The Progressive Forum, Houston, is a civic speaker organization dedicated to enriching our democracy and culture by presenting the great minds we believe are advancing the success of the individual, our species, and life on the planet.
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To purchase tickets by phone, call 832-251-0706, 9 to 9 seven days a week. For assistance buying online, call the help desk at 888-695-0888. For any problem, contact The Progressive Forum by E-MAIL or call 713-664-0020.
Arianna Huffington
Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post
Author: Third
World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class
and Betraying the American Dream
Wednesday September 15 at 7:30
Wortham Center, Cullen Theater
“If you had to declare a winner among the Internet media companies today, the victor easily would be Arianna Huffington. Her site, The Huffington Post attracted 24.3 million unique visitors last month June 2010,” according to Newsweek. She is the author of 13 books including her latest, Third World America, which she says includes “the steps we can all take to stop the slide.” The HuffingtonPost is launching a special section entitled Third World America with daily stories bearing witness to what’s happening to ordinary Americans with a “focus on solutions that are making a difference.” Arianna Huffington is also a nationally syndicated columnist and co-host of the popular public radio show, Left, Right, & Center. She has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. The Financial Times named her among the 50 people who shaped the decade. She will sign books and greet fans at the end of the evening.
Program starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Wortham Center, Cullen Theater, 501 Texas Avenue. Parking is available underground at the Wortham, entrances on Texas Avenue or Prairie Street.
Private patron reception with Arianna Huffington starts earlier than usual at 6:45 p.m. in the green room for those purchasing $74 tickets and for Forum donors of $1,000 or more within the past 12 months.
Arianna Huffington will sign books in the grand foyer at the end of the evening.
Books will be on sale throughout the evening by Blue Willow Bookshop.
Ticket prices are $14, $24, $34, $44, and $54. A limited number of patron seats are available at $74 and include private patron reception with Arianna Huffington at 6:45 p.m. and center-front seating.
Discounts of 10% are available off all regular price levels except $74-patron level for students; educators including teachers and administrators at all levels; seniors 65 and older; and groups of 10 or more; valid ID required at the door.
Tickets are available at the door on event night if it's not sold out. Prior to event night, there are no tickets sold at the Wortham box office or any other physical box office. Tickets are sold only through this website, our email blasts, and by phone at 832-251-0706.
If you have any problems purchasing your tickets online, please call the help desk at the box office at 888-695-0888.
Feel free to call The Progressive Forum office at any time at 713-664-0020.
For the hearing impaired, free headsets are available from the ushers.
|
To purchase tickets by phone, call 832-251-0706, 9 to 9 seven days a week. For assistance buying online, call the help desk at 888-695-0888. For any problem, contact The Progressive Forum by E-MAIL or call 713-664-0020.
Eric Schlosser
Author: Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
Thursday September 30 at 7:30
Wortham Center, Cullen Theater
Presented in association with Urban Harvest.
Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation (2001) helped start a revolution in how Americans think about what they eat, remaining on The New York Times bestseller list for two years. The Times said, “It will not only make you think twice before eating your next hamburger, but will also make you think about the fallout that the fast food industry has had on America’s social and cultural landscape.” Schlosser also co-produced and starred in the Oscar nominated documentary, Food, Inc. (2009), which exposes America’s industrialized agricultural system and its effect on our environment, health, and worker rights. Schlosser is one of America’s top investigative journalists who said, "Meaningful change … is going to come from people who realize that there's a direct link between the food they eat and the society they inhabit. Changing your eating habits can send ripples far and wide in support of agricultural practices that are humane, diverse and sustainable." Schlosser will sign books and greet fans at the end of the evening.
Thanks for underwriting a multi-year lecture series on informed food choices: Chris Povinelli and Steve Krebs
Thanks to our generous event co-sponsors:
Garland Kerr and Jim Blackburn
OHBA, Organic Horticulture
Business Alliance, A Committee of Urban Harvest
Program starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Wortham Center, Cullen Theater, 501 Texas Avenue. Parking is available underground at the Wortham, entrances on Texas Avenue or Prairie Street.
Private patron reception with Eric Schlosser is at 6:15 p.m. in the green room for those purchasing $74 tickets and for Forum donors of $1,000 or more.
Eric Schlosser will sign books in the grand foyer after the program. Books will be on sale throughout the evening by Blue Willow Bookshop.
Ticket prices are $14, $24, $34, $44, and $54. Besides regular tickets, a limited number of patron seats are available at $74 and include private patron reception with Eric Schlosser at 6:15, center-front seating, and a complimentary autographed book.
Discounts of 10% are available off all regular price levels except $74-patron level for students; educators including teachers and administrators at all levels; seniors 65 and older; and groups of 10 or more; valid ID required at the door.
