Past Speakers

2023/24

Amber Straughn, PhD –Astrophysicist, NASA, James Webb Space Telescope
Cedric Alexander, PsyD – Community Safety Commissioner of Minneapolis; Former Chief of Police in DeKalb County, Georgia
Cristina Mittermeier – Marine Biologist, Photographer
Geena Davis – Oscar-winning Actress
Ken Duckworth, MD – Chief Medical Officer for National Alliance on Mental Illness
Alton Brown – Peabody Award-winning cook, author, filmmaker, TV Personality

2022/23

Bob Woodward – The Future of Investigative Journalism
Rosanne Cash – Composed: The Art of Music and Advocacy
Thomas L. Friedman – Forces Shaping the World
Noah R. Feldman – Anatomy of the Constitution
Susan Lynch, PHD – If Your Gut Could Talk
Marlee Matlin – Hear My Hands and Heart

2021/22

Jon Meacham: Songs of America – The Music That Made a Nation
Dr. Abraham Verghese: The Patient is the Story
Joel Sartore: From Noah to Now – The Photo Ark
Laurie Woolever: Kitchen Tales, Travel Tales, and Tales of Writing with Tony Bourdain
Rick Steves: Travel Like a Local
Vijay Gupta: Changing Lives, Note by Note

2020/21

Postponed

2019/20

Dennis Miller: America, How Can We All Play Nice Again?
Nick Buettner: Live Long and Happy – The Blue Zones
Jimmy Chin: World’s Greatest Climb – Free Solo in Yosemit
Gen. John F. Kelly, Ret.: Geopolitics – Our Future On The Global Stage
Rebecca Skloot: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Dr. Paul Hessburg: How Do You Want Your Smoke? (with PBS)

2018/19

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Leadership, In Life and On The Court
Sarah Parcak: Space Archaeologist
David Epstein: The Sports Gene – Late Specialization
Dr. John Medina: Optimizing Brain Health Through Each Stage of Life
David Pogue: Disruptive Technology: The Unrecognizable New World of Technology and Culture
Jeremi Suri: The Evolution of The American Presidency
Julia Gillard: Engagement in the Asian Century; Opportunity of Our Lifetime

2017/18

Captain Scott Kelly: The Sky is Not the Limit: Lessons from a Year in Space
Vicente Fox: Building Bridges: Fixing the Immigration Issue and Strengthening US-Mexico Relations
Kevin Kallaugher: Daggers Drawn
Denise Kiernan: The Girls of Atomic City
Temple Grandin: All Kinds of Minds Working Together
Michael Pollan: The Omnivores Dilemma
John Walsh: On a Mission for Victims

2016/17

Dr. Michio Kaku: The Future of the Mind
Leon Panetta: Remarks on Our Nation
Wes Moore: The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
Adam Stelzner: How Curiosity Changed My Life: Mars Rover
Marc Lapadula: The Four Films that Changed America
Dave Barry: The Wit and Wisdom of Dave Barry
Lisa Genova: Still Alice, Understanding Alzheimer’s

2015

Steve Wozniak: An Evening with Steve Wozniak
Jack Hanna: A Day with “Jungle Jack” Hanna
Sir Ken Robinson: Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative
Ann Compton: Up Close and Very Personal
Daniel Nelson: Whiskey is for Drinkin’, Water is for Fightin’
Stephen Prothero: God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World
Admiral James Stavridis: Beyond the Horizon: 21st Century Global Security and Risk

2014

Billy Beane: Moneyball: Lessons for Life and Business from Baseball’s Best General Manager
Robert Edsel: The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Theives, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History
Jerry Greenfield: Ice Cream, Social Responsibility and an Innovative Business Philosophy
Valerie Plame: Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House
Amy Cuddy: On Power and Influence
Robert Ballard: Underwater Adventures: Deep Sea Exploration
Man’s Inhumanity to Man … The Last Hundred Years

2013

Frank Abagnale: The Art of the Steal & Catch Me If You Can
Tim Egan:The Worst Hard Time: The Dust Bowl
Michael Sandel: What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets
Alexei Filippenko: Dark Energy and The Runaway Universe
Jill Bolte Taylor: My Stroke of Insight
Carl Bernstein: The System Can Work

2012

Ben Vereen: Stepping’ Out with Ben Vereen
Gloria Steinem: The Longest Revolution
Platon Antoniou: Powerful Portraits:An Intimate Look at Humanity
Richard Preston: The Wild Trees
Robin Wright: Rock the Casbah
Robert Sapolsky: Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers
Robert Reich: The Next Economy and America’s Future

