Writers Bloc Presents
Writers Bloc Presents
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Mo Rocca and Patt Morrison | June 20, 2024
www.writersblocpresents.com
The Ebell of Los Angeles
Video: Karl Sonnenberg
Old age doesn’t shut down opportunities- it offers opportunities. So, what do some people in later life do with all that time on their hands? Humorist, terrific regular on our favorite NPR quiz show, Wait Wait…., journalist, and CBS News Correspondent Mo Rocca focuses his affectionate attention on people who have enjoyed continued or even initial successes very late in life, after the retirement clock kicks in for most.
His new book, Roctogenarians: Late in Life Debuts, Comebacks, and Triumphs, written with Jonathan Greenberg, is a sort of prequel for Mo Rocca’s previous book and hugely popular podcast, Mobituaries. For the uninitiated, Mobituaries is a delightful and fascinating book which extends and expands upon the obituaries of notables and even some non-notables in history- illuminating sometimes great, sometimes eccentric and odd aspects that might have been forgotten.
In Roctogenarians, Mo Rocca offers readers enormous encouragement and inspiration about later life, as he profiles individuals who kept on going, and not into the sunset. These individuals accomplished magnificent feats in old age. Matisse with his cut-outs when he could no longer paint due to cancer. Norman Lear, Mel Brooks, Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner. Roget and his thesaurus. Diana Nyad, who swam that impossible swim at 64. Mary Church Terrell, who led sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in her late 80’s. The list is long and the stories are thrilling. As Mo Rocca might suggest, eighty is the new fifty. We’ll take it.
In conversation with history buff Patt Morrison. Patt is an award-winning journalist and commentator, sharing in two Pulitzers, countless Emmy Awards, and legions of fans at the Los Angeles Times. Patt’s columns in the LA Times illuminate the endlessly interesting history of Los Angeles. She hosts the podcast, Patt Morrison Asks, and is the author of several books, including Don’t Stop the Presses: Truth, Justice, and the American Newspaper.
Переглядів: 86

