Nonfiction Author Talks

America’s Failed Response to the Opioid Crisis with Author Shoshana Walter

Tuesday, March 24th 2026 at 1:00 PM CDT
With Special Guest Host Barbara Kingsolver

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Smithson’s Gamble: The Incredible History Behind the World’s Largest Museum with Smithsonian Curator Emeritus Tom Crouch

Tuesday, February 24th 2026 at 1:00 PM CST
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

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Mojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women’s Magic with Dr. Lindsey Stewart

Thursday, February 12th 2026 at 1:00 PM CST
Award-Winning Author and Professor of Philosophy

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Nature, Art, and Service as Medicine with Journalist Julia Hotz

Tuesday, January 20th 2026 at 1:00 PM CST
Journalist and Award-Winning Author of The Connection Cure

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Community, Power, and the Search for Indigenous Identity with Award-Winning Journalist Joseph Lee

Wednesday, November 5th 2025 at 1:00 PM CST
Author of the Debut Memoir Nothing More of This Land

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Finding My Way with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai

Wednesday, October 22nd 2025 at 6:00 PM CDT
Bestselling Author and Education Activist

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

Thursday, October 2nd 2025 at 1:00 PM CDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

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

Tuesday, August 5th 2025 at 1:00 PM CDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

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On the Strangeness and Wonder of Our Brains with Pria Anand

Thursday, July 31st 2025 at 1:00 PM CDT
Neurologist, Author, and Professor of Medicine

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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 1:00 PM CDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

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

Wednesday, May 21st 2025 at 1:00 PM CDT
Lifestyle Writer, Editor, and Bestselling Author of The Genius of Judy

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

Tuesday, April 8th 2025 at 1:00 PM CDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

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

Thursday, March 20th 2025 at 1:00 PM CDT
Award-Winning Journalist and Author of Women on the Hill and Witness to the Revolution

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

Tuesday, February 18th 2025 at 1:00 PM CST
Award-Winning Journalist and Creator and Host of the podcast “What Happened in Alabama?”

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

Wednesday, December 4th 2024 at 1:00 PM CST
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

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

Thursday, November 7th 2024 at 6:00 PM CST
Fabled Navajo Investigator of the History Channel’s Beyond Skinwalker Ranch and the Netflix Series The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch

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

Wednesday, October 2nd 2024 at 1:00 PM CDT
Presented by Smithsonian Scientists Dr. Rachel Page, Dr. Dina Dechmann, and Dr. Teague O’Mara

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

Tuesday, September 10th 2024 at 1:00 PM CDT
New York Times Bestselling Author and Pulitzer Prize Finalist

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

Wednesday, August 7th 2024 at 1:00 PM CDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

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

Monday, June 3rd 2024 at 1:00 PM CDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

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

Wednesday, May 1st 2024 at 2:00 PM CDT
New York Times Bestselling Author of The Mysterious Case of Rudolph Diesel and Ghosts of Manhattan

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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 1:00 PM CDT
A Library Speakers Consortium and Smithsonian Institution Collaboration

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The Power of Friendships with NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg

Wednesday, March 6th 2024 at 3:00 PM CST
NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent and New York Times Bestselling Author

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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 3:00 PM CST
The 23rd United States Poet Laureate and 2023 Winner of Yale’s Bollingen Prize for American Poetry

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

Wednesday, November 1st 2023 at 7:00 PM CDT
Three-time Emmy Nominee and Full House Star

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

Thursday, September 7th 2023 at 6:00 PM CDT
Emmy award-winning public television host, a best‐selling cookbook author, restaurateur, and owner of a flourishing food and entertainment business

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

Tuesday, July 25th 2023 at 3:00 PM CDT
New York Times Bestselling Author of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter

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Not Funny: Author Talk with Academy Award Nominated Jena Friedman

Wednesday, May 10th 2023 at 7:00 PM CDT
Comedian, Filmmaker, and Creator of AMC’s Indefensible and Soft Focus with Jena Friedman on Adult Swim

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

Tuesday, April 4th 2023 at 6:00 PM CDT
NYT Bestselling Cartoonist of Hark! A Vagrant! and Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

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

Thursday, February 16th 2023 at 12:00 PM CST
2021 National Book Award Finalist and TIME and NPR Best Book of the Year

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

Wednesday, December 14th 2022 at 11:00 AM CST
Nicole Eustace–Pulitzer Prize Winning Historian

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

Wednesday, November 2nd 2022 at 3:00 PM CDT
Virtual Chat with Acclaimed Writer, Journalist, Broadcaster, and Speaker

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

Tuesday, October 18th 2022 at 6:00 PM CDT
Zain E. Asher - CNN International Anchor and Memoirist

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Author Talk with Simon Winchester

Tuesday, September 20th 2022 at 1:00 PM CDT
Simon Winchester - New York Times Bestselling Author

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The Beauty in Breaking: Author Talk with Michele Harper

Monday, August 22nd 2022 at 8:00 PM CDT
Michele Harper - NYT Bestselling Author and NYT Notable Book

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

Wednesday, August 3rd 2022 at 1:00 PM CDT
Marcia Chatelain - Author of Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America

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