A Remarkable Roster of Guest Speakers
1920
John Drinkwater: Abraham Lincoln
Stephen Graham: The Genius of the Russian People
Hugh Walpole: Modern English Novelist
Nina Tarasova: Singing of Russian Folk Songs in Costume
1920-21
W. L. George: Love and Marriage
Herbert A. Gibbons: The Challenge to European Eminent Domain
G. K. Chesterton: The Ignorance of the Educated
Mr. and Mrs. Ongawa: Performance of Japanese Songs and Dances
'1921-22
William Beebe: Pheasant Hunting in Borneo and India
Isaac Marcosson: The World in Transition
Margot Asquith: Reminiscences of Eminent Englishmen
Bruno Roselli: Dante: A Replica of the Typical Italian
1922-23
Emma C. Ponafidine: My Experiences in Soviet Russia
Basil Thomson: My Experiences at Scotland Yard
Olivia R. Agresti: Recent Developments in European History
Ruano Boglislav: Singing of Gypsy and Hungarian Songs
1923-24
Lord Birkenhead: Reminiscences of an English Statesman
Arthur Weigal: Tutankhamen, Recent Discovery in Egypt
Henry Fairfield Osborn: Social and Racial Progress in America
J. C. Faunthorpe: Jungle Life in India
1924-25
Catherine Karoly: Hungary Yesterday and Today
Performance: Von Flotow's Opera "L'Ombre"
Andre Morize: (Unavailable)
John Cowper Powys: (Unavailable)
1925-26
Alexander Wolcott: Behind the Scenes
Manley O. Hudson: The League of Nations in 1925
Timothy Smiddy: Ideals and Activities of the Irish Free State
Thomas F. Lee: Dons, Dictators and Duenas
1926-27
Richard E. Byrd: First Flight to North Pole
Phillip Guedalla: The Political and Industrial Situation in England
Samuel Arthur King and Readings accompanied by Piano
Horace Alwyne
Michael I. Pupin: Fifty Years Progress in Electrical Communication
1927-28
Bertrand Russell: European Chaos
William Beebe: Beneath Tropic Seas
Emil Ludwig: Bismarck and the German Republic
Sherwood Picking: Submarines and Their Operation
1928-29
Arthur Compton: What Things are Made Of
Angna Enters: Episodes: A Series of Pantomines
Cornelia Otis Skinner: Character Sketches
Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey
1929-30
Grand Duke Alexander: Out of My Life
Ernest Dimnet: The Art of Thinking
Lowell Thomas: With Lawrence in Arabia and Allenby in Palestine
1930-31
Randolph Churchill: Can Youth Be Conservative?
Richard E. Byrd: The South Pole Expedition
George E. Russell (AE): Some Personalties of Modern Ireland
J. B. Priestley: An Englishman's View of Contemporary American Literature
1931-32
Rafael Sabatini: Fiction in History and History in Fiction
Oliver R. Baldwin: The Future of British Politics
Stuart Chase: The End of an Epoch?
Joseph Wood Krutch: The Modern Theatre
1932-33
Margit Bethlen: History in the Making and Personalities Who Made It
William Butler Yeats: The New Ireland
Victoria Sackville-West: Changes in English Social Life
Auguste Piccard: The World From Ten Miles Up
1933-34
Raymond Ditmars: Strange Animals I Have Known
R. D. Blumenfeld: The Destiny of America and Great Britain
Clemence Dane: Drama in Life and On the Stage
P.F.M. Fellowes: The Conquest of Everest
1934-35
Thomas Craven: Modern Art
Ernest Gruening: Democracy's Challenge to Fascism and Communism
Carl E. Guthe: The Greeks of the New World
Cyril A. Alington: The English Public Schools
1935-36
Asgeir Asgeirson: My Country (Iceland) and Its People
Paul Horgan: The Fault of Angels
Robert M. Hutchins: Education in Time of Crisis
Sarah Wambaugh: Europe, What Now?
1936-37
Andre Geraud: Can European Peace be Saved?
Gordon Enders: The Story of Tibet
Clifton Fadiman: Why Best Sellers Sell
E. M. Delafield: The Provincial Lady in Moscow
1937-38
Mai-Mai Sze: Modern Woman in China
Victor Heiser: More of an American Doctor's Odyssey
John Langdon-Davies: Behind the Spanish Barricades
Sinclair Lewis: It Has Happened Here
1938-39
Paul Van Zeeland: How Can International Disorganization Be Remedied?
Bhicoo Batlivala : Influence of the West on Ancient Indian Culture
John Gunther: Inside Europe Now
Andre Maurois: French Wit, English-American Humor
1939-40
Ernest A. Hooten: An Anthropologist Looks at the Belligerants
Alfred Duff Cooper:The Survival of Liberty
Erwin Edman: Fashions in Ideas
Hugh Gibson: An American Diplomat's Approach to Present European Problems
1940-41
H. R. Knickerbocker: At the Ringside of History
Margaret Webster: Shakespeare without Tears
William L. Shirer: German Today
Robert A. Millikan: Science and War
1941-42
Hugh R. Wilson: America's Role in the World Crisis
J. R. Ybarra: Friends and Foes in Latin America
Hallett Abend: How We Can Beat the Japanese
Margaret Bourke-White: Lenses Behind the News
1942-43
Walter Duranty: When East Meets West in Battle
Francis B. Sayre: The Road Forward
Hermann Rauschning: The Secret Aim of National Socialism
Cornelia Otis Skinner: Character Sketches
1943-44
Otto Tolischus: History in Action
Michael Karpovich: Russia and the Postwar World
Robert St. John: The Balkans, Powder Keg of Europe
Alexander Loudon: Some Postwar Problems
1944-45
Reinhold Niebuhr: The End of an Era
Maria Osmena: The Heart of the Philippines
Frank Lloyd Wright: The Architecture of Democracy
1945-46R.V.C. Bodley: The Truth About the Arabs
Owen Lattimore: A Practicable Treatment of Japan
John Farrar: The Development of American Writing Between Two Wars
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.: The National Outlook
1946-47
Walter Duranty and Debate: Can Russia Be Part of One World?
