The Forum at Grace Cathedral

At the end of our lives, what do we most wish for? For many, it’s simply comfort, respect, love. On November 10, as we celebrate All Souls’ Day at our Choral Eucharist service, please don’t miss the opportunity to hear also from renowned hospice and palliative care specialist, public speaker, and connector BJ Miller.

On this day of prayer and remembrance for those we love and see no longer, who better to hear from than this deep thinker about how to create a dignified, graceful end of life.

Miller is the co-author with Shoshana Berger of the book A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death; the executive director of San Francisco’s Zen Hospice Project from 2011 to 2016; and the founder of the Center for Dying and Living, a web site designed for people to share their own stories related to living with illness, disability, and loss or caring for those who are.

The Rev. Canon Dr. Stephanie Spellers is one of the Episcopal Church’s leading thinkers around 21st-century ministry and mission. She is a priest, author, speaker, and friend who currently serves as the Canon to the Presiding Bishop for Evangelism, Reconciliation, and Creation Care. She is the author of Radical Welcome: Embracing God, The Other, and the Spirit of Transformation as well as The Episcopal Way; Church’s Teaching for a Changing World and Ancient Faith, Future Mission: Fresh Expressions in the Sacramental Tradition. She has worked for many years at the intersection of practice and reflection, renewal and justice. 

The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry stated that her latest book, The Church Cracked Open; Disruption, Decline, and New Hope for Beloved Community, “will make a profound difference for the church in this moment in history.” 

In this critical yet loving book, Canon Stephanie explores the American story and the Episcopal story in order to find out how communities steeped in racism, establishment, and privilege can at last fall in love with Jesus, walk humbly with the most vulnerable and embody beloved community in our own broken but beautiful way. The Church Cracked Open invites us to surrender privilege and redefine church, not just for the sake of others, but for our own salvation and liberation. 

Join Malcolm Clemens Young for a conversation with Canon Stephanie about who we are, why God placed us here, what difference that makes to the world, and what the Episcopal Church will look like over the next 50 years. 

Give to Grace  

You can help us bring the arts to life at Grace with a gift today to The Forum. gracecathedral.org/give 

Become a GraceArts Member 

Love engaging dialogue? We offer a special cultural membership program, GraceArts, focused exclusively on the arts and well-being. GraceArts allows a wider community to belong to and support Grace, with discounts and benefits on a robust schedule of events. Learn more and join at gracecathedral.org/join. 

About the Guest 

The Rev. Canon Dr. Stephanie Spellers is one of the Episcopal Church’s leading thinkers around 21st-century ministry and mission. She is a priest, author, speaker, and friend who currently serves as the Canon to the Presiding Bishop for Evangelism, Reconciliation, and Creation Care. She is the author of Radical Welcome: Embracing God, The Other, and the Spirit of Transformation as well as The Episcopal Way; Church’s Teaching for a Changing World and Ancient Faith, Future Mission: Fresh Expressions in the Sacramental Tradition. She has worked for many years at the intersection of practice and reflection, renewal and justice. Her latest book, The Church Cracked Open; Disruption, Decline, and New Hope for Beloved Community is an important response to the question, “What will The Episcopal Church look like over the next 50 years?” Prior to accepting her current position as Assisting Priest at St. Bart’s Church Center, she taught at General Theological Seminary, served as a Canon in the Diocese of Long Island, and founded The Crossing, a ground-breaking church within St. Paul’s Cathedral in Boston. Canon Stephanie spent five years as Chaplain to the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops, co-chaired the Standing Commission on Mission and Evangelism, and directed new ministry initiatives for the Center for Progressive Renewal. Canon Stephanie began her career as an award-winning religion journalist in Knoxville, Tennessee; a job she took after graduating from Harvard Divinity School, where she studied religion and social change movements. She later graduated from Episcopal Divinity School and, in 2018, received an honorary doctorate from The General Theological Seminary for her contributions to the Christian faith and the wider Church. She grew up in Frankfort, Kentucky, and maintains close ties to her extended family there. 

About the Moderator 

The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young is the dean of Grace Cathedral. He is the author of The Spiritual Journal of Henry David Thoreau and The Invisible Hand in Wilderness: Economics, Ecology, and God, and is a regular contributor on religion to the Huffington Post and San Francisco Examiner.    

