Talks Events

Three of Houston’s Michelin-starred chefs—Emmanuel Chavez (Tatemó), Felipe Riccio (March), and Mayank Istwal (Musaafer)—join Chris for an honest, wide-ranging conversation about what a star really means for their kitchens and their teams. It’s a rare behind-the-scenes look at success, pressure, creativity, and what it takes to build something that lasts. Breaking Bread is a new series presented by the Hobby Center in partnership with James Beard Award-winning chef and TV host Chris Shepherd. (713) 315-2525

As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes human life, fundamental questions about consciousness, identity, and meaning have become more urgent than ever. In this thought-provoking lecture, Swami Sarvapriyananda, resident minister of the Vedanta Society of New York and globally acclaimed monk, will explore these questions and more through the lens of Advaita Vedanta, one of the world's most profound non-dual spiritual traditions. Drawing connections between ancient contemplative insights and modern developments in AI and cognitive science, he will examine the nature of consciousness, the limits of computation, and the deeper dimensions of human experience that transcend algorithms and data. (713) 496-9901

Asia Society Texas and the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston are pleased to welcome Lobsang Sangay, lecturer on law at Harvard Law School and former Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration, to speak about Tibetan Buddhist traditions becoming subject to political intervention and Chinese state regulation. Joined in conversation by Ronan O'Malley, chief program officer of the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston, they will discuss how Buddhist traditions across the Himalayan region, Central Asia, and the world are responding to overlapping pressures of religion, sovereignty, geopolitics, and resource competition. (713) 496-9901