H.R. Knickerbocker
Sumner Slichter : The Problem of Industrial Relations
Eve Curie: France in the Postwar World
1947-48
Harlow Shapley: The One World of Science
Herbert Agar: England Today
Cord Meyer, Jr.: World Federation or World War III?
1948-49
Norman Cousins: The Seige of Berlin
Robert Magidoff: Report on Russia Today
Finn Ronne: Antartica Adventure
1949-50
Mark F. Ethridge: The Middle East
Mary Garden: Music - Yesterday and Today
David E. Lilienthal: Atomic Energy for Peace
1950-51
Edith and Osbert Sitwell: Readings from Their Own Poems
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.: The Crisis of Our Time
James Michener : The Real South Pacific
1951-52
Edward Weeks: In the Editor's Chair
Jan Papanek: United Nations Report
Paul Bigelow Sears: What Kind of a Country Do We Want?
1952-53
Robert Ruark: Life Among the Curious Natives of America
Carlos Romulo: America's Stake in the Far East
Margaret Mead: Anthropology in Action
Lydia Kirk: Life in Russia Today
1953-54
Joyce Cary : A Novel as a Picture of Society
Erwin D. Canham: Business at Bat: In Washington and on Main Street
John C. Caldwell: Our Program Toward Asia
1954-55
Ruth Draper: A Program of Original Sketches
J. W. Fulbright: The United States and World Affairs
Hanson Baldwin: Danger from the East
1955-56
Henry Hull: An Evening with Mark Twain
George E. Mylonas: Mycenae. The Capital City of Agamemnon
Hans Kohn: Is Modern Western Civilization in Decline?
1956-57
Hubert W. Alyea: Atomic Energy - Weapon for Peace
Barbara Ward: The Unity of the Free World
Robert Frost: An Evening with Robert Frost
1957-58
Catherine Drinker Bowen: A Biographer Looks for News
Walter Sullivan: South Pole
Peter Viereck: The Unadjusted Man: A New Hero for Americans
1958-59
John Gielgud: The Ages of Man
K. C. Wu: An Appraisal of Red China
J. B. Glubb : The Middle East: Storm Center of the World
1959-60
Margaret Webster: An Evening with George Bernard Shaw
Madam Pandit: Eastern Ideas and Western Values
Paul Tillich: The Meaning of Health
1960-61
Dorothy Stickney: Portrait of Edna St. Vincent Millay
Anthony Wedgewood Benn: A Britisher Looks at the African Revolution
Arthur Larson: World Rule of Law
1961-62
C. P. Snow and Pamela : Personal Views of the Two Cultures
Hansford Johnson
Santha Rama Rau: New Voices of the Far East
Henry Kissinger : Strategy and Foreign Policy
1962-63
Aldous Huxley: Human Potentiality
Dexter Perkins: Reflections on the Foreign Policy of a Democracy
Cilli Wang: The World of Cilli Wang
1963-64
Terence Hanbury White: The Pleasure of Learning
Pierre Mendes-France: A Modern Conception of Democracy
Cleveland Amory: Who Killed Society?
1964-65
William Patterson: A Profile of Holmes
Alfred Kazin: The Fascination of Henry Adams
John Kenneth Galbraith: A Modern Foreign Policy
1965-66
Phillip Burton and Christian Alderson: Pageant of Kings
David Schoenbrun: The Three Lives of Charles DeGaule
Nelson Gleuck: Deities and Dolphins: The Story of the Nabataens
1966-67
William Mauldin: Political Satire and the Cartoonist
E. O. Reischauer: United States, Japan and Asia
Marietta Tree: Internationalism versus Nationalism
1967-68
Emlyn Williams: Dylan Thomas Growing Up
Henry Steele Commager: Was America a Mistake?
Malcolm Muggeridge: English and Americans
1968-69
Morris B. Abrams: The University in the Vortex
Lord Harlech: Great Decisions, 1969
Archibald MacLeish: Readings and Reflections
1969-70
Harrison Salisbury: America, Russia, China. Triple Alliance or Three-way War?
Willie Morris: The National Magazine in American Life Today
John Archibald Wheeler: A Few Glimpses of an Open World
1970-71
Lord Caradon: What Hope for Peace in the Middle East?
Rene Dubos: The Living Past
Pierre Berton: Why Canadians are Different
1971-72
Jon M. Lindbergh: The Oceans: Conservation or Exploration?
Carl M. Loeb, Jr.: Victims of Crime - All Honest Victims
Daniel Patrick Moynihan: The American Presidency
1972-73
Ross Terrill: China Today: A Firsthand Account
Barbara Ward Jackson: Basic Conditions for Tomorrow's World
Richard Wilbur: A Reading of His Poems with Commentary
1973-1974
Thomas Hoving : Present and Future Developments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Joseph C. Harsch: State of the Nations
Max Lerner and R. Buckly: Will the American Republic Survive Into the 21st Century?
