Talk to Me, Baby
DCist's guide to lectures and discussions in the D.C. area
Monday:
>> The 14th Street Busboys hosts an author event tonight at 6:30 p.m. with Andrea Batista Schlesinger, who will discuss and sign, The Death of "Why?": The Decline of Questioning and the Future of Democracy.
>> Or, at 7 p.m., join author Daniel Meyerson at the Corcoran for a public event about his book, In the Valley of the Kings: Howard Carter and the Mystery of King Tutankhamun’s Tomb, a book which "reveals a fascinating story of mania and greed, of fame and lost fortune, of history and its damnations."
>> Also at 7 p.m. is another author event at Politics and Prose with Paul Butler and his book, Let's Get Free: How Ordinary Citizens Can Take Back American Justice.
Tuesday:
>> The Portrait Gallery hosts a talk tonight at 6 p.m. with Joyce Hill Stoner, paintings conservator and director of the University of Delaware Preservation Studies Doctoral Program. At Erasing Boundaries, she'll discuss potential collaborations between artists and conservators, as well as "her own conservation experiences with legendary artist Andrew Wyeth and his son, Jamie Wyeth."
Wednesday:
>> Head to Sixth and I at 7 p.m. for a reading from The Waxman Report: How Congress Really Works with California Congressman Henry Waxman, who spent 30 years "as a watchdog for citizens and consumers ... and is now Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee of the House of Representatives." $6 or get two free tickets with purchase of the book at Politics and Prose before the event.
Friday:
>> Designers: alert your bosses now about a Friday morning field trip. The 10th Annual National Design Awards are in town, and you've got your pick of five free lectures from 10 to 11 a.m. at various D.C. museums, including Design X Details: Materials and Their Effects (Corcoran), Design X Community: Transform Your Neighborhood (National Building Museum), Design X Information: Interpreting the Present and the Past (Smithsonian Castle), Design X Experience: The Future of Interaction Design (Hirshhorn), and Design X Tomorrow: The Future of Technology and Sustainability (American Indian).
>> If you have more time, stick around the Mall for a lunchtime lecture at the Hirshhorn with local artist Erik Sandberg on the Strange Bodies exhibit at 12:30 p.m.
>> Non-designers may want to ask for some time off this afternoon as well to attend a potentially interesting discussion at the New American Foundation titled The Power Problem: How American Military Dominance Makes Us Less Safe, Less Prosperous, and Less Free from 12:15 to 1:45 p.m.
Saturday:
>> Today's Inside Media event at the Newseum features AP senior photographer J. Scott Applewhite, who has photographed the 1998 impeachment of President Bill Clinton as well as the presidencies of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
>> At 4 p.m. today at the 14th Street Busboys, author Vijay Prashad will discuss and sign The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World.
>> The S. Dillon Ripley Center is hosting an all-day $120 seminar on Mastering Crossword Puzzles with Newsday crossword editor Stanley Newman, who boasts not only being the winner of the U.S. Open Crossword Championship, but also holds the world record for the fastest completion of the New York Times crossword. Consider getting a membership to lower the cost to just $85. Seminar runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
>> The membership will also get you a reduced entrance fee to The Virginia Ale Trail: New Brews in the Old Dominion at the Brickskellar from 1 to 4:30 p.m. "Meet some of Virginia’s leading artisanal brewers and taste their flavorful brews, many of which are not readily available in the D.C. area, as they talk about the process of creating their beers." $65 for members; $85 for the rest of you.
Sunday:
>> The Newseum holds a second Inside Media lecture today, with former WaPo Pentagon reporter Bradley Grapham, whose newest book By His Own Rules: The Ambitions, Successes and Ultimate Failures of Donald Rumsfeld resulted from multiple interviews with Rumsfeld, as well as his colleagues and family.
Filed in Arts and Events and tagged books, lectures, national Design Awards, Smithsonian, Talk to Me Baby