Monday January 20, 2020
Manhattan
2-3:30pm Free: Martin Luther King and Mary Shelley. Join Professor Patricia Kim for this special free Olio event. Professor Kim will use Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as a lens to understand MLK’s reflections on our society which is often TOO well adjusted. More info. [HISTORY]
Brooklyn
10:30am Free: 34th Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Join BAM in paying tribute to King’s legacy—this year featuring keynote speaker Nikole Hannah-Jones and musical guests Son Little and the Brooklyn Interdenominational Choir—to help keep his message of equality, peace, and hope alive. This full day of free events also includes a screening and an art exhibition entitled Picture the Dream (on view through February 27), and the weekend prior we host free live music performances at BAMcafé. More info. [HISTORY]
Tuesday January 21, 2020
Manhattan
6-7:30pm Free: American Manifesto: WNYC’s Bob Garfield with Ken Auletta. Bob Garfield examines the troubling confluence of the American preoccupation with identity and the decline of mass media. Join us as he speaks with New Yorker media critic Ken Auletta about ways to counter the forces of fragmentation, drawing from the manifesto’s subtitle: Six steps to take to reassemble our fractured society. More info. [CULTURE]
7:30-9pm Free: Savvy Sirens of the French New Wave, 1956 – 1965. NAC member, Erik Carlson will screen four rarely seen shorts by the foremost directors of the French New Wave era from his personal collection, each with a strong female presence. Films will open with a brief slide presentation and overview of this influential period. More info. [FILM]
Brooklyn
7:30-9pm $35: Decolonizing the Heart and Mind. This Olio event with Professor Kim Nguyen will challenge us to explore within ourselves and reflect on some ways that we all participate in perpetuating systems of oppression and how we might work to dismantle them instead. More info. [PHILOSOPHY]
8pm Free: Secret Science Club Presents Structural Biologist Kevin Gardner. A biochemist and biophysicist, Kevin Gardner has been unlocking the secrets inside cells for over two decades. As he dives into this microscopic world, he visualizes how all-important cellular proteins look in three dimensions and studies how they react to different stimuli—all with the goal of learning how the human body works and finding new cures for diseases. More info. [SCIENCE]
Wednesday January 22, 2020
Manhattan
4:15-6:15pm Free: Ultra-Spooky Action at a Distance: From Quantum Materials in the Lab to Black Holes. The strangest feature of quantum theory was dubbed “spooky action at a distance” by Albert Einstein. Today, scientists have convincing evidence that two quantum particles far apart can entangle with each other such that the observation of one can instantaneously determine the state of the other. In this lecture, Professor of Physics Subir Sachdev will describe how this quantum feature is playing a central role in many modern developments in physics. More info. [SCIENCE]
6:30-7:45pm $20: Grand Illusions: Nora Ephron’s Magical Manhattan on Film. In this multimedia lecture/presentation, Paula Uruburu revisits Ephron’s words of wit and wisdom while touring a city transformed through her unique lens in some of her most iconic New York films. And we will look back on her own love affair with some of the city’s beloved landmarks that make appearances in her films where the Upper West Side is as much a character as its enchanted inhabitants. More info. [FILM]
6-7:30pm Free: Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America’s Heartland. With the rise of the Tea Party and the election of Donald Trump, many middle- and lower-income white Americans threw their support behind conservative politicians who pledged to make life great again for people like them. As Jonathan Metzl shows, the right-wing policies that resulted from this white backlash put these voters’ very health at risk—and in the end, threaten everyone’s well-being. Based on his new book of the same title, Metzl’s talk demonstrates just how much white America would benefit by emphasizing cooperation, rather than by chasing false promises of supremacy. More info. [CULTURE]
7pm $29: How to Keep Your Cool. In his essay “On Anger,” the Roman Stoic thinker Seneca argues that anger is the most destructive passion. This lecture at 92Y, from James Romm, editor, translator, and Professor of Classics at Bard College offers us a timeless guide to avoiding and managing anger. It vividly illustrates why the emotion is so dangerous and why controlling it would bring vast benefits to individuals and society. Book signing for How to Keep Your Cool follows the lecture. More info. [PHILOSOPHY]
Thursday January 23, 2020
Manhattan
