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75 Books by Black Authors We’re Reading in 2020

Authors’s Corner with Jer Thorp

Authors Shoshana Zuboff and David Wallace-Wells Top The New Yorker’s Favorite Books of 2019

The hotly anticipated annual list of The New Yorker’s dropped, and Lavin speakers Shoshana Zuboff and David Wallace-Wells are top of the list. Featured first on The New Yorker’s list, Jia Tolentino writes, “Shoshana Zuboff’s disturbing, galvanizing The Age of Surveillance Capitalism deserves every comparison that it’s received to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring—another masterwork that […]

Lavin Speakers Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson Win 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics

The Nobel committee recognized their groundbreaking work in identifying why countries thrive.

The Top 5 LGBTQ+ Speakers for 2024: Keynote Speakers on Inclusion, Resilience, and Hope, for Pride Month and Beyond

Today, we have the opportunity to envision—and fight for—a world where we can all embrace our unique identities and shared future. At a moment where the LGBTQ+ community is more visible than ever before, Lavin’s dynamic LGBTQ+ speakers (from pioneering activists to New York Times bestselling authors) offer bold talks on solidarity and hope.

The Top 12 Women’s History Month Speakers for 2024: An Exclusive Video on Solidarity, Gender Equality, and More

March is Women’s History Month, a celebration of women’s progress and contributions to this country since its founding. Lavin is proud to exclusively represent the world’s top Women’s History Month speakers: from Margaret Atwood, #1 internationally bestselling author of The Handmaid’s Tale, to Ellen Ochoa, first Latina in space.

Just 30 Minutes Can Transform The Way We React to Stress: David Yeager’s New Scientific Study in Nature

Sweaty palms, racing thoughts—when we face down stressful situations, our minds and bodies conspire to throw us off. And with anxiety levels spiking during the pandemic, we face down stressful situations every day. But psychologist and researcher David Yeager is proving that it only takes 30 minutes to transform the way we react to stress: turning it from a threat […]

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Making Science Fun for Kids: Jennifer Gardy’s Kids’ Book Wins International Literary Association Award

What goes in must come out—but how? The wacky and wonderful processes of your digestive system are illuminated in It Takes Guts, a new children’s book by science writer and presenter Dr. Jennifer Gardy. A deputy director on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Malaria team, Jennifer reveals the secrets and quirks of the digestive system and […]

An Ode to Black Joy: Angie Thomas and Nic Stone Collaborate on Blackout

The pandemic brought its share of hardships, but also enabled the most beloved writers in young adult literature to collaborate on a new novel. Blackout features six award-winning, Black, female authors—including two Lavin Speakers: New York Times bestselling authors ANGIE THOMAS and NIC STONE.  Blackout proves to be a groundbreaking book—not only thanks to the […]

Retail Futurist Doug Stephens Weighs In on the Crash of an Industry — and Prepares For Its Rebirth

In Resurrecting Retail (OUT TODAY!), internationally renowned futurist and bestselling author Doug Stephens not only explores the massive upheaval happening in retail today; he also outlines an inspiring and actionable plan for its future in the post-pandemic world.   A gripping exploration, researched in real-time from inside the crisis, Resurrecting Retail offers a comprehensive view […]

How to Change by Katy Milkman Is Set to Be One of the Most Revolutionary Reads of 2021

The Lavin Agency is giving you the opportunity to incite actionable change with behavioral scientist and Wharton professor Katy Milkman. You’ll receive FREE copies of her eagerly anticipated book How to Change, as well as special speaker pricing, when you book her for your next event.  If you’ve ever tried to change something in your […]

New York Times Bestselling Author Paul Tough Explores the Glaring Injustices of Higher Education

How did American colleges and universities go from being a powerful engine for social mobility, to a mighty force against it? In his explosive book The Inequality Machine, Paul Tough combines deep, authoritative reporting with the vivid stories of students themselves, to reveal where higher education went wrong.   For a long time, the relationship […]

Adam Bryant Shows You How to Master Critical Leadership Challenges in The CEO Test

The demands of the corner office are notoriously difficult: impossible decisions, sleepless nights, the expectation to perform consistently at a high-level. It’s no wonder that the average CEO today rarely lasts longer than five years. In his new book The CEO Test, leadership expert and New York Times bestselling author Adam Bryant covers the seven […]

Lavin’s Holiday Gift Guide: A Book for Everyone on Your List

Is there any better way to spend the holidays than curled up with a good book? As this year comes to a close, we’ve rounded up the reads that have inspired, motivated, challenged, and moved us. So, whether you’re shopping for a history buff or a poetry lover, or even a gift for yourself, there’s […]

Nikole-Hannah Jones’ Essay for ‘The 1619 Project’ Wins a Pulitzer Prize

Creator Nikole Hannah-Jones reexamined the legacy of slavery in America in the ambitious project, which recognized the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans arriving in Virginia. For her introductory essay, Hannah-Jones has been awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for commentary.  New York Times Magazine’s ‘The 1619 Project’ was perhaps the most talked about piece […]

Why ‘Cartooning’ Political Opponents is Bad for Us: Jay Van Bavel for the BBC

We tend to reduce our political opponents to caricatures and stereotypes, a practice that is further reinforced by social media. And though it may feel satisfying to call one another out publicly, the effects could be dangerous. Psychology professors Jay Van Bavel and Dominic Packer investigate for the BBC.  Political polarization may increase voter turnout, […]

