Monday November 11, 2019
Manhattan
12pm $29: Villains of History: On Adolf Hitler with Dr. Benjamin Hett and Dr. Gail Saltz. Join Dr. Gail Saltz and Dr. Benjamin Hett for this conversation on how Hitler used populist insurgencies to bring the Nazis to power and how the misguided confidence of conservative politicians resulted in a failure to recognize that their efforts played directly into Hitler’s hands. More info. [HISTORY]
7pm $29: The Seine: The River That Made Paris. Voyage down the Seine with journalist Elaine Sciolino as she explores the history of the beloved Parisian river and the lives it shapes. A book signing will follow the talk. More info. [BOOKS]
Tuesday November 12, 2019
Manhattan
11am $30: The Making of a Masterpiece: Gustave Courbet, Woman with a Parrot, 1866. Join Kathryn Calley Galitz, author of The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Masterpiece Paintings, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a discussion on Gustave Courbet’s Woman with a Parrot. More info. [ART]
6:30pm $15: AMNH Presents: Past Earthquakes, Present Hazard. How do scientists understand earthquakes that occurred before the invention of modern seismometers? Join geophysicist Susan Hough as she describes the science around understanding past tremors and what they can teach us about present-day earthquake hazards. More info. [SCIENCE]
7pm $18: History Behind the Headlines: Socialism. Columbia Journalism School Director of Academic Affairs, and former Editor-in-Chief of The Forward Jane Eisner sits down with an all-star panel to discuss socialism today, its complicated past, and how New York’s predominantly Jewish socialist movement paved the way for change a century ago. More info. [ECONOMICS]
7:30pm $25: Foodtalk: Jewish Food. Two of the most influential authorities on Jewish cooking today, Leah Koenig, author of Modern Jewish Cooking and the new The Jewish Cookbook, and Adeena Sussman, bestselling author with a new cookbook, Sababa, discuss the intricacies of Jewish food identity, from Israeli cooking to the diaspora. In conversation with food journalist Gabriella Gershenson. More info. [FOOD]
Brooklyn
8pm Free: Secret Science Club: Brain Lecture with Neuroscientist Nim Tottenham. At the next Secret Science Club, neuroscientist Nim Tottenham explores human brain development and its relationship to emotional behavior, stress, and well-being. More info. [SCIENCE]
Wednesday November 13, 2019
Manhattan
6:30-8pm Free: What’s a Brain For? A Moving Story. While computers can now beat grandmasters at chess, no computer can yet control a robot to manipulate a chess piece with the dexterity of a six-year-old child. Join neuroscientist Dr. Daniel Wolpert at Columbia University as he discusses what makes control so hard, especially in the face of incomplete or rapidly changing information about the world. More info. [SCIENCE]
7-8:30pm $25: Yogishri and Bijan Sabet: Investing in Letting Go. The premise of venture capitalist Bijan Sabet’s business is to invest in order to earn more, and his early investment in digital platforms like Twitter and Tumblr could be described as prescient. But does this type of success yield happiness? Whizz investor Sabet and the Himalayan spiritual master Yogishri will search for what happiness we can hope to find beyond cashing in. More info. [MINDFULNESS]
7pm $29: Food Artisans of Japan. Join Nancy Singleton Hachisu at the 92 Y as she shares her in-depth knowledge and understanding of Japanese locales, the foods and the artisans who work there. More info. [FOOD]
Thursday November 14, 2019
Manhattan
7:30-8:30pm $15: Life Isn’t Everything: Mike Nichols, as Remembered by 150 of His Closest Friends. Join us for a searching conversation all about the life and work of the prolific and influential filmmaker, theater director, and comedian Mike Nichols, with editors Sam Kashner and Ash Carter and Nichols’ collaborator Candice Bergen. More info. [FILM]
9pm $15: Understanding Your Brain: Q&A with Neuroscientist Dr. David Rock. David Rock believes that learning about your brain can have similar benefits to practicing mindfulness, without the sitting quietly part. In this session, he will answer questions about how to create the right conditions for yourself or your team to do your best work, based on how the brain works. Explore how to have more breakthrough insights, how to collaborate better and how to stay sane amidst the noise with this insight-rich talk. More info. [GEEK]
Friday November 15, 2019
Manhattan
9am-1pm Free: Madison Square Park Conservancy’s Horticultural Symposium. For its second annual Horticulture Symposium, Madison Square Park Conservancy will gather experts in the fields of landscape design, horticulture therapy, and forest therapy to discuss the significance of access to public green spaces in our city. More info. [NATURE]
Brooklyn
8pm Free: Scientific Controversies: Extra Dimensions. Pioneer Works’ Director of Sciences, Prof. Janna Levin, invites renowned theoretical physicists Prof. Gregory Gabadadze and Prof. Cumrun Vafa to reflect on our dimensionality, string theory, reality, and the multiverse. More info. [SCIENCE]
Saturday November 16, 2019
Queens
2-3:30pm Free: Talk with David W. Blight, Author of Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. Join the Queens Public Library for a presentation with the historian David W. Blight about his 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. Blight, a history professor and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University, will discuss what prompted him to pursue the story of the escaped slave who became one of the leading orators, abolitionists, and writers of his era. More info. [BOOKS]
Sunday November 17, 2019
Manhattan
3pm Free: When You Kant Figure It Out, Ask a Philosopher! How can Kant comfort you when you get ditched via text message? How can Aristotle cure your hangover? How can Heidegger make you feel better when your dog dies? Join Marie Robert as she explains how pearls of wisdom from the greatest Western philosophers can help us face and make light of some of the daily challenges of modern life, based on her book When You Kant Figure It Out, Ask a Philosopher. More info. [PHILOSOPHY]
Weekend of November 16-17, 2019
Manhattan
$25: Salon du Chocolat. The Salon du Chocolat is a unique global pageantry of chocolatiers, artisans, pastry chefs, experts, and businesses throughout the world who have one thing in common: their passion for all things chocolate. They will entertain and beguile with a cornucopia of delectable products, and exhibit their craft, culture, and knowledge in an expertly curated, experiential venue. Saturday, November 16: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm, and Sunday, November 17: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm. More info. [FOOD]