Bay Area Book Festival Podcast

Featuring stunning literary debuts from authors who are enrolled members of the Akwesasne Kanienkehaka and the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, this panel centers the Native experience as influenced by modern political and personal struggles. Old School Indian by Aaron John Curtis follows an Ahkwesáhsne man's reluctant return to his reservation after receiving a diagnosis for a rare disease, where he undergoes a healing at the hands of his wry Great Uncle Budge and finds hope in confronting the parts of himself he's hidden ever since he left home. In Jon Hickey's Big Chief, a young law school graduate and aspiring political fixer fights a nationally known politician for control over his tribe's casino and hotel in an unforgettable story about the search for belonging—to an ancestral and spiritual home, to a family, and to a sovereign people at a moment of great historical importance. Greg Sarris, Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, will moderate this well-deserved celebration of Native debuts.

Having witnessed and experienced the American justice system's unreasonable treatment of incarcerated people, the activists of this panel shed light on the shrouded reality of the ghosts currently being unduly punished. In his polemic Ghost in the Criminal Justice Machine: Reform, White Supremacy, and an Abolitionist Future, Emile Suotonye DeWeaver combines personal narrative with social commentary to critique the entrenched white supremacy that influences reform efforts, spotlighting the tools we need to address it both within and outside the carceral setting. Dorsey E. Nunn also reflects on lessons he learned in prison, namely that the criminal legal system increasingly targets poor Black and Brown communities with offenses, real or contrived. His memoir What Kind of Bird Can't Fly: A Memoir of Resilience and Resurrection details his efforts to liberate those he left behind, exemplifying the importance of centering voices of experience in the fight for freedom and dignified flight. Scott Dozier, the subject of Emmy award-winning investigative reporter Gianna Toboni's The Volunteer: The Failure of the Death Penalty in America and One Inmate's Quest to Die with Dignity, sought dignity through expedited death but was met with a death penalty system rife with black market dealings, supply chain labyrinths, disputed drugs, and botched executions. Moderated by Piper Kerman, justice reform activist, author of Orange is the New Black, and Chair of the Bay Area Book Festival Board, this panel will take a critical look at a system that has failed the public it claims to serve and discuss the necessary next steps toward justice.

In times of love and loss, demonstrations of care can be another form of activism. This sentiment is perhaps most evident in the AIDS epidemic, when physical touch became paradoxically a symbol of tenderness yet agonizingly painful for someone with complications from HIV, as Keiko Lane recalls in Blood Loss: A Love Story of AIDS, Activism, and Art, a memoir exploring survival after our loved ones have died and a chronicle of the powerful lives they led in solidarity. Difficult times remind us that All Friends Are Necessary, Tomas Moniz's novel about a recently divorced middle school teacher who leans on his network of platonic and romantic relationships to put himself back out into the world. Mei, a Dartmouth dropout-turned-limousine driver for questionable clientele from Off the Books by Soma Mei Sheng Frazier, also finds herself navigating transition in the form of a cross-country road trip that showcases the resilience of the human spirit and the power of doing the right thing. Moderated by poet, educator, and organizer Gabriel Cortez, this heartfelt and uplifting panel will highlight the power to be found in community as we go through life's hardships together.

During the 2024 presidential race, the Trump campaign released an anti-trans ad blitz across swing states. Once in power, he wasted no time issuing an executive order proclaiming there are only two biological sexes. Accordingly, trans protections, gender affirming care, and DEI initiatives are being dismantled nationwide. Philosopher and human rights activist Judith Butler has long been a lightning rod for society's fears, myths, and projections about the idea of gender. Now, when we need them most, Butler is back with what critics are calling their most mainstream and urgent book yet, Who's Afraid of Gender? It's both an intervention and an example of rising to meet the moment. At our Sunday headliner event, Butler will be in conversation with micha cárdenas, a novelist and scholar known for her work on "transreal" identities and digital media, whose latest sci-fi novel, Atoms Never Touch, tackles themes of neurodivergence and trans identity. Moderated by Afro-Latinx educator and writer MK Chavez, Butler and cárdenas will discuss their complementary yet distinct approaches to gender theory and identity: putting Butler's foundational concepts in conversation with cárdenas's cutting-edge explorations of biotechnological realities.

This visionary, multi-generational panel brings together Bay Area authors who weave speculative fiction with powerful messages of resistance, transformation, and justice. Through creative storytelling, these authors tackle the pressing issues of our time—exploring the legacies of the past and imagining a future where change is possible. Angela Dalton's To Boldly Go celebrates the life of Nichelle Nichols, whose work on Star Trek helped to diversify the space program, inspiring generations of astronauts and STEM professionals. Dalton's work underscores the vital role of representation in storytelling and its potential to spark real-world change. Tamika Thompson's Unshod, Cackling, and Naked presents an eclectic collection of stories that range from supernatural encounters to the harrowing realities of the human psyche. With vivid, often haunting tales, Thompson challenges readers to confront what's real, what's imagined, and what we choose to accept as truth. Jewelle Gomez, a radical poet, playwright, and "foremother of Afrofuturism," brings decades of experience as a writer of speculative fiction. Her landmark work The Gilda Stories continues to resonate as a powerful example of fiction as a tool for political and social transformation. Moderated by Isis Asare, CEO and Founder of Sistah Scifi—America's first Black-owned bookstore dedicated to science fiction and fantasy—this panel invites attendees to engage with these visionary authors and explore the role of speculative fiction in activism, representation, and shaping a more just world.

