300. Arigon Starr: Sacred Breath: An Indigenous Writing and Storytelling Series
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Release Date: 03/14/2025
327. Julian Brave NoiseCat with Joshua L. Reid: We Survived the Night
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
In his debut book We Survived the Night, artist and writer Julian Brave NoiseCat takes readers on a complex journey of Indigenous experience stemming from a childhood rich with culture and contradictions. Reeling from his father — a Secwépemc and St’at’imc artist haunted by a troubled past — abandoning his family, NoiseCat and his non-Native mother found themselves embraced and invigorated by their community. Supported by the urban Native population in Oakland, California and family on the Canim Lake Indian Reserve in British Columbia, NoiseCat was able to...
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326. Raina Telgemeier & Scott McCloud: The Cartoonists Club
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
If you’re into comics and graphic novels, you probably know of Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud. Telgemeier rose to “first-name-only status” among middle-grade readers with her adaptations of The Babysitters Club and award-winning autobiographical graphic novels including Smile and Guts. Scott McCloud is a leading comics theorist, having spoken and written about the art form since the 1980s. In fact, Telgemeier credits McCloud’s work for inspiring her when she was a teenager. Now these two leading artists come together to discuss the unique power of comics...
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325. Joe Hill: King Sorrow: A Novel
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Arthur Oakes spends his days in a picturesque tableau of scholastic life – reading in the exceptional Rackham College library, dreaming against scenic Maine backdrops, entertaining a burgeoning romance with bold and brainy Gwen Underfoot. What more could a studious kid want? Surely not to be roped into a criminal endeavor by a local drug dealer and her partner, bent on committing a truly atrocious crime against the law and academia itself – stealing rare books from the college library. In his attempts to escape the dangers stacked against him, Arthur turns down a dark and unforeseen path...
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324. Emily Baker-White with Steve Scher: The War Over TikTok
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
You’re likely aware of the ongoing saga surrounding the ban on TikTok in the U.S., including the platform’s brief offline period in January 2025. Have you ever wondered why restoring TikTok in the U.S. was one of the first actions President Trump took when he came to office? Why is this social media platform a top priority for some of the world’s most powerful people? How did this tech giant become so wildly popular and a source of contention in international politics? Author of Every Screen on the Planet, Emily Baker-White, uncovers the answers. After working within big tech...
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323. Irish Arts & Literature Showcase: Celebrate Contemporary Irish Art and Literature
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
The Seattle Athenaeum and Town Hall Seattle welcomes Dr. Audrey Whitty, Director of the National Library of Ireland and Hibsen as they launch the inaugural Irish Arts & Literature Showcase. Dr. Whitty is in conversation with UW Teaching Professor and poet Frances McCue. Dr. Audrey Whitty is an Irish archaeologist, librarian and curator. As Director of the National Library of Ireland, she oversees the work of the library in collecting, protecting and making accessible the recorded memory of Ireland. Whitty previously worked for the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) where she...
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322. Oliver Burkeman: Meditations for Mortals
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
You know that phrase, “We compare our insides to other people’s outsides”? We’re bombarded with others’ achievements but see less of the steps – internal and external – it took to get there. These days, we feel an increased pressure to achieve, to pursue greatness. We reach for this mythical, impossible standard. Drawing from his book, Meditations for Mortals, Burkeman believes that if you accept the fact that you will never “get there,” you can actually start making good choices that lead to a meaningful life. Through this guiding philosophy, Burkeman calls...
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321. As Many Weirdos As Possible: Celebrating the Pacific Northwest Music Scene (1985-1995)
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Join us at Town Hall Seattle for As Many Weirdos As Possible (AMWAP), an evening of storytelling and portraiture that brings to life one of the most vibrant chapters of the Pacific Northwest music scene (1985-1995). This live program will feature musicians, artists, and community members sharing personal memories, projected alongside their documentary portraits as part of the ongoing AMWAP project. Drawn from Poser Productions’ mission to preserve and celebrate personal and cultural histories, this evening invites audiences to engage in a communal reflection on memory, music, identity, and...
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320. Jimmy Wales with Mónica Guzmán: The Seven Rules of Trust
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
As we interact with endless sources of media and news every day, we tend to recognize the big names presenting to us and often have an opinion at the ready in terms of credibility and preference. But why did we develop those opinions in the first place, and how do we move forward with confidence when processing the continuous supply of new information gets more challenging all the time? According to Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, it all comes down to something innately human and critical to our collective success– trust. In his upcoming book The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for...
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Our Brains on Art: How the Arts Transform Community Health: A Conversation with Susan Magsamen
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Can art transform our brains for the better? Local arts and health champion, Path with Art, in partnership with Seattle University and Town Hall Seattle, leads a conversation with Susan Magsamen, New York Times bestselling co-author of Your Brain on Art, and director of Johns Hopkins International Arts + Mind Lab, as well as the co-director of the Aspen Institute’s Neuroarts Blueprint. Susan shares the latest research demonstrating how individual and public health can be transformed through the arts. When introduced in healing settings, arts engagement is associated with a...
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318. Dr. Wendy Johnson with Tessa Hulls: Connection as the Way to Wellness
Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series
Do you live in a way that maximizes your well-being? Chances are, the answer to that question is no. Our modern way of living, some suggest, is incompatible with a thriving lifestyle. While the notion that many factors impact our overall health and wellness is not necessarily far-fetched, you may be surprised by the argument that some of the strongest factors are relational — both with one another and with the earth. Family Physician and public health professor Dr. Wendy Johnson explores this concept in her newest book, Kinship Medicine: Cultivating Interdependence to Heal the Earth...
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Why do people feel compelled to share stories? Why do we yearn to reach others with our words, beyond necessary communication? Storytelling is a vital facet of human culture and is constantly expanding as we create new ways to communicate through words, art, and tangible experience.
The Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington hosts an annual literary and storytelling series, Sacred Breath, featuring Indigenous writers and storytellers sharing their craft in the Seattle area. Storytelling offers a spiritual connection, a sharing of sacred breath. Literature, similarly, preserves human experience and ideals. Both forms are durable and transmit power that teaches us how to live. Both storytelling and reading aloud can impact audiences through the power of presence, allowing for the experience of the transfer of sacred breath as audiences are immersed in the experience of being inside stories and works of literature.
The series begins with an evening program at Town Hall Seattle featuring Arigon Starr and guest Roger Fernandes. A multitalented, multidisciplinary performer, Arigon Starr promises to deliver a mix of music, reading, art, and storytelling.
Arigon Starr is an enrolled member of the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma. Her father, Ken Wahpecome (Kickapoo) was a career Navy man and her mother, Ruth (Muscogee (Creek) / Cherokee / Seneca) was a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University. Starr is a storyteller in many mediums including music, comic books, and live theater. Across her many disciplines, she brings bold characters, contemporary perspectives, and the intention of countering negative Indigenous stereotypes. Her work has been highlighted in the publications First American Art and Native Peoples, featured on the national news program PBS News Hour and on the arts blog of the National Endowment for the Arts. Visit Arigon’s website to learn more.
About Sacred Breath
The Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington hosts an annual literary and storytelling series. Sacred Breath features Indigenous writers and storytellers sharing their craft in Seattle. Storytelling offers a spiritual connection, a sharing of sacred breath. Literature, similarly, preserves human experience and ideals. Both forms are durable and transmit power that teaches us how to live. Both storytelling and reading aloud can impact audiences through the power of presence, allowing for the experience of the transfer of sacred breath as audiences are immersed in the experience of being inside stories and works of literature.