show episodes
 
The Science series presents cutting-edge research about biology, physics, chemistry, ecology, geology, astronomy, and more. These events appeal to many different levels of expertise, from grade school students to career scientists. With a range of relevant applications, including medicine, the environment, and technology, this series expands our thinking and our possibilities.
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The Arts & Culture series enriches our community with imagination and creativity. Whether reinventing the classics for a new audience or presenting an innovative new art form, these events are aimed at expanding horizons. From poetry to music to storytelling, this series leaves our audiences inspired, encouraged, and seeing the world with new eyes.
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The Civics series at Town Hall shines a light on the shifting issues, movements, and policies, that affect our society, both locally and globally. These events pose questions and ideas, big and small, that have the power to inform and impact our lives. Whether it be constitutional research from a scholar, a new take on history, or the birth of a movement, it's all about educating and empowering.
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Listen in on the latest Town Hall conversation, wherever you are! In the Moment is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews curated by Town Hall’s Digital Media Manager, Jini Palmer. Senior Correspondent Steve Scher, along with a host of Seattle journalists and thought leaders, take on topics ranging from science and health, civics and culture, to the arts—and beyond! Join us, In the Moment, for expansive talks from Town Hall’s digital stage.
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Our Hollowness Sings by Ruth Dickey explores human brokenness, navigating themes of loss, grief, and the quest for healing. Through seasons of profound absence, particularly the loss of her mother, Dickey crafts a poetic journey tethered to the earth, transforming grief into affirmations and blessings. The collection celebrates the human spirit’s r…
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When it comes to our own mortality, one big thing that we all share is that we absolutely have to face it and most of us have no idea how to begin. Through her work as a death doula, Alua Arthur has honed the skills to aid others in navigating these uncertain seas- from the many logistics within end-of-life care to the often unpredictable cravings …
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Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, in the 1990s, Hanif Abdurraqib witnessed a golden era of basketball, one in which legends like LeBron James were forged and countless others weren’t. In his new book, There’s Always This Year, Abdurraqib tells his story of a lifelong love of the game with a lyrical, historical, and emotionally rich exploration of who w…
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Your gut microbiome consists of trillions of microbiota and is a critical health determinant, affecting your immune system, mood, energy level, and much more. As a scientific field, microbiome research is new to the scene, but the intricate relationship between our gut and our overall health is clear – and getting clearer. In April, Netflix started…
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Growing up in the mountains of Utah, Cory Richards was constantly surrounded by the outdoors and was taught how to ski, climb, mountaineer, and survive in the wild. Despite a seemingly idyllic childhood, the Richards home was fraught with violence, grief, and mental illness. After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and dropping out of high schoo…
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Get ready to tantalize your taste buds and elevate your cooking game. Embark on a culinary journey with Seriously, So Good, featuring recipes crafted with love by Carissa Stanton, the creative force behind the food blog Brocc Your Body. Originating from her passion for food and community, Carissa’s philosophy centers on enjoying meals without restr…
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Have you ever thought what #FakeNews might have looked like 200 years ago? While we may be experiencing a new era of disinformation, the tactics aren’t necessarily original. Drawing from their latest book, Stories Are Weapons, journalist and science fiction author Annalee Newitz traces back in history how disinformation, propaganda, and violent thr…
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Erratic weather, blistering drought, rising seas, and ecosystem collapse now affect every inch of the globe. Increasingly, we no longer look to stop climate change, choosing instead to adapt to it. Academics call it maladaptation; simply, it’s about solutions that backfire. In his new book, Over the Seawall, Stephen Robert Miller tells us the stori…
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In 2018, there was a mass shooting with an AR-15 at a Waffle House. The racially charged act of violence led Dr. Jonathan M. Metzl, a Nashville-based gun policy scholar and author, to advocate for gun reform. But how can we stop gun violence in a nation that sees hundreds of mass shootings every year? As Metzl examined the crime, he began having do…
