Writers (Audio)

Cosmologist and author of "Losing the Nobel Prize" Brian Keating tells the inside story of BICEP2’s mesmerizing discovery and the scientific drama that ensued in this interview with science fiction author David Brin. Keating describes a journey of revelation and discovery, bringing to life the highly competitive, take-no-prisoners, publish-or-perish world of modern science. Along the way, he provo...

Author and legendary athlete Kareem Abdul-Jabbar offers sage advice on writing. Abdul-Jabbar has written several best-selling books, along with some basketball on the side." Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33605]

The stars of the documentary, “I’ll Push You,” tell a remarkable story of sacrifice, spiritual awakening and transformation as Patrick Gray and his wheelchair-bound best friend Justin Skeesuck recount the emotional tolls of their 500-mile trek on the Camino de Santiago in Spain in this conversation with Dean Nelson, founder of the Writer’s Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University. Se...

Novelist and filmmaker David Bezmozgis speaks about his 2014 novel The Betrayers, an intense look at morality and the human conscience, that won the National Jewish Book Award. The book is about a famous Russian Jewish dissident who, after the fall of the Soviet Union, meets the man who denounced him. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33367]

Author and legendary athlete Kareem Abdul-Jabbar highlights remarkable African-American contributions to American society. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Education] [Show ID: 33606]

Author Jane Smiley captivates the audience as she attributes the success of her Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, “A Thousand Acres” to the lessons she learned from “Uncle Bill,” as in William Shakespeare and his play, King Lear. In this interview with veteran journalist Dean Nelson, Smiley describes her compulsion to write and urges other writers to follow their own passions and not be too hard on th...

Writer/director/producer Jordan Peele joins UCSB’s Matt Ryan for a Script-to-Screen discussion of Get Out (2017), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Peele explains how the tone of the film was influenced by his background in comedy, the work of Ira Levin (The Stepford Wives, Rosemary’s Baby), and the desire to subvert the tropes of African American characters in the h...

Author and legendary athlete Kareem Abdul-Jabbar describes the cultural and historical influences that led him to write several best-selling books, “along with some basketball on the side,” in this introspective and wide-ranging conversation with veteran journalist Dean Nelson. Abdul-Jabbar shares stories from his most recent book, “Coach Wooden and Me,” about his 50-year friendship with the late...

Luis Urrea is a prolific writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of 16 books. He talks with Steven Schick about his life and work, and their collaboration on a new version of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with texts fro...

This evening is inspired by the short postcard stories that magazine editor George Hay encouraged in the 1970’s. He dared such authors as Arthur C. Clarke to send sci-fi stories that easily fit onto a postcard. In that spirit, Geisel Library invited writers to submit fantasy or science fiction pieces of no more than 250 words, to be read aloud. Series: "Writers" [Humanities] [Show ID: 33454]

Author and Boston University law professor Pnina Lahav discusses her forthcoming biography, "Golda Meir: Through the Gender Lens." She explores the first and only woman prime minister of Israel, and her complex relationship with her role as a female leader in a man’s world. During the course of her legal career, Pnina Lahav has published nearly 50 journal articles and three books, including the cr...

Author, Tova Mirvis, discusses her book, The Book of Separation, which describes a woman who leaves her Orthodox Jewish faith and her marriage and sets out to navigate the terrifying, liberating terrain of a newly mapless world. She is the author of three novels and her essays have appeared in various anthologies and newspapers. Series: "Taubman Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Humanities] [Show ID: 3...

Mary Karr, one of the most celebrated memoirists, poets and essayists of her generation, talks about her craft and the revelations found along the way. Her most recent publication, The Art of Memoir, features excerpts from her favorite memoirs and anecdotes from fellow writers' experiences. She is the recipient of prizes from PEN and Best American Poetry, and she has won Pushcart Prizes both for p...

"Short Tales from the Mothership" celebrates an elegant genre by presenting condensed stories from fellow futurists, time-travelers, inventors, artists, and writers. This evening is inspired by the short postcard stories that magazine editor George Hay encouraged in the 1970’s. He dared such authors as Arthur C. Clarke to send sci-fi stories that easily fit onto a postcard. In that spirit, Geisel...

Celebrated author, literature champion, and bookstore owner Ann Patchett electrifies the audience as she describes her evolving relationships with various books, ranging from classics by Leo Tolstoy and John Updike to more contemporary works by Min Jin Lee (“Pachinko”), Matthew Desmond (“Evicted”) and Ta-Nehisi Coates (”Between the World and Me”), among others. Patchett reads both for pleasure and...

Mary Karr, one of the most celebrated memoirists, poets and essayists of her generation, talks about her process of writing a memoir. Karr is a best-selling memoirist, poet, and essayist. Her most recent publication, The Art of Memoir, features excerpts from her favorite memoirs and anecdotes from fellow writers' experiences. She is the recipient of prizes from PEN and Best American Poetry, and sh...

Hailed as one of Israel's most innovative and extraordinary writers, Etgar Keret is internationally acclaimed for his short stories. Keret has written short stories, graphic novels, and scripts for television and film. He has made the short story into a literary gem that reflects the surge of interest in the short story in Israel and in Modern Hebrew since the 1990s. Series: "Taubman Symposia in J...

Yusef Komunyakaa, an internationally renowned poet who won the Pulitzer Prize for “Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems," reads and discusses his work while writer-in-residence at UC Santa Barbara. Series: "Voices" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 32148]

The International Tracing Service, one of the world’s largest Holocaust-related archival repositories, holds millions of documents detailing the many forms of persecution that transpired during the Nazi era and their continuing repercussions. Based on her recently published book, "Nazi Persecution and Postwar Repercussions: The International Tracing Service Archive and Holocaust Research," Suzanne...

Barbara Boxer, the longtime US Senator from California and author of "The Art of Tough: Fearlessly Facing Politics and Life," speaks on her biggest battles in Congress, including support for AIDS research, voting rights, equal rights, reproductive rights, clean air and water, parental leave and her opposition to the Iraq war, and reminds her audience that all of these are at risk given the results...

Author and anti-racist activist Tim Wise speaks about the importance of being a white ally to communities of color, and how we can all work together to create a healthier community on campuses and in the world beyond. Wise spoke as part of UCSB’s Resilient Love in a Time of Hate series. Series: "Voices" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 31995]

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder reveals his reporting strengths as he describes how he earned the trust of the people he has featured in books such as "Mountains Beyond Mountains," "House," "A Truck Full of Money," "Old Friends," and "Strength in What Remains." Kidder shares the joys and doubts of a career in writing with veteran journalist and host Dean Nelson, founder and director of...

This far-reaching conversation with best-selling author Shauna Niequist offers an honest account of her journey of becoming a writer. She shares her love of storytelling and her goal of living life to the fullest, and offers tips for aspiring writers. Series: "Writer's Symposium By The Sea" [Humanities] [Show ID: 31160]

Former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky describes himself as a "composer" who considers poetry to be first and foremost a vocal art, and his work seeks to blur the distinctions between language and music by emphasizing the rhythms and innate physicality of recited verse in a jazz context. In this performance for the 22nd Writer's Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University, Pinsky's reading...

Omer Bartov, the John P. Birkelund Distinguished Professor of European History and German Studies at Brown University, explores the dynamics of the horrifying genocidal violence which took place in the East Galician town of Buczacz— following the German conquest of the region in 1941— and its subsequent erasure from local memory. For centuries, Poles, Ukrainians, and Jews coexisted in the region,...