About The Forum 

The Forum is a series of stimulating conversations about faith and ethics in relation to the important issues of our day. We invite inspiring and illustrious people to sit down for a real conversation with the Forum’s host and with you. Our guests range from artists, inventors and philosophers to pop culturists and elected officials, but the point of The Forum is singular: civil, sophisticated discourse that engages minds and hearts to think in new ways about the world.  Learn more about The Forum here:    

gracecathedral.org/the-forum

What is it like to be blessed with riches in an era of stark political divisions and near-Dickensian economic differences? How mind-boggling are the opportunities and access, how problematic the downsides? Does one’s experience differ depending on whether the money is made or inherited, whether you are male or female, white or black? Does being a have among have-nots make someone a bad person? Finally, how does our collective thirst for financial “security,” and our stubborn belief in our opportunities for social mobility, explain how we got to the point where nearly half of Americans have no wealth at all? These are some of the questions that Michael Mechanic, a longtime senior editor and writer at Mother Jones magazine, set out to explore in his book, Jackpot: How the Super-Rich Really Live—and How Their Wealth Harms Us All. Jackpot is the product of deep reporting and dozens of interviews with fortunate citizens—company founders and executives, superstar coders, investors, inheritors, estate lawyers, lobbyists, lawmakers, academics, sports agents, wealth and philanthropy professionals, concierges, luxury realtors, Bentley dealers, and even a woman who trains billionaires’ nannies in physical combat. Among other plaudits, the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer described Jackpot as perfectly timed—”an entertaining and eviscerating peek behind the velvet curtains.” Salesforce founder Marc Benioff wrote that the book “skillfully explores the impact of great wealth on people’s lives and society.” And Pulitzer-prize winning investigative journalist David Kay Johnston opined, unsolicited, that Mechanic’s “writing is elegant, his storytelling sublime. Well worth the time of anyone who wants to understand the effects of our make-the-rich-richer policies.” Join Malcolm Clemens Young for a conversation with Mechanic about his compassionate, character-rich, perversely humorous, and ultimately troubling journey into the American wealth fantasy and where it has taken us. Give to Grace  You can help us bring the arts to life at Grace with a gift today to The Forum. gracecathedral.org/give Become a GraceArts Member Love engaging dialogue? We offer a special cultural membership program, GraceArts, focused exclusively on the arts and well-being. GraceArts allows a wider community to belong to and support Grace, with discounts and benefits on a robust schedule of events. Learn more and join at gracecathedral.org/gracearts. About the Guest Michael Mechanic is a longtime senior editor at Mother Jones magazine, where he writes and edits everything from breaking news to award-winning essays and feature stories. Born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, he earned degrees in biochemistry and cellular biology from UC Berkeley and Harvard before heading back to Cal for a master’s in journalism. Michael lives in Oakland with his wife, Laura, and a few oddball animals. He plays five musical instruments in his spare time. Jackpot is his first book. About the Moderator The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young is the dean of Grace Cathedral. He is the author of The Spiritual Journal of Henry David Thoreau and The Invisible Hand in Wilderness: Economics, Ecology, and God, and is a regular contributor on religion to the Huffington Post and San Francisco Examiner.    About The Forum The Forum is a series of stimulating conversations about faith and ethics in relation to the important issues of our day. We invite inspiring and illustrious people to sit down for a real conversation with the Forum’s host and with you. Our guests range from artists, inventors and philosophers to pop culturists and elected officials, but the point of The Forum is singular: civil, sophisticated discourse that engages minds and hearts to think in new ways about the world.  Learn more about The Forum at  gracecathedral.org/the-forum

