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Financial District [clear filter]
Saturday, October 13
 

3:30pm PDT

Marx-athon: 200 Years of Karl Marx
Late capitalism. The rise of the Democrat Socialists of America. The Supreme Court busting up unions. It's 2018, folks, and Marx just turned 200. San Francisco's Goethe-Institut commemorates his impact on Germany and the U.S with a full-day Marx-athon of film screenings, readings, lectures, and robots. Leading scholars, activists, and artists Maddy Clifford, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Alejandro Murguía, Mighty Mike McGee, and Kal Spelletich will share why Marx endures and how his ideas apply to our current cultural and social climate. Advance registration recommended. FREE

3:30pm: Screenings of the films System Error (2018) and News from Ideological Antiquity (2008)

5pm: Event kick-off with birthday cake and robots

6-9pm: Marx-athon programming

Authors and Participants
avatar for Maddy and Alex (FR333)

Maddy and Alex (FR333)

FR333 (pronounced free) is a feminist hip-hop duo comprised of producer Allie “XOA” Howard and rapper Maddy “MADlines” Clifford. Together, FR333 promotes music’s capacity to heal, inspire and bring people together. FR333’s Marx-a-thon performance will use song and sound... Read More →
avatar for Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma, the daughter of a tenant farmer and part-Indian mother. She is the author of many books, including Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment, An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, Red Dirt: Growing Up Okie... Read More →
avatar for Elaine Elinson

Elaine Elinson

Elaine Elinson is coauthor of Wherever There’s a Fight: How Runaway Slaves, Suffragists, Immigrants, Strikers, and Poets Shaped Civil Liberties in California, winner of a Gold Medal in the California Book Awards. She served two decades as the communications director of the American... Read More →
avatar for Mighty Mike Mc Gee

Mighty Mike Mc Gee

Mighty Mike McGee is a poet from San José, California. He is the first and (so far) only person ever to win the Grand Championship at both the National Poetry Slam (2003) and the Individual World Poetry Slam (2006). He has toured at least 3/4 of a million miles throughout the U.S... Read More →
avatar for Alejandro Murguia

Alejandro Murguia

Alejandro Murguía is the author of Southern Front and This War Called Love (both winners of the American Book Award). His non-fiction book The Medicine of Memory highlights the Mission District in the 1970s during the Nicaraguan Solidarity movement. He is a founding member and the... Read More →
avatar for Kal Spelletich

Kal Spelletich

Kal Spelletich builds interactive machines and robots. He scours the city for industrial items whose technology can be reapplied and has collaborated with artists all over the world. Kal’s work involves, bio-morphic sensors, (sometimes uncontrollable) that trigger his robots providing... Read More →



Saturday October 13, 2018 3:30pm - 9:00pm PDT
Goethe-Institut
  International
 
Monday, October 15
 

5:30pm PDT

Rags to Riches: The Bonanza King and Nevada’s Comstock Lode
Limited Capacity seats available

Co-presented by Green Apple Books

The rags-to-riches American frontier tale of John W. Mackay, an Irish immigrant who outwits, outworks, and outmaneuvers thousands of rivals to take control of Nevada’s Comstock Lode—the rich body of gold and silver so immensely valuable that it changed the destiny of the United States. Author Gregory Crouch discusses his dazzling historical biography, The Bonanza King, with Green Apple Books' Kevin Hunsanger. FREE

Moderators
avatar for Kevin Hunsanger

Kevin Hunsanger

Kevin Hunsanger has been at the helm of San Francisco's venerable Green Apple Books for nearly 30 years. sAs a co-owner and rare book expert, Kevin has seen Green Apple be named Publisher Weekly's Bookstore of the Year in 2014, and had it become a San Francisco Legacy Business in... Read More →

Authors and Participants
avatar for Gregory Crouch

Gregory Crouch

Gregory Crouch grew up in Goleta, California, and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, with a military history field of study. He completed US Army Airborne and Ranger schools and served as an infantry officer. For five years, he was a senior contributing... Read More →



Monday October 15, 2018 5:30pm - 7:00pm PDT
Book Club of California
  Deep Discussions

7:00pm PDT

Loaded: A History of Guns in America
Lawmakers suggest teachers arm themselves. People can download 3D plans to make their own guns. High school students across the country demand a solution to the crisis. How did we get here? Historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz takes us through America's long, tortured relationship with guns in her deeply researched—and deeply disturbing— book Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment. In conversation with San Francisco Poet Laureate Alejandro Murguía. FREE

Co-presented by Craig Newmark Philanthropies

Moderators
avatar for Alejandro Murguia

Alejandro Murguia

Alejandro Murguía is the author of Southern Front and This War Called Love (both winners of the American Book Award). His non-fiction book The Medicine of Memory highlights the Mission District in the 1970s during the Nicaraguan Solidarity movement. He is a founding member and the... Read More →