2011

Marvin Hamlisch: An Evening With Marvin Hamlisch
Jeffrey Toobin: The Supreme Nine: Black Robed Secrets
Andrew Ross Sorkin: The Politics of Too Big to Fail
Amy Chua: Babylon to Beijing: Risks and Rewards of Global Dominance
Scott Sampson: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life
Carlos Eire: Reflections of a Cuban Refugee
Ronan Tynan: Hitting the High Notes

2010

Rick Steves: Lessons I’ve Learned Living Out of a Suitcase
Richard Rodriquez: A Vew from the Melting Pot
Elliot Engel: The Dickens Nobody Knows
Marin Alsop: A Morning with the Maestra
Daniel Kammen: Time for a Clean Energy & Low-Carbon Economy
Christopher Buckley: Puns, Pundits, and Politics: New England Style

2009

Alan Russell: Exploring Medical Frontiers
Edward Diener: Happiness and Complete Wealth
David Brancaccio: Dissecting Economic Disaster
Robert Fitzpatrick: Passionate About the Arts
Juan Williams: A Powerful Mix: Money, Race & Age
Steve Coll: The Changing World of Terrorism

2008

Bob Arnot: Danger in Darfur
Saroyan Panel: About Saroyan at the Saroyan
Ric Burns: Creating Dynamic Films
Roland Mesnier: The White House-Viewed from the White House Kitchen
Roland Fryer: Economic Incentives and Decisions
Jeff Greenfield: Politics and a New President

2007

Michael Mandelbaum: China & India: The Burden of the Past, the Promise of the Future
Reza Aslan: Religion, Politics and Contemporary Culture of the Middle East
Josiah Bunting III: Leadership and the Liberal Arts
Bob Brier: The Murder of Tutankhamen
Christine Brennan: The View from the Press Box: Sports in 2008
Peggy Noonan: The White House and American Politics

2006

Simon Winchester: A Crack in the Edge of the World
Marc Pachter: Gallery of Presidents
John Bravman: How Research and Technology Have Changed the Use of Materials
Robert Greenberg: Blues, Jazz, and Rock and Roll
Anthony Bourdain: A Cook’s Tour:Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisine
Anna Quindlen: The Last Word

2005

Bruce Feiler: Abraham: Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths
Lynne Truss: Why is Everyone So Rude?
David Spiegel: Feeling and Healing:Stress,Support, and Cancer
Jan Crawford Greenberg :The Supreme Court: Poised for Change
Mark Arax:The Last Valley:The Heart of the California Paradox
Jon Meacham: Franklin and Winston:Leadership Lessons for Today

2004

Eric Schlosser: Fast Food Nation
Sherry Bebitch Jeffe: Post Election California Analysis
MIchael York: Will and I
Michael McWilliams: Climate Changes in Perspective
John Allen Paulos: A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market
Ellen Goodman: The Political is (too) Personal

2003

Jane Bryant Quinn: Your Money
Robert Greenberg: Music as a Mirror
Victor Davis Hanson: War Just Won’t Go Away–the Current Conflict in a Classical Context
John McWhorter: The Power of Babel–Language is a Lava Lamp
Thomas Cahill : Fighting the Air Quality Battle
Joe Klein: Inside America with Joe Klein: 2004 Predidential Election

2002

Meave Leakey: Our Earliest Ancestors
Frank Deford: The Importance of Sports
Channing Robertson: Biomedicine for the 21st Century
Martin Rosin: Our Valley at Risk
Elaine Pagels: Women in Early Christanity
David Brooksl: Culture and Politics in Post Cold War America

2001

Paul Duke: Potomac Fever: 40 Years Covering Events from Washington
Jared Diamond: Life on Earth for the Last 13,000 Years
Joseph Sanchez: Spanish Roads in America
Lester Snow: New Approaches to Calfornia Water Management
Sylvia Earle: Dances with Dolphins
Brian Greene: Explaining the Elegant Universe

2000

Charles Ogletree: Access to Technology
David Kennedy: Immigration
Scott Berg: Lindbergh
Michael Heyman: Museums in the New Millennium
Malcolm Gladwell: The Tipping Point
Max Frankel: Media Madness

1999

Michael Beschloss: Historian: Presidential Legacies
Kathleen Sullivan: The U.S. Supreme Court
Ronald Takai: Multiculturalism in America
Alston Chase: Water Politics (substitute for Marc Reisner)
Martha Teichner: Life as a War Correspondent
Susan Dentzer: Health Care Issues

