Current Program Listings
Winter 2025 Program Brochure
**Please note: Fall groups 423 and S11 have sessions in Winter and are still open for new registrations.**
423 What's Been Happening in the Supreme Court? Register
All new cases: Using news articles, podcasts, videos, and the Court’s opinions, we will discuss some of the most interesting and consequential decisions of the past term (2023-2024). Participants must be able to print news articles from web links and passages from Court opinions received via the leader’s emails.
Thursday, 2 pm, Dec 5, 12, 19; Jan 9, 16, 23
Leader Susan Hershman Members $10
Zoom Non-Members $20
S11 Angelino Heights Walking Tour of Los Angeles’ First Suburb Register
Angelino Heights is a hidden Victorian neighborhood of Easter egg-colored mansions perched in rows on hilly streets east of Echo Park. The tour includes the exteriors of several homes (recognizable from the T.V. series Charmed or Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video), and the interior of one, and provides an excellent picture-taking opportunity. Price includes a tour charge of $25 per person and requires a minimum of 12 participants. Optional no-host lunch to follow at a local restaurant.
Saturday, 10 am, Feb 1
Leader Carla Barnes Members $30
Presenter Los Angeles Conservancy Non-Members $35
Place Angelino Heights, Los Angeles
101 Selected Articles in the Natural Sciences Register
As a group, we will select articles from Scientific American, Science magazine and the NY Times science section. Selections will mostly, but not exclusively, lean towards the natural sciences. Come learn about and discuss the latest trends and discoveries in biology, medicine and the like.
Friday, 10 am, Jan 3, 10, 17, 24; Feb 7, 14
Leader Susan Kane Members $10
Host Gay Bruveris Non-Members $20
Place Pasadena
102 The Economist Register
A review and discussion of selected articles from The Economist magazine. Participants are sent copies of articles about events and people around the world and they are expected to relate their views on each article.
Friday, 2 pm, Jan 3, 10, 17, 24, 31; Feb 7
Leader David Whitcomb Members $10
Zoom Non-Members $20
103 Movie Adaptations of Short Stories Register
This is another session of a very popular group that took place during the summer. However, it will be modified slightly—there will be only one session a month and participants do not need to buy the book "Adaptations: From Short Story to Big Screen" by Stephanie Harrison. Approximately two weeks before each session, the leader will send participants a copy of the short story that inspired the film and information regarding the streaming services where the film is available. The discussion will be based on a comparison between short story and movie. The cost of streaming will be borne by the participant.
Monday, 4 pm, Jan 6; Feb 3; Mar 3
Leader Charles Schufreider, Prakash Shrivastava, Coralie Whitcomb Members $10
Zoom Non-Members $20
104 Outline: A Novel by Rachel Cusk Register
"Outline" is a novel in ten conversations. Spare and lucid, it follows a novelist teaching a course in creative writing over an oppressively hot summer in Athens. She leads her students in storytelling exercises. She meets other visiting writers for dinner. She goes swimming in the Ionian Sea with her neighbor from the plane. The people she encounters speak volubly about themselves: their fantasies, anxieties, pet theories, regrets, and longings. And through these disclosures, a portrait of the narrator is drawn by contrast, a portrait of a woman learning to face a great loss. ISBN-13: 978-1250081544
Tuesday, 2 pm, Jan 7, 14, 21, 28
Leader John Swain Members $23
Host John Swain Non-Members $33
Place Pasadena
105 The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies Register
Gypsies, defrocked monks, a mad professor with a passion for the dark side of medieval psychology, and wealthy eccentrics-a memorable cast people’s Robertson Davies brilliant spectacle of theft, murder, scholarship, and lust for the beautiful coed that beguiles them all. The novel is set at a Canadian university, and is a total delight. ISBN-13: 978-0670590636
Wednesday, 10:30 am, Jan 8, 15, 22, 29
Leader Stanley Oropesa Members $26
Host Tony Koerner Non-Members $36
Place Pasadena
106 Current Movies, Wednesdays Register
As a group, we will choose the films either from a local theater or from a streaming source. We will watch them independently and then meet at El Portal Restaurant in Pasadena for discussion. Participants will pay for movie tickets or rental. Please only sign up if you anticipate being available for a majority of the meeting dates.
Wednesday, 3 pm, Jan 8, 22; Feb 5, 19; Mar 5, 19
Leader Lane Dolan Members $10
Place Pasadena, El Portal Restaurant, inside or outside Non-Members $20
107 Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner Register
This is the author's second Booker short-listed novel. A woman is caught in the crossfire between the past and the future in this part-spy novel, part-profound treatise on human history. Sadie Smith – a 34-year-old American undercover agent of ruthless tactics, bold opinions and clean beauty – is sent by her mysterious but powerful employers to a remote corner of France. Her mission: to infiltrate a commune of radical eco-activists led by the charismatic Svengali Bruno Lacombe. A work of high art, high comedy, and irresistible pleasure, from the author of the also Booker Prize-nominated "The Mars Room". ISBN-13: 978-1982116521
Thursday, 10 am, Jan 9, 16, 23, 30
Leader Patrick Mathews Members $36
Host Patrick Matthews Non-Members $46
Place Pasadena
108 Classic Literature Through Short Stories Register
This group will explore world classic literature, as viewed through short stories written by internationally prominent authors. Short stories can be read in a short time compared to longer novels and yet reveal many fundamental human situations around the world.
Monday, 12 noon, Jan 13; Feb 17; Mar 17
Leader Prakash Shrivastava Members $10
Zoom Non-Members $20
109 Movie STARs, Winter 2025 - Group A Register
Discussion of critically acclaimed and notable movies, present and past, and from all over the world. Selected movies will be viewed online prior to each meeting. Streaming choices are usually available in free, subscription, or pay-per-view format. Costs will be borne by the viewer. Links to view each movie online are provided for each meeting. For examples of movies from past seasons, email leader - jkliu47@gmail.com.
Sunday, 4 pm, Jan 12, 26; Feb 9, 23; Mar 9, 23
Leader James Liu Members $10
Zoom Non-Members $20
110 Movie STARs, Winter 2025 - Group B Register
See Movie STARs, Winter 2025 - Group A
Monday, 4 pm, Jan 13, 27; Feb 10, 24; Mar 10, 24
Leader James Liu Members $10
Zoom Non-Members $20
111 Movie STARs, Winter 2025 - Group C Register
See Movie STARs, Winter 2025 - Group A
Monday, 7 pm, Jan 13, 27; Feb 10, 24; Mar 10, 24
Leader James Liu Members $10
Zoom Non-Members $20
112 Developing an Eye for Life - Photography of Our Surroundings and Adventures Register
A photo journey into our lives, each participant will present up to three photos taken that week of anything that has caught their eye. All photos will be welcomed; just bring your story. The photos will be emailed in large format to be shown on a TV.
Wednesday, 3 pm, Jan 15, 29; Feb 12, 26
Leader Gay Bruveris Members $10
Host Gay Bruveris Non-Members $20
Place Pasadena
113 First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami Register
Haruki Murakami is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. His work has been described as 'easily accessible, yet profoundly complex'. Eight masterful stories in this new collection are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator: a lonely man. Some are nostalgic looks back at youth. Others are set in adulthood. The stories all touch beautifully on love and loss, childhood and death . . . all with a signature Murakami twist. The reader is left to decide if these stories are memoir or fiction. ISBN-13: 978-0593311189
Monday, 2 pm, Feb 3, 10, 17, 24
Leader Sue Komarek and Tony Koerner Members $25
Host Tony Koerner Non-Members $35
Place Pasadena
114 An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960's by Doris Kearns Goodwin Register
Dick and Doris Goodwin were married for 42 years and married to American history even longer. Dick named and helped design Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and was a speechwriter and close advisor to Robert Kennedy. Doris was a twenty-four-year-old graduate student when selected as a White House Fellow working directly for Lyndon Johnson and later assisting on his memoir. The Goodwins’ last great adventure involved finally opening the more than 300 boxes of letters, diaries, documents, and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than fifty years, an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, illuminating public and private moments of a decade when individuals were powered by the conviction they could make a difference; a time, like today, marked by struggles for racial and economic justice, a time when lines were drawn and loyalties tested. ISBN-13: 978-1982108663
Tuesday, 2 pm, Feb 4, 11, 18, 25; Mar 4
Leader Bob Diller Members $34
Host Ruth Judkins Non-Members $44
Place Altadena
