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    thanks, obama

    Former President Barack Obama commands laughs and camaraderie at exclusive Houston gala

    Steven Devadanam
    Nov 28, 2018 | 4:45 pm
    President Obama Rice Baker Institute Gala
    Former President Barack Obama highlighted the political climate with a hilarious assessment of a chair.
    Photo by Michael Stravato for Rice University's Baker Institute

    In this current political era of hyperbolic bombast and us-versus-them partisanship, the dearth of civilized discourse can leave many in the middle yearning for a calmer climate. Fortunately, those who attended President Barack Obama’s appearance at Rice University were treated to a measured, mediative, and even merry conversation between two iconic statesmen — men of rival parties who profess genuine fondness and regard for each other and their legacies.

     

    Former President Obama was in Houston for the Baker Institute for Public Policy’s 25th anniversary gala. Obama was joined by former Secretary of State James A. Baker for a discussion moderated by presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham.

     

    The prevailing theme was bipartisanship; rather than a lengthy speech, Obama opted for a discussion on mending fences with Baker, according to sources. The Baker Institute is also heralded as a non-partisan political think tank. The gala raised a whopping $5.4 million for the center.

     

    Obama and Baker addressed an A-list crowd of more than 1,000 Houston philanthropists, educators, and tastemakers in a makeshift, but elegant, gala tent at the center of the Rice campus. Ever the sports enthusiast, Obama greeting the audience with a football shout out: “Congratulations on the Texans' victory yesterday,” he offered. He also teased that he had visited Former President George H. W. Bush (“41”) earlier in the day.

     

    The duo didn’t hold back on the current political zeitgeist, though they never mentioned President Donald Trump by name. (“He’s Voldemort,” said Meacham, invoking the Harry Potter character. “I won’t say his name.”)
    "The responsible center in American politics has disappeared," said Baker, the institute’s honorary chair. "You have the advent of the internet, and that really makes it easy to be divisive. Divisiveness sells."

     

    Obama agreed. "In the past, there were overlapping ideological spectra in each party. So there were people on both sides that you could have a conversation with. There were certain ideals no matter how they were viewed," he said. "There were certain ideals we had to follow because that was part of American leadership in the world and it was part of what made us a great country. Those are now being contested, in part because we don’t have this common base of information."

     

    The pair also remarked on American exceptionalism. "American leadership in the world is absolutely imperative, no other country can do it," said Baker, who underscored that the U.S. won the Cold War "because we had alliances." Obama, who praised Baker’s accomplishments in international diplomacy, agreed. "We have a stake in making sure that we have our act together enough," he said. "Because everybody else, whether they admit it or not, tends to follow our lead."

     

    Baker harped on the media’s role in the current political discussion. Obama responded: “By the time I took office, there was a change in the media environment where if you are a Fox News viewer, you have a different reality than a New York Times reader. It means that the basis of reporting is political.”

     

    The former president also identified a heated factor that has dominated headlines. “One of the major fault lines in America was always race. We’ve made leaping changes to our laws and culture so that we were more likely to live up to the ideals of our Declaration of Independence. As that started happening, consensus started weakening.”

     

    As talked turned to pride in respective accomplishments, Baker harked back to his impressive pedigree (the Houston native served under Ronald Reagan and both Bush presidents). “I’m most proud that I had the privilege of serving two presidents as chief of staff, of being secretary of treasury, of being secretary of state, of running five presidential campaigns, and of leaving Washington without getting indicted,” he said, garnering thunderous applause.

     

    Obama cited his own no-indictment credentials. “Not only did I not get indicted, nobody in my administration got indicted,” he said. “It was the only administration in modern history that that can be said about. In fact, nobody came close to being indicted, probably because the people who joined us were there for the right reasons.”

     

    For Obama, it was also a personal victory over Washington D.C. toxicity. “Michelle and I and our girls came out intact,” he recalled. “The core values that we brought into the office — tell the truth, try to see the other person’s POV, treat people kindly and with respect — we were able to sustain that in a difficult environment.”

