Richard Roeper Talks About Film, Jobs, And Social Media

Richard Roeper: occupation: film critic extraordinaire, with an interest in being a rodeo clown?

Richard Roeper sits down with Rachel Gillman and discusses topics about his life as a media personality, to social media's impact in modern society, to his aspirations in another interesting field of occupation.

Find out more about Richard Roeper in this article:

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Peter Greenberg's Sweet New Post

Still not sure if you're excited to see Peter Greenberg? Well you may have more in common than you think. Besides going gaga for travel, it looks like he has a sweet tooth, or, more specifically, is a (gasp!) chocolate lover!

In a recent Travel Tip, Greenberg told us which travel destinations have the best chocolate hotel treats. From England to Italy to St. Lucia and finally to our very own Hershey, Pennsylvania, Greenberg knows where these gems lie.

To read the article, click here.

Lisa Ling Among Latest Celebrities to Take "Hollywood Pledge"

This week our own Sacramento native and final speaker in our upcoming season, Lisa Ling, became one of the latest celebrities to take the "Hollywood Pledge".

According to PRWeb.com, this Pledge is a "philanthropy campaign led by the Give Back Hollywood Foundation and inspired by Bill Gates & Warren Buffett's Giving Pledge. The "Hollywood Pledge" and its companion website unites celebrity philanthropists and serves as a convenient way for them to promote the charities and causes they are most passionate about."

Fans of the celebrites are also encouraged to give back. Check the website to see if your favorite stars are on there, and see how you can contribute. Click here to read the rest of this article.

David McCullough interviewed by WSJ

David McCullough, the kick-off speaker to our 2011-2012 season was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal this past weekend. Following the release of the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress, McCullough had a few comments on what makes the youth of America "historically illiterate" and some ideas on how to change it.

He says that we've been teaching history poorly. He blames teachers, methods, and textbooks, but also notes that "Teachers are the most important people in our society."

To find out what else McCullough said, including a look into the reasons he wrote his new book, "The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris", please click here.

Condoleezza Rice Stresses the Importance of Freedom

Our 3rd and probably most well-known speaker of the 2011-2012 season was in the news recently.

In a conference hosted by the George W. Bush Institute two weeks ago, Rice spoke about reforms in the Mideast.

She said that "the message should be freedom is always worth it."

To read more of this article click here.

Gergen Celebrates Teach for America

Our 2011-2012 season speaker, David Gergen, was in the news last week.

He was the main speaker at the first ever "Path to Empowerment" lunch put on by Teach for America. Gergen serves on the national board of TFA and has said that the program "holds out hope for helping low-income and minority students achieve at the same level as white and middle-class peers - and for American to catch up with other nations on education."

However, TFA is controversial among some teachers. Why? Click here to find out.

John Hofmeister Review

While the feedback from patrons on the John Hofmeister lecture was somewhat varied based on one's political affiliation and belief system, everyone in attendance agreed positively on one subject: his passion.

In producing this series for over five plus seasons, I cannot remember any other speaker orating with such passion and verve. His energy and passion toward his belief for energy policy reform was felt all throughout the theater. From time to time, our distinguished guests are accused of "leaning on their celebrity", "mailing it in", or "not taking a stand". From my own viewpoint, Mr. Hofmeister not only took a stand; he wouldn't leave it for the 90 minutes he was on stage.

In the end, you may not have agreed with everything he said, but his sobering talk about energy use, policy, and conservation hopefully opened your eyes and made you think and question your thought process.

At any rate, the following illustrates how patrons felt about the John Hofmeister engagement:

(1= Low / 5= High)

Overall Experience 4.4

Lecture 4.3

Q&A 4.4

Lighting 4.4

Acoustics 4.6


88% of audience polled felt the engagement was "money well spent".

92% of audience polled felt the night met their expectations.


Comments from the patrons:

"Disappointing rehash of old familiar facts. Any well read news and current events junkie like myself already knew most of his "facts." Pretty much what I should have expected from a career rip off artist from a rip off industry."

"As a fairly liberal minded person & believer in Global Warming etc. It was good to hear the issues from a different perspective. I think he presented his case well."

"Wow, what a remarkable speaker - so much pragmatic knowledge about such an important topic, very effectively communicated. Great stuff, I learned a lot. Hopefully those who came in close-minded opened their minds a bit during the talk."

"ALL of us thought he was great. It was very encouraging to see that there is someone willing to tilt against the Washington Windmills and try to get the US to develop an energy policy that produces rather than prevents energy generation. I am very glad you had him on."