405. Susan Lieu with Quynh Pham: The Manicurist’s Daughter
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Release Date: 05/28/2025
416. Lisa Jewell with Andrea Dunlop: Don’t Let Him In: A Novel
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Who isn’t hoping for a quality partner to build a life with? Someone charming, reliable, with a great personality? But what happens when that sparkling personality is far darker around the edges than you realized? In her tensely thrilling new novel Don’t Let Him In, author Lisa Jewell explores the layers of truth and deception unraveling before three women who find themselves tied together by a man who has more secrets than any of them bargained for. Nick Radcliffe seems to have it all – he’s a man of substance and good taste, with a smile that could melt the coldest heart and a...
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415. Joyful Resistance: Leveraging the Power of Arts Activism
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
`This is a dynamic and inspiring community panel on the joyful power of arts activism. In a time when many are facing systemic erasure — politically, socially, and culturally — Pottery Northwest is transforming art into resistance through equity-driven programming that uplifts Black, Brown, and LGBTQIA+ voices. Moderated by James Miles, the panel features ceramicist Aisha Harrison, former legislator Kirsten Harris-Talley, and Pottery Northwest Executive Director Ed King. Leading Pottery Northwest is a privilege for Ed King after a career as an award-winning visual artist and ad...
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414. Who Decides What Art We Get to See? A Conversation About Gatekeepers
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Far more art is produced in a place like Seattle that is seen by the general public, in venues like galleries, museums, and art fairs. Who decides which art goes on display, and which work remains in the maker’s studio? A panel of art world experts discussed the often behind-the-scenes process that selects certain artists while sidelining others, and whether the current structure encourages or suppresses diversity, and where there is room for improvement. Elisheba Johnson is a conceptual artist and curator for Wa Na Wari. She was previously a public art manager for Seattle’s Office...
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413. Daniel Brook: The Einstein of Sex: One Doctor’s Revolutionary Work Around Gender and Sexuality
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Many of today’s anti-trans sentiments revolve around the belief that things like gender-affirming care and nonbinary identities are part of a new trend. Yet, over a century ago, one doctor’s revolutionary work around gender and sexuality suggests otherwise. Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a German-Jewish sexologist and activist, grew famous (and infamous) for his theory of sexual relativity. While he may be largely forgotten, journalist Daniel Brook wants to reintroduce Hirschfeld to today’s discussion around gender and sexuality. Drawing from his book, The Einstein of Sex: Dr. Magnus...
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412. Dr. Jessica B. Harris with Kristi Brown: Recipes and Stories on the Origin of American Cuisine
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Have you ever wondered how American cuisine came to be? When we look at food from around the world, we may more readily accept the complexity of its origins or their legacy in the culinary landscape. But it may be surprising to some that many of our country’s dietary customs likewise stem from culturally robust beginnings. From a James Beard Cookbook Hall of Famer and the star of the Netflix docuseries High on the Hog, Dr. Jessica B. Harris comes her latest work, Braided Heritage: Recipes and Stories on the Origin of American Cuisine. This cookbook — replete with over 100...
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411. Danielle Leavitt with Sasha Senderovich: By the Second Spring: Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
While the war in Ukraine continues to grab news headlines, the daily lives of Ukrainians remain opaque and mostly anonymous. What is it really like to live there during wartime? Historian Danielle Leavitt answers that question in her book, By the Second Spring: Seven Lives and One Year of the War in Ukraine. By going beyond familiar portraits of wartime heroism and victimhood, Leavitt reveals the human experience of the conflict. A U.S. citizen who grew up in Ukraine, Leavitt draws on her deep familiarity with the country and online diaries to track a diverse group of Ukrainians through...
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410. Caroline Fraser with Bruce Lanphear: Murderland—Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Ted Bundy, arguably the most notorious serial murderer of women in American history, committed many of his crimes in the landscape of the Pacific Northwest. But in the 1970s and ’80s, Bundy was just one perpetrator amid a large number of serial and violent acts across the region. Why were there so many, and so particularly gruesome? What caused the rise and then sudden fall of an epidemic of serial killing? In Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers, nonfiction author and Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Fraser maps the lives and careers of Bundy and his infamous...
