This week, an encore of our 2023 conversation with legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog. He’s made over 70 movies – most of them documentaries like Fitzcarraldo, Aguirre, the Wrath of God, and Grizzly Man. Herzog’s style is so distinctive that his films are recognizable practically from the moment they start. His techniques can be controversial too, when it comes to his unusual casting, and his own presence in the stories he’s telling. On October 21, 2023, Herzog came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk to Caterina Fake about filmmaking and writing, including his new memoir, Every Man for Himself and God Against All.
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Susan Orlean
This week, our guest is Susan Orlean, the author of The Orchid Thief, The Library Book, and On Animals. Whether exploring the eccentric world of orchid collectors, untangling the mystery of a devastating fire at the Los Angeles Public Library, or examining animal-human relationships, she brings humor, curiosity, and humanity to all the stories she writes.Her new book, Joyride, is a collection of essays that highlights her fascination with the remarkable details of everyday life.On October 6, 2025, Susan Orlean joined us at the KQED studios to speak with Steven Winn about storytelling, obsession, and what continues to inspire her writing after more than three decades chronicling the world’s oddities for The New Yorker.
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Andrew Ross Sorkin
This week, our guest is Andrew Ross Sorkin, a financial news reporter at The New York Times, and co-anchor of Squawk Box on CNBC. His new book is 1929: The Inside Story of the Greatest Crash in Wall Street History. It’s an in depth look at America’s most famous financial event, and Sorkin believes there are major parallels to today’s market. On October 18, 2025 Sorkin came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk with Patrick Collison, founder of the payments processing platform Stripe.
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Jelani Cobb with john a. powell
This week, our guest is Jelani Cobb, Dean of Columbia Journalism School and one of today’s most important public intellectuals. As a staff writer for The New Yorker, Cobb brings his deep knowledge of American history to contemporary subjects, particularly government and politics. His new book, “Three or More is a Riot”, combines narrative journalism, criticism and profiles that examine race and culture. On October 16, 2025, Jelani Cobb came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to talk to john a. powell, founder and director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley.
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Daniel Handler & Andrew Sean Greer
Daniel Handler’s sardonic sense of humor and deep pathos have engaged readers across genres for over twenty-five years. Handler’s best known for his series of children’s books A Series of Unfortunate Events under the pen name Lemony Snicket). His books published under his own name include Why We Broke Up, We Are Pirates), and the memoir, And Then? And Then? What Else? which has just been published in paperback. Andrew Sean Greer’s six works of fiction include the bestsellers The Story of a Marriage, The Confessions of Max Tivoli, Less (which earned him the Pulitzer Prize), and Less is Lost. On October 8, 2025, Daniel Handler and Andrew Sean Greer took to the stage of the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco, for a program they call “Paragraphs on Ice!” in which they dissect paragraphs written by other notable authors. It was a lesson in the art of writing – and the art of close reading.
Since 1980, City Arts & Lectures has presented onstage conversations with outstanding figures in literature, politics, criticism, science, and the performing arts, offering the most diverse perspectives about ideas and values. City Arts & Lectures programs can be heard on more than 130 public radio stations across the country and wherever you get your podcasts. The broadcasts are co-produced with KQED 88.5 FM in San Francisco. Visit CITYARTS.NET for more info.
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