Do you find yourself quoting The Big Lebowski in casual conversation or humming Mahler in the shower? ALOUD’s winter season promises not to disappoint with an exciting and eclectic line-up of filmmakers, actors, authors, musicians, scientists, religious and political leaders, and more, taking part in the Library Foundation’s yearlong 20th anniversary celebration. Here’s a round-up of what’s to come, and you can visit www.lfla.dev/aloud for more info and tickets.
Kick-off the New Year with these special film events:
Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman. Image by Alan Kozlowski.
Thursday, January 10, ALOUD welcomes screen legend Jeff Bridges and world-renowned Zen teacher Bernie Glassman to the Aratani/Japan America Theatre for an enlightening and entertaining conversation between student and teacher on their new book, The Dude and the Zen Master, co-presented by the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.
Thursday, January 24, film critic and KCRW host Elvis Mitchell talks to writer, poet and playwright Nick Flynn on the surreal process of adapting his memoir, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, into a film called Being Flynn, starring Robert De Niro as his father.
Tuesday, January 29, actor, director and activist Diego Luna visits on the occasion of his new feature about Cesar Chavez to discuss the power of storytelling as an agent for social change.
Span the globe with these groundbreaking international stories:
Artwork from Gallery Monin.
Tuesday, January 15, days after the third anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, veteran journalist Amy Wilentz reports on the uncanny resilience of the country that emerged like a powerful spirit from the dust of the 2010 disaster.
Monday, February 11, internationally-renowned radiation expert Dr. Robert Peter Gale and writer Eric Lax correct myths and establish facts about life on our radioactive planet in our post-Chernobyl, post-Fukushima world.
Women who wow us:
Monday, December 10, best-selling author and activist Anne Lamott converses with Father Gregory Boyle about the three prayers that she believes can illuminate the way forward: Help, Thanks, Wow.
Thursday, February, 21, journalist and The End of Men author Hanna Rosin, Ms. Magazine Executive Editor Kathy Spillar, imMEDIAte Justice co-founder Tani Ikeda, and Feminist Women’s Health Center co-founder Carol Downer join primatologist and Darwinian feminist Dr. Amy Parish for a multi-generational look at feminism and women’s rights today in light of the 50th anniversary of Betty Friedan’s groundbreaking book, The Feminine Mystique.
Homegrown in California:
Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Wheaton residence, Brentwood, CA, 1958. Photo by Maynard Parker.
Thursday, December 13, the newly created LA Grand Ensemble makes its public premiere, blending theatrical and artistic elements for a contemporary and new classical music experience including a reduction of Mahler’s Symphony No.4.
Thursday, January 17, photography curator Jenny Watts of The Huntington, Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne, and author and historian D.J. Waldie gather to discuss influential photographer Maynard L. Parker, who aimed his lens at the mid-century masterworks of L.A. architects in Cold War California.
Saturday, February 9, ALOUD partners with the Los Angeles Philharmonic to present its annual afternoon chamber music concert.
Tuesday, February 26, former mayor of San Francisco and current California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom joins acclaimed local journalist Patt Morrison onstage for Citizenville: Connecting People and Government in the Digital Age.
And last but not least, a new iteration of the “Writing and the Art of Not Knowing” musings:
Wednesday, February 6, writers George Saunders and Bernard Cooper discuss how they grapple with the difficult, but essential challenges of their creative work with moderator Sarah Shun-lien Bynum.
We hope you’ll join us this season! Free reservations are strongly recommended for ALOUD at Central Library programs, and tickets can be purchased for the LA Grand Ensemble and An Evening with Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman via www.lfla.dev/aloud.
