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.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for the latest news about PRH Speakers.

Virtual Events with Our Speakers

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

Monday, February 1 

• Dr. Ibram X. Kendi launches FOUR HUNDRED SOULS with Random House (8:00PM EST)

Tuesday, February 2 

• Ariel Lawhon celebrates the paperback launch of CODE NAME HÉLÈNE at Parnassus Books (7:00PM EST)
• Dr. Ibram X. Kendi joins African American History and Culture Museum for a dicussion (7:00PM)

Thursday, February 4 

• Ariel Lawhon joins Garden District Book Shop for a chat on CODE NAME HÉLÈNE (7:00PM EST)
• Lisa Gardner discusses BEFORE SHE DISAPPEARED with Gramercy Book Club participants (7:00PM EST)
• Isabel Wilkerson speaks with Northeastern University about CASTE (7:00PM EST)
• Dr. Ibram X. Kendi joins California African American Museum to speak about FOUR HUNDRED SOULS (8:00PM 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.

• Authors talk new book Four Hundred Souls | CBS This Morning: Dr. Ibram X. Kendi discusses the 90 writers and poets who collaborated in the book and why it’s important for them to highlight the diversity of Black America.
• Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian: Taking a Stand on Racial Equity | Harvard Business Review: Porter Braswell talks about how CEOs and senior leaders can lead change in their companies to address internal and external racial justice issues.
• Colson Whitehead felt bound to honor survivors while writing Nickel Boys | ASU Now: Colson Whitehead feels a responsibility to stick to the truth when he wrote the terrible events
• Mothers leaving prison encounter uphill battle as they try reconnecting with family | PBS: Brittany K. Barnett talks about her own childhood with her mother in prison and her work with incarcerated women.

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

• How the Search for Covid-19 Treatments Faltered While Vaccines Sped Ahead | The New York Times: Carl Zimmer reports that while vaccine development exceeds everyone’s expectations, we lack drugs to treat patients.
• Yes, It Matters That People Are Jumping the Vaccine Line | The New York Times: Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal warns that when administrators and politicians’ spouses get immunized before people more at risk, it undermines confidence in the system.
• COVID-19 Deaths Draw Comparisons To Other Tragic Death Tolls. | wbur: As deaths from coronavirus surpassed the toll of American deaths since World War II, Howard Markel, M.D. warns that comparing death tolls is morally fraught, and oversimplifies history.
• Binge Drinking Has Intensified During The Pandemic, Especially Among Women | wgbh: Holly Whitaker speaks about how social drinking early on in the pandemic has led to an uptick in binge drinking.
• COVID Cost Indiana Food Sector $500M | Inside Indiana Business: Jayson Lusk speaks about how COVID-19 significantly impacted Indiana farmers.

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

• Facebook’s “Oversight Board” Is a Sham. The Answer to the Capitol Riot Is Regulating Social Media | Time: Roger McNamee talks about the role of social media in helping coordinate the riots.
• Senators can try Trump. But should they? | The Washington Post: Matt Bai argues that Trump doesn’t deserve the kind of trial reserved for a sitting president or to be martyred on the Senate floor.
• Uncovering the Real Victims of the GameStop Stock Squeeze | The Mehdi Hasan Show: Anand Giridharadas talks about hypocrisy of Wall Street’s outcry over the GameStop short squeeze.
• Senator Sarah McBride Won’t Let Hatred Stop Her from Fighting Injustice | Harper’s Bazaar: Sarah McBride discusses her legislative agenda, how a Biden–Harris administration will work for the LGBTQ+ community, and how she remains undeterred despite existing—and emboldened—bigotry and violence.
• Call for President Joe Biden to provide stimulus to moms | Good Morning America: Lauren Smith Brody gives advice to moms during the pandemic.
• Parkland survivor responds to video of Marjorie Taylor Greene confronting him with baseless claims | CNN: Alisyn Camerota speaks with Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg on the viral video.

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

• Here are the 2020 finalists for The Story Prize. | Lit Hub: Danielle Evans is a finalist for The Story Prize.
• A Confab With Pixar Co-Founder Ed Catmull And Composer Harold O’Neal: VR & The Future Of Storytelling | Forbes: Ed Catmull explores storytelling, virtual reality, personal responsibility— and how the universe intervenes.
• He Can’t Carry a Tune, but Chang-rae Lee Has a Song to Sing | The New York Times: Chang-rae Lee has been thinking about that a lot over these past, painful months.
• Lawrence Wright’s The Plague Year to release in June | ABC News: Lawrence Wright has interviewed more than 100 people for the book, including top government health officials.