This is a free event that requires a ticket for entry. In the pages of MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic, Maus, Art Spiegelman revisits the Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus, which altered how we see literature, comics, and the Holocaust. He probes the questions that Maus most often evokes – Why the Holocaust? Why mice? Why comics? – and gives us a new and essential work about the creative process. Moderated by Emmy Waldman,…

This is a free event that requires a ticket for entry. In The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America, bestselling author Jeffrey Rosen explores the clashing visions of two Founding Fathers on how to balance liberty and power. It’s a tug of war that’s shaped every pivotal moment in American history and still resonates today. Weekend ticketed events are available to Friends of the Fair – who enjoy early access to these programs – exclusively at this time.…

This is a free event that requires a ticket for entry. In Summer of Our Discontent: The Age of Certainty and the Demise of Discourse, Thomas Chatterton Williams details the ideas and events that prompted the recent paradigm shift in social justice. From critical race theory ideology to the crises of COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd, Williams documents how this transition has altered our world and culture. He’ll be in conversation with historian and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.…

This is a free event that requires a ticket for entry. In Three or More Is a Riot: Notes on How We Got Here: 2012-2025, Jelani Cobb presents a kaleidoscopic portrait of America’s last turbulent decade. Tracing movements around guns, gender violence, sexual harassment, race, policing, and more, he blends narrative journalism, criticism, and profiles to capture the crises, characters, and culture of our era – and help us understand what awaits. In A Thousand Ways to Die: The True Cost of Violence on Black Life in America,…

This is a free event that requires a ticket for entry. Both a memoir and spiritual guide for everyday living, Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging chronicles Angela Buchdahl’s journey to become the first Asian American rabbi. Despite the naysayers and periods of self-doubt, Buchdahl stayed the course, finally landing at the pulpit of one of the largest, most influential congregations in the world. Buchdahl will be in conversation with journalist and author Abigail Pogrebin,…

This is a free event that requires a ticket for entry. Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up spans Dave Barry’s life – from his childhood as the son of a Presbyterian minister to his tenure as a humor columnist at the Miami Herald and eventual member of a literary rock band. Class Clown is a vibrant celebration of a life rich with humor, absurdity, joy, and sadness. In Carl Hiaasen’s Fever Beach: A Novel,…

This is a free event that requires a ticket for entry. With A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power, CNN NewsNight anchor Abby Phillip delivers a fresh look at the history of Black political power through the lens of Jackson’s transformative presidential campaigns. His White House runs in 1984 and 1988 created the blueprint for the modern Democratic coalition – one that has been used by all major party members seeking national office, from Barack Obama to Joe Biden to Kamala Harris.…

This is a free event that requires a ticket for entry. In The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine, Lieutenant Colonel U.S. Army (retired) Alexander Vindman notes how, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, six U.S. presidential administrations of both parties pursued policies for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia that emboldened Russia. And Western indecision and apathy made possible the return of brutal Russian expansionism with catastrophic consequences. In The Dark Side of the Earth: Russia’s Short-lived Victory over Totalitarianism,…

This is a free event that requires a ticket for entry. David Margolick’s When Caesar Was King: How Sid Caesar Reinvented American Comedy is the first definitive biography of the founding father of television comedy. At his peak in the 1950s, 20 million Americans tuned in to Caesar’s show weekly to watch his groundbreaking humor. Despite burning out quickly – a victim of exhaustion, addiction, and his own impossible standards – he remains TV’s first comic giant. Susan Morrison’s Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live takes readers behind the curtain to tell the story of how Lorne Michaels created and maintained the program that changed comedy forever.…

This is a free event that requires a ticket for entry. The headlines are filled with news of hurricanes, tornadoes, and cataclysmic fires affecting America. And a report released in 2022 by atmospheric scientists at the University of Northern Illinois warned that winds are expected to steadily strengthen in the years ahead. In The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind, Simon Winchester explores how wind plays a part in our everyday lives. Every day we draw in two thousand gallons of air – and thousands of living things.…

This is a free event that requires a ticket for entry. In Yet Here I Am: Lessons from a Black Man’s Search for Home, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jonathan Capehart shares powerful stories of identity, resilience, and self-discovery. From growing up between New Jersey and rural North Carolina without a father to embracing his voice as a gay Black man and rising through journalism, Capehart’s memoir is an inspiring account of identity, opportunity, and finding one’s voice along the way.…

This is a free event that requires a ticket for entry. Told in reverse order, The End Is the Beginning: A Personal History of My Mother is a brave, compassionate celebration of the life and death of Jill Bialosky’s mother, Iris, and a window into the inextricable bond between mother and daughter. Starting with her burial and cognitive decline, Bialosky chronicles Iris’ often traumatic life, centering her mother as a resilient, multidimensional and fascinating woman. Molly Jong-Fast,…

This is a free event that requires a ticket for entry. In Antisemitism, an American Tradition, Pamela S. Nadell traces nearly four centuries of antisemitism in the United States, from Peter Stuyvesant’s attempt to deport Jews in 1654 to tragic manifestations of antisemitism in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Pittsburgh. Chronicling prejudice, violence, and exclusion alongside Jewish resistance and resilience, Nadell reveals how antisemitism – and resistance to hatred – endures, representing a deeply rooted legacy. Joining Nadell in conversation is Lisa Hostein,…