Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series

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

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. 3h ago

    353. Straight Talk on Wills, Trusts, and Your Legacy: With Steven Schindler and Wendy Norman

    Join Wendy Norman, End‑of‑Life Planning Consultant, and Steven Schindler, Estate Attorney, for a grounded, practical conversation about the essentials of legacy planning — something every adult needs, no matter their age or stage of life. Together, they'll break down what a Will actually does, when a Trust might be the better tool, and what really happens — financially and procedurally — if someone dies without either. You'll also learn how a Durable Power of Attorney works while you're alive, why its authority ends the moment you die (and what takes over afterward), and how the absence of planning can leave families facing court processes they never expected. Finally, Wendy and Steven will explore the part of planning that often gets overlooked: documenting and communicating your wishes. How you want your assets handled. Who do you want to receive what? Which charities or community organizations do you want to support? When you share these decisions ahead of time, you give your loved ones clarity, confidence, and one of the kindest gifts possible — peace of mind. Wendy Norman has been researching and engaging with end-of-life issues for over 15 years. Wendy's interest was sparked by her mother's diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's in 2006. This is when she learned how important it is to have a plan before becoming ill, especially when cognitive decline is involved. Wanting to help others understand the value of pre-planning, Wendy became an end-of-life planning consultant in 2017. In 2019, she left a 25-year career in marketing and program management to invest her time and energy toward end-of-life planning, education and awareness. In 2020, she helped create and lead a team of volunteers to launch an education and awareness program called End of Life Ready hosted by End of Life Washington. Building on that experience, Known Wishes was created to broaden and deepen end-of-life education. Steven J. Schindler is an estate attorney who helps individuals and families design comprehensive strategies to achieve their family, business, and charitable goals. His practice includes estate, will, trust, and tax planning and administration; planned charitable giving; nonjudicial dispute resolution; and the preparation of gift and estate tax returns. Known for his ability to tailor solutions to each client's unique circumstances, Steven guides clients through everything from optimizing tax advantages to developing meaningful charitable giving plans to navigating sensitive family dynamics with clarity and care. As an active member of the community, Steven serves as treasurer of the King County Cultural Development Authority (4Culture). He has also held leadership roles as president of the Estate Planning Council of Seattle, president of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section of the King County Bar Association, and served as a board member at End‑of‑Life Washington. Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Known Wishes.

  2. 2d ago

    352. Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life With Alex Mayyasi, Kenny Malone, Daryl Fairweather, and Jack Corbett

    Join the team behind the popular podcast Planet Money and celebrate the publication of their new book, Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life. Book author and longtime contributor Alex Mayyasi, Planet Money host Kenny Malone, and visual host Jack Corbett will bring Planet Money's signature brand of storytelling to the stage and discuss some highlights from the new book, including unlikely origin stories, revealing truths about human behavior, and insightful suggestions for navigating chaotic times drawn from the latest ideas in economics. Daryl Fairweather, Chief Economist at Redfin, will be the special guest this evening. Come prepared to engage with the silly and the sublime and ask some questions of your favorite Planet Money hosts and reporters. Alex Mayyasi is a longtime contributor to Planet Money. Previously he was the founding editor of Gastro Obscura, which earned two James Beard Awards, and published a bestselling travel book, and was also a writer and editor at Priceonomics. His writing on business and economics has appeared in publications such as Smithsonian, the Washington Post, and The Atlantic. Mayyasi also consults for the University of Chicago economics department. He's the co-author of You Are Under Arrest for Masterminding the Egyptian Revolution (a Memoir). Kenny Malone is a cohost for NPR's Planet Money podcast. Before that, he was a reporter for WNYC's Only Human podcast. Before that, he was a reporter for Miami's WLRN. And before that, he was a reporter for his friend T.C.'s homemade newspaper, Neighborhood News. Malone's stories have investigated everything from abuse in Florida's assisted living facilities to health hackers building their own pancreas to the origins of seemingly made-up holidays like National Raisin Day. Or National Golf Day. Or National Splurge Day. His work has won the National Edward R. Murrow Award for Use of Sound, the National Headliner Award, the Scripps Howard Award, and the Bronze Third Coast Festival Award. He studied mathematics at Xavier University in Cincinnati and proudly hails from Meadville, PA, where the zipper was invented. Daryl Fairweather is the chief economist of Redfin and author of Hate the Game: Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love, and Work. Her insights have been featured on 60 Minutes, CBS Evening News, as well as in the New York Times and Washington Post. Prior to joining Redfin she was a senior economist at Amazon working on problems related to employee engagement and managing a team of analysts. Jack Corbett is the visual host of Planet Money's TikTok account. Corbett shot NPR's first TikTok about the stock market circuit breaker. His reporting style became a perfect fit for the pandemic and the new short-form world order it has left in its wake. Since then, Planet Money TikTok's unique style and sensibility have garnered a devoted, loyal fanbase of young and diverse audiences. Almost four years later, the channel has amassed a large, devoted following of almost 800,000. His TikToks have received almost 15 million likes. In 2023, Corbett's work on Planet Money's TikTok won an Edward R. Murrow award and he's also been recognized by the White House Press Photographers Association. Corbett studied experimental cinema at Ohio State University and started at NPR in 2019 as an intern on the Music team. In his first few weeks, Corbett pitched a documentary to Jazz Night in America, which went on to premiere as part of the Sundance Film Festival in 2021. Corbett lives, breathes and makes bread in The City of Angels, Los Angeles, California. Buy the Book Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life Elliott Bay Book Company

