LFPL's At the Library Series

Writer, journalist, and former Clinton advisor Sidney BlumenthalContentious campaigning has always been a facet of US politics, and no one knows that better than Sidney Blumenthal. Journalist, author, and former senior advisor to President Bill Clinton, Blumenthal has seen it all up close. But his latest book, Wrestling With His Angel: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, takes a long look back through history in order to highlight the savvy decisions that catapulted Lincoln into the nation's spotlight.

"Women, Leadership and Success" with former Chanel CEO Maureen ChiquetMaureen Chiquet, the former global CEO of Chanel, is an expert on much more than fashion. Join her at the Main Library for a discussion of her new book: Beyond the Label: Women, Leadership and Success on Our Own Terms, an insightful read that blends Chiquet's own story with advice on creating a life that's uniquely your own.

Filled with shrewd analysis and never-before-reported details, Chris Whipple's latest book, The Gatekeepers, offers an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the White House Chiefs of Staff, whose actions and inactions have defined the course of our country.Chris Whipple is an acclaimed writer, journalist, documentary filmmaker, and a multiple Peabody and Emmy Award-winning producer at CBS's 60 Minutes and ABC's Primetime.

New York Times bestselling children's author Lauren Tarshis presented by Carmichael's KidsChildren's author Lauren Tarshis is the New York Times bestselling author of the I Survived series. These fast-paced historical fiction books for kids in grades 3 to 5 focus on a historical disaster from the perspective of a boy or girl who lived to tell the tale. Join her for a discussion of the latest book in the series Tornado Terror: True Tornado Survival Stories and Amazing Facts from History and Today.

As nature’s largest and longest-lived creations, trees play an extraordinarily important role in our cities. Today, four-fifths of Americans live in or near urban areas, surrounded by millions of trees of hundreds of different species. Despite their ubiquity and familiarity, most of us take trees for granted and know little of their fascinating natural history or remarkable civic virtues.Jill Jonnes’s Urban Forests tells the captivating stories of the founding mothers and fathers of urban forestry, and discusses the value of trees to public health and to our urban infrastructure.

On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany. Many Americans were indifferent to what was going on “over there” but German Americans—some living in Louisville—were very concerned. Listen as Dr. David Bettez explains how Kentucky answered the call to arms during this “war to end all wars.”

Drawing from examples in business, education, sports, medicine, and history, Rice University professor Scott Sonenshein's latest book Stretch provides a groundbreaking approach to succeeding in business and life using the science of resourcefulness.Through his research in psychology and management, Sonenshein examines why some people and organizations succeed with so little, while others fail with so much. His award-winning research, teaching, and consulting has helped Fortune 500 executives, entrepreneurs, and professionals in industries such as technology, healthcare, retail, education, banking, manufacturing, and nonprofits.

LFPL and the University of Louisville Brandeis Law School present economist and author Dr. Jessica Gordon NembhardJessica Gordon Nembhard's groundbreaking book Collective Courage chronicles African American cooperative business ownership and its place in the movements for Black civil rights and economic equality. Through her research, Gordon Nembhard finds that African Americans, as well as other people of color and low-income people, have benefitted greatly from cooperative ownership and democratic economic participation throughout the nation’s history.Jessica Gordon Nembhard is Associate Professor of Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Department of Africana Studies at John Jay College, City University of New York. Join her for a discussion of the history of African American cooperative economics and what role the cooperative model can play today.Special thanks to these program sponsors: UofL Office of the Vice Provost of Diversity & International Affairs, The Anne Braden Institute

American writer Elliot Ackerman is based out of Istanbul, where he has covered the Syrian Civil War since 2013. His writings have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The New York Times Magazine, among others. A former Marine, Ackerman served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan where he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, and the Purple Heart.

Join biographer Brian Jay Jones for a discussion of his latest book George Lucas: A Life, detailing the incredible life story of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones creator.Jones is the New York Times bestselling author of Jim Henson: The Biography and the award-winning Washington Irving: An American Original.

In partnership with the University of Louisville, the LFPL welcomes renowned Shakespeare scholar and author James Shapiro for a discussion of "Shakespeare in America." A Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, Shapiro specializes in Shakespeare and the Early Modern period.This event is part of Will in the Ville - bringing together more than 45 arts, cultural, and educational organizations throughout Louisville and Southern Indiana with aims to make Louisville a “city of Shakespeare” in 2016!

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey, whose work explores racial identity in America, speaks at the Main Library as Spalding University’s Master of Fine Arts in Writing Program's Distinguished Writer in Residence.

Join bestselling author and international sensation James Rebanks for a discussion of The Shepherd's Life with Kentucky's own Wendell Berry.

Join author Greg Mitchell for a discussion of his latest book, THE TUNNELS: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill, a riveting Cold War narrative chronicling two harrowing attempts to rescue East Germans via tunnels below the Berlin Wall, the U.S. television networks that financed and filmed them, and the Kennedy administration’s attempt to suppress both films.This podcast includes a 3-minute video from NBC news and is available online at http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21134540/vp/33623268#33623268

New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of Boing! and the Bad Kitty series Nick Bruel

Clara Bingham is a former Newsweek White House correspondent and Louisville native. Join her for a discussion of her latest book, Witness to the Revolution: Radicals, Resisters, Vets, Hippies, and the Year America Lost Its Mind and Found Its Soul, the story of the turbulent year when the sixties ended and America teetered on the edge of revolution.

Join author Mark Cirino for a discussion of his latest book, Hidden Hemingway: Inside the Ernest Hemingway Archives of Oak Park. Thoroughly researched, and illustrated with more than 300 color images, Hidden Hemingway includes never-before-published photos, letters, bullfighting memorabilia, and adolescent diaries of one of America's most famous and celebrated authors.

Marsha Weinstein discusses the History Of Women’s Suffrage In Louisville.

Cannabis has been cultivated for thousands of years for durable fibers, nutritious seeds, and psychoactive drugs. Most Cannabis research in the U.S. focuses on the effect of the drug on the human body, but there is much more to Cannabis than the drug. Dr. George Weiblen - scientific director of the Bell Museum of Natural History and Planetarium at the University of Minnesota - is one of few researchers permitted by the federal government to study the genetics of Cannabis and his research challenges opinions on all sides of the public debate about marijuana. Join Dr. Weiblen for a fascinating discussion about the genetics and politics of America’s most controversial plant. Part of the Sigma Xi 2016-2017 Distinguished Lecturer series sponsored by the Louisville Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society.

If being a dad is a full-time job, being a father and the president of the United States is a whole other ballgame. And yet nearly every president has performed both roles, leading Joshua Kendall to write First Dads, an original take on family, politics, and the politics of family.