September 21, 2010

David Plouffe, political strategist and author of The Audacity to Win — interviewed by Richard Wolffe, award-winning journalist, political analyst for MSNBC, and author of Renegade: The Making of a President.
Plouffe served as campaign manager for President Obama's primary and general election victories in 2008, and was the architect of the strategy for both elections. After managing Obama's Presidential campaign, Plouffe set up Organizing for America, a thirteen-million-strong group to continue the initiatives of the campaign in everyday civic life.

October 11, 2010

Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post and author of Third World America — Interviewer to be announced.
In her newest book, Arianna Huffington examines how America's past political, economic and educational decisions are impacting the American dream, and what we can do to restart the engines of American prosperity and revitalize the middle class.
Arianna Huffington's Third World America is sure to spark debate over the best responses to the problems America is facing, and provide grist for the mill for people of all political persuasions.

November 9, 2010

Andrew Ross Sorkin, financial columnist for The New York Times and author of Too Big to Fail, a real-life thriller about the most tumultuous period in American financial history since the Great Depression.
Sorkin will be interviewed by Bethany McLean, contributing editor to Vanity Fair, co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room, about the collapse of Enron, and the forthcoming All the Devils are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis.

Tickets for these 3 fall Forums Available Now at:
Kentucky Center Box Office or Drive-Through on Main Street
502-584-7777 or 800-775-7777/ www.kentuckycenter.org

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May 10, 2010
Daniel Okrent, the first public editor of The New York Times, former editor at Time, Inc., and author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. Interviewed by John Huey, Editor-in-Chief of Time Inc.

Apr. 13, 2010
Richard Ellis, one of America’s leading marine conservationists and author of On Thin Ice: The Changing World of the Polar Bear interviewed by Jeff Corwin, host of Animal Planet’s Jeff Corwin Experience and Corwin’s Quest, globe-trotting wildlife biologist and author of 100 Heartbeats: The Race to Save Earth’s Most Endangered Species.

Dec. 1, 2009
Michael Sandel, renowned Harvard professor and author of Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? Interviewed by John S. Carroll, prize-winning journalist and former editor of the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun, and the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Nov. 12, 2009
Dr. Harold Varmus: Nobel Laureate, former director of the National Institutes of Health, current president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and author of The Art and Politics of Science. Interviewed by Governor Howard Dean, author of Howard Dean’s Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform.

Mar. 24, 2009
Michael Kinsley, editor of Creative Capitalism, a response from over 40 of the most influential thinkers in the world of business, to the challenge put forth by Bill Gates to address the growing gap between the rich and the poor in the global economy. Interviewed by James Surowiecki, staff writer of "The Financial Page" at The New Yorker.

Feb. 26, 2009
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the internationally praised travel memoir Eat, Pray, Love and the novel Stern Men. Interviewed by ZZ Packer, author of the short story collection Drinking Coffee Elsewhere.

Jan. 22, 2009
Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, Blink, and the current #1 New York Times bestseller, Outliers: The Story of Success (Little, Brown). Interviewed by Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind (Penguin Group) and The Adventures of Johnny Bunko (Riverhead Books), America's first business book in the Japanese format known as manga.

Oct. 6, 2008
David Boren, President of the University of Oklahoma and former U.S. Senator, discusses his book, A Letter to America. Interviewed by Neal Conan, host of NPR's "Talk of the Nation."

May 6, 2008
United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, author of Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution. Interviewed by Pete Williams, NBC News Justice Correspondent.

April 1, 2008
Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time. Interviewed by Jacki Lyden, Senior Correspondent and Alternate Host for National Public Radio.

Jan. 11, 2008
Michael Pollan, journalist and author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, books which have sparked new public dialogue about the American way of eating. Interviewed by Michael Shnayerson, contributing editor, Vanity Fair.

