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“[Ferguson has a] knack for making long-ago events as vivid and visceral as the evening news, for weaving anecdotes and small telling details together with a wide-angled retrospective vision.” The New York Times

“Ferguson’s grasp of economic history is admired even by his critics.”
The Guardian (U.K.)

One of the world’s foremost historians and provocative commentators on global politics and economics, Sir Niall Ferguson is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard. He is the author of 16 books chronicling a wide range of political and socio-economic topics, from how the West handles disasters to the life of Henry Kissinger. With erudition, eloquence and humor, Ferguson puts today’s economic shifts, social changes and political disruptions into historical perspective, using the past as a roadmap to the future.

“Tharp is America’s crossover dance queen… She melds classical ballet with modern dance, avant-garde experiment with Broadway pizzazz, technical rigor with off-the-cuff attitude, uptown glamor with downtown grit.” The Guardian(U.K.)

“What invigorates about Tharp is her restless and unceasing quest to reveal truth in human movement.” The Washington Post

Twyla Tharp is an American dance legend renowned for crafting accessible, impeccable, startlingly original works that expand the boundaries of ballet and modern dance. Celebrating her 60th anniversary as a choreographer, this Diamond Jubilee program features Tharp’s Olivier-nominated triumph, Diabelli, set to Beethoven’s masterpiece of the same name. Rounding out the evening is Tharp’s first partnership with Philip Glass in nearly 40 years, a new collaboration inspired by the composer’s Aguas da Amazonia and performed to live music by Grammy-winning Third Coast Percussion. An Arts & Lectures co-commission.

“[Sandeep Das’] virtuosic playing injected discreet surges of rhythmic adrenaline.” The Boston Globe

“One of the greatest musicians I’ve ever had the privilege to know and to work with.” – Yo-Yo Ma on Kayhan Kalhor

“Nobody wields a pipa like Wu Man, the reigning virtuoso on the ancient four-stringed instrument.” NPR

With a name inspired by the transliteration of the Farsi word for friend, DoosTrio’s Kayhan Kalhor, Wu Man and Sandeep Das join together in a new collaboration that highlights the ancient traditions of Iran, China and India in a distinctly 21st century program. A virtuoso on the kamancheh, Kalhor has been uniquely influential in popularizing Persian music in the West. Wu Man is the world’s premier pipa virtuoso and a leading ambassador of Chinese music. A Guggenheim Fellow and a Grammy winner, tabla master Das debuted at age 17 with legendary sitar player Ravi Shankar and has since built a prolific international reputation spanning three decades.

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

“The shift in kids’ energy and attention from the physical world to the virtual one, Haidt shows, has been catastrophic, especially for girls.” The New York Times

“His common-sense recommendations for actions are excellent.” The Washington Post

Jonathan Haidt discusses why Gen Z (born after 1995) has such extraordinary rates of mental illness. He explains how their loss of independence and free play in the 1990s combined with the move to a fully phone-based childhood in the early 2010s to cause a collapse of mental health. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison and perfectionism. Most importantly, Haidt issues a clear call to action, proposing four simple rules that might end this epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Includes a copy of Powers' new book Playground (pick up at event)

“One of our country’s greatest living writers. He composes some of the most beautiful sentences I’ve ever read. I’m in awe of his talent.” – Oprah Winfrey

“A soft-spoken eco-warrior and environmental prophet.” The New York Times

Operating at the intersection of culture, the environment and technology, novelist Richard Powers has constructed an oeuvre rivaling that of any American writer. The Overstory, his visionary narrative account of the deep time embedded within the Earth’s forests, earned the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In his new novel, Playground, Powers does for the ocean what The Overstory did for forests, portraying the Pacific’s last wild regions in give and take with humanity’s ongoing project to subdue them. Throughout his prolific writing life, Powers has expressed unbridled curiosity, which has propelled him from his early days as a computer programmer to his current place atop the pantheon of speculative fiction creators.

Julia Morgan, the first woman to earn an architect's license in California, was a prolific designer of hundreds of buildings. Among the more than 700 buildings in California that she designed, she is best known for her collaboration with publisher William Randolph Hearst and her work on Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California. This two-part lecture will look at her life and career, beginning with Julia being the first woman admitted to the architecture program at l'École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. This two-part lecture will also detail the conception and construction of this pioneering structure, while exploring the structures and the vast grounds. An expanded description can be found on the FAB website.

