Author talks highlight local writers’ works on a range of subjects, from Walt Whitman in Washington to FDR in 1944, and always generate a lively discussion.
In person author talks will resume in early 2023. Please check back soon for the upcoming schedule.
Upcoming Author Talks:
We are proud to announce that Author-Historian Elizabeth Griffith will be giving our first Author Talk of
2023 on Tuesday evening, May 16, 2023, 7:00-8:30pm to discuss Formidable: American Women and
the Fight for Equality.
Previous Author Talks:
2020:
March 4, 2020 – Bruce Beehler – “Birds of Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.” Video here.
Nov. 6, 2019 – John DeFerrari – “Capital Streetcars: Early Mass Transit in Washington, D.C.” Video here.
Oct. 3, 2019 – Russell Canan, Gregory Mize and Frederick Weisberg, “Tough Cases: Judges Tell the Stories of Some of the Hardest Decisions They’ve Ever Made”. Video here.
September 4, 2019 – Patricia Miller, “Bringing Down the Colonel: A Sex Scandal of the Gilded Age, and the “Powerless” Woman Who Took On Washington” . Video here.
May 8, 2019 – Steve Luxenberg, “Separate: The Story of Plessey v. Ferguson, and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation.” Video here.
April 3, 2019 – Stuart Eizenstat, “President Carter: The White House Years“. Video here
March 6, 2019 – Kara Arundel, “Raising America’s Zoo” Video here.
2018:
Dec. 5, 2018 – Dan Pink , “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing” Video here.
Nov. 7, 2018 – Ann Hornaday, “Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies” Video here.
Oct. 3, 2018 – Daniel Stone, “The Food Explorer: The True Adventures of the Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats” Video here.
Sept. 5, 2018 – Liza Mundy, “Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II” Video here.
April 4, 2018 – Lynne Olson, “Last Hope Island: Occupied Europe and the Brotherhood that Helped Turn the Tide of War” Video here.
March 7, 2018 – Rebecca Boggs Roberts, Suffragists in DC: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote Video here.
2017:
Nov. 8, 2017 – Dr. Neal Barnard, “The Cheese Trap: How Breaking a Surprising Addiction will help you Lose Weight, Gain Energy and Get Healthy” Video here.
*Mark Stein, “Vice Capades: Sex, Drugs & Bowling from the Pilgrims to the Present” Video here.
* John P. Richardson, “Alexander Robey Shepherd: The Man Who Built the Nation’s Capital”
Tyler Anbinder, “City of Dreams: The Year Epic History of Immigrant New York”
* Phil Auerswald, “The Code Economy“
2016:
* Sarah Kaufman, “The Art of Grace: On Moving Well Through Life”
* Kirstin Downey, “Isabella the Warrior Queen”
* Kate Andersen Brower, “First Women”
* David Vine, “Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World”
* Annie Mahon, “Things I Did When I Was Hangry: Navigating a Peaceful Relationship with Food”
* Joe Riener, “Puzzle Me the Right Answer to That One” and “Teach Me How to Work and Keep Me Kind”
* Cassandra Good, “Founding Friendships: Friendships between Men and Women in the Early American Republic”
* Michael Dirda, “Browsings: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living with Books”
2015:
* Scott Einberger, “A History of Rock Creek Park: Wilderness and Washington, DC”
* Jay Winik, “1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History”
* Martha Ertman, “Love’s Promises: How Formal and Informal Contracts Shape All Kinds of Families”
* David Grimm, “Citizen Canine: Our Evolving Relationship with Cats and Dogs”
* Colman McCarthy, “Teaching Peace”
* Garrett Peck, “Walt Whitman in Washington, D.C.: The Civil War and America’s Greatest Poet”
2014:
* Daniel Pink, “To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others“
* Maureen Beasley, “Women of the Washington Press: Politics, Prejudice, and Persistence”
* Stan Hinden, “How to Retire Happy: The 12 Most Important Decisions You Must Make Before You Retire”
* John Muller, “Mark Twain in Washington, D.C.: The Adventures of a Capital Correspondent”
2013:
* Steve Vogel, “Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks That Saved The Nation”
* Jerry Parr, “In the Secret Service: The True Story of the Man Who Saved President Reagan’s Life”