co-authors john corvino entry into a debate each other as they discuss their book, "debating same-sex marriage." the gay-rights advocate and conservative columnist uncover how they differ and why as they provide a roadmap of one of the country's most volatile and ongoing debates. >> we have debated same-sex marriage a few times across america. now we are here with a hot off the press book, "debating same-sex marriage." maybe you could share what is your best three-minute case for gay marriage? >> i think relationships are good for people, marriage is good for relationships. we all want to live happily ever after. there is also something about coming home and i to share. relationships make us better people. i'm a better person also because marriage ties us to our families in a certain way. you know, it is so important to be tied to your family and sustaining the family life that we have. we can talk more about this. one of the reasons we see a shift over the last 15 years in favor of same-sex marriage and the country is about evenly divided on this, at least in the polls, between 1996

this week gay rights advocate john corvino and maggie gallagher engage in a point/counterpoint discussion of gay marriage. we conclude at 1 is p.m. eastern -- 11 p.m. eastern with eric deggins, whose book, "race baiter," will be the topic. visit booktv.org more more on this weekend's television schedule. >> next on booktv, viktor mayer-schonberger and kenneth cookier tube a new field of research that uses information to predict human behavior and events. this is a little over an hour. >> good evening and welcome to today's program at the commonwealth club of california, the place where you're in the know. i'm dr. missouri rah gunn, host of tech nation which airs on npr.org and also on the npr channels on xm sirius radio. i'm your moderator for the program this evening. tonight's program is being held in associate -- association with the commonwealth club's science-technology forum. find us on the internet at commonwealthclub.org or down lode our iphone and android apps for program and schedule information and podcasts of past programs. and now it is my pleasure to introduce today's distin