Note: The music stops at 0:50. September 29, 2024 at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco  Join Grace Cathedral Dean Malcolm Clemens Young for an engaging conversation with the Ninth Bishop of California, The Rt. Rev. Austin Keith Rios, who was installed as Bishop in August. As the chief pastor of the diocese, Bishop Rios is entrusted with leading, supervising, and uniting our congregations, ministries, and diocesan institutions. Notably, he is the first Latino bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California. Discover more about his journey from his birthplace in Texas to the other places he has called home: Rome, Italy; North Carolina; Wisconsin; Louisiana; and now, the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn about his previous role as the rector of St. Paul’s Within the Walls Episcopal Church in Rome — a vibrant, multilingual community that supports The Joel Nafuma Refugee Center. Find out what Bishop Rios is looking forward to as he becomes part of the region’s fabric and discovers how its many wonderful people and places will shape the trajectory of his life. Give to Grace  You can help us bring the arts to life at Grace with a gift today to The Forum. gracecathedral.org/give Become a GraceArts Member Love engaging dialogue? We offer a special cultural membership program, GraceArts, focused exclusively on the arts and well-being. GraceArts allows a wider community to belong to and support Grace, with discounts and benefits on a robust schedule of events. Learn more and join! About the Guest The Rt. Rev. Austin Keith Rios was ordained and consecrated Bishop Coadjutor of the Episcopal Diocese of California on May 4, 2024. He served in the coadjutor role until after the retirement of the Rt. Rev. Dr. Marc Handley Andrus on July 31, 2024. Following Bishop Marc’s retirement Bishop Rios assumed the role of Ninth Bishop of California, becoming the diocese’s chief pastor. He is responsible for leading, supervising, and uniting our congregations, ministries, and diocesan institutions. Bishop Rios is the first Latino to be elected as a bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California. His heritage includes Mexican American ancestry from his father’s side and Scottish and English ancestry from his mother’s side. Although English was spoken at home, Bishop Rios decided to embrace his Latino heritage at an early age by learning Spanish, which he now speaks fluently along with Italian. Before joining the Diocese of California, Bishop Rios served for 12 years as the rector of St. Paul’s Within the Walls Episcopal Church in Rome, Italy, a multilingual and multicultural community that houses and offers The Joel Nafuma Refugee Center as its primary outreach. Additionally, he spent five years as the Rector of La Capilla de Santa Maria, a Spanish-speaking congregation in Hendersonville, North Carolina, while also serving as the Canon for Spanish-Speaking Ministries in the Diocese of Western North Carolina. Bishop Rios has served the wider Episcopal Church in various capacities, including multiple terms as a deputy to the General Convention. In 2018, he was elected to a six-year term as a trustee of the Church Pension Fund and served as Vice Chair of its Investment Committee. In 2024, he was elected Vice Chair of the Church Pension Fund and re-elected as a trustee. Bishop Rios calls several places home, including Texas, where he was born; Rome, Italy; North Carolina; Wisconsin; Louisiana; and now, the San Francisco Bay Area. With its distinct character and tremendous diversity, Bishop Rios looks forward to becoming part of the region’s fabric and discovering how its many wonderful people and places will shape the trajectory of his life. Bishop Rios holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina, and a Master of Divinity degree from The Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. He was ordained as a priest in 2005. He is married to Maleah Rios and has one child. About the Moderator The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young is the dean of Grace Cathedral. He is the author of The Spiritual Journal of Henry David Thoreau and The Invisible Hand in Wilderness: Economics, Ecology, and God, and is a regular contributor on religion to the Huffington Post and San Francisco Examiner. About The Forum The Forum is a series of stimulating conversations about faith and ethics in relation to the important issues of our day. We invite inspiring and illustrious people to sit down for a real conversation with the Forum’s host and with you. Our guests range from artists, inventors and philosophers to pop culturists and elected officials, but the point of The Forum is singular: civil, sophisticated discourse that engages minds and hearts to think in new ways about the world.   More about The Forum: gracecathedral.org/the-forum

When your faith begins to feel too small, too confining, you could choose to leave it. But what if the faith we inhabit is roomier than we'd thought? What if our collapsing faith is just a closet in a much larger dwelling? 

Disillusioned by narrow theologies, church dysfunction, and constricted readings of Scripture, people are leaving Christianity in droves. But Jesus describes the reign of God as a house with many rooms, writes author Debie Thomas, one of the most auspicious voices in religious writing today. In this work of sprawling spiritual and literary imagination, Thomas claims that wherever God dwells, there is expansiveness and belonging. 

Thomas knows what a cramped faith feels like, what it's like to wrestle your way out of fundamentalism and toward a more capacious faith. From the diasporic church in which she grew up, which traces its lineage to the doubting disciple in India in the first century, to the disorientations of a deconstructing faith, to an ample yet orthodox Christianity that makes room for all her identities, Thomas takes readers on a deeply personal and profoundly theological odyssey. In A Faith of Many Rooms: Inhabiting a More Spacious Christianity, she talks back to jaundiced versions of faith and finds evidence that the gospel insists on its own roominess. 

Join Dean Malcolm Clemens Young for a conversation with Thomas about what sorts of ruptures and revisions it would take to find a more spacious faith -- and then to inhabit it with authenticity and joy. 

