Videos

Watch the video recordings of our most popular Leadership Lectures from the privacy of your own homes. Let these remarkable leaders inspire you and be sure to attend our Upcoming Lectures.

• Madeleine Albright (Spring 2013)
• Al Gore (Spring 2013)
• Cecil Williams and Janice Mirikitani (Spring 2013)

• Fred Spier (Fall 2012)
  
• Salman Rushdie (Fall 2012)
  
• Ina Garten (Fall 2012)
• Tom Brokaw (Spring 2012)

• Robert N. Bellah (Spring 2012)
• Eve Ensler (Spring 2012)
• Jennifer Granholm and Dan Mulhern (Spring 2012)
• Anne Lamott (Spring 2012)
• Michael David Lukas (Spring 2012)
  
  
• Chris Matthews (Fall 2011)
  To Chris Matthews, the host of Hardball on MSNBC, President Kennedy has long been both an avatar and a puzzle, a beacon and a conundrum. Years in the making, Matthews has woven his firsthand encounters with JFK into a remarkable new portrait, Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero.
   
• Khaled Hosseini (Fall 2011)
  In this richly illustrated graphic novel adaption, Hosseini brings the spellbinding story of The Kite Runner to a new generation of readers.

• Rick Steves—Part I and Part II (Fall 2010)
  Travel writer, PBS-TV host, and Seattle businessman Rick Steves shares what he has learned in his 30 years of travel. (2 hr)
  
  
• Robert Reich (Fall 2010)
  

  Robert B. Reich, one of our most trenchant and informed economy experts talks about the economic crisis and his plan for dealing with the challenge of its aftermath. (1 hr, 15 mins)

• Rosanne Cash (Fall 2010)
  Daughter of country music legend Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash speaks about her musical career and her new book, Composed: a Memoir. (47 mins, 23 sec.)
  
  
• Michael Chabon (Spring 2010)
  Michael Chabon, hailed as one of America’s finest contemporary writers, talks about his inventive new novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. (1 hr, 7 mins, 56 sec.)
  
  
• Craig Robinson (Spring 2010)
  Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama's brother, offers a stunning tribute to the mentors in his life who contributed to his understanding of what it means to have character on and off the basketball court.  (1 hr, 3 mins, 14 sec.)
  
  
• Bill McKibben (Spring 2010)
  Bill McKibben continues the argument that climate change is already upon us, drastically changing the planet. In fact, our current planet is so fundamentally different from the old globe that we might as well change its name. (1 hr, 30 mins, 25 sec)
  
  
• Dr. Louann Brizendine (Spring 2010)
  Dr. Louann Brizendine, already renowned for her research on the female brain, shares her breakthrough research on the brain functions of men and boys.  (36 mins, 27 sec)
  
  
• Atul Gawande (Spring 2010)
  Dr. Atul Gawande details the lifesaving potential of the everyday checklist in the complex world of surgery.  (43 mins, 13 sec)
  
  
• Barbara Ehrenreich (Fall 2009)
  Barbara Ehrenreich breaks down America’s stay-positive mentality to show that it’s not always a good thing to ignore potential negatives.  (52 mins, 18 sec.)
  
  
• David Plouffe (Fall 2009)
  David Plouffe, the architect behind Barack Obama’s election to the presidency, shares how the Obama campaign reenergized America’s very idea of Democracy.  (53 mins, 59 sec)
  
  
• Sue Monk Kidd (Fall 2009)
  Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees, shares the spotlight with daughter Ann Kidd Taylor as the two of them retell a story of indulgence in travel, spirituality, and femininity.  (1 hr, 2 mins, 34 sec)
  
  
• Germaine Greer (Spring 2009)
  In Shakespeare's Wife, acclaimed feminist author Germaine Greer reclaims Ann Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife, from generations of scholarly neglect and misogyny. Little is known about the wife of the worlds most famous playwright, but much is said about her. (1 h, 20 min, 49 sec)
  
  
• Daniel Goleman (Spring 2009)
  Daniel Goleman explains that as a slew of new information technologies enter the world forum, the way we consume will not only become more transparent, but will be forever changed by our environmental conscience.  (1 hr, 18 mins, 34 sec)
  
  
• Dave Eggers (Spring 2009)
  Dave Eggers, author of the highly acclaimed novel What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, tells the incredible story of lost boy Valentino Achak Deng as he treks across Africa to escape the Sudanese genocide.  (1 hr, 12 mins, 58 sec)
  