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“If you make it trend, you make it true.” The cycling of new and buzz-worthy information we face on a daily basis is faster than ever before. As new trends in information, politics, and culture are constantly updating, little time is left for critical analysis before the next headline hits the feed. And when those who hold the power to influence au…
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The very fact of being human makes us vulnerable to pandemics, but it also gives us the power to save ourselves. The COVID-19 pandemic most likely won’t be our last—that is the uncomfortable but all-too-timely message of Sabrina Sholts’ new book, The Human Disease. Traveling through history and around the globe to examine how and why pandemics are …
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What is it like to grow up as a sociopath? Is it possible to lead a normal, successful life after such an earth-shattering diagnosis? In her memoir, Sociopath, Patric Gagne sheds light on the often misunderstood disorder. From a young age, Gagne grappled with feeling different from her peers, unable to experience emotions like fear, guilt, or empat…
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Should Democrats be looking to the other side of the aisle for political strategy? Political scientist and strategist Rachel Bitecofer seeks to explain the intricate dynamics of contemporary politics in her new book, Hit ’Em Where It Hurts. Seeking actionable strategies for Democrats to connect with voters and reclaim the narrative in a pivotal ele…
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Do you ever think of what you eat as being political? Back in 2017, celebrity chef Mario Batali sent out an apology letter for the sexual misconduct allegations made against him and infamously included a recipe—for pizza dough cinnamon rolls. Shortly after Batali’s recipe, went viral, Popular blogger Geraldine DeRuiter decided to make the recipe an…
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Can you find lifelong love with an AARP card in your wallet? Dori (72) and Mack (69) did, and they’ve got a lot to say on the subject! Join them for a candid chat where they dish on discovering love later in life. Balancing time for each other, family, friends, and furry companions? Yep. Talking about merging households? Yep. Starting a family? Pro…
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Delve into the complex tapestry of American politics with Juliet Hooker, the Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence in Political Science at Brown University. Hooker, known for her expertise in racial justice, democracy theories, and Black political thought, will unpack the themes of her latest book, Black Grief / White Grievance and offer a …
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Can a parliamentary democracy end America’s constitutional crisis? It’s starting to feel to some people that American elections aren’t offering us much choice, instead compounding the continued issues of our outdated voting system and showing our lack of capacity to face common issues together. In Parliamentary America, Maxwell L. Stearns argues th…
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Go from “what the heck is this” to “how does it taste so good” in a celebration of misfit vegetables. Maybe you just discovered celery root (a lumpy, softball-sized bulb), at the grocery store. Or perhaps you received watermelon radishes in a CSA package. Did a parsnip catch your eye at the farmers’ market? Even vegetables you think you know, like …
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Town Hall's 2024 Scratch Night featuring the work-in-progress of our Artist-in-Residence Maia Brown In collaboration with Brivele bandmate, Stefanie Brendler, Maia crafts an intimate evening that dives deep into the Yiddish archives of anti-fascist poetry and song, offering a glimpse into their creative process. Maia Brown, a visual artist, Yiddish…
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Explore the life cycle of Seattle artists in a dynamic round table discussion hosted by Sarah Traver, director of Traver Gallery. Join the conversation on transforming artistic practice into a flourishing and creative career within the vibrant artistic landscape of Seattle. Esteemed artists Esther Ervin, Henry Jackson-Spieker, Steve Jensen, Pohlman…
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Looking back through history, it is obvious that the presence of music has had a profound impact on the daily lives of humans, our cultural rituals, and the evolution of civilization as a whole. Yet in public discourse, we still tend to separate conversations about music from those about civics or politics. We frame music as a product for entertain…
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What do we learn when an anthropologist and a historian talk about food? Across endless eras, landscapes, and civilizations, humanity’s relationship with food has played the part of one of the landmark features of culture and community. We feel this on both the micro and macro scale — from learning a recipe passed down through generations of one’s …
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The Village Voice aimed to show readers something that mainstream publications wouldn’t: live theater productions climbing through the scaffolding of off-Broadway venues; moments in music from hip-hop to jazz to punk; New York City civil issues, like corrupt landlords; and global issues, like the AIDS crisis. Through decades of independent reportin…
