March 24, 2009 - David Plotz, editor of the online magazine Slate, read every word of the Old Testament. He chronicles the experience in "Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible." Plotz is an award-winning journalist and the head editor of Slate, the world's largest online magazine. He's been writing for Slate since the popular site launched in 1996. He's also a contributor to the New York Times Magazine, Harper's, Rolling Stone, and The Washington Post. He spoke recently at the Minneapolis Central Library as part of the library's "Talk of the Stacks" series.
April 15, 2009 - As the Guthrie Theater kicks off its Kushner celebration this weekend, Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner speaks about his work. Kushner won a Pulitzer for his play "Angels in America," which dealt with AIDS and gay life in the 1980s. He's also won two Tony awards, an Emmy, and just about every other award a playwright can win. He wrote the book for the musical "Caroline, or Change" and the screenplay for Steven Spielberg's "Munich." The Guthrie's Kushner festival will run through June, and will feature several Kushner plays, including the premier of a work commissioned by the Guthrie, "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures." Kusher spoke earlier this year at the Hopkins Center for the Arts as part of the Pen Pals lecture series sponsored by the Library Foundation of Hennepin County.
April 18, 2009 - Friends of Bill Holm with Robert Bly, hosted by Fred Child of Performance Today, will feature an impressive list of writers and musicians who were friends with, inspired by, and connected to Bill Holm, including Emilie Buchwald, Phebe Hanson, Jim Lenfestey, John Calvin Rezmerski, and Barton Sutter with his musical brother Ross Sutter.
April 19, 2009 - Friends of Bill Holm with Robert Bly, hosted by Fred Child of Performance Today, will feature an impressive list of writers and musicians who were friends with, inspired by, and connected to Bill Holm, including Emilie Buchwald, Phebe Hanson, Jim Lenfestey, John Calvin Rezmerski, and Barton Sutter with his musical brother Ross Sutter.
May 8, 2009 - Is interfaith understanding possible? Eboo Patel speaks at the Westminster Town Hall Forum about his book, "Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation." Guest: Eboo Patel: Founder and director of the Chicago-based community service organization, Interfaith Youth Core.
May 12, 2009 - Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest, teacher, and author. She is widely recognized as one of America's most eloquent preachers. Ordained an Episcopal priest in 1984, she holds the Harry R. Butman Chair in Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont College in Georgia and is adjunct professor of Christian spirituality at Columbia Theological Seminary. She is the author of twelve books on faith and spirituality, including "Leaving Church" and "An Altar in the World." She lectures on preaching at Yale, Princeton, and Duke Universities and is a regular columnist for The Christian Century. She spoke before an audience at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Her speech was titled, "Downtime: The Sacred Art of Stopping."
June 2, 2009 - Best-selling author Michael Pollan, speaking at the Barnes & Noble at the Galleria in Edina about his book, "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto."
June 24, 2009 - Thomas Friedman speaks about crowded planet.Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and Minnesota native, Thomas Friedman spoke at St. Paul RiverCentre about the big issues facing an interconnected global population, and the ways America can lead a green revolution in the 21st century.
August 21, 2009 - MPR’s Jess Mador reports on how the health care debate continues to be contentious, with town hall meetings across the country devolving into shouting matches. Things were just as noisy but slightly more polite in Mankato, where hundreds of people packed a high school auditorium to participate in a town hall forum on health care sponsored by Congressman Tim Walz.
October 13, 2009 - Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Nicholas Kristof addresses the Westminster Town Hall Forum about his new book, "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide."