Past Events

Chicago Humanities

Oct17

PastAuthor EventLiterary FictionChicago, IL

Barbara Kingsolver - Partita

7:30 PM • Saturday, October 17, 2026Francis Parker Auditorium$60

We're proud to partner with the Chicago Humanities Festival for this exciting event featuring Barbara Kingsolver, a Women & Children First favorite author of all time! Barbara Kingsolver is one of the most renowned and powerful writers of our time. She’s the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Demon Copperhead, the National Humanities Medal, and the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Kingsolver joins us to discuss her newest novel, Partita, which continues her literary legacy. It explores class barriers, the risks of ambition, and the power of art through the story of a woman’s modest life — and the shocking return of her painful yet passionate past. Kingsolver will read a few passages from the novel, accompanied by a classical pianist who will bring the passages to life. There will not be a book-signing for this event.

Oct12

PastAuthor EventNon-FictionLake View, Chicago

SIMPLE TOO - An Evening with Yotam Ottolenghi

7:30 PM • Monday, October 12, 2026Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture$50

Join Yotam Ottolenghi for an intimate and energizing evening celebrating his forthcoming Fall 2026 cookbook, SIMPLE TOO, the long-awaited follow-up to his bestselling Ottolenghi Simple. Eight years after redefining “flavor without fuss,” Ottolenghi returns to explore what “simple” means now — in a world of endless notifications, long commutes, and minds split between podcasts, WhatsApp groups, and homework help. In conversation, he’ll share how SIMPLE TOO was born from real life: recipes that work with you, not against you — dishes you can begin with half a plan and still end with a deeply satisfying meal. Expect laughter, honesty, and that signature Ottolenghi spark as he declares, “The lemon is back!” and explains why bold flavor remains at the heart of simplicity. Drawing from the book’s vibrant themes, Ottolenghi will dive into the ingredients and techniques that quietly shape this new collection: beans simply dressed, black chickpeas, sesame in generous handfuls, sweet-and-spicy balances, pasta cooked directly in its sauce, and whole meals roasted start-to-finish in a single tray (with far less washing up). He’ll also introduce the new “Fundamentals” chapter — fifteen fridge-ready flavor builders like spring onion oil, green salsa, za’atar oil, confit tomatoes, and chili crisp — the small things that make big differences on the busiest weeknights. Through stories from the writing process with co-author Verena Lochmuller, practical tips, and reflections on finding pleasure in cooking even when you’re already tired, Ottolenghi will reveal how SIMPLE TOO is less about doing less — and more about making everyday cooking feel generous, achievable, and full of joy.

Oct4

PastAuthor EventPoliticsEvanston, IL

Sarah M. S. Pearsall - Freedom Round the Globe

7:00 PM • Sunday, October 4, 2026Northwestern University - Norris University Center$34

Prize-winning historian Sarah M. S. Pearsall joins us for a conversation that will upend everything you thought you knew about the American Revolution. Drawing on her new book Freedom Round the Globe, Pearsall will take us beyond the thirteen colonies to uncover the freedom seekers and dreamers in India, West Africa, China, and the Caribbean whose struggles shaped the nature of American rebellion and nationhood. Pearsall will be joined in conversation by Northwestern University history professor Caitlin Fitz. A book signing will follow this program.

Oct4

PastAuthor EventPoliticsEvanston, IL

Anand Giridharadas - Man in the Mirror

7:00 PM • Sunday, October 4, 2026Northwestern University - Norris University Center$56

Join Anand Giridharadas as he explores his new book, Man in the Mirror, the story of a tragic encounter in a New York subway car in 2023 between a homeless man once known for being a Michael Jackson impersonator and an ex-Marine new to New York City. The journalist and political analyst will share the riveting story of this deadly encounter and its aftermath, revealing through painstaking, on-the-ground reporting the depth of the rage, violence, and division that have defined 2020s America. A book signing will follow this program.

