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If you’re not yet familiar with Five Things I’ve Learned, we encourage you to check it out. Explore two full years of Five Things I’ve Learned classes – including sessions from Book Passage favorites including Isabel Allende, Pico Iyer, Laurie R. King, and Elizabeth Lesser.

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Rabih Alameddine

Five Things I've Learned About

Being Grumpy

Join internationally-acclaimed writer Rabih Alameddine, and discover the few things he’s learned about the elasticity of identity and imagination.

Isabel Allende

Five Things I've Learned About

Writing Fiction

Join Isabel Allende, one of the most widely read and acclaimed authors in the world, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about writing fiction, discovering your voice, and writing the work you were born to...

Ashton Applewhite

Five Things I've Learned About

Ageism

Join author and activist Ashton Applewhite and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about ageism – and about cheering up, pushing back, and living the life you want to live.

Louise Aronson

Five Things I've Learned About

Elderhood

Join doctor, educator, professor of medicine, and Pulitzer Prize Award finalist Louise Aronson and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about improving our shared healthcare system, aging, and the decades of old...

Nir Barzilai 

Five Things I've Learned About

The New Science of Longevity

Join acclaimed scientist, professor, and author Dr. Nir Barzilai and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the scientific hacks that can improve your health, increase your life span, and make it possible for...

Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson

Five Things I've Learned About

The Two Hollywoods

Join celebrated film historians and writers Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson and discover the Five Things They’ve Learned about the people and values that shaped the movie business – and all they uncovered while...

Perla Batalla

Five Things I've Learned About

Leonard Cohen: His Women, Onstage and Backstage

Join singer-songwriter Perla Batalla, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about the essential role women played again and again in Leonard Cohen’s life and music.

Cara Black

Five Things I've Learned About

Crafting a Sense of Place

Join New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cara Black, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about the ways that a strong sense of place anchors readers and draws them into the story.

David W. Blight

Five Things I've Learned About

The Challenges and Triumphs of Writing Biography

Join acclaimed teacher, scholar and public historian David W. Blight and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the ways that biography can help us better learn about thinking, writing, and living well.

Nicholas Buccola

Five Things I've Learned About

Freedom, from Frederick Douglass

Join award-winning author and professor Nicholas Buccola and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the meaning and value of freedom by studying the life and writing Frederick Douglass.

Nicholas Buccola

Five Things I've Learned About

Love, from James Baldwin

Join award-winning author and professor Nicholas Buccola, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the meaning of love from the life and thought of James Baldwin.

Hayes Carll

Five Things I've Learned About

Songwriting – in Five Songs

Join this two-hour class and discover the Five Things singer-songwriter Hayes Carll has learned about songwriting – through five great songs that helped give voice to his heartaches, joys, and aspirations.

Myisha Cherry

Five Things I've Learned About

The Social Uses of Anger

Join writer, author, and professor Myisha Cherry and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about the essential roles that rage and anger play in public life – and in our principled responses to all forms of...

Judy Collins

Five Things I've Learned About

Leonard Cohen: The Man and His Music

Join legendary singer-songwriter Judy Collins, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about Leonard Cohen – from her unique position at start of his music career to her current-day view of his enduring...

Nina Collins

Five Things I've Learned About

Women and Aging

Join writer, speaker, and founder Nina Collins, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about the richness and promise that shape the second half of women’s lives.

Judith Curr

Five Things I've Learned About

How Publishing Works

Join celebrated President and Publisher of the HarperOne Group, Judith Curr, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about the power of storytelling and the joys of publishing – plus the behind-the-scenes...

Aaron Dworkin

Five Things I've Learned About

How Social Change Really Happens

Join entrepreneur, professor, MacArthur Fellow, and President Obama’s first appointment to the National Council on the Arts, Aaron Dworkin, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the life-changing power...

Thomas Dyja

Five Things I've Learned About

How to Live in a City

Join acclaimed writer and historian Thomas Dyja and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about how we can use our city’s structures and energies to improve our well-being and help create a better place for all.

