Archives
7:00 pm
House of Speakeasy
New York, NY
June 4, 2024
Seriously Entertaining is House of SpeakEasy’s acclaimed series of literary cabarets where authors take the stage to riff and ruminate informally, dinner-theater-style, on the evening’s theme. The Wall Street Journal calls it “Think-y entertainment for New York’s book-loving crowd,” The New York Times says it’s “a literary mixtape [with] perfect flow and variety,” and CBS Local News adds: “You have never seen a cabaret quite like this…. The lineup includes some of the most brilliant minds in the literary and artistic worlds.”
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SXSW
Austin, TX
March 13, 2024
3:00 pm
Tuxedo Park Library
Tuxedo Park, NY
March 10, 2024
6:00 pm
Seminary Co-Op Bookstore
Chicago, IL
March 7, 2024
7:00 pm
MLK Jr. Memorial Library
Washington, DC
March 6, 2024
Join the Library and Politics and Prose for a very special conversation with author Eric Klinenberg for his new book 2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed. In conversation with special guest Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden, Klinenberg will explore this account of a pivotal year in history through the experiences of seven New Yorkers.
Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing, and a limited number of copies will be available as giveaways courtesy of the DC Public Library Foundation.
More6:30 pm
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library
New York, NY
March 4, 2024
9:00 pm
San Francisco Public Library
San Francisco, CA
March 2, 2024
SFPL and local partners, the Villa Albertine, KQED and Circuit Network, have lots of exciting surprises in store for this year’s edition of Night of Ideas. Leading thinkers, scholars, writers, activists and artists engage with the theme “Fault Lines,” centering urban life and development and raising questions about the impact of climate change, new technologies and social and cultural shifts. In addition, running through the entire evening, are programs designed to make you feel the L.O.V.E. for our beautiful City to counter those tiresome attacks. We’ve got drag, stand-up, zine-making and a rousing program series that pays homage to our beloved and idiosyncratic Muni, thanks to the support of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
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Mill Valley Public Library
Mill Valley, CA
March 1, 2024
After the Library closes for the night, the Main Reading Room transforms into an intimate venue for community, connection, and learning in the Mill Valley Library’s After Hours series. Eric Klinenberg returns to Mill Valley for a special conversation about his new book 2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed. Over the course of 2020, acclaimed sociologist and best-selling author Klinenberg followed seven New Yorkers whose experiences illuminate how Americans, and people across the globe, reckoned with 2020. Through these poignant stories, we revisit our own moments of hope and fear, the profound tragedies and losses in our communities, the mutual aid networks that brought us together, and the social movements that hinted at the possibilities of a better world.
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San Diego Public Library
San Diego, CA
February 28, 2024
Join renowned social critic and New York Times contributor Eric Klinenberg as he presents his latest work, 2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed.
An audience Q&A and book signing will follow the presentation. This event is free and open to the public. Reserved seating is available for you and a guest by pre-ordering a copy of 2020 from the Library Shop.
More7:30 pm
Town Hall Seattle x Elliott Bay
Seattle, WA
February 27, 2024
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 disruption were varied.
Acclaimed sociologist and bestselling author Eric Klinenberg’s latest work 2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed offers an account of a single year in modern history told through the stories of seven New Yorkers. From an elementary school principal to a bar manager, a subway custodian to a political aide, the book sheds light on the human experience of that fateful time four years ago, illuminating both individual and collective uncertainty, fear, loss, and hope.
Although the book is centered on New York City, 2020 also explores the political spheres of the nation’s capital and beyond, as well as epidemiological battles, policies, and movements worldwide. Set against the backdrop of a tense presidential election and social unrest, Klinenberg offers a window into a recent time of reckoning and an invitation to examine ourselves and our experiences.
MoreUniversity of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
February 21, 2024
6:00 pm
NYU Wagner
New York, NY
February 20, 2024
2020 will go down alongside 1914, 1929, and 1968 as one of the most consequential years in history. Eric Klinenberg’s book is the first attempt to capture the full human experience of that fateful time.
At the heart of 2020 are seven vivid profiles of ordinary New Yorkers—including an elementary school principal, a bar manager, a subway custodian, and a local political aide—whose experiences illuminate how Americans, and people across the globe, reckoned with 2020. Through these poignant stories, we revisit our own moments of hope and fear, the profound tragedies and losses in our communities, the mutual aid networks that brought us together, and the social movements that hinted at the possibilities of a better world. Klinenberg allows us to see 2020—and, ultimately, ourselves—with unprecedented clarity and empathy. His book not only helps us reckon with what we lived through, but also with the challenges we face before the next crisis arrives.
More6:30 pm
McNally Jackson Seaport
New York, NY
February 15, 2024
2020 will go down alongside 1914, 1929, and 1968 as one of the most consequential years in history. This riveting and affecting book is the first attempt to capture the full human experience of that fateful time.
At the heart of 2020 are seven vivid profiles of ordinary New Yorkers—including an elementary school principal, a bar manager, a subway custodian, and a local political aide—whose experiences illuminate how Americans, and people across the globe, reckoned with 2020. Through these poignant stories, we revisit our own moments of hope and fear, the profound tragedies and losses in our communities, the mutual aid networks that brought us together, and the social movements that hinted at the possibilities of a better world.
Eric Klinenberg vividly captures these stories, casting them against the backdrop of a high-stakes presidential election, a surge of misinformation, rising distrust, and raging protests. We move from the epicenter in New York City to Washington and London, where political leaders made the crisis so much more lethal than it had to be. We bear witness to epidemiological battles in Wuhan and Beijing, along with the initiatives of scientists, citizens, and policy makers in Australia, Japan, and Taiwan, who worked together to save lives.
Klinenberg allows us to see 2020—and, ultimately, ourselves—with unprecedented clarity and empathy. His book not only helps us reckon with what we lived through, but also with the challenges we face before the next crisis arrives.
More2:30 pm
The Helix Center
New York, NY
February 10, 2024
Fractured: Covid 19 – Memento Mori vs. Memento Vivere; “COVID-19 Betrays America’s Cult of Curdled Optimism”; This Exquisite Loneliness; The Lonely Stories; 2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed; The Quarantine Tapes; these titles were all attempts by our panelists to endure and make sense of the Pandemic. “Each of us adrift on our own ghost ships,” wrote one of them, Simon Critchley, in a piece called “To Philosophize is to Learn How to Die.” Another, Richard Deming, observed that “the writing life, the life of the mind, is not an escape or separation from life, but the way of engaging it, head on, no matter the weather.” This Round Table will focus on the literature that emerged from that time which – to be sure – is not yet over.
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