City Arts & Lectures

Laurie Woolever is a writer, cook, and former right-hand woman to the late Anthony Bourdain.  Woolever’s memoir “Care and Feeding” chronicles her journey through the food world as she navigated addiction, a cultural reckoning, and unexpected tragedy. The intensity of restaurant kitchens and the rock-and-roll lifestyle of celebrity chefs make the book a highly entertaining read, as do Woolever’s nuanced and tender reflections.  On March 3, 2025, Laurie Woolever spoke with Courtney Martin. 

Melissa Clark is the author of more than 30 cookbooks, and a writer at the New York Times, where she appears in a weekly cooking video series.  She’s known for her passionate, but casual, approach to cooking, and her love of anchovies. Emily Weinstein is the editor-in-chief of NYT Cooking and Food whose latest book is “Easy Weeknight Dinners”.  On February 10, 2025, Melissa Clark and Emily Weinstein came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater to be interviewed by San Francisco Chronicle food critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan.  

Our guest today is Neko Case. The iconic alt-country musician is a founding member of the indie-rock band The New Pornographers. She’s also released numerous records on her own, featuring music from multiple genres. Now, she’s published a memoir about her poverty-stricken childhood, and the way art and a connection to nature have served as guides throughout her life. It’s called "The Harder I Fight The More I Love You". On February 8, 2025, Case came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk to poet, essayist and critic Hanif Abdurraqib. 

Our guest today is Jeffrey Toobin, bestselling author and CNN legal commentator. Toobin is well known for his ability to illuminate the complexities of our judicial system, and he’s covered some of the country's most sensational news stories … from the O.J. Simpson trial, to Kenneth Starr’s investigation of President Clinton, to Martha Stewart's legal battles. His newest book is called The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy. It’s about what many consider the most controversial presidential pardon in American history - Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon – and its profound implications for our current political landscape, including the ways that Presidents Biden and Trump have exercised their executive power. On February 19, 2025, Toobin came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater to talk to lawyer and legal scholar Lara Bazelon.

Our guest today is Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Her books include Half of a Yellow Sun, The Thing Around Your Neck, and the 2013 novel Americannah, whose popularity propelled Adichie to literary stardom. Like Adichie herself, Americannah straddles the cultures of America and Nigeria, considering the status and perceptions of Africans abroad as well as what happens when they return to their home countries.  This month, Adichie will publish a new novel, Dream Count. As we look ahead to that, and Adichie’s upcoming visit to City Arts & Lectures, we’re re-broadcasting this 2014 conversation with her friend and fellow writer Dave Eggers.