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&As and more that are happening this week.

Monday, November 9 

• Dr. Ibram X. Kendi speaks with multiple Chicago independent bookstores and libraries (7:00PM EST)
• Carl Hiaasen discusses SQUEEZE ME with Karen Russell at the Portland Book Festival (8:00PM EST)

Tuesday, November 10

• Brittany K. Barnett speaks about the past and present of law enforcement in Texas at the Texas Book Festival (11:00AM EST)
• Francisco Cantú discusses the immigrant experience at the Texas Book Festival (12:30PM EST)
• Sigrid Nunez talks about empathy, connection, and how we can strengthen our relationships with one another at the Texas Book Festival (3:30PM EST)
• Brit Bennett and Bryan Washington discuss family ties in fiction at the Portland Book Festival (4:00PM EST)
• Ron Chernow speaks at Politics & Prose (6:00PM EST)
• Rick Bragg discusses his book on Lemuria Bookstore’s Facebook LIVE (7:00PM EST)

Wednesday, November 11

• Howard Markel, M.D. joins Weil Cornell Medicine-Qatar for its COVID-19 Live Webinar Series (8:00AM EST)
• Robin Coste Lewis talks about poetry, Black culture, and America with Well-Read Black Girl founder at Doubleday (7:00PM EST)
• Lawrence Wright discusses his latest book at the Texas Book Festival (7:30PM EST)

Thursday, November 12

• Brit Bennett discusses THE VANISHING HALF at Texas Book Festival (11:00AM EST)
• Yaa Gyasi speaks at the Texas Book Festival (1:00PM EST)
• Charles Yu appears virtually at Colgate University to talk about INTERIOR CHINATOWN (4:45PM EST)
• Tommy Orange connects with readers at North Central Regional Library’s Virtual Reads (5:00PM EST)
• Bryan Washington joins Politics & Prose to discuss MEMORIAL (7:00PM EST)
• Danielle Evans has a discussion with a panel of fellow writers at the Red Ink Series (7:00PM EST)
• Lawrence Wright will be in a virtual in-conversation with PENAmerica CEO (7:00PM EST)
• Dani Shapiro appears at the 69th National Jewish Book Awards – Virtual Celebration (7:00PM EST)

Friday, November 13

• Robert B. Reich discusses his book THE SYSTEM at the Texas Book Festival (3:00PM EST)
• Patrick Radden Keefe joins Harvard Book Store for a discussion (7:00PM EST)

Saturday, November 14

• Isabel Wilkerson speaks at the Texas Book Festival (12:30PM EST)
• Lawrence Wright discusses THE END OF OCTOBER at Atlanta Jewish Community Center Virtual Festival (6:30PM EST)

Sunday, November 15

• Bryan Washington appears at Texas Book Festival (11:00AM EST)
• Ottessa Moshfegh discusses characters whose pasts or obsessions haunt them, figuratively and literally, at the Texas Book Festival(3:00PM EST)

Check out #BooksConnectUsLive for more live virtual events.

News and Media from PRHSB Speakers

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

• Delaware Democrat Sarah McBride to become the nation’s first-ever transgender state senator | CNN: Delaware’s Sarah McBride wins the election as 1st openly transgender state lawmaker.
• Biden Can’t Be F.D.R. He Could Still Be L.B.J. | The New York Times: Anand Giridharadas remarks that Joe Biden has the power to make transformational progress.
• 2020 Election Takeaways | The New York Times Close Up with Sam Roberts: Mark Leibovich joins other experts in providing key takeaways from this election.
• Winning Was the Easy Part | The Atlantic: Franklin Foer gets candid about how Joe Biden needs to repair a badly broken country.
• Congressman Adam Kinzinger joins CNN to discuss the 2020 Election and U.S. Politics | CNN: Alisyn Camerota discusses the 2020 election and U.S. politics with Congressman Adam Kinzinger.
• How can Biden heal America when Trump doesn’t want it healed? | The Guardian: Robert B. Reich is concerned that the president will disgrace the national scene.

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

• Pfizer’s Early Data Shows Vaccine Is More Than 90% Effective | The New York Times: Carl Zimmer reports that Pfizer has announced positive early results from its coronavirus vaccine trial.
• Listen Up: The New Corner Office | 425 Business: Laura Vanderkam creates a podcast that offers strategies for navigating this new normal.
• If restaurants go, what happens to cities? | The New York Times: Eduardo Porter describes the crisis that restaurants are facing.
• The Human Experience Will Not Be Quantified | The New York Times: Phil Klay talks about when his immunocompromised mother-in-law and his pregnant wife both contracted the disease.
• How to Make Self Care a Priority During the Pandemic (Because We Know That Sounds Impossible) | She Knows: Dr. Cara Natterson and Dr. Shimi Kang provide tips.

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

• How can white people apologize to people of color? | KING 5: Dr. Ibram X. Kendi weighs in on how white people can seek to repair the harm done to communities of color.
• US author Brit Bennett on her novel The Vanishing Half and the presidential election | France 24 English: Brit Bennett explores questions of self-determination, identity, and race in her latest book.
• Short Stories Need a Defender. She’s Ready. | The New York Times: Danielle Evans talks about THE OFFICE OF HISTORICAL CORRECTIONS and the comfort of not being the only Black writer in the conversation.
• ‘Who cares if some rich person is cancelled?’ Bestselling novelist Kiley Reid on race and class | The Sydney Morning Herald: Kiley Reid answers questions about money, politics, and death.
• Ken Burns: The 60 Minutes Interview | CBS: Ken Burns tells how the theme of race in his works was instilled in him as a child.

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

• Here’s everything you need to know about the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize finalists | CBC: Emily St. John Mandel is one of the finalists.
• The Best Books of 2020 (So Far) | Thrillist: Charles Yu’s INTERIOR CHINATOWN and Emily St. John Mandel’s THE GLASS HOTEL are on this list.
• Megha Majumdar on her debut novel A Burning | The Michigan Daily: Megha Majumdar answers questions from curious students.
• Missionaries: Vivid debut novel delves into the vicious world of Colombia’s drug war | Independent: Phil Klay delivers a page-turning saga that is powerfully written in its early parts but then shifts to more conventional storytelling.
• Cheryl Strayed named writer-in-residence | Idaho Mountain Express: Cheryl Strayed is the inaugural Jack Grove Writer-in-Residence at the Hemingway House.