92NY Talks

"Tell me about a complicated man."
So begins Emily Wilson's contemporary translation of Homer's Odyssey — establishing her as the definitive Homeric translator of our time and radically transforming how we understand a cornerstone of western literature. As The Odyssey enters the pop cultural arena this summer via Christopher Nolan's big-screen adaptation — a film inspired by Wilson's translation — she joins us for a conversation about why the The Odyssey has endured for nearly 3,000 years.
In the first English translation of The Odyssey by a woman, written in a vivid contemporary idiom, Wilson captures the beauty and enchantment of Homer's poem without poeticizing its carnage — a profound reflection on violence, marriage, and family. Nearly a decade after that translation gave Homer "a radically contemporary voice" (The New York Times Magazine), and nearly three millennia after it was originally composed, The Odyssey remains shockingly relevant.
In this conversation with the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Sarah Ruhl, whose work is profoundly influenced by Greek myth and famously modernized Eurydice for the stage, Wilson asks: what can a story about travelers and the aftermath of war tell us about our own world in an era of mass migration, riven by military and political conflict? What can this epic of a "complicated man" reveal to us about contemporary masculinity and violence? In a nation rooted in myths of rugged individualism and sacred homeland, how does The Odyssey hold up a mirror to American life?
Hear Wilson and Ruhl discuss The Odyssey's circuitous path through the waters of Western culture — from ancient song to modern verse to Hollywood. Find out how this archaic text, in the hands of a master translator, can offer a startling vision of how we live today.
"Wilson's language is fresh, unpretentious and lean… It is rare to find a translation that is at once so effortlessly easy to read and so rigorously considered." ― Madeline Miller

Join us for a candid conversation with former First Lady Jill Biden about her life in the White House during a singular moment in US history — and her new memoir, View from the East Wing. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the shadow of the January 6 insurrection, Joe and Jill Biden arrived at the White House for one of the most complicated periods in recent American memory. A tireless advocate for women's health initiatives, military families, cancer prevention, and education, Dr. Biden also made history as the only First Lady to hold a career outside the East Wing as a community college professor. Now, in her new memoir, she reveals her experience of these deeply consequential four years for the first time — before, during, and after the unexpected ending to her husband's bid for re-election, setting the record straight and sharing her story in her own words. In her first live NYC interview, Biden tells her story — the unprecedented pressures of balancing the duties of the First Lady with her role in her family, behind the scenes stories from Camp David and Air Force One, how the Biden presidency changed the nation, what she saw leading up to President Biden's decision to drop out of the 2024 election, her unwavering faith in democracy and the American experiment, and much more.

Join MS NOW legal analyst Andrew Weissmann — a lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller's Special Counsel's Office and FBI General Counsel — with MS NOW anchor Lawrence O'Donnell for a conversation about the political culture of deceit that threatens to undermine our democracy. These are the subject of Weissmann's new book, Liar's Kingdom: How to Stop Trump's Deceit and Save America.
Political lies, Andrew Weissmann writes, are foundational to Donald Trump's policies: they fuel his administration's weaponization of law enforcement and unlawful deportation of immigrants, among other things. Other politicians, inspired by Trump's success, have flooded the public square with their own falsehoods. And as political lies grow and are widely accepted, Weissmann discusses how they threaten the very foundation of our democracy. But as dire as this crisis is, we are not helpless — Weissmann describes tools to vindicate the public's right to the truth, using examples from around the globe as models we can emulate.
In a conversation with MS NOW's Lawrence O'Donnell, hear Weissmann discuss his revelatory new book — a legal guide and citizen's playbook for how to prevent liars from holding office in the future. Don't miss this urgent conversation about how to save democracy from the demagogues.

Join world-renowned psychologist and psychoanalyst Dr. Orna Guralnik for an exclusive advance screening ahead of the Season 5 premiere of her hit docuseries, Couples Therapy, followed by a conversation.
Following Dr. Guralnik as she deftly guides couples through real-life therapy sessions, Couples Therapy brings viewers into the intimate sessions to witness the conflicts – and extraordinary breakthroughs – typically hidden behind closed doors. Providing a rare, authentic look into real therapeutic, evidence-based, psychoanalytic interventions, Couples Therapy is a cultural phenomenon.
Following the special advance screening of the first two episodes of Season 5, which premieres in May on Paramount+, hear Guralnik discuss her work in psychoanalysis and the inspiration for the show — bringing the private world of therapy into the open, repairing romantic relationships, what the audience can expect in Season 5, stories from behind the scenes, and more.

Across decades of public life — as First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State, and presidential candidate — Hillary Rodham Clinton has become one of the most consequential American leaders of our time.
She sits down with The New Yorker's David Remnick for a candid, live conversation — a taping of The New Yorker Radio Hour — about the state of American life as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, and the extraordinary political moment we find ourselves in: the pressures testing democratic institutions at home; mounting instability abroad in the Middle East, Asia, and Ukraine; and the uneasy intersection of leadership, power, media, and public trust.
Working to improve the lives of all Americans, Clinton is an icon for women and girls the world over. And in a changing world, her perspective on the possibilities of American life — and the threats we face both at home and abroad — is indispensable. In her recent memoir, Something Lost, Something Gained, she reflects on the challenges and dangers of a polarized nation and the reshaping of domestic and foreign policy — offering a blueprint for what each of us can do to strengthen our bonds with one another and fight for our democracy.
Expect an evening of candor, insight, and extraordinary perspective — a conversation not only about American politics at 250, but about the character of the country itself, and the choices that shape our future.