Grant Faulkner and Brooke Warner

Five Things I've Learned About

What It Takes to Finish a Book

Join Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and Brooke Warner, Publisher of She Writes Press, and discover the Five Things They’ve Learned about the essential mindsets that...

James Fox

Five Things I've Learned About

Unidentified Aerial Phenomena: What Our Government Still Doesn’t Know – and All It Does.

Join film-maker and producer James Fox, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about all that’s certain – and all that remains unknown – in light of the U.S. Defense Department’s continuing investigation...

Marc Freedman 

Five Things I've Learned About

The Power that Comes from Connecting Generations

Join social entrepreneur and author Marc Freedman and discover Five Things He’s Learned about the great things that happen when generations come together.

Robbie Fulks

Five Things I've Learned About

The Nature of Songs

Join singer, recording artist, instrumentalist, composer, and songwriter Robbie Fulks and discover Five Things He’s Learned about some of the essential elements that enable music to communicate, cohere, and endure.

Mary Gauthier

Five Things I've Learned About

The Healing Power of Songwriting – in Five Songs

Join singer-songwriter, troubadour, and author Mary Gauthier, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about song’s unique power to bring hope in the face of deep trauma – inspiring lessons from her own life...

Elizabeth George

Five Things I've Learned About

Editing My Own Work

Join New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George, and discover how the Five Things She’s Learned about self-editing can help you to recognize what works in your own writing – and to fix what doesn’t.

Don George

Five Things I've Learned About

How to be a Travel Writer

Join the author of How to Be a Travel Writer, Lonely Planet’s best-selling guide to travel writing, Don George, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about what makes a great travel story — and how to...

Janine di Giovanni

Five Things I've Learned About

Writing Narrative Non-Fiction

Join multi-award winning journalist and author Janine di Giovanni, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about writing — and appreciating — narrative non-fiction and memoir.

Janine di Giovanni

Five Things I've Learned About

Moral Injury and its Personal Consequence

Join multi-award winning journalist and author Janine di Giovanni, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about understanding and surviving the moral injury individuals suffer when forced to witness an event...

Dr. Eddie Glaude Jr.

Five Things I've Learned About

America’s Past, and Its Urgent Lessons for Today

Join writer, author, and professor Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr. and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about keeping connected to the voices and visions of our country’s past – and about James Baldwin’s America...

James Gray

Five Things I've Learned About

Craft, and the Movies

Join award-winning writer and director James Gray, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the personal and professional craft of moviemaking.

Timothy Hampton

Five Things I've Learned About

Cheerfulness

Join professor Timothy Hampton, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the historic roots of cheerfulness, and about how our control this essential tool of emotional life lies not in our deepest selves but...

Timothy Hampton

Five Things I've Learned About

Listening to Bob Dylan

Join writer, scholar, and teacher Timothy Hampton, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned from a lifetime of listening to the greatest songwriter of our time: How some of Bob Dylan’s most famous songs work,...

Molly Haskell

Five Things I've Learned About

Movie Love in the Sixties and Seventies

Join acclaimed author and film critic Molly Haskell, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about loving film and film criticism during the golden age of film appreciation.

Joe Henry

Five Things I've Learned About

by Song

Join songwriter, singer, recording artist, and Grammy-winning record producer Joe Henry, and discover the ways he’s found that the process and progress of our lives – like Song – knows more than we do.

Paul Irving

Five Things I've Learned About

The Upside of Aging

Join author and senior fellow at the Milken Institute Paul Irving and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about how each of us can make the most of the unprecedented potential and possibility that awaits our...

Pico Iyer and Michael Shapiro

Five Things I've Learned About

The Art of the Interview

Join acclaimed writers and interviewers Pico Iyer and Michael Shapiro, and discover the Five Things They’ve Learned from experience about the Art of the Interview.

Pico Iyer

Five Things I've Learned About

The Art of Stillness

Join internationally-acclaimed writer Pico Iyer and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about opening up space in our heads, and in our days.

Pico Iyer and Michael Shapiro

Five Things I've Learned About

Deepening the Creative Flow

Join acclaimed writers and interviewers Pico Iyer and Michael Shapiro, and discover the Five Things They’ve Learned from their own experience — and from the experience of the many creative figures they’ve met...

