Race-Baiter update: Appearance Thursday with CNN analyst Donna Brazile and Saturday at LA Times book festival

I'll be speaking on my book Race-Baiter at at a symposium on race and the 2012 election keynoted by CNN analyst Donna Brazile Thursday. It's part a series of events coming up that has convinced me of one thing: the themes in the book about talking across race, how racial issues unfold in media and how to reject stereotypes in media keep surfacing in new ways through new controversies.

From complaints about the lack of diversity in recent CNN hires to the uproar over Brad Paisley's song "Accidental Racist," questions about how to nevigate all the issues of race, stereotyping and media coverage have only seemed to grow since my book was released in October.

Right now, I'm about midway through an informal book tour I put together for Race-Baiter, and the response shows people are interested in learning more.

From a TedX seminar in Bloomington, Ind. to a speech at the IU School of Journalism broadcast by C-SPAN's Book TV, an appearance at the National Conference for Media Reform and a presentation before more than 200 students at Cal State University who all had read the book and were ready with tough questions -- traveling the country to talk up this book has been exciting, exhilarating and gratifying.

There's another few weeks of appearances booked, including a special symposium called Race in the Race for the Presidency at George Washington University in Washington D.C. at 1 p.m. Thursday. CNN analyst and Democratic party strategist Donna Brazile keynotes the event, which also features former CNN correspondent/anchor Frank Sesno as moderator for my panel. Details are here: or here.

I'll also appear Saturday at The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, on a panel with author and historian Nancy L. Cohen and sociologist and author Nancy Sternheimer, moderated by Erin Aubrey Kaplan of the Los Angeles Times. The topic: The Front Lines of the Culture Wars.

I'll also be taking questions on the ideas and concepts discussed in Race-Baiter on C-SPAN's Book TV Saturday, from noon to 12:30 p.m., from a studio at the Festival.

Click here for more information. You can get more details on all the events coming up, including an April 25 stop at Tallahassee Community College through my Amazon author page here:

Or check my website calendar:

Book TV was kind enough to put my lecture at Indiana University online, so you can see that video here, along with video from an appearance on TV in California called SoCal Connected below.