115 Blood Memory: the Tragic Decline and Improbable Resurrection of the American Buffalo by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns Register
The buffalo is the iconic beast of the American frontier. It was central to the lives of native Americans, and both were victims of the westward expansion of the United States. This book was written to accompany the Ken Burns PBS documentary "The American Buffalo", available to watch via streaming. We will discuss both book and documentary as they trace an arc of destruction, resilience and recovery, and what this tells us about America. ISBN-13: 978-0593537343
Wednesday, 7 pm, Feb 5, 12, 19
Leader Katherine Gavzy Members $32
Host Katherine Gavzy Non-Members $42
Place Altadena
116 The Age-Proof Brain -- New Strategies to Improve Memory, Protect Immunity & Fight Off Dementia by Marc Milstein, PhD Register
Here is an opportunity to find out the latest science on how and why our brain ages from an expert who follows the latest developments and is known for making the science not just easy to understand, but actionable! Described as a life-changing book, it offers us an opportunity to live our best lives, including boosting our focus, sleeping better and stressing less (and new medical understandings for why that is so important)! ISBN-13: 978-1637741429
Thursday, 2 pm, Feb 6, 13, 20, 27
Leader Deborah Fox Members $29
Host Deborah Fox Non-Members $39
Place South Pasadena
117 Great Decisions 2025 Register
The Foreign Policy Association, an independent, non-profit organization, publishes Great Decisions, a yearly series of in-depth articles by policy experts and global thinkers. The leader, with participants' input, will choose six articles from the series for discussion. Options are: "American Foreign Policy at a Crossroads", U.S. Changing Leadership of the World Economy", "U.S.-China Relations", "India: Between China, the West, and the Global South", "International Cooperation on Climate Change", "The Future of NATO and European Security", "AI and American Security", "After Gaza: American Policy in the Middle East".
Friday, 12 noon, Feb 14, 21, 28; Mar 7, 14, 21
Leader Bhargav Oza Members $47
Host Margaret Hostrup Non-Members $57
Place Pasadena
118 The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2024 by Bill McKibben and Jaime Green Register
Award-winning environmentalist, author, and journalist Bill McKibben selects twenty science and nature essays that represent the best examples of the form published in the previous year. “This was the most anomalous year (so far) in human history,” guest editor Bill McKibben writes, “the year in which the relationship between people and planet showed its most dramatic signs yet of unraveling.” The selections in "The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2024" reveal a trying year for our planet—from the Lahaina wildfire tragedy to the lush Amazon jungle slowly turning to savanna—while also celebrating the earth’s beautiful and mysterious ways—from the largest beaver dam on earth to the heroic innovation to prevent birds from crashing into Chicago’s expanse of glass buildings. These essays offer solace in trying times, showing a way for a better future. They are, as McKibben says, “a reminder that this world is still a lovely and deep place, well worth the fighting for.” NOTE: If Group enrollment exceeds 10, discussions will be taken to zoom (online). ISBN-13: 978-0063333994
Friday, 2 pm, Feb 21, 28; Mar 7, 14, 21, 28
Leader David Whitcomb Members $31
Host Fran Blackwell Non-Members $41
Place Pasadena
119 Inheritance - The Evolutionary Origins of the Modern World by Harvey Whitehouse Register
This book offers a sweeping account of how our biases have shaped humanity’s past and imperil its future. Using a pioneering new way of viewing our collective history that weaves together psychological experiments, fieldwork, and big data, the author argues that three biases drive human behavior everywhere: conformism, religiosity, and tribalism. The author then uses these three biases to try and save our future. ISBN-13: 978-1529152234
Tuesday, 4 pm, Mar 4, 11, 18, 25
Leader Gay Bruveris Members $40
Host Gay Bruveris Non-Members $50
Place Pasadena
120 What Makes a Good Short Story? - comparing authors Tessa Hadley and Graham Swift Register
Both Tessa Hadley in “After the Funeral” (New Yorker 3/28/2022) and Graham Swift in “Hinges” (New Yorker 11/21/2022) demonstrate that they are masters of their craft. Each author takes a different approach to similar subject matter. We will compare and contrast their styles and ultimately address the issue of: What makes a good short story? Copies of the stories will be e-mailed to the participants approximately two weeks before the session.
