TedxCambridge at the Boston Opera House- Tickets On Sale!

I think it’s safe to say that most people have heard of TED conferences and TED talks, and have watched at least one (or more!) YouTube videos of a speaker’s presentation. I love the idea behind gathering a wide array of society’s current thinkers and do-ers, and offering them space and time on a stage to present their ideas. Given a time constraint (typically less than 18 minutes), the speakers condense their thoughts into the most relevant, most concise, and often most entertaining form possible.

TEDxCambridge is happening at the Boston Opera House in Boston, MA on Thursday, May 3rd at 7:00pm. Tickets are now on sale through the TEDxCambridge website: http://www.tedxcambridge.com/ (FYI- If you go to the Boston Opera House official website, it looks like you can’t buy tickets yet, but if you click on the “Coming Soon” button it redirects you to the TEDxCambridge website, where tickets are available)

Do you know what TED stands for? It’s Technology, Entertainment, and Design. The first TED conference was held in 1984, and featured up and coming ideas such as the compact disc, the ebook, and 3D graphics from Lucasfilm. The event wasn’t as successful as the organizer’s had hoped, and they didn’t run another TED conference until 1990. This time the idea took off, and became a yearly conference held in Monterrey, California. In 2006, realizing the power and global reach of the internet, the first six TED talks ever were posted online. In three months, they’d reached more than one million views. In 2008, TED reorganized their website to meet the growing demand for access to the videos of TED talks. By 2009, the number of views on TED talks had grown to 100 million.

In case you’re curious, here’s the link to the TED website and the first six TED talks: https://www.ted.com/playlists/168/the_first_6_ted_talks_ever

2009 was the year the organizers launched TEDx , opening up the program to  local, independently organized events. The TEDxCambridge evening is one of these events! Follow this link to the TEDxCambridge website to see information about the speakers for this year’s event: http://www.tedxcambridge.com/speakers/

Speaking at the 2018 TEDxCambridge are: Andrea Lauer, Symbiotic Designer; Andrew McAfee, Digital Economist; Erez Yoeli, Behavioral Scientist; Joel Salinas, Sensory Neurologist; Lisa Feldman Barrett, Cognitive Psychologist; Sebastian Buckup, Global Convener; and Tony Luciani, Documentary Caregiver. In addition to these seven diverse presenters, the TEDxCambridge audience will also be entertained by a performance by the Boston Ballet! All in all it sounds like an incredible evening, and excellent seats are still available!

Here are a few of my favorite TED talks…

 

 

Chris Bohjalian at Gibson’s Bookstore

I’ve been a fan of Chris Bohjalian for years. I love the way he weaves a story together with characters so real that you could imagine bumping into them at the grocery store (or maybe General Store is a better reference, since many of his novels take place in small town New England!)

You can bump into Chris Bohjalian yourself when he visits Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, NH on Friday, March 16th at 7:00 PM to promote his latest novel, “The Flight Attendant”. Here’s a teaser about the novel, from its publisher, Doubleday:

Cassandra Bowden is no stranger to hungover mornings. She’s a binge drinker, her job with the airline making it easy to find adventure, and the occasional blackouts seem to be inevitable. She lives with them, and the accompanying self-loathing. When she awakes in a Dubai hotel room, she tries to piece the previous night back together, counting the minutes until she has to catch her crew shuttle to the airport. She quietly slides out of bed, careful not to aggravate her already pounding head, and looks at the man she spent the night with. She sees his dark hair. His utter stillness. And blood, a slick, still wet pool on the crisp white sheets. Afraid to call the police – she’s a single woman alone in a hotel room far from home – Cassie begins to lie. She lies as she joins the other flight attendants and pilots in the van. She lies on the way to Paris as she works the first class cabin. She lies to the FBI agents in New York who meet her at the gate. Soon it’s too late to come clean-or face the truth about what really happened back in Dubai. Could she have killed him? If not, who did? Set amid the captivating world of those whose lives unfold at forty thousand feet, The Flight Attendant unveils a spellbinding story of memory, of the giddy pleasures of alcohol and the devastating consequences of addiction, and of murder far from home.

This one sounds like a provocative ride!  I hope it brings the same levels of suspense and excitement found in his last novel, “The Sleepwalker”. I’m loath to admit that I didn’t really love “Close Your Eyes Hold Hands”, or “The Guest Room”, the two novels he published prior to “The Sleepwalker”, since I’ve loved so many of his other novels (as in, ALL the other books by him I’ve read!). I felt like Bohjalian hit a storytelling win with “The Sleepwalker”, and I’m anticipating this new novel, “The Flight Attendant” will continue the winning streak.

