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Only a Handful of Knight Stage Packages Left For Season 9

There are only a handful of Knight Stage ticket packages remaining for Newsmakers season 9.  Call (925) 934-SHOW to get in on the action, and go to http://www.lesherspeakerseries.org/ for more information on next year's lineup.




Captain Mark KellyDavid GergenCondoleezza RiceLara LoganBilly Beane & Paul DepodestaJames Bradley

Newsmakers Season 9 General On-Sale Tomorrow (May 8)--Limited Number of Knight Stage Tickets Available

General ticket sales for Season 9 of the Lesher Speaker Series will be tomorrow, May 8.  The Walk-up sales start at 11:00 AM and phone sales begin an noon at the Lesher Center Box Office

There is only availability for the Knight Stage packages.  This package is $180, and will get you a seat in the Knight Stage 3 Theater inside the Lesher Center, downstairs from the Hofmann Theater where the lectures take place. All six programs will be broadcast live in the Knight Theater, where subscribers have dedicated ushers, and the same opportunity to submit questions as the Hofmann audience. Knight subscribers will also have the first opportunity to upgrade for seating in the Hofmann Theater the following Newsmakers season. 

Go to http://www.lesherspeakerseries.org/ for more information on next year's lineup.




Captain Mark KellyDavid GergenCondoleezza RiceLara LoganBilly Beane & Paul DepodestaJames Bradley

Newsmaker Gingrich Does Post-Campaign Interview with Newsmaker Schieffer

In one of his first major interviews since dropping out of the presidential race, past Newsmakers guest Newt Gringrich took to the Sunday airwaves where he was interviewed by another Lesher Speaker Series alum, CBS' Bob Schieffer.  See the link below to view the interview from this morning's edition of Face the Nation.


Schieffer interviews Gingrich on Face the Nation
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3460_162-57428719/gingrich-inconceivable-romney-would-pick-me-as-vp/?tag=morningLeadStoriesAreaMain;ftnLeadHero

Newsmaker Erin Brockovich Featured in New Water Quality Movie--Read LA Times Interview

The print edition of tomorrow's Los Angeles Times will feature the attached interview with former Lesher Speaker Series guest, Erin Brockovich.  The environmental activist and movie namesake is featured in a new documentary about water quality.  See link below.

Erin Brockovich


LA Times interview with Erin Brockovich
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-conversation-20120506,0,4079452.story

Newsmaker Bob Woodward Denies Watergate Exaggeration Claim by Colleague

Watergate is the story I am convinced will never die.  Our Newsmakers friend Bob Woodward-- who along with fellow Lesher Speaker Series alum Carl Bernstein became famous for their coverage of the presidential scandal-- is in the eye of the Watergate storm himself this week.  Jeff Himmelman, with whom Woodward has collaborated for some of his books, wrote a piece for New York Magazine about his review of Ben Bradlee's Watergate files and a conversation with the former Washington Post editor in which he reportedly expressed his fear that Woodward had exaggerated parts of the Watergate drama, specifically as they related to his interactions with Mark "Deep Throat" Felt.  Newsmakers subscribers will recall that Woodward and Bernstein met with Felt in Santa Rosa the day before their visit to Walnut Creek. For his part, Woodward vehemently disputes Himmelman's story and the two are in something of a public media spat.  See Himmelman's NY Magazine story below along with a piece about the feud from the Huffington Post.


Jeff Himmelman's feature in New York Magazine about Woodward and Bradlee
http://nymag.com/print/?/news/features/ben-bradlee-2012-5/index3.html

Huffington Post on the Woodward/Bradlee contrvosery
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/30/bob-woodward-watergate-bradlee_n_1464097.html

Newsmaker Newt Calls it Quits

Our Newsmakers friend Newt Gingrich made official yesterday what many knew for a long time, that he would be dropping out of the presidential race.  The former Speaker's campaign was a rollercoaster (and often a punchline), and pundits smarter than this author can debate the impact he had.  I think whatever his faults, one lesson of the Gingrich campaign is that debates can still matter.  His resources and organization paled in comparison to Mitt Romney, and yet there was a period where Gingrich went toe-to-toe with the GOP frontrunner.  Whatever money and organization Gingrich was able to generate was based almost entirely on his debate performance, where even those who disagree with him concede that he shines. 

So whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, a Newt hater or Newt lover, there is at least one conclusion that can be drawn from his candidacy that is in keeping with the spirit of the Lesher Speaker Series.  That is, even in the age of Facebook and Superpacs, debate and discourse still mean something. 

Best of luck to Speaker Gingrich on his next endeavor.  Read more about his campaign announcement in the link below from ABC.



ABC on Gingrich dropping out
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/gingrich-releases-campaign-suspension-video/

Newsmaker Doris Kearns Goodwin in Poker Movie

Our Newsmakers friend Doris Kearns Goodwin is popping up in a place that is perhaps unexpected, a documentary film about the poker craze.  Dr. Goodwin appears in the movie All In along with Matt Damon and other notables who enjoy the game.  Who knew?  See link below to read more about the movie from the International Business Times.


International Business Times on All In poker movie
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/331596/20120422/poker-movie-gambling-douglas-t.htm

Newsmaker Lesley Stahl's Special Piece on the CIA and Interrogation From Last Night's "60 Minutes"

Our Newsmakers friend Lesley Stahl did an extended piece on 60 Minutes last night about the CIA and so-called "advanced interrogation" tactics in the War on Terror.  It was a provocative interview with a former CIA clandestine operations head that took up two of the show's usual 3 segments.  The piece explores the line between interrogation and torture and the complexities of how we defend a freedom-based society using techniques that may not be in keeping with our national values.  See link below.


Lesley Stahl's 60 Minutes piece on the CIA and interrogation
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57423533/hard-measures-ex-cia-head-defends-post-9-11-tactics/?tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel

Newsmaker Cal Ripken Partners With Energizer for Habitat for Humanity

Our Newsmakers friend Cal Ripken Jr. is partnering with the Energizer Battery Co. to do a series of Habitat for Humanity projects.  Ripken is not only one of the great ambassadors of our national pastime, but one of sports' great philanthropists.  See item below from PR newswire.  Nice story for a pretty Sunday. You go, Cal. 


PR Newswire on Ripken's partnership with Energizer
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cal-ripken-jr-and-energizer-go-to-bat-for-neighborhoods-in-need-celebrate-national-partnership-with-habitat-for-humanity-149076515.html

Newsmaker Peter Bergen Releases New Book on Bin Laden

Our Newsmakers friend, CNN terrorism expert Pete Bergen, has released his long anticipated book about the capture of Osama Bin Laden.  Bergen, who did a famous interview with Bin Laden, is perhaps the foremost expert on the world's most famous terrorist.  Read more about Man Hunt, The Ten Year Search for Bin Laden From 9/11 to Abbotabad in the link below from the Huffington Post.


Huffington Post on Bergen's new book
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/27/manhunt-peter-bergen-osama-bin-laden_n_1460069.html
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