The PRH Speakers Bureau is proud to represent speakers who keep us connected and make powerful progress toward change. As we continue to have conversations about challenging the status quo, actively fighting for justice in BIPOC communities, and grappling with COVID-19, we’ve compiled these recent articles, media, and essays from our speakers about the changing personal, political, and cultural landscapes.

We are also happy to include a roundup for you here of virtual events that are open to the public from our speakers for the upcoming week.

Virtual Events with Our Speakers

Tune in to these virtual Penguin Random House speakers’ book events, author Q&A’s and more that are happening this week.

Monday, August 24

• Carl Zimmer joins Emily Anthes at Harvard Book Store (7:00PM EST)

Tuesday, August 25

• Brit Bennett will appear on Los Angeles Times’s Facebook Live to discuss THE VANISHING HALF (6:00PM EST)
• Mike Lupica will launch his latest sports novel for kids TRIPLE THREAT with RJ Julia (7:00PM EST)

Wednesday, August 26

• Dr. Ibram X. Kendi joins One World to speak about his book HOW TO BE AN ANTIRACIST (8:00PM EST)

Thursday, August 27

• Carl Hiaasen in conversation with John Grisham, hosted by Books & Books (1:00PM EST)
• Brit Bennett joins Vox for a discussion about THE VANISHING HALF (5:00PM EST)

Check out #BooksConnectUsLive for more live virtual events.

News and Media from PRHSB Speakers

Black Lives Matter Movement
Below are some recent dialogues from our speakers on systemic racism and the Black Lives Matter movement.

• Preacher of the New Antiracist Gospel | GQ: Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s best-selling book HOW TO BE AN ANTIRACIST has transformed his life, and now he’s bringing his doctrine to the people.
• The American caste system | The Seattle Times: Isabel Wilkerson seeks nothing less than to reframe our understanding of America’s original sin in CASTE.
• Brit Bennett On the Danger of Symbolic Band-Aids | Interview Magazine: Brit Bennett discusses the unforeseen timeliness of THE VANISHING HALF, America’s cyclical reckonings with racial justice, and the dangers of symbolic change.
• Seth MacFarlane, Eisa Davis & Chadwick Boseman Developing Little Rock Nine Drama At UCP | Deadline: Based on Carlotta Walls LaNier’s memoir A MIGHTY LONG WAY, the series will tell the story of how 14-year-old Carlotta Walls became one of the first black students to attend the all-white Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas following the landmark Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education.
• Black Activists and Visionaries to Celebrate: The Squad, Billy Porter, Noname, and More | Vanity Fair: Among this list of Black activists and visionaries are Isabel Wilkerson and Colson Whitehead.

Books Connect Us 
With their imaginative, impactful pieces of literature, our speakers provide incredibly valuable perspectives to be read by all.

• 100 Black novelists and fiction writers you should read, from Abi Daré to Zora Neale Hurston | USA Today: USA Today names Brit Bennett, Colson Whitehead, Bryan Washington, and Kiley Reid as novelists and fiction writers that you should read.
• Author Carl Hiaasen Skewers Palm Beach And Florida Life In  Squeeze Me | NPR: Carl Hiaasen’s new novel is a mystery featuring wealthy widows, the president and first lady, a scrappy wildlife removal specialist, and some gigantic Burmese pythons.
• Ottessa Moshfegh: ‘Americans are really good storytellers and really good liars’ | The Guardian: Ottessa Moshfegh talks about her new novel, chronic pain, and growing up as the child of migrants in America.
• How Yaa Gyasi Found Religion (in Literature) | The New York Times: Yaa Gyasi gets candid about books.
• The legacy of Toni Morrison looms large in The Vanishing Half |Vox:  Judylyn Ryan, a professor of African American literature at Ohio Wesleyan University, explains why Brit Bennett’s THE VANISHING HALF works like a call and response.

COVID-19 
These articles from our speakers highlight practical advice and news about the current pandemic.

• To Go Back To ‘Normal’, We Need A COVID-19 Vaccine. But When Will That Be? | WNPR: Carl Zimmer speaks on the race to develop a COVID vaccine, the status of ongoing vaccine trials, and the research process that ensures a vaccine will be safe and effective.
• F.D.A. Allows Expanded Use of Plasma to Treat Coronavirus Patients | The New York Times: Dr. Sheri Fink analyzes what the Food and Drug Administration on Sunday’s emergency approval for expanded use of antibody-rich blood plasma means.
• Despite COVID, Florida’s Republican leaders think your kids, their teachers are expendable | Miami Herald: Carl Hiaasen expresses his concerns about the push to reopen public schools in Florida.
• You’ve Checked Your Temperature. Now, What’s Your Risk Tolerance? | The New York Times: Elisabeth Rosenthal explains how getting out of our bunkers doesn’t mean throwing caution to the wind.
• In searing heat, with a pandemic raging, homeless workers are on a quest to save lives in Hollywood | Los Angeles Times: Steve Lopez reports on the conditions of L.A.’s growing population of homeless people during this pandemic.

Politics
Our speakers provide clarity and shrewd analysis of today’s issues to help make sense of our current and future political landscape.

• America after fascism | The.Ink: Anand Giridharadas interviews Isabel Wilkerson on how America helped inspire the Nazis, and how post-Nazi Germany should now inspire America.
• Russiagate Was Not a Hoax | The Atlantic: Franklin Foer reports that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence confirmed what the Mueller report could not.
• Can Joe Biden Build a Better LGBTQ+ America? | Advocate: Sarah McBride describes her experience working with Joe Biden in the past.
• New Hampshire notables put out word about voting absentee | AP News: Filmmaker Ken Burns has recorded public service announcements to get the word out to residents that they can vote absentee in the state primary and general election during the coronavirus pandemic.
• Work done by Women of the Century helps all of us | USA Today: Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha speaks with other Women of the Century about how a ‘win’ for women is really a win for everyone, from Black and Latina girls, to the children of immigrants.