City Arts & Lectures

Latest Episodes:

Susan Orlean Nov 09, 2025

Show notes

This week, our guest is Susan Orlean, the author of The Orchid Thief, The Library Book, and On Animals. Whether exploring the eccentric world of orchid collectors, untangling the mystery of a devastating fire at the Los Angeles Public Library, or examining animal-human relationships, she brings humor, curiosity, and humanity to all the stories she writes.

Her new book, Joyride, is a collection of essays that highlights her fascination with the remarkable details of everyday life.

On October 6, 2025, Susan Orlean joined us at the KQED studios to speak with Steven Winn about storytelling, obsession, and what continues to inspire her writing after more than three decades chronicling the world’s oddities for The New Yorker.

Andrew Ross Sorkin Nov 02, 2025

Show notes

This week, our guest is Andrew Ross Sorkin, a financial news reporter at The New York Times, and co-anchor of Squawk Box on CNBC. His new book is 1929: The Inside Story of the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History. It’s an in depth look at America’s most famous financial event, and Sorkin believes there are major parallels to today’s market.

On October 18, 2025 Sorkin came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with Patrick Collison, founder of the payments processing platform Stripe.

Jelani Cobb with john a. powell Oct 26, 2025

Show notes

This week, our guest is Jelani Cobb, Dean of Columbia Journalism School and one of today’s most important public intellectuals. As a staff writer for The New Yorker, Cobb brings his deep knowledge of American history to contemporary subjects, particularly government and politics. His new book, “Three or More is a Riot”, combines narrative journalism, criticism and profiles that examine race and culture. On October 16, 2025, Jelani Cobb came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk to john a. powell, founder and director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley.

Daniel Handler & Andrew Sean Greer Oct 19, 2025

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Daniel Handler’s sardonic sense of humor and deep pathos have engaged readers across genres for over twenty-five years. Handler’s best known for his series of children’s books A Series of Unfortunate Events under the pen name Lemony Snicket). His books published under his own name include Why We Broke Up, We Are Pirates), and the memoir, And Then? And Then? What Else? which has just been published in paperback.

Andrew Sean Greer’s six works of fiction include the bestsellers The Story of a Marriage, The Confessions of Max Tivoli, Less (which earned him the Pulitzer Prize), and Less is Lost.

On October 8, 2025, Daniel Handler and Andrew Sean Greer took to the stage of the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco, for a program they call “Paragraphs on Ice!” in which they dissect paragraphs written by other notable authors. It was a lesson in the art of writing – and the art of close reading.

Jeff Chang with Shereen Marisol Meraji Oct 12, 2025

Show notes

Author and cultural critic Jeff Chang's new book is “Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America”. The world’s most celebrated martial artist and one of the best-known action stars ever, Bruce Lee is a global icon. Born in San Francisco in 1940, Lee spent his childhood in war-ravaged Hong Kong, where he began his acting career in its emerging film industry. When he returned to the US at the age of 18, Lee studied philosophy and drama, and taught martial arts to major Hollywood actors before becoming a star himself. On September 25, 2025, Jeff Chang talked to journalist, podcaster, and educator Shereen Marisol Meraji about his biography of Bruce Lee and his role in Asian American culture.

Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper: Russ & Daughters Oct 12, 2025

Show notes

This week, the story behind one of the country’s premier dining destinations, Russ & Daughters. What began as a pushcart in 1904 on Manhattan’s Lower East Side is now an internationally-renowned retail operation, with three shops, a restaurant, and a mail-order business that delivers traditional Jewish foods nationwide. Russ & Daughters’ specialty is “appetizing” – smoked and cured salmon, pickled herring, bagels, cream cheese, and more. Running the business today are Josh Russ Tupper and Niki Russ Federman, fourth-generation torchbearers of their family’s legacy. On September 5, 2025, they visited the KQED studios in San Francisco to talk to writer Rebecca Handler, about growing up in the family business and what it takes to keep it alive, and their new cookbook “Russ & Daughters, 100 Years of Appetizing”.

Arundhati Roy & Deepa Fernandes Oct 05, 2025

Show notes

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.

Bill McKibben & Lauren Markham Sep 28, 2025

Show notes

Our guest today is Bill McKibben, an activist and author at the forefront of the movement to address the climate crisis, even as far back as 1989, in his book “The End of Nature.” A legendary leader in the environmental movement, he’s the founder of 350.org, the first global climate change campaign, and Third Act, a group that mobilizes people over the age of 60 for action on climate and justice.

On September 15, 2025, McKibben came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk to journalist and author Lauren Markham, about his new book, Here Comes the Sun. In it, McKibben offers solar solutions to some of the biggest impacts of climate change.

Samin Nosrat & Hrishikesh Hirway Sep 21, 2025

Show notes

Our guest today is Samin Nosrat, chef, cookbook author, and television host. Along with her immense technical know-how, Nosrat is known for her nurturing and humorous approach to making food. Her first book, Salt Fat Acid Heat, is a guide to the basic principles of cooking, later adapted into a Netflix series. Her new book is Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love.

On September 13, 2025, Nosrat came to the Sydney
Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk to Hrishikesh Hirway, creator of the Song Exploder podcast, and the co-host of Home Cooking, a podcast he and Nosrat began during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and continue today.

Mary Roach Sep 14, 2025

Show notes

Our guest today is Mary Roach, a science writer who’s often drawn to taboo, or simply squeamish subjects, like sex, cadavers, or the digestive process. In books like Stiff, Bonk, Gulp, and Packing For Mars, Roach teaches her readers about the human body as well as basic – and not so basic – scientific concepts. It’s science through storytelling – and humor. On July 28, 2025. Roach came to KQED’s studios in San Francisco to talk about her new book, Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy, with journalist Alexis Madrigal, the co-host of KQED’s Forum.

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