Event Audio

The Library’s Presidential Series continues when Robert W. Merry discusses his new book about James K. Polk, one of the most controversial—and arguably one of America’s most successful single-term—presidents.

Carlotta Walls LaNier made history 52 years ago as one of "The Little Rock Nine." After years of silence, LaNier shares her story for the first time with her book A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School.

On September 25, 1957, LaNier and eight other students only wanted to make it to class. Descended from a line of proud black landowners and businessmen, LaNier was raised to believe that education was the key to success and she excelled in her studies at segregated schools throughout the 1950s. With Brown v. Board of Education erasing the classroom color divide, the teenager volunteered to be among the first black students—of whom she was the youngest—to integrate Central High School.

Economist Zachary Karabell discusses his new book Superfusion: How China and America Became One Economy and Why the World's Prosperity Depends on It.

China's emergence as an economic superpower is widely recognized, but that is only one aspect of the story. Over the past decade, the Chinese and U.S. economies have fused—and this new dynamic to the superpower relationship will determine whether the coming decades witness increased global prosperity or greater instability.

Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez discusses his well-received book, The Soloist. Lopez will be interviewed by Angela Elam of New Letters on the Air. The conversation will later be broadcast on KCUR.