Recorded Online Lecture Series
Now Available for Purchase by Your Group
We are so pleased to share with you that Road Scholar is now making recorded lectures available to purchase for groups.
Through these lectures, members of your community can participate in Road Scholar's At Home educational presentations. Your members may watch the recording in a common setting or on their own. Lectures are approximately one hour long and can be purchased individually or as a series.
Our first offerings are from two of Road Scholar’s most popular and well-respected lectures, James Dalessandro and Ruth Polling.
Lectures by James Dalessandro
John Steinbeck: The Bard of California
The winner of the National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize, and Nobel Prize and master of both the sweeping epics Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden, plus the poignant and comedic novellas Of Mice and Men and Cannery Row, Steinbeck championed the working class and downtrodden. With photos, stories, and excerpts from East of Eden and Cannery Row, James brings alive one of America’s greatest writers.
$250 | Purchase this lecture →
Jack London: Novelist, Adventurer & Activist
Jack London’s novels Call of the Wild, White Fang, and non-fiction book, People of the Abyss, and autobiographical novel, John Barleycorn, Alcoholic Memoirs, became international sensations. James discusses London's remarkable life as the author of 51 books, 2,000 newspaper and magazine stories, and his outspoken leadership of the Labor/Progressive movements that transformed the 20th Century.
$250 | Purchase this lecture →
Mark Twain: Literary Gem & Master of Satire
Mark Twain defined both American literature and satire. After failing as a gold prospector in Nevada, he fell in love with San Francisco, which he described as “the most sociable city in the Union.” He served as both a reporter for the San Francisco Call and as a drinking buddy of firefighter Tom Sawyer. Twain’s first attempt at fiction, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, made him a national sensation. James Dalessandro’s lecture offers an intimate and humorous look at one of America’s literary treasures.
$250 | Purchase this lecture →
The Beat Poets: A Literary & Cultural Revolution
The revolutionary works of “The Beat Poets” of San Francisco changed both literature and culture. In this lecture, with James Dalessandro, you’ll examine Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s Coney Island of the Mind and Starting from San Francisco, Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Kaddish, and Pulitzer Prize winner Gary Snyder’s Buddhist/Environmentalist Turtle Island. You’ll also take a look at Beat icon Jack Kerouac, author of On the Road and Dharma Bums and his extraordinary poetry in October in the Railroad Earth.
$250 | Purchase this lecture →
Lectures by Ruth Polling
Victoria and Albert: Love, Loss and Kensington
Queen Victoria first met Prince Albert at Kensington Palace and her last major public appearance was to lay the foundation stone of the Kensington Museum re-named in their honor. Join London historian Ruth Polling as she explores Victoria and Albert's love story and how this royal power couple shaped cultural Kensington.
$250 | Purchase this lecture →
Shaping London History: 10 Women Honored in Statues
There are over 250 statues in London and less than 20 are in honor of non-royal women. Join Ruth Polling, a local historian, as she shares the awe-inspiring stories of these incredible, non-royal women and how they came to be celebrated in London’s public spaces. In this lecture, you’ll be inspired by the stories of world-changing women from medical pioneers, to cultural figures and those who fought for female voting rights.
$250 | Purchase this lecture →
Purchase as a package and save!
$400 | Purchase the series of Ruth's 2 lectures →
$800 | Purchase the series of James' 4 lectures →
$1200 | Purchase the entire series of 6 lectures →
James Dalessandro is a bestselling novelist, journalist, and filmmaker.
His novel, 1906, an epic re-creation of the San Francisco Earthquake, was a #1 National Bestseller in Historical Fiction in its Kindle/digital release, as was his novel Citizen Jane in True Crime. James has lectured to Road Scholars on dozens of topics for 15+ years.
Ruth Polling graduated top of her class as the London Blue Badge Travel Educator of the Year and has been sharing her knowledge of England with curious travelers for three years.
She holds a degree in International History with an emphasis in Military History from the London School of Economics. Ruth previously worked in London politics for eleven years including in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. London-born and bred, she is energetic and passionate about her city and country.
Have Questions?
Contact us at groups@roadscholar.org or (877) 209-4634.
Terms and Conditions:
Recordings are available until December 31, 2023. You may arrange for members to watch the recording in a common setting such as an auditorium, provide the link to the recording to members for viewing on their own, or use both methods of delivery.
Community members, employees, and any other individuals who may gain access to recordings are prohibited from copying, forwarding, distributing, selling, or otherwise using the recording in any manner beyond the permitted use described above.