  3. 3d ago

    351. Maria Semple with Ken Jennings: An Existential Meet Cute

    Have you ever reinvented yourself — even unintentionally? Bestselling author Maria Semple's latest novel, Go Gentle, tells the story of one woman's midlife transformation. Adora Hazzard, a Stoic philosopher and divorcée living in New York City, believes that she has it all figured out. She's a working mom of a teenage daughter, she's relishing her freedom, and she regularly meets with a group of like-minded women she refers to her "coven" — a group she assembled herself and is working to expand. Adora's carefully curated life is going as planned until a chance meeting with a handsome stranger. She begins subverting people's expectations — perhaps most of all her own. Soon, her normally orderly existence is upended by adventure and risk: black-market art deals, secret rendezvous, and international intrigue. If that isn't enough, secrets from her past return to visit her in the present. Go Gentle's narrative raises that age-old question: In the battle between the mind and the heart, which one will win? Maria Semple is the bestselling author of Today Will Be Different, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, and This One Is Mine. Her novels have been translated into forty languages. Before writing fiction, Maria wrote for TV. She lives in New York. Ken Jennings is still the Jeopardy! record-holder for his 74-game streak on the beloved quiz show back in 2004. In 2020, he was named Jeopardy!'s "Greatest of All Time" and began hosting the show following the death of longtime host Alex Trebek later that year. Ken is the author of 14 books, most recently The Complete Kennections. Buy the Book Go Gentle: A Novel Elliott Bay Book Company

  4. 5d ago

    350. Terry Tempest Williams: The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary

    In a world so fraught with chaos and uncertainty, where can we find connection and hope? Author Terry Tempest Williams invites readers to learn about what she calls "The Glorians." In her latest work, The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary, Williams explains that Glorians are not distant deities, but instead ordinary, often overlooked presences — animals, plants, memories, moments — that reveal our shared vulnerability and interconnectedness with the natural world. The Glorians can be as small as an ant or as commonplace as the night sky. Williams offers both personal and societal insight in her assertion that Glorians have much to teach and remind us about consciousness, connection, and courage. In pages that explore subjects like climate change, finding wonder in the unexpected, and turning to deep reflection and intention, The Glorians invites us to imagine a better and more beautiful future in a time of uncertainty. Terry Tempest Williams is the award-winning author of seventeen books of creative nonfiction, including the environmental classic, Refuge – An Unnatural History of Family and Place. Among her other books are Leap, Finding Beauty in a Broken World, When Women Were Birds, The Hour of Land – A Personal Topography of America's National Parks, and Erosion – Essays of Undoing. Her work has been translated and anthologized worldwide. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Letters and is currently the writer-in-residence at the Harvard Divinity School. She divides her time between Cambridge, Massachusetts and Castle Valley, Utah. Buy the Book The Glorians: Visitations from the Holy Ordinary Elliott Bay Book Company