  
• Cherie Blair (Fall 2008)
  Cherie Blair discusses her experiences in growing up, her encounters and friendships with foreign leaders, and how a young girl with an unconventional childhood grew up into a working mother and wife of England’s prime minister.  (53 mins, 57 sec)
  
  
• Marian Wright Edelman (Fall 2008)
  Civil rights leader Marian Wright Edelman implores America to invest in its children, thereby investing in its present and future as a nation.  (55 mins, 42 sec)
  
  
• Nancy Pelosi (Fall 2008)
  “We have made history, now let us make progress.”  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reaches out to America’s women, encouraging them to speak up and make their voices heard.  (54 mins, 2 sec)
  
  
• Madeleine Albright (Spring 2008)
  Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright addresses the president-elect as she recounts a wide range of leadership recommendations based on her experience as a key figure in four presidential transitions.  (1 hr, 2 mins, 18 sec)
  
  
• Amy Tan (Spring 2008)
  Amy Tan describes her creation of Saving Fish from Drowning, a provocative tale set in Burma that walks the line between what is real and what is make believe.  (1 hr, 8 mins, 27 sec)
  
  
• Anne Wilson (Spring 2008)
  For nearly three decades, Anne Wilson has worked to advance the common good in the Bay Area.  Now she shares how each of us can play a role in shaping our communities into a place of opportunity for us all.  (1 hr, 4 mins, 3 sec)
  
  
• Ron Owens/Michael Krasny (Fall 2007)
  KQED’s Michael Krasny in conversation with KGO’s Ron Owens about Krasny’s book Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio & Literary Life, in which he retells matching wits with Nobel Laureates, heads of state and Pulitzer Prize winners.  (40 mins, 52 sec)
  
  
• Rick Steves (Fall 2007)
  As Mark Twain wrote, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” Rick Steves builds on Twain’s theory as he offers insight to travel backed by the experiences that led to his publishing 30 European travel guidebooks and as host of his own PBS TV series.  (1 hr, 20 mins, 33 sec)
  
  
• Jonathan Kozol (Fall 2007)
  Jonathon Kozol highlights the joys and challenges of teaching in his newest book, Letters to a Young Teacher.  The book takes the imaginative form of Kozol offering letters of encouragement and advice with a lively indignation for the teaching bureaucracy.  (1 hr, 10 mins, 28 sec)
  
  
• Paul Hawken (Spring 2007)
  Paul Hawkin tells of dedicating his life to sustainability and his new book, The Blessed Unrest, which tells the enigmatic history of the global environmental movement.  (44 mins, 13 sec)
  
  
• Ralph Nader (Spring 2007)
  Legendary activist and civic organizer Ralph Nader reflects on a time in America when family life and the natural world were pivotal in a child’s experience of growing up.  (39 mins, 5 sec)
  
  
• Isabel Allende (Spring 2007)
  Isabel Allende discusses her book Daughter of Fortune in conversation with KQED’s Michael Krasny.  (51 mins, 29 sec)
  
  
• Bill Bradly (Spring 2007)
  Former senator and presidential candidate Bill Bradley explores why the Democratic and Republican parties have failed America, and what changes need to be made in our politics.  (33 mins, 36 sec)
  
  
• Lanny Davis (Fall 2006)
  Lanny Davis offers hope that the poisonous atmosphere of American scandal politics can be overcome in favor of the real issues that affect us all.  (50 mins, 35 sec.)
  
  
• David Suzuki (Fall 2006)
  Green Movement leader David Suzuki speaks about his travels, encounters and experiences as a leading writer, environmentalist and critical thinker.  (1 hr, 27 mins, 40 sec.) 
  
  
• Elizabeth Edwards (Fall 2006)
  Elizabeth Edwards, wife of vice presidential candidate John Edwards, tells of her many experiences in which the power of community helped her overcome even the greatest of challenges; from political campaigns to her own fight against breast cancer.  (55 mins, 55 sec.)
  
  
• Brian Copeland (Fall 2006)
  Brian Copeland, actor in his own award-winning show on Broadway, explains that education is the door to opportunity and that everyone should have the chance to go to college.  (52 mins, 32 sec.)
  
  
• Jane Fonda (Spring 2006)
  Jane Fonda takes a look at her life’s journey as an iconic actress, activist, feminist, workout guru, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, and how that journey relates to the struggle of women throughout America.  (50 mins, 56 sec.)