Authors and Participants
avatar for Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma, the daughter of a tenant farmer and part-Indian mother. She is the author of many books, including Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment, An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, Red Dirt: Growing Up Okie... Read More →



Monday October 15, 2018 7:00pm - 8:30pm PDT
Mechanics' Institute Library
  #factsmatter
 
Tuesday, October 16
 

7:00pm PDT

Future Presence: Decoding Virtual Reality
Wired editor and virtual reality expert Peter Rubin presents his new book Future Presence, a captivating, candid glimpse into the future realities of emerging VR technology: how we will use it to form previously impossible relationships, explore new frontiers of intimacy, and how it will forever change human connection. In conversation with New York Times journalist Scott James. FREE

Co-presented by Craig Newmark Philanthropies

Moderators
avatar for Scott James

Scott James

Co-founder, Castro Writers' Cooperative
Scott James is the co-founder of the Castro Writers' Cooperative, a co-working space for writers in San Francisco. He's a contributor to The New York Times and has three Emmy Awards for his work in TV news. He's also the author of two bestselling novels, "SoMa" and "The Sower," published... Read More →

Authors and Participants
avatar for Peter Rubin

Peter Rubin

Peter Rubin oversees WIRED's culture coverage in the magazine and online. In 2014, his cover story on Oculus introduced readers to the rebirth of virtual reality, and Rubin has since written frequently about the evolution of VR and its many applications. Prior to arriving at WIRED... Read More →



Tuesday October 16, 2018 7:00pm - 8:30pm PDT
Mechanics' Institute Library
  #factsmatter

7:00pm PDT

Valley of Genius: The Secret History of Silicon Valley
Limited Capacity seats available

Rarely has one economy asserted itself as swiftly—and as aggressively—as the entity we now know as Silicon Valley. Built with a seemingly permanent culture of reinvention, Silicon Valley does not fight change; it embraces it. So how did this omnipotent and ever-morphing place come to be? Adam Fisher celebrates release of his new oral history Valley of Genius, and discusses the lesser-known secrets of technology's invention and betrayal. With Wired founder Jane Metcalfe, virtual reality pioneer David Levitt, Atari Research director Kristina Woolsey, and GUI theorist Brenda Laurel. Doors open at 6 pm for pre-show reception. $10, limited free seating for Society members

Co-presented by Craig Newmark Philanthropies

Moderators
avatar for Adam Fisher

Adam Fisher

Adam Fisher grew up in Silicon Valley playing Atari, programming computers, and reading science fiction. He now lives on an island in the San Francisco Bay and writes overlooking the water for Wired, MIT Technology Review, and The New York Times Magazine. This is his first book.

Authors and Participants
avatar for Brenda Laurel

Brenda Laurel

Brenda Laurel, Ph.D., works as an independent scholar and consultant. She is an advocate for diversity and inclusiveness in video games, a pioneer in developing virtual reality, a public speaker and an academic. She has worked for Atari, co-founded the game development firm Purple... Read More →
avatar for David Levitt

David Levitt

Dr. David Levitt is the co-founder and CEO of Pantomime Corporation, creator of the Pantomime™ Platform for interactive virtual reality using any mobile or consumer device -- headset optional.Pantomime Corporation, founded in April 2014, quickly won the Launch Silicon Valley Tech... Read More →
avatar for Jane Metcalfe

Jane Metcalfe

Jane Metcalfe is an entrepreneur, board member, advisor, executive and investor in industries including media, tech, food, health, education, arts and real estate. She was cofounder and former president of Wired magazine. She graduated with honors from the University of Colorado... Read More →
avatar for Kristina Woolsey

Kristina Woolsey

Kristina Woolsey is known as the “mother of multimedia” for her work as director of Atari’s research lab and co-founder of Apple’s multimedia lab. She was named a Distinguished Scientist by Apple Computer in acknowledgment of her pioneering work in multimedia in education... Read More →



Tuesday October 16, 2018 7:00pm - 8:30pm PDT
California Historical Society
  #factsmatter
 
Wednesday, October 17
 

12:00pm PDT

Wesley Yang: The Souls of Yellow Folk
Wesley Yang’s The Souls of Yellow Folk marks a fresh contribution to the conversation about race in America today. An eclectic mix of reporting, sociology, and personal history, Yellow Folk collects 13 of the National Magazine Award-winning writer's best essays, including the New York cover story “Paper Tigers,” on Asian values and the American Dream; a New York Times Magazine portrait of chef and author Eddie Huang; his n+1 dispatch “The Face of Seung-Hui Cho,” about the largest mass murderer in U.S. history; and provocative essays on white supremacy. In conversation with Tom Pyun. FREE