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409. Coll Thrush with Joshua L. Reid: Wrecked — Unsettling Histories from the Graveyard of the Pacific
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
A fur-trading schooner beached in 1811. A passenger liner lost in 1906. An almost-empty tanker broken on the shore in 1999. These shipwrecks, and thousands more, are why the northwest coast of North America is sometimes called the “Graveyard of the Pacific.” Drawing from his book, Wrecked, history professor and author Coll Thrush tells the stories of many vessels that met their fate along this rugged coast and how they open up conversations about colonialism, Indigenous persistence, and place-based history. Shipwrecks are commemorated in museums, historical markers, folklore, place...
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408. Dave Barry with Brett Hamil: Class Clown: A Memoir
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
You could argue that Dave Barry is the country’s class clown, but did you know that he actually was elected class clown in high school? It’s no wonder, then, that he’s made a career out of making fun of pretty much everything. So how in the world does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate newspaper column read by millions of people? Dave Barry will explain. Barry draws from his latest book, Class Clown, to take us on a ride through his life so far, starting with a childhood largely spent throwing rocks for...
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407. Steve Oney with Steve Scher: On Air: The History of NPR
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Founded in 1970, NPR is America’s most powerful broadcast news network. Despite being overshadowed by the larger and more glamorous PBS, public radio has long been home to shows such as All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and This American Life that captivate millions of listeners in homes, cars, and workplaces across the nation. In On Air, a book fourteen years in the making, journalist Steve Oney tells the history of this institution, tracing the comings and goings of legendary on-air talents (Bob Edwards, Susan Stamberg, Ira Glass, Cokie Roberts, and many others)...
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In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, join Town Hall Seattle to hear Vietnamese author Susan Lieu discuss her memoir, The Manicurist’s Daughter. Susan will be in conversation with Executive Director of Friends of Little Saigon (FLS), Quynh Pham. Together, Susan and Quynh will discuss the impact of war with regards to trauma, memory, loss, and healing — as individuals and as a collective.
You may have already seen the work of Seattle author and performer Susan Lieu at Bumbershoot, Wing Luke Museum, or the Seattle Library. Her sold-out solo theatre performance in Seattle, 140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother, describes the true story of her mother’s death due to medical malpractice. No matter where you’ve seen her name, you already know she’s passionate about asking questions and seeking a better future.
In her new memoir, The Manicurist’s Daughter, Lieu asks questions about grief and body image through her family’s story. Refugees from the Vietnam War, Lieu’s family escaped to California in the 1980s. Upon arrival, her mother was their savvy, charismatic North Star, setting up two successful nail salons — until Lieu was eleven. That year, her mother died from a botched tummy tuck.
For the next twenty years, Lieu navigated a series of questions surrounding her mother’s death alone—until now. Sifting through depositions, tracking down the surgeon’s family, and enlisting the help of spirit channelers, Lieu uncovers the painful truth about her mother, herself, and the impossible ideal of beauty. But the answers she finds are also rooted in fierce determination, strength in shared culture, and finding one’s place in the world.
Susan Lieu is a Vietnamese-American author, playwright, and performer known for her autobiographical solo show, 140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother, which toured nationally to sold-out audiences. Her sequel, OVER 140 LBS, premiered at ACT Theatre’s SoloFest. She has performed at major events such as Bumbershoot and The Moth Mainstage, and her work has been featured by NPR and the L.A. Times. Susan co-founded Socola Chocolatier and is an activist who helped pass a law raising medical malpractice caps. Her debut memoir, The Manicurist’s Daughter (Celadon), is an Apple Book of the Month, a 2024 Best Book of The Smithsonian, NPR, and Elle Magazine, and has received accolades from The New York Times and The Washington Post. She was recently named one of Seattle Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2024.
Quynh Pham is the Executive Director of Friends of Little Saigon (FLS), a community development organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing Little Saigon’s cultural, economic, and historical vitality. Coming from a small business family, Quynh is passionate about supporting small immigrant- and refugee-owned businesses and fostering community-driven solutions for health, safety, and well-being.
