by | Oct 18, 2024 3:53 pm | Comments (0)
Gravestone in Massachusetts for Dewey the cat.
Faithful Unto Death: Pet Cemeteries, Animal Graves and Eternal Devotion
Mark Twain House
Hartford
October 16, 2024
Death is inevitable for all living things. Humans have a wide range of ceremonies across cultures and religions that lay out strict rules for what to do with other humans who are dead. But what about our pets?
by | Oct 13, 2024 11:58 am | Comments (0)
DISCOVERING LONG BEACH’S UNKNOWN QUEER HISTORY
Hamburger Mary’s
Long Beach
October 5, 2024
The rich queer history of Los Angeles has long been overshadowed by that of San Francisco and New York. That misperception is rapidly changing, thanks to documentaries such as L.A.: A Queer History (2021), historical publications such as Lillian Faderman and Stuart Timmons’s Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians (2009), and now Circa, the nation’s “first and only Queer Histories Festival,” which is currently in its second year and features events in and around the city throughout October.
Continue reading ‘Queer History Redux: "They Learned To Stop Interrupting"’
by | Oct 13, 2024 11:51 am | Comments (0)
university of tulsa photo
TU Presidential Lecture Series: Jad Abumrad
Lorton Performance Center
Tulsa
October 8, 2024
I wasn’t the only one who was excited to see Jad Abumrad. The Lorton Performance Center’s 635 seats were all full as the former host of WNYC’s RadioLab took the stage as part of TU’s Presidential Lecture Series. Abumrad delivered a tight, strong, fascinating lecture about the nature of conversation — and as a radio host, he should know.
by | Oct 8, 2024 5:54 pm | Comments (0)
Lost in Time: Portraits From the Past
Lucy Robbins Welles Library
Newington
Oct. 7, 2024
By day, Erik S. Hinckley is an unassuming assistant town planner for the town of Newington. By night, he’s a detective, working to solve mysteries over a century in the making.
by | Oct 2, 2024 5:45 pm | Comments (0)
A string sawara falsecypress tree in the Kim Arboretum
Tree Tour with Arborist John Kehoe
Kim Arboretum
Elizabeth Park
West Hartford
Oct. 2, 2024
I love trees. But maybe not as much as John Kehoe does.
by | Sep 11, 2024 4:03 pm | Comments (0)
Storyteller Nikki Powerhouse recounts a particularly dirty sex story.
Sex Files Story Slam
w/ Dixie De La Tour
First Person Arts
World Cafe Live
Sept. 10, 2024
“When I lost my virginity freshman year of high school, the last thing on my mind was sex,” Che Guerrero told a curious crowd convened for “bawdy” storytelling night.
“The first thing on my mind was that my family was undocumented. I didn’t want people to know about me.”
Over seven minutes and 42 seconds, Guerrero revealed how his first sexual experience helped him learn how to live an honest life. His performance was part of a monthly sex-themed story slam put forward in different venues around town by the nonprofit First Person Arts, which convened this time at World Cafe Live Tuesday night. The mission: utilize a revealing topic to speak truth to power.
by | Sep 3, 2024 2:12 pm | Comments (0)
Movie Still
James Madison and Hugh Williamson discuss the new Constitution in The American Constitution: 1787.
The American Constitution: 1787
Connecticut Old State House
Hartford
August 29, 2024
How did our constitution come to be?
A documentary featuring actors and special effects brought what might be considered a tired tale to life.
Continue reading ‘Screening Brings To Life A More Perfect, If Imperfect, Union’
by | Jul 14, 2024 3:55 pm | Comments (2)
Jamil Ragland Photo
Panelist Belinha de Abreu: Stopped assigning essays.
How AI is Changing Government
Old State House
Hartford
July 12, 2024
The Connecticut Old State House hosted a lecture titled “How AI is Changing Government” on Thursday evening as part of a “Ctrl+Shift+Democracy: The Impact Of Technology On Society And Governance” series of talks. While the topic of the panel, which featured four experts from academia and government, was ostensibly the impact of artificial intelligence on governance, it was the discussion of AI and academics that got my noodle cooking.