Katherine E. Zoraster is an Art Historian and a Professor of Art History at several local colleges specializing in Western art from the Renaissance to the 20th century. She graduated with a double major in English Literature and Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles. Following her undergraduate degree, she received a Master’s Degree with Distinction in Art History from the California State University at Northridge.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people 50 years of age and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

Join us for a vibrant depiction of singer and dancer Josephine Baker and the African American musicians of interwar Paris. We’ll explore the enclave of gifted multiracial performers who altered the course of European music, art and style. After Germany invaded France, Baker valiantly spied on the Axis for the Allies, aided refugees and entertained the troops. Newly available videoclips, music and stories celebrate the innovative music, dance and cabarets of Paris, 1925-50.

During the last four decades Dave Radlauer has been telling tales of early Jazz, Blues and Swing on the radio, garnering six broadcast awards and authoring 200 articles for online and print publications. For Stanford Libraries, he’s written interpretive online text and donated a large collection of unique music and photos. He teaches lifelong learning courses at UCLA, UC Berkeley, San Francisco State and Dominican University.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people 50 years of age and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

In 1989, historian Elizabeth White received a mysterious manuscript. It told how Jewish mathematician Janina Mehlberg survived the Holocaust in German-occupied Lublin Poland by posing as "the Countess Suchodolska," a Polish Christian relief worker. Through face-to-face negotiations with Nazi officials and clandestine work for the resistance, she provided life-saving aid to non-Jewish Polish victims of Nazi persecution in Lublin and to prisoners at Majdanek concentration camp, where 63,000 Jews were gassed or shot to death. To corroborate this astonishing story, White and fellow Holocaust historian Joanna Sliwa conducted research in nine countries. They discovered that Mehlberg accomplished far more than she claimed. This talk will highlight what we can learn from Mehlberg's story about Holocaust history, ethnic relations in extreme situations, and humanity in times of crisis.

Dr. Elizabeth “Barry” White recently retired from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where she served as historian and as Research Director for the USHMM’s Center for the Prevention of Genocide.


Dr. Joanna Sliwa is a historian at the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) in New York, where she also administers academic programs.


The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people 50 years of age and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

The hotel industry in America began with rustic New England country inns and taverns, progressed to grand hotels with the growth of major American cities as spurred on by the railroads, and has culminated in the sophisticated boutique hotels of today. As America grew in population and prominence, the need for accommodations for travelers spurred the expansion of the hospitality industry while advancing the popular architectural styles of the time. This lecture will address the development of the industry, through discussion of architectural and interior styles and the unique regional and cultural influences from various regions throughout the United States.

Eleanor Schrader is an award-winning educator, lecturer, and author. She lectures worldwide on art and architectural history, and leads art and architecture tours throughout the world. She has been named a Distinguished Instructor at UCLA Extension, where she teaches history of architecture, interior design, furniture, and decorative arts. She is also Professor Emeritus of Art and Architectural History at Santa Monica College. She has done graduate work in fine and decorative arts at Sotheby's Institute in London and New York. She has served as a Design Review Commissioner for the City of Beverly Hills and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the John Lautner Foundation.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people 50 years of age and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.

In the ongoing saga between Palestine and Israel, the Palestinians are one of the key players. However, many in the Western world know very little about them. Where did they come from? How do they practice their religion? What inspires them or encourages them? What do they hope for? This course will open up the history, culture, and opinions of the Palestinians, attempting to better understand their experiences and struggles. Ultimately, this course’s goal is to give one a more informed understanding of the dynamic between Israel and Palestine, and to aid in the path to peace.

Jason Hensley, PhD (Holocaust and Genocide Studies), Dmin (Biblical Studies), teaches religious studies at a private school in Los Angeles. He is a fellow of the Michael LaPrade Holocaust Education Institute of the Anti-Defamation League, a higher-education ambassador for the Council on Foreign Relations, and the award-winning author of 12 books. His work has been featured in The Huffington Post as well as the BBC, and he has served as the historical advisor for a Holocaust documentary. Connect with him at jasonhensley.net.

The Fifty and Better (FAB) program was designed for people 50 years of age and older, seeking intellectual stimulation through university-level courses — without the pressure of grades — for the sake of learning and social engagement.