Steven Johnson

Five Things I've Learned About

Where Creativity Comes From

Join best-selling author Steven Johnson, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the critical tools innovative thinkers use to nurture their creative practice – and the five key questions consistently...

Catherine Grace Katz

Five Things I've Learned About

Writing the History We Think We Know

Join acclaimed historian and writer Catherine Grace Katz, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about how to uncover and share the stories that challenge our ideas of history.

Laurie R. King

Five Things I've Learned About

How Characters Come to Life

Join New York Times bestselling author Laurie R. King, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about creating memorable characters who come to life for her readers.

Phil Klay

Five Things I've Learned About

Thinking and Writing about Citizenship

Join U.S. Marine Corps veteran, writer, and teacher Phil Klay and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about American citizenship – what it means, the obligations it places upon us, and the uglier way our shared...

Elizabeth Lesser

Five Things I've Learned About

How the Hero’s Journey Changes When Women are the Storytellers

Join New York Times bestselling author and Omega Institute co-founder Elizabeth Lesser, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about what happens when women trust their instincts, dignify their values, and...

John Lissauer

Five Things I've Learned About

Leonard Cohen: The Songwriter and the Secret Chord

Join acclaimed songwriter, producer, and arranger John Lissauer, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the inspiration, writing, and recording of some of Leonard Cohen’s most unforgettable songs.

Gordon Lithgow

Five Things I've Learned About

How to Live Better Longer

Join distinguished scientist, researcher, and professor Gordon Lithgow and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about scientists’ remarkable recent efforts to slow aging and improve our chances of a healthy late...

Phillip Lopate

Five Things I've Learned About

Reading and Writing the Essay

Join acclaimed author and editor Phillip Lopate — the celebrated central figure in the revival of the American essay —, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the powerful legacy and continuing...

Julie Lythcott-Haims

Five Things I've Learned About

Making Love Work

Join bestselling author Julie Lythcott-Haims, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about deepening her ability to love others, and the practical steps that help her build, maintain, and celebrate her most...

Anne Midgette

Five Things I've Learned About

The Women Who Shaped Classical Music

Join acclaimed music critic Anne Midgette, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about the women whose important work provides new ways to understand and enjoy the pleasures of classical music.

Anne Midgette

Five Things I've Learned About

How to Love Opera Like an Insider

Join acclaimed music critic and opera insider Anne Midgette, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned that make it easy to appreciate and enjoy this essential art form.

BJ Miller

Five Things I've Learned About

Living and Dying During the Pandemic

Join hospice and palliative care specialist Dr. BJ Miller, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned anew about living and preparing for death after this year of shared loss, challenge, and renewal.

Roosevelt Montás

Five Things I've Learned About

Self-Transformation, by Reading Ancient Books

Join writer, author, and professor Roosevelt Montás and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the transforming power of the Great Books—and why the ideas and passions within these ancient sources still...

Allison Moorer

Five Things I've Learned About

What Memoir Demands. And All it Makes Possible.

Join singer/songwriter, producer, and author Allison Moorer, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about sharing her family’s stories in prose and in song – and about all that taking ownership of our most...

Peter Orner

Five Things I've Learned About

Writing (by Not Writing)

Join celebrated novelist, essayist, short-story writer, and professor Peter Orner and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about how worrying less, chilling out, and reveling (a little) in not writing makes all...

Alexander Payne

Five Things I've Learned About

Film Making and Film Watching

Join Academy-Award-winning writer and director Alexander Payne in conversation with Richard Peña, and discover the Five Things He Thinks He’s Learned about writing, directing, and editing films — as well as the...

Richard Peña and Phillip Lopate

Five Things I've Learned About

Cinema’s Past, Present, and Future

Join global-film community tastemakers Richard Peña and Phillip Lopate, and discover the Five Things They’ve Learned about cinema’s rich history — and about the many ways to love the movies.

Jerry Saltz

Five Things I've Learned About

Where Art and the Art World are Right Now

Join Pulitzer Prize winning critic and author Jerry Saltz, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the remarkable advances that have refashioned art and the art world – and why today we’re living in one of...

