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

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

Tuesday, October 27

• Ayelet Waldman chats with Nick Hornby at the Chicago Humanities Festival (12:00PM EST)
• Dr. Ibram X. Kendi presents BE ANTIRACIST at Loyalty Bookstores(6:00PM EST)

Wednesday, October 28

• Gayle Forman joins The Ripped Bodice for a conversation (5:00PM EST)
• Rick Bragg talks with Square Books (6:00PM EST)
• Carl Hiaasen speaks at BookHampton (7:00PM EST)
• Bryan Washington discusses MEMORIAL with Jacqueline Woodsonat BookPeople (8:00PM EST)
• Karen Russell is in-conversation with Jess Walter at Boswell Book Company (8:00PM EST)

Thursday, October 29.

• Yaa Gyasi does a virtual reading and Q&A at Colgate University(4:45PM EST)
• Bryan Washington discusses MEMORIAL at Books Are Magic(7:00PM EST)
• Tommy Orange particpates in a Q&A for SkyWords Common Reading Experience (8:00PM 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.

• End Minority Rule | The New York Times: Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt write about the growing multiracial majority in America.
  Trump Thinks He’s Found Biden’s Greatest Vulnerability | The Atlantic: Franklin Foer talks about the president’s psychological warfare against the Democratic nominee.
• How to stop Trump from stealing the election | Salon: Robert B. Reich warns that the president will stop at nothing to retain his power.
• Americans are always willing to shed party labels for better leadership | CNN: Ken Burns believes that moments of crisis create opportunities for leaders to transcend party lines.
• These 2020 Candidates Are About To Become Household Names | Elle: Sarah McBride is now poised to become the highest-ranking openly transgender official in the country.
• Antitrust Lawsuits: Google 2020 Vs. Microsoft 1998 | WNYC: Tim Wu speaks on the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Google.

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

• How an Aversion to Masks Stems From ‘Toxic Masculinity’ | The New York Times: Anand Giridharadas provides insights on America’s aversion to masks.
• Two Companies Restart Virus Trials in U.S. After Safety Pauses | The New York Times: Carl Zimmer gives updates on AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
• Winter Is Coming for Bars. Here’s How to Save Them. And Us. | The New York Times: Elisabeth Rosenthal warns that to stop the coronavirus, we have to stop super-spreader events.
• The Curve is Fattening, Not Flattening. What Can We Do? |Michigan Health: Howard Markel, M.D. urges people to stay the course to prevent infections and buy time until vaccines are ready.
• Grocery prices are down from their COVID-19 summer peaks. But here’s why your food bills are still stubbornly high. |Chicago Tribune: Jayson Lusk explains that even though transmission of the virus at meat plants is under control, the supply chain bottleneck is still there.

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

• ‘Racism Is Death, Anti-Racism Is Life’ Says Author Ibram Kendi | WNYC: Dr. Ibram X. Kendi speaks about why he created this new book, how he has weathered the deluge of attention, and what he has learned from standing at the center of such a massive civil rights reckoning.
• Thirty-three Rules for Becoming a Chef, Rule 2 | The Ringer: Kwame Onwuachi discusses racial equity in the culinary industry and why you shouldn’t go to cooking school.
• Meet the ‘Geniuses’ | WNYC: Jacqueline Woodson is honored for redefining children’s and young adult literature to encompass more complex issues and reflect the lives of Black children, teenagers, and families.
• Writers Rumaan Alam and Bryan Washington on Capturing Reality in Their Fiction | Wall Street Journal: The authors of this season’s most exciting new books, Bryan Washington and Rumaan Alam, discuss their work, the paradox of realism, and upending commercial publishing.

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

• Oprah Just Unveiled the Seven Books That Help Her Through Tough Times | The Oprah Magazine: One of these seven books is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME.
• Victims of Democracy | The New York Book Review: David Treuer writes about the Indian communities.
• The Books Yaa Gyasi Read While Writing Transcendent Kingdom | New York Magazine: Yaa Gyasi’s list includes Elizabeth Strout and Edwidge Danticat.
• Novelist Sigrid Nunez On Climate Change, Mortality And Life In A Pandemic | WNYC: Sigrid Nunez’s latest novel is about facing the possible death of our planet from climate change — while also dealing with our mortality as individuals.
• Barry Jenkins Shares Moving “Preamble” To Amazon Series Based On Colson Whitehead’s Novel | Deadline: On social media, the director shared a short teaser for the show, which is based off the 2017 Pulitzer-winning Colson Whitehead novel of the same name.