Nov. 27, 2007
Tom Brokaw, one of the most respected figures in broadcast journalism, author of The Greatest Generation and Boom! Aftershocks of the Sixties and Beyond: Personal Reflections. Interviewed by Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author.

April 24, 2007
James A. Baker, III, former Secretary of State, co-chair of the Iraq Study Group, and author of Work Hard, Study...and Keep Out of Politics!. Interviewed by John King, chief national correspondent for CNN.

Feb. 28, 2007
Bill McKibben, environmentalist and author of Deep Economy: the Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. Interviewed by Wendell Berry, honored author, cultural and economic critic, and a farmer in his native Henry County, KY for over 40 years.

Oct. 18, 2006
Lawrence Wright, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Interviewed by Peter Bergen, journalist, author and CNN's terrorism analyst.

Sept. 12, 2006

George Soros, international financier and philanthropist and author of The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror. Interviewed by John Podesta, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress.

April 6, 2006
Sue Monk Kidd, author of spiritual memoirs and the best selling novels The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair. Interviewed by Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D. , Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Jungian analyst and internationally recognized author and speaker.

March 7, 2006
Gene Sperling, President Clinton's National Economic Advisor and author of The Pro-Growth Progressive. Interviewed by John Ydstie, Correspondent and Host, National Public Radio.

Dec. 19, 2005
Senator John McCain, four-term Arizona Senator and author of Character is Destiny. Interviewed by Robert Siegel, host of National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."

Nov. 1, 2005
R. W. "Johnny" Apple Jr. , Associate Editor of The New York Times and author of Apple's America. Interviewed by Tom Brokaw, Special Correspondent, NBC News.

April 19, 2005
Azar Nafisi, teacher and author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. Interviewed by Karl Fleming, journalist and legendary civil rights reporter.

March 29, 2005
Ari Fleischer , former Press Secretary to President George W. Bush. Interviewed by Bill Plante, CBS News White House Correspondent.

Nov. 17, 2004
Dennis Ross, U. S. Envoy to the Middle East, 1988-2000. Interviewed by Jacki Lyden, Foreign Correspondent for National Public Radio.

Oct 20, 2004
Karen Armstrong, internationally recognized religious commentator. Interviewed by Robert Siegel, host of "All Things Considered," National Public Radio.

April 12, 2004
Margaret Atwood, Canadian novelist, poet and essayist. Interviewed by Ira Flatow, TV journalist and host of Talk of the Nation: Science Friday on National Public Radio.

Feb. 12, 2004
Robert Kagan, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author. Interviewed by Neal Conan, host of Talk of the Nation on National Public Radio.

Jan. 20, 2004
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. , Director of African-American Studies at Harvard University, scholar and author. Interviewed by Karen Grigsby Bates, Correspondent for Day to Day on National Public Radio.

Dec. 17, 2003
Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State, U.N. Ambassador to the United Nations and author. Interviewed by Richard Roth, United Nations Senior Correspondent for CNN.

May 14, 2003
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and author. Interviewed by Pete Williams, NBC News Justice Correspondent and former Press Secretary to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Nov. 21, 2002
Arthur Levitt, Former Chairman of the American Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Interviewed by Jane Bryant Quinn, financial columnist for Newsweek.

Nov. 13, 2002
Garrison Keillor, host of "A Prairie Home Companion" and "The Writer's Almanac" on Public Radio International (PRI) and author of numerous books.

Sept. 25, 2002
Strobe Talbott, President, Brookings Institution and former Deputy Secretary of State. Interviewed by David Halberstam, Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

May 6, 2002
Wynton Marsalis, artistic Director, Jazz at Lincoln Center and world famous jazz trumpeter. Interviewed by Robert Siegel, host of All Things Considered, NPR.

March 26, 2002
Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. , Managing Director, Lazard Freres & Co., past President, National Urban League and author. Interviewed by Ronald Brownstein, Senior Washington Correspondent, The Los Angeles Times.

