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THU, Feb 2, 7 PM
Reza Aslan
and Jack Miles
“The Coming Reformation of Islam:
A Conversation”
Who has the authority to define the faith and practice of over a billion people: the individual or the institution? Join two brilliant scholars of religion for a fascinating discussion on the internal conflict within Islam over the scope and outcome of the Islamic Reformation.

SAT, Feb 4, 2-4 PM
A Seminar with
Reza Aslan
“The Origins, Evolution, and History of Islam”
What is the essence of this ancient faith? Is it a religion of peace or war? Can an Islamic State be founded on democratic values such as pluralism and human rights? Join Reza Aslan, scholar of comparative religions and author of No God but God to learn more about a religion shrouded in the West by ignorance and fear.
Advance Registration Requested.
TUE, FEB 7, 7 pm
ZÓCALO
“Do Books have
a Future in
the Digital Age?”
Steve Wasserman, former Editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review, will argue that books will survive as long as the human species is defined by its opposable thumb and its obsessive need to tell each other stories.
THU, FEB 9, 7 pm
Bernard Cooper
The Bill from My Father:
A Memoir
In conversation with
Kit Rachlis, editor-in-chief,
Los Angeles Magazine
Cooper, an award-winning writer, makes hilarious and exquisite sense of his father, a cantankerous octogenarian in a khaki polyester jumpsuit. “A glorious cornucopia of love and pain.”—Alice Sebold
MON, FEB 13, 7 pm
John Hope Franklin
and Tavis Smiley
“Mirror to America:
A Conversation about
History, Race, Politics,
and the Future of
America”
Franklin, one of the country’s great historians, has dedicated his life to the pursuit of equality. He discusses that odyssey with Smiley, one of America’s premier journalists.

THU, FEB 16, 7 pm
Nick Kotz
and Karl Fleming
“Good Bad Days
in America:
A Conversation about
How the Nation
Redeemed Lincoln’s
Legacy”
Two distinguished journalists who were on the front lines during the civil rights movement discuss the events that changed America in the 1960s, the unlikely partnership of black and white leaders who led that change, and how that crucial epoch continues to affect all of our lives.

WED, FEB 22, 7 pm
Geraldine Brooks
March: A Novel
In conversation with
Carla Kaplan,
Professor of English, USC
Brooks’ luminous second novel (after 2001’s acclaimed Year of Wonders) imagines the Civil War experiences of Mr. March, the absent father in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

THU, Feb 23, 7 pm
Mark Salzman
and Joe Loya
“Dark Thoughts:
A Conversation”
It’s often assumed that getting someone to write is helpful, because it gets them to communicate. What if getting someone to write is a traumatizing event? Salzman (True Notebooks) and Loya (The Man Who Outgrew His Prison Cell : Confessions of a Bank Robber) explore the darker aspects of writing.
Though it is the fastest growing religion in the world, Islam remains shrouded by ignorance and fear. What is the essence of this ancient faith? Is it a religion of peace or war? How does Allah differ from the God of Jews and Christians? Can an Islamic State be founded on democratic values such as pluralism and human rights? A writer and scholar of comparative religions, Reza Aslan has garnered international acclaim for the passion and clarity he has brought to these questions. In his recent book, No God but God, Aslan challenges the "clash of civilizations" mentality that has distorted our view of Islam and explains this critical faith in all its complexity, beauty, and compassion.