City Arts & Lectures

Emmy-nominated actress and activist Laverne Cox rose to fame through her role on Orange is the New Black, quickly becoming an important voice for transgender rights. In her debut memoir Transcendent, Cox delves into her traumas, gender identity, transition, and, in the end, her journey to healing.

Laverne Cox spent years tirelessly working to make it as an actress before her breakout, Emmy-nominated role in Orange Is the New Black. She studied dance, acted in off-Broadway shows, and worked in restaurants, all while honing her craft. Now, she has appeared in award-winning movies and shows, produced the award-winning documentary The T Word, and become a leading voice advocating for queer and transgender people. In her debut memoir Transcendent, Cox delves into her traumas, gender identity, transition, and, in the end, her journey to healing.

On June 11, 2026, Laverne Cox came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco for an on-stage conversation with filmmaker, writer, and actress Cheryl Dunye.

This is an encore presentation of a program originally broadcast in October of 2025. Arundhati Roy’s internationally best-selling novels include The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.  Her nonfiction works engage elegantly and passionately with class and power, among other issues.  Roy’s new memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, examines her childhood in Kerala, India, and a mother whose commitment to justice and education made her a powerful force in the community – but whose volatility made for a challenging family life that included emotional abuse.  On September 19, 2025, Arundhati Roy came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to read from her memoir and hold an on-stage conversation with journalist Deepa Fernandes. 

Dr. Vivek Murthy served as the Surgeon General of the United States under both Presidents Obama and Biden.   In that capacity, Murthy shaped the federal response to the opioid epidemic, the rise of e-cigarettes, the Flint, Michigan water crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Murthy has pushed to reduce access to social media for young children, pointing out the harmful effects of bullying, a lack of in-person interactions, and harassment.  Recently, Murthy has written about and spoken on the negative health effects of loneliness, calling it an “epidemic” that increases the risk of early death and other social problems. On April 16, 2024, Vivek Murthy came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk about how to combat loneliness with public radio journalist David Greene.

Yotam Ottolenghi is a celebrated chef and bestselling cookbook author whose newest book, Simple Too, comes out in October 2026. He is the restaurateur and chef-patron of six London-based Ottolenghi delis, as well as the NOPI and ROVI restaurants.  Ottolenghi has been a weekly columnist for The Guardian (UK) for over sixteen years and is a regular contributor to The New York Times. His commitment to the championing of vegetables, as well as ingredients once seen as “exotic”, has led to what some call “The Ottolenghi Effect.”  On February 23, 2026. Yotam Ottolenghi came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater to childhood stories, recipes, and insights into his groundbreaking approach to cuisine – as well as audience confessions about their culinary disasters. 

 Eddie Huang has found success in a dizzying variety of fields, including law, comedy, food, and literature. In his 2013 memoir -  Fresh Off The Boat - Huang described a tumultuous childhood as the son of Taiwanese immigrants, and a colorful path to forming his own identity – making his way through numerous subcultures and career paths – from law to fashion, comedy and now restaurants. Fresh Off The Boat was made into an ABC sitcom, but Huang stepped down as the series producer, disappointed by what he felt was a sanitized version of his life story.

On June 24, 2026, Eddie Huang came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk to comedian, writer, and broadcaster W. Kamau Bell about the challenges that decision brought him – from financial consequences to being scorned by Hollywood – and the profound reasons for making it, including a belief in the value of bringing trauma out into the open. The two also discussed Huang’s new novel, a romantic comedy called Come Undone.

This week, our guest is Bella Freud, clothing designer and host of Fashion Neurosis,  a conversation podcast about the connection between clothes and identity. It features an unconventional set-up: guests lie on a couch, and Freud asks questions from a nearby chair, out of their view – in the manner of her great-grandfather, the legendary psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. The interviews with actors, writers, fashion icons and other artists delve deep into emotions and memories. On June 15, 2026, Bella Freud came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk to writer Rachel Kushner about how she got her start in fashion, some of her favorite episodes of Fashion Neurosis, and her family, including her father, painter Lucian Freud.

This week, our guest is David Szalay. His novel – Flesh – was winner of the 2025 Man Booker Prize. The story begins in Hungary, and it stays close to a protagonist who moves somewhat aimlessly through life, rarely exhibiting any self-reflection. Szalay says that he wanted to write a character whose experience of the world is entirely physical, not psychological.  Critics and fellow writers like Zadie Smith have praised the book for its minimalist style and stark portrait of masculinity. 

On April 28, 2026, Szalay came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk to Rita Bullwinkel, author of the novel Headshot and the story collection Belly Up.

 This week, our guest is Elizabeth Pryor – a professor of history at Smith College, whose work focuses on the histories of race and slavery in the United States. Pryor’s memoir, Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word, and Me, is about growing up as the Black Jewish daughter of comedian Richard Pryor. It also traces the painful evolution of the N-word from the era of slavery to today – including how her father used it in the 1970s.

On June 1, 2026, Elizabeth Pryor came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco for an expansive talk with journalist Shereen Marisol Meraji about her childhood, and the significance of this six-letter word in American politics, history, and culture.

 This week, our guest is Lena Dunham, best known as the creator of Girls, an HBO series about a group of 20-somethings that one critic called “a generational event.” Her most recent television series, Too Much, is about a New Yorker who moves to London to find her way out of heartbreak.

On May 17, 2026, Dunham came to the SGT to talk about her memoir, Famesick, with her close friend, journalist Michael Lewis. What looked like an enviable life – critically acclaimed work, a romantic relationship with a major musician – was actually overwhelmed by Dunham’s self-doubt - and her chronic pain from undiagnosed physical illness. 

José Andrés is widely recognized for both his culinary achievements – including two Michelin stars, and 40 restaurants worldwide – and his humanitarian work. As the founder of World Central Kitchen, Andrés has fed tens of millions of people across dozens of crises. The model is uncommonly nimble and effective; rather than warehousing aid, Central Kitchen activates local restaurants and cooks on the ground, putting money into affected communities while feeding people with dignity. Andres is also an Emmy Award–winning TV host and producer, and a New York Times bestselling author of Change the Recipe, Zaytinya, Vegetables Unleashed, and The World Central Kitchen Cookbook. His new book is Spain My Way.

On May 21, 2026, Jose Andres came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco for an onstage conversation with philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, the founder and president of Emerson Collective.