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This recording is presented in partnership by Princeton Public Library and Princeton Federal Credit and Labyrinth Books. The author presents and discusses his collection, "And to Think We Started as a Book Club..."

About the book (from the publisher):
What can Leonardo DiCaprio, Bernie Sanders, Greta Thunberg, and Elon Musk all agree on? That Tom Toro's cartoons belong in their social media feeds. Now, with this debut collection by one of The New Yorker's contemporary stars, everybody can enjoy the timeless witticism and thigh-slapping wisecracks of Toro's cartoons without needing to go online.

In Tom Toro's hilarious world, the Grim Reaper binges television while Superman shops for health insurance. The collection features original chapter art that sets the perfect tone for these brilliant cartoons and what they reveal about the absurdity of modern life, all drawn in the author's wry and winsome style

Showcasing hundreds of Toro's greatest hits from his fifteen-year career at the New Yorker, as well as previously unpublished cartoons that we shouldn't shy from calling "undiscovered masterpieces," this book is sure to delight readers—if not outright corrupt them.

In conversation:
Tom Toro is a cartoonist and award-winning children's book author & illustrator whose work has been a popular feature of the New Yorker for over a decade. His drawings also have appeared in the New York Times, Playboy, the Paris Review, and many other publications. He is the creator of the comic strip Home Free with Andrews McMeel. Tom’s books include "How to Potty Train Your Porcupine," "A User's Guide to Democracy," "I'm Terrified of Bath Time" and "Back to School, Backpack!" in collaboration with Simon Rich, and "Tiny Hands." "I'm Terrified of Bath Time" is the recipient of the 2023 Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award and the 2024 Kentucky Bluegrass Award.

Tom was a finalist for the 2019 and 2022 Reuben awards for gag cartoonist of the year. He serves as the current chair of the Northwest Chapter of the National Cartoonist Society. Tom has been profiled by NPR, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Huffington Post. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, kid and cats.

Patrick McDonnell is the creator of the award-winning, beloved comic strip MUTTS, celebrated internationally for its artistic excellence and advocacy for animal welfare. Charles Schulz called it "one of the best comic strips of all time." Patrick’s love for storytelling also extends to children’s literature. His books include the Caldecott Honor-winning "Me...Jane" (a biography of Jane Goodall) and "The Gift of Nothing," both New York Times bestsellers. These books have both been adapted for the stage at the Kennedy Center.

In 2024, Patrick released "Breaking the Chain: The Guard Dog Story," inspired by one of the most newsworthy and poignant storylines in MUTTS. Patrick has also collaborated with "His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Heart to Heart," a book about the environment, animals, and compassion; with Eckhart Tolle on "Guardians of Being;" and with poet Daniel Ladinsky on "Darling I Love You," a book of haikus centered on the MUTTS characters. "The Super Hero's Journey," inspired by Patrick’s childhood and his love for the Marvel super heroes, was released in 2023 and was honored to be on 11 lists for best graphic novels of the year. His large-scale paintings have been exhibited in solo painting shows such as "Side Effects: Paintings by Patrick McDonnell" and "The Super Hero’s Journey," which have been showcased at Ohio State University’s Urban Arts Space and the Arts Council of Princeton, respectively.

This event was recorded on December 07, 2025.

This recording is presented by Princeton Public Library. The author is joined by Amy Jo Burns to discuss her most recent release, "The Sequel," which continues the story begun in her 2021 novel "The Plot." Book signing to follow.

About the Book (from the publisher):
Anna Williams-Bonner has taken care of business. That is to say, she’s taken care of her husband, bestselling novelist Jacob Finch Bonner, and laid to rest those anonymous accusations of plagiarism that so tormented him. Now she is living the contented life of a literary widow, enjoying her husband’s royalty checks in perpetuity, but for the second time in her life, a work of fiction intercedes, and this time it’s her own debut novel, The Afterword. After all, how hard can it really be to write a universally lauded bestseller?

But when Anna publishes her book and indulges in her own literary acclaim, she begins to receive excerpts of a novel she never expected to see again, a novel that should no longer exist. That it does means something has gone very wrong, and someone out there knows far too much: about her late brother, her late husband, and just possibly… Anna, herself. What does this person want and what are they prepared to do? She has come too far, and worked too hard, to lose what she values most: the sole and uncontested right to her own story. And she is, by any standard, a master storyteller.

