Nicholas Thompson with Daniel Levitin

Nicholas Thompson joins us with his profound meditation on what running can teach us about our limits and our lives by a record-setting distance runner who is now the CEO of The Atlantic.

This is not just an engaging memoir about running. It’s a meditation on what it takes to marshal and maintain motivation.”—ADAM GRANT, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Potential and Think Again“

Endlessly surprising, revelatory, and heart-rending.”—ANNA WINTOUR

For Nicholas Thompson, running has always been about something more than putting one foot in front of another. He ran his first mile at age five, using it as a way to connect with his father as his family fell apart. As a young man, it was a sport that transformed, and then shook, his sense of self-worth. In his 30s, it was a way of coping with a profound medical scare.By his early 40s, Thompson had many accomplishments. He was the Editor in Chief of a major magazine; a devoted husband and father; and a passionate runner. But he was haunted by the recent death of his brilliant, complicated father and the crack-up that derailed his father’s life. Had the intensity and ambition he’d inherited made a personal crisis inevitable for him as well?

Nicholas Thompson will be joined on the stage by is the New York Times bestselling author of This Is Your Brain on Music, Daniel Levitin.

About the Authors

Nicholas Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic, an American magazine founded in 1857, which earned the top honor for magazines, General Excellence, at the National Magazine Awards in both 2022 and 2023. In his time as CEO, the company has seen record subscriber growth. Before joining The Atlantic, he was the editor-in-chief of Wired magazine. He is also a former contributor for CBS News and has previously served as editor. He has long been a competitive runner; in 2021, he set the American record for men 45+ in the 50K race.

Daniel J. Levitin is the New York Times bestselling author of This Is Your Brain on Music, The World in Six Songs, The Organized Mind, Successful Aging, and the international bestseller A Field Guide to Lies. Levitin is James McGill Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Neuroscience and Music at McGill University, and Founding Dean of Minerva University in San Francisco. He is also a musician and composer who has worked with artists including Roseanne Cash, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, and Joni Mitchell, and has been awarded seventeen gold and platinum records. He divides his time between Montreal and California.

COVID SAFETY PROTOCOLS: We strongly encourage attendees to wear masks at our events, although they will NOT be required. We will have masks available for attendees who want them. Do NOT attend the event if you, or any member of your family, have any respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, runny nose, and/or sore throat), or have had a significant exposure to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

ACCESSIBILITY: We never want cost to be a barrier to admission for our community. Please email events [at] keplers [dot] org if you would like to attend this event but cannot afford a ticket. To request an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for this event, please email events [at] keplers [dot] org at least one week prior to the event.

Also check out other Arts events in Menlo Park, Literary Art events in Menlo Park, Health & Wellness events in Menlo Park.