Daniel Grossman will share stories from his new book, Seeing Red: Spies, Lies and My So-Called Life as a Diplomat.

As a US diplomat in Cold War Leningrad, Grossman did everything from ducking the fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear explosion to protecting U.S. senators from sex traps. His primary focus was Soviet human rights, and in that context, he interacted extensively with the Soviet Jewish community.

About the Book
Have you ever had one of those days when you've had to explain to a leading senator that the woman approaching his table is actually a Soviet spy hoping to bed and blackmail him? Well, Danny Grossman has.

As a twenty-six-year-old diplomat serving in Leningrad during the Cold War, Grossman's phones were tapped, his home was bugged, his neighbor went out the window, his houseguest was attacked, his consulate was rocked by something called Chernobyl, his movements were tracked by an ambitious young KGB officer named Vladimir Putin—and that was only the beginning!

With autocracy rising around the world, Grossman has written a stunning meditation on the politics of oppression, the nature of dreamers and the resilience of ordinary people under siege.

Welcome to a very private peek behind the Iron Curtain.

About the Author
Daniel Grossman served in several overseas posts as a US diplomat, including the USSR and the Center for Security and Cooperation in Europe, before becoming the Human Rights Officer on the State Department's Soviet Desk. Grossman also founded Wild Planet Entertainment and was CEO of The San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund. He is married to Linda Gerard, and they have two sons, Noah and Jonah.

George Farber will conduct the interview.

 George Farber was born in Leningrad, Russia (now St. Petersburg) and moved to the Bay Area as a teenager with his family almost 35 years ago. George is the Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Oshman Family JCC and proud father of three Hausner Jewish Day School graduates. Professionally, George is a partner at PJT Partners, a global, advisory-focused investment bank.