AI, Yi Yi: Summit Sheds Light on the Phenomenon, and More Spoken Word Matters

The annual Santa Barbara County Economic Summit steps into the ultra-contemporary with its 2026 event, featuring a focus on Artificial Intelligence. AI is reshaping industries, workforces and local economies around the world, and the Economic Summit is bringing together three of the region’s leading voices to explore what it means for Santa Barbara County and beyond. Peter Rupert, UCSB professor of economics and executive director of the Economic Forecast Project since 2010, speaks on “How’s the Economy?” Igor Mezić –UCSB mechanical engineering professor and co-founder/chief scientist/CTO of MixMode AI, a Santa Barbara-based cybersecurity company – addresses “AI for Autonomous Everything (AIAE): Where Do We Stand and Where Are We Going?” Mezić worked in the past with DARPA and the Department of Defense to create algorithms for autonomous AI systems, and is the creator of the “Third-Wave” AI underpinning the MixMode platform. Santa Barbara native Zack Kass, who currently advises Fortune 100 companies and governments on how to lead in an AI-driven world after serving as head of Go-to-Market at OpenAI, is the author of the 2026 book The Next RenAIssance: AI and the Expansion of Human Potential. His talk on “AI and Societal Thresholds” is in keeping with his mission to demystify AI and build a brighter future. 

Tickets to the 4:30 pm May 21 summit at the Granada Theatre include the post-event reception and digital access to the 2026 Economic Outlook Publication. The first 500 people to arrive at the summit will also receive a free copy of Kass’ book.

Visit www.granadasb.org

Power Failure: Science Pub Considers the Lithium Dilemma 

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s monthly event at Dargan’s Irish Pub brings Javiera Barandiarán, UCSB professor and director of the Center for Restorative Environmental Work, to talk about the unintended consequences of the desire to go to electric cars to reduce carbon emissions. 

Her new book, Living Minerals: Nature, Trade, and Power in the Race for Lithium, offers a sobering investigation of the rush for lithium for electric vehicles, the problematic history of lithium mining, and the consequences for sustainability. The Science Pub event on June 8 explains her argument that decarbonizing society requires that we reckon with these inequitable environmental realities, or risk deepening our dependency on an unsustainable mining industry. 

Visit www.sbnature.org

Park it at Maritime Museum Event 

Next month’s installment of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum’s Distinguished Speaker Series, which takes place on June 18, brings Jill Zachary, Parks and Recreation director for the City of Santa Barbara, to talk about the history, cultural importance, and future vision of Santa Barbara’s coastal park system. The system ranges from the Douglas Family Preserve on the city’s western edge to the Andrée Clark Bird Refuge in the east, encompassing almost 300 acres of open space, six linear miles of beach, and a diverse range of recreational facilities. For more than 150 years, these public spaces have contributed to the cultural, recreational, ecological, and economic vitality of Santa Barbara, helping define the community’s enduring relationship with the coast.

Zachary’s presentation will provide an overview of the acquisition, development and evolution of the coastal park system over time and highlight recent restorations of historically significant community assets, including Plaza del Mar, Thousand Steps and the Cabrillo Pavilion, along with efforts to honor the heritage of the native Chumash at Ambassador Park, strengthen native habitat and wildfire resilience, and advance renewal plans for Dwight Murphy Field. The talk will be followed by a Q&A session. 

Visit www.sbmm.org

Chaucer’s Choices 

Suspense meets sensationalism in Philippa Malicka’s In Her Defense. The debut novel concerns a celebrity libel trial which has riveted the country, a beloved TV star accusing her daughter’s therapist of brainwashing the young woman for the therapist’s financial gain. Someone on the periphery secretly wields the power to make or break the case but wrestles with her own hidden past in choosing whether to speak up. Kirkus Reviews praised the characterizations and the building suspense, noting “As the book goes on, more and more questions arise about victimhood, power, perspective. Many are unanswerable, all are fascinating. Readers will be on tenterhooks waiting for the outcome of the trial.”

London-based Malicka discusses In Her Defense in conversation with María Amparo Escandón, a New York Times best-selling bilingual author whose books include Esperanza’s Box of Saints and González & Daughter Trucking Co. and the recent L.A. Weather, which was featured on Oprah Quarterly, at 6 pm on Tuesday, May 26. 

Gregory Orfalea has authored or edited 11 books, including Journey to the Sun: Junipero Serra’s Dream and the Founding of California. The latest novel by the writer-in-residence at Westmont College is Wonder + Shame. A historian disillusioned with his country during the 2016 presidential campaign returns to his ancestral home village outside Damascus, where the Syrian Civil War sees him and his cousin sent to an enormous Syrian refugee camp. There, against the backdrop of a world collapsing into power madness and self-serving deception, he attempts to organize an American-style baseball team of Syrian refugees. Orfalea discusses the book at Chaucer’s on Wednesday, June 3.

Visit www.chaucersbooks.com

Oui, Oui, Tecolote

Claudia Hoag McGarry, actress, playwright, painter and more, has just published a memoir called I Wish I Had a French Cafe and Almond Croissants. The stories range from her childhood in New Orleans, to living in 1970s L.A. and decades in Santa Barbara raising children and beyond, creating a tapestry of poignant vignettes from her life while paying tribute to her parents’ and her in-laws’ legacy. The memoir ultimately celebrates resilience, creativity, and the enduring power of family ties across generations. The official bookstore launch, with talk and signing, takes place at Tecolote in Montecito on Saturday afternoon, June 6.