In this special summer Forum, meet Addicted To Noise founder and former Rolling Stone senior writer Michael Goldberg and get a firsthand account of the first-ever collection of his photographs in the new book JUKEBOX: 1967-2023 Photographs.

In all the many conversations about climate change, sometimes the story of what nature’s value is to us can get a bit lost. We have a lot to learn from the kinds of traditions that see nature as relatives, not resources; as communities, not commodities. We need a narrative that places us back within the natural world as actors in this multi-million-year drama. If we're able to do that — if we can put ourselves into that drama — then we can see that we have a role to play in a thriving future, not just for people, but for the entire biosphere, for all life on Earth. And there's perhaps no better place to start than urban settings like San Francisco! 

Dr. Scott D. Sampson is the Executive Director of the California Academy of Sciences, where he leads the institution’s world-class museum as well as its programs of scientific research, sustainability, and education. A renowned paleontologist, passionate science communicator, and seasoned museum leader, Sampson may be best known, especially to preschoolers and their parents, as “Dr. Scott the Paleontologist,” the on-air host for the Emmy-nominated PBS KIDS television series Dinosaur Train. He is the author of multiple books for general audiences, including: Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life; How to Raise a Wild Child; and You Can Be A Paleontologist. 

Join Malcolm Clemens Young, dean of Grace Cathedral, for a conversation with Dr. Sampson about falling in love with nature, his mission to regenerate the natural world, and helping it become wilder each year. 

Give to Grace  

You can help us bring the arts to life at Grace with a gift today to The Forum. gracecathedral.org/give 

About the Guest  

Dr. Scott D. Sampson is the Executive Director and William R. and Gretchen B. Kimball Chair of the California Academy of Sciences, where he leads the institution’s world-class museum as well as its programs of scientific research, sustainability, and education. A renowned paleontologist, passionate science communicator, and seasoned museum leader, Sampson joined the Academy in September 2019. To some, namely preschoolers and their parents, Sampson may be best known as “Dr. Scott the Paleontologist,” the on-air host for the Emmy-nominated PBS KIDS television series Dinosaur Train. Outside of this enthusiastic audience, however, Sampson is better known for his many other contributions to scientific research and public engagement. Among his peers in the scientific community, Sampson is highly regarded for his expertise on Late Cretaceous dinosaurs, from theropods in Madagascar to horned dinosaurs in North America. And in the museum community, Sampson is celebrated as a skilled organizational leader, a passionate advocate for connecting people to nature, and a champion for the critical role that collections-based scientific institutions like the Academy play in global efforts to understand and sustain life on Earth. Before joining the Academy, Sampson served as President and CEO of Science World British Columbia, one of Canada’s premier science centers. There, he launched a suite of bold new programs designed to dramatically scale STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art/design & Math) literacy across the province and facilitate a more sustainable future. He also focused on operating a sustainable, equitable institution, which included introducing a number of new initiatives aimed at increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion, including community access and engagement programs for underserved and Indigenous communities. Sampson has also served as the Vice President of Research and Collections at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and, prior to that, Chief Curator at the Natural History Museum of Utah. He has also worked as an independent museum and media consultant, advising on fundraising and exhibition design for clients including the American Museum of Natural History and the Oakland Museum of California. 

In addition to his role as a science advisor and host for Dinosaur Train, Sampson has extensive media and science communication experience, including as the science advisor and host of the four-part Discovery Channel series Dinosaur Planet and as the author of multiple books for general audiences, including: Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life (University of California Press, 2009); How to Raise a Wild Child, a book aimed at helping parents, teachers, and others foster a deep connection with nature in children (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015); and You Can Be A Paleontologist, a book for young enthusiasts of dinosaurs, science, and nature (National Geographic, 2017). Sampson has won numerous awards and honors, including the Public Service Award from the Geological Society of America, the Lifetime Legacy Award from Environmental Learning for Kids, and Time Magazine Canada’s “Who Defines the new Frontiers of Science” list. He also served as the National Ambassador for Nature Rocks, a global initiative of The Nature Conservancy aimed at inspiring families to explore nature. 

About the Moderator 

The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young is the dean of Grace Cathedral. He is the author of The Spiritual Journal of Henry David Thoreau and The Invisible Hand in Wilderness: Economics, Ecology, and God, and is a regular contributor on religion to the Huffington Post and San Francisco Examiner.    

