In The News

Emmy Award winner and bestselling author Sonia Manzano examines the impact of the 1959 Cuban Revolution on four children from very different walks of life in her latest book—Coming Up Cuban: Rising Past Castro’s Shadow, which was released this week. This is the eighth book for Manzano, who is also an APB exclusive speaker and is best known as “Maria” from Sesame Street. It is published by Scholastic Press. 

Sony Pictures Entertainment has announced that APB speakers Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings will become permanent hosts for the syndicated quiz show Jeopardy! The pair have been filling in temporarily since the death of longtime host Alex Trebek in November 2020 and will continue splitting their hosting duties.  

After a three-year hiatus, Nora McInerny, bestselling author, “Terrible Thanks for Asking” podcast host and APB speaker is hitting the road. Starting Oct. 7, McInerny will begin her Terrible, Thanks for Asking tour in San Francisco. Other tour dates include Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Los Angeles; Philadelphia; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Washington, D.C.; Boston; Toronto; Chicago; and St. Paul, Minn. Find tickets here.

The popularity of virtual events continues to grow across the world, according to a new report from Allied Market Research. The global Virtual Events Industry size was valued at $57,715.1 million in 2019 and is projected to reach $701,392.4 million by 2028—a compound projected annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.6% from 2021 to 2028, says the report. The entertainment segment was the highest contributor to the market in 2019 and is estimated to grow 11.2% during the forecast period. Webinars are projected to experience the highest CAGR of 7.1% in revenue during the forecast period.

After nearly 50 years of living in the Castro in San Francisco, Author and LGBTQ Activist Cleve Jones is moving from his beloved neighborhood. And that, according to a recent article in The New York Times, is happening across the country as “Gayborhoods” are losing LGBTQ residents. Jones was prominently featured in the article, which focused on why so many are choosing to move from their “gayborhoods.” Many are looking for less expensive areas as neighborhoods become gentrified, while others are finding greener pastures with more amenities in communities that are more accepting than in the past. 

Russian journalist and APB speaker Dmitry Muratov has made good on his promise to sell his 2021 Nobel Peace Prize medal to help Ukrainian child refugees. On World Refugee Day in June, he sold the medal at auction for $103.5 million. All proceeds will go to UNICEF's humanitarian response for Ukrainian ​children displaced by war. 

Joanne “Coach P” McCallie, former NCAA Division I women’s basketball head coach for 28 years, has taken on her greatest role yet. She is forging a path to destigmatizing mental health and is coaching those afflicted to paths for full and productive lives. She knows what worked for her as an elite coach under national scrutiny while protecting her secret—a mental health diagnosis hidden across years of her career so as not to impede her success or impact her family’s livelihood. In her high-energy speeches and leadership seminars, Coach P engages, educates and inspires with discussions on mental health, sports, faith and leadership.

50 years ago, Title IX forever changed women's sports when the groundbreaking gender equity law was passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, ultimately increasing the participation of girls and women in athletics. However, the significance of Title IX reaches far beyond sports. Touching on themes of gender equity, social change, mental health, overcoming adversity and more, the trailblazing female athletes and coaches below inspire with personal stories of failures and triumphs, reminding us all that it's never to late to achieve our goals in life.

Mike Hayes, former Commanding Officer of SEAL Team TWO and Author of Never Enough, was a recent guest on the Jocko Podcast. The show, hosted by retired Navy SEAL and fellow APB speaker Jocko Willink, focuses on discipline and leadership in business, war, relationships and everyday life.

Last Friday, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a landmark ruling that ends a woman's constitutional right to abortion and gives individual states the power to allow, limit, or ban the practice altogether. A decision that will create effects going far beyond abortion access, the long-term outcome is a concern for many. The speakers below are at the forefront of the fight for women’s rights. Consider bringing one of them to your campus to talk your students through where we are and where we go next.