Open Book / Open Mind 2024

January 24: Kate Manne, “Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia.” In conversation with Kate Tuttle. Manne, an associate professor of philosophy at Cornell, and Tuttle, a leading book critic, editor and writer, addressed the widespread acceptance of size discrimination in fields like education and medicine, its involvement in racial and trans prejudice, and more. Challenging the supremacy of how others view us and judge us, Manne posed the radical notion that “our bodies are for us.”

February 3: Ayana Mathis “The Unsettled.” In conversation with Emily Raboteau. Mathis, author of “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie,” talked about her new family saga set in the 1980s spanning Philadelphia and small-town Alabama with Raboteau, her friend, memoirist and essayist. Mathis began with an electrifying reading from the book, and went on to discuss the book’s roots in the 1985 MOVE bombing and the historic quilting community of Gees Bend.

February 29; James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams, “Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy.” In conversation with Tom Hall.  Stewart, a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist, and Abrams, an Emmy-winning producer, discussed their instant New York Times bestseller about a storied Hollywood dynasty with Hall, the executive director of Montclair Film. The two authors touched on the surprising story of how they began working together, how to win the confidence of a suspicious interview subject, and more.

March 9: Howell Raines, “Silent Cavalry: How Union Soldiers from Alabama Helped Sherman Burn Atlanta–and Then Got Written Out of History.” In conversation with Edward Ball. Raines, the Pulitzer Prize-winning former executive editor of The New York Times, talked about his combination memoir-history with Ball, a National Book Award-winning historian and author of “Life of a Klansman” and “Slaves in the Family.” They talked about growing up in the 20th century South, similarities and differences between Donald Trump and Gov. George Wallace, and the past, present and future of mainstream news.

This event was made possible through the generous support of Jill and Alan Johnson

Wednesday, April 17, 6:30 p.m. Celebrate Spanish-Language Poetry/Celebremos la poesía en español. The library’s first bilingual library event for adults, a panel discussion between three distinguished poets. Rigoberto González (editor of the upcoming “Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home”), Alexis Romay, and C.E. Wallace read their poems and discussed them afterwards. Their conversation touched on the gifts brought by immigrants, the spaces where languages meet, and how poetry changes in translation.

Co-presented by Latinos of Montclair

April 27: Ray Isle, “The World in a Wineglass: The Insider’s Guide to Artisanal, Sustainable, Extraordinary Wines to Drink Now.” In conversation with Sharon Sevrens. Isle, the executive wine editor of Food and Wine magazine, talked about his instant classic, “The World in a Wineglass,” with Sevrens, the proprietor of Montclair’s own Amanti Vino. They discussed their favorite artisanal vineyards, the differences between organic, biodynamic and natural wines, and highlighted great, under-the-radar wine-producing regions to visit.

Co-presented by Amanti Vino

May 4: Nell Irvin Painter, “I Just Keep Talking: A Life in Essays.” In conversation with Ira Wagner. Painter, a history professor emerita of Princeton, now a visual artist, talked about her collected essays, illustrated by her own works of art, with the executive director of the Montclair Art Museum. The talk included a PowerPoint presentation of her mixed media artwork.

Co-presented by Succeed2gether’s Montclair Literary Festival.

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May 4:  Leslie Jamison, “Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story” and Emily Raboteau, “Lessons for Survival: Mothering Against ‘The Apocalypse‘” and In conversation with Kate Tuttle. Two highly distinguished essayists discussed their memoirs about parenting through painful, unexpected complications with a leading book critic.

Co-presented by Succeed2gether’s Montclair Literary Festival

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Thursday, June 13, 6:30 p.m.  Claudia Cravens, “Lucky Red.” In conversation with Laurie Lico Albanese (“Hester”). The debut author of a startlingly original bestselling gay Western novel talks about her work with a critically acclaimed historical novelist. Their conversation touched on topics such as the contempt that Western sex workers had for “respectable” women, how Cravens researched the costumes of the period, and the lure of the Western: a world in which people could completely reinvent themselves yet had to ride a horse, shoot a gun and make a fire or face death. 

Co-presented by Out Montclair

Thursday, September 12, 6:30 p.m.  Matthew Desmond, “Poverty, by America.” In conversation with Andrea Elliott (“Invisible Child”).  At the First Congregational Church of Montclair. A Pulitzer Prize–winning author and Princeton professor of sociology discusses his bestselling book with a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter and author. Their dynamic discussion focused around the issues of who benefits from poor people remaining in poverty, the new movement of poverty abolitionists, and how individuals can and must make a difference.

Co-sponsored by Partners for Health

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Wednesday, September 25, 6:30 p.m.  Nicholas Kristof, “Chasing Hope: A Journalist’s Life.” In conversation with Stephen Engelberg of ProPublica. At the First Congregational Church of Montclair. These two highly distinguished journalists, both Pulitzer Prize-winners, were frequently interrupted by applause throughout their conversation. Of all the spellbinding stories that Kristof, an Op Ed columnist for the New York Times and bestselling author, told his his old friend and former colleague, Engelberg, the editorial director of ProPublica, his tales of the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989 may have been the most riveting. 

Co-sponsored by Succeed2gether’s Montclair Literary Festival and co-presented by The Montclair Local

NO VIDEO AVAILABLE

Saturday, October 5, 4 p.m.  Tracy O’Neill, “A Woman of Interest: A Memoir.” In conversation with Catherine Chung (“The Tenth Muse”). The genre-bending story of a South Korean adoptee seeking her missing birth mother. They talked about how the pandemic threw many people into greater intimacy with their nuclear families and in fact inspired O’Neill’s search for her birth mother in South Korea, and the differences between structuring fiction and non-fiction.

Co-presented by AAPI Montclair

Saturday, November 16, 4 p.m.  Bruce Jackson, “Never Far from Home: My Journey from Brooklyn to Hip Hop, Microsoft, and the Law.“ In conversation with Jon Fortt of CNBC. Bruce Jackson, Microsoft’s associate general counsel, shared his rise from the projects in Brooklyn to the top of the technology and music industries with Jon Fortt, a top tech journalist at CNBC. Jackson and Fortt talked about Jackson’s remarkable and inspiring journey as a self-made man, the role of mentors, the question of self confidence, and the moments when it almost went all wrong.

Saturday, November 23, 4 p.m.  Jonathan Alter, “American Reckoning: Inside Trump’s Trial—And My Own.“ In conversation with Dale Russakoff (“The Prize: Who’s In Charge of America’s Schools?). The New York Times bestselling author, political pundit, and presidential historian discusses his vivid eyewitness account of the historic first criminal trial of a president with a longtime former Washington Post reporter.

Saturday, December 7, 4 p.m. Liana Finck, “How to Baby: A No-Advice-Given Guide to Motherhood, with Drawings.” In conversation with filmmaker Leah Wolchok (Very Semi-Serious: A Partially Thorough Portrait of New Yorker Cartoonists and Judy Blume Forever).  Finck, a New Yorker cartoonist and author, skewers “traditional” parenting books to chronicle the absurdities, frustrations, and joys of new parenthood.

Co-presented by The Montclair Community Pre-K

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