ADAM SCHIFF presents MIDNIGHT IN WASHINGTON:
HOW WE ALMOST LOST OUR DEMOCRACY AND STILL COULD
Tuesday, August 16, 2022, 7:30pm PDT
Internet Archive, 300 Funston Ave., San Francisco
Tickets available now!
In the years leading up to the election of Donald Trump, Congressman Adam Schiff had already been sounding the alarm over the resurgence of autocracy around the world, and the threat this posed to the United States. But as he led the probe into Donald Trump’s Russia and Ukraine-related abuses of presidential power, Schiff came to the terrible conclusion that the principal threat to American democracy now came from within.
In Midnight in Washington, Schiff argues that the Trump presidency has so weakened our institutions and compromised the Republican Party that the peril will last for years, requiring unprecedented vigilance against the growing and dangerous appeal of authoritarianism. The congressman chronicles step-by-step just how our democracy was put at such risk, and traces his own path to meeting the crisis—from serious prosecutor, to congressman with an expertise in national security and a reputation for bipartisanship, to liberal lightning rod, scourge of the right, and archenemy of a president. Schiff takes us inside his team of impeachment managers and their desperate defense of the Constitution amid the rise of a distinctly American brand of autocracy.
Deepening our understanding of prominent public moments, Schiff reveals the private struggles, the internal conflicts, and the triumphs of courage that came with defending the republic against a lawless president—but also the slow surrender of people that he had worked with and admired to the dangerous immorality of a president engaged in an historic betrayal of his office. Schiff’s fight for democracy is one of the great dramas of our time, told by the man who became the president’s principal antagonist. It is a story that began with Trump but does not end with him, taking us through the disastrous culmination of the presidency and Schiff’s account of January 6, 2021, and how the antidemocratic forces Trump unleashed continue to define his party, making the future of democracy in America more uncertain than ever.
Please note:
HOW WE ALMOST LOST OUR DEMOCRACY AND STILL COULD
Tuesday, August 16, 2022, 7:30pm PDT
Internet Archive, 300 Funston Ave., San Francisco
Tickets available now!
In the years leading up to the election of Donald Trump, Congressman Adam Schiff had already been sounding the alarm over the resurgence of autocracy around the world, and the threat this posed to the United States. But as he led the probe into Donald Trump’s Russia and Ukraine-related abuses of presidential power, Schiff came to the terrible conclusion that the principal threat to American democracy now came from within.
In Midnight in Washington, Schiff argues that the Trump presidency has so weakened our institutions and compromised the Republican Party that the peril will last for years, requiring unprecedented vigilance against the growing and dangerous appeal of authoritarianism. The congressman chronicles step-by-step just how our democracy was put at such risk, and traces his own path to meeting the crisis—from serious prosecutor, to congressman with an expertise in national security and a reputation for bipartisanship, to liberal lightning rod, scourge of the right, and archenemy of a president. Schiff takes us inside his team of impeachment managers and their desperate defense of the Constitution amid the rise of a distinctly American brand of autocracy.
Deepening our understanding of prominent public moments, Schiff reveals the private struggles, the internal conflicts, and the triumphs of courage that came with defending the republic against a lawless president—but also the slow surrender of people that he had worked with and admired to the dangerous immorality of a president engaged in an historic betrayal of his office. Schiff’s fight for democracy is one of the great dramas of our time, told by the man who became the president’s principal antagonist. It is a story that began with Trump but does not end with him, taking us through the disastrous culmination of the presidency and Schiff’s account of January 6, 2021, and how the antidemocratic forces Trump unleashed continue to define his party, making the future of democracy in America more uncertain than ever.
Please note:
- This is a ticketed, in-person event.
- This is an offsite event, to be held at Internet Archive, 300 Funston Ave. in San Francisco, CA.
- Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including booster, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event and capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing.
- Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. The best way to ensure you’ll get a seat is to order a ticket now.