Відео

Griffin Dunne and Emma Roberts | June 18, 2024
Переглядів 1,7 тис.Місяць тому
www.writersblocpresents.com Moss Theater at New Roads School, Santa Monica, CA Video: Karl Sonnenberg It is a truth universally acknowledged that Griffin Dunne springs from America's literary royal family. His father was novelist and journalist Dominick Dunne. His uncle, a great novelist and essayist, was John Gregory Dunne. As then there was his aunt, Joan Didion. Until just recently, Griffin ...
Shefali Luthra and Melanie Mason on Post-Roe America | May 30, 2024
Переглядів 302 місяці тому
www.writersblocpresents.com The Ebell of Los Angeles Video: Karl Sonnenberg Consider the peril a female-teenager, adult, or even child-who lives in one of the almost two dozen states in America that has outlawed abortion might face. In the urgently important investigation of this crisis, health reporter Shefali Luthra, author of UNDUE BURDEN: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America,recount...
Jen Psaki & Jon Favreau | May 14, 2024
Переглядів 2752 місяці тому
www.writersblocpresents.com Writers Guild Theater, Beverly Hills, CA Video: Karl Sonnenberg Consider the challenge- and joy- of becoming President Biden’s White House press secretary after the tumult of the Trump years. Jen Psaki knows her way around Democratic presidential campaigns and White House press offices, having served in major press secretary roles for John Kerry, President Barack Oba...
Joan Baez and Justin Richmond | May 16, 2024
Переглядів 2,8 тис.2 місяці тому
www.writersblocpresents.com Writers Guild Theater, Beverly Hills, CA Video: Karl Sonnenberg Joan Baez changed- and charged- our world. She ignited so many social movements- anti-war, social justice, equal rights, through the sheer power of her voice. That voice could shatter anyone’s complacency, and could serve as a call to action or a balm. We cannot understate her impact. It is with a differ...
Stacey Abrams and Dulé Hill | April 2, 2024
Переглядів 2304 місяці тому
www.writersblocpresents.com Writers Guild Theater, Beverly Hills, CA Video: Karl Sonnenberg Are you a political junkie? A close observer of the Supreme Court? A lover of incredibly fast-paced thrillers? Politics, the law, and the fight for justice, all come together in Stacey Abrams’ hands- in real life, and in her novels. In her new novel, Rogue Justice, Stacey Abrams takes us into the world o...
Michele Norris and Lena Waithe | March 6, 2024
Переглядів 2255 місяців тому
www.writersblocpresents.com Video: Karl Sonnenberg For years, you heard Michele Norris anchor NPR’s All Things Considered. You heard her eke the truth out of tough interviews she conducted for NPR. She’s earned countless major awards for her journalism, including Emmy, Peabody, Dupont, and Goldsmith awards. And if you don’t remember her Race Card project, it was brilliant in its simplicity. She...
Vilna A Resistance Story | February 25, 2024
Переглядів 765 місяців тому
www.writersblocpresents.com Writers Bloc, the Holocaust Museum LA, and the Ebell of Los Angeles present VILNA: A RESISTANCE STORY, a concert event of new music. We thank the Consulate General of the Republic of Lithuania in Los Angeles for their support. In this concert event, you’ll meet characters based on the young artists of the bohemian city of Vilna, who, in the face of being confined to ...
Sam Wasson and Graham Moore on Francis Ford Coppola | December 4, 2023
Переглядів 7488 місяців тому
www.writersblocpresents.com Video: Karl Sonnenberg Francis Ford Coppola is inarguably one of the most iconic film directors of the last fifty years. Consider the films that are his undisputed masterpieces: The Godfather Trilogy; Apocalypse Now; American Graffiti; Patton; and so many more. Who hasn't seen and been awed by The Godfather films? Or Apocalypse Now? Or American Graffiti? Hollywood fi...
Writers Bloc and The Ebell of Los Angeles Present Ann Patchett and Kathy Baker | November 30, 2023
Переглядів 6458 місяців тому
www.writersblocpresents.com Video: Karl Sonnenberg The past can be a difficult place. It’s full of choices we might now regret. Or not. But in Ann Patchett’s hands, we understand the pain, and yet we marvel that it can also live in a beautiful place, worthy of nostalgia and longing. In her novels, it’s the unexpected connections we make that change the course of our lives. It’s permitting these...
An evening with Sam Ezersky, the Digital Puzzles Editor for the New York Times | November 21, 2023
Переглядів 6258 місяців тому
www.writersblocpresents.com Video: Karl Sonnenberg In a perfect world, “nice” is good. And experts might argue that “nice” should be more than good enough. But in the land of the New York Times Spelling Bee, “nice” just doesn’t cut it. So, if you’re a Bee, what’s good enough for you? Great? Amazing? Or must you be certified as a genius, or even a Queen Bee? Trust us, we understand your inabilit...
Werner Herzog and Tom Bissell | October 25, 2023
Переглядів 2,9 тис.9 місяців тому
www.writersblocpresents.com Video: Karl Sonnenberg World renown visionary filmmaker Werner Herzog’s own story could almost best that of his greatest films, which include the astonishing Fitzcarraldo; Aguirre: The Wrath of God; and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Herzog’s memoir, Every Man For Himself and God Against All, recounts one revelation after another: growing up in extreme pov...
Amy Schneider and Guy Branum | October 12, 2023
Переглядів 1149 місяців тому
www.writersblocpresents.com Video: Karl Sonnenberg About the Event: Who is the most successful woman to ever compete on Jeopardy!? Amy Schneider’s impressive forty-game winning streak was accompanied by an even greater prize - the joy of being herself on national television and blazing a trail for openly queer and transgender people around the world. Join Amy as she shares her singular journey ...
William Boyd and Diana Tejerina Miller | September 27, 2023
Переглядів 32510 місяців тому
www.writersblocpresents.com His new novel, The Romantic, is an epic romp of a tale encompassing our hero’s inadvertent adventures and countless bad decisions. We wince as he makes them, and applaud him when he doesn’t. We accompany our man all over the globe, from his home in Ireland, as the son of a governess; as a soldier at Waterloo to an itinerant tourist Italy; as an officer in the Kandyan...
Franklin Foer and Amy Chozick | September 21, 2023
Переглядів 22710 місяців тому
www.writersblocpresents.com Video: Karl Sonnenberg What a time to be President of the United States. With impending elections for the Senate, House, and Presidency, The Atlantic National Correspondent Franklin Foer opens up the first two years of the Biden presidency to us with his new book of sweeping political reporting, The Last Politician. Consider what Biden emerged from when he walked int...
Hannah Rothschild and Simon Sebag Montefiore | September 18, 2023
Переглядів 66510 місяців тому
Hannah Rothschild and Simon Sebag Montefiore | September 18, 2023
Matt Gutman and Mayim Bialik | September 12, 2023
Переглядів 1,6 тис.10 місяців тому
Matt Gutman and Mayim Bialik | September 12, 2023
David Fenton and Jane Fonda | June 13, 2023
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David Fenton and Jane Fonda | June 13, 2023
Crisis in Israel | April 16, 2023
Переглядів 65Рік тому
Crisis in Israel | April 16, 2023
Elizabeth Winkler and Cathleen Schine | May 9, 2023
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Elizabeth Winkler and Cathleen Schine | May 9, 2023
Senator Amy Klobuchar and Jay Leno | May 24, 2023
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Senator Amy Klobuchar and Jay Leno | May 24, 2023
Bonnie Garmus and Diane Arieff: May 1, 2023
Переглядів 6 тис.Рік тому
Bonnie Garmus and Diane Arieff: May 1, 2023
Nina Totenberg and Jessica Levinson: February 5, 2023
Переглядів 459Рік тому
Nina Totenberg and Jessica Levinson: February 5, 2023
Steve Lopez and Sandy Banks | January 12, 2023
Переглядів 164Рік тому
Steve Lopez and Sandy Banks | January 12, 2023
Maggie Haberman and Todd Purdum | November 4, 2022
Переглядів 19 тис.Рік тому
Maggie Haberman and Todd Purdum | November 4, 2022
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy | September 13, 2022
Переглядів 187Рік тому
U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy | September 13, 2022
Handbook for a Post-Roe America: Robin Marty and Jessica Pieklo
Переглядів 213Рік тому
Handbook for a Post-Roe America: Robin Marty and Jessica Pieklo
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and Professor Angela Stent | May 24, 2022
Переглядів 4172 роки тому
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and Professor Angela Stent | May 24, 2022
Dr. Elizabeth Alexander and Kevin Merida on The Trayvon Generation | April 6, 2022
Переглядів 1102 роки тому
Dr. Elizabeth Alexander and Kevin Merida on The Trayvon Generation | April 6, 2022
The Future of Reproductive Rights in America | February 16, 2022
Переглядів 1592 роки тому
The Future of Reproductive Rights in America | February 16, 2022

