Leon Levy Center for Biography
Leon Levy Center for Biography
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Nicholas Shakespeare on Ian Fleming, with Kai Bird, Tuesday, May 28, 6:30 pm, the Graduate Center
Nicholas Shakespeare on Ian Fleming
in conversation with Kai Bird
Tuesday, May 28, 6:30 pm
The Kelly Skylight Room, the Graduate Center
365 5th Ave. New York, NY 10016
Ian Fleming's greatest creation, James Bond, has had an enormous and ongoing impact on our culture. What Bond represents about ideas of masculinity, the British national psyche and global politics has shifted over time, as has the interpretation of the life of his author. But Fleming himself was more mysterious and subtle than anything he wrote.
Ian's childhood with his gifted brother Peter and his extraordinary mother set the pattern for his ambition to be “the complete man,” and he would strive for the means to achieve this “completeness” all his life. Only a thriller writer for his last twelve years, his dramatic personal life and impressive career in Naval Intelligence put him at the heart of critical moments in world history, while also providing rich inspiration for his fiction. Exceptionally well connected, and widely travelled, from the United States and Soviet Russia to his beloved Jamaica, Ian had access to the most powerful political figures at a time of profound change.
Nicholas Shakespeare is one of the most gifted biographers working today. His talent for uncovering material that casts new light on his subjects is fully evident in this masterful, definitive biography. His unprecedented access to the Fleming archive and his nose for a story make this a fresh and eye-opening picture of the man and his famous creation.
Nicholas Shakespeare was born in Worcester in 1957 and brought up in the Far East and South America. One of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists 1993, his books have been translated into twenty-two languages. They include The Vision of Elena Silves, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and The Dancer Upstairs, which was made into a film of the same name by John Malkovich and chosen by the American Libraries Association as the Best Novel of 1995. His nonfiction includes the critically acclaimed authorized biography of Bruce Chatwin, In Tasmania, and Priscilla: the hidden life of an Englishwoman in Occupied France. He has been longlisted for the Booker Prize twice, was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Kai Bird co-authored with Martin J. Sherwin the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Knopf, 2005), which was made into a major motion picture by Christopher Nolan and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. He has also written biographies of John J. McCloy and McGeorge Bundy-and a memoir, Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis (Scribner, 2010). His book The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames appeared in 2014. His biography of Jimmy Carter, Outlier: the Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter, was published in 2021 by Crown Books.
Переглядів: 525

