Steven Greenhouse is the labor and workplace reporter for the New York Times and author of “The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker,” an in-depth account of how American companies have squeezed millions of workers by clamping down on wages, cutting benefits, weakening job security and violating wage and hour laws. Series: "Voices" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 16538]

An award-winning journalist and New York Times Magazine writer, Peter Maass speaks about his book, "Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil", a stunning and revealing examination of oil's indelible impact on the countries that produce it and the people who possess it. Series: "Revelle Forum" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 17224]

Former New York Times restaurant critic and author Frank Bruni recounts his lifelong obsession with food as he shares tales from his new book “Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater” with Phyllis Pfeiffer of the La Jolla Light. Series: "Revelle Forum" [Humanities] [Show ID: 17223]

Author Ruth Reichl gets personal with host Mary Walshok on what inspired her to write, “Not Becoming My Mother,” her most revealing memoir yet. Reichl begins with finding a box of her mother’s letters that recount her feelings over a lifetime of hurt, shame, obedience, rejection, and ultimately, the triumph of her spirit. Series: "Revelle Forum" [Humanities] [Show ID: 16221]

A remarkably strong generation of women poets has emerged in Korea in the last decade. Five of them visited Berkeley, reading, and talking to Korean-American poets and the women poets of the Bay Area. This is a very rare chance to hear some of the most important and exciting voices in Asia: Jeongrye Choi, Young Mi Choi, Hwang Insuk, Chung-hee Moon and Ra Heeduk. They will read their work in English and Korean. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 15433]

Harry Kreisler welcomes historian Joan Wallach Scott who traces her intellectual odyssey and recalls the impact of the women's movement on her research and teaching. She describes the intellectual influences that led her to write the now classic article, "Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis." She also discusses the utility of critical history for elucidating contemporary policy debates with a focus on her recent book "The Politics of the Veil," an analysis of the political, cultural, and social factors that led to the French ban on the wearing of the veil by Muslim young women in public schools.

Series: "Conversations with History" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 16278]

Israeli writer David Grossman is the author of some of the most controversial books in his country’s history, including the award-winning “The Yellow Wind,” observations collected over three months in the West Bank. He reads and discusses work from his forthcoming collection of essays on literature and politics “Writing in the Dark.” Series: "Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Endowed Symposia in Jewish Studies" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 15421]

Born in San Francisco in 1930, world-renowned poet, essayist, and environmentalist Gary Snyder has published sixteen books of poetry and prose, and received the Pulitzer Prize in 1974 for Turtle Island. Snyder has traveled widely and lived for extended periods of time in Japan, where he studied and practiced Rinzai Zen. He is currently a professor at University of California, Davis. Series: "Lunch Poems Reading Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 15432]

Thomas E. Ricks is The Washington Post’s special military correspondent and a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. He discusses his book, The Gamble, his second installment on the Iraq War story. Series: "Voices" [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 16445]

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Roya Hakakian whose book "Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran," chronicles her intellectual odyssey from teenage rebel to Iranian-American writer. In the conversation, Roya Hakakian reflects on the craft of writing, the importance of poetry in Iranian culture, the betrayal of the revolution by the Ayatollahs and the impact of the revolution on the Jewish community in Iran. She also compares the struggle within both Islam and Judaism as young people reconcile modernity with religious identity. Series: "Conversations with History" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Show ID: 16283]