КОМЕНТАРІ

  • @kismit100
    @kismit100 15 днів тому

    Hannah please please keep writing I read all three novels this summer. Amazing body of work ❤❤❤

  • @marielaguzman5789
    @marielaguzman5789 Місяць тому

    "strike another match", "go start a new" , and "the saints are coming through" are all lyrical lines from Bob Dylan's song "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" which she has covered before.

  • @beatrixvantil8623
    @beatrixvantil8623 Місяць тому

    ADD is an haiku !! amazing lady ♥

  • @co9262
    @co9262 Місяць тому

    This was wonderful. Griffin, you’ve done your truly fascinating family proud.

  • @barbararobbins5309
    @barbararobbins5309 Місяць тому

    Wonderful interview. I have been a Joan Baez fan for years! I did make it to her Fare thee Well concert in Knoxville, Tn, and will now buy her poetry. Someone has written recently, and I'm sorry I don't know who it was, that "Joan Baez has her revenge on Dylan, because she has aged so gracefully, and he looks demonic."

  • @amrushing3539
    @amrushing3539 2 місяці тому

    Wow

  • @taddyd1
    @taddyd1 2 місяці тому

    Justin killed it!! Great interview. You two have great chemistry. START THE ARCHIVE PROJECT JUSTIN!!!! Joan earlier spoke about releasing Mimi duets

  • @VerbSleuth
    @VerbSleuth 2 місяці тому

    Inspiring. Both Joan and Justin. Thank you.

  • @renzo6490
    @renzo6490 2 місяці тому

    Did ms. Baez write the lyrics to the song “North”? It’s a very fine song.

  • @daviddeming218
    @daviddeming218 2 місяці тому

    The little piggies poem affected my dog (I burst out laughing)

  • @michaelrecycle9838
    @michaelrecycle9838 4 місяці тому

    The guy interviewing Haberman is fantastic. Really good questions

  • @00nus00
    @00nus00 4 місяці тому

    What a rich exchange and detailed insight into Joan Didion’s writing process, experience and inspiration - I am only at 33:30h and have pinned down several pages into my notebook already 🌸✨so grateful and touched 🙏✨ loved it xx

  • @anniemac7545
    @anniemac7545 4 місяці тому

    Wow....Dr Bandy knows what she's talking about ....hindsight is 20/20 Trump causing havoc if he loses to punish the people who, he would see as failing him. This would apply to Putin re war with Ukraine

  • @Noneatall246
    @Noneatall246 5 місяців тому

    Really good interview. Relaxed and funny at times but full of good information without spoiling it for people who haven’t read the book yet

  • @momofnine199
    @momofnine199 5 місяців тому

    Excellent discussion! Everything Dr. Lee predicted about Trump’s path to more chaos and violence DID HAPPEN and is happening.