Jerry Saltz

Five Things I've Learned About

How to Look at Art

Join Pulitzer-Prize winning art critic and New York magazine columnist Jerry Saltz, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about how artists and art lovers become really good at art.

Russell Shorto

Five Things I've Learned About

How Manhattan Became “The Island at the Center of the World”

Join New York Times bestselling writer Russell Shorto, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about how the Dutch founding of New York City shaped the world’s most dynamic metropolis – and continues to impact...

Russell Shorto

Five Things I've Learned About

Writing Family History

Join New York Times bestselling writer Russell Shorto, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about diving into your past and bringing the story you find there to life.

Sylvie Simmons

Five Things I've Learned About

The Life of Leonard Cohen

Join author, journalist, biographer, and singer-songwriter Sylvie Simmons, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about Leonard Cohen – and all she still learns from him five years after he passed away.

James Surowiecki

Five Things I've Learned About

How to Write about Ideas

Join journalist and author James Surowiecki and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about how to write about ideas – how to take complicated concepts and make them accessible; and how, in the process, to...

James Surowiecki

Five Things I've Learned About

The Wisdom and Madness of Social Media

Join journalist and author James Surowiecki and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about how the Internet is reshaping the way we learn and think – and why, for all of its promise, social media seems to be...

Jonathan Taplin

Five Things I've Learned About

The Future of Media and Democracy

Join acclaimed producer, executive, professor, and author Jonathan Taplin, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about the tenuous link between media and democracy – and what the continuing convergence of...

Bob Thurman

Five Things I've Learned About

Wisdom, Bliss, and Openness

Join scholar, writer, translator, and teacher Bob Thurman, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about achieving reliable and lasting happiness during his lifetime learning and teaching the Buddha’s curriculum.

Nicole Tung

Five Things I've Learned About

Documenting Stories of Conflict

Join multi-award-winning photojournalist Nicole Tung, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about photos’ unique power to inform, to connect, and to document people’s lives.

LTC (Ret.) Alexander Vindman

Five Things I've Learned About

Responding to Russian Aggression and the War in Ukraine

Join retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel Alexander Vindman and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about this critical time in history from his years engaging with Russia’s military and political leadership.

Lisa Immordino Vreeland

Five Things I've Learned About

Documenting the Lives I Admire Most

Join award-winning documentary filmmaker Lisa Immordino Vreeland — and her special guest Penelope Tree—, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about documenting and sharing the lives of some of the...

Brooke Warner

Five Things I've Learned About

How Women Writers Thrive

Join editor and publisher Brooke Warner, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned during her nearly two decades of leading and championing women-only publishing about the ways that women writers work,...

Brooke Warner

Five Things I've Learned About

Giving Voice to What Matters in the New Year

Join writer and publisher Brooke Warner, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about putting out the message you most want to share in the new year.

Sam Wasson

Five Things I've Learned About

The Last Time I Saw Hollywood

Join celebrated author Sam Wasson, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about Hollywood’s second golden age, and the ways that those few gorgeous years in the late sixties and early seventies illuminate the...

Lewis Watts

Five Things I've Learned About

Documenting Migration and Culture

Join photographer, archivist, curator, and teacher Lewis Watts, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about photography’s power to trace, preserve, and celebrate the people and communities of the African...

Rick Wilson

Five Things I've Learned About

How We Win the Messaging Wars and Save Democracy

Join ex-Republican political strategist, co-founder of the Lincoln Project, and best-selling author Rick Wilson, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned about what we can do right away to ensure that America...

Simon Winchester

Five Things I've Learned About

The Joy of Dictionaries

Join celebrated writer and raconteur Simon Winchester, author of The Professor and the Madman and The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary, and discover the Five Things He’s Learned...

Larissa Zimberoff

Five Things I've Learned About

What Will Be On Our Plate in Ten Years

Join investigative journalist Larissa Zimberoff, and discover the Five Things She’s Learned about how technology is reshaping our food and reimagining our food system – and what these changes mean for people who...

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