Thursday, 10 am, Mar 6, 20
Leader Charles Schufreider Members $10
Zoom Non-Members $20
121 Nexus - A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI by Yuval Noah Harari Register
"Nexus" considers how the flow of information has shaped us, and our world. Taking us from the Stone Age through the Bible, and the resurgence of populism today, Harari discusses the complex relationship between information and truth, bureaucracy, wisdom and power. He explores how different societies, and political systems have wielded information to achieve their goals, for good and ill. He addresses the urgent choices we face as non-human intelligence threatens our very existence. ISBN-13: 978-0593734223
Thursday, 2 pm, Mar 6, 13, 20, 27; Apr 3
Leader Judy Blanton Members $38
Host Susan Zucker Non-Members $48
Place Pasadena
122 Cane River by Lalita Tademy Register
Beginning with her great-great-great-great grandmother, a slave owned by a Creole family, Lalita Tademy chronicles four generations of strong, determined black women as they battle injustice to unite their family and forge success on their own terms. They are women whose lives begin in slavery, who weather the Civil War, and who grapple with contradictions of emancipation, Jim Crow, and the pre-Civil Rights South. As she peels back layers of racial and cultural attitudes, Tademy paints a remarkable picture of rural Louisiana and the resilient spirit of one unforgettable family. ISBN-13: 978-0446678452
Tuesday, 12 noon, Mar 11. 18, 25
Leader Susan McKinley Members $26
Host Carolyn Karpin Non-Members $36
Place Lisa Darling, Alhambra
S01 A Trip to the Broad Museum by Metro A Line Register
Attendees can meet at Del Mar Station to ride ($0.35 each way) together to the Bunker Hill station very close to the Broad. Or they can drive/carpool on their own and meet at the Broad entrance. Tickets to the Infinity Mirror Rooms exhibits will be reserved one month prior to visit. Entrance is free to the public. Museum parking is available at $17 for 3 hrs. Museum is ADA compliant and has wheelchairs. Optional no-host lunch afterwards at a nearby restaurant. https://www.thebroad.org/
Tuesday, 11 am, Jan 14
Leader Susan Phifer Members $5
Host Broad Museum Non-Members $10
Place Los Angeles
S02 Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation Tour Register
This Mediterranean-style villa has hand-painted ceilings, stucco details, and wood-inlaid floors. It contains the 20th Century art collection of Fred and Billie Weisman. Over 400 works of art include those by Cezanne, Picasso, Kandinsky, Ernst, Miro, Magritte. and Warhol. An additional annex and garden hold large works by de Kooning, Rothko, Frankenthaler, Lichtenstein, and others. The private docent tour provides information about the collection and the family's efforts to create it. Tour group size min 5 max 20. Carpooling recommended - very limited parking. Stairs and crowded spaces may be too strenuous for those with walking/standing difficulties. https://www.weismanfoundation.org/
Thursday, 1:30 pm, Jan 30
Leader Judy Blanton Members $5
Host Fred Weisman Art Foundation Non-Members $10
Place Beverly Hills
S03 Birth of the Movies Register
Bob Koster has been lecturing on Cinema History for almost two decades on the college level. One of the more fascinating subjects is “How Movies were Invented”. Actually, the first movie films as we understand the term were invented by a Frenchman in Connecticut, who took the first films with his camera in Leeds, England. The story of his work and the subsequent fight with the Edison Corporation is just fascinating. We can even see the first films ever made. NOTE: Per Villa Gardens policy - no walk-ins, prior registration is required for attendance.
Date and Time TBD
Leader Bob Koster Members FREE
Host Gaye Shepard Non-Members FREE
Place Villa Gardens, 842 E. Villa Street, Pasadena
S04 Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Register
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures contains seven floors and is the largest museum in the United States devoted to the arts, sciences and artists of moviemaking. Exhibits which will be available in March include Significant Movies and Moviemakers; Hollywoodland; Stories of Cinema; Inventing Words and Characters: Animation; Color in Motion and Film Programs. Fanny's Restaurant in the museum offers lunch, dinner and 'grab and go' options. Please wear comfortable shoes. Handicap accessible. Registration fee includes Group Senior pass ($17). Carpooling is recommended - paid parking available at nearby LACMA ($20) and Petersen Automotive Museum ($21).
https://www.academymuseum.org/en
Wednesday, 10 am, Mar 12
Leader Carolyn Karpin Members $22
Host Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Non-Members $27
Place 6067 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles 90036