A Brand New Beat : Santa Barbara Literary Festival

Following the publication of Peter Richardson's BRAND NEW BEAT: THE WILD RISE OF ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE, which takes readers inside the early days of the iconic magazine as it rewrote the rules of journalism, Richardson proposes a lively panel conversation about the distinct type of journalism pioneered by Rolling Stone--and where it stands today.

Jerry Roberts is a veteran California journalist known for his political reporting at the San Francisco Chronicle, his editorial work at the Santa Barbara News-Press, and his political analysis for The Santa Barbara Independent, KCRW, and KEYT TV. The cofounder of the political website Calbuzz, he is also the author of Dianne Feinstein: Never Let Them See You Cry (1994).

Panelists:

Ann Louise Bardach is a prize-winning journalist and author who has reported on a broad range of political and cultural issues, including a deep dive into the nexus of Cuba/Miami/Washington politics. A former staff reporter at Vanity Fair, she has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New Republic, The Daily Beast, and other major outlets.

Abe Peck is professor emeritus in service at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and author of Uncovering the Sixties: The Life and Times of the Underground Press (1985). He was music news editor at Rolling Stone from 1975-77 and a contributing editor for a dozen years afterward.Charles Perry was an editor at Rolling Stone magazine until 1976, when he began work on The Haight-Ashbury: A History (1984). In 1990, he became a staff writer for the food section of the Los Angeles Times, where he remained until 2008. He has translated several medieval cookbooks from Arabic to English and published widely on the history of food, particularly of the Middle East and California.

Peter Richardson is the author of Brand New Beat: The Wild Rise of Rolling Stone Magazine (2026). His other publications include critically acclaimed books about Hunter S. Thompson, Ramparts magazine, the Grateful Dead, and radical author and editor Carey McWilliams. His commentary has appeared in The Nation, The New Republic, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and many other outlets.

DATES AND LOCATIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE

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Host or Publisher Santa Barbara Literary Festival