As that lucky guy because today i get to meet Abraham Verghese and him to you and just a quick aside this i hadnt planned and met dr. Verghese this morning and you know ive been doing these events for about six years now and i met darcy and it kind of embarrassing because i started crying. I cant explain the effect that hes had me as a doctor and a reader. So its just a little bit. But dr. Verghese, his book, the covenant of water has spent nine months on the New York Times bestseller list, which is incredible for two reasons. Number one, it came out nine months ago, and number two, its 715 pages long and know and we live in america in 2024. Were not in russia in 100 years ago. So at 750 page book to be on the vessel, it is pretty, pretty cool. And you know, aside from being a literary luminary, hes a thought leader. The world of medicine, as you know, hes chair professor, vice chair of of the school of medicine at that place up the road. The road, stanford. So before we talk about the
And him to you and just a quick aside this i hadnt planned and met dr. Verghese this morning and you know ive been doing these events for about six years now and i met darcy and it kind of embarrassing because i started crying. I cant explain the effect that hes had me as a doctor and a reader. So its just a little bit. But dr. Verghese, his book, the covenant of water has spent nine months on the New York Times bestseller list, which is incredible for two reasons. Number one, it came out nine months ago, and number two, its 715 pages long and know and we live in america in 2024. Were not in russia in 100 years ago. So at 750 page book to be on the vessel, it is pretty, pretty cool. And you know, aside from being a literary luminary, hes a thought leader. The world of medicine, as you know, hes chair professor, vice chair of of the school of medicine at that place up the road. The road, stanford. So before we talk about the governance of water, just like you to share a little bit how t
You to our speakers to start meaning tonight we have with us dr. Bettina becker, a distinguished professor emerita, feminist studies, university of california, santa. She has taught for more than 40 years an activist scholar. She coled the Free Speech Movement uc berkeley in 1964 and the National Student Mobilization Committee to end and the war in vietnam. She played a leading role in the International Movement to free angela davis. But she was a member of the communist party. From 1962 to 1981, and she has been of the lgbt movement. The late 1970s and has published several, including the morning breaks, the trial of angela davis tapestry, the life, womens work, womens consciousness and meaning of daily experience, and a memoir politics how i grew up. Read and fought for free speech and became a feminist rebel, which was nominated for lambda literary award in 2006. We also have with us tonight dr. Estelle friedman. Shes the Edgar Robinson professor in u. S. History emerita at stanford
She coled the Free Speech Movement uc berkeley in 1964 and the National Student Mobilization Committee to end and the war in vietnam. She played a leading role in the International Movement to free angela davis. But she was a member of the communist party. From 1962 to 1981, and she has been of the lgbt movement. The late 1970s and has published several, including the morning breaks, the trial of angela davis tapestry, the life, womens work, womens consciousness and meaning of daily experience, and a memoir politics how i grew up. Read and fought for free speech and became a feminist rebel, which was nominated for lambda literary award in 2006. We also have with us tonight dr. Estelle friedman. Shes the Edgar Robinson professor in u. S. History emerita at stanford university. She cofounded the program in feminist gender and sexuality studies. The recipient multiple teaching awards. She has held fellowships the National Endowment for the humanities, the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation an
[applause] the National Book awards are a huge part of that mission, and it is a thrill to be here with everyone tonight recognizing exceptional literature and increasing the visibility of books which are among the most powerful weapons we have against what has lately felt like an often hostile world. I think this past year has felt overwhelming and disheartening to many people. Its also felt exhausting for women, for people of color, for immigrants, for muslims, for the lgbtq community, for so many groups. To remain on the defensive in nearly every waking hour takes its toll. For some of us, books provide a welcome escape into someone elses world. For others they serve as a valuable resource for arming ourselves with indispensabling knowledge of history. But all books offer something we need so desperately right now; broadened perspective. Books allow us to view circumstances through the eyes of someone else. They cultivate empathy. They inspire action. They make us feel less alone an