About the Author:
Jean Hanff Korelitz is the author of nine novels, including "The Sequel," "The Latecomer," and "The Plot" (the latter two in development for film or limited series), "You Should Have Known" (adapted as HBO’s 2020 limited series, "The Undoing," by David E. Kelley and starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant) and "Admission" (basis for the 2013 film starring Tina Fey). "The Plot" was featured on The Tonight Show as the Fallon Summer Reads 2021 pick. She lives in New York City with her husband, Irish poet Paul Muldoon.

About the Moderator:
Amy Jo Burns is the author of the memoir "Cinderland" and the novel "Shiner," which was a Barnes & Noble Discover Pick and an NPR Best Book of the year. Her latest novel, "Mercury," is a Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick, a Book of the Month Pick, a People Magazine Book of the Week, and an Editor’s Choice selection in The New York Times. Amy Jo’s next novel, "Wait for Me," is coming March 3, 2026. You can find her on Instagram at @burnsamyjo.

This event was recorded on November 20, 2025.

This recording is presented in partnership by Princeton Public Library and Princeton University Press and the Princeton Environmental Film Festival.

The author discusses her book, "Reefs of Time: What Fossils Reveal about Coral Survival" at this special event of the Princeton Environmental Film Festival.

About the Book (from the publisher):
With rising global temperatures, pollution, overfishing, ocean acidification, and other problems caused by humans, there’s no question that today’s coral reefs are in trouble. As predictions about the future of these ecosystems grow increasingly dire, scientists are looking in an unlikely place for new ways to save corals: the past. The reefs of yesteryear faced challenges too, from changing sea level to temperature shifts, and understanding how they survived and when they faltered can help guide our efforts to help ensure a future for reefs.

Lisa Gardiner weaves together the latest cutting-edge science with stories of her expeditions to tropical locales to show how fossils and other reef remains offer tantalizing glimpses of how corals persisted through time, and how this knowledge can guide our efforts to ensure a future for these remarkable organisms. Gardiner takes readers on an excursion into “the shallow end of deep time”—when marine life was much like today’s yet unaffected by human influence—to explore the cities of fossilized limestone left behind by corals and other reef life millennia ago. The changes in reefs today are unlike anything ever seen before, but the fossil record offers hope that the coral reefs of tomorrow can weather the environmental challenges that lie ahead.

A breathtaking journey of scientific discovery, Reefs of Time reveals how lessons from the past can help us to chart a path forward for coral reefs struggling for survival in an age of climate crisis and mass extinction.

Dr. Lisa S. Gardiner is a science writer, educator, scientist, and speaker. Her second nonfiction book, Reefs of Time: What Fossils Reveal about Coral Survival, is now available. She’s also the author of the award-winning book, Tales from an Uncertain World: What Other Assorted Disasters Can Teach Us About Climate Change.

Lisa aims to help curious readers learn how our planet works and how our actions affect climate, oceans, and ecosystems. In addition to writing, she teaches workshops and works with science education projects to create tools for learning such as curriculum and museum exhibits. She has developed graphics for exhibits, illustrations for books, and science comics. Before moving to freelancing, Lisa led a team at the UCAR Center for Science Education where she managed projects funded by the National Science Foundation, NOAA, and NASA.

She holds a PhD in geoscience (with a focus on paleoecology) from the University of Georgia, an MFA in nonfiction writing from Goucher College, and an BA in geology and marine science from Smith College.

This event was recorded on November 18, 2025.

This recording is presented in partnership by Princeton Public Library and the West Windsor Arts.

In her memoir, "Austrian Again: Reclaiming a Lost Legacy," Anne Hand recounts her family's untold Holocaust story. Timothy Nelson joins her for a conversation about identity and reclaiming lost roots.

About the Book (from the publisher):
In this captivating memoir, the author embarks on a deeply personal journey to uncover her family's hidden history during the Holocaust while pursuing Austrian citizenship. As Austria opens the door to reparation citizenship for descendants of those victimized by the Nazi and Austrofascist regimes, Anne digs through fragments of family stories and documents to trace her Austrian and Czechoslovakian roots. Through her search, she pieces together the story her ancestors withheld from their children after World War II, while reflecting on identity, migration, and heritage.

Navigating the bureaucratic process of gaining citizenship, this journey becomes much more than just a legal pursuit. It transforms into a reflection on memory, loss, and resilience, culminating in the celebration of legacies both long buried and still cherished. Along the way, she confronts the silences and gaps in her family's past, grappling with the weight of history and its impact on future generations. This story is a heartfelt meditation on the intersection of personal and shared history, and a joyful tribute to the power of remembering and belonging.