About The Forum 

The Forum is a series of stimulating conversations about faith and ethics in relation to the important issues of our day. We invite inspiring and illustrious people to sit down for a real conversation with the Forum’s host and with you. Our guests range from artists, inventors and philosophers to pop culturists and elected officials, but the point of The Forum is singular: civil, sophisticated discourse that engages minds and hearts to think in new ways about the world.  More about Grace Forum Online:    

gracecathedral.org/the-forum 

The internet of today is a far cry from its early promise of a decentralized, democratic network of innovation, connection, and freedom. In the past decade, it has fallen under the control of a small group of powerful companies. But the dream of an open network for fostering creativity and entrepreneurship doesn’t have to die. And it just might be saved by blockchain networks, which create a radical new way to design fair and freely accessible internet services that put users in charge. There is more to this technology's story than crypto scams! 

Michele Benedetto Neitz is a professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law. She is the Founder and Academic Director of the Blockchain Law for Social Good Center, the first of its kind in the United States. The Center's four pillars — education, community, policy, and research — are creating a new model of blockchain as a tool for social good.  

Join Malcolm Clemens Young for a conversation with Professor Neitz on the ethical, regulatory, and social impact issues in blockchain technology, the power of blockchains to reshape the future of the internet, and how that affects us all. 

Give to Grace  

You can help us bring the arts to life at Grace with a gift today to The Forum. gracecathedral.org/give.  

About the Guest  

Michele Benedetto Neitz joined the University of San Francisco School of Law in January 2022. She is the Founder and Academic Director of the Blockchain Law for Social Good Center, the first of its kind in the United States.  She teaches Blockchain Technology and the Law, Business Associations, Legal Ethics, and other classes. Prior to joining USF Law, Professor Neitz was voted “Most Outstanding Professor” by the graduating class of Golden Gate University School of Law six times, most recently in 2022. Professor Neitz was appointed to advise the California legislature as a member of the California Blockchain Working Group in 2019.  She publishes and lectures on the ethical, regulatory, and social impact issues in blockchain technology. Professor Neitz gave a keynote address on the topic of emerging technology law at the SHINE Summit at Harvard University in October 2023. Professor Neitz graduated as a Root-Tilden-Scholar from New York University School of Law.  Before joining academia, she clerked in the Southern District of California for Judge Napoleon Jones.  She also worked as an Equal Justice Works fellow at the Legal Aid Society of San Diego and was an associate at Morrison & Foerster. 

About the Moderator 

The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young is the dean of Grace Cathedral. He is the author of The Spiritual Journal of Henry David Thoreau and The Invisible Hand in Wilderness: Economics, Ecology, and God, and is a regular contributor on religion to the Huffington Post and San Francisco Examiner.    

About The Forum 

The Forum is a series of stimulating conversations about faith and ethics in relation to the important issues of our day. We invite inspiring and illustrious people to sit down for a real conversation with the Forum’s host and with you. Our guests range from artists, inventors and philosophers to pop culturists and elected officials, but the point of The Forum is singular: civil, sophisticated discourse that engages minds and hearts to think in new ways about the world.  More about Grace Forum Online:   gracecathedral.org/the-forum 

The history of Silicon Valley, from railroads to microchips, is an “extraordinary” story of disruption and destruction, told for the first time in this comprehensive, jaw-dropping narrative (Greg Grandin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The End of the Myth). Palo Alto’s weather is temperate, its people are educated and enterprising, its corporations are spiritually and materially ambitious and demonstrably world-changing. Palo Alto is also a haunted toxic waste dump built on stolen Indian burial grounds, and an integral part of the capitalist world system. 

In PALO ALTO: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World, the first comprehensive, global history of Silicon Valley, Malcolm Harris examines how and why Northern California evolved in the particular, consequential way it did, tracing the ideologies, technologies, and policies that have been engineered there over the course of 150 years of Anglo settler colonialism, from IQ tests to the “tragedy of the commons,” racial genetics, and “broken windows” theory. The Internet and computers, too. It’s a story about how a small American suburb became a powerful engine for economic growth and war, and how it came to lead the world into a surprisingly disastrous 21st century. 

Join Malcolm Clemens Young for a conversation with Harris about his urgent and visionary history of the way we live now, and his radical proposition for how we might begin to change course. 

Give to Grace 

You can help us bring the arts to life at Grace with a gift today to The Forum. gracecathedral.org/give. 

