Library Blog

Summer Reruns Are the Best!

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

It's been an unusual events season, to say the least. A range of rich in-person programming happened in the Members' Room, culminating on March 11. Then the building closed - but fortunately many speakers rolled with us into new formats. (Other events just wouldn't have been well served by the webinar shape, but you'll hear of them again when in-person gatherings resume.) And, in something I like to think of as the "silver onlining," the web format let us include some participants from the comfort of their homes rather than making them travel to be with us.

All our recorded events January-July are now available to stream whenever you like. For the most direct links, see the list below. You can also browse all our past recorded events here.

In addition, we're delighted to present some fun "summer reruns" - fresh premieres of some of our favorite events 2017-present, in newly touched-up video form. The full list of July and August Watch Parties can be found here. (Two of them come from this just-past season - Eric K. Washington's lecture from May 7, and Gretchen Rubin's Q&A from June 5.)

Adrienne Brodeur with Lauren Wein, Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me (January 21) - A compelling and psychologically astute look at the dynamics of one unusual family.

Meet the Publishing Pros: Mike Shatzkin, How Book Publishing Has Changed in the 21st Century (February 5) - Mike Shatzkin keeps his finger on the pulse of the publishing world.

Michael Shnayerson, Boom: Mad Money, Mega Dealers, and the Rise of Contemporary Art (February 20) - Stories charming or wild of major artists and the men and women who made them famous.

George Packer, Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century (March 4) - The renowned biographer introduces a fascinating, frustrating man who encapsulated much of the United States' foreign policy.

Sean D. Moore with Edward O'Reilly, Slavery and the Making of Early American Libraries: British Literature, Political Thought, and the Transatlantic Book Trade, 1731-1814 (March 11) - This year's Henry S.F. Cooper Jr. lecture on Early American History and Literature looks at what eighteenth-century library patrons (including ours) read in the light of their slave-trade connections.

Pamela Newkirk, Diversity, Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business (April 6) - Ever more relevant: journalist Pamela Newkirk explores what real diversity might look like and how organizational efforts aren't yet helping it succeed.

Charlie Smith, Demo (April 20) - A brief sojourn in the gorgeously evocative world of poet Charlie Smith's latest collection.

Thomas Travisano, Love Unknown: The Life and Worlds of Elizabeth Bishop (April 23) - The annual Lyn Chase Poetry Event with the biographer and Elizabeth Bishop Society president reveals new sides to one of America's most eloquent and resonant poetic voices.

The Young Writers Awards 2020 (May 12) - Our intrepid writer judges and Children's Library staff give a heartfelt and inspiring tribute to the year's winning young writers, plus words of encouragement for all who love to write.

The New Work-Home Equation: A Q&A with Distracted Author Maggie Jackson on How to Flourish When Office and Life Are One (May 18) - The Library member and author of Distracted: Reclaiming Our Focus in a World of Lost Attention (watch her 2018 event on it with us!) answers the questions we all had in an upended season of working, studying, and schooling at home.

Michael Zapata and Lydia Millet with Amy Brady (June 17) - The craft of writing, the child's gaze, history, memory, human rights, and Hurricane Katrina take the stage in this one-time-only conversation with Lydia Millet (A Children's Bible), Michael Zapata (the new The Lost Book of Adana Moreau) and Chicago Review of Books editor Amy Brady.

Willie Perdomo, The Crazy Bunch (June 25) - In a short, moving reading, Willie Perdomo highlights poems from his 2019 New York City Book Award-winning collection.

Laura Rocklyn as Jane Austen: Who Dares to Be an Authoress? (June 29) - "Miss Jane Austen" shares tales, song, and deportment from the world of her writing, family, and society - and actress/playwright Laura Rocklyn discusses the creation of this unique solo show.

Margaret Armstrong's Botanical Watercolors at the Met Museum (July 8) - Three Met Museum curators share their learning and stunning slides connected to the world, career, and milieu of book designer, wildflower artist, and writer Margaret Armstrong.

An Evening with Jamaica Kincaid (July 16) - The beloved novelist, memorist, and essayist converses with events staffer Marialuisa Monda, touching on history, memory, mothers, and gardening.

Clifford Thompson, What It Is: Race, Family, and One Thinking Black Man's Blues (July 20) - Author, educator, and artist Thompson speaks with insight and hope about identity, literature, parenthood, and his journey to grapple with the shock of the 2016 election.

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