Відео

Natalie Dykstra on Isabella Stewart Gardner, with Rachel Cohen, April 18, 2024, the Graduate Center
Переглядів 2925 місяців тому
Natalie Dykstra on Isabella Stewart Gardner in conversation with Rachel Cohen Thursday, April 18, 6:30 pm Elebash Recital Hall, the Graduate Center 365 5th Ave. New York, NY 10016 Born in 1840 to a privileged New York family, Isabella Stewart married Boston Brahmin Jack Gardner as she turned twenty. She was misunderstood by Boston’s insular society and suffered the death of her only child, a be...
Benjamin Taylor on Willa Cather, with Molly Haskell, March 26, 2024, the Graduate Center CUNY
Переглядів 1786 місяців тому
Benjamin Taylor on Willa Cather in conversation with Molly Haskell Tuesday, March 26, 6:30 pm The Skylight Room, the Graduate Center 365 5th Ave. New York, NY 10016 The story of Willa Cather is defined by a lifetime of determination, struggle, and gradual emergence. Some show their full powers early, yet Cather was the opposite-she took her time and transformed herself by stages. The writer who...
Will Hermes on Lou Reed, with Amanda Petrusich March 13, 2024, the Graduate Center, CUNY
Переглядів 706 місяців тому
Will Hermes on Lou Reed in conversation with Amanda Petrusich Wednesday, March 13, 6:30 pm Elebash Recital Hall, the Graduate Center 365 5th Ave. New York, NY 10016 Since his death ten years ago, Lou Reed’s living presence has only grown. The great rock-poet presided over the marriage of Brill Building pop and the European avant-garde, and left American culture transfigured. In Lou Reed: The Ki...
Adam Shatz on Frantz Fanon, with Vinson Cunningham, Feb 22, 2024, Leon Levy Center for Biography, GC
Переглядів 1,4 тис.7 місяців тому
Adam Shatz on Frantz Fanon in conversation with Vinson Cunningham Thursday, February 22, 6:30 pm The Skylight Room, the Graduate Center 365 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10036 In the era of Black Lives Matter, Frantz Fanon’s shadow looms larger than ever. Fanon was the intellectual activist of the postcolonial era, and his writings about race, revolution, and the psychology of power continue to shap...
Jonathan Eig on Martin Luther King, with Randall Kennedy, Dec 4, 2023, the Graduate Center, CUNY
Переглядів 6139 місяців тому
Vividly written and exhaustively researched, Jonathan Eig’s King: A Life is the first major biography in decades of the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.-and the first to include recently declassified FBI files. In this revelatory new portrait, the bestselling biographer gives us an intimate view of the courageous and often emotionally troubled human being who demanded peaceful protest f...
Frank Costigliola on George Kennan with Kai Bird Thursday, Nov. 9, 6:30 pm the Graduate Center, CUNY
Переглядів 2319 місяців тому
Frank Costigliola on George Kennan in conversation with Kai Bird Thursday, Nov. 9, 6:30 pm The Skylight Room, the Graduate Center, CUNY The diplomat and historian George F. Kennan (1904-2005) ranks as one of the most important figures in American foreign policy―and one of its most complex. Drawing on many previously untapped sources, Frank Costigliola’s authoritative biography offers a new pict...
Rachel Swarns on the 272, with Nicholas Lemann
Переглядів 12011 місяців тому
Rachel Swarns on the 272: the Families Who Were Enslaved and Sold To Build the American Catholic Church in conversation with Nicholas Lemann Oct 17, 2023 on Zoom
Oppenheimer from biography to blockbuster: Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, with Kai Bird
Переглядів 38511 місяців тому
Oppenheimer from biography to blockbuster: Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, with Kai Bird, October 11, 6:30 pm, Proshansky Auditorium, the Graduate Center, CUNY
Walter Isaacson delivers Annual Leon Levy Lecture on Biography, Sept. 28, 2023 CUNY Graduate Center
Переглядів 224Рік тому
The biographer of Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and now Elon Musk, discusses his experience writing about innovators in "Lessons About Living with Geniuses"
Rachel Shteir on Betty Friedan, with Katha Pollitt, Sept 14, 6:30 pm CUNY Graduate Center
Переглядів 178Рік тому
The feminist writer and activist Betty Friedan (1921-2006) was powerful and polarizing. Born Bettye Naomi Goldstein, Friedan chafed at society’s restrictions from a young age. As a journalist she covered racism, sexism, labor, class inequality, and anti-Semitism. Her malaise as a housewife and her research into the feelings of other women resulted in the revolutionary The Feminine Mystique (196...
Chad L. Williams on W.E.B. Du Bois, in conversation with David Levering Lewis, May 17, 2023 on Zoom
Переглядів 318Рік тому