Dec. 4, 2001
David Hockney, internationally renowned artist and author. Interviewed by Michael Kimmelman, Chief Art Critic, The New York Times.

Nov. 6, 2001
General Wesley K. Clark, Five Star General, former Commander NATO European Forces and NATO Air Campaign Kosovo and author. Interviewed by Joe Klein, The New Yorker Correspondent, Politics and Defense, and author.

April 25, 2001
James McBride, author of The Color of Water. Interviewed by Christopher Lydon, former host of The Connection, WBUR Boston.

April 2, 2001
Dr. David Kessler, Dean of Yale University School of Medicine and former Commissioner of US Food and Drug Administration. Interviewed by Roger Cossack, former co-host of CNN's Burden of Proof.

Feb. 28, 2001
E. L. Doctorow, prize-winning fiction writer. Interviewed by Christopher Lydon, former host of The Connection, WBUR Boston.

Oct. 23, 2000
Ted Koppel, 36-year veteran of ABC News, Nightline and author. Interviewed by Robert Siegel, host of All Things Considered, NPR.

April 10, 2000
Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize winner and author. Interviewed by Gustav Niebuhr, former Religion Correspondent for The New York Times.

Dec. 13, 1999
John Glenn, former Senator and America's first astronaut. Interviewed by Lou Dobbs, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of space.com and Financial Anchor, CNN.

Oct. 28, 1999
Dr. Jane Goodall, world-renowned anthropologist. Interviewed by Dr. Richard Wrangham, Chairman, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University.

Oct. 7, 1999
Frances Mayes, poet, author and Professor of Creative Writing. Interviewed by Rebecca Bain, former news director and present host of The Fine Print, National Public Radio.

March 9, 1999
Ruth Reichl, former restaurant critic for The New York Times and current Editor of Gourmet Magazine. Interviewed by Susan Stamberg, Special Correspondent, National Public Radio.

Jan. 12, 1999
Pat Schroeder, former Congresswoman, author and President of American Publishers Association. Interviewed by Eleanor Clift, contributing Editor, Newsweek and Fox News.

Dec. 2, 1998
A. Scott Berg, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer. Interviewed by Jonathan Yardley, Pulitzer Book Critic, The Washington Post.

April 20, 1998
David Halberstam, Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Interviewed by Roger Wilkins, Professor, George Mason University.

Feb. 11, 1998
Carl Lewis, winner of 9 Olympic Gold Medals. Interviewed by Frank Deford, sports commentator for National Public Radio.

Dec. 2, 1997
Jane Bryant Quinn, award-winning financial columnist and author. Interviewed by Marshall Loeb, Editor, Columbia Journalism Review and Fortune.

Oct. 6, 1997
Dr. Susan Love, pre-eminent breast cancer surgeon and author of two best-selling books on women's health. Interviewed by Anne Taylor Fleming, TV commentator, author, and correspondent with Jim Lehrer NewsHour.

April 24, 1997
Hillary Rodham Clinton ,former first lady and current US Senator. Interviewed by Carl Sferrazza Anthony, author and leading expert on First Ladies.

March 25, 1997
Katharine Graham, former publisher of The Washington Post and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Interviewed by Andrea Mitchell, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, NBC News.

Feb. 25, 1997
John Updike, Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Interviewed by Robert Siegel, host of National Public Radio's All Things Considered.

Nov 25, 1996
Neil Simon, playwright and Pulitzer winner. Interviewed by Jon Jory, Former artistic director of Actors Theater of Louisville.

Oct. 12, 1996
Sister Helen Prejean, counselor to death row inmates and author of Dead Man Walking. Interviewed by Stephen Bright, Director of Southern Center for Human Rights, native of Danville, Kentucky, UK graduate and Yale Professor.

May 13, 1996
Bill Bradley, three time Senator, Olympic gold medallist and Rhodes Scholar. Interviewed by Eleanor Clift, former White House Correspondent, contributing editor, Newsweek and Fox News.