Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series

Town Hall Seattle
  • 5.0 (5)
  • Books
  • Updated Biweekly

The Arts & Culture series enriches our community with imagination and creativity. Whether reinventing the classics for a new audience or presenting an innovative new art form, these events are aimed at expanding horizons. From poetry to music to storytelling, this series leaves our audiences inspired, encouraged, and seeing the world with new eyes.

  1. Jun 4

    347. David Pogue: The Most Iconic Brand in the World: The History of Apple

    Although the present ubiquity of Apple is well-known, how much do you know about its past? Just in time for Apple's 50th anniversary, author and CBS correspondent David Pogue tells the history of the iconic company: how it was born, nearly died, and was revived under the legendary Steve Jobs, and how it later became the most iconic brand in the world. On April 1, 1976, two men in their 20s, both named Steve, founded a modest startup. Their goal was to bring the power of computers to everyone. Over the next five decades, Apple revolutionized the tech landscape, introducing the public to many products that we use today and marrying technology with design. Marking this 50th anniversary milestone is Apple: The First 50 Years, a 600-page, definitive account of the tech giant. At this very special event, author David Pogue will share what he learned from interviewing 150 current and former Apple executives, designers, and engineers. He'll reveal, for the first time, some amazing origin stories (Apple II, iMac, iPod, iPhone). He'll draw some counterintuitive but powerful lessons from Apple's unlikely rise, fall, and rise. And he'll punctuate the evening with Apple song parodies at the piano (yes, really). David Pogue is a seven-time Emmy Award winner for his stories on CBS Sunday Morning, a five-time TED speaker, host of twenty NOVA specials on PBS, and a New York Times bestselling author. He's written about Apple for his entire career, including thirteen years as a Macworld columnist, thirteen more as tech columnist for The New York Times, and twenty years as the #1 bestselling author of books about Macs and iPhones . Buy the Book Apple: The First 50 Years Elliott Bay Book Company

    1h 24m

  2. May 28

    346. Burl Dirkman: Power Thru It! With Special Guests J. Kenji López-Alt and Tomo Nakayama

    From the mind of Brett Hamil, the cartoonist behind Doom Loop and co-producer of Joketellers Union, comes an utterly unique talk show. Starring Hamil's wistful handyman alter ego Burl Dirkman, Power Thru It! with Burl Dirkman will take the audience on a comedic journey of self-discovery, featuring interviews with local luminaries J. Kenji López-Alt and Tomo Nakayama, and cathartic activities designed to help you access your long-neglected emotional core. Prepare to cry real tears of joy! Brett Hamil is a cartoonist and comedian living in Seattle. He publishes a weekly political cartoon, Doom Loop, for the South Seattle Emerald, and produces a critically acclaimed live comedy show, Joketellers Union at the Clock-Out Lounge. He's also the author of 3 graphic novels. Tomo Nakayama has explored the lines between intimate indie folk, exuberant synth pop, and cinematic soundtracks for over two decades. His fourth album, Ocean, was released last year. Kenji López-Alt is a former restaurant cook, New York Times columnist, and author of the James Beard Award–winning and bestselling books The Food Lab and The Wok, as well as the children's book Every Night Is Pizza Night.

    1h 6m

  3. May 12

    345. Lauren Groff with Amber Flame: Brawler: Short Stories

    Whether you know her from her short stories in The New Yorker or The Atlantic or from one of her bestselling novels, Lauren Groff is arguably one of the leading literary voices in the U.S. Groff will share from her new collection of short stories, Brawler, which reflects upon humanity's ceaseless battle between our dark and light angels. Ranging from the 1950s to the present day and moving across age, class, and region––from New England to Florida to California––the nine stories in Groff's newest collection dive into the animal and the divine within us all. The characters paint a different picture of the same theme: a young woman suddenly responsible for her disabled sibling; a hot-tempered high school swimmer in need of an adult; a mother blinded by the loss of her family; and a banking successor with a different kind of inheritance. Motivated by love, challenged by the double edges of other people's good intentions, they all try to do the right thing for as long as they can. It's through these stories that Groff illuminates what it means to be human. Groff's popularity comes from her insight into human nature. Through her various stories, Brawler offers specific turning points in people's lives, highlighting all of our thin boundaries between love and fear, compassion and violence, reason and instinct, altruism and what it takes to survive. Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and the New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, Fates and Furies, Matrix, and The Vaster Wilds, and the celebrated short story collections Delicate Edible Birds and Florida. She has won the Story Prize and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and has been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2024, she was named one of the "TIME 100 most influential people." Groff's work regularly appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Her work has been translated into thirty-six languages. She lives in Gainesville, Florida, where she and her husband run an independent bookstore, The Lynx. Amber Flame is an interdisciplinary artist garnering residencies with Hedgebrook, Baldwin for the Arts, Millay Arts, and more. A former church kid from the Southwest, Flame's first collection of poetry, Ordinary Cruelty, published in 2017 through Write Bloody Press. Flame's second book, apocrifa, a love story told in verse, launched May 2023 from Red Hen Press. Flame is Deputy Publisher at Generous Press, a new romance venture publishing inclusive love stories, and Program Director for Hedgebrook, a literary organization serving women. Amber Flame is a queer Black dandy mama who falls hard for a jumpsuit and some fresh kicks.  Buy the Book Brawler: Stories Elliott Bay Book Company