1974-75
Duncan Williams: Trousered Apes: Sick Literature in a Sick Society
Dixie Lee Ray: U.S. Involvement in Science and Technology
S. Dillon Ripley: Facing Problems of the Environment
1975-76
Winston S. Churchill: The Soviet Threat in the Middle East and Western Europe
John R. Silber: Bicentennial Reflections on the No-Fault Life
Alexander Scourby: An Evening with Alexander Scourby
1976-77
Richard Adams: Education for Literature
Rosamond Bernier: Great Artists in Close-up
Willard R. Johnson: The American Stake in the Achievement of Freedom in Southern Africa
1977-78
Hedrick Smith: The Texture of Russian Life
Helmut Sonnenfelt: An Appraisal of our Foreign Policy
David Atlee Phillips: Secret Intelligence: An American Dilemma
1978-79
John Cairney: The Robert Burns Story
William H. Webster: Tasking the FBI in a Free Society
Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.: The World and Regional Tensions
1979-80
Francis Robinson: The Night the Opera Stopped
David Halberstam: The Media-ization of America
Walter Sullivan: Black Holes - The Edge of Space, The End of Time
1980-81
La Condesa de: Romanones y Quintanilla: - American Women in International Politics
Jack Reynolds: Asia Today
Daniel Bell : The U.S. in the 1980's: The Problems Ahead
1981-82
Iris Love: Archaeology Today
Alfred Kahn: Solving the Economic Issues of the Eighties
Joseph Engelberger: Robotics: An Executive Overview
1982-83
John Cairney and Alannah O'Sullivan: "Two for a Theatre"
Robert J. Ryan, Jr.: Caribbean Basin Initiative
Donald C. Johanson: In Search of Man's Origins
1983-84
Jonathan B. Gans: The Middle East
Robert Hughes: The Face of Power: Art, Politics and Propaganda
Mouza Coutelais-du-Roche Zumwalt: China Revisited
1984-85
Strobe Talbott: Nuclear Arms Control: The Current Stalemate and the Prospect for the Future
James Q. Wilson: Private Virtue and the Public Good
James S. Trefil: The Moment of Creation
1985-86
Roger Fisher: Negotiating with the Russians: What would be a Successful Summit?
Peter Eisenman: The State of Architecture
Albert Shanker: The Future of American Education: What Direction Will We Take?
1986-87
Heywood Hale Broun: The Art of Winning
Charles Murray: New Perspectives on Social Policy
Sherman Lee: The Significance of Far Eastern Art
1987-88
Michael Duffy: A Reporter in Washington: Stumbling Through the Mine Field
Lee H. Hamilton: The Iran-Contra Affair as Viewed by the Co-Chairman of the Investigative Committee
Seyned H. Nasr: The Islamic World View: Sunni and Shia
1988-89
Diana Eck: Religion at the Crossroads: The Challenge of Religious Diversity Today
Charles Kaiser: 1968 In America
Paul Goldberger: Buildings Versus Cities: The Struggle for a Sense of Place
1989-90
Howard Nemerov: A Reading of His Poems with Informal Comments
John Brooks Slaughter: Putting Integrity Back into Athletics
S. Frederick Starr: Is the Soviet Union Collapsing? If so, What Then?
1990-91
Lisbeth Schorr: The Anomaly of an American Underclass: What Can Be Done?
John Seigenthaler: Freedom of the Press: A 200 Year Old Luxury or Liability?
Helen Thomas: Watchdog at the White House: Covering Presidents from Kennedy to Bush
1991-92
Edward L. Warner III: The Disintegration of the Soviet Union: Is the Sum of the Parts Greater than the Whole?
Bernard C. Watson: Changes and Choices: Are We Prepared to Face Reality?
John E. Frohnmeyer: The War on Culture
1992-93
James O. Freedman: Higher Education and the Promise of American Life
Charlotte Ray: An Evening with Charlotte Ray
Jerrold M. Post: The Mind of the Terrorist
1993-94
Paul E. Peterson: Intergenerational Conflict: Should Children have the Right to Vote?
Anna Kisselgof: The Arts in the 21st Century
Martin Marty: Uncommon Faiths and the Common Good: Religion and American Multiculturalism Today
1994-95
Paul M. Kennedy: Reforming the United Nations: Problems and Opportunities
Patricia Neighmond: Whatever Happened to Health Care Reform? Medicine and Politics in the United States
Robert P. Kirshner: Taking the Measure of the Universe
1995-96
John Galvin: United States Strategy- -Post Cold War
Charles Gwathmey: Architecture: A Process of Discovery
David Warren: Riding the Tiger of Change
1996-97
Mark Tushnet: The First Amendment into the 21st Century
Catherine Stimpson: Who Is Creative Now?
Elizabeth Langland: Jane Austen and the Silver Screen
1997-98
Elliot Engle: The Charles Dickens We Never Knew
Charles Hermann: The Multi-Dimensional Legacy of George Bush: The Good, The Bad, and the Uncertain
Brian Urquhart: The United Nations and International Relations
1998-99
Richard Bangs: 21st Century Exploration: Worldwide Expeditions Using the Internet as Ice Axe and Paddle
Brock Evans: Squandering Our "Real" Wealth
Philip Wilcox, Jr.: Terrorism: Strategic Threat or Psycho Drama
1999-2000
Stephen Jay Gould: Charles Darwin's Revolution in Human Thought
Anthony Lewis: The Press: Friend or Foe
Judah Folkman: The Best Laid Plans of Mice for Men and Women
2000-2001
Anne Fadiman: What Kind of Reader Are You?
Jean Kirkpatrick: The Changing World: The New NATO, The Balkans and The Middle East
2001-2002
Arthur Golden: The Deception of Fiction: A Novelist's Sleight of Hand
C. J. Peters: Emerging Infections and Society: Push and Pull
General Lewis Mackenzie: Message to America: Stay Off the Front Line of Peacekeeping
2002-2003
Carl Djerassi: Sex and Fertilization: Ready for Divorce?
Judy Richardson: Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Lessons from the Civil Rights Movement
James Fallows: Iraq, What's Next?
2003-2004
Stephen Pinker: The Blank Slate, The Modern Denial of Human Nature
Henry Petroski: Success and Failure in Engineering Design
William McGlaughlin: A Tale of Two Cities: Music in New York and Paris, 1892-1929.
2004-2005
Salman Rushdie: Step Across This Line: An Evening with Salman Rusdie
Henry Greenspan: REMNANTS
Louise Leakey: Passion for Discovery: Continuing the Family Tradition
2005-2006
Spencer Wells: The Journey of Man
Siegfried Hecker: The North Korean Nuclear Crisis
Mira Nair: Between Two Worlds
2006 - 2007
Lewis Lapham: The Role of Dissent in Vital Democracies: A Historical
Perspective
Colum McCann: The Literary Journey of an International Mongrel
Wade Davis: Life at the Edge of the World
2007 - 2008
Eric Foner: The Story of American Freedom, 1776-2007
Stephen Prothero: Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know...And Doesn't
Michio Kaku: The Physics of the Impossible
2008-2009
David Brancaccio: America Now - The Longview on Politics, Culture and Business
Michael Shermer: Why People Believe Weird Things - Science, Pseudoscience and the Paranormal
Charles Wheelan: Economic Priorities of the New Presidency (or What the heck is going on?)
2009-2010
Eleanor Clift: Inside Washington: Women in Politics and the Media
Andrea Elliott: Muslims in America
Annie Griffith Belt: A Camera, Two Kids, and a Camel
2010-2011
Edward Humes: Eco Barons: The New Heroes of Environmental Activism
Lisa Shannon: A Thousand Sisters
Matt Bai: The Generational Changes in American Politics and Society: Obama and Beyond
2011 – 2012
Susan Stamberg: Why Museums Matter/Why The Arts Are Important
David Eagleman: Incognito: the Secret Lives of the Brain
James M. McPherson: When will this cruel war be over?
2012 – 2013
Laurie Garrett: Betrayal of Trust: Critical Issues in Global Health
Matt Taibbi: Griftopia: Bubble Machines,Vampire Squids, and the Long Con that is Breaking Amercia
Chris Abani: "Stories of Struggles, Stories of Hope: Art, Politics, and Human Rights"
2013-2014
Rachel Moore: Why are there no black swans?
John Hall: The Importance of being civil
Nassir Ghaemi MD MPH: Between madness and greatness
2014-2015
Benjamin Hufbauer Ph.D. America's Pyramids: Presidential libraries in the 20th and 21st centuries
Bonnie Magness-Gardiner: Missing a masterpiece?
Kenneth Feinberg: Putting a price on life
2015-2016
Bob Orr: Evolving threats to America — foreign and domestic
Denis Belliveau: On the Trail of Marco Polo
Mary Norris: Between you and me, confessions of a comma queen
2016-2017
Kevin Kallaugher: Where to Draw the Line?
Mr. Greg Lukianoff - Campus Censorship: Unlearning Liberty and Freedom
Jill Tarter: The 21st Century: The Century of Biology on Earth and Beyond
2017-2018
Greg Harris: Rock and Roll: America's Greatest Revolution
Annette Gordon Reed, Harvard Professor and Pulitzer Prize Winning Author: "Jefferson and the Hemmings."
Daryl Baldwin, Director, The Mayaamia Center: "The Miami People and Their Language, Reclaiming an Endangered Treasure."
2018-2019
Andrew Zimbalist, Chair, Smith College Economics Department: "The Economics of Collegiate Sports."
Robert Daly, Director, US China Studies, Wilson Institute: "The Future of US China Relations."
Kathy Spahn, CEO, Helen Keller International: "Be Brave: International NGOs and Healthcare."
2019-2020
Abby Smith Rumsey, Author, historian, Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program: "We Are What We Remember: Curating Memory in the Digital Age."
Laurence C. Smith, Climate scientist and Guggenheim Fellow: "The New North: The World We Are Making
Neil Bush, Chairman of Points of Light Foundation, International Businessman, son of the 41st and brother of the 43rd Presidents of the United States. Cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
2020-2021
Kathy Sullivan, Scientist, educator, astronaut. "From the Stars to the Sea: An Explorers Life."
Michael Duffy, Journalist, author, Opinions editor of the Washington Post. “What the November 3rd Election Means for Our Country.”
Lisa Funderburke Hoffman. National arts leader, Director of the Alliance of Artists Communities. "The Future of the Creative Arts in a Diverse World."
2021-2022
Amy Vitale, National Geographic photographer. "Photography of Hope."
Daniel Pink, Best-selling author. "The Science of Regret and What it Teaches Us About the Good Life."
Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Historian and author. "The Case for Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill."
2022-2023
Dr. Lonnie Thompson and Dr. Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Climate researchers, "Icy Secrets and Retreating Glaciers: Past, Present and Future Societal Impacts."
Robert Wittman, Author and former FBI agent, "The United States vs Art Thieves – True Tales from the FBI’s Real Indiana Jones."
Haben Girma, Disability justice advocate, "Haben: The first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School."
2023-2024
Anne “Dede” Neal Petri, President/CEO The Olmsted Networks. “The Genius of Place: A Look at the Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted.”
Anthony A. Jack, PhD. Harvard professor. “The Privileged Poor: How Colleges Are Failing the Disadvantaged.”
Catherine Grace Katz, Author. “The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans – Love and War.”
