In 2023, 1 out of 5 Americans spent a total of over $120 billion betting on sports. American Academy of Arts & Sciences' Jonathan Cohen looks at the downside of legalized sports gambling, dominated today by companies like FanDuel and DraftKings.
Attorney Christine Menedis argues that Americans are unknowingly giving up their freedom and sovereignty to the U.S. government, private institutions, and global organizations.
University of Michigan law professor Leah Litman spoke about why she believes the Supreme Court isn’t making rulings based on legal principles. She was interviewed by author and Nation Magazine justice correspondent Elie Mystal.
Columbia University linguistics professor John McWhorter talked about the use and evolution of language and argues that the current controversy over pronoun usage in America is largely overblown. He spoke at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.
Source Booksellers owner Janet Webster Jones discussed the independent bookstore she founded in Detroit’s Midtown district in 2002 and what she’s learned over more than two decades in the bookselling business. Source Booksellers was named the 2025 Bookstore of…
NPR’s Emily Feng reported on how some in China are pushing back against efforts to control free expression. Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C., covered this event.
Government and international affairs professor Gerard Toal argued that the assumptions of geopolitics leads countries into competition over resources instead of cooperation to address climate change. George Washington University in Washington, D.C., hosted thi…
American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Sally Satel and contributors to the book “The Free Inquiry Papers” talked about academic freedom in the Unites States and what they say is a decline of free inquiry in American higher education. This event was hosted…
Professors Mark Bailey and Susan Schneider looked at the future of artificial intelligence. Books and Books in Coral Gables, Florida, hosted this event.
Journalist Murray Carpenter argued that Coca-Cola uses the same tactics as the tobacco industry to obscure the health effects of soda. Book Passage Bookstore in San Francisco hosted this event.
Author John Green examined the history of tuberculosis and his friendship with a tuberculosis patient. Symphony Space in New York City hosted this event.
University of Michigan law professor Leah Litman spoke about why she believes the Supreme Court isn’t making rulings based on legal principles. She was interviewed by author and Nation Magazine justice correspondent Elie Mystal.
Steve Olson talked about his book Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens, in which he recalls the volcanic eruption at Mount St. Helens in southwestern Washington on May 18, 1980, which resulted in the deaths of 57 people and $1 billion in damage.
