Thursday, September 1, 2016

Frackopoly: The Battle for the Future of Energy and the Environment with Wenonah Hauter, founder and Executive Director of Food & Water Watch.

This illustrated lecture chronicles the rise of the fracking industry and the growing movement against fracking.

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

The Gatekeeper: Missy LeHand, FDR, and the Untold Story of the Partnership That Defined a Presidency with Kathryn Smith, a journalist and writer with a life-long interest in FDR and his circle.

This illustrated lecture tells the captivating and forgotten story of an intelligent, loyal, and clever woman who had a front-row seat to history in the making. Dr. Steven Lomazow, co-author of "FDR's Deadly Secret" and an FDR Library Trustee, will introduce Kathryn Smith.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Battle for Bed-Stuy: The Long War on Poverty in New York City with Michael Woodsworth, a history teacher at Bard High School Early College, Queens.

This illustrated lecture reinterprets President Lyndon Johnson’s much-debated War on Poverty from the perspective of its foot soldiers in New York City, showing how 1960s anti-poverty programs were rooted in a rich local tradition of grassroots activism and policy experiments.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

The Future of the Supreme Court in the Post-Scalia World with James D. Zirin, author of Supremely Partisan:  How Raw Politics Tips the Scales in the United States Supreme Court and leading litigator in federal and state courts around the nation.

This lecture argues that the Court has become increasingly partisan and explains how we arrived at the present situation.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

The Occupiers: The Making of the 99 Percent Movement with Michael A. Gould-Wartofsky, one of the first social scientists on the ground at Occupy Wall Street on September 17, 2011.

This illustrated lecture offers a front-seat view of the action in the streets of New York City during and following Occupy Wall Street.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

Religious Conversion in America Today: Pluralism and Politics with Susan Jacoby, independent scholar and author of Strange Gods: A Secular History of Conversion as well as ten other books.

This illustrated lecture offers a provocative and original exploration of the cultural, economic and political forces driving religious conversion in the Western world.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Swimming in the Sink: An Episode of the Heart with Lynne Cox, who has held open-water swimming records all over the world, swimming without a wetsuit, and who has been inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Obfuscation: A User's Guide for Privacy and Protest with Finn Brunton, Assistant Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at NYU, and Helen Nissenbaum, Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication and Computer Science at NYU.

This illustrated lecture offers ways to fight today's pervasive digital surveillance -- the collection of our data by governments, corporations, advertisers, and hackers.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

The Lofts of Soho: Gentrification, Art, and Industry in New York, 1950-1980 with Aaron Shkuda, Project Manager of the Princeton-Mellon Initiative in Architecture, Urbanism, and the Humanities.

This illustrated lecture explores the transition of the district from industrial space to artists’ enclave to affluent residential area, focusing on the legacy of urban renewal in and around SoHo and the growth of artist-led redevelopment.

Monday, September 26, 2016

Inclusivity and Indie Authors: The Case for Community-based Publishing.

Authors of color who are excluded from the traditional publishing industry are increasingly turning to self-publishing. As an indie author, Zetta Elliott has the freedom to write about the things that matter most to the members of her community, rather than waiting for approval from the gatekeepers who lack the cultural competence needed to truly appreciate the work of non-traditional authors. Ms Elliott’s imprint, Rossetta Press, produces stories that are culturally specific and organic—not forced through a filter in order to be labeled "universal". Diverse books can foster cross-cultural understanding at an early age. At a moment when 75 percent of whites have no friends of color, and public schools are rapidly "resegregating", the need for diverse children’s literature is greater than ever.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Architecture's Odd Couple: Frank Lloyd Wright and Philip Johnson with Hugh Howard, historian, writer, and lecturer.

This illustrated lecture traces the historical threads connecting the two men and offers the audience a distinct perspective on the era they so enlivened with their designs.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Connecting with Coincidence: The New Science for Using Synchronicity and Serendipity in Your Life with Dr. Bernard Beitman, a Visiting Professor at the University of Virginia, and Jason Flom, American music industry executive.

This discussion shares key personality characteristics and situational factors that contribute to the occurrence of meaningful coincidences in our lives.