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What does it mean to be a proudly queer Indigenous woman in the United States today? Sasha LaPointe, winner of the 2023 Pacific Northwest Book Award for her memoir, Red Paint, shares a new collection of essays that navigate the complexities of indigenous identity, challenge stereotypes, and address cultural displacement and environmental concerns. …
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As we head into another presidential election year, few issues feel as pressing as the spread of political misinformation. How can political campaigns fight back against the barrage of lies and disinformation? As time, tension, and technology all progress in our world, we’re not always prepared for the acceleration and its impact on the political c…
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Disinformation has been used throughout history as a tool to intentionally deceive or manipulate the enemy. In our present age of information, where fabricated news stories, photos, or posts of any kind can be spread in an instant, we find ourselves especially vulnerable to the potentially devasting effects of weaponized disinformation. Lee McIntyr…
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Anyone who has fallen off the conveyor belt of mainstream health care and into the shadowy corners of illness knows what a dark place it is to land. Where is the infrastructure, the information, the guidance? What should you do next? In her new book, Rebel Health, Susannah Fox draws on twenty years of tracking the expert networks of patients, survi…
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If you’re a part of the Seattle arts scene, chances are you’ve come across Tessa Hulls. She has a hand in many local creative communities, including Seattle Arts & Lectures (where you might have spotted her illustrations on the 2021 Summer Book Bingo Card!), the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, and the Henry Art Museum. She’s also the lead artis…
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Have you ever made coins float in water? Or created a geode from an egg? If not, Emmy-nominated science TV host Emily Calandrelli can show you how. Calandrelli, MIT-trained engineer turned internet STEAM star, demonstrates science experiments you can do at home with common household products as the host of Netflix’s Emily’s Wonder Lab and through h…
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Ever wondered how a leader orchestrates large-scale change on a global scale? In his new book, Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens, Rajiv J. Shah, President of the Rockefeller Foundation and former administrator of USAID unveils his model for driving large-scale change. Drawing on his experiences, from vaccinating 900 million children w…
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Have you ever lost something or someone dear to you? Though it ranges in severity and impact, loss is a shared human experience – an inevitable, inescapable part of life. Praised for her humor and sharp wit, essayist and novelist Sloane Crosley delivers her first memoir Grief is for People, exploring how loss can take many forms. After the pain and…
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The subject of disinformation is a well-known part of political rhetoric, but it has implications even outside of the sphere of democracy. From the electoral system to schools; from the workplace to hospitals, the consequences of it are far-reaching and dire. A legal analyst at MSNBC and former U.S. Attorney, Barbara McQuade’s decades of experience…
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Have you ever wondered how impeachment really works? As a witness and consultant in the impeachment trials of Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, legal scholar Michael J. Gerhardt has collected a lifetime of scholarly research and firsthand experience. But despite his proximity to such high-profile cases, Gerhardt doesn’t advocate for or against the imp…
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You’d be hard-pressed to find a person whose life went unchanged in 2020, arguably one of the most consequential years in human history. It marked an unprecedented time, left indelible memories in our minds, and set off ripple effects we still feel even today. Disruption of normal life was nearly universal; however, the ways in which we experienced…
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We all get frustrated with our inability to remember people’s names, find our keys, or recover a lost computer password. Fortunately, these experiences are not reflections of our broken brains, but the fact that the brain didn’t evolve the complex mechanisms of memory so that we could remember that guy we met at that thing. In fact, human memory is…
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Is it possible to reshape immigration practices to align with the values of inclusivity, justice, and the historical promise of the United States as a welcoming haven for all? Law professor and immigration lawyer César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández presents a powerful case for divorcing immigration law from criminal law in his book, Welcome the Wretc…
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Three expert guests discuss the implications of AI and the fine arts in a conversation moderated by Steve Scher. Scientist and founder of the Artists and Machine Intelligence program at Google, Blaise Agüera y Arcas, will offer his “news from the front” about the latest developments in AI capabilities, and what he foresees ahead. Alex Alben, techno…
