Speakers Forum
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Readings, debates, lectures and so much more. Hear fascinating talks by authors, intellectuals, officials and regular folks with important stories recorded live all around Seattle.
Episodes
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A professor talks about public education in the Trump-DeVos era
If Diane Ravitch were running for office, her opponent might attack her for being "for Common Core before she was against it." Ravitch served as an...
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Listen to the keynote speeches from this year's March for Science
Last year thousands of people hit the streets of Seattle and the nation to march for all things scientific: respect for the scientific method, evidence...
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‘Once in one’s lifetime.’ How a beloved novel came to print and screen
You hear of situations where a book comes to a writer in a torrent. In this talk, writer André Aciman tells such a story about his well-loved novel, ...
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Remembering comedian Peggy Platt, a Seattle original
Over the last few years Speakers Forum has featured broadcasts of the Seattle theatre troupe Sandbox Radio . In that time we came to love the work of...
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Unwinding the shadowy backstory of the war in Afghanistan
Steve Coll is a staff writer for The New Yorker. His new book, a sequel to his Pulitzer Prize-winner “Ghost Wars,” is “Directorate S: The C.I.A. and...
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Why this psychologist is bullish on human progress
As crazy as the world seems sometimes, author Steven Pinker argues our ancestors would most certainly envy us. From life expectancy and standards of...
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Catch up on the action from Seattle's March for our Lives
This past weekend, students in hundreds of cities and towns around the country joined in March For Our Lives "sibling marches." Before the March For Our...
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Stage fright, be damned at Ignite Seattle 35
Ignite Seattle needs to be on your Seattle bucket list. But until you can make it out to one of their events, listen in to your fellow citizens’ brave...
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Dr. Temple Grandin on how minds work
Dr. Temple Grandin was diagnosed as brain-damaged at age two. Her mother Anna steadfastly pursued ways to understand her daughter’s condition and...
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Robert Reich reflects on the better angels of 'The Common Good'
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich is famously small in stature—and has a penchant for short jokes about himself — but he has big ideas about democracy...
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Sugar-Man Steve Almond ponders 'Bad Stories'
If you’re familiar with the Dear Sugar advice column, you know who Steve Almond is. For the uninitiated, he was the first “Sugar” — a purportedly female...
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Stories of anger and mourning from Tea Party country
We hear all the time about the social-political divide in the United States, mostly from the comfort of our respective bubbles. When UC Berkeley-based...