Tickets are available at the door on event night. Prior to event night, there are no tickets sold at the Wortham box office or any other physical box office. Tickets are sold only through this website, our email blasts, and by phone at 832-251-0706.
If you have any problems purchasing your tickets online, please call the help desk at the box office at 888-695-0888.
Feel free to call The Progressive Forum office at any time at 713-664-0020.
For the hearing impaired, free headsets are available from the ushers.
|
To purchase tickets by phone, call 832-251-0706, 9 to 9 seven days a week. For assistance buying online, call the help desk at 888-695-0888. For any problem, contact The Progressive Forum by E-MAIL or call 713-664-0020.
Richard Dawkins
Author: The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
Tuesday October 5 at 7:30
Wortham Center, Cullen Theater
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All attendees will receive a complimentary copy of the paperback, The Greatest Show on Earth. |
In a brilliant follow-up to his international blockbuster, The God Delusion (2006), renowned British biologist Richard Dawkins lays out the case for evolution on how we “know it’s a fact,” while launching a fierce counter attack against proponents of “Intelligent Design” in The Greatest Show on Earth (2009). The book is a fascinating journey through rich layers of evidence in the scientific fields of domestication, fossil records, radioactive dating, developing embryos, plate tectonics, molecular genetics, and more. The San Francisco Chronicle calls it “Brilliant, detailed, immensely readable, funny.” Dawkins regularly places in the top ten among the world's top public intellectuals in Prospect magazine’s list, voted by a worldwide public. The Greatest Show on Earth is deeply needed at a time when systemic opposition to the fact of evolution is undermining the status of science in classrooms around the world, especially in Texas. The author of ten books, Dawkins catapulted to fame with The Selfish Gene (1976). He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Society. At Oxford University, he’s a Fellow of New College. Additional books will be on sale. Dawkins will greet fans and sign books at the end of the evening.
For a complimentary copy of The Greatest Show on Earth, present your ticket to the usher distribution station in the grand foyer. One book per ticket. Additional books will be on sale in the grand foyer.
Program starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Wortham Center, Cullen Theater, 501 Texas Avenue. Parking is available underground at the Wortham, entrances on Texas Avenue or Prairie Street.
Private patron reception with Richard Dawkins is at 6:15 p.m. in the green room for those purchasing $74 tickets and for Forum donors of $1,000 or more within the past 12 months.
Richard Dawkins will sign books in the grand foyer after the program. Additional books will be on sale throughout the evening by Blue Willow Bookshop.
Ticket prices are $14, $24, $34, $44, and $54. A limited number of patron seats are available at $74 and include private patron reception with Richard Dawkins at 6:15, center-front seating, and a complimentary autographed book available in the green room. $74 ticket holders should by-pass the station in the grand foyer for a complimentary book, and instead pick up their autographed copy in the green room.
Discounts of 10% are available off all regular price levels except $74-patron level for students; educators including teachers and administrators at all levels; seniors 65 and older; and groups of 10 or more; valid ID required at the door.
Tickets are available at the door on event night if the event is not sold out. Prior to event night, there are no tickets sold at the Wortham box office or any other physical box office. Tickets are sold only through this website, our email blasts, and by phone at 832-251-0706.
If you have any problems purchasing your tickets online, please call the help desk at the box office at 888-695-0888.
Feel free to call The Progressive Forum office at any time at
713-664-0020.
For the hearing impaired, free headsets are available from the ushers.
|
To purchase tickets by phone, call 832-251-0706, 9 to 9 seven days a week. For assistance buying online, call the help desk at 888-695-0888. For any problem, contact The Progressive Forum by E-MAIL or call 713-664-0020.
Richard Leakey
Paleoanthropologist, Conservationist, Activist
Program: Why Our Origins Matter
Thursday October 28 at 7:30
Wortham Center, Cullen Theater
The world’s most famous paleoanthropologist, Richard Leakey, was named one of Time magazine’s 100 greatest minds of the 20th Century. He is credited with some of the most significant fossil discoveries including the legendary Turkana Boy which the American Museum of Natural History calls “The first early human with … a tall stature … like our own,” 1.6 million years old. Richard Leakey lives on a farm in his native Kenya where he spearheaded efforts to end rampant elephant poaching, raising over $150 million and rallying international support for banning ivory trade. He started a new political party, taking a stand against government corruption and oppression. He suffered beatings, death threats, and lost his legs in a suspicious plane crash, but was ultimately successful. He’s co-authored over 100 scientific articles, a few of his books include: The Sixth Extinction: Patterns of Life and the Future of Mankind; Origins Reconsidered: In Search of What Makes Us Human; The Making of Mankind; and Wildlife Wars: My Fight to Save Africa’s Natural Treasures. He’s an elected Fellow of The Royal Society which includes the most distinguished scientists from the U.K. When he's in the U.S., he serves as a professor of anthropology at State University of New York at Stony Brook. He recently founded WildlifeDirect.org, an online service that allows anyone to play a role in saving the world’s most endangered species. Leakey will also speak on climate change, conservation, evolution, wildlife, human rights, and more. He'll greet fans and sign books at the end of the evening.