 About the Guest 

Malcolm Harris is the author of Kids These Days: The Making of Millennials (2017), Shit Is Fucked Up and Bullshit: History Since the End of History (2020), and most recently, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World (2023). He is a journalist, critic, and editor at The New Inquiry. Harris’ materialist analysis frames and re-casts prevailing narratives surrounding the development of the United States within a global economic context, offering an incisive Marxist reading of the contemporary history of California. 

About the Moderator  

The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young is the dean of Grace Cathedral. He is the author of The Spiritual Journal of Henry David Thoreau and The Invisible Hand in Wilderness: Economics, Ecology, and God, and is a regular contributor on religion to the Huffington Post and San Francisco Examiner.   

About The Forum   

The Forum is a series of stimulating conversations about faith and ethics in relation to the important issues of our day. We invite inspiring and illustrious people to sit down for a real conversation with the Forum’s host and with you. Our guests range from artists, inventors and philosophers to pop culturists and elected officials, but the point of The Forum is singular: civil, sophisticated discourse that engages minds and hearts to think in new ways about the world.  More about Grace Forum Online:   

gracecathedral.org/the-forum. 

The Oxford English Dictionary is one of mankind’s greatest achievements, and yet, curiously, its creators are almost never considered. Who were the people behind this unprecedented book? As Dr. Sarah Ogilvie reveals, they include three murderers, a collector of pornography, the daughter of Karl Marx, a president of Yale, a radical suffragette, a vicar who was later found dead in the cupboard of his chapel, an inventor of the first American subway, a female anti-slavery activist in Philadelphia . . . and thousands of others. 

The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary is a history and celebration of the many far-flung volunteers who helped define the English language, word by word. Of deep transgenerational and broad appeal, a thrilling literary detective story that, for the first time, unravels the mystery of the endlessly fascinating contributors the world over who, for over seventy years, helped to codify the way we read and write and speak. It was the greatest crowdsourcing endeavor in human history, the Wikipedia of its time. 

Along with being a Washington Post Best Book of the Year, a Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction Finalist, and the New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, responses to the book include: “The pages come alive with humor, surprise, passion, charm, empathy, intrigue, humanness, and love” (Anna Deavere Smith); “This is an exquisitely written book” (Jamaica Kincaid); “An unmissable wonderful achievement” (Stephen Fry); and “Utterly fascinating, entertaining, astonishing, and as clever as a box of monkeys” (Joanna Lumley). 

Join Malcolm Clemens Young for a conversation with Ogilvie about the previously untapped archives she discovered and the never-before-heard full story of the making of one of the most famous books in the world. 

Give to Grace 

You can help us bring the arts to life at Grace with a gift today to The Forum. gracecathedral.org/give. 

About the Guest 

Dr. Sarah Ogilvie is a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology, and Phonetics at the University of Oxford. She is the Director of Oxford’s MSc in Digital Scholarship. Before Oxford, she taught at Stanford and Cambridge Universities, and worked at Amazon’s innovation lab in Silicon Valley. Dr. Ogilvie is a linguist, lexicographer, and computer scientist who works at the intersection of technology and the social sciences. Her research focuses on lexicography, endangered languages, language documentation, field methods, historical development of language, corpus linguistics, and digital humanities. She directs the Dictionary Lab, a lab for digital research on dictionaries and language. She completed her doctorate in linguistics at the University of Oxford, and is originally from Australia where she studied for a BSc in computer science and pure mathematics at University of Queensland and MA in linguistics at the Australian National University. Dr. Ogilvie is a former editor of the Oxford English Dictionary and has written books on its history and making, including The Dictionary People: the unsung heroes who created the Oxford English Dictionary (Chatto & Windus (UK), Knopf (USA), 2023) and Words of the World: A Global History of the Oxford English Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2013). 

About the Moderator  

The Very Rev. Dr. Malcolm Clemens Young is the dean of Grace Cathedral. He is the author of The Spiritual Journal of Henry David Thoreau and The Invisible Hand in Wilderness: Economics, Ecology, and God, and is a regular contributor on religion to the Huffington Post and San Francisco Examiner.   

About The Forum   

The Forum is a series of stimulating conversations about faith and ethics in relation to the important issues of our day. We invite inspiring and illustrious people to sit down for a real conversation with the Forum’s host and with you. Our guests range from artists, inventors and philosophers to pop culturists and elected officials, but the point of The Forum is singular: civil, sophisticated discourse that engages minds and hearts to think in new ways about the world.  More about Grace Forum Online:   

gracecathedral.org/the-forum.