The Chicago Humanities Festival has set the theme for its second Springfest slate: “Stuff.” Among the speakers with the right stuff: Sheryl Sandberg, Marie Kondo, Caitlyn Jenner and John Waters.
CHF’s second annual spring minifest will run from April 28 to 30. Sandberg, the Facebook COO and author of Lean In, will appear with Wharton professor Adam Grant, the co-author of their new book Option B, due out in April. The new book, about how to reboot after unexpected circumstances, was partly inspired by the sudden death of Sandberg’s husband in 2015. Their talk at the Harris Theater on Friday, April 28, will be moderated by Ariel Investments president Mellody Hobson.
Organizing guru Kondo, who has cornered the market on getting rid of stuff with her “KonMari Method,” will also appear at the Harris on April 28.
Jenner, the former Olympic gold medalist turned reality-TV star and one of the highest-profile transgender personalities in the country, will appear at the Art Institute on April 30 to discuss her new memoir The Secrets of My Life, also due out in April. Jenner and her co-author Buzz Bissinger, who also wrote the 2015 Vanity Fair cover story in which Jenner revealed her gender transition, will talk with CHF associate artistic director Allison Cuddy.
Also on April 30, Waters—the subversive filmmaker of Pink Flamingos, Polyester and Hairspray—will talk with Chicago Tribune theater critic Chris Jones at the Studebaker Theater about Waters’s new book, Make Trouble, due out in April (are you sensing a trend yet?).
Other programs on the three-day schedule include artist Elias Sime, U. of C. law professor Geoffrey Stone, oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield. Tickets ($10–$38) go on sale to CHF members March 8 at 10am, and to the general public March 15. Visit chicagohumanities.org/stuff for a full schedule.
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