    1h 15m

  4. May 7

    344. Andrew Yang with Jonathan Sposato: Hey Yang, Where's My Thousand Bucks?

    Remember that one time in 2019 when presidential candidate Andrew Yang promised a thousand dollars a month for a whole year to ten U.S. families if they donated to his campaign? Yang would like to address this. Pulling from his latest book titled Hey Yang, Where's My Thousand Bucks?, Yang shares stories from his remarkable life so far, including this viral moment during a live presidential debate. Beyond championing universal basic income, Yang would like to bring a little humor into the world. In his candid and playful accounts, Yang examines where the U.S. sits today through the lens of his unexpected journey from entrepreneur to presidential candidate. Part political memoir, part comedy, and part interior monologue, his stories attempt to make complex ideas accessible and entertaining. It's this entertainment that he sees as a unifying potential. Yang believes in the power of laughter, even in — and maybe especially in — trying times. For anyone frustrated with traditional political narratives, curious about the human behind the headlines, or simply looking for a light-hearted exploration of trying to improve life in the U.S., Yang wants to enlighten, entertain, and inspire. It's through this optimism, Yang hopes, that we can create real positive change. Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur and the cofounder of the Forward Party, a new independent political movement dedicated to restoring the promise of American democracy. He was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 whose campaign outlasted over a dozen mainstream political officeholders and attracted support from hundreds of thousands of everyday Americans, dubbed "the Yang Gang." His best-selling books The War on Normal People and Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy helped introduce the idea of universal basic income and ranked choice voting into the mainstream. His most recent work was the novel The Last Election, co-written with Stephen Marche. Named by President Obama as a Presidential Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship, Yang is the founder of Humanity Forward and Venture for America, and founder and CEO of Noble Mobile. He lives with his family in New York. Jonathan Ng Sposato is a serial entrepreneur, media executive, and impact investor who has helped shape the national tech and media landscape. He is the only entrepreneur to sell two startups to Google (Phatbits and Picnik) and a third, PicMonkey, to Shutterstock. He is chairman and co-founder of GeekWire, one of the country's most trusted technology news platforms. A former senior leader at Microsoft, Jonathan played a key role in the early development of Xbox, MSN applications, and major consumer initiatives. In 2016, he made national headlines by committing to invest exclusively in female-founded companies and has since been honored by organizations including American Women in Science, Vital Voices, and the University of Washington. He is the founder of JoySauce.tv, an American-Asian focused media channel recognized by the Center for Asian American Media and GLAAD, and hosts JoySauce Late Night. He also owns and publishes Seattle Magazine and Seattle Business Magazine, restoring the legacy titles to local ownership. His civic leadership has earned him the Seattle Mayor's Impact Award, and in 2024 he was inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame as a media trailblazer. Buy the Book Hey Yang, Where's My Thousand Bucks? And Other True Stories of Staggering Depth Elliott Bay Book Company