Margaret Atwood, Lori Gottlieb, and Angie Thomas Named to Variety’s Best Books of 2019

The most recent novels from bestselling authors Margaret Atwood (The Testaments), Lori Gottlieb (Maybe You Should Talk to Someone) and Angie Thomas (On the Come Up) all were named to Variety’s list of the Best Books of 2019. Margaret Atwood’s hotly anticipated sequel to 1985’s The Handmaid’s Tale, was able to intertwine her original story […]

New Margaret Atwood Documentary an Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Author

With winning 2019’s Booker Prize for The Testaments, a successful television series, and a world even more enraptured by her already popular prose, it’s natural to want to know what goes on in the mind and life of one of the most beloved authors, Margaret Atwood. The new documentary, Margaret Atwood: A Word after a Word after […]

Three Lavin Speakers Make Amazon’s List of the Best Biographies and Memoirs of 2019

Authors Jayson Greene, Lori Gottlieb, and Megan Phelps-Roper are among Amazon’s annual list of the best memoirs and biographies of 2019. They each share incredibly personal, and profound, stories.  Megan Phelps-Roper’s memoir, Unfollow, explores her life as a member of the notoriously hateful Westboro Baptist Church—and how she came to the decision to leave her […]

Coaching Athletes to Be Their Best: Jonathan Fader’s New Book Hits Shelves Tomorrow

What do you do when conventional coaching methods aren’t getting you the optimal results? You turn to Coaching Athletes to Be Their Best, the first-ever guide to Motivational Interviewing—a proven technique for building relationships—co-authored by leading performance psychologist Jonathan Fader.  “Relationships matter in sports, and we tend to navigate them through conversation,” write Jonathan Fader, […]

The Novels That Shaped Our World: The BBC Names Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie in Literary List

The BBC has assembled a panel of British writers, curators, and critics to put forth a list of the books that have shaped their world. Part of the network’s year-long celebration of literature, the 100-strong list features work by contemporary icons Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie.   “We asked our prestigious panel to create a […]

Margaret Atwood Wins the Prestigious Booker Prize for the Second Time

With her newest release, The Testaments, breaking sales records around the globe—and at a record speed—literary legend Margaret Atwood is also taking home the Booker Prize for the sequel to 1985’s The Handmaid’s Tale, today. Nineteen years ago, Atwood accepted the same award for her book The Blind Assassin; and today’s win makes her only […]

Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Launch 1619 Project: Marking 400 Years Since American Slavery Began

Without the monumental efforts of Black Americans in the face of incredible opposition, democracy as we know it would not exist. Nikole Hannah-Jones is lifting up the remarkable contributions of Black Americans to the nation, and acknowledging the true, fraught beginnings of American history, with her groundbreaking 1619 Project.  A major multimedia initiative, The 1619 Project […]

Gender and Venture Capitalism: Laura Huang Wins the Best Paper Award from the Academy of Management

Through their scholarship and teaching, The Academy of Management Journal aims to inspire and enable a better world. This year, they’re honoring top business school professor Laura Huang with the AMJ Best Paper Award for her groundbreaking work on how the gender gap affects startup funding.  Male entrepreneurs tend to raise higher levels of funding […]

Grit Speaker Lauren Eskreis-Winkler Investigates the Motivational Benefits of Advice-Giving

Common wisdom would suggest that offering advice to those who are struggling is helpful to them. But findings from the University of Pennsylvania suggest the opposite is true. In fact, it is the actually person dispensing the advice who is benefiting most. Lauren Eskreis-Winkler reveals the surprising insights from her new study. Wharton post-doctoral researcher […]

“All Hands on Deck”: Uninhabitable Earth Author David Wallace-Wells Discusses the Motivating Force of Climate Change

We absolutely love it when two Lavin speakers get together to share world-changing ideas, and that happened on Douglas Rushkoff’s most recent episode of his Team Human podcast, “The Power of Panic,” when he and The Uninhabitable Earth author David Wallace-Wells got down to brass tacks around climate change, and the power of human anxiety […]

Our Towns: Deborah & James Fallows Take Us On a Tour of Small-Town America’s Surprising Economic Renewal and Growth

“We began this project with one purpose in mind: we wanted to take a fresh look at the country, its disappointments and its possibilities.” In James and Deborah Fallows’ bestselling new book Our Towns, two seasoned journalists go on a remarkable exploration of America’s “flyover country,” creating a surprising, necessary, portrait of the civic and economic reinvention […]

“The First Book to Explain the Economics of Artificial Intelligence”: Advance Praise for Prediction Machines by Speaker Ajay Agrawal

“This may be the best book yet on what may be the best technology that has come along.” Lawrence H. Summers, former US treasury secretary on Ajay Agrawal’s highly anticipated book Prediction Machines—a crystal clear, realistic assessment of how AI will actually affect the economy. No hype, no speculation, just the tools and economic frameworks managers can use right […]

With Debut Novel The Hate U Give Still a #1 Bestseller, Speaker Angie Thomas Introduces Her Next Dynamic and Timely Book

With The Hate U Give enjoying its 52nd week at the top of The New York Times bestseller list, the follow-up novel by speaker Angie Thomas could not be more eagerly anticipated. Entertainment Weekly released a sneak peek of the forthcoming title’s cover and plotline—about aspiring rapper Bri, as she tries to stave off poverty with every move in her […]