Thanks to our generous event co-sponsors:
Magnolia Charitable Trust, Honoring Lucie Wray Todd
Program starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Wortham Center, Cullen Theater, 501 Texas Avenue. Parking is available underground at the Wortham, entrances on Texas Avenue or Prairie Street.
Private patron reception with Dr. Leakey is at 6:15 p.m. in the green room for those purchasing $74 tickets and for Forum donors of $1,000 or more.
Richard Leakey will sign books in the grand foyer after the program. Books will be on sale throughout the evening by Blue Willow Bookshop.
Ticket prices are $14, $24, $34, $44, and $54. Besides regular tickets, a limited number of patron seats are available at $74 and include private patron reception with Richard Leakey at 6:15, center-front seating, and a complimentary autographed book.
Discounts of 10% are available off all regular price levels except $74-patron level for students; educators including teachers and administrators at all levels; seniors 65 and older; and groups of 10 or more; valid ID required at the door.
Tickets are available at the door on event night. Prior to event night, there are no tickets sold at the Wortham box office or any other physical box office. Tickets are sold only through this website, our email blasts, and by phone at 832-251-0706.
If you have any problems purchasing your tickets online, please call the help desk at the box office at 888-695-0888.
Feel free to call The Progressive Forum office at any time at 713-664-0020.
For the hearing impaired, free headsets are available from the ushers.
|
To purchase tickets by phone, call 832-251-0706, 9 to 9 seven days a week. For assistance buying online, call the help desk at 888-695-0888. For any problem, contact The Progressive Forum by E-MAIL or call 713-664-0020.
John Paul Stevens
U.S. Supreme Court Justice, retired
Tuesday November 16 at 7:30
Wortham Center, Cullen Theater
Widely regarded as the leader of the liberal wing, John Paul Stevens, 90, was the third-longest serving justice in U.S. Supreme Court history, retiring officially June 28. A native of Chicago, he attended the University of Chicago before serving in the Navy during World War II, earning a Bronze Star for his work as a code-breaker. He attended Northwestern Law School where he edited the law review and graduated with the highest grades in the law school’s history at that time. In 1947, he clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Wiley Rutledge, the last of the Roosevelt appointments. He joined a prominent Chicago law firm before forming his own firm, building an expertise in anti-trust matters which led to positions with special counsels to the U. S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Attorney General’s office, as well as teaching positions at the law schools of Northwestern and University of Chicago. He’s an amateur Shakespearean, a pilot, and a baseball fan who saw Babe Ruth’s “called shot” in the 1932 World Series. In 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Five years later, President Gerald Ford appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Questions for John Paul Stevens
Thanks to our generous, exclusive event sponsor:
Program starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Wortham Center, Cullen Theater, 501 Texas Avenue. Parking is available underground at the Wortham, entrances on Texas Avenue or Prairie Street.
Private patron reception with Justice Stevens is at 6:15 p.m. in the green room for those purchasing $74 tickets and for Forum donors of $1,000 or more within the past 12 months.
Justice Stevens will not be signing books in the grand foyer after the program, there is no book sale associated with the event. The event will conclude after the stage presentation.
Ticket prices are $14, $24, $34, $44, and $54. A limited number of patron seats are available at $74 and include private patron reception with Justice Stevens at 6:15 and center-front seating.
Discounts of 10% are available off all regular price levels except $74-patron level for students; educators including teachers and administrators at all levels; seniors 65 and older; and groups of 10 or more; valid ID required at the door.
Tickets are available at the door on event night if it's not sold out. Prior to event night, there are no tickets sold at the Wortham box office or any other physical box office. Tickets are sold only through this website, our email blasts, and by phone at 832-251-0706.If you have any problems purchasing your tickets online, please call the help desk at the box office at 888-695-0888.
Feel free to call The Progressive Forum office at any time at 713-664-0020.
For the hearing impaired, free headsets are available from the ushers.
Visit pages on past speakers, a rich source of answers from these
great minds. Stay tuned, there are more on the way.
Past speakers have included:
- Karen Armstrong
- Lester Brown
- Ken Burms
- Jared Diamond
- Elizabeth Edwards
- Tim Flannery
- Al Gore
- Brian Greene
- James Hansen
- Seymour Hersh
- Molly Ivins
- Garrison Keillor
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
- Joe Klein
- George Lakoff
- Bill McKibben
- Randall R, Morton
- Nancy Pelosi
- T. Boone Pickens
- Robert Redford
- Frank Rich
- Anna Deavere Smith
- George Soros
- Gloria Steinem
- Bill White
- Larry Wilmore
- Edward O. Wilson
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