The Arik Korman Show

Kara Platoni teaches reporting and narrative writing at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. She won the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Journalism Award and the Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for Young Science Journalists. Kara’s new book is We Have the Technology: How Biohackers, Foodies, Physicians and Scientists are Transforming Human Perception, One Sense at a Time.
She was in the Northwest to speak at Town Hall Seattle, presented by Town Hall and Elliott Bay Book Company, as part of the Civics series.

Juliana Rambaldi has earned international acclaim for leading roles with major opera companies across the United States and abroad, including Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Seattle Opera and many more. Juliana stars in Hollywood Nights, now playing at Seattle’s Teatro Zinzanni through January 31st. Info at Zinzanni.com and JulianaRambaldi.com

Alex Honnold is a world-class American rock climber best known for his free solo ascents of big walls. He has broken a number of speed records, most notably the only known solo climb of the Yosemite Triple crown. Alex is the author of Alone on the Wall, a collaboration with David Roberts that shares his climbing adventures. He was in the Northwest to speak at Town Hall Seattle, presented by Town Hall, Seattle Bouldering Project and Third Place Books, as part of the Arts & Culture series.

Cheryl Strayed is a memoirist, novelist and essayist. Her second book, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, has been translated into more than thirty languages. The Oscar-nominated movie adaptation of Wild stars Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl and Laura Dern as Cheryl's mother, Bobbi. Cheryl's essays have been published in The Best American Essays, the New York Times, the Washington Post Magazine, Vogue, Salon, The Sun, Tin House, and elsewhere. Cheryl’s latest book is Brave Enough, a collection of quotations. Info at CherylStrayed.com

Jerry Kaplan is a computer scientist, author, futurist, and serial entrepreneur. He is the founder GO Corporation, whose technology was used to develop the first smartphone and tablet PC, and the co-founder of OnSale, the first B2C online auction site launched in 1994, five months before eBay. He is currently a Fellow at the Center for Legal Informatics at Stanford University and teaches ethics and impact of artificial intelligence in the Computer Science Department. Jerry Kaplan’s new book is Humans Need Not Apply: A Guide to Wealth and Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.

Chris Cosentino is a celebrity chef and reality television personality known as the winner of Top Chef Masters, a competitor on The Next Iron Chef and for his appearances on Iron Chef America. In 2015 Chris opened Cockscomb to rave reviews in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. In addition to serving as chef/owner of Cockscomb, he is also the co-creator and chef of Boccalone artisanal salumeria and has gained international recognition as a leading expert and proponent of offal cookery. He is currently working on a book dedicated to offal, which will be published next year. Chris Cosentino was in the Northwest for the 7th annual Taste of Tulalip. Info at TasteofTulalip.com and Chris' blog, Offal Good.

Lisa Randall is a theoretical physicist and leading expert on particle physics and cosmology. She is the Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Physics at Harvard University. Her research includes elementary particles and fundamental forces and she has studied a wide variety of models, including about extra dimensions of space. Her most recent research is about dark matter, also the subject of her new book. Professor Randall’s two previous books, Warped Passages and Knocking on Heaven’s Door, were named among the 100 most influential books by The New York Times. She has been named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and Esquire’s 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century. Professor Randall's new book is Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs: The Astounding Interconnectedness of the Universe. She was in the Northwest to speak at Town Hall Seattle, presented by Town Hall and University Book Store, as part of The Seattle Science Lectures.

Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor are the co-Founders of Vega Factor, a consulting firm that measures the strength of an organization’s culture and quantifies the return on investment of building a great culture. Neel and Lindsay’s new book is Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation. They also happen to be married. To each-other. Learn more at PrimedToPerform.com

Robert Reich is a political economist, professor, author, and political commentator. He served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and was Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997. Secretary Reich is currently Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley and a political commentator on programs including Hardball with Chris Matthews, This Week with George Stephanopoulos and APM's Marketplace. His new book is Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few. Secretary Reich was in the Northwest to speak at Town Hall Seattle, presented by: Town Hall and University Book Store, as part of the Civics series.

John Seabrook is a journalist who writes about technology and popular culture. He has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1993 and is the author of Deeper: My Two-Year Odyssey in Cyberspace, Nobrow: The Culture of Marketing and the Marketing of Culture, and Flash of Genius and Other True Stories of Invention. A feature film based on Flash of Genius was released in 2008, starring Greg Kinnear and Lauren Graham. His newest book is The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory. John Seabrook was in Seattle to speak at Elliott Bay Books.