- We are happy to offer *signed copies* of Midnight in Washington: order a ticket if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy and no admission.
- If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
- Questions? Write events@booksmith.com.
Adam Schiff is the United States Representative for California's 28th Congressional District. In his role as Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Schiff led the first impeachment of Donald J. Trump. Before he served in Congress, he worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles and as a California State Senator. He and his wife, Eve, have two children, Alexa and Elijah. Photo by Roger Lis.
RANDALL MUNROE presents WHAT IF? 2: ADDITIONAL SERIOUS
SCIENTIFIC ANSWERS TO ABSURD HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS
Tuesday, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022, 7:00pm PDT
Internet Archive, 300 Funston Ave., San Francisco
Tickets available now!
The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the Moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist.
Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Munroe consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airliner catapult–design to answer his readers’ questions, clearly and concisely, with illuminating and occasionally terrifying illustrations. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances.
Please note:
SCIENTIFIC ANSWERS TO ABSURD HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS
Tuesday, SEPTEMBER 21, 2022, 7:00pm PDT
Internet Archive, 300 Funston Ave., San Francisco
Tickets available now!
The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the Moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist.
Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Munroe consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airliner catapult–design to answer his readers’ questions, clearly and concisely, with illuminating and occasionally terrifying illustrations. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances.
Please note:
- This is a ticketed, in-person event. Each ticket includes a hardcover copy of What If? 2.
- This is an offsite event, to be held at Internet Archive, 300 Funston Ave. in San Francisco, CA.
- Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including booster, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event and capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing.
- Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. The best way to ensure you’ll get a seat is to order a ticket now.
- We are happy to offer *signed copies* of What If? 2: order a ticket if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy and no admission.
- If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
- Questions? Write events@booksmith.com
Randall Munroe is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers What If? and Thing Explainer, the science question-and-answer blog What If, and the popular webcomic xkcd. A former NASA roboticist, he left the agency in 2006 to draw comics on the internet full-time. He lives in Massachusetts.
CELESTE NG presents OUR MISSING HEARTS
In-conversation with R.O. KWON
Wednesday, October 19, 2022, 7pm PDT
First Presbyterian Church, 2407 Dana Street, Berkeley
Tickets available now!
Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic—including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old.
Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn’t know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn’t wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.
Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s a story about the power—and limitations—of art to create change, the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and how any of us can survive a broken world with our hearts intact.
Please note:
In-conversation with R.O. KWON
Wednesday, October 19, 2022, 7pm PDT
First Presbyterian Church, 2407 Dana Street, Berkeley
Tickets available now!
Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic—including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old.
Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn’t know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn’t wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.
Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s a story about the power—and limitations—of art to create change, the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and how any of us can survive a broken world with our hearts intact.
Please note:
- This is a ticketed, in-person event. Each ticket includes a hardcover copy of Our Missing Hearts.
- This is an offsite event, to be held at First Presbyterian Church, 2407 Dana St. in Berkeley, CA.
- Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including booster, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event and capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing.
- Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. The best way to ensure you’ll get a seat is to order a ticket now.
- We are happy to offer *signed copies* of Our Missing Hearts: order a ticket if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy and no admission.
- If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
- Questions? Write events@booksmith.com.
Celeste Ng is the number one New York Times bestselling author of Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere. Her third novel, Our Missing Hearts, will be published in October 2022. Ng is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, and her work has been published in over thirty languages. Author photo by Kieran Kesner
R.O. Kwon’s nationally bestselling first novel, The Incendiaries, is being translated into seven languages and was named a best book of the year by over forty publications. The Incendiaries was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award and Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Prize, and was a finalist or nominated for five other prizes. Kwon and Garth Greenwell coedited the bestselling Kink, which is a New York Times Notable Book and the recipient of the inaugural Joy Award. Kwon’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Guardian, The Paris Review, and elsewhere. She has received fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Yaddo, and MacDowell. Born in Seoul, Kwon has lived most of her life in the United States. Author photo by Smeeta Mahanti.