1920
John Drinkwater: Abraham Lincoln
Stephen Graham: The Genius of the Russian People
Hugh Walpole: Modern English Novelist
Nina Tarasova: Singing of Russian Folk Songs in Costume
1920-21
W. L. George: Love and Marriage
Herbert A. Gibbons: The Challenge to European Eminent Domain
G. K. Chesterton: The Ignorance of the Educated
Mr. and Mrs. Ongawa: Performance of Japanese Songs and Dances
'1921-22
William Beebe: Pheasant Hunting in Borneo and India
Isaac Marcosson: The World in Transition
Margot Asquith: Reminiscences of Eminent Englishmen
Bruno Roselli: Dante: A Replica of the Typical Italian
1922-23
Emma C. Ponafidine: My Experiences in Soviet Russia
Basil Thomson: My Experiences at Scotland Yard
Olivia R. Agresti: Recent Developments in European History
Ruano Boglislav: Singing of Gypsy and Hungarian Songs
1923-24
Lord Birkenhead: Reminiscences of an English Statesman
Arthur Weigal: Tutankhamen, Recent Discovery in Egypt
Henry Fairfield Osborn: Social and Racial Progress in America
J. C. Faunthorpe: Jungle Life in India
1924-25
Catherine Karoly: Hungary Yesterday and Today
Performance: Von Flotow's Opera "L'Ombre"
Andre Morize: (Unavailable)
John Cowper Powys: (Unavailable)
1925-26
Alexander Wolcott: Behind the Scenes
Manley O. Hudson: The League of Nations in 1925
Timothy Smiddy: Ideals and Activities of the Irish Free State
Thomas F. Lee: Dons, Dictators and Duenas
1926-27
Richard E. Byrd: First Flight to North Pole
Phillip Guedalla: The Political and Industrial Situation in England
Samuel Arthur King and Readings accompanied by Piano
Horace Alwyne
Michael I. Pupin: Fifty Years Progress in Electrical Communication
1927-28
Bertrand Russell: European Chaos
William Beebe: Beneath Tropic Seas
Emil Ludwig: Bismarck and the German Republic
Sherwood Picking: Submarines and Their Operation
1928-29
Arthur Compton: What Things are Made Of
Angna Enters: Episodes: A Series of Pantomines
Cornelia Otis Skinner: Character Sketches
Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey
1929-30
Grand Duke Alexander: Out of My Life
Ernest Dimnet: The Art of Thinking
Lowell Thomas: With Lawrence in Arabia and Allenby in Palestine
1930-31
Randolph Churchill: Can Youth Be Conservative?
Richard E. Byrd: The South Pole Expedition
George E. Russell (AE): Some Personalties of Modern Ireland
J. B. Priestley: An Englishman's View of Contemporary American Literature
1931-32
Rafael Sabatini: Fiction in History and History in Fiction
Oliver R. Baldwin: The Future of British Politics
Stuart Chase: The End of an Epoch?
Joseph Wood Krutch: The Modern Theatre
1932-33
Margit Bethlen: History in the Making and Personalities Who Made It
William Butler Yeats: The New Ireland
Victoria Sackville-West: Changes in English Social Life
Auguste Piccard: The World From Ten Miles Up
1933-34
Raymond Ditmars: Strange Animals I Have Known
R. D. Blumenfeld: The Destiny of America and Great Britain
Clemence Dane: Drama in Life and On the Stage
P.F.M. Fellowes: The Conquest of Everest
1934-35
Thomas Craven: Modern Art
Ernest Gruening: Democracy's Challenge to Fascism and Communism
Carl E. Guthe: The Greeks of the New World
Cyril A. Alington: The English Public Schools
1935-36
Asgeir Asgeirson: My Country (Iceland) and Its People
Paul Horgan: The Fault of Angels
Robert M. Hutchins: Education in Time of Crisis
Sarah Wambaugh: Europe, What Now?
1936-37
Andre Geraud: Can European Peace be Saved?
Gordon Enders: The Story of Tibet
Clifton Fadiman: Why Best Sellers Sell
E. M. Delafield: The Provincial Lady in Moscow
1937-38
Mai-Mai Sze: Modern Woman in China
Victor Heiser: More of an American Doctor's Odyssey
John Langdon-Davies: Behind the Spanish Barricades
Sinclair Lewis: It Has Happened Here
1938-39
Paul Van Zeeland: How Can International Disorganization Be Remedied?
Bhicoo Batlivala : Influence of the West on Ancient Indian Culture
John Gunther: Inside Europe Now
Andre Maurois: French Wit, English-American Humor
1939-40
Ernest A. Hooten: An Anthropologist Looks at the Belligerants
Alfred Duff Cooper:The Survival of Liberty
Erwin Edman: Fashions in Ideas
Hugh Gibson: An American Diplomat's Approach to Present European Problems
1940-41
H. R. Knickerbocker: At the Ringside of History
Margaret Webster: Shakespeare without Tears
William L. Shirer: German Today
Robert A. Millikan: Science and War
1941-42
Hugh R. Wilson: America's Role in the World Crisis
J. R. Ybarra: Friends and Foes in Latin America
Hallett Abend: How We Can Beat the Japanese
Margaret Bourke-White: Lenses Behind the News
1942-43
Walter Duranty: When East Meets West in Battle
Francis B. Sayre: The Road Forward
Hermann Rauschning: The Secret Aim of National Socialism
Cornelia Otis Skinner: Character Sketches
1943-44
Otto Tolischus: History in Action
Michael Karpovich: Russia and the Postwar World
Robert St. John: The Balkans, Powder Keg of Europe
Alexander Loudon: Some Postwar Problems
1944-45
Reinhold Niebuhr: The End of an Era
Maria Osmena: The Heart of the Philippines
Frank Lloyd Wright: The Architecture of Democracy
1945-46R.V.C. Bodley: The Truth About the Arabs
Owen Lattimore: A Practicable Treatment of Japan
John Farrar: The Development of American Writing Between Two Wars
Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.: The National Outlook
1946-47
Walter Duranty and Debate: Can Russia Be Part of One World?
