Page 35 - Program 2018

Comfort Food The National Museum of African American History
Tom Parker Bowles and Culture
Thursday 3–3:45 pm Richard Kurin
Walt Disney Room Thursday 3–3:45 pm
Joan Didion Room
Britain is experiencing something of a
food renaissance and some have even The National Museum of African American History and Culture provides a
called it a revolution. Typically known unique lens on the major events of American history and the principles that guide
for its comfort food—heartwarming, the nation—freedom, liberty, democracy, civil rights, the pursuit of happiness.
filling and satisfying—the direction is Sitting adjacent to the Washington Monument, the museum was established
now towards a cuisine that reflects its after a century of efforts to represent in the nation’s capital the role of African
diverse ethnic population. Quintessential Americans have played in our shared history. The museum was built through a
Brit, food critic and author, Tom Parker public-private partnership and raised almost $400 million for construction,
Bowles will share some of his most collections, exhibitions, programs, and an opening celebration. In conversation
memorable dishes growing up at home with Linda Johnson Rice, Richard Kurin, Smithsonian Distinguished Scholar and
in Wiltshire, then at boarding school at Ambassador-at-Large, will talk about this long-awaited addition to the Smithsonian
Eton and Oxford. Fellow compatriot and why the museum is so vital to the American story.
Daisy Lewis joins Parker Bowles for this
very personal look at classic British food.

Where Does the Water Go?
David Owen
Thursday 3–3:45 pm
Anne Rice Room

Water problems in the western United
States can seem tantalizingly easy to
solve: just turn off the fountains at the
Bellagio, stop selling hay to China, ban
golf, cut down the almond trees, and kill
all the lawyers. But a closer look reveals
a vast man-made ecosystem that is far
more complex and interesting than the
headlines have time or patience to reveal.
David Owen, author of Where the Water
Goes: Life and Death Along the Colorado
River, will untangle some of the intricate
issues surrounding water.
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