Peter Buffett + Janet Roitman

“It didn’t matter how big our house was; it mattered that there was love in it.” —Peter Buffett

Peter Buffett, the youngest son of business magnate Warren Buffett, has struck out on his own as a well-respected composer and philanthropist. In this talk Buffett discusses life’s lessons that are applicable to all, regardless of background.

About the Speakers

Peter Buffett has an acclaimed career that spans more than 30 years as an Emmy award-winning musician, composer, philanthropist and author. He began his career as the musical mind behind many of the early MTV bumpers of the ’80s, and the climactic crescendo in the memorable “fire dance” scene in 1990’s Oscar-winning film, Dances with Wolves. From 1987 to present, Buffett has released 16 records, and has been signed to such labels as Narada, Epic and Hollywood Records.

He also owns two independent labels, BisonHead and BeSide Records. Most of his releases had been instrumental recordings until 2006 when Buffett began experimenting with vocals and a more eclectic pop/rock sound. Buffett’s book, Life Is What You Make It, has been translated into over 15 languages and has sold nearly half a million copies worldwide. Buffett is the co-president of the NoVo Foundation and co-chair of its Board of Directors. In partnership with his wife, Jennifer, he helps to guide NoVo’s vision, strategic mission, and program development.

Janet Roitman is a professor of anthropology at the New School for Social Research. She has conducted extensive research in Central Africa, focusing specifically on the borders of Cameroon, Nigeria, the Central African Republic, and Chad. Her book Fiscal Disobedience: An Anthropology of Economic Regulation in Central Africa (Princeton University Press, 2005) is an analysis of the unregulated commerce that transpires on those borders. Her research covers topics of political economy, the anthropology of value, economization, and emergent forms of the political. Her current book, entitled Anti-Crisis (Duke University Press, 2014), inquires into the status of the concept of crisis in the social sciences, a project she has developed with the support of the Institute for Public Knowledge, New York University, where she was a scholar-in-residence from 2010 to 2011.