An active and engaging lecturer, Adam loves speaking to a wide range of audiences at venues around the world. For more information, please contact:
Anya Backlund, Blue Flower Arts
anya@blueflowerarts.com
"On Winter" - Aspen Words
March 21, 2017: Adam spoke at the Winter Words author series on three different topics: the evolution of winter sports, the localism phenomenon, and a chapter from his book-in-progress, "At the Stranger's Gate." Watch the full lecture here.
"Play the Game" - La Ciudad de las Ideas
February 8, 2017: Which are the basic paradigms of our modern society? Adam considers the precariousness of cosmopolitan civilization and liberalism. Watch the lecture here.
"City Rhythms, City Rules" - The Municipal Art Society of New York
November, 2016: Adam delivers keynote speech at the MAS Summit 2016. Watch the full lecture here.
LOOK 2016- Contemporary Calgary
November 29, 2016: In a keynote conversation at LOOK 2016, Steve Martin and Adam talk about the art of our times. Watch the full conversation here.
"Jane Jacobs Centennial Lecture" - The Center of the Living City
September 28, 2016: Adam delivers the keynote at the The Center of the Living City. Watch the full lecture here.
"On Vincent Van Gogh"- The Art Institute of Chicago
May 5, 2016: Adam gives a lecture on Van Gogh’s art, life, and legacy. Watch the full lecture here.
Galileo – Shakespeare Project – The Montesquieu Forum at Roosevelt University
November 13, 2014: Adam gives the opening lecture of the Galileo-Shakespeare Project, talking about The Humanities as the Foundation of the Sciences. Watch the full lecture here.
"On The Brink: 1914 A Century Later" – Minneapolis Institute of Arts
October 9, 2014: In 1914, Europe was on the brink of committing suicide. In this lecture, Adam examines the ways in which the modernist movement–at its apogee of innovation in literature, visual arts, and music–was reshaped and destroyed by the Great War. Watch the full lecture here.
"Camus and Algeria" – Boston College
November 25, 2013: Adam delivers the keynote address on Albert Camus and Algeria at The Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy. Watch the full lecture here.
"The Real Work" – Stanford University
November 8, 2013: As an ESF Guest Lecturer, Adam talks to students about his own adventures in the farther shores of mid-life mastery--learning card magic, life drawing, dog-raising, bread-baking--about what accomplishments are, how they differ from achievements, and why we need them. Watch the full lecture here.
"The Morning Star is the Evening Star" – TVO Big Ideas
July 13, 2012: Adam discusses W. H. Auden, William Emerson and Lewis Carol, illuminating the relationship between Christian writers and liberal readers. Watch the full lecture here.
"Museums, Children, and Meaning" – The Portland Art Museum
March 20, 2012: Adam offers a discussion about parenting, art, and the role of museums. Watch the full lecture here.
The Smithsonian Institute
October 10, 2012: A participant in the Clarice Smith Distinguished Lecture Series, Adam talks about what makes American art "American." Watch the full lecture here.
New York Academy of Art
October 3, 2011: Adam talks to an audience about doing things and doubting things and his own experience trying to master the art of life drawing. Watch the full lecture here.
"The Rituals of Taste" – Key West Literary Seminar
June 10, 2011: Adam explores the role of food in literature. A tour-de-force disquisition, Gopnik’s talk centers on two ideas of taste: one, the way a thing tastes in the mouth; and two, “taste” as an indicator of cultural sensibility. Listen to the full lecture here.
City Arts and Lectures
January 26, 2009: Adam presents his book Angels and Ages and sits down with Brian Gruber to trace the influence of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwinin modern times. Watch the full conversation here.