1998

Gentry Lee: Moving into the New Mellennium
Geneva Overholser: What Journalism Owes Democracy
Michael Josephson: Character Counts–Solutions to Youth Violence
Jan Schlichtmann: Toxic Waste Dumping–the Role of Lawyers in Resolving Issues
Rayna Green: The Smithsonian’s Director of American Indian Programs
Thomas Friedman: The Global Economy and America’s Foreign Policy

1997

Deborah Prothrow-Smith: Prescription to End Adolescent Violence
Dick Thornburgh: Challenges in the 21st Century
Sheilah Kast: From an ABC News Reporter’s Notebook
David Harris:Legacy of Vietnam
Patricia Palmieri: Women: a Powerful Force in History
Vladimir Sakharov:Russia: What’s Next

1996

Orville Schell: China Update
Richard Moe: Preservation–a Tool for Community Revitalization
Deborah Blum: Gender Differences
Paul Solman: Do People Control the Polls, Or Do the Polls Control the People?
Susan Stamberg: From All Things Considered–Women, Women and the Rest of Us
Clarence Page:The National Scene

1995

James Burke: How Apparently Unrelated Events Produce Social & Tech. Changes
Doris Kearns Goodwin: World War II; Eleanor and Franklin Roodevelt
Norman Naimark: Eastern Europe –Post Communism
James Fallows: The Pacific Rim today–East Asia History & Economics
Charles McDowell: How TV Has Changed Politics
Robert Pack Browning: Mark Twain

1994

Neil Sheehan: Vietnam: Coming to Terms at Last
Robert Bakker: Dinosaurs and Theories of Their Extinction
Walter William: Role of Government in a Free Society: a Conservative View
June Wayne: Thoughts of a Futurist Artist
Judith Viorst: Current Issues in Politics
Capitol Steps: Irreverent View of Washington

1993

David McCullough: From a Historian’s Perspective
Daniel Callahan: Morality, Mortality & Medical power
Paul Ehrlich: The Poplulation Bomb
Dan Walter: California Politics
Ann Kerr: The Arab States in their Cultural Context
David Lamb: Baseball–16,000 Miles of Minor League Baseball

1992

Haines Johnson: View from the Beltway
William Lutz: Doublespeak and the State of the Language
Scott Berg: Writing the Biography of Max Perkins
Condoleeza Rice: Emerging Countries of Eastern Europe
Anne Colby: Moral Leaders in Our Time
David Gergen and Mark Shields: American Politics

1991

Bonnie Erbe, Linda Chavez: All Things Considered–the Liberal & Conservative Views
Steven Schlosstein: U.S.–Japan Economic Agenda
Joel Kotkin: The Growing Role of Ethnic Minorities
Sarah Weddington: Some Leaders Are Born Women
George Roche: “A World Without Heroes”
Robert Kennedy: Our Environmental Destiny

1990

Hedrick Smith: The Soviet Union
Erin Moriarty: Consumer Issues of the 90’s
Jesse Choper: U.S. Supreme Court
Robert Commanday: Music–Why It Is Important
Wilma Mankiller: Native Americans and Their Battle for Recognition
Arthur Schlesinger: American Politics: What Lies Ahead

1989

Edwin Newman: Preserving a Civil Tongue
Michael Josephson: Pursuit of Ethics in America
Terry Lynn Karl: Central America in Crisis
Stephen Garrett:The CIA–Issues of Covert Action
Nien Cheng: The Road from Shanghai
Steve Roberts: Replaced Cokie Roberts, who was to speak on the Soviet Union

1988

Ike Pappas: The 1988 Presidential Election
Ray Bradbury: Great Years Ahead
Denise Erickson: Pleasures & Treasures of France
Wayne Nelson: Wall Street
Robert Scalapino: Asia Entering the 21st Century
Judy Woodruff: The Washington Scene

1987

Broder, David: Politics in Washington
David Eisenhower: Dwight Eisenhower–Historic Perspective
Peter Grothe: Communication –Problems of Cultural Differences
Orville Schell: China-the Capitalist Revolution in China Control the People?
B. Gentry Lee: The Poisoning of America by Toxic Chemicals
Judith Christ: Everyone’s a Critic

1986

David Lamb: Replaced David Halberstam
Christine Russell: Is Living Hazardous to your Health?
Jeane Westin: Making do–How Women Survived in the Thirties
Roger Selbert: Change, Continuity, and Choice in US Social Structure
Bernard Gifford: Education–How to Have Excellent and Just Schools
Henry Cisnerous: Survival Startegies for American Cities
Mark Russell: 50th Anniversary Event, May 1987

1985

Jeff Greenfield: Media as Image Maker
John O. Wilson: Economics: A Global Forecast
Barton Bernstein: The Arms Race: A View of Contemporary America
Alan Dundes: Forklore in the Modern World
Wanda Corn: American Art: A Personal Perspective
Richard Valeriani: Realities and American Foreign Policy

