266. Hanif Abdurraqib: Reflections on Basketball, Life, and Home
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Release Date: 08/13/2024
393. Rob Sheffield: An Era Like No Other — How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Throughout her storied career, Taylor Swift has kept her name in the news with chart-topping hits, aesthetic reinvention, and nonstop global influence. Over the years and across the genres, die-hard fans and scholars alike have chronicled the cultural phenomenon that is Taylor Swift. And long story short, pop music expert and self-described Taylor Swift aficionado Rob Sheffield has been along for the whole ride. In his newest book, Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music, Sheffield dives fearlessly into the labyrinth of Taylor Swift’s extensive...
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392. Opening Doors to the Outdoors: Inclusivity in Climbing
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Access to the outdoors is a basic human need—from the granite under our feet during adventures or simply a breath of fresh air. Yet, that access isn’t equal. In the U.S., more than one in three people lack access to a park within a 10-minute walk of home, disproportionately affecting Black and Brown communities. The outdoor and climbing industries face similar challenges. Lack of diversity in leadership, limited funding, and gate-kept information make the climb steeper for many. However, climbers of color have risen to become some of the sport’s most accomplished athletes, demonstrating...
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391. Alison Fensterstock with Emily Fox and Rachel Flotard: How Women Made Music — A Revolutionary History
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Celebrate women who rock in a discussion with the hosts of NPR music’s series Turning the Tables as they share their new book How Women Made Music: A Revolutionary History from NPR Music. Uncovering the role women have played in shaping the music industry, editor Alison Fensterstock brings long-overdue recognition to female artists, challenging traditional best album lists and highlighting overlooked contributions in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. By bringing together material from over fifty years of NPR’s coverage, Fensterstock underscores the enduring impact of...
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390. Trimpin in Discussion with Gary Faigin: The Sound of Invention
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Combining digital technology with everyday salvaged materials, sculptor and composer Trimpin has invented ways of playing everything from giant marimbas to a 60-foot stack of guitars using MIDI commands. Taking inspiration equally from junkyards, museums, and concert halls, Trimpin creates eccentric and interactive instruments from found materials, including saw blades, toy monkeys, duck calls, beer bottles, Bunsen burners, slide projectors, turkey basters, and pottery wheels. Trimpin’s computer-driven musical contraptions defy the constraints of traditional instruments. In...
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389. Tonya Lockyer with Jackson Cooper: Navigating Creative Administration — With Advice from Firsthand Accounts
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
When we think about consuming art, whether reading a book, visiting a museum, or maybe watching an outdoor performance act, we rarely consider the administrative efforts that go into making art possible. Creative administration is an evolving field that considers the innovation and organizational management necessary to create and present art. Artists find themselves having to balance their own vision, with the practicalities of physical production, collaboration, and so many other factors. Artists on Creative Administration: A Workbook from the National Center for Choreography, is a...
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388. Nathan Myhrvold with Bethany Jean Clement: Modernist Bread at Home
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Join Modernist Cuisine founder and author Nathan Myhrvold to explore one of the world’s most beloved (and occasionally controversial) foods: bread. In this conversation that’s sure to be like naan other, Myhrvold will discuss his new book, Modernist Bread at Home, and why now is the perfect time to rise to the occasion and start making bread in your own kitchen. Myhrvold will draw on the Modernist Cuisine team’s extensive research to share some of his favorite insights, tips, and tricks from the book, all the info you knead to make better bread at home. Nathan Myhrvold is...
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387. André Aciman with Marcie Sillman: Coming of Age in The Eternal City — A New Book by the Author of "Call Me by Your Name"
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
The city of Rome is a legacy locale in countless areas of history and culture. For teenage refugee André Aciman, Rome was also a source of life-changing challenges, charms, and connections that would have a place in his heart for years to come. In his upcoming book Roman Year: A Memoir, Aciman recounts the ways his family adapted to the harsh realities of their transition and how he himself fell in love with the poetry and potential of a new home. Roman Year transports readers back to a tumultuous chapter of Aciman’s youth as his Jewish family fled an era of growing political...
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386. Tui T. Sutherland with Ben Clanton: Wings of Fire – The Dragonet Prophecy
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Join us for an exciting event with Tui T. Sutherland, the bestselling author behind the #1 New York Times and USA Today series Wings of Fire. Sutherland discusses the limited edition release of The Dragonet Prophecy, the first book in the series, offering insights into the world of dragons and the captivating characters that have enchanted readers around the globe. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from the author herself and dive into the adventure that has sparked imaginations everywhere. is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Wings of...
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385. Louise Erdrich with Karen Russell: Dark Realities and Glimmering Hopes in the Red River Valley
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Can you see the shape of your soul in the everchanging clouds? Your personal salvation in the giant expanse of sky? For the ensemble cast of characters that make up the prairie community at the heart of The Mighty Red, existential questions are constantly close to the surface. In her newest novel, author Louise Erdrich immerses readers in the Red River Valley of the North and the complicated lives of its inhabitants. Argus, North Dakota is a town framed by the 2008 economic crisis, the consequences of climate change, and the dynamics of small-town drama. Thrown into motion by a chaotic...
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284. Eva Walker and Jacob Uitti with Molly Sides, Jimmy James, Evan Flory-Barnes, and Marco Collins: The Sound of Seattle
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
What connects Seattle with Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, and Kenny G? How about the Melvins, Sleater-Kinney, and Foo Fighters? And Sir Mix-a-Lot, Macklemore, and Travis Thompson? If you don’t know, KEXP DJ and musician Eva Walker and music writer Jake Uitti can tell you. Walker and Uitti have created a timeline of Seattle’s music evolution through the lens of 101 songs spanning 80 years, the culmination of which, they say, creates a distinct “Seattle sound.” In their book, The Sound of Seattle, they highlight notable music and musicians who have ties with the Emerald city. It all...
info_outlineGrowing 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 we think deserves success, the tension between excellence and expectation, and the very notion of role models, woven together with intimate, personal storytelling.
“Here is where I would like to tell you about the form on my father’s jump shot,” Abdurraqib writes. “The truth, though, is that I saw my father shoot a basketball only one time.”
No matter the subject — whether it’s basketball, music, or performance — Hanif Abdurraqib sends out a clarion call to radically reimagine how we think about our culture, our country, and ourselves.
Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio, and the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grant. His most recent book, A Little Devil in America, was the winner of the Carnegie Medal and the Gordon Burns Prize and a finalist for the National Book Award. His first collection of essays, They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, was named one of the books of the year by NPR, Esquire, BuzzFeed, O: The Oprah Magazine, Pitchfork, and Chicago Tribune, among others. Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest was a New York Times bestseller and a National Book Critics Circle Award and Kirkus Prize finalist and was longlisted for the National Book Award. He is a graduate of Beechcroft High School.
