In The News

New York Times best-selling author, musician and APB speaker James McBride wrote The Good Lord Bird, a powerful story of John Brown, a white American abolitionist who in 1859—along with 19 others—attacked the largest arsenal of weapons in America, ultimately prompting the Civil War. The drama is set to premiere on Showtime October 4th. The network consulted with the producers and other voices to proactively consider the content carefully. “We have to find ways to talk about race instead of yelling and shouting,” says McBride. “This guy [Brown] showed us how to do it.” 

APB speaker Jeffrey Selingo, best-selling author and co-host of the podcast FUTURE U, reports on the future of work and its impact on lifelong learning, paying for college, the financial sustainability of traditional higher education, and what employers and the public increasingly want in a college degree. His latest book, Who Gets In and Why, takes readers on a journey from the inside of admissions offices, revealing what really matters in the selection process and how ultimately decisions are based a college’s agenda and its priorities rather than the quality of applicants. Now the question is how will this pandemic change college admissions?

A “warrior for gender equality,” Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg died of cancer at the age of 87 this past Friday. APB speaker and journalist Irin Carmon and attorney and activist Shana Knizhnik co-authored the book, Notorious RBG, a New York Times bestseller after a Tumblr account made by Shana, which highlighted Ruth’s precise wit and fashion sense. The book shares the never-before-told story of a transformative woman who transcends generational divides.  

APB speaker Steve Pemberton’s triumphant life story is about defying seemingly insurmountable odds as a child orphaned into foster care. His best-selling memoir, A Chance in the World, documents his childhood filled with adversity and the priceless acts of kindness he received along the way. This month, Learning Company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) introduced A Chance in the World Integrated SEL Curriculum for students in grades 8-12. This SEL curriculum is designed to bring students and educators together around Steve’s inspiring story of resilience, which portrays his experiences in the foster care system and his quest to uncover the truth about his origins. “This integrated SEL curriculum from HMH provides a dynamic framework for understanding the themes of empathy and resilience, and inspiring readers to overcome challenges to create a better future.” 

Pulitzer Prize winners Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward regularly join together on the speaking stage to point out parallels from our past and provide unparalleled insights for our future—pulling back the curtain on Washington as only the legendary journalists can. Now, following recordings made by Woodward for his latest book on Trump, Rage, Bernstein has said the implications are "even graver than in Watergate." In a recent interview with CNN, Carl said the tapes were "even more devastating than Nixon's tapes.” Bernstein goes on to say that Trump had sacrificed "thousands and thousands and thousands" of Americans for "his own narrow presidential reelection efforts."

A former professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets and now an NBA life and optimization coach, APB speaker David Nurse has helped over 150 NBA players with their personal and professional development both on and off the court. He has worked with NBA coaches, Fortune 500 CEOs, and many other high performers on developing leadership habits that not only build successful routines, but also build a success-driven lifestyle.  

Gifted interviewer and sought-after speaker Kelly Corrigan is hosting a new heartfelt interview series called Tell Me More (inspired by her book of the same name) on PBS NewsHour. In the series, Corrigan will conduct candid conversations with influential leaders in their fields, and her first guest is late-night host, actor and writer James Corden!  

As both an observer of higher education and an insider with academic appointments at two universities, APB speaker Jeffrey Selingo occupies a unique position to explain higher education’s critical and influential role in the world economy. In his latest article in The Atlantic, Selingo explains how, as colleges are preparing to reopen, they are overlooking the concerns of campus staff. 

APB speaker David Epstein has made it his mission to uncover the keys to achieving high performance in any domain, and to debunk popular myths along the way. In his recent speech at TEDxManchester, he discussed why specializing early doesn't always mean career success. Be sure to check out the video on TED.com!

Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and CNN political analyst Carl Bernstein recently sat down with Anderson Cooper to talk about the threat to mail-in voting and the USPS. Says Bernstein: “We have a tyrant president of the United States trying to act like a king to undermine the very electoral system, the most important element of our democracy…”