This memoir is a timely, thoughtful exploration of what it means to reclaim a lost heritage and gain a new place in today's world.

About the Author:
Anne Hand was born in 1985 in New York. Her grandmother was a librarian, and she grew up attached to the power of the written word. Her love of books and the worlds they transported her to have always fueled her desire to make change in the world. Anne has spent her career blending research, policy, and practice to create social impact across the Americas and beyond. She is a recognized expert in global education and development, frequently publishing on topics related to technology and social impact. She holds a B.Sc. from McGill University and an Ed.M. from Harvard University.

About the Moderator:
Dr. Timothy Nelson is a Lecturer in Sociology and Public Policy at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. He is the author of numerous articles and books on poverty and low-income fathers, most notably "Doing the best I can: Fatherhood in the inner city" with Dr. Kathryn Edin, and has explored the role of religious faith in public life. He previously held academic roles at Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University.

This event was recorded on November 12, 2025.

This recording is presented by Princeton Public Library. Fara Dabhoiwala, joined in conversation by Jane Manners, presents his new book, "What is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea." Registration requested, but not required.

About the book (from the publisher):
Every premodern society, from Sumeria to China to seventeenth–century Europe, knew that bad words could destroy lives, undermine social order, and create political unrest. Given the obvious dangers of outspokenness, regulating speech and print was universally accepted as a necessary and proper activity of government. Only in the early 1700s did this old way begin to break down. In a brief span of time, the freedom to use words as one pleased was reimagined as an ideal to be held and defended in common.

Fara Dabhoiwala explores the surprising paths free speech has taken across the globe since its invention three hundred years ago. Though free speech has become a central democratic principle, its origins and evolution have less to do with the high-minded pursuit of liberty and truth than with the self-interest of the wealthy, the greedy, and the powerful. Free speech, as we know it, is a product of the pursuit of profit, of technological disruption, of racial and imperial hypocrisy, and of the contradictions involved in maintaining openness while suppressing falsehood. For centuries, its shape has everywhere been influenced by international, not just national, events; nowhere has it ever been equally available to women, the colonized, or those stigmatized as racially inferior.

Rejecting platitudes about the First Amendment and its international equivalents, and leaving no ideological position undisturbed, "What Is Free Speech?" is the unsettling history of an ideal as cherished as it is misunderstood.

In Conversation:
Fara Dabhoiwala is Senior Research Scholar at Princeton University and author of "The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution." Formerly on faculty at the University of Oxford, he is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, All Souls College, and Exeter College.

Jane Manners is an associate professor at Fordham Law and a legal historian who teaches Torts, Legislation and Regulation, and American Legal History. Her scholarship centers on 19th Century constitutional history, specifically focusing on congressional and presidential powers. She has written on the development of congressional petitioning, early American understandings of the president’s war powers, and the evolution of laws governing officer removal. Her scholarship has appeared in both the Fordham Law Review and the Columbia Law Review, among other publications. Prior to joining Fordham Law, she was an assistant professor at Temple University and served as a fellow at New York University School of Law, Columbia Law School, and The New York Historical. Manners earned her J.D. and B.A. from Harvard University, and she holds a Ph.D. in American history from Princeton University. She clerked for Chief Judge Mark L. Wolf of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. In 2023-24 she was a visiting research scholar and UCHV Fellow in Law, Ethics, and Public Policy at Princeton University's University Center for Human Values.

Presented with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this programming do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This event was recorded on November 19, 2025.

This recording is presented in partnership by Princeton Public Library and Princeton Symphony Orchestra.

Storyteller Maria LoBiondo offers a retelling of the classic myth and invites you to explore its meaning as a preview to PSO's upcoming performance of Dobrinka Tabakova's "Orpheus' Comet."

The Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, famously rendered by the Roman poet Virgil, is one of the most enduring in the Western canon — as full of inspiration today as it was centuries ago. Artists, writers, playwrights, and composers have kept the tragic tale alive through countless reimaginings.

About the presenter: Storyteller Maria LoBiondo delights in sharing the old tales — myths, folk and fairy tales — with listeners of all ages in classrooms, libraries, religious settings, and festivals. She believes these stories create a world of their own as they unfold in the telling, connecting us with previous generations and with each other today. Her engaging style and lively expressions have enchanted listeners for more than 30 years.

This event was recorded on October 22 2025.