Learn from the best of community organization leadership in this empowering panel, which will get to the bottom of how to build resilient and justice-oriented communities. Jaz Brisack, a leader of the Starbucks and Tesla union movements, narrates their stories from the front lines in the context of current social unrest and shows us how we too can organize our workplaces in Get on the Job and Organize: The Making of a New Labor Movement. Shaping strong organizers requires shaping strong individuals, and James Tracy draws on his book A Southern Panther: Conversations With Malik Rahim to highlight Rahim's unique approach to organizing—updating the politics of intercommunalism, rainbow coalitions, and municipalism—offer vital lessons for today's social movements. Certain identities are unjustly disadvantaged by the "game" of the complex modern world, especially women of color as Vanessa Priya Daniel points out in Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning, a playbook based on interviews with 45 of the most powerful women of color movement leaders of our time. This inspiring discussion, moderated by Christina Heatherton (author of Arise! Global Radicalism in the Era of the Mexican Revolution), will lean on our panelists' valuable experiences to discuss the best strategies for organization—so we can all win.

"What is the relationship between the role of the outsider and literary writing?" Pulitzer Prize-winning Viet Thanh Nguyen poses this question in his new book To Save and To Destroy, which is based on a series of six lectures at Harvard. Having escaped from the Vietnam War to a refugee camp in Pennsylvania when he was four, Nguyen is no stranger to being an outsider who carries both the burdens and pleasures of being the "minor" writer. In this event, he'll be joined by two other brilliant literary outsiders: Greg Sarris, Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and celebrated author of fiction and memoir that delve into complexities of belonging and identity as a Native American, and award-winning novelist and filmmaker Tara Dorabji, the daughter of Parsi-Indian and German-Italian migrants, whose Call Her Freedom won the Simon & Schuster BOOKS LIKE US Grand Prize. In an era of constant "othering" within nations entrenched in colonialism and violence, it is natural for victims to feel their pain is unique. The challenge for "other"-American writers, then, is to practice what Nguyen calls "capacious grief" and to connect our sorrows in an act of radical hope. At our Saturday headliner event moderated by artist, writer, and Professor of African American literature Ajuan Mance, whose work explores the intersection of race, gender, and power, these authors will explore how they use storytelling and cultural sovereignty in the face of dominant ideologies, simultaneously embracing and overcoming their identities as "outsiders".

Income inequality in the U.S. has reached its highest level in over 50 years, making the American Dream increasingly unattainable—especially for Black Americans. One major factor is "predatory governance," the racist policies that have systematically undermined Black homeownership and generational wealth. Property law scholar Bernadette Atuahene explores this in Plundered, which illustrates how race influences the ability to pass down wealth. The financial industry also plays a key role; journalist Emily Flitter's The White Wall exposes corruption and discriminatory policies in banking and insurance that continue to harm Black communities. How can we break this cycle? Edgar Villanueva's Decolonizing Wealth offers Indigenous wisdom to address inequality in philanthropy and finance. Moderated by Cheryl Fabio, Executive Director of The Sarah Webster Fabio Center For Justice, this panel presents compelling, evidence-based narratives on structural injustice while challenging the harmful myths of personal irresponsibility projected onto disadvantaged communities

As we emerge from the past few years of collective upheaval, how do we face the complexities of our time with joy, authenticity, and connection? Therapist, somatics teacher, activist, and writer Prentis Hemphill shows us how in What It Takes to Heal, a life-affirming framework toward a future in which healing is done in community. In Hemphill's revolutionary framework, we don't have to carry our emotional burdens alone. Healing our bodies, minds, and souls starts with the principles of embodiment—the recognition of our body's sensations and habits, and the beliefs that inform them— and developing the interpersonal skills necessary to break down the doors of disconnection. What currently separates us isn't only the ever-present injustices built around race, class, gender, values, and beliefs, but also our denial of our interdependence and need for belonging, as researcher and writer Mia Birdsong demonstrates in How We Show Up. Through research, interviews, and stories of lived experience, Birdsong reminds us of our inherent connectedness and provides a blueprint for showing up, both literally and figuratively. Join us to hear from experts and leaders in this enriching conversation that will challenge mainstream models of self-reliance and instead infuse healing with the rigor of justice, vulnerability, repair, and accountability.

In a moment of global crises and heightened polarization, how do we foster belonging and minimize othering? How and where do we build bridges when so many communities and institutions are fracturing and re-constellating? Drawing on the panelists' four books and their unique experiences and perspectives, we will speak into a future where generative relationships across boundaries thrive. Leading asexuality and relationship expert David Jay tackles breeding grounds of isolation—from schools to tech to social media—in Relationality, which provides a scientifically-grounded framework for investing in the power of relational work and expands upon the fundamental idea that all entities in the universe are connected. From one point to the next, we can bridge the spaces between us into a network of communication and coexistence toward a shared future where we all belong, as civil rights scholar and Director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley john a. powell demonstrates through his book The Power of Bridging: How to Build a World Where We All Belong. Bridging Indigenous wisdom, traditions, and practices with Western knowledge and ways, Flourishing Kin by Indigenous scholar Yuria Celidwen details our aspirations for sustainable, collective flourishing that goes beyond optimism or resilience and instead leans into the power of community to cultivate happiness. Author, organizer, and designer Aida Mariam Davis envisions better worlds rooted in African lifeways in Kindred Creation, exploring the impacts of intentional colonial acts of violence and dispossession and providing a blueprint to intergenerational Black joy and dignity centered on the concept of creation: a re-membering of interconnectedness and kinship. This hopeful and informative panel, moderated by Tim McKee, publisher of North Atlantic Books, is a much-needed reminder to tap into our innate capabilities to be in dialogue with each other as we co-create a thriving future.