1984

Charles Osgood: A View from CBS
Charles Champlin: Keeping our Eye on Hollywood
Freeman Wright: The Challenge of Latin America
Paola Sensi-Isolani: Italy and the United States:an Enduring Friendship
Marion Diamond: The Brain:Young-Old, Female-Male, Left-Right, Enriched-Improverished
Georgie Anne Geyer: A Foreign Correspondent Looks at the World

1983

Jonathan Miller: Are the Humanities Obsolete in Computerized Society
Richard Reeves: American Journey
Judith Bardwick: Coping with Changes in Family Values
Don Muchmore: Do People Control the Polls, Or Do the Polls Control the People?
Michael Brown: The Poisoning of America by Toxic Chemicals
Charles Mc Dowell: The View from Washington

1982

Joan Mondale, Paul Duke, Nils J. Nilsson, Fran Lebowitz, Robert Ellis Smith, Karen Elliott House

1981

John Houseman, Jeff Greenfield, Ruth Earnshaw Lo, A. Leon Higginbothan, Jr., Robert N. Bellah, Vladmir Sakharov

1980

Ray Bradbury, Richard C. Hottelet, Paola Sensi-Isolani, Harriet Pilpel, Jack Nelson, Elie Abel

1979

Jack Perkins, Eldon Griffiths, Herbert G. Klein, Harold Gilliam, Roger Tartarian, Ruth Beebe Hill

1978

David Schoebrun, Ranan Lurie, Donn B. Parker, Rollin Post, Caroline Bird,Robert Pierpoint

1977

Douglas Kiker, Joyce Kallgren, Henry Hunt Keith, William, Nierenbert, Nicholas Johnson, John Peer Nugent

1976

Peter Lisagor, Paul Zinner, Edwin O. Reischauer, Kevin Sterr, Ralph Solerno, John Marcum

1975

Helen Thomas, David Stonecypher,M.D., Dixie Lee Ray, Donald Barnhart, David Littlejohn, Roger Caras

1974

Hugh Sidey, Gore Vidal, Joseph Sorrentino, Donald Cressey Ramsdel Gurney, Jr., Frances “Sissy” Farenthold

1973

Abigail McCarthy, Reid Buckley and Max Lerner, Ezra Soloman, Honorable James Dugdale, John McCook roots, Gerald Piel

1972

Maya Angelou, Dr. John Searle, Claire Booth Luce, James Deakin, Eileen Shanahan, Dr. Bradford Burns

1971

Lord Caradon, Jon Morrow Lindbergh, Allan Temks, Alex Haley, Dr. Edward LeFavour

1970

Daniel Schorr, N. Scott Momaday, Harold Gilliam, Morton Gottlief, Roger Hilsman, Marya Mannes

1969

Irving R. Levine, Paul Engle, Rita Hauser, Keith Berwick, Robert Goralski, Alvin Roffler

1968

Russell Baker, William Stringer, Francis Robinson, Robert E. Lee, Richard C. Hottelet

1967

David Schoebrun, Rumer Ogden, John Peer Nugent, Agnes DeMille, Eldon Wylie Griffiths, M.P.,Colonel John A. “Shorty” Powers

1966

Honorable Halvarad Lange, Urban Wittaker, Donald Cressey, Drew Middleton, Marietta Tree, Joshua Logan

1965

Helmut Boeniger, Stringfellow Barr, Simeon Booker, Arthur Larson, Robert Scalapino, Joseph Harsh

1964

Malcom Muggeridge, Elie Abel, Han Suyin, Ralph Roby, Joan Comay, S.I. Hayakawa, Leon Volkov

1963

Ashley Montagu, Walter, Slezac, Maurice Van Arsdol Jr., Drew Pearson, Dobert Scalapino,Henry Kissinger, Armin Rappaport

1962

Sander Vanocur, Dr. Dexter Keezer, Lynn Heinzerling, Eldon Griffiths, Dr. Zelma George, Lesly Frost, Dr. Albert Burke

1961

Martin Agronsky, Marion D. Hanks, Cleveland Amory, Max Lerner, Harrison Salisbury, Edward Tomlinson, Joel Hildebrande

1960

Adres Maurois, Herbert Herring, Charles Frankel, Mrs. James. B. Conant, Sir Charles Arden-Clarke, Santha Rama Rau, Max Lerner

1959

Harry Golden, Joseph Kaplan, David Schoenbrun, Helen Kirkpatrick, Norman Cousins

1958

James Reston, Russell Jones, Vance Packard, Current Affairs Panel, Adelaide Stedman, Robert Aura Smith

