Random house will be providing discount codes for guests to purchased all that are on tonight and throw to introduce the current speaker of the evening. Americas most trusted lifestyle expert and entrepreneur and awardwinning Television Show host and founder of the first multichannel company on the media. Also the author of more than 90 book signed cooking and we are so thrilled she is joining us tonight. Welcome. Thank you teresa. A couple of first for me to stay home is very unusual for me. Just having the time to think as deeply as i have been thinking is unusual because im always busy. I thought tonight instead of talking about food and home and lifestyle of my field of work, i thought i would talk about something i wrote a long time ago called standards of perfection with those examination of two things and the adding of a third to see which is the best the childrens room library and with every single book on the shelf and steered me to those volumes that would set my standards. The doctor doolittle books a secret garden and graduated to where i discovered jane austen and charles dickens. The eighth grade i was admitted to the Adult Library for my appetite for reading was wedded further. Discovering the key to literature just how one was better than the next and as the Newark Museum introduced to the techniques for distinguishing great art from good they seemed arbitrary especially looking at contemporary art or architecture i could not fathom how teachers or scholars whose books you are studying who decided what was the best everything became much clearer the history of art and decorative art and architecture professors were inspiring trying to determine if one artist work was superior to contemporaries why was the portrait considered a masterpiece and finally the classic why are paintings by van gogh ignored and perceived as priceless today . To have a charming better cautionary tale the air to a new york fortune entrusted 18 years of age with 5000 within our collection for the family takes the grand tour and in the mid 18 hundreds a highly stylized work by painters by the karachi brothers to fashion the young man with those primitives. Some of that magnificent collection for his father when he returns home is disowned and discredited because he is ahead of his time the native selections by the simple act of comparison and then chose the best this comparative approach exemplifies a picture book fine points preacher published by crown 1950 the author discusses history of American Furniture to the 18 twenties and shows the good and better and best of each style the most wonderful thing of that book is when you look at that together you instinctively know which is the best. And through comparison you learn the fine points of craftsmanship and to judge any piece of furniture. Apples are books or recipes or even animals horses dogs or cats in this comparison by which one has a standard of perfection applies to many areas of life but dont apply that to people that are fine points are indeterminate and infinitely more complex the rest of your education good luck with the rest of your life we will live through all of this and find a new future. Thank you so much martha. That was fantastic. Next anna quinlan the bestselling author of many novels including nonfiction which was the number one New York Times bestseller. Was a columnist a graduate of Bernard College with an Honorary Degree from more than 20 colleges and universities we are so excited she could join us this evening. Thank you. This feels odd normally im doing a commencement speech with the sports arena and i wearing an academic rope my audiences wearing the academic rope and then behind them are acres of family members carrying flowers and balloons all with tears in their eyes but this is not that year. This is a very distinct year that we will never forget. And i year a monumental year but a special year the fact that everything is topsyturvy in our lives and in our world, i will say tonight lets all try to make an opportunity out of difficulty. There are plans how this was supposed to go. There was a checklist. May be throwing out plans is the secret to a satisfying life. May be the checklist was always an empty exercise. Maybe this is the Perfect Moment to embrace the way of doing things we have never done before. Maybe that so we only should have been after even before the classes went online and ceremonies canceled. After all what are the public names that you can recall of those people who did exactly what was considered the correct thing . Followed the template, the checklist, and that societal expectations you cannot come up the name of one of them. The people we admire whose names we carve into buildings on the covers of books in the very best sense of the word. Jane austen throughout the checklist. Frank lloyd wright throughout the checklist for a young architect of his time. Bill gates, sally ride, marie curie, pablo picasso, toni morrison, they all throughout the checklist and ignored the plan. So many say i cannot expect to be jane austen or Frank Loyd Wright but what we can embrace is a plan not of checklist but fragments of the expectations of a society and most of its expectations is not worthy and that requires courage passion in lieu of plans. Thats a new one. And this is a new world. As we explore a new world instead of clinging to the old one . Or are we smart and Strong Enough to become that we seek what is correct because we are afraid. Caution is nothing but fear dressed up as common sense. The road less traveled is a popular palm and unpopular life choice the welltraveled road is so much safer but do we want our lives to be a resume or an adventure . Dont let fear rule you. Fear is what has poisoned our culture and community and national character. The very worst thing done in this country are done out of fear. Phobia, sexism, sexism zeno phobia, desperate send demagogues they all arrive and tell us how to fear which is unknown or different. Courage is the hallmark of those people who have done the right thing at this terrible time. Courage and kindness. May be my favorite quotation i use the most often is from henry james. Three things and human life are important. The first is to be kind. Second, the kind. And the third is be kind. If we follow those words in Public Service and private life