When W. E. B. Du Bois, believing in the possibility of full citizenship and democratic change, encouraged African Americans to “close ranks” and support the Allied cause in World War I, he made a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Seeking both intellectual clarity and personal atonement, for more than two decades Du Bois attempted to write the definitive history of Black pa...
Peter Stansky on George Orwell, with Joseph Kanon, May 9, 2023, on Zoom
Переглядів 211Рік тому
Peter Stansky on George Orwell in conversation with Joseph Kanon May 9 at 7 pm on Zoom Webinar Few English writers wielded a pen so sharply as George Orwell, the quintessential political writer of the twentieth century. His literary output at once responded to and sought to influence the tumultuous times in which he lived-decades during which Europe and eventually the entire world would be torn...
Darryl Pinckney on his memoir Come Back in September, with Thad Ziolkowski, May 2, 2023
Переглядів 359Рік тому
Darryl Pinckney on his memoir Come Back in September in conversation with Thad Ziolkowski May 2, 6:30 pm, the Kelly Skylight Room, the Graduate Center, CUNY Darryl Pinckney arrived at Columbia University in New York City in the early 1970s and had the opportunity to enroll in Elizabeth Hardwick’s creative writing class at Barnard. It changed his life. When the semester was over, he continued to...
Carolyn Woods Eisenberg on Fire & Rain, with Timothy Naftali, Thursday, April 27, 7 pm on Zoom
Переглядів 306Рік тому
Carolyn Woods Eisenberg on Nixon, Kissinger & the Wars in Southeast Asia in conversation with Timothy Naftali Thursday, April 27, 7 pm on Zoom Fire and Rain is a compelling, meticulous narrative that brings to life policy decisions about Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, conveying their significance to a new generation of readers. Drawing upon a vast collection of declassified documents, Carolyn Woo...
Kerri Greenidge on The Grimkes, the Legacy of Slavery in an American Family, with Rachel Swarns
Переглядів 300Рік тому
Kerri Greenidge on The Grimkes, the Legacy of Slavery in an American Family, with Rachel Swarns
Annie Cohen-Solal on Picasso, with Blair Asbury Brooks, 3-29-23, the Graduate Center
Переглядів 295Рік тому
Annie Cohen-Solal on Picasso, with Blair Asbury Brooks, 3-29-23, the Graduate Center
David Waldstreicher on Phillis Wheatley, with Elizabeth McHenry, March 7, 2023
Переглядів 684Рік тому
David Waldstreicher on Phillis Wheatley, with Elizabeth McHenry, March 7, 2023
Melvyn P. Leffler on George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein, with Peter Beinart, Mon, Feb 27, 2003
Переглядів 427Рік тому
Melvyn P. Leffler on George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein, with Peter Beinart, Mon, Feb 27, 2003
John A. Farrell on Ted Kennedy, with Kai Bird, Wednesday, February 22, 6:30 pm, 2023
Переглядів 371Рік тому
John A. Farrell on Ted Kennedy, with Kai Bird, Wednesday, February 22, 6:30 pm, 2023
Hilary A. Hallett on Elinor Glyn and the Invention of the It Girl, with David Nasaw, 2-16-23
Переглядів 237Рік тому
Hilary A. Hallett on Elinor Glyn and the Invention of the It Girl, with David Nasaw, 2-16-23
Beverly Gage on J. Edgar Hoover in conversation with Kai Bird, Tuesday, February 7, 6:30 pm
Переглядів 1,2 тис.Рік тому
Beverly Gage on J. Edgar Hoover in conversation with Kai Bird, Tuesday, February 7, 6:30 pm
Ancient Lives Panel: Thursday, December 15, 7 pm on Zoom Webinar
Переглядів 127Рік тому
Ancient Lives Panel: Thursday, December 15, 7 pm on Zoom Webinar
Kal Raustiala on Ralph Bunche, in conversation with John Torpey, December 8, 2022, Zoom Webinar
Переглядів 119Рік тому
Kal Raustiala on Ralph Bunche, in conversation with John Torpey, December 8, 2022, Zoom Webinar
Aidan Levy on Sonny Rollinsin conversation with Gary GiddinsFriday, December 2, 7 pm on Zoom Webinar
Переглядів 293Рік тому
Aidan Levy on Sonny Rollinsin conversation with Gary GiddinsFriday, December 2, 7 pm on Zoom Webinar
The Annual Leon Levy Lecture: Ramachandra Guha, “Preparing for Gandhi”Tuesday, October 18, 6:30 pm
Переглядів 1,6 тис.Рік тому
The Annual Leon Levy Lecture: Ramachandra Guha, “Preparing for Gandhi”Tuesday, October 18, 6:30 pm
DT Max on Stephen Sondheim, with Adam Gopnik, December 13, 2022 at the Graduate Center
Переглядів 161Рік тому
DT Max on Stephen Sondheim, with Adam Gopnik, December 13, 2022 at the Graduate Center
Stacy Schiff on Samuel Adams, with Kai Bird, December 7, 2022, the Graduate Center
Переглядів 532Рік тому
Stacy Schiff on Samuel Adams, with Kai Bird, December 7, 2022, the Graduate Center
Jennifer Homans on George Balanchine, with Pamela Newkirk, Nov 29, the Graduate Center
Переглядів 456Рік тому
Jennifer Homans on George Balanchine, with Pamela Newkirk, Nov 29, the Graduate Center
Geoffrey Wheatcroft on Winston Churchill, with Simon Winchester, November 16, 2022
Переглядів 1,7 тис.Рік тому
Geoffrey Wheatcroft on Winston Churchill, with Simon Winchester, November 16, 2022

