Co-presented by AFGHAN WOMEN'S MISSION and PEACE ACTION OF WASHINGTON. A national speaking tour, which coincides with the U.S. publication of her memoir, brings Afghan reformer and democracy activist Malalai Joya to Seattle. Her powerful book, A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice (Scribner), recounts a story of speaking out—and surviving. Ms. Joya first reached prominence at a constitutional assembly when she denounced the NATO-backed warlords. Two years later, at 27, she was the youngest person elected to Afghanistan's new Parliament. In 2007, she was suspended from Parliament for her persistent criticism of drug barons and warlords. Numerous attempts have been made on her life. "Afghan activist Joya makes an urgent plea for the world to acknowledge the truths hidden in the corrupt, complex country of Afghanistan ... After surviving multiple assassination attempts, she continues to spread her message of human rights, women's rights, democracy, and secularism. The author's brave narrative uses her personal experiences to outline the oppressive misrule of the past three decades in Afghanistan, and Joya is careful to differentiate between her country's corrupt government and its freedom-wanting people. A chilling, vital memoir that reveals hidden truths about Afghanistan and directly addresses the misguided policies of the United States." - Kirkus Reviews. Free admission. Seattle First Baptist Church is at 1111 Harvard Avenue (at Seneca). For more information, please see www.peace-action.org, www.afghanwomensmission.org, or call (206) 453-4471.

Co-presented with the TOWN HALL CENTER FOR CIVIC LIFE. In Stripping Bare the Body: Politics, Violence, War (Nation Books), award-winning author Mark Danner draws on over twenty-five years as a foreign affairs journalist for such publications as The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and The New York Times Magazine in giving readers an open-eyed view of the U.S. and its exercises of power. "The publication of Mark Danner's Stripping Bare the Body is a big deal ... Because Danner's writing over the past three decades forms a definitive, and absolutely riveting, chronicle of the dark side of the post-Cold War world, from Haiti to Abu Ghraib, and beyond. No other writer combines brilliant and outrageous reporting with brilliant and courageous political and moral thinking as Danner does. He's also, first and last, a breathtakingly good writer. For anyone who cares about the fate of our foreign policy and our republic and, indeed, the human condition, Stripping Bare the Body is a touchstone book." - Michael Pollan, joined by Dave Eggers, Andrew J. Bacevich, Adam Hochschild, Ron Suskind, and others in early praise. Mark Danner is a professor of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and the James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs, Politics, and Humanities at Bard College. $5 tickets are available at the door starting at 6:30 p.m. or via www.brownpapertickets.com (or 1-800-838-3006). Preferred seating for Town Hall members. Town Hall Seattle is at 1119 Eighth Avenue (at Seneca). For more information, please call Elliott Bay at (206) 624-6600, Town Hall at (206) 652-4255, or see www.townhallseattle.org.

Presented by the WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL. A New Yorker staff writer on global public health, technology, and science since 1998, Michael Specter does an in-depth, big-picture take on the deep-seated fear of science in this country—and its consequences—in his new book, Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives (Penguin Press). "We are bombarded with information and misinformation about the foods we eat, the medicines we take, the water we drink, the very air we breathe. Michael Specter shows us how to accurately assess the impact of science on these and other essential elements of our daily lives. Written in clear and accessible language, this uniquely valuable book explains an often confusing world." - Jerome Groopman, M.D. "Michael Specter has written a lucid and insightful book about a very frightening and irrational phenomena—the fear and superstition that threaten human science and progress. A superb and convincing work." - Malcolm Gladwell. Tickets are $15 ($10 for World Affairs Council members.) For more information, please see www.world-affairs.org, or call (206) 441-5910.

Presented by SEATTLE ARTS & LECTURES. The surprising and unexpected are likely in store this evening as renowned film performer, filmmaker, and writer Isabella Rossellini takes the stage. Expected to be the center of attention this evening are the eye-opening films she has been making—Green Porno—and now the book, Green Porno (Harper Studio), which depicts what they're about. Namely, how the animals do it. Fun and informative it all is—and this evening should be. It is expected that some pre-signed copies of Green Porno will be available that evening. For tickets and information, please see www.lectures.org or call (206) 621-2230. Benaroya Hall is at 200 University Street.

Co-presented with the TOWN HALL CENTER FOR CIVIC LIFE AND ISLAND PRESS, in association with ISLANDWOOD. The third in this Town Hall-based Island Press lecture series brings University of California, Berkeley biologist Anthony Barnosky here with his recent book, Heatstroke: Nature in an Age of Global Warming (Island Press). "This fascinating and frightening book begins where others on global warming leave off. Anthony Barnosky shows that we're not just heating up the planet, but changing its basic character. Today's familiar animals and wild places may not be here tomorrow. For anyone who has grown attached to nature as we know it, this is an essential, eye-opening read." - Paul R. Ehrlich. Island Press is a leading, independent, non-profit Washington, D.C. publisher devoted to environmental and sustainability issues (www.islandpress.com). $5 tickets are available at the door starting at 6:30 p.m. or via www.brownpapettickets.com (of 1-800-838-3006). Preferred seating for Town Hall members. Town Hall Seattle is at 1119 Eighth Avenue (at Seneca). For more information, please call Elliott Bay at (206) 624-6600, Town Hall at (206) 652-4255, or see www.townhallseattle.org.

--TICKETED DINNER CANCELLED, REPLACED BY AUTHOR MEET & GREET-- 

In Fat of the Land: Adventures of a 21st Century Forager (Skipstone), Seattle's Langdon Cook writes of forsaking the corporate world for life in a cabin off the grid—with his wife and son. Food is a major part of this undertaking, as chronicled here with insight and a sense adventure. "In Fat of the Land, Langdon Cook invites us to share in his enthusiastic, salubrious, wild food foraging quests. Get out of town, breathe in the fresh air, hear the quiet, exercise, feel good, connect with nature and the season—then return to the kitchen to delicious preparations of dandelion greens, squid, fiddleheads, or whatever the quarry. Lively, informative, soul-satisfying narrative." - Jon Rowley. Meet Langdon Cook and order some Fat of the Land fare on the Elliott Bay Café menu tonight in a special pre-reading author meet and greet in the café's Salon Space at 6 p.m. For more information, please see www.elliottbaycafe.com. The 7 p.m. program is also free of charge. Please join us!