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Lost Boy

The Mormon splinter group, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FDLS) and their leader Warren Jeffs have been in the news lately for practicing polygamy. But in his memoir Lost Boy, one of Jeffs' nephews, Brent Jeffs, reveals the harsh treatment boys receive in the FDLS compound.

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The Food of a Younger Land

The Federal Writers' Project in the 1930’s was part of FDR’s efforts under the New Deal to provide work for authors and artists. Under the program a number of writers were dispatched all across America to chonricle of lifestyles and traditions of local people, including cuisine. Mark Kurlansky looks at this forgotten literary treasure, and American food before highways and chain restaurants, in his book The Food of a Younger Land.

Event: Mark Kurlansky will be reading and signing books
Thursday, May 21, at 7:00 pm
Barnes & Noble Tribeca
97 Warren Street, at Greenwich Street

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Rare Wines

In 1985 a member of the Forbes family spent $156,000 on a bottle of wine allegedly owned by Thomas Jefferson that was unearthed in a bricked-up Paris cellar. Journalist Benjamin Wallace looks into the story of the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold and at the bizarre and mirage-like world of rare wines in his book The Billionaire's Vinegar.

Event: Benjamin Wallace will be in discussion with David Kamp and David Lynch, co-authors of The Wine Snob’s Dictionary, and Michael Steinberger, Slate’s wine columnist and author of the forthcoming book, Au Revoir to All That. There will also be a wine tasting provided by Blanc et Rouge and Jenny & Francois Selections.
Thursday, May 21st, at 7:00 pm
powerHouse Arena
37 Main Street
Brooklyn

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The State of Afghanistan

Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan in 2002, and he served as a deputy governor of two provinces in southern Iraq in 2004. Last year he was appointed Ryan Professor of Human Rights at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard Kennedy School's Carr Center for Human Right Policy. He discusses his work in Afghanistan--he is CEO of the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, a charitable organization in Kabul--as well as the current state of the country.

He was on the Leonard Lopate Show in August 2006 to discuss his book The Prince of the Marshes. You can listen to that interview here.

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