6:30-8pm Free: Lauren Silbert: The Neuroscience of Communication and Its Social Implications. Lauren Silbert, PhD, is a neuroscientist, educator, and installation scientist. In this talk, she will present her scientific findings and discuss their practical implications in education and public experience. She will focus on the role science, technology, and design can play in not only driving society forward with innovation, but also in uniting myriad cultures around curiosity and shared knowledge. More info. [PHILOSOPHY]
7pm $15: Persian Night of Love Songs and Poetry. Amir Vahab’s repertoire is grounded in traditional Persian poetry and music that he believes is part of the global heritage, and needs to be both taught and preserved. Performed in multiple languages, the evening will weave together spoken word and songs set to 13th-14th century poetry from Rumi, Hafiz and Yunus Emre. More info. [POETRY]
7-8:45pm $40: It’s Time to Expand Nuclear Power with Bill Nye. Should nuclear energy fuel our future? Join Bill Nye and a panel of experts at the French Institute Alliance Française for a debate about the promise of nuclear energy. More info. [SCIENCE]
7pm $20: Micropolis: Does NYC Have the Best Chinese Food Scene (Outside of China)? As we near Lunar New Year, join Micropolis host Arun Venugopal and EATER NY editor Serena Dai for an evening of conversation and of course, amazing food. They and their guests will explore the early history of Chinese food in New York — starting with a cluster of restaurants around Mott Street — to the present day, when online influencers are driving traffic and new business in ways that Yelp and The New York Times could only dream of, and culinary trends emerge in China and New York almost simultaneously. More info. [FOOD]
7-9pm Free: A Centennial of Asimov. January 2, 2020, is the centennial of his birth. Ian Randal Strock worked with Isaac for the last three years of his life, and got to know him very well. Come hear tales of who he was, what he meant to science fiction, and what legacy he leaves. More info. [GEEK]
Friday January 24, 2020
Manhattan
6-7pm Free: An Evening with Jim Dale. A multitalented performer who garnered an Oscar nomination as composer of the theme song for Georgy Girl, an actor who earned acclaim with Sir Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre Company and later won a Tony Award for his title role in Barnum, and a narrator who holds multiple Grammy Awards for his recordings of Harry Potter, Jim Dale is one of the most engaging personalities in show business. After he delights us with highlights from his extraordinary career, he’ll respond to questions and comments from attendees during what promises to be another engaging conversation with John Andrews. More info. [FILM]
7-9:30pm $15: Evening with Artist Dread Scott, Creator of “Slave Rebellion Reenactment.” A benefit evening to save Revolution Books with artist Dread Scott, in conversation with Andy Zee, spokesperson for Revolution Books. More info. [ART]
Saturday January 25, 2020
Queens
2-4pm Free: Let’s Talk About Mental Health. Think about all the times you’ve seen mental illness depicted on TV, in movies, and in the general media. How many times was it NOT mined for humor, shock value, horror, or sensationalism? How often was it made HUMAN and REAL? Come to our show at Q.E.D. in Astoria where we hope to explore and explode some of the myths that are still goin strong in 2019. More info. [MINDFULNESS]
Sunday January 26, 2020
Manhattan
11am-12:30pm Free: Jason Haber – Futurecity: A Look at the Past, Present, and Future of NYC and Cities Around the World. In FutureCity, Jason Haber takes the audience through the history of cities, and explores contemporary issues that are key to their survival and success. For New York, this requires a further embrace of Jane Jacobs, while moving on from the cen-centric policies of Robert Moses. More info. [CULTURE]
12:30-1:30pm $15: Final Curator Tour of Baseball History Exhibition, “HOME PLATE.” Baseball history will come to life when you join Curator, Neil Scherer, for a spectacular, specialized tour of the exhibition, “HOME PLATE: A Celebration of the Polo Grounds.” The exhibition features an extraordinary collection of memorabilia that highlight iconic moments from the Polo Grounds, as well as other epic moments in New York sports history. More info. [TOUR]
7pm $32: Unmasking Mengele. One of the most notorious war criminals of all time, Dr. Josef Mengele has come to symbolize both the evil of the Nazi regime and the failure of justice in the postwar world. Drawing on new scholarship and sources, historian David G. Marwell examines Mengele’s life and career, chronicling his university studies, which led to two PhDs and a promising career as a scientist; his wartime service, in combat and at Auschwitz, where his “selections” determined the fate of countless innocents and his “scientific” pursuits resulted in the traumatization and death of thousands more; and his postwar refuge in Germany and South America. More info. [BOOKS]