Co-presented by Craig Newmark Philanthropies

Authors and Participants
avatar for Tom Pyun

Tom Pyun

Tom Pyun is a writer based in Los Angeles. He was a fellow with Tin House, Vermont Studio Center, Gemini Ink, and VONA/Voices. His work has appeared in The Rumpus, Eleven Eleven, Blue Mesa Review, and Reed magazine, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and a Best of the Net... Read More →
avatar for Wesley Yang

Wesley Yang

Wesley Yang has published criticism, essays, and nonfiction features in The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, the New York Times Book Review, New York Magazine, Esquire, Tablet, and n+1. His work has appeared in Best American Essays, Best American Magazine Writing, Best Creative... Read More →


Wednesday October 17, 2018 12:00pm - 1:00pm PDT
Mechanics' Institute Library
  #factsmatter

7:00pm PDT

977 Days in Captivity: Michael Scott Moore's The Desert and the Sea
In January 2012, journalist Michael Scott Moore traveled to the Horn of Africa to write about piracy. But in a terrible twist of fate, he was kidnapped by Somali pirates, and subjected to conditions that break even the strongest spirits: physical abuse, starvation, isolation, and terror. After 977 days he was freed, and this year published his remarkable memoir The Desert and the Sea, a riveting, thoughtful, and emotionally resonant exploration of foreign policy, religious extremism, and the costs of survival. In conversation with foreign correspondent Jeanne Carstensen. FREE

Co-presented by Craig Newmark Philanthropies

Authors and Participants
avatar for Jeanne Carstensen

Jeanne Carstensen

Jeanne Carstensen covered the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece, Turkey, and Europe for Public Radio International’s The World, The Nation, Foreign Policy, The Intercept, The Global Post’s Long Reads on Conflict, and other outlets, with support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis... Read More →
avatar for Michael Scott Moore

Michael Scott Moore

Michael Scott Moore is a literary journalist and a novelist, author of a comic novel about L.A., Too Much of Nothing, as well as a travel book about surfing, Sweetness and Blood, which was named a best book of 2010 by The Economist and Popmatters. He was kidnapped in 2012 on a reporting... Read More →



Wednesday October 17, 2018 7:00pm - 8:30pm PDT
Mechanics' Institute Library
  #factsmatter
 
Thursday, October 18
 

6:30pm PDT

Springfield Confidential: Mike Reiss & The Simpsons
Co-presented by the Contemporary Jewish Museum

A Simpsons writer for 30 years (and still going strong) Mike Reiss has received four Emmys and a Peabody Award for his contributions to America's longest-running sitcom. Come celebrate his memoir Springfield Confidential, a first-hand look at how the show began, with scandals, censors, celebrity guests, and more. It's like a Simpsons episode in book form: smart, fast-paced, and stuffed with hundreds of jokes, some of them funny. Reiss will give a lecture entitled "Simpsons and Other Jewish Families," followed by book sales and signing. Hey, don't have a cow, man, it's only $15 museum members / $20 general public

Authors and Participants
avatar for Mike Reiss

Mike Reiss

Mike Reiss is a former head writer for The Simpsons, a show for which he has won four Emmy Awards. He is a graduate of Harvard University, where he served as president of the Harvard Lampoon, and currently lives in New York, New York. His books for children include How Murray Saved... Read More →



Thursday October 18, 2018 6:30pm - 8:00pm PDT
Contemporary Jewish Museum

7:00pm PDT

The Monk of Mokha: Dave Eggers & Mokhtar Alkhanshali
Mokhtar Alkhanshali is 24 and working as a doorman when he discovers the astonishing history of coffee and Yemen’s central place in it. He leaves San Francisco and travels deep into his ancestral homeland to tour terraced farms high in the country’s rugged mountains and meet beleaguered but determined farmers. But when war engulfs the country, Mokhtar has to find a way out of Yemen without sacrificing his dreams or abandoning his people. In The Monk of Mokha, bestselling author Dave Eggers brings this astonishing, courageous tale to life. $10 library members / $15 general public

Online Sales End at 3 p.m. After that tickets only available at the door.



Authors and Participants
avatar for Mokhtar Alkhanshali

Mokhtar Alkhanshali

Mukhtar Alkhanshali grew up between Brooklyn, San Francisco and Yemen, and is an historian, community organizer, and coffee innovator. He comes from an ancient lineage of coffee farmers, that traces back to when the world’s first coffee was cultivated in his home province of Ibb... Read More →
avatar for Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers

Dave Eggers is the author of ten books, including most recently Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?, The Circle, and A Hologram for the King, which was a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award. He is the founder of McSweeney’s, an independent... Read More →


Thursday October 18, 2018 7:00pm - 8:30pm PDT
Mechanics' Institute Library
 


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