we will have succeeded. The truth is we have the kindness leached out of this world. Maybe thats because we forgot how to be kind to ourselves, the established order of we should be and how we should behave is so often today punitive we should be thinner, richer, tougher, hardet is nonsense. I know when i look back over my life those are the last things i will care about. Lovingkindness is what matters thats what last thats what akes all the difference in hav you a a when her ci and it istoms audacious to care and to live that conspicuously. To play it safe is a slog taking a chance is on a skateboard. When you come up with the checklist home, job, ask yourself are these the things that i really want or is each that i assume i ought to want because the difference between those two is between a life and an existence. Will toni morrison. If you surrender to the air you can ride it. T. S. Eliot. Only those who risk of going too far can possibly find out how far they can go. We find ourselves today in a strange universe of paradox that we never could have imagined for closeness comes through computer and openness requires masks fear of criticism and judgment to do things differently seems beside the point when everything has changed the graduates this year the class of 2020 is entering a world it wo upside down. Accept this will and for what it is or apply all that you have learned to see the beauty of today and the responsibility we have for one another it will not was be this way as long as we have the courage to rise to the occasion and the story to heal humankind rather than profit. Right now even in the season of suffering there is a reassurance knowing we cant go back to the way things were if anything this fibrous has revealed harsh truths that we refuse to acknowledge coronavirus much like education is not the great equalizer. Instead it is only exacerbated inequities poverty of power and privilege that unfortunately transcends human history. However i find solace knowing it will always be this way just to be assured and newborn will not cry unprovoked at 4 00 a. M. For the rest of her life but this isolation and disconnectedness is temporary the class of 2020 have the resolve necessary to find the words and inspire the actions that looks better for all of us prioritizing people over profits healing is as close as your willingness to see the wellbeing of others as your ow own. I challenge you to resist the desire i challenge you to be wise enough to know the status quo is insufficient i challenge you to envision you that is inclusive but who are we leaving behind it wont always be this way because we are learning to crawl toward justice so one day we can walk in the stillness of our humanity and will not always be this way but as i my daughter and look into her eyes looking back at me as a generation to use the knowledge we have earned to answer the cry for help. So the class of 2020 from my family to yours, as you embark on this phrase of your intellectual journey we offer you solidarity and above al all, joy. Peace and love. Thank you donovan and welcome to your baby girl to the world. Next awardwinning actress and producer of bestselling author widely known for her work on the critically acclaimed Television Show parenthood and Gilmore Girls. Now on the new head drama series Lauren Graham someday maybe became a bestseller in 2013 and was made into a television series. Then she released her seventh book from Gilmore Girls and everything in between we are thrilled to have Lauren Graham join us tonight. Congratulation class of 2020 i want to add i am the third Barnard College graduate here tonight and proud to be among such incredible company. We have a member of the class 2020 right down the hall. We are really feeling it as a family this year. We feel for you and hope we can continue to find ways to celebrate. This little book was a result of a graduation speech i gave at my high school a few years ago and while i was honored to be asked i opened with that if you had to look around my graduate class and pick who would be asked back one day to give the graduation speech would never pick me. So here are some selections from that speech. If you are kicking yourself for not having accomplished all you thought you should have by now dont worry about it. People bloom at different stages in their lives and often more than once my dad ran a Successful Company and 72 became a certified spinning instructor and certification only took three days im not saying dont take a class but give it a few weeks. Eventually i was lucky enough to have a career i wanted but it is not a straight path. It was not easy it was up and downs and my experience setbacks allowed to feel angry how did this person get what i wanted . Why wasnt it me . You may be right at times to feel the world is unfair. I would guess now one is the one is one of those times. You may be 100 percent that like clouds on the overcast day sometimes the fact that what happens to us in life is not controllable and if we wait a while and dont take it personally and decide in whatever way we can to enjoy ourselves the sky will clear. It always does one of those dream jobs that the incredible amount of joy but nine and the way that you might think the best parts of my job no one will ever see the sun of doing the daily crossword puzzle or on the set parenthood easily rivals any award show i have attended the success part of life looks good to others but the best part is the simple daily experiences this is true if you are an actor or teacher or waitress and i can tell you that because i have been all three. In real life i have found progress comes in small and eventful accomplishments the journal you remember to write in to take on the same path. They may not seem like much but over time they become something bigger and the foundation of your life and Building Blocks that create those milestone moments whatever path you choose whatever career you decide to go after that you find joy in what you are doing especially when it finds you treat every day like to show you are starring in the wait for permission or good reviews you will be surprised. Dont wait until you are on broadway or you reach the olympics as a ceo of a Major Company dont wait until you are a president of something as i like to say have no fear of perfection i do however