  • @jb9433
    @jb9433 5 місяців тому

    Jesus, she has no clue at all what Bitcoin is. For example, there are no 'owners' keeping a tally of how many there are 🤣. It's the whole premise of the concept! She's obviously done zero research, in to it, and is subsequently speaking drivel. What kind of author bases a novel on something they do not understand and lets it goes to print?

    • @kismit100
      @kismit100 15 днів тому

      Oh please 🙄 she worked in finance

  • @jb9433
    @jb9433 5 місяців тому

    That was an awful introduction from the introducer. Boyd responded with great humility.

  • @elishaminor2900
    @elishaminor2900 5 місяців тому

    Great discussion

  • @MiaowMcDonald
    @MiaowMcDonald 5 місяців тому

    brilliant.

  • @cheri238
    @cheri238 6 місяців тому

    When one knows, one doesn't know, and when one doesn't know, then and only one may. The unknown of silence and space. Reverence ✨️ ✨️ 🙏❤️🌏🌿🕊🎶🎵🎶

  • @XimenaZhao415
    @XimenaZhao415 6 місяців тому

    58:30 - [The Dark Knight] "Films are not intended to be political in any kind of specific sense. ...The fact that they were ...hijacked...by both the right and the left...makes me feel that we... did our job right."

  • @rigsby1454
    @rigsby1454 6 місяців тому

    It's a superb book

  • @fishjj76
    @fishjj76 6 місяців тому

    I'm just about to start "King Richard". I wish we'd learnt the lessons of Watergate better.

  • @fornatu7
    @fornatu7 7 місяців тому

    Wish this chat would never end! Great stuff!!

  • @ip6229
    @ip6229 8 місяців тому

    “The book takes place in the late 1950s, early 1960s…. what misogynists might think of as the golden age…” Touché! 😂😂

  • @christelvanzyl5246
    @christelvanzyl5246 8 місяців тому

    What a wonderful video! Thank you for sharing this. I am definitely going to read this novel now!

  • @christinawilliams6989
    @christinawilliams6989 8 місяців тому

    Such a great video. Loved this.b

  • @janneglnd7633
    @janneglnd7633 8 місяців тому

    Veldig fint intervju, selv om jeg er mer enn litt skeptisk til Brandon Taylors agenda. Han virker litt for lykkelig med et aspekt ved romanen, nemlig en følelse av at alt snart faller. Men interessant. Ja. Knausgård gir språk til vår uro, men Taylor elsker uroen som vil gi ny makt til mennesker som Knausgård egentlig ikke liker. Tenker jeg.

  • @lenwelch2195
    @lenwelch2195 8 місяців тому

    We have two great people here on that stage. Both are very good souls still caring about the future of the earth when they very well could just focus on what time they have left.

  • @margarettroche2594
    @margarettroche2594 8 місяців тому

    Great show Andrea Grossman. I very much enjoyed it. Sam is so endearing and funny.

  • @mikem3789
    @mikem3789 8 місяців тому

    Impressive contributions to cinematography. KB🤩, That said, as far as it regards film making and writers block/material, it seems ‘the aspects of character relationship’ are/is an important focus/focal point in films. It also seems, in some cases, the movie is overdone, as though there is too much going on, sometimes much too much going on, ‘Tenet’ imo seemed to be such a film. The character relationship realization as of late, most recent discussions on the topic, though is an important discovery for the future of film, as the movie experience is not only about ‘big and boom’, there is a softness between two having a friendly happy chat or an intense exchange between two or howsoever many characters where there is a show of emotions, a connection of human interaction, the socialization of human beings. When there is so much stunt work and too much busy action scenes and the characters relationships are lacking or nonexistent it can seem as though the audience is watching nothing, as though it means near nothing. Audience connection, through feelings, mutual experience etc. while it doesn’t seem ‘Tenet’ was completely lacking character relationships, it was busy with action scenes, seemed almost too busy. Striking the right balance, as with most things, 👌. A good movie watching experience is, 👏👏👏. 😊

  • @brentmiller1590
    @brentmiller1590 8 місяців тому

    I’m very happy for you

  • @liltick102
    @liltick102 9 місяців тому

    11:15 Bresson must have used that in the psychiateur scene in Le Diable Probablement

  • @stellatseliou2458
    @stellatseliou2458 9 місяців тому

    👌

  • @stellatseliou2458
    @stellatseliou2458 9 місяців тому

  • @stellatseliou2458
    @stellatseliou2458 9 місяців тому

    😊

  • @toiletfishfood8184
    @toiletfishfood8184 9 місяців тому

    👍👍

  • @barbaraneu4854
    @barbaraneu4854 9 місяців тому

    This was wonderful! Brandon asked the greatest questions. Thank you!

