Journalist Thai Jones, the son of former members of the Weather Underground and author of More Powerful Than Dynamite, charts how anarchist anger, progressive idealism, and plutocratic paternalism converged in that July explosion, illuminating history and events of our own day and age.
Civic
Thai Jones: New York’s Year of Anarchy
Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 6:00 – 7:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
Henry Crumpton: I Spied for the CIA
Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
Hanry Crumpton, who led the CIA’s global covert operations against America’s terrorist enemies and gained almost-mythical fame after 9/11, explains exactly what America’s spies do and why their secret service is more valuable than ever, teaching important lessons about national security—but also duty, honor, and love of country.
Terry McDermott: The Hunt for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Wednesday, May 30, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
Former Seattle Times reporter Terry McDermott gives a comprehensive account of the decade-long pursuit and capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the real mastermind of the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents, McDermott, co-author of The Hunt for KSM, explores how Mohammed and a small cadre of associates pulled off attacks—including the 1993 basement-bombing of the World Trade Center—and how infighting, lack of support, bungling, and other problems hamstrung his pursuers’ efforts to find him.
David Westin: An Insider’s View of TV News
Friday, June 1, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
David Westin, president of ABC News from 1997-2010 and author of Exit Interview, takes us inside the chaos of the newsroom, addressing basic questions about journalists today, and the industry’s central question: Is it possible for journalists to be both good at their jobs and people of good moral character?
Chris Guillebeau: Start Small, Live Large
Monday, June 4, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
Chris Guillebeau, author of the $100 Startup, shares lessons from folks who’ve found ways to opt out of traditional employment and pursue what they find meaningful, building healthy businesses from a modest investment (in many cases—yep—$100 or less).
YES! Magazine: Alice Walker & Frances Moore Lappé with Makana
Wednesday, June 6, 2012, 7:00 – 9:30pm
Great Hall; enter on 8th Avenue. $12-$25.
As part of this 2nd Annual Celebration of People Power, Alice Walker and Frances Moore Lappé speak to how we can build the world we want. Guided by YES! Magazine board member Puanani Burgess, food-justice and democracy advocate Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet and Ecomind
Mark Fiege: An Environmental History of America
Friday, June 8, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
Mark Fiege (The Republic of Nature) reframes our history based on the premise that nothing can be considered apart from the natural circumstances in which it occurred. Revisiting historical icons—including our revolutionary nation rising from its environment to reconcile the diversity of its people with the claim that nature is the source of liberty, and Abraham Lincoln steering the Union guided by his vision of nature’s capacity for improvement …
Gail Collins: The Lone Star Stickup
Monday, June 11, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Great Hall; enter on 8th Avenue. $5.
Like it or not, says New York Times columnist Gail Collins, what happens in Texas doesn’t stay in Texas: it ripples through the rest of the U.S., determining the political landscape and defining our national identity. Author of As Texas Goes, Collins argues that the proud state of big oil and bigger ambitions—where Bush, Cheney, Rove, and Perry created a conservative political agenda based on vigorous support of banking deregulation, lax environmental standards, and even sexual abstinence—has become the bellwether of a far-reaching national movement that continues to have profound social and economic consequences for us all.
Christopher Buckley: ‘They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?’
Monday, June 11, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
Mixing Thank You For Smoking’s skewering wit and Dr. Strangelove’s dark comedy, Christopher Buckley’s new book has something to offend—and amuse—everyone …
Enrico Moretti: The Geography of Jobs
Friday, May 25, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm
Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. $5.
Enrico Moretti says the real divide in America is not a class divide, but a geographical one–where we live matters more today than ever. Moretti, an economics professor at UC Berkeley and author of The New Geography of Jobs, describes how the “three Americas” (big cities, old manufacturing capitals, and the middle) are shifting the economic landscape, with an unprecedented redistribution of jobs, population, and wealth under way