1957

R. Hon.Sir Anthony Nutting, Dr. Evelyn Miller Berger, David Schoenbrun, Charles Duncan Jr., Morris L. Ernst, Dr. Ralph E. Lapp

1956

The Right Rev. Herbert Morrison, Marian Mill Preminger, Richard L. Tobin, Howard K. Smith,Arthur C. Clark, Adoka K. Dutt

1955

Norman Cousins, Ralph E. Lapp, Harrison Salisbury, Charles J. Duveen, Jr., Dorothy Thompson, Alistair Cook

1954

Frank Gibney, Pauline Frederick, Panel on Current Affairs, Rebecca, Reyner, Heinrich Harrer, General Carold P. Romulo

1953

Arthur Treacher, Houston Peterson, Chet Huntley, Eugenie Anderson, F.S.C. Northrop, Louise Fischer

1952

Roscoe Drummond, Marquis Childs, Margaret Bourke-White, Murray Banks, Mrs. Alan F. Kirk, Margaret Mead

1951

Alan Raymond, Ashley Montagu, Marguerite Higgins, Ogden Nash, Norman Cousins, (fifth scheduled speaker, Princess Illeana of Romania, did not appear)

1950

Mortiner J. Adler Daniel A. Poling, Mary Wright, James Michener, Edward Tomlinson

1949

Vincent Sheehan, Hudson Strode, William L. Shirer, Dr. Harry D. Gineonse, Dr. Milton Silverman

1948

Arthur Gaeth, Dr. Owen Lattimore, Rear Admiral Zaccharias, Dr. David Dressler, Bennett Cerf, Vincent Sheehan

1947

Speakers list not available

1946

Erika Mann, Hubert Herring, Herbert Agar, Harold Kennedy, Ray Joseph

1945

Kumar Goshal, Ray Joseph, William Winter, Vincent Sheean, Bruce Blien, Virginia Kirkus

1944

Lorita Baker Vallely ($150), Edward Howard Griggs ($100),J. Raymond Walsh($150), Dr. Frederick Niemand($150), Lewis Brown($150)Walter Duranty($350)Michael Strange ($150) James R. Young($150) Mary Hutchinson ($100), Cecil Roberts($150), Dean Dickenson($150)

1943

Irina Skariatina, Linda Littlejohn, Marryle S. Rukeyser, Howard Pierce Davis, Dr. Hsin-Hai Chang, Mme. Vicente Lim, Jan Struther, Manly P. Hall, Krishnalal Shridharani, Don Bate, Dr, Sigmund Spaeth

1942

Dr. Jean Pajus, Sydney R. Montague,Ely Culbertson, Dr. Emil Lengyel, Sir Charles Morgan-Webb, Kismet Sirri Sanli, Mai-Mai Sze, Ogden Nash, Henry C. Wolf, Margaret Bourke, White

1941

David Seabury, Senora Isabel de Palencia, Howard Pierce Dais, John Erskine, Alfred Noyes, Mme., Geneieve Tabouis, Louis Fischer, Henry C. Wolfe, Ruth St. Denis, Ruth Bryan Owen

1940

Sir Herbert Wilkins, Jesse Stuart, Sherwood Eddy, Dr. Ernest C. Cadle, Josephine Roche, Louis Untermeyer, Phillip Guedalla, Edna Lee Booker, Dr. Harry R. Oerstreet, Dr. Harlan True Stitson, Pierre van Paasen, Selma Ekremm, Suzanne Silvercruys

1939

Tony Sander ($100) Edward Tomlinson, Mary Ellen Chase, Vera Brittain, Louis Adamic, Dr. Gerald, Wendt, Pierra van Paasen, Dr. Winifred Johnson, Bhicoo Batlivala, Dr. David Seabury, Mrs. Littlejohn, Her highness the Rance of Sarawah, George Dangerfield ($75.00)

1938

Marjorie Hillis, Sidney Montague, Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, Dr. Franz Polgar, Dr. Abram L. Sachar, Erica Mann, Dr. Klaus Mann, James M. Hebron, Countess of Lisstowel, Capt. C.W.R. Knight, Dr. Louis K. Anspacher, David Seabury, William Rose Benet, Bertita Harding.

1938 (Jan. thru June)

Vicki Baum, Dr. Abram Leon Sachar, John Mulholland, Honorable Agnes MacPhail, Evelyn Grover, Capt. John D. Craig, Nicholas Roosevelt, V.C. Buckley, Paula Lecler, Julien Bryan, Gil Roland, Pierre Jordan, John thompson, Maj. Gen. Paul B. Malone, Harold R. Peat.