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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.
Thu, Feb 23, 7 PM
Mark Salzman and
Joe Loya
Top: Mark Salzman
Photo © Emily Mott
Bottom: Joe Loya
Photo © Reid Yalom
Mark Salzman’s experiences in China were the inspiration for his first book, Iron and Silk, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in non-fiction and received the Christopher Award. He wrote the screenplay for, and starred in, the critically acclaimed film version of Iron & Silk. His other books include a memoir, Lost in Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia, and the novels The Laughing Sutra, The Soloist, and Lying Awake. His fiction and non-fiction have been praised for a lyrical style and gut-wrenching honesty. As well, his great sense of humor—so integral to his marvelous ability to tell a story—is a highlight of his public appearances.

Mark Salzman’s book True Notebooks is a fascinating look at his experiences as a writing teacher at a maximum-security prison for juvenile offenders. Common to each of his works is the theme of how people struggle to reach an ideal but often fall short, and the quiet change that takes place in facing the discouragement and the possibility of never achieving their goal.

As a boy, all Mark Salzman ever wanted was to be a Kung Fu master. It was his proficiency on the cello, however, that facilitated his acceptance to Yale at the age of 16. He soon changed his major to Chinese language and philosophy, eventually leading him to travel to mainland China, where he spent two years teaching English at Hunan Medical College and studying traditional martial arts at their source. In 1985, he was the only non-Chinese invited to participate in the National Martial Arts Competition in Tianjin. Salzman’s cello playing appears on the soundtrack to several films, including the Academy Award-winning documentary Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O’Brien. In 1996, Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emanuel Ax invited Mark Salzman to join them as guest cellist for part of their Valentine’s Day chamber music program at Alice Tully Hall, which was broadcast nationally on the television program Live From Lincoln Center.

Mark Salzman is currently at work on a novel involving pre-emptive and uninhibited warfare, divine authority, and escape, and is set in 13th century Mongolia.

Joe Loya is an essayist, playwright, and contributing editor at the Pacific News Service. His opinion pieces have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Newsday, the Washington Post, and other national newspapers. He frequently comments on politics, religion, criminal justice issues, and other cultural events. In 2000 he was the recipient of a Sundance Writing Fellowship and a Sun Valley Writer's Conference Fellowship. In 2002, he wrote and performed his monologue, The Man Who Outgrew His Prison Cell, at San Francisco's Thick Description Playhouse. His memoir, also titled The Man Who Outgrew His Prison Cell, was published in September 2004 by HarperCollins. In 2005, he was awarded a Soros Justice Fellowship to write his next memoir, The Parole of Buddha Lobo.

www.joeloya.com