Continue reading ‘AI-yi-yi: Is It Worth Assigning Essays Anymore?’
by | Jul 10, 2024 1:47 pm | Comments (0)
Frederick Noland
Mountain View Cemetery Tour
5500 Piedmont Ave.
July 7, 2024
Continue reading ‘An Appointment With the Fates: Touring Mountain View Cemetery’
by | Jun 28, 2024 1:51 pm | Comments (0)
Frederick Noland
Cornel West and Dr. Melina Abdullah Q&A
Clio’s
353 Grand Ave
June 23, 2024
Continue reading ‘A Presidential Candidate Walks Into A Bookstore ...’
by | Jun 14, 2024 4:58 pm | Comments (0)
LIZ BLOOD PHOTO
Shape as a language: Layli Long Soldier's star quilts
An Evening With Layli Long Soldier
101 Archer
Tulsa
June 6, 2024
First, a confession: after 25 years of teaching poetry, I secretly worry that I still don’t “get” it. Even though my livelihood is based in the world of textual interpretation (I’ve published books about poetry, for gosh sakes!), would I have anything interesting to say about poetry if I hadn’t been immersed in academia for so long, well-versed (see what I did there?) in the language of understanding language?
Continue reading ‘Pressure And Poiesis: An Evening With Layli Long Soldier’
by | May 31, 2024 10:09 am | Comments (0)
Chris Kelly, tour guide, stands in front of the Soldiers and Sailors Arch in Bushnell Park.
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch
Hartford
May 30, 2024
There are few structures in Hartford as distinctive as the Soldiers and Sailors Arch located on Trinity Street. The Bushnell Park Conservancy offers free tours of the arch every Thursday, so this was the perfect opportunity to learn about it.
by | May 24, 2024 5:41 pm | Comments (0)
The Great Abolitionist: Charles Sumner and the Fight for a More Perfect Union
Mark Twain House and Museum
Hartford
May 23, 2024
I concede that not many people spend a lot of time thinking about the Civil War and 19th century history. But if you’ve heard of Charles Sumner, then it’s probably because you’re familiar with his infamous caning 168 years ago last week.
Continue reading ‘More Than Just A Caning Victim: Charles Sumner The Abolitionist’
by | May 17, 2024 4:00 pm | Comments (0)
BECKY CARMAN PHOTO
Meow Wolf's Vince Kadlubek at Mayfest
Mayfest Keynote Address: “The Value of Creativity in These Transformative Times” by Meow Wolf’s Vince Kadlubek
101 Archer
Tulsa
May 11, 2024
“There has never been a creative company that has stayed cool.”
That sobering truth came from Meow Wolf cofounder and CEO Vince Kadlubek during the ending Q&A of his Mayfest keynote speech “The Value of Creativity in These Transformative Times.”
Kadlubek is, effectively, the kingpin of immersive art in the U.S., having led Meow Wolf during its days as a scrappy, recurring pop-up in 2008 and helmed its growth into a multi-city brand known for the promise of its tagline: “We Open Portals of Possibility.”
Continue reading ‘The Guy Who Started Meow Wolf Has Some Thoughts About Art And Capitalism’
by | May 15, 2024 3:08 pm | Comments (0)
George Griffin, family butler to Mark Twain
The Life and Legacy of George Griffin
Mark Twain House and Museum
Hartford
May 14, 2024
The Mark Twain House and Museum hosted “The Life and Legacy of George Griffin,” about the family butler for Samuel Clemens for 17 years. The event was broken up into three parts: It began with a lecture by Twain scholar Kevin Mac Donnell, followed by a panel discussion between Mac Donnell, historian Dr. Camesha Scruggs of Central Connecticut State University, and Rev. Samuel Blanks of Griffin’s church, Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion in Hartford.
Continue reading ‘Free, But Still a Servant: The Life Of George Griffin’
