Acclaimed authors, thinkers, and cultural icons to delve into authoritarianism, gender, race, and the cultural and political crossroads we face now.
Season opens Sept. 18 with two-time New York Times bestselling author Ben Rhodes and executive director of the ACLU of Southern California, Chandra S. Bhatnagar
(L-R) Susan Orlean, Lena Waithe, Gish Jen, Issa Rae, Tourmaline, Ben Rhodes, Tim Wu
LOS ANGELES – The Library Foundation of Los Angeles (LFLA) announced today the Fall 2025 season of ALOUD, its signature series of bold, timely conversations—most of them free and presented live in the Mark Taper Auditorium at Central Library in downtown Los Angeles. The season brings together a diverse slate of renowned writers, creatives, and cultural critics, confronting urgent questions shaping our world—from the rise of authoritarianism to the politics of tech platforms—and exploring Black female friendship, queer joy, and new works by literary icons, among others.
The season opens Sept. 18 with acclaimed political journalist and New York Times bestseller Ben Rhodes and continues through Dec. 10, highlighting vital new works by National Book Award finalist Angela Flournoy, transgender artist and activist Tourmaline, celebrated writer Susan Orlean, award-winning novelist Gish Jen, James Baldwin scholar Nicholas Boggs, and legal scholar and tech policy expert Tim Wu. Guest moderators and conversation partners include the new Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern California Chandra S. Bhatnagar, Emmy-award winning writers and actors Lena Waithe, Issa Rae, and Ashley Nicole Black, and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner who will be joined by a cast of renowned actors, to be announced.
“While curating this season of ALOUD, I kept asking myself and our partners: what are the most pressing topics of our time?” Jessica Strand, LFLA’s senior director of programming and strategic engagement, said. “What are the anxieties and hopes shaping this moment? The result is a lineup that wrestles with the political and the personal, the structural and the intimate, through some of today’s most vital new books and bravest voices.”
To shape the series, Strand partnered with the ACLU of Southern California and The New York Times to present a balanced lineup aligned with LFLA’s mission.
“ALOUD plays a crucial role in how the Library Foundation connects people to ideas, civic dialogue, and one another,” said LFLA President and CEO Stacy Lieberman. “As we support the Los Angeles Public Library in providing Angelenos transformative learning experiences, programs like ALOUD are more essential than ever—especially in a moment when our communities face intense social, political, and environmental pressures. These conversations help bring the city together to reflect, unite, and reimagine what’s possible.”
The season closes on a high note with a witty and playful pair of programs featuring NYT Cooking recipe creator and Cookies author Vaughn Vreeland and a special evening with lead puzzle editor at The New York Times Games Joel Fagliano and guests to celebrate the release of Puzzle Mania!
ALOUD Fall 2024 Schedule
ALOUD is partnering with Reparations Club and Skylight Books to sell featured books at each program.
After the Fall: The Rise of Authoritarianism in the World We’ve Made
Ben Rhodes in Conversation with Chandra S. Bhatnagar
Thursday, Sept. 18
In partnership with the ACLU of Southern California
The 2025 Fall ALOUD season opens with a not-to-be missed conversation about the current state of America presented in partnership with the ACLU. Join acclaimed journalist, co-host of Pod Save the World, and two-time New York Times bestseller Ben Rhodes and Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern California Chandra S. Bhatnagar as they discuss Rhodes’ essential new book After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made.
A seasoned political journalist and former Deputy National Security Advisor and speechwriter for President Barack Obama, Rhodes examines various issues and events that have paved the way for the unchecked nationalism and authoritarianism endangering our democracy today. Rhodes and Bhatnagar will discuss where America has gone wrong and how essential it is now to fight for what America can and should be.
“Vital reading for Americans and people anywhere who seek to understand what is happening ‘after the fall’ of the global system created by the United States” — New York Journal of Books
Baldwin: A Love Story
Nicholas Boggs in conversation with Lena Waithe
Thursday, Sept. 25
Join us for a scintillating conversation with writer and scholar Nicholas Boggs and Emmy award-winning writer, actor, and producer Lena Waithe (Master of None, The Chi, and Queen & Slim) as they discuss the extraordinary writer James Baldwin. The two will delve into Bogg’s masterful new biography—the first about Baldwin in three decades—filled with new archival material, original research, and interviews revealing how profoundly this literary figure’s intimate and artistic relationships shaped his life and work.
The Wilderness
Angela Flournoy and Issa Rae in conversation with Ashley Nicole Black
Monday, Sept. 29
National Book Award finalist Angela Flournoy comes to the ALOUD stage for the first time to discuss her much-anticipated novel The Wilderness with Emmy award-winning comedians, actors, and writers Issa Rae (Insecure) and Ashley Nicole Black (The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, Shrinking). Flourney’s poignant story follows five Black women over the course of their twenty-year friendship and explores the complexity of that precarious period between young adulthood and midlife. As she so aptly put, “it’s a kind of a coming-into-middle-age novel.”
Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson
Tourmaline in conversation with Chase Strangio
Monday, Oct. 6
In partnership with the ACLU of Southern Californi
In partnership with the ACLU of Southern California, we present a timely and important conversation about current transgender issues in our country with renowned award-winning artist, filmmaker, and national bestselling author Tourmaline and Chase Strangio, co-director of the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project. Tourmaline will also discuss her latest book, the first definitive biography of the revolutionary activist Marsha P. Johnson—one of the most important and remarkable figures in LGBTQIA+ history—and how her story and legacy can inspire us today.
Joyride
Susan Orlean
Tuesday, Oct. 28
Beloved New Yorker writer and bestselling author of The Orchid Thief and The Library Book, Susan Orlean returns to the ALOUD stage with her new memoir Joyride. One of the greatest practitioners of narrative nonfiction of our time, Orlean candidly shares her life and her calling—writing. Her deeply personal book walks us through her best works from pitch to publication and explores her deep and endless curiosity for the most ordinary and extraordinary people and places.
Bad Bad Girl
Gish Jen in conversation with Lisa See
Thursday, Oct. 30
Gish Jen—award-winning author of The Resisters—and New York Times bestselling author Lisa See (Lady Tan’s Circle of Women, Dreams of Joy) welcome us into a discussion about Jen’s newest novel Bad Bad Girl. In this moving autobiographical book, Jen spans continents, generations, and cultures, and traces a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship with her brilliant humor, courage, and compassion.
The Age of Extraction: How Tech Platforms Conquered the Economy and Threaten Our Future Prosperity
Tim Wu in conversation with Mohammad Tajsar
Wednesday, Nov. 12
In partnership with the ACLU of Southern California
Tim Wu, author, policy advocate, and professor at Columbia University, and Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California, come together to discuss Wu’s new book The Age of Extraction. The book investigates how today’s dominant tech platforms manipulate attention, extract wealth, and deepen inequality. Wu urges us to recognize their influence and reclaim control to create a balanced economy that works for all.
John Guare: Plays
Tony Kushner and friends
Monday, Nov. 17, 7pm | Zipper Concert Hall at The Colburn School | Tickets $15
Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning author of Angels in America, playwright, and screenwriter Tony Kushner presents a career-spanning celebration of renowned American playwright John Guare. Guare, one of the foremost American playwrights of his generation, is best known for his landmark plays The House of Blue Leaves and Six Degrees of Separation, but his breadth of work from one acts to musicals has highly influenced the American theatre.
“More than any other American playwright, John Guare’s work feels uncannily prophetic,” says Kushner. “His plays, with an original combination of realism, dream state, psychopathology, vision, delusion, humor, compassion, grief, and terror, map out the landscape of what life feels like in the here and now.”
Kushner will bring together a cast of acclaimed actors for an evening of scenes and songs from throughout Guare’s body of work. The performance commemorates the publication of Library of America’s new one-volume retrospective, John Guare: Plays, edited by Tony Kushner, Anne Cattaneo, and Michael Paller.
Please note that John Guare will not be in attendance.
Puzzle Mania!
Joel Fagliano of The New York Times Games
Thursday, Dec. 4
Co-presented with The New York Times
Do you Wordle? Or is Connections more your style? Still a diehard Crossword player? Or are you a Spelling Bee dynamo? No matter how you play, join lead puzzle editor at The New York Times Games Joel Fagliano and guests to celebrate the release of Puzzle Mania! The collection transforms your favorite digital games into a beautifully-designed book that’s perfect for solo play, family game night, or gifting to puzzle-obsessed friends.
Cookies
Vaughn Vreeland
Wednesday, Dec. 10
Co-presented with The New York Times
Ina Garten once said (and we agree), “You can be miserable before you eat a cookie and you can be miserable after you eat a cookie, but you can’t be miserable while you’re eating a cookie.” Join NYT Cooking recipe creator, video journalist, and YouTube personality Vaughn Vreeland and special guests for a delightful evening as we give cookies the credit they deserve and discuss Vaughn’s latest collection of trusted treat recipes, Cookies.
EDITORS NOTE: Press tickets and high-resolution images available upon request: theapagecommunications@gmail.com
ALOUD is presented by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles and made possible thanks to support from:
Additional support generously provided by the Los Angeles Public Library and by donors and members of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles.
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As President and CEO of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles (LFLA), Stacy Lieberman is an innovative and inclusive leader whose career dwells at the intersection of arts and culture, lifelong learning, storytelling, and equitable access. Stacy guides the Foundation’s philanthropic and public-facing priorities to serve the Los Angeles Public Library, embracing the notion that libraries are beacons of democracy where everyone is welcome. She works intentionally with community leaders, donors, and internal and external strategic partners to raise awareness and resources for the Library and its life-changing initiatives.
With more than 20 years of experience as a senior executive, Stacy has left an indelible mark on iconic L.A. arts, non-profit, and educational institutions such as The Broad, the Autry Museum of the American West, and the Skirball Cultural Center. Building on an early career in book publishing, she has dedicated her professional life to sharing stories and broadening the reach of public institutions to welcome visitors and students of all ages and backgrounds to experience educational, arts, and cultural opportunities.