  • @user-mz3eb9te6l
    @user-mz3eb9te6l 10 місяців тому

    Mayim you are amazing❤ Thank you for your support🇮🇱

  • @LibbyRal
    @LibbyRal 10 місяців тому

    Interesting that in discussing his children, there was no mention of the ghost child - Tiffany

  • @LibbyRal
    @LibbyRal 10 місяців тому

    The specific anger Donnie picked up, and had the nerve to address, was racial anger. We had the audacity to elect and re-elect a Bi-racial president, which opened the door. I offered this theory to friends back in 2015 as he gained popularity, and other candidates were dropping out - Donnie was initially only running half-heartedly. He didn't expect to win. So he had nothing to lose by saying the quiet part out loud. And other candidates were slapping themselves upside the head when they realized not only could they get away with that, but it would be an acceptable and winning strategy. The reason MAGAtism is so strong now is that the GQP has learned that lesson, and many more. They learned how to sneak through all the guardrails he broke, how to break more of them, that he wasn't held accountable for his crimes and they could now dare those in charge to hold them accountable, too.

  • @duncanmckeown1292
    @duncanmckeown1292 11 місяців тому

    I'm reading Elizabeth's book right now...about half way through...and I must say, as a convinced sceptic of the Stratfordian belief who has read many authorship texts, that Winkler's book is some of the best writing I have come across! She delves into the subject with a laser-like precision and manages to cover so many issues and so many candidates in this one...action packed...volume. Yes, it does read like Sherlock Holmes to some extent, but I think this is why the authorship question has such a hold on me. Far from being a threat to the humanities, maybe this subject, if given its rightful place in academe, might attract loads of new students into English departments?

  • @robh.5242
    @robh.5242 11 місяців тому

    Matt congratulations on your book and journey. I’m slogging through PTSD. I am taking Pristique and Zolpidem. I’m glad you have gotten some relief. Thank you , thank you, thank you!

  • @InsideSmoke
    @InsideSmoke 11 місяців тому

    Nobody plays a cold hearted prick like Kenneth Branagh

  • @ElaineMLove
    @ElaineMLove Рік тому

    Excellent!!! Still relevant going into the 2024 primary election. Love Dr.Bandy Lee, been following her(when I can find her), for years, She's amazing, insightful, informative, thoughtful, smart, and can communicate diagnoses in clear, simple, and effective ways. She along with her esteemed colleagues can give a name to the pathology, the Trump Virus, and its cures are, and Depending on the overall status of the Trump virus or viruses 2024 and how you handle it, it is a harder, stronger virus, and the country is more tired, less interested, less emphatic then October 2020, and we had no idea of what was coming down the pike for the Country. I would not have been able to hold those points in my head. I had some moments watching it remembering that moment in real-time, and being in this 2023yr. The feelings that I have are like this IS worse than 2020 and I am more numb than ever! I wouldn't have noticed the progressiveness of the continuous Trump Virus (because he never left public life they believe that he is the real President and the symptoms of this have become stranger and stronger as the years progress and we have been winning elections and still the madness continues!) It is not going away, the cancer is stage 3 and initial treatment has not arrested the disease but pt.'s BP is high. And being compromised with the Trump Virus we are weak and a heart attack can take us out anytime, so we have to deal with keeping that BP down, stay away from a heart attack, and then when things stabilize for a minute get that radical tx. for the cancer going and burn that Trump Virus out of the system and hold no bars. Show no mercy because it will try to come back if we don't get it all.

  • @thomaswesterman6950
    @thomaswesterman6950 Рік тому

    A friend of global elitists --love to keep the industrial military complex fed--Big pharma drug pimp -her politics is about confusion-poverty while wearing a mask of kind sheep -how about outlawing surity /end the federal reserve -no it’s about debtors enslavement -she’s a fake progressives and on the establishment payroll

  • @SyntaxxxxError
    @SyntaxxxxError Рік тому

    I can't believe this video only has three comments, Jesus Christ. Jia fucking nails it at the end in her interpretation of Didion's work vs. "The Cult of Didion".

  • @marcellafitzgerald1527
    @marcellafitzgerald1527 Рік тому

    I've been waiting for this. How exciting!

  • @ritamariekelley4077
    @ritamariekelley4077 Рік тому

    America was sick enough to elect Trump then; it's even sicker now after 4 years of Trump.

  • @awjake137
    @awjake137 Рік тому

    Maggie KNOWS Trump.