    55 min

  5. May 5

    343. Judith Enck with Bellamy Pailthorp: The Problem with Plastic

    In less than 100 years, plastic has gone from a novel invention to a ubiquitous feature across the globe. Plastic is now found in everything from household objects to industrial mechanisms to inside human bodies themselves. Once a marvel of modern science, plastic has become so inextricably woven into our lives that imagining a world without it can seem impossible. Backed by years of research and reflections taking place in real time with changing technology and environmental awareness, The Problem with Plastic critically examines the paradox of this material and how swiftly its integration has affected public health and the planet as a whole. The book explores how, despite being first celebrated for its innovations, plastic is now broadly recognized as a leading contributor to environmental pollution at every level, the climate crisis, and building waste levels that disproportionately impact marginalized communities that bear the brunt of petrochemical pollution. Author and environmental policy expert Judith Enck, in collaboration with co-author Adam Mahoney and the Beyond Plastics project, strives to draw attention to the alarming extent that microplastics have infiltrated society and the ways consumers can challenge what they think about the roles they can play. Unpacking illusions about recycling, mechanisms of environmental racism, and deceptive greenwashing strategies, the authors emphasize the urgency of calling for real, actionable measures to push against the effects of the plastics industry. The Problem with Plastic highlights powerful stories of frontline resistance in places like Louisiana, Texas, and Appalachia, and seeks to equip readers with practical tools– including a "Household Waste Audit" to track and reduce plastic consumption and model policy guides for driving legislative change. Fortified with calls for individual responsibility, citizen action, and governmental regulations, The Problem with Plastic aims to show that while plastic is a formidable problem, coordinated efforts can lead to solutions. Judith Enck is the founder and president of Beyond Plastics, whose goal is eliminating plastic pollution everywhere. She was appointed by President Obama to serve as regional administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2009 and served as deputy secretary for the environment in the New York Governor's Office. She is the co-author of The Problem With Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It's Too Late (The New Press; 2025). She is currently a professor at Bennington College and lives in upstate New York. Bellamy Pailthorp covers the KNKX environment beat with an emphasis on climate justice, human health and food sovereignty. Bellamy likes reporting stories about how we will power our future while maintaining healthy cultures and livable cities. Fluent in German, Bellamy worked in Berlin and has a masters in journalism from Columbia University. She joined KNKX (then KPLU) in 1999. From 2000-2012, she covered the business and labor beat for KNKX. Outside work, she practices yoga, enjoys tasting new foods and is frequently on the water with her rowing team. Buy the Book The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It's Too Late Elliott Bay Book Company

    1h 17m

  6. May 3

    342. John Patrick Green with Ben Clanton: InvestiGators: Agents of S.U.I.T.: Sew Much Trouble

    When something wacky is going on in the Gatorverse, the Special Undercover Investigation Teams know that it's time to S.U.I.T. up! Join the team at S.U.I.T. headquarters with the newest book in John Patrick Green's InvestiGators spinoff series– Agents of S.U.I.T.: Sew Much Trouble. Someone has stolen the Notorious P.I.G. food truck, and with it, Piggy Smalls' special BBQ sauce! But before super-spy Badgers Bongo and Marsha can solve the case, they need to solve the problems they're having with each other. To help them realize what a great team they truly are, General Inspector decides to split them up. Marsha gets placed on a super-secret pilot program with chameleon field agent, Cilantro. Meanwhile, Bongo is paired with Sven, the octopus lead designer of A.R.M.S (Apparel Manufacturing and Research Section), on a not-so-secret reality competition: "Sew You Think You Can Sew!" But here's the rub: this season of the show includes a chef challenge, and underground sources say Piggy Smalls' notorious sauce was stolen to help one of the contestants win! Find out what saucy secrets Bongo, Marsha, and the rest of the mystery-solving squad can spill before the whole team unravels in Agents of S.U.I.T.: Sew Much Trouble! John Patrick Green is a human with the human job of making books about animals with human jobs, notably the smash-hit graphic novel series InvestiGators. John is definitely a multiple New York Times-bestselling human author and not just a bunch of animals in a trench coat pretending to have a human job. With over four million copies of InvestiGators in print, John is a successful human being with only two hands and a normal amount of fur. He lives in a Brooklyn apartment that doesn't allow animals other than the ones living in his head. Ben Clanton is the New York Times–bestselling author and illustrator of the Narwhal and Jelly series, whose picture books include the Ploof series (with Andy Chou Musser) and the Tater Tales series. He lives with his wife and kids in Seattle, Washington. Buy the Book InvestiGators: Agents of S.U.I.T.: Sew Much Trouble Brick and Mortar Books

