Live from the Atherton: Hampton Sides

British Captain James Cook is one of the most notorious figures in Hawaiiʻs history, and probably best known for his infamous death. But is he the villain local accounts make him out to be? Or do other cultures and communities hold a more favorable view of him?

On Thursday, March 19, at 6 p.m., join Hampton Sides, author of The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook, and HPR podcast host Russell Subiono for an interesting discussion about Captain Cook. You may even leave with a different opinion of the man.

Live from the Atherton Storytelling Series:
An Evening with Hampton Sides
Thursday, March 19 at 6 p.m.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

HAMPTON SIDES is best-known for his gripping, deeply-researched non-fiction works that concern classic episodes from America’s past, stories often set in war, chronicling epic adventures of survival and exploration, or depicting first contact experiences between different worlds. He is the author of the bestselling histories Ghost Soldiers, Blood and Thunder, Hellhound On His Trail, In the Kingdom of Ice, On Desperate Ground, and, most recently, The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact, and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook.

The New York Times named The Wide Wide Sea one of 2024’s Ten Best Books of the Year and Barack Obama featured it on his coveted Summer Reading List. Writing in The Observer, Stephen Fry called The Wide Wide Sea “extraordinarily compulsive and fascinating on every page.” The book has been optioned for the screen.

Hampton has been a contributor to Outside, National Geographic, Smithsonian, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and many other publications.

A native of Memphis and a Yale graduate, Hampton is a board member of the Society of American Historians and the Author’s Guild, and he was a Miller Distinguished Scholar at the Santa Fe Institute. He has an honorary doctorate in humane letters from Colorado College.

Don’t miss your chance to talk story with Hampton at our Honolulu studio at 738 Kāheka Street. This Storytelling Series event will be recorded for future broadcasts and online content.

Admission: Free

Live From the Atherton is Hawai‘i Public Radio’s new flagship multimedia series, featuring music performances, authors and other creative, original thinkers at our Atherton Studio. Throughout 2025, Hawai'i Public Radio will host ticketed events that feature a range of music, from Hawaiian, classical, jazz and indie, as well as authors and speakers across genres including fiction, young adult, keiki and Hawaiian history.

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The Live from the Atherton Storytelling Series takes place on select Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings at the Atherton Performing Arts studio at Hawaiʻi Public Radio. This author series event begins at 6 p.m. unless otherwise noted. Doors open thirty minutes before the event starts.

This event will be filmed, recorded and photographed. Your presence constitutes your release of all rights to your recorded voice and image, which may be used in projects by Hawaiʻi Public Radio.

Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis — advance ticket purchase is strongly suggested.

Ticket Policy: Ticket sales are final. Sorry, no refunds.

Parking: Street parking is available in the surrounding neighborhood (metered parking is free after 6 p.m.).

Mahalo to HMSA for their sponsorship of our HPR “Live from the Atherton” events.

HPR exists to serve the people of Hawai’i. We are a trusted, community-funded public service that informs with essential news, inspires through the power of music and the arts, and connects people through conversations and convenings.

See the latest in news, talk, and entertainment at hawaiipublicradio.org

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PARKING: Street parking is available in the surrounding neighborhood (metered parking is free after 6 pm). See more information here: https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/parking-instructions 

Also check out other Arts events in Honolulu, Literary Art events in Honolulu, Entertainment events in Honolulu.