PETER LOVENHEIM     Thursday, August 5     In the Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street One Sleepover at a Time.

Peter Lovenheim had lived on the same street in suburban Rochester, New York much of his life. But it was only after a brutal murder-suicide rocked the neighborhood that he was struck by a fact of modern life in contemporary American communities: No one really knew anyone else. Thus began Peter's search to meet and get to know his neighbors. Being inquisitive, he did more than just introduce himself. He asked, ever so politely, if he could sleep over. Lovenheim's bridge-building experiment has drawn national attention, with interviews and reviews in many of the top media outlets.  One review calls Lovenheim's writing, "elegantly detailed, revealing much about his subjects-issues of class, relationships, likes and gripes, obsessions and everyday struggles-that would be easy to miss."

Past Speakers: 

JUNE CARBONE Thursday July 22, 7PM Red Families v. Blue Families

Family Law Professor and author June Carbone will discuss her attention-grabbing new book and the extensive research behind it. In Red Families v. Blue Families, Carbone reveals surprising trends in American family life that show whole segments of society heading in different directions based predominantly on social values and corresponding political divides. In this unique examination of "family values," Carbone will also share historic data on marriage and family trends in New England, from the days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony to current times.

FRANK MEEINK        Thursday July 8, 7PM        Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead

Former neo-Nazi gang leader Frank Meeink will share his difficult journey from a life of hatred to a life of compassion.  While serving a prison sentence at just 19 years-old, Meeink found himself befriending inmates from the groups he used to target, and before long his whole belief system unraveled. 

Booklist says, "Stories of personal redemption don't get much more interesting than this one, and the gritty first-person narrative draws the reader into Meeink's story, giving it an immediacy and a visceral intensity that makes us feel as though we've lived a bit of his life."

Frank Meeink's story has received national attention since the release of his book this spring.  He has been profiled in The Chicago Tribune, interviewed on NPR's "Fresh Air", and will soon appear in a movie with Forest Whitaker and Adrien Brodie. Meeink will speak for 30 minutes followed by Q & A.  He will be available to sign books afterwards.

Claude Fischer Thursday June 24, 7PM Made in America:  A Social History of American Culture and Character

The Summer Conversations series kicked off its season in the newly restored Apponagansett Meetinghouse with UC Berkeley Sociologist Claude Fischer, who shared insights from his recently released book, Made in America: A Social History of American Culture and Character. Made in America explores American social life from the nation's founding to current times.  In it, Fischer uncovers surprisingly positive trends that show Americans becoming more religious, more charitable, less nomadic, and even less violent over time.  Despite vast gains in health, wealth, and political freedoms that have transformed the country, Fischer argues, Americans have stayed true to their core character -- insistently independent but still sociable, striving, and sentimental.

Check out Claude Fischer's blog: madeinamericathebook.wordpress.com

Made in America is available at Baker Books.