КОМЕНТАРІ

  • @singhs2817
    @singhs2817 6 днів тому

    Will as historian can't hide his fixation and glory for the Mughals.. who were nothing but a bunch of barbarians from central Asia.. BTW Mughals comes from Mongols army harems in Mughals ancestors lands of Turk/ Tartars .. They destroyed the whole Hindu civilization from the whole North India and looted each and every Hindus since Babur in 1527 onwards till Nadir Shah looted all that gold, diamonds, silver 200 yrs later.. (So all the ancient gold, diamonds etc are in Iran) Its not that just Mughals destroyed Hindus before them right from the slave dynasty in 1192 till 1520s Muslims were destroying Hindu civilization and looting, converting them.

  • @SilvanaKress-o4b
    @SilvanaKress-o4b 13 днів тому

    Justice for KURT COBAIN and KRISTEN PFAFF‼️‼️

  • @DanielWhite-v4e
    @DanielWhite-v4e 16 днів тому

    the mayor of london

  • @bigbandsrock1
    @bigbandsrock1 26 днів тому

    Was “It” really even mentioned, or did I mess something. The film with Clara Bow was delightful! Wish you might have elaborated on this film, Clara Bow & Antonio Moreno. Perhaps it’s elaborated on in the book?

  • @hayleyanna2625
    @hayleyanna2625 28 днів тому

    I very much enjoyed this conversation. Thank you for sharing this. Sal Bellow was a superb writer.

  • @serrajav
    @serrajav Місяць тому

    I know Dr. Kotkin will never read this, but in case he does... When is the 3rd volume coming out!!!???

  • @quhawks48
    @quhawks48 Місяць тому

    Ben Moser is a fool. He thinks that buildings in Gaza that have the word ‘School’ or ‘Hospital’ on them are actually schools or hospitals versus weapons depots or militant barracks. Ignore him. He is voting for Kamala Harris which is further proof that he’s a fool.

  • @MahmutAyabakan
    @MahmutAyabakan Місяць тому

    Jackson Patricia Williams Paul Young Sarah

  • @brucehan6815
    @brucehan6815 Місяць тому

    Excellent as always! Thank you!

  • @behroozshahdaftar4209
    @behroozshahdaftar4209 2 місяці тому

    Perhaps the stigma and bigotry Oliver Sacks experienced for being gay nurtured his empathy towards those who also experienced prejudice, marginalization?

  • @justinsmith700
    @justinsmith700 2 місяці тому

    the rita skeeter of bennington

  • @paulvaleri373
    @paulvaleri373 2 місяці тому

    russell banks a great american writer

  • @akabees
    @akabees 3 місяці тому

    Excellent conversation, excellent book.

  • @cynthiawilliams737
    @cynthiawilliams737 3 місяці тому

    I have read Haywire Brooke hayward's book & must say she is a survivor she lost her Mother & Sister Bridget to suicide & a few years ago her brother Bill shot himself & died how did she manage to be so normal with a family riddled with mental illness!!

    • @ZaO-h1o
      @ZaO-h1o Місяць тому

      Get the hell out of here!

  • @JayJay-wg5ex
    @JayJay-wg5ex 3 місяці тому

    cruella deville's hair was more famous

  • @davidcopson5800
    @davidcopson5800 4 місяці тому

    A very interesting interview.

  • @aecoronini5069
    @aecoronini5069 4 місяці тому

    How did Sebald come to trust Carole Angier?

  • @damien1352
    @damien1352 5 місяців тому

    Elinor Glyn, didn't invent the "IT" girl she observed and highlighted something that has been around for a long time. Some people have charisma. This applies to males and females. The aspect Elinor Glyn highlighted was sexual charisma. The science behind why some people have sexual charisma is explained in the recently published book "Why Some People are not Attracted to Members of the Opposite Sex" by John Hibbert. The explanation is in Chapter 4 "Sexual Charisma" but the whole book should be read to understand Chapter 4.

  • @Godstricep_2.0
    @Godstricep_2.0 7 місяців тому

    Great video! Keep it up fellas.

  • @DangerfieldChris
    @DangerfieldChris 7 місяців тому

    Could they make Bellow and more boring?

  • @Biodyn3758
    @Biodyn3758 7 місяців тому

    I LOVE their EMPIRE podcast, its so addictive and infromative..❤

  • @mwmingram
    @mwmingram 7 місяців тому

    Very interesting and useful talk, thank you both.

  • @davidgerlach4305
    @davidgerlach4305 8 місяців тому

    very cool and intellectual performance, not boring at all !

  • @caliblue2
    @caliblue2 8 місяців тому

    It a fan of ol Danny Goldberg after what he did to Kurt in the end. Fake af.

  • @222ric
    @222ric 8 місяців тому

    Great interview. Thanks for sharing. Will certainly buy the book 🙂

  • @ChristinaSpringsteen-on5vm
    @ChristinaSpringsteen-on5vm 8 місяців тому

    Kurt knew the end was coming

  • @reimereason
    @reimereason 9 місяців тому

    Danny Gold Digger. What a worthless, nothing-burger book. What's worse, it's a white-wash of history. Fuck this guy and his shitty book.

  • @MrDinghus
    @MrDinghus 9 місяців тому

    Very nice remembrance and discussion of one of the greatest of all American writers. Unfortunate that Atlas sounds like an adult from Peanuts. Can't believe no one did anything about his microphone or the way he was speaking into it to make him at least slightly easier to understand

  • @vackrakristaller
    @vackrakristaller 9 місяців тому

    So glad my feed decided to show me this fantastic interview. I need to find time for the whole of Angier's "Speak, Silence."

