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The Lavin Agency Speakers Bureau

A speakers bureau that represents the best original thinkers,
writers, and doers for speaking engagements.

Tag: book release

“Maybe the most important history book I’ve ever read”: Brené Brown on Sarah Lewis’s new book

Posted on by Dylan Lavin

“The Unseen Truth isn’t just a groundbreaking work of visionary scholarship. It’s an earthquake.”
— Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Harvard professor

Award-winning art historian Sarah Lewis is the bestselling author of The Rise and founder of Vision & Justice, a powerful initiative that reveals the key role visual culture plays in pursuing equity.

Her new book, The Unseen Truth (out now!), is a masterpiece of detective work that unveils the hidden history of one of the greatest fictions that we’ve been told about race. It’s been called “an indispensable resource to better see ourselves” (Clint Smith, New York Times bestselling author of How the Word Is Passed), and Harvard professor Imani Perry says that Sarah “illuminates what it means to both ‘see’ and create race, deepening our ability to pursue justice.”

In riveting, eye-opening talks, Sarah tells the story of the Caucasian war—the fight for independence in the Caucasus that coincided with the end of the U.S. Civil War—and how it showed that the place from which we derive “Caucasian” for whiteness actually wasn’t white at all. She shows what it will take for us to see through these fictions and rebuild together.

“You’re conditioned to see things that are not true as true because of the organizing force of race,” Sarah tells #1 New York Times bestselling author Brené Brown on her award-winning podcast Unlocking Us. “We must address this fiction if we’re really to see each other clearly.”

Our institutions can save democracy—if we act now. A new book from a 2x Pulitzer Prize winner

Posted on by Dylan Lavin

Our institutions, from the FBI to the Justice Department and beyond, have been intentionally weakened over the past few years. But we can fix them, says David Rohde—and gain not only a more unified political landscape, but a stronger democracy.

“There’s definitely corruption, but there are a lot of people who are trying to do the right things,” David tells NPR’s Terry Gross in a much-shared interview on Fresh Air this week. “People running for office, people coming out as volunteers—that’s democracy.”

David is “one of the best investigative reporters of his generation” (George Packer, The Unwinding). A celebrated political and international correspondent, he was captured by the Taliban while reporting in Afghanistan—and escaped. He’s won two Pulitzer Prizes, served as The New Yorker‘s online news director, and is now NBC’s senior executive editor for national security.

David’s new book, Where Tyranny Begins, is a revealing investigation into how the Justice Department and FBI have failed to hold flawed governments accountable. The New York Times named it as one of 19 nonfiction books to read this summer. It’s a vital addition to his body of work on how institutions affect our everyday lives, which includes his previous book In Deep (on the conspiracy theories surrounding a “Deep State”).

In insightful, accessible talks, David speaks with clarity and optimism on how ordinary citizens like us can still fight for our rights, greater resilience for our institutions, and the success of our democracy.

In the Midst of Crisis, We Can Still Reclaim Our American Dream: Climate Activist Bill McKibben’s New Book

Posted on by [email protected]

Like so many Americans, Bill McKibben—activist and bestselling author of the first book to introduce climate change to general audiences—grew up fully believing that the United States was the greatest country on earth. But fifty years later, he found himself in a nation and on a planet strained by overlapping crises. What happened? And how do we recover?

In The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon, Bill takes an incisive look at the tumultuous America of his past and present, and charts a course towards a fairer future. With his trademark honesty and clarity, he combines his personal memoir with the story of a nation at war with itself. He reflects on the most important dynamics and crises in our history, which are playing out on a national and even international scale, to show us how to hope and act fiercely for a better world. Heather McGhee, bestselling author of The Sum of Us, calls the book “a clarion call for a generation to understand what happened to their American Dream, and to fight for our common future.”

Watch Bill discuss The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon here:

 

Bill McKibben | The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon

For Happiness and Answers to Life, Follow the Numbers: Data Scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz’s New Book

Posted on by [email protected]

How do we find happiness? We tend to follow our gut, which often leads us astray, but Seth Stephens-Davidowitz—New York Times bestselling author and former Google data scientist—says we can use data to choose more wisely and get happier. 

When we make big personal decisions, we consult friends, Google it, or just do what feels right. But Seth says we should instead be following the numbers. In his new book Don’t Trust Your Gut, Seth provides us with science-backed answers for some of life’s biggest questions. Among many other things, he proves that we’re looking for the wrong traits in our romantic partners, that the fanciest schools don’t matter much in raising kids, and that the most boring-sounding jobs are often the most lucrative. With his much-lauded research skills and trademark deadpan humor, Seth shows us how data is the key to making our lives better, more decisive, and happier. “When you know the data on how the world really works,” Seth says, “you are prepared to make better life decisions.”

Watch Seth talk about living the perfect data-driven life here:

 

Live The Perfect Life, Using Data - Seth Stephens-Davidowitz | Modern Wisdom Podcast 474