H.R. Knickerbocker
Sumner Slichter : The Problem of Industrial Relations
Eve Curie: France in the Postwar World
1947-48
Harlow Shapley: The One World of Science
Herbert Agar: England Today
Cord Meyer, Jr.: World Federation or World War III?
1948-49
Norman Cousins: The Seige of Berlin
Robert Magidoff: Report on Russia Today
Finn Ronne: Antartica Adventure
1949-50
Mark F. Ethridge: The Middle East
Mary Garden: Music - Yesterday and Today
David E. Lilienthal: Atomic Energy for Peace
1950-51
Edith and Osbert Sitwell: Readings from Their Own Poems
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.: The Crisis of Our Time
James Michener : The Real South Pacific
1951-52
Edward Weeks: In the Editor's Chair
Jan Papanek: United Nations Report
Paul Bigelow Sears: What Kind of a Country Do We Want?
1952-53
Robert Ruark: Life Among the Curious Natives of America
Carlos Romulo: America's Stake in the Far East
Margaret Mead: Anthropology in Action
Lydia Kirk: Life in Russia Today
1953-54
Joyce Cary : A Novel as a Picture of Society
Erwin D. Canham: Business at Bat: In Washington and on Main Street
John C. Caldwell: Our Program Toward Asia
1954-55
Ruth Draper: A Program of Original Sketches
J. W. Fulbright: The United States and World Affairs
Hanson Baldwin: Danger from the East
1955-56
Henry Hull: An Evening with Mark Twain
George E. Mylonas: Mycenae. The Capital City of Agamemnon
Hans Kohn: Is Modern Western Civilization in Decline?
1956-57
Hubert W. Alyea: Atomic Energy - Weapon for Peace
Barbara Ward: The Unity of the Free World
Robert Frost: An Evening with Robert Frost
1957-58
Catherine Drinker Bowen: A Biographer Looks for News
Walter Sullivan: South Pole
Peter Viereck: The Unadjusted Man: A New Hero for Americans
1958-59
John Gielgud: The Ages of Man
K. C. Wu: An Appraisal of Red China
J. B. Glubb : The Middle East: Storm Center of the World
1959-60
Margaret Webster: An Evening with George Bernard Shaw
Madam Pandit: Eastern Ideas and Western Values
Paul Tillich: The Meaning of Health
1960-61
Dorothy Stickney: Portrait of Edna St. Vincent Millay
Anthony Wedgewood Benn: A Britisher Looks at the African Revolution
Arthur Larson: World Rule of Law
1961-62
C. P. Snow and Pamela : Personal Views of the Two Cultures
Hansford Johnson
Santha Rama Rau: New Voices of the Far East
Henry Kissinger : Strategy and Foreign Policy
1962-63
Aldous Huxley: Human Potentiality
Dexter Perkins: Reflections on the Foreign Policy of a Democracy
Cilli Wang: The World of Cilli Wang
1963-64
Terence Hanbury White: The Pleasure of Learning
Pierre Mendes-France: A Modern Conception of Democracy
Cleveland Amory: Who Killed Society?
1964-65
William Patterson: A Profile of Holmes
Alfred Kazin: The Fascination of Henry Adams
John Kenneth Galbraith: A Modern Foreign Policy
1965-66
Phillip Burton and Christian Alderson: Pageant of Kings
David Schoenbrun: The Three Lives of Charles DeGaule
Nelson Gleuck: Deities and Dolphins: The Story of the Nabataens
1966-67
William Mauldin: Political Satire and the Cartoonist
E. O. Reischauer: United States, Japan and Asia
Marietta Tree: Internationalism versus Nationalism
1967-68
Emlyn Williams: Dylan Thomas Growing Up
Henry Steele Commager: Was America a Mistake?
Malcolm Muggeridge: English and Americans
1968-69
Morris B. Abrams: The University in the Vortex
Lord Harlech: Great Decisions, 1969
Archibald MacLeish: Readings and Reflections
1969-70
Harrison Salisbury: America, Russia, China. Triple Alliance or Three-way War?
Willie Morris: The National Magazine in American Life Today
John Archibald Wheeler: A Few Glimpses of an Open World
1970-71
Lord Caradon: What Hope for Peace in the Middle East?
Rene Dubos: The Living Past
Pierre Berton: Why Canadians are Different
1971-72
Jon M. Lindbergh: The Oceans: Conservation or Exploration?
Carl M. Loeb, Jr.: Victims of Crime - All Honest Victims
Daniel Patrick Moynihan: The American Presidency
1972-73
Ross Terrill: China Today: A Firsthand Account
Barbara Ward Jackson: Basic Conditions for Tomorrow's World
Richard Wilbur: A Reading of His Poems with Commentary
1973-1974
Thomas Hoving : Present and Future Developments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Joseph C. Harsch: State of the Nations
Max Lerner and R. Buckly: Will the American Republic Survive Into the 21st Century?
