The Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan Speaker Series, hosted by The Mendel Center at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor, Michigan, welcomes CBS News correspondent, podcaster, and TV personality Mo Rocca on Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at 7:30 pm.
Humorist, journalist, and actor Mo Rocca is best known for his off-beat news reports and satirical commentary. Currently a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning, Rocca is also the host of CBS’s series The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation. The show features stories about some of the world’s greatest inventions—past and present—and the effort it took to create them, educating and inspiring audiences with stories of creativity, hard work, and passion.
Rocca created and hosted the Cooking Channel’s My Grandmother’s Ravioli, in which he learned to cook from grandparents across America. He is also a frequent panelist on NPR’s hit weekly quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!
In January of 2019, Rocca’s podcast Mobituaries debuted as a joint venture between CBS News and Simon & Schuster. Rocca’s long love of obituaries led him to launch the project, an irreverent but deeply researched appreciation of the people (and things) of the past who have long intrigued him—from an unsung Founding Father to the first Chinese-American superstar, from Neanderthals to the station wagon.
Each of the first season’s eight episodes is richly produced, consisting of Rocca’s narrated storytelling combined with his original interviews (e.g. President Bill Clinton, whose inauguration pushed Audrey Hepburn’s obit off the front page) and some never-before-heard voices from the past, courtesy of the CBS News archives. The Mobituaries book was published in November 2019, coinciding with the podcast’s second season, and offers original stories combined with expanded “Mobits” from the show. It quickly became a New York Times best-seller, and the podcast is a highly-rated fixture on the iTunes charts.
During this moderated conversation, Rocca will provide an inside look at how his long love of obituaries spawned the Mobituaries podcast.
A pre-presentation buffet dinner will be served in Grand Upton Hall. Dinner begins at 5:30 pm. A brief appearance by the speaker is planned during dinner. Following dinner, ticket holders for Rocca’s presentation will take a short walk through The Mendel Center to their seats in the Mainstage. Dinner and presentation tickets are sold separately.
Reserved seats ($50 - $80) and dinner tickets ($35) are on sale now at www.TheMendelCenter.com/events, by calling 269-927-8700, option 1, or by visiting The Mendel Center Box Office in person. The box office is open weekdays from 10 am to 6 pm.
High school and college students are invited to attend a free Student Q&A session with Mo Rocca beginning at 6:25 pm in Grand Upton Hall. Registration is strongly encouraged at www.TheMendelCenter.com/events.
Speaker Series memberships of three or more events are still available for the 2021-2022 season. Member benefits include speaker ticket discounts, discounts on pre-speaker dinner tickets, discounts on Mainstage Performance Series tickets, and priority ticket purchasing for the 2022-2023 season.
Posted January 22, 2022