Madeline Miller is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, The Song of Achilles (2012), a reimagining of The Iliad, and Circe (2018), a feminist inversion of The Odyssey. In each book, Miller brings a fresh perspective to ancient tales, re-centering these stories on characters whose voices have been excluded from the narrative for thousands of years. This event will be presented live with a Q&A moderated by Kristen Millares Young, author of the novel Subduction.

Gabrielle Hamilton is the chef/owner of Prune restaurant in New York’s East Village and the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef. Anthony Bourdain called Blood, Bones & Butter “simply the best memoir by a chef. Ever.” Hamilton also writes for the New York Times on food, memory, and the restaurant industry. Q&A with Molly Wizenberg, author of The Fixed Stars.

Lawrence Wright is an author, screenwriter, playwright, and a staff writer for The New Yorker. At the magazine, Wright has written “some of the most astonishing journalism of our time,” according to journalist David Remnick, including reporting on al-Qaeda that shaped his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Looming Tower. Now, Wright presents the pandemic thriller The End of October, as packed with suspense as it is with the fascinating history of viral diseases.

In the urgent, authoritative book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical–and accessible–plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. This event will be pre-recorded, and Gates will be in conversation with Anderson Cooper.

Coming from Des Moines, Iowa – because, as he notes, “somebody had to” – bestselling Anglo-American author Bill Bryson has transformed narrative non-fiction for a generation with his witty, laugh-aloud-funny, observational writing. He has explored far-flung places from the Australian outback to the beginning of the universe itself. This time, in his latest book, The Body: A Guide for Occupants (2019), he turns his attention inwards to explore the human body, how it functions, and its remarkable ability to heal itself.

Award-winning poet, educator, and Cave Canem co-founder Toi Derricotte bravely tackles difficult and universal subject matter such as violence, racism, motherhood, and identity through an autobiographical lens. Q&A with Anastacia-Reneé.