In recent years, several of America's leading art museums have voluntarily given up their finest pieces of classical art to the governments of Italy and Greece. The monetary value is estimated at over half a billion dollars. Why would they be moved to such unheard-of generosity?

The answer lies at the J. Paul Getty Museum, one of the world’s richest and most troubled museums, and scandalous revelations that it had been buying looted antiquities for decades. Drawing on a trove of confidential museum records and frank interviews, Los Angeles Times reporters Jason Felch and Ralph Frammolino give us a fly-on-the-wall account of the inner workings of a world-class museum and tell the story of the Getty’s dealings in the illegal antiquities trade. Their book, Chasing Aphrodite is the product of five years of investigative reporting and is the first account from the scandal’s epicenter. With them on stage will be Arthur Houghton, who was a Getty curator during the '80s, who figures prominently in the book.