like to tell people dont be perfect, just be done which is just another way of saying dont worry too much. Give yourself permission to make mistakes those are as valuable as the triumph. You might try something new make a threeday spinning certification instructor class and why not your job doesnt define you your bravery and kindness and gratitude do with no accomplishments to your name you are enough whether top building are still dancing in the back row you are enough just as you are in conclusion dont worry about it you are already one of the best. Congratulations and from the bottom of my heart strength and good wishes and success and happiness to you all thank you so much. That was beautiful thats great to hear we are all enough. David brooks is a leading commentator on pbs news hour and made the press and comments for the New York Times on the bestselling author the social animal please welcome him to our event. Congratulations. I get to do this a couple times per year and why it is great you have parents in the audience who are tearful and proud in the faculty behind you who are shocked that you have made it through. And along with that you have all three groups at once and try to keep everybody happy. So this time i thought i would give you six ideas that i hope are useful and truthful to use students. Youre smart enough to make that decision. This is what to do right now the first idea this is a terrible time to start a career. A recession is coming so dont until 2022. Take a year and take off the pressure. One thing leads to the next time is in a river. Wife will start up against it all put yourself on pressure. Second this year wide in your horizon of risk. So with that horizon of risk if you do something completely crazy that scares you if you do childcare or become a Healthcare Worker from louisiana then for the rest of your life you can do something if not your risk will be like this for the rest of your life. And to build identity capital has called the defining decade of living in your twenties and she had a student or a patient who was going to work in starbucks and they said become an instructor for the rest of your life people ask you what is like to be an instructor of Outward Bound every the dinner party you have something to talk about. So those that have done one thing i really want to ask them about that is just a very valuable thing to do the fourth point and i hear this from students who have graduated they wish they had invested in their friendships. One of my students said waiting on writing papers so i underinvest in them but the ups and downs so one decent idea as a senior in college on Graduation Day with his ten best friends they resolved every year for the rest of their lives they would meet for four days put money in a pot and give it to a good cause but the purpose was to have a group of ten friend to would meet once a year and do life together as how they preserve their friendship the fifth point is change your decisionmaking metrics this is a lesson from one of my students after graduation. She said when i was in school life was station to station. The next thing i had to do or apply for something or pass a test. The day i graduated, there were no more stations so now my attention was the notion with no landmarks. I had to think differently and change my decisionmaking. Viable way to orient yourself in the notion with no landmarks is to ask yourself what year it is and what is the central problem of your life. Commencement speakers give terrible advice my generation passes on a mountain of debt and then give you garbage advice about paying it off but a good piece of advice given by Victor Frankel is the one question to ask is what do i want to do with my life . But what is life expecting of m me . What problems are around me asking me to solve them so it is clear you have inherited a social fabric that is stagnant a set of relationships that are broken and the virus is only worsened that so your calling our vocation is to heal and your vocation for those on the local level to build those conditions and symptoms that were the last fortunate and now to be involved right now to distribute food in baltimore that is a concrete way to be the fabric of community and then the fifth and final point is take advantage of this time in a physically challenging time and economically challenging time but also the time the making of you and if you are somebody its never a took a fabulous vacation to hawaii but its what you did in the valley. Theologian who wrote moments of suffering interrupt life and teacher youre not the person that you thought you were. And they carve into the floor you see a depth of yourself you never saw before then to realize on the relational and emotional serves those debts. What you find is the ability to care for others you did not know about. A friend with her first child was born told me i realize that it was evolution required because they are things we have to do to get through life to pass on the dni on our dna and pay the rent but i compassion to care that does not make sense and is enchanted you find that ability in those moments and we are and why now to come out the other side to come out stronger deeper and more caring ceo the Robin Hood Foundation and the largest anti poverty nonprofit in the country also a bestselling author and combat veteran in social entrepreneur the first book also five days of the reckoning of the American City through 2020. Please welcome wes moore. Good evening and congratulations. My daughter is here with me. Congratulations. I hope its okay i asked her to join me for this speech because i am so incredibly proud of all of you and so is she but also because you are what i aspire to be one day to go through this process is not easy but to see it through to completion something that you put in the work for and then stand here in your day in glory and all that work was worth it so first i want to say not just congratulations but thank you for being inspiration to someone who inspires me every single day is just incredibly humbling i had a conversation earlier and i said what should i talk about . She said when you graduated what did your speaker talk about . The honest answer is, i dont remember. [laughter] i dont remember what was said. Maybe it was just the fact i wasnt thinking through to really pay attention. One thing i know and remember that no matter what my graduation speaker said on ma may 11, 2001, he can never predict what would happen just a few months later. He never could have projected september 112,001. He did not talk about that. That was not part of the speech. That wasnt part of the preparation not what he told us about her made us think about. That he did not realize in that moment the world in five minutes in a way that none of us were prepared for. As you have that moment now i share that because you are having a similar type of moment where the truth is each and every one of us can tell you what we think the rope will look like six months from now what we think it will look like one year from now and the honest answer is we have no idea. We dont know. What we know is that world right now is changing under our feet daily every single day and frankly that people earlier that has said it those having the most dramatic impacts are the ones already struggling and in pain the ones who already felt neglected and may not be graduating today. And so the charge for all of you today is to never forget who we are supposed to be fighting for. I came with a clear understanding and expectation has the first five and ten years of my life how the things i would do immediately after graduation take my degree and my major and use that to go forge a career. The truth is that nobody ever asked me what my major was in college. Nobody said how did you do on that test on april 5th . Nobody asked me about that paper. The question that will be repeatedly asked it to do you choose to fight for when it mattered . In a time of change as the world is evolving quickly and right now i cannot and no one will tell you what the world will look like one year from now. The only thing that can stay consistent and the only thing that needs to stay consistent is the fact you are ready to make an impact no matter what it is you study, your major, your qualification is changing. I dont care what it was at all in it is a matter the classes you took you are a change agent. To go out there and take that degree and use it wisely. Use it in a way that you will not permit the world to turn unless your fingerprints are on it. Minus things you want to be passionate about and go after it. Find the world that you want to be and make it so. Is the one thing i remember about that moment that after 9 11 the world changed and i knew i wanted to be a part of what that change look like. I wanted to do my part and now you are in the same exact moment as you think what the world will be six months from now or one year from now or five years from now do not let that happen and you had nothing to do with it. Do not let the world land and that your fingerprints are not on it. Shape and shift and control it and make it so because that is the power of the seat that you said in, the power of your voice and commitment and that is the kind of world you will create during her graduation she steps into a beautiful place because you all made it so. Im incredibly proud of all of you and thankful for the difference you will make in the world. Thank you for the inspiration not just for me and congratulations. Thank you so much is the founder and ceo of girls who code a Nonprofit Organization working to close the gender gap of technology. Name for the fortune 40 under 40 and the host of the podcast brave but not perfect thank you for joining us. Thank you to the powerful world. Congratulations class 2020. I know this isnt higher expected your graduation to go. Is not the way i expected it to go either. I have given my fair share of commencement speeches and i can tell you this is the toughest one ive ever had to give. I say that because i know that so many of you are in unimaginable situations its not about the seeing graduation i want if you are worried about your health, jobs, families when or if this will ever end and as much as i say to fix everything that this will all be cleared up next week, i cant do that. The only thing i can tell you to do is hold on and be strong and be brave to weather the storm that no other graduating class has had to do and that sets you apart from the rest of us and it also means you are destined to do great things because some of the biggest acts of bravery and courage have come in times of crisis i know that from personal experience. I first learned how to be brave and i was 33 years old my daughter refugees and graduated college and Law School Graduate school 300,000 in Student Loan Debt the job that i thought i should do or had to do to pay off my debt and i was miserable i was in a life i didnt want, a job i hated in that little 13 yearold girl who dreamed of becoming a Public Servant seemed like she was so far away. I desperately wanted to change the world i remember sitting in the Conference Room and my best friend called me its funny how your best friend calls you and your life is falling apart remember her saying just quit. Just quit. So i did. Instead of getting another job that i hated i decided to run for congress and ran against an 18 year incumbent and a democratic primary because of that there was a great idea she one. I lost i sat there on election day watching that little ticker not moving fast 19 percent i lost. I was broken miserable i put off everybody in the democratic establishment for not waiting my turn. But the first thing i thought when i woke up the next morning was oh my god. Im not broken. Because for so long in my life i thought if i tried something and it failed it would literally break me. This experience gave me a gift of resilience and i have no doubt that this crisis will do the same for you. Its not just my own experience that has shown me how bravery comes up in moments of crisis those then personal crisis and health and world. For women and girls with the biggest acts of bravery and courage in moments of crisis. And the best of the worst we have to keep our heads up 10 feet moving and keep moving forward and the documents from world war ii Catherine Johnson who in the middle of the aids epidemic to genetically map the virus she showed the link between hiv and aids and then there is karina just a freshman in College Coalition people who have ppe for medical professionals on the front lines of the covid crisis over 22000 units of ppe already and donated to countless medical professionals around the world and she is in college. These are amazing women who are inspirational during times of crisis and they persisted because they had to if one of you is thinking of coding or build a website to help Small Businesses because in times of crisis we learn and innovate and work our neighbors and thats what sets them apart and that will set you apart forever bravery and resilience are baked into the dna remember its not about in the world yes that doctor on the frontlines she is brave yes working overnight shifts in the unit is brave yes the people keeping cities running they are all brave but you are brave to. Because sometimes bravery means taking care of yourself sometimes it just means to get through the day and celebrating your accomplishment even if over zoom class of 2020 your future is bright shiny bright because you are brave never ever forget that congratulations i cannot wait to see. Thank you so much that is wonderful cap next is George Saunders and historic collection is a finalist for the National Book award the National Bestselling Book congratulations by the way is the expanded version of the commencement address and a fellowship from the American Academy and the Guggenheim Foundation with a list of the 100 most influential people of the world and then to have that Master Class Program graduate 2021 we have a video this is a tape recording because he didnt have broadband and those that there will find inspiration in this. Welcome to george. Welcome 2020 graduates i am a writer for the new yorker and professor at syracuse. Little bit ago and this quarantine was starting i impulsively wrote an email to my graduate creative writing students i thought i would share that with you today as you prepare to go out into the weirdness of 2020. What a hard and depressing and scary thought and if you only knew this is where it has there are eyes and and the generation that helps us to speak sentences to fictionalize the event like this are they keeping records of the emails and the thoughts are having in the text and the way your hearts and minds are reacting reacting to the strange the way of living 50 years from now people the age you are now will not believe this ever happened we will do the eye roll when someone tells us about something happened crazy in the sixties but what you are able to write about this that will depend on how much you when the ship attention youre paying now in the records that you keep. Im trying to practice feeling Something Like this is happening now. This is life on earth. And then quick i tried to pretend i call the universe a stinker provided a piece of journalism once to go incognito in a homeless camp in fresno for one week. Very intense but the best thing i heard was one older guy. Everything always keeps changing to her words are never spake in on spoken and then to be taken by surprise no matter how well we know better this is all sounding preachy and getting back to my own advice my wife paula has we hope is just a bad cold our dogs can feel Something Weird is going on so what im trying to say is the world is like a sleeping tiger we tend to live our lives like barbies and kens. Then the tiger wakes up and that is terrifying. Sometimes wakes up and someone that we love dies or they break their hearts. Or a pandemic. But this is far from the first time the tiger has come a week doing it since the beginning of time and always those writers to observe that and to make sense of that or at least bear witness to it. Thats good for the writer to bear witness especially with love and humor and fondness for the world. Warts and all. All of this to say there still work to be done. There is a beautiful story of a russian her husband shot and her son arrested one day she standing outside of prison with hundreds of other women in similar situations its cold and they have to go there every day and wait for hours and today and every day there will be no answer they keep coming back and to recognize there is a famous poet they think about it and say i cant and then Something Like a smile comes over the womans face. I wish you all the best during this period. And i wish. Host i want to thank the authors for participating and all of you. I would remind everybody you can buy all of their books on the site at a discount as we always say books make a great gift and again we want to say congratulations and we will send a link to all of you so you can watch it again and be inspired. Thank you. Have a good night. In Los Angeles County decades ago the aclu brought eight conditions of current sign that the case against the county for the horrendous condition in the jails. Over the years the aclu was in charge of a taking care, keeping an eye on what the county did to remedy the conditions. About 18 years ago the aclu invited a few abolitionists to talk about something they never imagined what was perhaps the way the remedy the problem with the la county jails for them to have a jail at all rather than to build a better jail. Slowly but surely this way of understanding became central to the struggle in Los Angeles County over the jails. 16 years later abolitionists who joined forces with the reform managed to persuade the Los Angeles County board of supervisors not to build new jails but rather to put the billions of dollars that would have gone into housing, healthcare and other lifeaffirming projects so it is long and present and how we connect with growth from and multiply organizations that have the capacity to lift the movement. I learned years ago our work is to lift the movement by showing how antidomestic violence people are central and mutual aid organizations which are fluorescing everywhere because of the emergence but those who healthcare, nurses, all of the organizations have become in one way or another connected with the movement in the direction of abolition because abolition is about abolishing the condition under which the person making the solution to the problems rather than abolishing the bee editions of the program to build a kind of digital stage serving communities. Like everybody willing to stay for the first time though not tonights program can be viewed on crowded cast and those who want to watch with closed captioning can go to youtube where you can enable the captions and the video will be