Oct4

PastAuthor EventFictionEvanston, IL

Leila Slimani: I’ll Take the Fire

5:30 PM • Sunday, October 4, 2026Northwestern University - Lutkin Hall$56

Leïla Slimani is a bestselling author, the first Moroccan woman to win France’s most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, French President Macron's former personal representative for the promotion of the French language and culture, and chair of the jury for the 2023 International Booker Prize. She joins us to discuss her newest novel, I’ll Take the Fire, the final book in her trilogy based on her family’s roots in revolutionary Morocco. In it, she weaves the story of a young Arab woman on a quest for sexual and political freedom against the backdrop of era defining events like the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11.

Oct4

PastAuthor EventNon-FictionEvanston, IL

Jeff Garlin - Best Seat in the House

4:00 PM • Sunday, October 4, 2026Northwestern University - Cahn Auditorium$56

You know him from Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Goldbergs, and his decades on the stand-up stage. What you may not know is that comedian Jeff Garlin also happens to be a gifted photographer. Join us in celebration of his newest book, Best Seat in the House, a collection of never-before-seen photographs and hilarious personal stories that capture the heart of life on and offstage. Garlin will share unscripted moments with comedy’s biggest stars from Larry David and Mel Brooks to Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman, and more. A book signing will follow this program.

Oct4

PastAuthor EventPoliticsEvanston, IL

Peter Sagal’s Constitution Sessions - Supremacy

2:30 PM • Sunday, October 4, 2026Northwestern University - Lutkin Hall$65

For over a century, Americans have accepted a basic premise: that nine justices, not the people, get the final word on what the Constitution means. In Supremacy: How Rule by the Court Replaced Government by the People, legal scholar Daphna Renan argues that "judicial supremacy" was never required by the Constitution — it was seized, after Reconstruction, to weaken democracy rather than protect it. Renan joins NPR's Peter Sagal for an urgent conversation on how the Court took this power, and what it would take for Americans to reclaim it.

Oct4

PastAuthor EventLiterary FictionEvanston, IL

Ayad Akhtar - The Radiance

1:00 PM • Sunday, October 4, 2026Northwestern University - Norris University Center$58

Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, novelist, and former president of PEN America, returns to Chicago Humanities. He’ll tell us about his newest work of fiction, The Radiance, named one of TIME’s most anticipated books of 2026. This novel is a fictional take on the cultural warfare currently playing out on college campuses across the country. And it moves between subjects that sometimes feel at odds: rural America and Europe, Islam and Christianity, the intimate and the metaphysical. Akhtar joins us to ask not only what has broken in America, but what radiance remains. Akhtar is joined in conversation by Agnes Callard, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago.

Oct4

PastAuthor EventHumorEvanston, IL

A Talk and Singalong with Monty Python’s Eric Idle

1:00 PM • Sunday, October 4, 2026Northwestern University - Cahn Auditorium$56

Hear from legendary comedian Eric Idle as he shares how buying a crumbling ruin in Provence, France allowed him to escape from Monty Python mania. In that “shackeau," he wrote iconic songs and scripts and hosted a revolving door of brilliant friends: George Harrison, Robin Williams, Paul Simon, and more. Get a behind-the-scenes look into Idle’s creative process, stories of fame, and meditations on life, purpose, and the power of laughter. Plus a singalong!

Oct4

PastAuthor EventPoliticsEvanston, IL

Francis Fukuyama - In the Realm of the Last Man

12:00 PM • Sunday, October 4, 2026Northwestern University - Lutkin Hall$34

Professor and political scientist Francis Fukuyama has spent five decades at the center of the most critical debates of our time. Now, for the first time, he is reflecting on how his personal experiences — including his family's internment during World War II — transformed his deepest convictions. Fukuyama will discuss his time in the intellectual circles of Allan Bloom's Cornell and the halls of Washington power, as well as his public break with the neoconservative movement over the Iraq War. And along the way, he will revisit the ideas that have defined his work — recognition, identity, institutions, and the Last Man — and ask what they reveal about democracy's uncertain future. Fukuyama will be joined in conversation by Northwestern professor Bruce Carruthers.