GEORGE SAUNDERS presents LIBERATION DAY
In-conversation with SAMIN NOSRAT
Wednesday, November 2, 2022, 7pm PDT
First Presbyterian Church, 2407 Dana Street, Berkeley
Tickets available now!
The “best short story writer in English” (Time) is back with a masterful collection that explores ideas of power, ethics, and justice, and cuts to the very heart of what it means to live in community with our fellow humans. With his trademark prose--wickedly funny, unsentimental, and perfectly tuned--Saunders continues to challenge and surprise: here is a collection of prismatic, deeply resonant stories that encompass joy and despair, oppression and revolution, bizarre fantasy and brutal reality.
“Love Letter” is a tender missive from grandfather to grandson, in the midst of a dystopian political situation in the not-too-distant future, that reminds us of our obligations to our ideals, ourselves, and each other. “Ghoul” is set in a Hell-themed section of an underground amusement park in Colorado, and follows the exploits of a lonely, morally complex character named Brian, who comes to question everything he takes for granted about his “reality.” In “Mother’s Day,” two women who loved the same man come to an existential reckoning in the middle of a hailstorm. And in “Elliott Spencer,” our eighty-nine-year-old protagonist finds himself brainwashed--his memory “scraped”--a victim of a scheme in which poor, vulnerable people are reprogrammed and deployed as political protesters.
Together, these nine subversive, profound, and essential stories coalesce into a case for viewing the world with the same generosity and clear-eyed attention as Saunders does, even in the most absurd of circumstances.
Please note:
In-conversation with SAMIN NOSRAT
Wednesday, November 2, 2022, 7pm PDT
First Presbyterian Church, 2407 Dana Street, Berkeley
Tickets available now!
The “best short story writer in English” (Time) is back with a masterful collection that explores ideas of power, ethics, and justice, and cuts to the very heart of what it means to live in community with our fellow humans. With his trademark prose--wickedly funny, unsentimental, and perfectly tuned--Saunders continues to challenge and surprise: here is a collection of prismatic, deeply resonant stories that encompass joy and despair, oppression and revolution, bizarre fantasy and brutal reality.
“Love Letter” is a tender missive from grandfather to grandson, in the midst of a dystopian political situation in the not-too-distant future, that reminds us of our obligations to our ideals, ourselves, and each other. “Ghoul” is set in a Hell-themed section of an underground amusement park in Colorado, and follows the exploits of a lonely, morally complex character named Brian, who comes to question everything he takes for granted about his “reality.” In “Mother’s Day,” two women who loved the same man come to an existential reckoning in the middle of a hailstorm. And in “Elliott Spencer,” our eighty-nine-year-old protagonist finds himself brainwashed--his memory “scraped”--a victim of a scheme in which poor, vulnerable people are reprogrammed and deployed as political protesters.
Together, these nine subversive, profound, and essential stories coalesce into a case for viewing the world with the same generosity and clear-eyed attention as Saunders does, even in the most absurd of circumstances.
Please note:
- This is a ticketed, in-person event. Each ticket includes a hardcover copy of Liberation Day.
- This is an offsite event, to be held at First Presbyterian Church, 2407 Dana St. in Berkeley, CA.
- Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including booster, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event and capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing.
- Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. The best way to ensure you’ll get a seat is to order a ticket now.
- We are happy to offer *signed copies* of Liberation Day (while supplies last): order a ticket if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy and no admission.
- If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
- Questions? Write events@booksmith.com.
George Saunders is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of eleven books, including A Swim in a Pond in the Rain; Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the Booker Prize; Congratulations, by the Way; Tenth of December, a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the inaugural Folio Award; The Braindead Megaphone; and the critically acclaimed collections CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, Pastoralia, and In Persuasion Nation. He teaches in the creative writing program at Syracuse University. Author photo by Zach Krahmer.
Samin Nosrat's bio is coming soon