     

    A night filled with levity was marked by a particularly humorous and deadpan moment by Obama and Meacham. “The biggest challenge we’re going to have over the next 10, 15, 20 years is to return to a civic discussion in which if I say this is a chair, we agree this is a chair,” he said, patting his chair. “We can disagree on whether it’s a nice chair, whether we should replace the chair, whether you want to move it over there — but we can’t say it’s an elephant.”

     

    “I thought we were against Obamachair,” Meacham quipped, not missing a beat.

     

    “That was a nice chair,” Obama fired back. “I noticed the folks who tried to move it this last election didn’t have a good time.”

     
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    Silk and Sequins

    Cultural fashion takes center stage at Runway to Asia in Houston

    Joel Luks
    Jul 10, 2025 | 12:30 pm
    Asia Society Runway to Asia fashion show 2025
    Photo by Annie Mulligan
    Rekha Muddaraj, Shazia Sultan, Danny Nguyen, Zang Toi, Bonna Kol, Phoebe Tudor, and Leigh Smith.

    If fashion is a language, Runway to Asia spoke it fabulously fluently.

    The ballroom of The Post Oak Hotel shimmered with silk, sequins, and sartorial splendor as Asia Society Texas debuted its first-ever Runway to Asia style-studded affair — a glamorous gala-meets-catwalk moment where heritage was hand-stitched into haute couture.

    More than 300 guests filled the swanky venue for the event, greeted by models perched like living mannequins in Danny Nguyen’s Fall/Winter 2025 collection, each ensemble a fabric-forward love letter to cultural identity and avant-garde vision. This was a glamnifesto on what it means to wear your roots with pride and purpose.

    Leading the stylish charge were co-chairs Leigh Smith, Shazia Sultan, and Phoebe Tudor, who curated the afternoon like seasoned couturiers. Attendees noshed on a three-course lunch before the real feast began: a full-throttle catwalk presentation honoring two design dynamos — Danny Nguyen, Houston’s own silhouettist supreme, and international fashion luminary Zang Toi.

    Rekha Muddaraj, former KHOU 11 anchor turned emcee extraordinaire, welcomed the crowd with poise, passing the mic to Asia Society Texas president Bonna Kol, who framed the gathering as more than just fashion, but part of the nonprofit’s mission to celebrate cultural diversity through art.

    The applause crescendoed when Michael Buening, the organization’s director of performing arts and culture, announced the event had raised more than $300,000 to fund more than 20 annual programs.

    Pro tip: philanthropy always looks better in couture.

    Then came the honors. Nguyen was honored with the Texas Trendsetter Award, praised by Shazia Sultan for blending traditional elegance with avant-glam silhouettes. Meanwhile, Tudor crowned Toi with the Global Icon Award, charting his runway rise from Malaysia to Manhattan.

    Toi’s “Opulence of the Orient Express” collection brought the house down with 37 jaw-dropping looks: Ottoman-inspired caftans, midnight velvet suits, pearl-dusted evening gowns, and coat-dress hybrids that defied the laws of layering. Each ensemble whispered luxury and screamed craftsmanship.

    The raffle added a thrill of retail roulette with prizes including a luxe Hill Country escape, personal styling sessions with the honorees, and golden tickets to Zang Toi’s Fall 2026 New York show.

    Soaking in the scene were Sushila Agrawal, Nancy Allen, Fady Armanious, Kristy Bradshaw, Divya Brown, Tripp Carter, Theresa Chang, Anne Chao, Molly Crownover, Kari Dagley, Chloe Dao, Debbie Festari, Kathy and Marty Goossen, Brigitte Kalai, Mandy Kao, Sippi Khurana, Karen Kwok, Teri Lee, Kelley Lubanko, Christy Lynn, Petra Martinez, Sneha Merchant, Duyen Nguyen, Cabrina Owsley, Akemi Saitoh, Miya Shay, Sue and Randy Sim, Shawn Stephens, Y. Ping Sun, Ileana Trevino, Janae Tsai, Stephanie Tsuru, Heidi Turney, and Asha Virani.

    Asia Society Runway to Asia fashion show 2025
      

    Photo by Annie Mulligan

    Rekha Muddaraj, Shazia Sultan, Danny Nguyen, Zang Toi, Bonna Kol, Phoebe Tudor, and Leigh Smith.

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