Dr. Ruth Discussion to be Streamed Live at the Palace!

Stamford, CT- America’s most hilarious and beloved therapist, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, will be leading a discussion at the prestigious 92^nd St Y Talks, to be streamed live at The Palace Theatre, Monday, June 8^th, at 8:15pm.

In this discussion, titled “The Doctor Is In,” Dr. Ruth will be discussing what she’s discovered while in pursuit of living a full life, as shown in her new book, The Doctor Is In: Dr. Ruth on Love,Life, and Joie de Vivre.  After facing tragedy, fear, and ultimately triumph, Dr. Ruth will discuss how she faced it all, and how she has kept her iconic spark for eighty-seven years.

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Ruth Westheimer was put on the kindertransport, a train for young Jewish children destined for Switzerland to escape the Holocaust. After spending her childhood in a Swiss orphanage, she moved to Palestine at age 17, eventually joining the Haganah, the Israel Defense Force, where she trained to be a sniper. Injured by a bomb blast on her twentieth birthday, she then moved to Paris, studying and teaching psychology at the University of Paris. She then moved to the United States, where she received her Masters in Sociology from Columbia University, Teachers College.

She rose to fame with the publications of her now-famous Sex for Dummies and Encyclopedia of Sex. She then was picked up by WYNC, NBC Radio, in 1980. Her show, “Sexually Speaking” sought to answer people’s questions about sex and sexuality. Her show became immensely popular, and she made several appearances on Late Night with David Letterman, among other talk shows. Sexually Speaking then added a 15-minute segment on Lifetime Cable, where Dr. Ruth continued to answer the public’s questions about sex and sexuality. Her segments are now on her highly-viewed YouTube Channel. She also appeared on the children’s series Between  the Lions, in which she played a therapist to helped characters overcome their fear of long words.

In 2009, after appearing as #13 on Playboy Magazine’s "55 Most important people in Sex for the Past 55 Years", Dr. Ruth’s life story was picked up by playwright Mark St. Germain, where it became the hit off-Broadway production Becoming Dr. Ruth, starring That 70’s Show actress Debra Jo Rupp.  

The Doctor Is In will be moderated by ProfessorAnnette Insdorf, a revered film professor at Columbia University. She has spent many years researching Dr. Ruth, and demonstrating how Ruth’s approaches to talking about psychology and sex have had an immense impact on film. She is also the author of numerous books, including Indelible Shadows: Film and the Holocaust.

For over 140 years, 92^nd St Y Talks have striven to promote conversations “…where tomorrow’s most important issues are revealed, and today’s most intriguing conversations begin” for the Jewish community and beyond. The talks have welcome esteemed guests such as Robert Gates and Neil Patrick Harris. The Palace is honored to be able to live-stream their lectures, and we so look forward to hearing the inspirational words of Dr. Ruth!