “Every Good Boy Does Fine”. On February 15, 2022, Jeremy Denk talked with Steven Winn about his love of classical music – and performed parts of Bach’s Fugue in B minor from “The Well-Tempered Clavier” – in a conversation recorded in the San Francisco home of music legend Linda Ronstadt.

Dr. Paul Farmer Feb 27, 2022

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This week, we’re celebrating the life of Dr. Paul Farmer, a physician and anthropologist who dedicated his life to caring for the world’s poorest people. Farmer believed that addressing the social roots of illness was as important as treating its symptoms; so, in addition to direct care, he undertook advocacy work that significantly influenced public health approaches to diseases like tuberculosis, HIV, and Ebola. On May 23, 2013, Farmer spoke to Adam Hochschild about his nonprofit, Partners in Health; the aftermath of the 2010 Haitian earthquake; and how his Catholic upbringing informed his work. Paul Farmer died on February 21, 2022, at the age of 62, while working in Rwanda.

Stephen Breyer Feb 20, 2022

Show notes

In January of 2022, after more than three decades on the Supreme Court, Justice Stephen G. Breyer announced that he’ll retire at the end of the current term, once his successor has been confirmed.

Born in San Francisco, Breyer received a BA in philosophy from Stanford, attended Oxford as a Marshall Scholar, and earned his law degree from Harvard University. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1994 by President Clinton. Breyer is known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law, urging judges to consider both the purpose of statutory and constitutional text, as well as the potential consequences of specific rulings when deciding cases. His optimistic viewpoint, well-articulated in his books, describes judges as essential in building “productive working relationships with other institutions,” especially Congress and the Executive branches. His latest book, The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics (2021), is a reflection on the authority of the Supreme Court—both how that authority was gained, and how measures to restructure it could undermine the Court itself as well as the constitutional system of checks and balances that depends on it.

Stephen Breyer has been a guest on City Arts & Lectures several times. In this conversation, recorded on September 25, 2015, he talked with Marcia Coyle about his recently published book “The Court and the World”. Coyle is a lawyer, journalist, and the Chief Washington Correspondent for The National Law Journal, covering the U.S. Supreme Court and national legal issues.

Wajahat Ali Feb 13, 2022

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Wajahat Ali is a playwright and lawyer who writes and speaks on race, religion, politics, and social justice with insight and humor. He is the author of The Domestic Crusaders, the first major play about Muslim Americans post-9/11. In his new memoir, Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American, Ali shares stories, both hilarious and poignant, of his experience growing up a Muslim Pakistani-American in an effort to inspire a new vision of America’s multicultural identity. Ali served as a national correspondent for Al Jazeera America, where he told stories of communities and individuals often marginalized or under-reported in mainstream media. His writing also appears regularly in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. On February 1, 2022, Wajahat Ali talked to Dave Eggers, the author of many books, including Zeitoun, What Is the What, You Shall Know Our Velocity, and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

Tongo Eisen-Martin Feb 06, 2022

Show notes

Tongo Eisen-Martin is the current poet laureate of San Francisco. He is the author of Heaven Is All Goodbyes, published as part of City Lights’ Pocket Poet series, and someone’s dead already. Eisen-Martin is also an educator and organizer whose work centers on issues of mass incarceration, extrajudicial killings of Black people, and human rights. He has taught at detention centers around the country and at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University, and is the founder of Black Freighter Press. His most recent collection, Blood on the Fog, further explores themes of love and loss, family and faith, refracted through the lens of the Black experience. On December 15, 2021, he came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with journalist and music critic Jeff Chang.

Billy Collins Jan 30, 2022

Show notes

Billy Collins is one of the most popular contemporary poets. His 12 collections include “The Trouble With Poetry” and “The Rain in Portugal”. He’s known for conversational poems that welcome readers with humor, but often slip in profound observations on the everyday, reading and writing, and poetry itself. Collins served two terms as the US Poet Laureate, from 2001 to 2003, and was New York State Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006. On October 23, 2021, Billy Collins spoke with Steven Winn about his newest collection, “Whale Day”.

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