Aloud @ Los Angeles Public Library

SurveyLA marks a coming-of-age for LA's historic preservation movement. Join amateur historians and LA aficionados for the public kick off of SurveyLA, share your knowledge of LA's hidden gems, view a screening of the SurveyLA video, and attend a lively panel discussion with city officials, preservationists, community organizers and developers regarding this historic survey.

In this groundbreaking work, Hajratwala mixes history, memoir, and reportage to explore the questions facing not only her own Indian family but that of every immigrant: Where did we come from? Why did we leave? What did we give up and gain in the process?

Nilekani, Co-Chairman of Infosys, was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine in 2006 and Forbes Businessman of the Year in 2007. In his new book Imagining India, he discusses the future of the subcontinent and its role as a global citizen and emerging economic giant.

Relying on recently declassified documents, Richelson--Senior Fellow with the National Security Archive--reveals how NEST operated during the Cold War, how the agency has evolved, and its current efforts to reduce the chance of a nuclear device decimating an American city.

Three emerging women writers discuss using nontraditional forms for an unconventional city, writing a polyvocal landscape for a polyvocal world, publishing with an independent press, and why women write LA better than anybody.

A renowned scholar and translator offers a unique adaptation of the greatest passages from two ancient successors to Lao-tzu, illuminated by his own poetic commentary.

A bestselling nonfiction author and renowned physician makes the leap to fiction with this epic tale that spans three continents and five decades, from a convent in India to a cargo ship bound for Yemen; from an operating room in Ethiopia to a hospital in the Bronx.

Is Pershing Square a study in failed urban design? What would it take to bring it back? Could we take lessons from New York City's beloved Bryant Park? Join us for a discussion on the future of what was once one of the most vibrant and elegant public spaces in downtown Los Angeles.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning author reveals the inspiring and largely untold stories of the country's foremost environmental conservationists, activists, and visionaries.

Deftly weaving memoir and wide-ranging scientific investigation, a life-long insomniac guides us through the hidden terrain of a devastating and little understood condition.

Resnick, who is one of Working Woman's Top 50 U.S. Women Business Owners began her career at the age of 19, when she founded a full-service advertising agency. She is behind the marketing success of brands such as POM Wonderful, Fiji Water and Teleflora. She and her husband Stewart also own Paramount Farms and Paramount Citrus Companies, making them the largest farmers of tree crops in the U.S.

American novelists are preoccupied with the tale of our (mostly dysfunctional) families. Unfortunately, contrary to Tolstoy's famous assertion, a lot of these unhappy families are starting to seem exactly alike. Two acclaimed novelists discuss ways to tell a true, new, enduring story of our most prized institution.

New Yorker veteran Weschler discusses what it has been like, the past several decades, to be serving as Boswell simultaneously to two seemingly diametrically opposite giants of the contemporary art scene, Robert Irwin and David Hockney.

Global investment guru El-Erian is published widely on international economics and financial topics, has served as Managing Director of Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup in London and has enjoyed a 15-year career at the International Monetary Fund. He previously served as President and CEO of Harvard Management Company and as a member of the faculty of Harvard Business School.

A longtime Middle East correspondent for Time Magazine-now living in Tehran-- offers a stunning and unforgettable window into the maelstrom of Iranian life and gives voice to the Iranian psyche.

Fischer, a poet and well-known Zen teacher, deftly incorporates Buddhist, Judaic, and Christian thought-as well as his own unique understanding of life-into this reinterpretation of Homer's ancient story.

The author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist and creator of the Frontal Cortex blog draws on cutting-edge research and the real-world experience of a wide range of \"deciders\" to arm us with the tools we need to think harder (and smarter) about how we think.

Why have we evolved positive emotions like gratitude, amusement, awe and compassion? Keltner, professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, offers a profound study of how emotion is the key to living the good life.

The bestselling author and director of the world-famous Hayden Planetarium chronicles America's irrational love affair with Pluto, man's best celestial friend

A renowned sociologist challenges the still-prevailing and anachronistic images of aging, tracing the ways in which wisdom, experience, and new learning inspire individual growth and cultural transformation.