Biblio File
May Author @ the Library Programs at Mid-Manhattan Library
Open source intelligence and counter terrorism; links between jazz and physics; the graphic design process; kosher food in our times; the rise of the political consultant; untapped political power; the dynamics of Jewish social life; tales of political missteps; architects of a new Jerusalem; high profile figures through the lens of modern psychology; the art of image making and message craft in American politics; transformation in a post-Fidel Castro era; a first-person odyssey through the prison systems of the world...
If any of these topics have piqued your interest, then please join us for an Author @ the Library program this May at the Mid-Manhattan Library to hear distinguished non-fiction authors discuss their work and answer your questions.
Author talks take place at 6:30 PM on the 6th Floor of the Library, unless otherwise noted. You can also request the authors' books by clicking on the book covers below.
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Monday, May 2, 2016 Defeating ISIS: Who They Are, How They Fight, What They Believe with Malcolm Nance, internationally renowned intelligence veteran, author, and counter-terrorism expert. This illustrated lecture explains the religious and military origins of ISIS—the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, its virulent propaganda, and how it spreads its cult ideology throughout the Middle East and to disaffected youth across the globe through ultra-violence. |
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Thursday, May 5, 2016 The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe with Stephon Alexander, jazz saxophonist, astrophysicist and Professor of Physics at Brown University. This illustrated lecture highlights the various ways that music, in particular, jazz improvisation, is linked with modern physics and cosmology. |
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Monday, May 9, 2016 Please Make This Look Nice: The Graphic Design Process with Peter Ahlberg, designer and Principal/Creative Director of AHL&CO, and teacher of graphic design and visual/critical studies at the School of Visual Arts. This illustrated lecture provides a behind-the-scenes look at the graphic design process of graphic designers, typographers, and studios from around the world. |
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Tuesday, May 10, 2016 Kosher USA: How Coke Became Kosher and Other Tales of Modern Food with Roger Horowitz, a food historian and Director of the Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society at the Hagley Museum and Library. This illustrated lecture follows the fascinating journey of kosher food through the modern industrial food system. It recounts how iconic products such as Coca-Cola and Jell-O tried to become kosher; the contentious debates among rabbis over the incorporation of modern science into Jewish law; how Manischewitz wine became the first kosher product to win over non-Jewish consumers (principally African Americans); the techniques used by Orthodox rabbinical organizations to embed kosher requirements into food manufacturing; and the difficulties encountered by kosher meat and other kosher foods that fell outside the American culinary consensus. |
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Wednesday, May 11, 2016 Building A Business of Politics: The Rise of Political Consulting and the Transformation of American Democracy with Adam Sheingate, Associate Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. This illustrated lecture traces the history of political consultants from its origins with the publicity experts and pollsters of the 1920s and 1930s to the strategists and media specialists of the 1970s, who transformed political campaigns into a highly profitable business. |
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Thursday, May 12, 2016 Sleeping Giant: How the New Working Class Will Transform America with Tamara Draut, the Vice President of Policy and Research at Demos, and the author of Strapped: Why America's 20- and 30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead. This illustrated lecture examines a sleeping giant, the new working class, that is just now waking up to its untapped political power, and the role it will play in our economic and political future. |
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Monday, May 16, 2016 Summoned: Identification and Religious Life in a Jewish Neighborhood with Iddo Tavory, Assistant Professor of Sociology at New York University. This illustrated lecture, based on ethnographic fieldwork, presents an account of the fabric of everyday life in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood, and an attempt to think through the relationship among actors' identifications, the crystallization of their social worlds, and the micro-patterning of social interaction. |
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Tuesday, May 17, 2016 The Green and the Black: The Complete Story of the Shale Revolution, the Fight over Fracking, and the Future of Energy with Gary Sernovitz, a Managing Director at Lime Rock, an oil- and gas-focused private equity firm. This illustrated lecture explains the reality of fracking and America’s shale revolution and how it can be made safer, how the oil business works and how we can harness the benefits of our resources. |
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Thursday, May 19, 2016 Political Suicide: Missteps, Peccadilloes, Bad Calls, Backroom Hijinx, Sordid Pasts, Rotten Breaks, and Just Plain Dumb Mistakes in the Annals of American Politics with Erin McHugh, a former publishing executive and an award-winning author. This illustrated and entertaining lecture sheds light on cautionary tales of political missteps in American history, from the birth of the nation through the present day. |
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Monday, May 23, 2016 Till We Have Built Jerusalem: Architects of a New City with Adina Hoffman, also the author of House of Windows, My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness, and the co-author with Peter Cole of Sacred Trash. This illustrated lecture offers a prismatic view into one of the world's most beloved and troubled cities and provides a portrait of three architects who helped build modern Jerusalem. It is also a gripping exploration of the ways in which politics and aesthetics clash in a place of constant conflict. |
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Tuesday, May 24, 2016 Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History’s Great Personalities with Claudia Kalb, acclaimed health and science journalist. This illustrated lecture looks at the evolution of mental health and gives a glimpse into the lives of high-profile historic figures through the lens of modern psychology, weaving groundbreaking research into biographical narratives that are deeply embedded in our culture. From Marilyn Monroe’s borderline personality disorder to Charles Darwin’s anxiety, it provides compelling insight into a broad range of maladies, using historical records and interviews with leading mental health experts, biographers, sociologists, and other specialists. |
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Wednesday, May 25, 2016 Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency with David Greenberg, Associate Professor of History and of Journalism & Media Studies, Rutgers University; former Fellow, Wilson Center and presidential historian. This illustrated lecture recounts the rise of the White House spin machine from Teddy Roosevelt to Barack Obama, going behind the scenes to see how the tools and techniques of image making and message craft work. The lecture also examines the profound debates Americans have waged over the effect of spin on our politics. |
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Thursday, May 26, 2016 Planet/Cuba: Art, Culture, and the Future of the Island with Rachel L. Price, a Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Languages at Princeton University, and author of The Object of the Atlantic. This illustrated lecture examines the transformations in Cuban art, literature, and culture in the post-Fidel era, and features a fascinating array of artists and writers, who are tracing a new socio-cultural map of the island. |
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Tuesday, May 31, 2016 Incarceration Nations: A Journey to Justice in Prisons Around the World with Baz Dreisinger, an Associate Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a journalist, film and radio producer, and Founder of the Prison-to-College-Pipeline. This illustrated lecture is a first-person odyssey, covering nine countries, beginning in Africa and ending in Europe, investigating the current conditions in prisons worldwide. It looks into the human stories of incarcerated men and women and those who imprison them, creating a jarring, poignant view of a world to which most are denied access, and a rethinking of one of America’s most far-reaching global exports: the modern prison complex. |
Author @ the Library! is a series of monthly events where accomplished non-fiction authors discuss their work. You may meet the Author of interesting and engaging non-fiction reads, participate in a lively discussion and access books and materials on topics of interest. Come checkout a book, DVD or ebook on the topic.
Don’t miss the many interesting films, book discussions, as well as computer and technology classes on our program calendar. Sit back at Story Time for Grown-ups this May with the theme Celebrating Mothers- beginning on May 4. The Contemporary Classics Book Discussion meets on Monday, May 2 and the featured novel is On Such a Full Sea by Chang-Rae Lee If you enjoy talking about books, join us on Friday, May 13 for Open Book Night; the theme this month is The Natural World
All of our programs and classes are free, so why not come and check one out! Hope to see you soon at the library!
Download the Mid-Manhattan Library's May 2016 Program Flyers here:
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