Nonfiction Author Talks

Nuestra América: Stories of 30 Inspiring Latinas/Latinos Who Have Shaped the United States with Smithsonian Educators

Thursday, October 2nd 2025 at 2:00 PM EDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

See More and Register

The Stories, Science, and History of Birds with Smithsonian Biologist Jay Falk

Tuesday, August 5th 2025 at 2:00 PM EDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

See More and Register

On the Strangeness and Wonder of Our Brains with Pria Anand

Thursday, July 31st 2025 at 2:00 PM EDT
Neurologist, Author, and Professor of Medicine

See More and Register

Extinctopedia–A Discovery of What We Have Lost, What is at Risk, and What To Do About it with Smithsonian Scientists

Wednesday, June 4th 2025 at 2:00 PM EDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

See More and Register

How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood for All of Us with Author Rachelle Bergstein

Wednesday, May 21st 2025 at 2:00 PM EDT
Lifestyle Writer, Editor, and Bestselling Author of The Genius of Judy

See More and Register

The Stories, Science, and History of Trees with Smithsonian Gardens Greenhouse Horticulturalist Matthew Fleming

Tuesday, April 8th 2025 at 2:00 PM EDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

See More and Register

How Women’s Liberation Transformed America: In Conversation with Clara Bingham

Thursday, March 20th 2025 at 2:00 PM EDT
Award-Winning Journalist and Author of Women on the Hill and Witness to the Revolution

See More and Register

I Am Nobody’s Slave: An Author Talk with Pulitzer Prize Finalist Lee Hawkins

Tuesday, February 18th 2025 at 2:00 PM EST
Award-Winning Journalist and Creator and Host of the podcast “What Happened in Alabama?”

See More and Register

Unearthed: Exploring the Smithsonian National Gem Collection with Dr. Jeffrey Post

Wednesday, December 4th 2024 at 2:00 PM EST
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

See More and Register

A Navajo Investigator’s Search for the Unexplained: In Conversation with Stanley Milford, Jr.

Thursday, November 7th 2024 at 7:00 PM EST
Fabled Navajo Investigator of the History Channel’s Beyond Skinwalker Ranch and the Netflix Series The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch

See More and Register

A Journey into the Hidden World of Tropical Bats with Scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Wednesday, October 2nd 2024 at 2:00 PM EDT
Presented by Smithsonian Scientists Dr. Rachel Page, Dr. Dina Dechmann, and Dr. Teague O’Mara

See More and Register

Capturing the Human Drama of 9/11 and D-Day Through Oral History with Garrett Graff

Tuesday, September 10th 2024 at 2:00 PM EDT
New York Times Bestselling Author and Pulitzer Prize Finalist

See More and Register

Your All Access Pass Behind the Scenes at the Space Station with Smithsonian Curator Dr. Jennifer Levasseur

Wednesday, August 7th 2024 at 2:00 PM EDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

See More and Register

For the Love of Mars: A Human History of the Red Planet with Smithsonian Curator Matt Shindell

Monday, June 3rd 2024 at 2:00 PM EDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

See More and Register

Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I - An Author Talk with Douglas Brunt

Wednesday, May 1st 2024 at 3:00 PM EDT
New York Times Bestselling Author of The Mysterious Case of Rudolph Diesel and Ghosts of Manhattan

See More and Register

The Foods, People, and Innovations That Feed Us–A Sweeping History of Food and Culture with Smithsonian Curator Paula J. Johnson

Tuesday, April 2nd 2024 at 2:00 PM EDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

See More and Register

The Power of Friendships with NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg

Wednesday, March 6th 2024 at 4:00 PM EST
NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent and New York Times Bestselling Author

See More and Register

Why She Writes - An Afternoon Chat with Joy Harjo, Internationally Renowned Performer, Writer and Poet of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation

Thursday, November 16th 2023 at 4:00 PM EST
The 23rd United States Poet Laureate and 2023 Winner of Yale’s Bollingen Prize for American Poetry

See More and Register

Hollywood, Home, Heart, and Healing: A Conversation with Actor John Stamos

Wednesday, November 1st 2023 at 8:00 PM EDT
Three-time Emmy Nominee and Full House Star

See More and Register

Life, Love, Family, and Food: An Author Talk with Lidia Bastianich

Thursday, September 7th 2023 at 7:00 PM EDT
Emmy award-winning public television host, a best‐selling cookbook author, restaurateur, and owner of a flourishing food and entertainment business

See More and Register

Crying in the Bathroom: A Memoir: An Author Talk with Erika L. Sánchez

Tuesday, July 25th 2023 at 4:00 PM EDT
New York Times Bestselling Author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

See More and Register

Not Funny: Author Talk with Academy Award Nominated Jena Friedman

Wednesday, May 10th 2023 at 8:00 PM EDT
Comedian, Filmmaker, and Creator of AMC’s Indefensible and Soft Focus with Jena Friedman on Adult Swim

See More and Register

Author Talk with Kate Beaton: Bestselling Cartoonist of Hark! A Vagrant!

Tuesday, April 4th 2023 at 7:00 PM EDT
NYT Bestselling Cartoonist of Hark! A Vagrant! and Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

See More and Register

Tastes Like War: An Author Talk with Grace M. Cho

Thursday, February 16th 2023 at 1:00 PM EST
2021 National Book Award Finalist and TIME and NPR Best Book of the Year

See More and Register

A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America: Author Talk with Nicole Eustace

Wednesday, December 14th 2022 at 12:00 PM EST
Nicole Eustace–Pulitzer Prize Winning Historian

See More and Register

The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR: Author Talk with Lisa Napoli

Wednesday, November 2nd 2022 at 4:00 PM EDT
Virtual Chat with Acclaimed Writer, Journalist, Broadcaster, and Speaker

See More and Register

Where The Children Take Us: Author Talk with Zain E. Asher

Tuesday, October 18th 2022 at 7:00 PM EDT
Zain E. Asher - CNN International Anchor and Memoirist

See More and Register

Author Talk with Simon Winchester

Tuesday, September 20th 2022 at 2:00 PM EDT
Simon Winchester - New York Times Bestselling Author

See More and Register

The Beauty in Breaking: Author Talk with Michele Harper

Monday, August 22nd 2022 at 9:00 PM EDT
Michele Harper - NYT Bestselling Author and NYT Notable Book

See More and Register

Author Talk With Historian and Pulitzer Prize Winner, Dr. Marcia Chatelain

Wednesday, August 3rd 2022 at 2:00 PM EDT
Marcia Chatelain - Author of Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America

See More and Register