In Interop: The Promise and Perils of Highly Interconnected Systems, John Palfrey, Harvard Law professor and technology expert (with co-author Urs Gasser), illustrates how interoperability is a critical aspect of any successful system and is more important than ever in today’s interconnected world.
Tag Archives: Membership Benefits
Science: John Palfrey: The Dream of a Common Tech Language
Tuesday, June 5, 2012, 6:00 – 7:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
**CANCELLED** David Crist: Our Secret War with Iran
Thursday, July 26, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
A senior historian for the federal government with unparalleled access, David Crist, author of The Twilight War, reveals the war’s secret negotiations, clandestine counterattacks, and hidden casualties and explains why, although much has changed since 1979, Iran and America remain each other’s biggest national-security nightmares.
Science: Sam Kean: The Case of the Mysterious DNA
Thursday, July 19, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
Bestselling author Sam Kean explores genetics with the panache of Sherlock Holmes and the storytelling chops of Arthur Conan Doyle. The eponymous violinist of Kean’s new book The Violinist’s Thumb, for instance, refers to Niccolo Paganini, who suffered from a rare genetic disorder that gave him “freakishly flexible fingers,” as well as a host of painful ailments.
Meghan McCain and Michael Ian Black: A Love Letter to Freedom
Wednesday, July 18, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Great Hall; enter on Eighth Avenue. $5.
In the summer of 2011, writer (and John’s famous daughter) Meghan McCain and comedian Michael Ian Black embarked on a political cannonball of a cross-country tour. They talked to politicians, gun lovers, abortion-rights advocates and opponents, gay parents, flag burners, Muslims, poker players, Tea Partiers, veterans, teen moms, bikers, fast-food workers, and a hooker or two …
Science: Brian Fagan: Tales of Brave Mariners
Thursday, July 12, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
Archaeologist/historian Brian Fagan, author of Beyond the Blue Horizon, chronicles our enduring quest to master the oceans, the planet’s most mysterious terrain. From the moment ancient Polynesians first dared to sail beyond the horizon, Fagan reveals how seafaring evolved, and how our mastery of the oceans changed the course of human history.
Global Voices: Oksana Marafioti: American Gypsy
Monday, July 23, 2012, 5:00 – 6:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
In her memoir American Gypsy, Marafioti reveals the secretive world of the Roma and brings the absurdities, miscommunications, and unpredictable victories of the immigrant experience to life—one slice of processed cheese at a time.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran: Afghanistan Behind the War
Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran reveals the behind-the-scenes story of the struggle between President Obama and the military to remake Afghanistan.
Christopher Hayes: The Harder They Fall
Monday, July 9, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
MSNBC host Christopher Hayes, author of Twilight of the Elites, traces the roots of the baseball crisis to the 1960′s-era meritocracy, in which the public permitted power, riches, and fame on a few, so that they could run things effectively.
Science: Frank Partnoy: The Art & Science of Delay
Wednesday, July 11, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
Frank Partnoy, a leading expert of financial market regulation, draws from the world of finance and sports to show how decisions of all kinds, whether “snap” or long-term strategic, benefit from being made at the last possible moment.