1974-75
Duncan Williams: Trousered Apes: Sick Literature in a Sick Society
Dixie Lee Ray: U.S. Involvement in Science and Technology
S. Dillon Ripley: Facing Problems of the Environment
1975-76
Winston S. Churchill: The Soviet Threat in the Middle East and Western Europe
John R. Silber: Bicentennial Reflections on the No-Fault Life
Alexander Scourby: An Evening with Alexander Scourby
1976-77
Richard Adams: Education for Literature
Rosamond Bernier: Great Artists in Close-up
Willard R. Johnson: The American Stake in the Achievement of Freedom in Southern Africa
1977-78
Hedrick Smith: The Texture of Russian Life
Helmut Sonnenfelt: An Appraisal of our Foreign Policy
David Atlee Phillips: Secret Intelligence: An American Dilemma
1978-79
John Cairney: The Robert Burns Story
William H. Webster: Tasking the FBI in a Free Society
Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.: The World and Regional Tensions
1979-80
Francis Robinson: The Night the Opera Stopped
David Halberstam: The Media-ization of America
Walter Sullivan: Black Holes - The Edge of Space, The End of Time
1980-81
La Condesa de: Romanones y Quintanilla: - American Women in International Politics
Jack Reynolds: Asia Today
Daniel Bell : The U.S. in the 1980's: The Problems Ahead
1981-82
Iris Love: Archaeology Today
Alfred Kahn: Solving the Economic Issues of the Eighties
Joseph Engelberger: Robotics: An Executive Overview
1982-83
John Cairney and Alannah O'Sullivan: "Two for a Theatre"
Robert J. Ryan, Jr.: Caribbean Basin Initiative
Donald C. Johanson: In Search of Man's Origins
1983-84
Jonathan B. Gans: The Middle East
Robert Hughes: The Face of Power: Art, Politics and Propaganda
Mouza Coutelais-du-Roche Zumwalt: China Revisited
1984-85
Strobe Talbott: Nuclear Arms Control: The Current Stalemate and the Prospect for the Future
James Q. Wilson: Private Virtue and the Public Good
James S. Trefil: The Moment of Creation
1985-86
Roger Fisher: Negotiating with the Russians: What would be a Successful Summit?
Peter Eisenman: The State of Architecture
Albert Shanker: The Future of American Education: What Direction Will We Take?
1986-87
Heywood Hale Broun: The Art of Winning
Charles Murray: New Perspectives on Social Policy
Sherman Lee: The Significance of Far Eastern Art
1987-88
Michael Duffy: A Reporter in Washington: Stumbling Through the Mine Field
Lee H. Hamilton: The Iran-Contra Affair as Viewed by the Co-Chairman of the Investigative Committee
Seyned H. Nasr: The Islamic World View: Sunni and Shia
1988-89
Diana Eck: Religion at the Crossroads: The Challenge of Religious Diversity Today
Charles Kaiser: 1968 In America
Paul Goldberger: Buildings Versus Cities: The Struggle for a Sense of Place
1989-90
Howard Nemerov: A Reading of His Poems with Informal Comments
John Brooks Slaughter: Putting Integrity Back into Athletics
S. Frederick Starr: Is the Soviet Union Collapsing? If so, What Then?
1990-91
Lisbeth Schorr: The Anomaly of an American Underclass: What Can Be Done?
John Seigenthaler: Freedom of the Press: A 200 Year Old Luxury or Liability?
Helen Thomas: Watchdog at the White House: Covering Presidents from Kennedy to Bush
1991-92
Edward L. Warner III: The Disintegration of the Soviet Union: Is the Sum of the Parts Greater than the Whole?
Bernard C. Watson: Changes and Choices: Are We Prepared to Face Reality?
John E. Frohnmeyer: The War on Culture
1992-93
James O. Freedman: Higher Education and the Promise of American Life
Charlotte Ray: An Evening with Charlotte Ray
Jerrold M. Post: The Mind of the Terrorist
1993-94
Paul E. Peterson: Intergenerational Conflict: Should Children have the Right to Vote?
Anna Kisselgof: The Arts in the 21st Century
Martin Marty: Uncommon Faiths and the Common Good: Religion and American Multiculturalism Today
1994-95
Paul M. Kennedy: Reforming the United Nations: Problems and Opportunities
Patricia Neighmond: Whatever Happened to Health Care Reform? Medicine and Politics in the United States
Robert P. Kirshner: Taking the Measure of the Universe
1995-96
John Galvin: United States Strategy- -Post Cold War
Charles Gwathmey: Architecture: A Process of Discovery
David Warren: Riding the Tiger of Change
1996-97
Mark Tushnet: The First Amendment into the 21st Century
Catherine Stimpson: Who Is Creative Now?
Elizabeth Langland: Jane Austen and the Silver Screen
1997-98
Elliot Engle: The Charles Dickens We Never Knew
Charles Hermann: The Multi-Dimensional Legacy of George Bush: The Good, The Bad, and the Uncertain
Brian Urquhart: The United Nations and International Relations
1998-99
Richard Bangs: 21st Century Exploration: Worldwide Expeditions Using the Internet as Ice Axe and Paddle
Brock Evans: Squandering Our "Real" Wealth
Philip Wilcox, Jr.: Terrorism: Strategic Threat or Psycho Drama
1999-2000
Stephen Jay Gould: Charles Darwin's Revolution in Human Thought
Anthony Lewis: The Press: Friend or Foe
Judah Folkman: The Best Laid Plans of Mice for Men and Women
2000-2001
Anne Fadiman: What Kind of Reader Are You?
Jean Kirkpatrick: The Changing World: The New NATO, The Balkans and The Middle East
2001-2002
Arthur Golden: The Deception of Fiction: A Novelist's Sleight of Hand
C. J. Peters: Emerging Infections and Society: Push and Pull
General Lewis Mackenzie: Message to America: Stay Off the Front Line of Peacekeeping
2002-2003
Carl Djerassi: Sex and Fertilization: Ready for Divorce?