Gibson’s Bookstore does a fabulous job with author events. I’m delighted to go to Concord next Friday, hear Chris Bohjalian speak, and have a chance to meet him as well! For more information, or to pre-order a copy of “The Flight Attendant”, visit Gibson’s Bookstore’s website at: http://www.gibsonsbookstore.com/event/the-flight-attendant

One final note: If you’ve ever wondered how to pronounce Bohjalian, you can listen to the short clip on this website where Chris Bohjalian himself explains it! https://www.teachingbooks.net/pronounce.cgi?aid=20658

Sunday Art Talk at LaBelle Winery: A Sense of Place with Yoav Horesh

LaBelle Winery, in partnership with the New Hampshire Institute of Art (NHIA), is presenting “A Sense of Place” with Yoav Horesh. This lecture will take place on Sunday, January 28th from 3:00-5:00pm at LaBelle Winery, 351 Route 101, in Amherst, New Hampshire. Horesh is a contemporary Israeli photographer best known for his work in both black and white and color photography capturing images of conflict, human tragedy, memory, and recovery in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

From the LaBelle Winery website:  “Since 2001, Yoav Horesh’s work has been concerned with history, conflict, memory, ethnicity and multiculturalism. His projects took place in the American South-West, Germany, Laos, Israel, the Gaza Strip, Bolivia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Mongolia and Cambodia, where history still shapes and influences current events and daily life. In his lecture, Yoav will talk about the “Sense of Place” as a common thread running through his work and how it relates to time, space and history.”

A cheese and wine reception will begin at 3:00pm, followed by Horesh’s lecture at 3:30. Registration is required; the event is free to NHIA members and alumni, and $5.00 for general public. For more information and to register, visit LaBelle’s website at:

https://www.labellewineryevents.com/event-registration/?ee=1073

Yoav Horesh is the current BFA Chair of Photography at NHIA, as well as a MFA Photography faculty member. More information about Yoav Horesh’s photography can be found at his website: http://yoavhoresh.com/

If you are interested in more information about membership opportunities at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, visit the membership page of their website at:

http://www.nhia.edu/alumni-and-friends/nhia-membership

Also of note, Horesh has an upcoming exhibit at Gallery Kayafas in Boston, Massachusetts.  His “Serene Oasis” Solo show at Gallery Kayafas, runs
March-April 2018. For more information on this show, visit Gallery Kayafas:

http://www.gallerykayafas.com/home/artists/yoav-horesh/

Erica Armstrong Dunbar to Speak at Saint Anselm College

Erica Armstrong Dunbar, author of the book Never Caught: The Washington’s Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge, will be speaking on Tuesday, January 23 at 7:00pm at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH.

This is a New Hampshire Humanities Program, officially titled, Rethinking Resistance: Ona Judge, the Washington’s Runaway Slave and the Meaning of Escape. The lecture will take place at the Dana Center For the Humanities on the Saint Anselm campus, and will be followed by a facilitated discussion led by Dr. Dr. Jennifer Thorn and Dr. Beth Salerno. It is open to the public and free to attend.

Never Caught was nominated for a 2017 National Book Award. It chronicles the story of Ona Judge and her quest for freedom. Judge was a 22 year old slave who left her position in the household of George Washington, and was then doggedly pursued by Washington, who hoped to recapture his property.

Representatives of Gibson’s Bookstore of Concord, NH will be on hand that evening to sell copies of Never Caught, and there will be a book signing opportunity.

https://www.nhhumanities.org/events/rethinking-resistance-ona-judge-washingtons-runaway-slave-and-meaning-escape

http://www.gibsonsbookstore.com/event/dunbar-at-saint-anselm

Erica Armstrong Dunbar is the Charles and Mary Beard Professor of History at Rutgers University. She also serves as Director of the Program in African American History at the Library Company of Philadelphia. Her first book, A Fragile Freedom: African American Women and Emancipation in the Antebellum City was published by Yale University Press in 2008. She is also the author of Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge.

Ticket Alert: Gloria Steinem at New Bedford’s Zeiterion Theatre On May 19th

The New Bedford Lyceum is hosting A Conversation With Gloria Steinem on Saturday, May 19th at 8:00pm at The Zeiterion Theatre in New Bedford, Mass.

From the Zeiterion’s website: “In the 45 years since co-founding Ms. Magazine, Gloria Steinem has propelled into national consciousness as a respected and lauded writer, editor, and activist. She travels the globe as an organizer and lecturer and is a frequent media spokeswoman on issues of equality. The recently revived New Bedford Lyceum, a New England tradition of learning through intellectual debate, is thrilled to welcome Ms. Steinem to address the range of issues of which she’s most passionate for a conversation sure to stimulate dialogue beyond the legendary activist’s New Bedford debut.”

Saturday May 19th feels far away, and indeed it is; 126 days to be exact! But if you’re interested in getting tickets to see Gloria Steinem, don’t put it off- tickets are going fast!

Tickets start at $25, and are available on the Zeiterion Theatre website:

https://zeiterion.org/gloria-steinem/

Ticket Alert- What Unites Us: Dan Rather Reflects on Patriotism

I’d planned to write about something else tonight, but this is more pressing so it gets bumped ahead! Dan Rather, former CBS evening news anchor and founder of the Facebook page News and Guts, will be speaking at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston, MA on Thursday, January 11th, 2018 at 8:00pm. The Berklee Performance center just announced today that ticket availability is low, so if you’re interested, jump on this right away! The  $32 ticket price includes a copy of Rather’s new book, “What Unites Us”.

https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/8796869/what-unites-usdan-rather-reflects-on-patriotism-boston-berklee-performance-center

From the Berklee Performance Center website: “Hear Rather live in conversation, discussing what our core ideals have been, what they should be, and what it means to be an American.”

Dan Rather is an iconic personality from my childhood, and I’m looking forward to hearing him speak live. Maybe I’ll see you there!