Sep30

PastAuthor EventNon-FictionLake View, Chicago

Kyle MacLachlan - Fictional Selves

7:30 PM • Wednesday, September 30, 2026Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture$40

You know Kyle MacLachlan. You love Kyle MacLachlan. But where does the Kyle we see on TV end and the real Kyle begin? To mark the publication of his memoir Fictional Selves, the beloved actor and star of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks and internet darling, joins us live to tell the story of his offbeat journey through Hollywood and the projects that have made him who he is today. During this special evening, Kyle will share behind-the-scenes stories from his most famous roles and collaborations, his battles with fear and fame, and much more. Part masterclass, part confession, he will take us inside the acting process itself: how a character is found, and what it costs to let one go; what 40 years of friendship and collaboration with the late David Lynch taught him about art, instinct, and trust; and why the roles that eluded him shaped him as surely as the ones that made him a cult icon. Come and discover where the fiction ends and the man begins.

Sep26

PastAuthor EventFictionPilsen, Chicago

Marlon James - The Disappearers

5:30 PM • Saturday, September 26, 2026Thalia Hall$44.12

Marlon James is one of the most decorated novelists of the 21st century, known for his novels, A Brief History of Seven Killings and Black Leopard, Red Wolf. He joins us to celebrate his newest work, The Disappearers, an unflinching exploration of queer life in Jamaica during the 1980s and 1990s. You won’t want to miss James as he dives into this deeply human story of men forced to make compromises to survive what the society they live in demands.

Sep26

PastAuthor EventPhotographyPilsen, Chicago

Beyond the Frame - The Art of Chicano Photography

4:00 PM • Saturday, September 26, 2026National Museum of Mexican Art$28

Join us for a conversation with the artists and curator behind Chicano Camera Culture, an exhibition highlighting the last six decades of Chicano photography. The exhibit, which is currently on display at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture, spans from early activist photographers to contemporary artists. Moderated by artist and art historian Josh T. Franco, the conversation features: - Elizabeth Ferrer, the exhibit’s curator and the leading scholar of Latinx photography in the U.S. - Thalía Gochez, a self-taught Los Angeles photographer of Mexican-Salvadoran heritage whose film-based portraits transform cultural identity into acts of love and community - Deanna Ledezma, a Tejanx scholar who offers critical context on the visual and political traditions uniting Chicano artists across generations - Diana Solís, a Chicago-based documentary photographer whose decades of work in the city's Latino neighborhoods anchor the exhibition's intergenerational scope Together, the panelists will explore the significant, historically overlooked role that Chicano photographers have played in advancing aesthetic and technical innovations in photography.

Sep26

PastAuthor EventFictionPilsen, Chicago

Emily St. John Mandel - Exit Party

2:00 PM • Saturday, September 26, 2026Thalia Hall$44.12

Join us as Emily St. John Mandel, the award-winning author of Station Eleven, Sea of Tranquility, and The Glass Hotel, celebrates the release of her breathtaking new novel, Exit Party. Known for her genre-defying works of fiction, Mandel will explore the price of safety, the perils of the surveillance state, and resilience in the face of cataclysmic change. She’ll be joined in conversation by podcast host Greta Johnsen. Mandel’s books have been translated into 25 languages, and Station Eleven was adapted into a critically acclaimed 10-episode limited series on HBO, set and filmed in Chicago.

Sep18

PastAuthor EventNon-FictionThe Loop, Chicago

Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor on End Times Fascism

7:30 PM • Friday, September 18, 2026First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple$34

A new iteration of the far right is on the rise. Award-winning authors and organizers Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor join us to share a dangerous development they’ve identified: Christian nationalists, tech-bro reactionaries, and populist survivalists are united in their apocalyptic belief that some kind of cleansing cataclysm is coming. And, rather than avoiding this conflagration, they welcome it. Klein and Taylor will provide a recipe for how to fight back, because most of us desperately want a future we can believe in — and leaders who believe in us. This event is generously underwritten by Ellen Stone Belic. We are pleased to partner with the Seminary Co-op Bookstores, the country’s first not-for-profit bookstore. Pre-order End Times Fascism through the Chicago Humanities box office and save up to 20% while supporting local, independent bookselling. Add books to your cart when adding tickets. Your PDF ticket will contain a book voucher, which you show to the bookseller on-site to pick up your book(s). Please visit our FAQ for more information.