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Commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Boldt Decision, a pivotal moment in civil rights history and tribal sovereignty. Centered around Charles Wilkinson’s posthumously acclaimed work, Treaty Justice, a panel will discuss the significance of the Boldt Decision and its enduring impact on the tribal sovereignty movement in the Pacific Northwest and …
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Join Judy Kinney, Executive Director of GenPride, and members of the LGBTQ+ community for a lively discussion about how to stay proud and engaged as they age. GenPride advocates for Seattle/King County older LGBTQIA+ adults’ unique needs through programs and services that cultivate well-being and belonging. Judy Kinney (she/they) is an experienced …
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Hip-hop education is more than just music; it’s a dynamic tool for fostering student success and intellectual growth. James Miles, known as the Fresh Professor, is renowned for his engaging teaching style. By infusing lessons with content that’s inspirational, intellectually engaging, and relevant to students’ lives, Miles demonstrates how teachers…
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Ijeoma Oluo’s #1 New York Times bestseller So You Want To Talk About Race (book tour event at Town Hall in 2019), offered a vital guide for how to talk about important issues of race and racism in society. In Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, she discussed how white male supremacy has had an impact on our systems, our culture, a…
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Discover the unexpected diversity, beauty, and strangeness of life in ancient lakes — some millions of years old — and the remarkable insights they yield about the causes of biodiversity. Most lakes are less than 10,000 years old and short-lived, but there is a much smaller number of ancient lakes, tectonic in origin and often millions of years old…
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Many of us talk to our pets daily, but what would you do if your pet could talk back? What do you think they would say? When Bunny, a fluffy, black-and-white sheepadoodle, was eight weeks old, her guardian Alexis presented her with an odd gift: a button programmed to say “outside” when pressed. Within a few weeks, Bunny was using it all the time, a…
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Delve into the urgent and critical issue of cervical cancer prevention with Dr. Linda Eckert. Cervical cancer claims the lives of almost 350,000 women each year, a staggering toll that is compounded by the fact that the disease is nearly 100% preventable. Dr. Linda Eckert, a leading expert in cervical cancer prevention, brings her wealth of experie…
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In 1990, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Les Payne embarked on a nearly thirty-year-long quest to interview anyone he could find who had actually known Malcolm X. His goal was ambitious: to transform what would become over a hundred hours of interviews into an unprecedented portrait of Malcolm X, one that would separate fact from fi…
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Join Rebecca Crichton in conversation with Andrea Cohen, a long-time facilitator of Compassionate Listening practices. Andrea will share personal stories of how these practices have transformed conflicts – with families, friends, and within challenged communities – into relationships based on greater understanding, caring, and connection. Andrea Co…
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In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Seattle’s theatre community demonstrated resilience and adaptability, navigating through challenging times to envision a new era for the performing arts. Arts journalist and educator Misha Berson will moderate an open discussion about Seattle’s current theatrical landscape with the respected artistic directors …
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Journalist Tim Schwab is no stranger to investigative journalism that scrutinizes power structures and questions how private interests intersect with public policy. With funding from a 2019 Alicia Patterson Fellowship, Schwab pursued an investigative series specific to Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation, and his work was published by The Nation in…
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Delve into the insightful world of reproductive health with Dr. Jen Gunter. In her latest book, Blood, Dr. Gunter dispells myths and misinformation about menstruation with a foundation of scientific facts and medical expertise. Known for her evidence-based approach, Dr. Gunter addresses questions you may have never thought to ask about menstrual bl…
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It is among the most classically joked about modern grievances, air travel. Between flight cancellations, delays, lost baggage, increased prices, crammed planes, and the general downtrodden gloom that accompanies flying, there is plenty left to be desired when it comes to the quality of airline service. The truth is that bankruptcies and mergers ha…
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