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Listening to the Twentieth Century

New Yorker music critic Alex Ross analyzed 20th century music to write The Rest Is Noise, discovering some unexpected connections along the way. He explains the links between “West Side Story” and Arnold Schoenberg, and finds corresponding sounds in the music of Jean Sibelius and John Coltrane.

Purchase The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century at amazon.com.

Events: Alex Ross will be a guest for The Blue Notebooks Interviews series
Monday, October 29 at 8 pm
Columbia University,
Morningside Campus, Schermerhorn 501
For more information, email Linden Park at lp2196@columbia.edu or click here.

Alex Ross will take part in
An Evening of Spooky Modern Music
Tuesday, October 30 at 10 pm
The Paris Bar at the National Arts Club
15 Gramercy Park North
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online here.

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A Two-Sided Look at the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

In 2002, a female Israeli student died alongside her attacker, a female Palestinian suicide bomber, in a Jerusalem market. The suicide bomb triggered worldwide attention because the two girls bore an uncanny resemblance to each other. Hilla Medalia, the director of a new documentary, “To Die in Jerusalem”, talks about how one mother journeyed to find the mother of her daughter’s killer, and the deep roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

”To Die in Jerusalem” debuts exclusively on HBO: Thursday, November 1 at 9pm. To learn more about the documentary and future airdates, visit the HBO website.

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The Zookeeper Who Saved Human Lives

During World War II, director of the Warsaw Zoo Jan Zabinski and his wife Antonia managed to turn their Nazi-bombed park into a lifesaving shelter for around 300 Jews and Polish resistance fighters. Diane Ackerman reconstructs their remarkable story in The Zookeeper’s Wife, a vivid historical account based on Antonina's diaries as well as Ackerman's own research in Poland.

Purchase The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story at amazon.com.

Event: Diane Ackerman will be speaking
Monday, October 29 at 7:30 pm
The 92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Avenue, at 92nd Street Y
For tickets, visit the 92nd Street Y website or call 212-415-5500.

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The History of Whaling in America

Eric Jay Dolin's Leviathan is an epic history of the American whaling industry, once a hugely significant part of our national economy, tracing the trade from its peak in the mid-18th century through its decline in the 1870s.

Purchase Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America at amazon.com.

Events: Eric Jay Dolin will be speaking
Tuesday, October 30 at 7 pm
The American Museum of Natural History
79th Street and Central Park West
For tickets, visit the AMNH website.

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Sir David Frost on Richard Nixon

British television host Sir David Frost landed the biggest interview of the 1970s when former president Richard Nixon agreed to sit down for four wide-ranging interviews. The story of what happened behind the scenes was brought to the Broadway stage last year, and now the man who asked the questions is telling it in his own words in Frost/Nixon.

Purchase Frost/Nixon: Behind the Scenes of the Nixon Interviews at amazon.com.

Listen to Leonard's interview with Frank Langella, star of Frost/Nixon on Broadway, here.

Listen to Leonard's interview with James Reston, Jr., a producer of the Frost/Nixon interviews, here.

Event: David Frost will be speaking and signing books
Monday, October 29 at 7 pm
Union Square Barnes & Noble

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