It’s been a busy week at the Y! Mika and Joe from NBC’s Morning Joe stopped by on Wednesday to talk about Mika’s father, who served as National Security Advisor to Jimmy Carter. I asked her how she’s handling the breaking news that day, and she said that she and her team monitor the news and try to stay on top of things the best they can. I also found out that she and Joe wake up every morning at 4:30 AM, which sounds sort of painful. Following the talk with Mika and Joe, I had the honor of introducing two brilliant speakers, Nikole Hannah-Jones and Trymaine Lee. Trymaine started the book tour for his new book, A Thousand Ways to Die, about the impacts of gun violence on Black communities. It was one of the most powerful and devastating talks I’ve been a part of at the Y. The stories that Trymaine shared about his reporting on gun violence in Philly and New Orleans resonated deeply with the audience. And this was only on Wednesday! Earlier in the week, I produced talks with Charlie Sheen, David Duchovny and Malcolm Gladwell. Up next; Rob Reiner talking about Spinal Tap 2 on Monday. Always something interesting and new here at the Y!