SAL/on air

Madeleine Albright was America's first-ever female Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001. Her distinguished career of public service includes positions in the National Security Council, as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and on Capitol Hill. In her latest book, Fascism: A Warning, Albright gives us an urgent examination of fascism in the 20th century and how its legacy shapes today’s world. A fascist, observes Albright, “is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is...

In our latest episode of SAL/on air, we hear from one of the pre-eminent authors of the 20th century—Philip Roth. He joined us back in October 1992 for a reading from his National Book Award-winning memoir, Patrimony: A True Story. Written with great intimacy at the height of his literary powers, Patrimony is Roth’s elegy to his father, who he accompanies, full of love and dread, through each stage of terminal brain cancer. As he does so, Roth wrestles with the stubborn, survivalist drive...

This episode is Part Two of our double-feature with legendary Chilean writer Isabel Allende, who joined us for the second time for Seattle Arts & Lectures’ 2017/18 Season. On November 28, SAL had the pleasure of welcoming Allende back to our Literary Arts Series after her last visit thirty years ago, which we shared in our previous episode. SAL Executive Director Ruth Dickey was in conversation with Allende that night, who shared with us how she came to write her newest book, In the Midst...

One of the world's most widely-read Spanish language authors, Chilean writer Isabel Allende is a master of the magical realism form and a colorful storyteller. At the time of Allende's first visit to the SAL stage, she had authored her astonishing debut, "The House of the Spirits," "Of Love and Shadows," and "Eva Luna." This episode is Part One of our double-feature with Allende, who first joined us at Benaroya Hall in March 1989 for Seattle Arts & Lectures’ inaugural season. In her talk,...

Ruth Ozeki is a novelist, filmmaker and Zen Buddhist priest, whose award-winning novels have been described as "witty, intelligent and passionate" by the Independent, and as possessing "shrewd and playful humor, luscious sexiness and kinetic pizzazz" by the Chicago Tribune. At the time of her visit, Ozeki had written three novels, most recently A Tale for Time-Being (2013), shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this episode, we hear from Ozeki,...

Elizabeth Strout is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Olive Kitteridge, the bestsellers Abide With Me, The Burgess Boys, My Name is Lucy Barton, and the award-winning Amy and Isabelle, all set in New England, all exploring the twists and turns of family dynamics, small-town gossip, and experiences of love, loss, and grief. “The pleasure in reading Strout," writes Louisa Thomas for the New York Times, "comes from an intense identification with complicated, not always admirable,...