    56 min

  7. May 2

    341. Kate Quinn with Elise Hooper: Astral Library: A Novel

    Have you ever wished you could go inside of a book? You could travel to a new place, see new sights, potentially live a different life altogether — all from the page. From New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn comes Astral Library, a fantastical novel where books are not merely objects, but doors to different worlds, different adventures, and different futures. After growing up in the foster care system, protagonist Alix Watson came to believe one thing: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and letting her dreams of higher education fall to the wayside, Alix takes refuge in the reading room at the Boston Public Library, reading her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of faraway lands night after night. One day, she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless guardian of the Astral Library, where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives inside their favorite books. All seems well until a shadowy enemy emerges and threatens everyone inside. As danger draws closer, Alix and the Librarian try to escape, fleeing places like the back alleys of the Sherlock Holmes series, the Regency-era drawing rooms of Jane Austen, and the decadent parties of The Great Gatsby, to name a few. In journeying through books, Quinn may offer insight into where readers truly belong. Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of Southern California, she attended Boston University, where she earned bachelor's and master's degrees in classical voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga and two books set in the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, The Rose Code, The Diamond Eye, and The Briar Club. The Astral Library is her first foray into magic realism. She and her husband now live in Maryland with their rescue dogs. Elise Hooper spent several years writing for television and online news outlets before getting a MA and teaching high-school literature and history. Her debut novel The Other Alcott was a nominee for the 2017 Washington Book Award. Three more novels—Learning to See, Fast Girls, and Angels of the Pacific—followed, all centered on the lives of extraordinary but overlooked historical women. Her newest book, The Library of Lost Dollhouses, was inspired by a dollhouse that's been in her family for five generations. Elise lives in Seattle with her husband and two daughters. Buy the Book The Astral Library (Deluxe Limited Edition): A Novel Third Place Books

    1h 11m

  8. Apr 26

    340. Thomas Mallon with Katie Campbell: Opera Talk: Fellow Travelers

    Hear from acclaimed author, essayist, and critic Thomas Mallon, whose novel Fellow Travelers (2007) inspired an opera and a SHOWTIME® miniseries. With exacting attention to historical detail, Mallon's novel brings to life the shameful era in the early 1950s known as the Lavender Scare, during which gay and lesbian federal employees were systematically expelled from government service. More recently, Mallon also published The Very Heart of It (2025), a collection of journal entries during his literary coming-of-age during the AIDS crisis in New York City. Reporter Katie Campbell, creator and host of the KUOW Book Club, joins Mallon for a lively discussion on these works and the lessons they hold for our own time. Thomas Mallon's eleven books of fiction include Henry and Clara, Fellow Travelers, Watergate (a Finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award), and Up With the Sun. He has also written volumes of nonfiction about plagiarism (Stolen Words), diaries (A Book of One's Own), letters (Yours Ever,) and the Kennedy assassination (Mrs. Paine's Garage), as well as two books of essays (Rockets and Rodeos and In Fact). A collection of his personal journals, The Very Heart of It: New York Diaries, 1983-1994, was published by Knopf in June 2025. Mallon's work appears in The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, and other publications. He received his Ph. D. in English and American Literature from Harvard University and taught for a number of years at Vassar College. His honors include Guggenheim and Rockefeller fellowships, the National Book Critics Circle citation for reviewing, and the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, for distinguished prose style. He has been literary editor of Gentlemen's Quarterly and deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and in 2012, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. An eight-part dramatic adaptation of his novel, Fellow Travelers, is now streaming on Showtime/Paramount+, and an opera based on the novel has had over a dozen productions throughout the United States. He is Professor Emeritus of English at The George Washington University and lives in Washington, D. C. Katie Campbell is an editor and reporter for KUOW.org. She has covered a variety of local topics, including Seattle politics, elections, and the arts. She also co-hosts KUOW's weekly arts podcast, Meet Me Here, highlighting the local literary scene and visiting authors. In 2024, Katie created the KUOW Book Club, featuring stories and authors from the Pacific Northwest. Katie's picks have included classics, like Timothy Egan's The Good Rain, and recent hits, like Sonora Jha's The Laughter. Katie's interviews with the featured authors have given readers a chance to hear from some of the most talented writers in the region. All readers are invited to join the KUOW Book Club by signing up for the newsletter at kuow.org/books. Katie is a graduate of the University of Florida College of Journalism, a P-Patch gardener and an auntie. Find her on Bluesky: @katiecampbell.bsky.social

    1h 9m
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About

The Arts & Culture series enriches our community with imagination and creativity. Whether reinventing the classics for a new audience or presenting an innovative new art form, these events are aimed at expanding horizons. From poetry to music to storytelling, this series leaves our audiences inspired, encouraged, and seeing the world with new eyes.

Information

  • Creator
    Town Hall Seattle
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2017 Town Hall Association. All Rights Reserved.
  • Show Website
    Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series

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