Judy Richardson: Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Lessons from the Civil Rights Movement
James Fallows: Iraq, What's Next?
2003-2004
Stephen Pinker: The Blank Slate, The Modern Denial of Human Nature
Henry Petroski: Success and Failure in Engineering Design
William McGlaughlin: A Tale of Two Cities: Music in New York and Paris, 1892-1929.
2004-2005
Salman Rushdie: Step Across This Line: An Evening with Salman Rusdie
Henry Greenspan: REMNANTS
Louise Leakey: Passion for Discovery: Continuing the Family Tradition
2005-2006
Spencer Wells: The Journey of Man
Siegfried Hecker: The North Korean Nuclear Crisis
Mira Nair: Between Two Worlds
2006 - 2007
Lewis Lapham: The Role of Dissent in Vital Democracies: A Historical
Perspective
Colum McCann: The Literary Journey of an International Mongrel
Wade Davis: Life at the Edge of the World
2007 - 2008
Eric Foner: The Story of American Freedom, 1776-2007
Stephen Prothero: Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know...And Doesn't
Michio Kaku: The Physics of the Impossible
2008-2009
David Brancaccio: America Now - The Longview on Politics, Culture and Business
Michael Shermer: Why People Believe Weird Things - Science, Pseudoscience and the Paranormal
Charles Wheelan: Economic Priorities of the New Presidency (or What the heck is going on?)
2009-2010
Eleanor Clift: Inside Washington: Women in Politics and the Media
Andrea Elliott: Muslims in America
Annie Griffith Belt: A Camera, Two Kids, and a Camel
2010-2011
Edward Humes: Eco Barons: The New Heroes of Environmental Activism
Lisa Shannon: A Thousand Sisters
Matt Bai: The Generational Changes in American Politics and Society: Obama and Beyond
2011 – 2012
Susan Stamberg: Why Museums Matter/Why The Arts Are Important
David Eagleman: Incognito: the Secret Lives of the Brain
James M. McPherson: When will this cruel war be over?
2012 – 2013
Laurie Garrett: Betrayal of Trust: Critical Issues in Global Health
Matt Taibbi: Griftopia: Bubble Machines,Vampire Squids, and the Long Con that is Breaking Amercia
Chris Abani: "Stories of Struggles, Stories of Hope: Art, Politics, and Human Rights"
2013-2014
Rachel Moore: Why are there no black swans?
John Hall: The Importance of being civil
Nassir Ghaemi MD MPH: Between madness and greatness
2014-2015
Benjamin Hufbauer Ph.D. America's Pyramids: Presidential libraries in the 20th and 21st centuries
Bonnie Magness-Gardiner: Missing a masterpiece?
Kenneth Feinberg: Putting a price on life
2015-2016
Bob Orr: Evolving threats to America — foreign and domestic
Denis Belliveau: On the Trail of Marco Polo
Mary Norris: Between you and me, confessions of a comma queen
2016-2017
Kevin Kallaugher: Where to Draw the Line?
Mr. Greg Lukianoff - Campus Censorship: Unlearning Liberty and Freedom
Jill Tarter: The 21st Century: The Century of Biology on Earth and Beyond
2017-2018
Greg Harris: Rock and Roll: America's Greatest Revolution
Annette Gordon Reed, Harvard Professor and Pulitzer Prize Winning Author: "Jefferson and the Hemmings."
Daryl Baldwin, Director, The Mayaamia Center: "The Miami People and Their Language, Reclaiming an Endangered Treasure."
2018-2019
Andrew Zimbalist, Chair, Smith College Economics Department: "The Economics of Collegiate Sports."
Robert Daly, Director, US China Studies, Wilson Institute: "The Future of US China Relations."
Kathy Spahn, CEO, Helen Keller International: "Be Brave: International NGOs and Healthcare."
2019-2020
Abby Smith Rumsey, Author, historian, Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program: "We Are What We Remember: Curating Memory in the Digital Age."
Laurence C. Smith, Climate scientist and Guggenheim Fellow: "The New North: The World We Are Making
Neil Bush, Chairman of Points of Light Foundation, International Businessman, son of the 41st and brother of the 43rd Presidents of the United States. Cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
2020-2021
Kathy Sullivan, Scientist, educator, astronaut. "From the Stars to the Sea: An Explorers Life."
Michael Duffy, Journalist, author, Opinions editor of the Washington Post. “What the November 3rd Election Means for Our Country.”
Lisa Funderburke Hoffman. National arts leader, Director of the Alliance of Artists Communities. "The Future of the Creative Arts in a Diverse World."
2021-2022
Amy Vitale, National Geographic photographer. "Photography of Hope."
Daniel Pink, Best-selling author. "The Science of Regret and What it Teaches Us About the Good Life."
Erica Armstrong Dunbar, Historian and author. "The Case for Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill."
2022-2023
Dr. Lonnie Thompson and Dr. Ellen Mosley-Thompson, Climate researchers, "Icy Secrets and Retreating Glaciers: Past, Present and Future Societal Impacts."
Robert Wittman, Author and former FBI agent, "The United States vs Art Thieves – True Tales from the FBI’s Real Indiana Jones."
Haben Girma, Disability justice advocate, "Haben: The first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School."
2023-2024
Anne “Dede” Neal Petri, President/CEO The Olmsted Networks. “The Genius of Place: A Look at the Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted.”
Anthony A. Jack, PhD. Harvard professor. “The Privileged Poor: How Colleges Are Failing the Disadvantaged.”
Catherine Grace Katz, Author. “The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans – Love and War.”