May 12, 2009 - Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest, teacher, and author. She is widely recognized as one of America's most eloquent preachers. Ordained an Episcopal priest in 1984, she holds the Harry R. Butman Chair in Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont College in Georgia and is adjunct professor of Christian spirituality at Columbia Theological Seminary. She is the author of twelve books on faith and spirituality, including "Leaving Church" and "An Altar in the World." She lectures on preaching at Yale, Princeton, and Duke Universities and is a regular columnist for The Christian Century. She spoke before an audience at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Her speech was titled, "Downtime: The Sacred Art of Stopping."
June 2, 2009 - Best-selling author Michael Pollan, speaking at the Barnes & Noble at the Galleria in Edina about his book, "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto."
June 24, 2009 - Thomas Friedman speaks about crowded planet.Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and Minnesota native, Thomas Friedman spoke at St. Paul RiverCentre about the big issues facing an interconnected global population, and the ways America can lead a green revolution in the 21st century.
August 21, 2009 - MPR’s Jess Mador reports on how the health care debate continues to be contentious, with town hall meetings across the country devolving into shouting matches. Things were just as noisy but slightly more polite in Mankato, where hundreds of people packed a high school auditorium to participate in a town hall forum on health care sponsored by Congressman Tim Walz.
October 13, 2009 - Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Nicholas Kristof addresses the Westminster Town Hall Forum about his new book, "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide."
October 27, 2009 - Garrison Keillor talks about life, literature, and his latest book, Pilgrims: A Wobegon Romance.
October 27, 2009 - Garrison Keillor talks about life, literature, and his latest book, Pilgrims: A Wobegon Romance.
October 29, 2009 - Rabbi Harold Kushner, Rabbi Laureate of Temple Israel in Natick, Massachusetts, speaks about his new book, "Conquering Fear: Living Boldly in an Uncertain World." Rabbi Kushner has written several books over the past three decades, including his 1981 bestseller about coping with tragedies, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." He was a featured speaker at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.
November 5, 2009 - Harvey Cox is a Baptist minister and preeminent American theologian. He recently retired as the Hollis Research Professor of Divinity at Harvard University, where his research and teaching focused on the interaction of religion, culture, and politics. He is the author of "The Secular City," and is out with a new book, "The Future of Faith." He spoke before an audience at Westminster Presbyterian Church.
November 17, 2009 - Environmentalist Lester Brown lays out his plan for saving the planet. Lester Brown, a longtime leader in the environmental movement, discusses climate change, food security, and energy policy. He is out with a new book titled, "Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization."