The chat. Guests can purchase all of the books that are featured tonight. Now on to the program. Im so thrilled to introduce our first speaker of the evening, Martha Stewart. Martha stewart is americas most trusted lifestyle expert and the founder of the first multichannel lifestyle company, Martha Stewart living. Shes also the author of more than 90 books on cooking, entertaining, crafts and home keeping, gardens, weddings and decorating. Were so thrilled that marthas joining us tonight. Welcome. Thank you, teresa. Well, its a couple of firsts for me. Staying home is very unusual for he me. Thinking, having the time to think as deeply as ive beening thinking these last few weeks is also unusual because im always busy. And i thought tonight instead of talking about food and home and lifestyle, my field of work, i thought i would talk about something that i wrote quite a long time ago called standards of perfection. The foundation of taste is comparison. The examination of two things, which is better, than the adding of a then the adding of a third to see what which is the. My own quest started in new jersey. The childrens room librarian knew every single book on the shelf, and she steered me to those volumes that would set my standards for life. Adventures of babar, the dr. Doolittle books. In time i discovered Nathaniel Hawthorne and, of course, charles dick cannens. In the eighth dickens. Already curious about the writers craft, i sought to discover the key to good literature, sometimes reading several books on the same subject to figure out just how one was better than the next. During high school i took courses in art and decoration at the Newark Museum where i was introduced to the techniques for distinguishing great art from good. Those seemed arbitrary then, sometimes especially when i looked at contemporary art, i couldnt fathom how my teach you ares teachers had decided what was the best. In college i studied the history of art, architecture and decorative arts. My professors were inspiring. I try, along with my fellow students, to determine what made one artists work superior to that of his contemporaries, also the question of why tastes change, why is a portrait considered a masterpiece in the 15th century and worthless in the 19th . And finally a classic in the 20th . Why were paintings Edith Wharton tells a charming but cautionary tale. The heir to a new york fortune to asemian art assemble an Art Collection for a family. Across italy, switzerland and france. In the mid 1800s and highly stylized works were the fashion, the young man, however, discovers the thenthemed italian he assembles a magnificent collection for his father, and when he returns home is disowned and discredited all because his taste is ahead of his time. He made his selections by the simple act of comparison. He looked at one group of paintings and then at others. My studies chose me how to do the same. This comparative approach is also exemplified by a marvelous picture book published by crown way back in 1950. Its author, Al Becks Saks albert saks, discusses the history of turn country in the 1920s and shows the good, better and best examples of style. The most wonderful thing about that book is when you look at the three examples, together, you instinctively know which is the best. And throw comparison you through comparison, you can use that knowledge to judge any piece of furniture. We can compare chairs or apples or books, recipes or even some animals, especially bred horses, dogs or cats. This principle of comparison by which one arrives at a standard of perfection applies to many areas of life. But dont apply it to people. Their fine points are indeterminate and infinitely more complex. Good luck with the rest of your education, good luck with the rest of your lives. Well live through all of this and find a new future. Thank you so much, march that. That was fantastic. Finish so next up is anna quinn eleven, the acclaimed best selling author of many novels and works of nonfiction including her memoir, lots of candles, plenty of cake, which was a New York Times bestseller. While a columnist at the New York Times, she won the pulitzer prize. Shes a graduate of Barnard College and has honorary degrees from more than 20 colleges and universities. Were so excited that ann a that quinn eleven anna quinn eleven could join us this evening. Welcome, anna. Thank you, teresa. Well, this feels really odd. [laughter] usually im doing a commencement speech in a lovely quad somewhere or occasionally a sports arena, and im wearing an academic robe instead of this kind of shirt. My audience is wearing an academic robe too, at least all those graduates in the front, and then behind them are acres of family members carrying flowers and balloons and all of them with tears in their eyes. But this is not that year. This is a very distinct year, a year we will never forget. An odd year, a monumental year with, but maybe its a special year too. The fact that everything is topsyturvy in our lives and our world, im going to say tonight that lets all try to make an opportunity out of difficulty. I mean, there were plans for how this was supposed go, as you all know, there was a checklist. Maybe throwing out plans is the secret to a really satisfying life. Maybe the checklist was always an empty exercise. Maybe this is the Perfect Moment to embrace a way of doing things weve never done before. Maybe thats what we should always have been after even before all the classes went online and the ceremonies were canceled. Because, after all, what are the public names you can recall of those people who did exactly what was considered the correct thing . Who followed the template, who followed the checklist, who met societal expectations . You cant come up with a name of one of them. Because the people we know, the people we admire, the people whose names we carve into the cornice of buildings and see on the covers of books are deviants in the very best sense of that word. I mean, jane austen threw out the checklist for a wellbred regency era woman. Frank lloyd wright threw out the checklist for a young architect of his time. Bill gates, sally ride, linmanuel miranda, marie curie, pablo picasso, toni morrison, they all threw out the checklist. They all ignored the plan. So maybe youre saying to yourself, i cant expect to be jane austen or frank lloyd wright. But i think what we can embrace is a handcrafted life. Not one made up of plans or checklists, of fragments of the expectations of a society that, honestly, in most of its expectations is not worthy of you or any of us. And that requires courage. Not compliance. Passion in lieu of simply plans. Thats a new way and this, right now, is is a new world. So are we strong and smart enough to explore a new world instead of cling to the old one . Are we smart and Strong Enough to become who we might be were we not afraid . Because thats the problem, isnt it . I mean, we slavishly seek what is correct because were afraid. Caution is nothing but fear dressed up as common sense. The road less traveled, yeah, its a popular poem, its an unpopular life choice. The welltrod road so much safer, but do we want our lives to be a resume or an adventure . Dont let fear rule you. I mean, fear is what has poisoned our culture, our community and our national character. The very worst things done in this country are done out of fear; homophobia, sexism, racism, religious bigotry, xenophobia, the embrace of december9 pots and demagogues despots and demagogues. They all arise out of fear of that 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. Maybe my favorite quote and the one i use most often from the great writer henry james. Three things in the human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. I think if we follow those words in Public Service and private life, we will have succeeded because the truth is we have today a world with too much of the kindness just leeched right out of it. Maybe thats because weve forgotten how to be kind to ourselves. The established order about who we should be, how we should behave is so often today a punitive one. We should be thinner, richer, slicker, shorter, we should be tougher, harder. Thats just all nonsense. I know that when i look back over my life, thin and rich will be two of the very last things i will care about. Loving kindness, as buddhism calls it, thats what a matters. Thats what lasts. Thats whats made all the difference in the last two months and will carries through this carries through this strange and uncertain future. That and giving up on business as usual. Be brave. Be brave. You have to have the courage to frighten yourself with the audacity of what you attempt. Whether its a startup or a family, a novel or a marriage. Americas greatest when its audacious. It is audacious to come here from another country without language or means and add to the fabric of this great place. It is audacious to work to overturn laws and customs that for centuries have have helped fellow citizens less than. It is audacious to invent, and it is audacious to dare and it is audacious to care and to live that caring conspicuously. Playing it safe is a slog. Taking a chance is getting on a skateboard. I mean, when you come up with a checklist job, check, home, check dont forget to ask yourself, are these the things i really want, or is is each of them what i assume i tight want . I ought to want . Because the difference between those two is the difference between a life and an existence. Toni morrison, if you surrendered to the air, you could ride it. T. S. Eliot, only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go. We find ourselves today in a strange universe, one of paradoxes that we could never have imagined. Where closeness comes by computer and openness requires masks. Fear of setting a foot wrong, of criticism and judgment, of doing things differently seems utterly beside the point when everything has changed. The graduates this year, the class of 2020 are entering a world turned upside down. That should send them a message. The old ways, hallelujah, can be cast aside. Selfinvention is the order of the day, so be brave. Take the leap. Do it. Class of 2020, courage and godspeed. Thank you. That was amazing. Thank you so much, anna. Couraging and kindness, i feel like were going to be hearing a lot of that tonight, which is so inspiring. So next up is going to be Donovan Livingston, educator, spoken word poet and speaker whose 2016 Harvard School of liftoff went viral reaching over 13 million views. Since his pivotal speech, Donovan Livingston has been featured on cnn,npr, Good Morning America and in news outlets across the world. Hes been inspiring students, educators and communities with his conviction that every child has the right to lift off and achieve their dreams. Welcome, Donovan Livingston. Thank you so much, teresa, for that warm introduction. I hope this message finds you in a place of peace and wellbeing. As excited i am to celebrate you, im going to take a moment to hold pace for the victims of coronavirus and the families that loved them, first responders, Health Care Providers without whom celebrations such as this would not be possible. Thank you for your service, your sacrifice and your selflessness. To the class of 2020, i offer a sincere congratulations. Yall made it. Now, when i was thinking about what to say today to try to put all of this into perspective, i reflected on reasons recently for celebration within my own family and a common refrain came to mind. It wont always be this way. You see, in march my wife and i, after a series of miscarriages, welcomed our daughter, joy, to the world. I can remember the first few nights we brought her home if the hospital, the elation of being new parents was rivaledded only by extreme exhaustion. Parents out there, yall feel me. For every unbelievably cute moment, there were dirty diapers, indiscernible tantrums and, of course, sleepless nights. But our family and friends remindedded us each day that it wont always be this way, that we should cherish this moment because kids grow so fast. And their right. After joys tears have gone and we stare into each others eyes, my heart sinks a little bit because i know these moments are fleet. Joy wont always want me to hold her or rap freestyle as i rock her to sleep. My jokes will one day embarrass her in front of her friends, and she may never want to be seen with me in public x. Thats cool. I dont trip because we will always have right now. And right now youve been given a bittersweet ultimatum to celebrate your achievements while also reimagining whats next. Theres a world on the other side of your because the systems we trust to keep us safe, healthy and to protect our best interests have failed the most vulnerable among us. Right now you have a choice to merely accept this moment for what it is or apply all that youve learned and see the beauty in today and fully embrace the responsibility we have to one another. It wont always be this way so long as we have the courage to rise to the occasion using our gifts and our stories to heal humankind rather than profit from its despair. Right now even in this season of collective suffering, it seems this is a calming reassurance knowing we cant go back to the way things were. If anything, coronavirus has revealed to some and verified for others harsh truths the masses have refused to acknowledge. Coronavirus, much like education as ive said in the past, is not the great equalizer. Of instead, it has only exacerbated inequities that, unfortunately, transcend human [inaudible] however, i find solace knowing that it wont always be this way too. Just as we can be assured or i can be assured our newborn wont cry unprovoke at four a. M. For the rest of her life, i also know this era of isolation and disconnectedness temporary. I know you, the chat of 20, have class of 2020, have the resolve necessary to seek light and darknesses, to find the words which inspire the actions that redesign a world that works better for all of us, a world that prioritizes people over profits. Healing, after all, is only as close as your willingness to see the wellbeing of others as your own. And because it wont always be this way, i challenge you to resist the desire for a return to normalcy. I challenge you to be wise enough to know that the status quo is woefully insufficient. I challenge you to envision a new normal that is intersectional and inclusive, that sees progress and asks but who are we leaving behind . It wont always be this way because we, like joy, are learning to crawl toward justice so that one day we may walk in the function fullness of our humanity. It wont always be this way, but when i hold our daughter and look into her eyes, staring back at me is a generation, our generation. Brave enough to use the knowledge weve earned to answer the worlds crescendoing cry for help. So to the class of 2020, from my family to yours, as you embark on this next most important phase of your intellectual journey, we wish you personal serenity, Community Solidarity and, above all, everlasting joy. Peace and love. Thank you, donovan. And welcome, baby joy, to the world. That was beautiful. Next up is is Lauren Graham. Lauren graham is an awardwinning actress, producer and author widely known for her work on the critically acclaimed shows parenthood and gilmore girls. She can currently be seen on the new hit drama series, zoes extraordinary playlist. Her debut novel someday, someday maybe, quickly became a bestseller in 2013 and was adapted as a television series. She released her second best selling book entitled talking as fast as i can. What a thrill to have Lauren Graham join us tonight. Hi. Congratulations, class of 2020. I also want to add that i am the third [laughter] Barnard College graduate here tonight and proud to be among such incredible company. We have a current member of the class of 2020 in, right down the hall, and so we are really feeling it as a family this year. We feel for you and hope that we can continue to find ways to celebrate. I, this little book was the result of a graduation speech i gave at my high school a few years ago. And [laughter] while i was honored to be asked, one of the things i hoped opened with was if you had had to look around my graduating class of 500 people and pick who would be asked back one day to give the graduation speech, you just would never have picked me. So here are some selections from that, from that speech. So if youre kicking yourself for not having accomplished all you thought you should have by now, dont worry about it. People bloom at different stages of their lives and often more than once. My dad ran a Successful Company for years, and then at age 72 became a certified spinning instructor because he love cycling, although the certification only took three days which im not saying dont take his class, but maybe give it a few weeks. Eventually, i was lucky enough to have the career i wanted, but it was not a straight path. It was not easy. It was a series of ups and downs, and it continues to be, by the way. Ive experienced setbacks where ive allowed myself to feel angry, and ive had disappointments and put the focus on someone else. Hey, how did this person get the thing i wanted . You can insert the name doesnt have to be that. Why wasnt it me . And you may be right at times to feel that the world is unfair. Ii would guess now is is one of those times. You may even be 100 percent correct in your assessment of the world as being an unfair place, and but like clouds on an overcast day, sometimes we have to face the fact that what happens to us in life isnt controllable, like right now, and if we wait a while and dont take it personally and decide in whatever way we can to try to enjoy ourselves anyway, the sky will eventually clear. It always does. I have one of those dream jobs that people assume must contain an incredible amount of joy, and it really does. But not always in the ways you might think. The best parts of my job are the ones no one will ever see, the fun of doing the daily crossword puzzle on the set of parenthood easily rivals any awards show ive ever attended. The success parts of life look good to others, but the best parts, i guarantee you, are the simple daily experiences. This is true when youre an actor or a teacher or a waitress, and i can tell you that because i have been all three. In real high i found that progress lives in small and eventful accomplishments; the homework you manage to finish, the journal you remember to write in, the run you took on the same path as the run you took yesterday. These things might not always seem like much, but over time they become something bigger, they become the foundation of your life, Building Blocks that are what create those milestone moments. Whatever path you choose, whatever career you decide to go after, the important thing is that you keep trying to find joy in what youre doing especially when the joy isnt finding you. Treat every day like the show youre starring in and dont wait for permission or good reviews. If you do that, youll be surprised how far you end up sailing. Dont wait until youre on broadway or until you reach the olympics or until youre the ceo of a major company. Dont wait million youre the president of something or for the day when your life looks perfect to you and to everyone you know. As e like to say, have no fear of perfection, youll never reach it. Im just kidding, thats a quote from salvadore dally. I do, how far, like to tell people however, like to tell people dont be perfect which is just with another way of saying dont worry too much. Give yourself permission to make mistakes. Those mistakes are as valuable as the triumphs. You might try something new like, say, taking a threeday spring instructor certification chat and change direction entirely, and why not . Your job doesnt define you. Your bravery, kindness and gratitude do. Even without any big accomplishments yet to your name, you are enough whether you have top billing or youre still dancing in the back row. You are enough. Just as you are. In conclusion, dont worry about it, youre already one of the best. Congratulations and just from the bottom of my heart, strength and good wishes and just success and happiness to you all. Thank you so much. Thank you, lauren. That was beautiful to hear that youre all enough. Next up david brooks. David brooks is one of the nations leading writers and commentators. Hes a frequent correspondent on pbs newshour and meet the press and an oped columnist for the New York Timeses, and hes the best selling author of multiple best selling books including the second mountain, the road to character, the social animal and on paradise drive. Please welcome david brooks to our event. Its good to be with you and congratulations. I get to do this a couple times a year every spring, and whats great about commencements, youve got the students in front of you, youve got the parents in the audience who are tearful and proud, and youve got the faculty behind you who are shocked that youve made it through. And the problem with that is is you have to suck up to all three groups all at once and try to make everybody happy, and you cant quite tell the truth. To this time i thought i might give you six ideas that i hope are useful and i hope are truthful to you students, and if you think theyre of interest, youre smart enough to make that decision. The first idea is this is a terrible time to start a career. Theres a recession coming, so dont. Dont start a career until 2022. Take a one or twoyear hiatus, take the pressure all. Sometimes time flowses like a river and one thing leads to the next. Were not in that moment right now. Time is a box. The next year is a box. The box is going to end, and then life will start up again. Dont put pressure on yourself right now to start a career. The second thing to do with this year, widen your horizon of risk. Your first job out of college anyway is going to suck, so you might as well do one thing which is widing your horizon or risk widen. If you do something completely scary, you will go for the wide horizon of risk. If you fish off maine, if you do childcare in peru, if you become a Health Care Worker in northern louisiana, then for the rest of your life, youll know you can do something completely scary. If you dont, your horizon of risk will be like this for the rest of your life. And that leads to point three which is built identity capital. This is an identity i got from a book whos a psychotherapy theist, and she had a student or a patient who was going to be working in starbucks or be an instructor in Outward Bound. And she wanted to stay home and work at starbucks. She said became an instructor, for the rest of your life people will ask you what was it like to be an instructor in Outward Bound and at every dinner party and Job Interview youll have Something Interesting to talk about. And i find i hire people who have done one thing that i really want to ask them about. So thats just a very valuable thing to do. The fourth point, and i hear this from my students who have graduated and are now in the years out of college, is they wished they had overinvested in their friendships. One of my students said, you know, my life is about putting out fires. Writing a papers a fire, passing a test is a fire, studying for the law exam, my girlfriends are sometimes a fire. And so i underinvest in my friends. But in the years out of college therell be ups and downs, and youll need your friends. So so one decent idea ive observed in a friend of mine is when he was a senior in college on his graduation day, he created a giving circle with his ten best friends x they resolved that every year they would meet for four days, put money in a pot and give it to some good cause. The purpose was to have a group of ten friends who would meet once a year and do life together. And that was an institutional way they could observe their friendships. So they overinvested in their friendships. The fifth point is change your Decision Making metrics. And this is the lesson i learned from one of my students when i met her a year after graduation. She said when i was in school, life was station to station. There was always the next thing i had to do to apply for something, to write something, to pass a test, so it was all station to station. And the day i graduated there were no more stations. And so suddenly my attention was not on the next station, i was just in an ocean with no landmarks. And so i had to think differently, change my Decision Making metric. And the valuable way to orient yourself when youre in an ocean with no landmarks is the can yourself what year is it. And what is the central problem of your life. Often Commencement Speakers give terrible advice. How my generation passes on to you a mountain of debt and then we give you garbage advice to prevent you from ever paying it off. But a good piece of advice which was given by Victor Frankel was the wrong question to ask is what do i want to do with life. The right question is what is life expecting of me. What problems that are around me that are asking me to solve them x. For your generation, i think the challenge of your generation is pretty clear. Youve inherited a social fabric which is fragmented, a nation that is divided, a set of relationships that are broken, and the virus has to only worsened that. So it seems to me for many of you your calling, your vocation in this sometime to heal woundedded country. We have left you a wounded country, and your vocation is to fix it, to build relationships on the local level, to weave the fabric of community, to build conditions and systems that serve the poor and serve the least fortunate. The gentleman whos going to speak after me, wes moore, ive heard third hand is involved right now in distributing food in baltimore so people cannot go hungry in the time of virus. Thats a concrete way. And that leads to the sixth and final point i was hoping to make which is take advantage of this valley. This valley is an emotionally challenging time, a physically challenging time, its an economically challenging time. But its also the time thats going to be the making of you. When you ask somebody, you know, what made you who you are, its never like, oh, i took a fabulous vacation in hawaii. Its what you did in the valley. This is a theologian who wrote that moments of suffering interrupt life, and they teach you youre not the person you thought you were. He wrote they carve into the floor of the basement of your soul, and they reveal a cavity below. You just see depths of yourself that you never saw before. And when you see those depths, you realize that only relational and emotional food will serve those depths. What you find is that you have an ability to care for others that you did not know about. I had a friend when her first child was born, she told me i realized i loved her more than evolution required. And ive always liked that because we have things we have to do to get through life, to pay the rent, to pass on our dna, but we have some ability to care that doesnt make sense and is chanted. And enchanted. And you only find that ability in the moments of suffering. Were in one now, well come out the other side. You will come out stronger, deeper and more caring. Thanks. Thank you, david. Thank you. Next up is wes moore, ceo of the robin hood foundation, one of the largest antipoverty nonprofits in the country. Hes also a best selling author, combat veteran and social entrepreneur. His first book was a New York Times and wall street journal bestseller. His second book was also a bestseller and featured [inaudible] and his fourth coming book, five days will debut august 2020. Please welcome wes moore. Hi, everybody. Good evening and congratulations. My daughter mia is here with me, and i think she has a message for you as well. Congratulations. [laughter] i hope its okay, i asked her to join me for this speech both because, you know, im so incredibly proud of all of you and so is she, but also because you are all what i aspire for her to be one day. You know, to go through this process and not an easy process but to go through a process to completion. To go and see something that you want to go put in the work for it and then to now stand here in your day and in your glory knowing that all that work was absolutely worth it. First i just want to say not just congratulations, but thank you for being an inspiration to a person that inspires me every single day. And to be with this, with these group of speakers is just incredibly humbling. You know, i was having a conversation with mia earlier, and i asked her, i said, so what should i talk about . And shes like, well, when you graduated, what did your speaker talk about . And the honest answer is i dont remember. [laughter] i dont remember what was said. Part of it might have been my condition on graduation day, part of it might have been the fact that i wasnt thinking through to already pay attention. [laughter] but one thing that i do know and one thing that i do remember that no matter what my graduation speaker said on may 11 of 2001, he could is have never predicted what was about to happen to the world just a few months later. He could have never predicted september 11th of 2001. He didnt talk about that. That wasnt part of the speech. That wasnt part of the preparation. That wasnt what he told us about or made us think about. But he didnt realize in that moment that the world about five months from the time he gave us that speech, that the world was going to change in ways that none of us were prepared for. And i think as you all are having your graduation moment now, i share that because i think youre actually having a similar type of moment. Where the truth is each and every one of us can tell you about what we think the world will look like six month from now or what we think the world will look like a year from now, and the honest is we answer e have no idea. The world is changing under our feet daily. Its changing every single day. And frankly, and many of the people earlier have said it, the ones who are having the most dramatic and the most macabre impacts on are the ones who were already struggling beforehand, for the ones who were already in pain, for the ones who already felt neglected, for the ones, frankly, who might not be graduating today. And so the charge that i think for all of you today is to never forget who it is that were supposed to be fighting for. I went through my College Experience with a clear understanding and expectation as to how i would spend the first five and ten years of my life, what things i would do immediately after my graduation, how i would take my degree and may yore to go forge a career. The truth is that nobody ever asks me or asked me back then what my major was in college. It was international relations. [laughter] no one ever asked me how did you do on that test from april 5th. No one ever asked me about that paper that i pulled an allnighter for. The question that will repeatedly be asked of you is who did you choose to fight for when it mattered. At a time of change, at a time when the world is evolving quickly right under our feet, at a time when right now and no one can tell you what the world will look like six months from now, what the world will look like a year from now. The only thing that can stay consistent and the only thing that needs to the stay consistent is the fact that youre ready ready to make an impact no matter what it is that you studied. Your major, your qualification is change agent. I dont care what it was. It doesnt matter what classes you took. Your qualification is change agent. And you have to go out there and take that degree and use it wisely. Use it in a way that the world is calling on you to use it right now. Use it in a way that you will not permit the world to turn unless your fingerprints are on it. Find those things that you want to be passionate about and go after it. Find those things, find the world that you want to be and make it so. Because if theres one thing that i remember about that moment, it was that after 9 11 the world changed, and i knew that i wanted to be a part of what that change looked like. I wanted to do my part. I was honored to be around people who all chose to do theirs, and right now youre in that same exact moment. And as youre going and thinking about what the world going to look like six months from now, what the world is going to hook like a year from now, what the world is going to look like five years from now, do not let that happen and you had nothing to do with it. To not let the world land do not let the world land and know that your fingerprints were not on it. Shape it. Shift it. Control it. Make it so. Because that is the power of the seat that you sit in, that is the power of your voice, thats the power of your commitment, and thats the kind of world that you all are going to create that one day during her graduation she can know that shes stepping into a beautiful place because you all a made it so. Im incredibly proud of all of you, incredibly thankful for the difference you going to make in the world youre going to make in the world, and thank you for the inspiration not just for me, but the inspiration for my angel over here. Congratulations. Bless yall. Thank you so much, wes. Next up is the founder of and ceo of girls who code, a National Nonprofit organization working to close the gender gap in technology. Shes been named one of fortunes 40 under 40. Shes chosen as a wall street journal innovator and was called one of the most powerful women changing the world by forbes. Shes the host of brave not pert and the author of the New York Times bestseller learn to code and change the world. Thank you for joining us, remember ma. Thank you, teresa, and thank you, wes, for those powerful words. Congratulations, class of 2020. I know this isnt how you expected your graduation to go. Its not the way that i expected graduation season to go either. Ive given my fair share of commencement speeches, and i can tell you this is the toughest one ive ever had to give. And i say that because i know that so many of you are in unimaginable situations. This isnt about missing graduation. A lot of you are worried about your health, your jobs, your families. Youre wondering when or if this will ever end. And as much as i say i want to be able to fix everything, to say 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. Be strong. And to be brave. Youre weathering a storm that no other graduating class has had to do. And that sets you apart from the rest of us. It also means that youre destined to do great things. Because some of the biggest acts of bravery, of courage have come in times of crisis. I know that from personal experience. I first learned how to be brave when i was 33 years old. I was the daughter of ref i few gees. I had graduated college and law school, graduate school with 300,000 in student loan debt, so i went to the job that i thought i should do, quite frankly, that i had to do to pay off my debt. And i was miserable. I was in a life i didnt want, a job i hated, and that little 13yearold girl who dreamed of becoming a public servant, she seemed like she was just so far away. I desperately wanted to change the world, and i wasnt doing it. And i remember sitting in there in this windowless Conference Room and my best friend call me. And its funny how your best friend always calls you when your life is falling apart. And i remember hearing her say through my tears, just quit. Just quit. And so i did. Instead of getting another job that i hated, i actually decided to run for congress, and i ran against an 18year incumbent in a democratic primary because i thought that that was a great idea. I basically did what alexandra to casio did, except she ran and lost. I remember sitting there on election day watching that little ticker not move past 19 of the vote. I had lost. I was broke. I was miserable. Id had pissed everybody in the democratic establishment for not waiting my turn because things that i thought, the first thing that i thought the when i woke up the next morning was,sing oh, my god, im not broken. Im not broken. Because, you see, for so long in my life i thought that if i tried something and i failed, that it would literally break me. And i tell you this story because this experience gave me a gift. It gave me the gift of resilience. And i have no doubt that this crisis will do the same for you. Finish because because its not just my own experience that has shown me how bravery comes up in moments of crisis, both in a personal crisis, in a health crisis, in a world crisis, and what weve seen from women and girls and minorities and especially at some of the biggest acts of bravery, of courage come in moments of crisis. Its when we make the most of the least, the best of the worst. We know we have to keep our heads up, our feet moving and keep moving forward. Just think of joan clark who helped to code enemy dock qumes during the stress of world war ii. Or Katherine Johnson whose crucial calculations helped project mercury land safely. Or philosophy [inaudible] who in the middle of the aids epidemic cloned hiv and genetically mapped the virus. She proved the link between hiv and aids. And then theres katrina. Karina, shes just a freshman in college. She founded makers of covid, a collection of people who are 3d printing personal protective equipment for medical professionals on the front lines of the crisis. Shes printed over 22,000 unit of ppe already and donated to countless medical professionals in new york and around the world, and she is in college. These are all amazing women who are brave, innovative, inspirational during times of cries sis. Theyve persisted because theyve had to. I wouldnt be surprised if one of you is thinking about coding an app to get food to seniors or building a web site to help Small Businesses or even mapping the vaccine to this virus. Because in times of crisis we learn, we innovate, we work. We work to protect our communities, our neighbors and our families. Thats whats going to set this graduating class apart from everybody else. Its whats going to set you apart forever. Bravery and resilience are literally baked into your dna. But remember, bravely isnt about bravery isnt about saving the world. Yes, that doctor on the front lines, shes brave. Yes, that nurse working overnight shifts in the covid icu unit, shes brave. Yes, the people who are keeping our cities running, delivery people and Public Servants and subway workers, they are all brave. But you are brave too. Because sometimes bravery means just taking care of yourself and looking out for one with another when times are tough. Sometimes bravery just means getting through the day. Sometimes it means celebrating your englishments like we are accomplishments like we are tonight even though youre totally not sure about whats coming next and even if its over soon. Class of 2020, your future is bright, shining bright because you are brave. Never, ever forget that. Congratulations. I cant wait to see a what to see what your bravery brings. Thank you so much, reshma, that was wonderful. Next up is george saunders. George saunders the author of nine books including the novel lincoln and the bartow which won theman booker prize mann booker and the story collection tenth of december. His best selling book, congratulations, by the way, some thoughts on kindness, an expanded version of his 2013 commencement address. George has received fellowships from the landon foundation, the American Academy of arts and letters and the guggenheim foundation. He is included in times 2013 list of the 900 most in 100 most influential people in the world. His upcoming book will be published in january 2021. George, we have a video because he had some issues with husband broadband [laughter] so this is going to be a tape recording of george, and i think that some of you writers out there the will really find it inspirationalful welcome, george. Hi, 2020 graduates. My name is george saunders, im a writer for the new yorker and a professor at syracuse university. A little bit ago when this quarantine was just starting, i kind of impulsively wrote an email to some of my graduate creative writing students, and i thought id share with you today as you prepare to go out into the weirdness that is america in 2020. Dear su writers. Jeez, what a hard, depressing and scary time. So much suffering and anxiety every where. I saw this bee happily buzzing around a flower yesterday, felt like, moron, if you only knew. But it also occurs to me that this is what the world needs our eyes and ears and minds. This has never happened before here, at least not since 1918. We are, and especially you are, the generation that is going to have to help us make sense of this and recover afterwards. What might new forms might you invent to shine in an event liking this where all the dramas happening in private, essentially . Are you keeping records of the emails and texts youre getting . The thoughts youre having . The way your hearts and minds are reacting to this strange new way of living . Its all important. 50 years from now people the anal you are now wont believe the age you are now wont believe this ever happened or will do the eye roll we all do when someone tells us about something crazy that happened in 1960. What youre able to write about it will depend on how much attention youre paying now and what records you keep. Also i think with how open you can keep your heart. Im trying to practice feeling Something Like, ah, so this is happening now or, hmm, so this too is part of life on earth. Did not know that, universe. Thank you so much is, stinker. And then i real quick try to pretend i didnt just call the universe a stinker. I did a piece of journalism once, i went to live incognito in a homeless camp in fresno for a week, very intense, but the best thing i heard was from this older guy from guatemala who was always saying everything is always keep changing. Truer words were never spoken. Its only when we expect solidity, not change, when we get surprised. Well, this is all sound ising a little preachy, and let me confess that im not take my own advice at all. Its all happening so fast. My wife paula had what we were hoping was a bad cold, and im doing a lot of care giving. Our dogs can feel Something Weird is going on. No walk again . I guess what im trying to say is that the world is like a sleeping tiger, and we tend to live our lives around were smaller than the tiger, obviously. Now and then that tiger wakes up and its terrifying. Sometimes it wakes up and someone we love dies or someone breaks our heart or theres a pandemic. But this is far from the first time that tiger has come awake. Hes been doing it since the beginning of time and will never stop doing it. And always there have been writers who observe it and later make some sort of sense of it or at least bear witness to it. Its good for the world for a writer to bear witness, and its good for the writer too. Especially if he can bear witness with love and humor and despite it all some fondness with the world, warts and all. All of this to say theres still work to be done now more than ever ever. Theres a beautiful story about the russian poet [inaudible] her husband was hot and her son arrested during the purges. One day she was standing outside of the prison with hundreds of other women in similar situations. They have to go there every day, wait for hours in this big open yard, then get the answer that today and every day there will be no answer. Every day they keep coming back. A woman recognizing her as a famous poet says, poet, can you write this . And she thinks about it a second and says, i cant. And then she observed Something Like a smile passed fleetingly over the womans face. I wish you all the best during this crazy period. Someday soon things will get back to some sort of normal, and it will be easier to be happy again. I believe it and hope it for each one of you. I look forward to seeing you all and even in time with sufficient ppe giving you a handshake or a hug. Please feel free to email me anytime for any reason, george. And id just add that my wife paula is healthy and fine and happy as i end hope we all will be soon. Congratulations, class of 2020, and i wish you all the best. I want to thank all of our authors for participating tonight, and i want to thank all of you who tuned in to hear these amazing speakers. I want to remind everybody that we gave you a code so that you could buy all of their books at a discount. As we always say, books make great gifts. And again, we just want to say congratulations, and well send this link to all of you who are on this tonight so that you can watch it again and be inspired. Thank you and join us again. Have a good night. Having lived through a loss of confidence in our institutions, a wave of cynicism who has left us unable to trust anyone who calls themself an expert, it becomes very difficult to rise to a challenge like this. Our first reaction is to say, no, theyre lying to us, theyre only in it for themselves, and a lot of our institutions have got to take on the challenge of persuading people again that they exist nurse, that theyre here exist for us, that theyre here for the country. Sunday at noon eastern, a live conversation with scholar yuval levin. His most recent book is a time to build. Other titles include the great debate and the fractured republic. Join the conversation with your phone calls, tweets, texts and facebook messages. Watch in depth with yuval levin on booktv on cspan2. Here are some of the current best selling nonfiction books according to the wall street journal. Topping the list are two memoirs. Glenn done doyles untamed and former first Lady Michelle obamas becoming, the best selling book of 2018. After that is thoughts on the medical community in plague of corruption. Thats follow by fox news host pete hegseths thoughts on the Trump Presidency in american crusade. And wrapping up a look at is some of the best selling nonfiction books according to the wall street journal is the splendid and the vial, eric larsons study of Winston Churchills leadership during the london blitz. Some of these authors is have appeared on booktv, and you can watch them online at booktv. Org. Many hats, veteran diplomat, ambassador, professor, us coordinator on the future of afghanistan,