  5. 6d ago

    349. Lindy West: Adult Braces: A Memoir

    In her new memoir, Adult Braces, Lindy West brings readers along on an uproarious cross-country road trip as she unpacks her last few tumultuous years, rediscovers herself, and reinvents her marriage. Through Shrill—the book and then the Hulu series—Lindy West became an inspiration. To this day, she is stopped on the street and hailed as a beacon of empowerment by women who felt badly for not conforming to a narrow set of societal norms—thin, straight, compliant. But behind the scenes, Lindy never felt like she was the self-actualized woman fans made her out to be. When she found herself in the throes of a deep depression, with her marriage and sense of self-worth hanging in the balance, she knew she needed to make a change. In Adult Braces, Lindy shares the story of her rock bottom and of the journey she took to claw her way out of it. With her trademark candor and sense of humor, she examines her post-Shrill emotional implosion, her shifting feelings about traditional marriage, and her search for her long-lost self. She also tracks the highs and lows of her journey, from eye-opening natural wonders and kitschy roadside attractions to lackluster tourist traps and campground epiphanies. The result is an engaging and laugh-out-loud narrative of becoming as Lindy transforms from a passenger into the active navigator of her own life. Lindy West is the author of three books: the New York Times bestselling memoir Shrill as well as the essay collections The Witches Are Coming and Shit, Actually. Lindy is a former contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and her work has appeared in This American Life, The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Vulture, Jezebel, and others. She is the co-host of the comedy podcast Text Me Back and the author of the e-mail newsletter Butt News. Lindy was a writer and executive producer on Shrill, the Hulu comedy adapted from her memoir, and she co-wrote and produced the independent feature film Thin Skin. She lives on the Olympic Peninsula in rural Washington state. Buy the Book Adult Braces: Driving Myself Sane Elliott Bay Book Company

  6. Jun 26

    348. V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke with Moira Macdonald: The Ending Writes Itself: A Novel

    Layering classic tropes of the mystery genre with a clever modern satire of the publishing industry, The Ending Writes Itself is the debut novel of "Evelyn Clarke," a new writing collaboration between best-selling authors V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke. Joined in conversation by local author and journalist Moira Macdonald, Schwab and Clarke explore their co-authoring venture and the twists and turns that await readers in their new take on a locked-room mystery thriller. How will the pages unfold for the six authors isolated with nothing but their own minds, a diabolical deadline, and a plot-driving incentive? Starting is often the hardest part. But getting to the end could be murder. World-renowned best-selling novelist Arthur Fletch is a reclusive genius who captivates readers with iconic protagonists and fiendish twists. So when six struggling authors of different genres receive an invitation to spend a weekend on his private island off the coast of Scotland, they pack their bags. But the twists have gone further than ever this time, and the authors are greeted with a shocking secret– Arthur Fletch is dead… and his highly-anticipated last novel remains unfinished. Desperate to publish, Fletch's agent and editor have summoned these writers hoping one of them can pen a worthy ending. To sweeten the deal, they pitch them the opportunity of a lifetime. Ghost write the final chapter and win an irresistible prize– a mind-boggling sum of money and a partnership that could relaunch their own careers and guarantee future bestsellers. And with that to motivate them, surely 72 hours is enough time to finish Fletch's magnus opus? All they have to do is write… V.E. Schwab is the critically acclaimed author of over 20 books spanning middle-grade, young adult, and adult fiction. Her previous publications include the Villains and Shades of Magic series, as well as standalone novels The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and most recently, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. Her work has been featured by outlets including the New York Times, the Guardian, and Entertainment Weekly, and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Cat Clarke is an author and screenwriter. She previously worked as an editor at Scholastic UK. Her previous writing projects include the novels Entangled, The Lost and Found, Girlhood, and We Are Young, as well as the film Something in the Water. Moira Macdonald is the longtime arts critic for The Seattle Times. Her debut novel, Storybook Ending, was published in May 2025 by Dutton/Penguin Random House, and is being released worldwide in 18 languages. Buy the Book The Ending Writes Itself: A Novel Third Place Books

  7. 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

  8. 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.

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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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