  • @kevinjoyish
    @kevinjoyish 9 місяців тому

    Cant help but think Bing had a skill in living his life in a Mindful way. His life seems to personify Mindfulness

  • @kckstnd8
    @kckstnd8 9 місяців тому

    Danny Goldberg is an upstanding honest person

  • @roberts2000
    @roberts2000 10 місяців тому

    Loves this! I teach history and will use this talk in my lessons!

  • @MadnSad
    @MadnSad 10 місяців тому

    It was mined in Kollur of south India. Golconda is not a place name (nor of a mine) but in this context refers to the Muslim rulers of the Telugu country…even Dalrymple can be in error. The right place for the Kohinoor is in a museum in Hyderabad.

  • @mmmmmmmk
    @mmmmmmmk 10 місяців тому

    god caws is painful and unnecessarily rude

  • @lizziebkennedy7505
    @lizziebkennedy7505 10 місяців тому

    Ideological and polemical sound very pejorative. Writing as though women actually are human beings isn’t communism.

  • @postatility9703
    @postatility9703 10 місяців тому

    Interesting discussion, and I love how they talked about Sonny's love of the American Songbook.Monk,among many others,also had that same love for Irving Berlin and some of the other great songwriters of the era.As Archie Shepp and Jimmy Heath said,"We listened to the same radio"

  • @cassiosborge
    @cassiosborge 11 місяців тому

    I'm completely obsessed by Wilson's perception on Lawrence. She's brillinat. Can't wait to read her book.

  • @breakbad9753
    @breakbad9753 Рік тому

    This rude interviewer could care less.... he’s terrible

  • @gilliandarling9239
    @gilliandarling9239 Рік тому

    i agree with the interviewer that the choice of the name Malabar was spiritually significant in terms of regenerative farming et el

  • @BreakfastInEurope
    @BreakfastInEurope Рік тому

    Please fix the audio

  • @JPW3
    @JPW3 Рік тому

    Maybe the folk at PragerU should read Blight's bio.

  • @JPW3
    @JPW3 Рік тому

    It's rather easy to make J. Edgar Hoover into a rogue actor. Thank goodness Gage's bio subverts that rhetoric.

  • @sarahlianabusharar3230
    @sarahlianabusharar3230 Рік тому

    Just Marvellous ! Thank you! I’m so grateful to W.Darlymple and other illustrious and honest historians of his ilk retelling historical truths that we should know. I love the Empire podcast on Spotify hosted by the knowledgeable and entertaining Anita Anand and William Darlymple.

  • @antoniboleslawowicz8095
    @antoniboleslawowicz8095 Рік тому

    Humphrey opined in the middle 1960s: “If we won’t fight the Communists in Saigon, we may have to fight them in Honolulu or San Francisco.” George McGovern, in an interview not long before he died, said that Humphrey had told him that he -- Humphrey -- genuinely supported our involvement in Vietnam.

  • @seanmellows1348
    @seanmellows1348 Рік тому

    Brilliant

  • @AudioPervert1
    @AudioPervert1 Рік тому

    One things for sure, India is as screwed and hopelessly mired in caste, when Gandhi was around and today.

  • @lillianbarutti4875
    @lillianbarutti4875 Рік тому

    Where is volume 3, Mr. Giddins? Please!

  • @jacintoroymendoza7903
    @jacintoroymendoza7903 Рік тому

    GG still going strong

  • @timeisfleeting2452
    @timeisfleeting2452 Рік тому

    A tantalising interview ruined by constant video glitches. Needs patching up.

  • @alvin8391
    @alvin8391 Рік тому

    Since the end of WW2, the Presidents and congresses of my country, the USA, have behaved as aggressive war criminals worldwide. The rulers of my country, an imperial, militarized oligarchy, have replaced democratic, legally elected governments with ruthless dictators in, for example, Iran (1953), Guatemala (1954), Chile (1972), and in many other countries. It has sent arms to regimes so that they could exterminate their own native populations: Indonesia under Sukarno, and many regimes in Central America. It has committed aggression in many countries, e.g. Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria. The list of USA's war crimes is too long for me to offer here. The USA is now engaged in a war against Russia, using Ukraine as a proxy. That war began in 2014, when the neutral government of Ukraine was toppled by a USA coup in favor of a fascist regime in Kiev that would sacrifice Ukrainian lives to try to weaken Russia. I now realize, as I did not at the time Klaus Fuchs was discovered to be an "atomic spy", that if the USA had been the world's only nuclear power, it would have been even more aggressive than it has been.