ALOUD @ Los Angeles Public Library Los Angeles Public Library

"'Stories about empire,' Tobar writes, 'move us because they're echoes of the memories that reside deep in our collective consciousness.' Latinos, after all, are people' living with the hurt caused by war and politics, conquest and surrender, revolution and dictatorship.'" —The New York Times

"Latino" is the most broadly defined major race in the United States. In Pulitzer-Prize-winner Héctor Tobar's new book, Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of "Latino," Tobar recounts his personal experiences as the son of Guatemalan immigrants and the stories told to him by his Latinx students to offer a thoughtful reproach to racist ideas about Latino people. Our Migrant Souls decodes the meaning of "Latino" as a racial and ethnic identity in the modern United States and seeks to give voice to the angst and anger of young Latino people who have seen Latinidad transformed into hateful tropes about "illegals" and have faced insults, harassment, and division based on white insecurities and economic exploitation.

“This surprising look at the nature of primates has a lot to say about what it means to be human.”―Publishers Weekly

Renowned primatologist and bestselling author Frans de Waal has spent thousands of hours observing apes and monkeys both in the wild and in captivity. In his new book (now out in paperback), Different: Gender Through the Eyes of a Primatologist, de Waal challenges widely held beliefs about masculinity and femininity and common assumptions about authority, leadership, cooperation, competition, filial bonds, sexual orientation, gender identity, and the limitations of the gender binary, exceptions to which are also found in other primates. With humor, clarity, and compassion, Different seeks to broaden the conversation about human gender dynamics by promoting an inclusive model that embraces differences.

Around the world, writers and journalists have been increasingly targeted for their work by waves of online harassment. From the missives of QAnon, to the rise of hate speech on Twitter, and the use of doxxing to weaponize an adversary’s personal information, our political context is building a perfect storm of harassment with ever-shifting targets. Join best-selling author Reza Aslan (An American Martyr in Persia: The Epic Life and Tragic Death of Howard Baskerville, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth) and Black List founder Franklin Leonard for a conversation on the polarized climate in the United States, amidst the movement for human rights in Iran, and around the world. Together, they will discuss how antagonism in online spaces within this fractious moment launches outwards into offline reality, and the insidious impact of harassment on writers, scholars, and creators. Moderated by author and journalist Jean Guerrero.

David Ambroz, best-selling author of A Place Called Home, shares his story of survival on the streets of New York City and later through violence in foster care, always with the goal of moving people from empathy to action. He lays out his ideas, informed through lived experience and policy expertise, to fix foster care, address homelessness, and build a more humane and compassionate nation.

In 2016, The Hidden Life of Trees began the conversation that trees can communicate with each other. Peter Wohlleben’s bestselling book changed the way we looked at ourselves and our environment. Now, after eight years, he follows up his groundbreaking work with The Power of Trees: How Ancient Forests Can Save Us, if We Let Them. This time, Wohlleben delves even further into the life of trees, describing how they pass knowledge to succeeding generations while also discussing their ability to survive climate change. The Power of Trees is a love letter to the forest and a passionate argument for protecting nature's boundless diversity, not only for the trees but also for us.

Bestselling author Cheryl Strayed takes the ALOUD stage to discuss the transformation of her popular book, Tiny Beautiful Things, to the television screen with show creator and executive producer Liz Tigelaar. Tiny Beautiful Things tells the story of Dear Sugar, a respected advice columnist whose own life is falling apart. Told in multiple timelines with intimacy and candor. Strayed is able to mine the beauty, struggle, and humor in her life to show us that we are not beyond rescue and that our stories are ultimately our salvation. The eight-part series starring Kathryn Hahn debuts on Hulu on April 7.