Valerie Plame Wilson

The Marcus Center’s woman-centric Smart Talk Lecture Series has lined up some big names for its current season, but it’s unlikely that Lisa Ling or Marlo Thomas’ upcoming lectures will be quite as intense as tonight’s from Valerie Plame Wilson. It’s hard to top the international intrigue in Plame’s story: loving wife and mother who also happens to be a secret CIA agent is outed by a vengeful presidential administration hellbent on seeking revenge for her husband’s opposition to the Iraq war, sparking an investigation that ultimately takes down the vice president’s closest, most loyal foot soldiers (and, arguably, one of The New York Times’ crappiest reporters). Plame, who speaks tonight at 7:30 p.m., wrote passionately about the experience in her memoir, Fair Game.