Calligraphy is deemed the highest expression of Chinese visual art. At this lecture, master calligrapher Cui Xuelu will share his insights into the close relationship between Chinese calligraphy and the concepts of nature, humanity, and self-spirituality. In exploring this quintessential Chinese art form, Mr. Cui will delve into the historical evolution of Chinese calligraphy styles, […]

Discuss Masks by Fumiko Enchi, translated from Japanese by Juliet Winters Carpenter

Alias Anna: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis is the moving true story of how young Ukrainian Jewish piano prodigies Zhanna (alias “Anna”) and her sister Frina outplayed their pursuers while hiding in plain sight during the Holocaust. Award-winning author Susan Hood will read the first few pages of the book, which introduces Aimee’s […]

Reading. In The Vegan, Andrew Lipstein challenges our notions of virtue with a brilliant tale of guilt, greed, and how far we’ll go to be good.

One night in New York City’s Chinatown, a woman is at a work reunion dinner when she excuses herself to buy a pack of cigarettes. On her way back, she runs into a former boyfriend. And then another. And… another. What would normally pass for coincidence becomes something far stranger as our heroine, the recently […]

J Robert Oppenheimer, known as the “father of the atomic bomb,” worked with a team of physicists as part of the Manhattan Project, which created the world’s first-ever nuclear weapon in 1945. Essential to the story of World War II and the Holocaust, Oppenheimer is the subject of Kai Bird’s Pulitzer Prize–winning book American Prometheus: […]

An evening with acclaimed musician Elias B. Rønnenfelt to celebrate the release of his debut book, Sunken Heights.

Join the Seaport Museum and historian and author Claire Bellerjeau for a captivating illustrated presentation that delves into the discovery of a new founding figure named Elizabeth, known as "Liss." Through engaging storytelling and visuals, we will embark on a journey to explore Liss's remarkable story, shedding light on her enslavement by the Townsend family […]

Miya Ando, winner of the 2023 Brookfield Place New York Annual Arts Commission, and Ami Vitale, a Nikon Ambassador and National Geographic photographer, will discuss their environmentally focused art exhibitions currently on view at Brookfield Place. The artists will discuss their observations and documentation of climate change and conservation  facilitating a thoughtful conversation about the future of our planet.  The evening culminates with the […]

Peter Beard lived an astonishing life. The artist, wildlife photographer, and bon vivant enthralled and inspired both because of his work and his legendary lifestyle. A scion of American industry turned explorer of Africa and environmental advocate, Beard embodied the extremes of his time: grand adventurer and sexually voracious partier, friend of everyone from the […]

Besides the US, perhaps no country is more important to the world’s economy and geopolitics than China. Crucial to understanding and interacting with China is a familiarity with its complex and dense history. Red Bishop is Dr. Robin T.W. Yuan’s epic historical fiction based on the extraordinary life of his maternal grandfather, Rt. Rev. Robin […]

Book talk. During Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s, tens of thousands of German and Austrian Jews escaped and found refuge in Britain. After war broke out and paranoia gripped the English nation, Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered that these innocent asylum seeks – so-called “enemy aliens” – be interned. Peter Fleischmann, who had […]

Lecture. In this virtual lecture, Major General Jason Bohm explores the origins of the United States Marines. He will explore the parallel stories of the creation and early operations of the Continental Marines, Navy, and Army during the American Revolution, culminating in the Battles of Trenton, Assunpink Creek, and Princeton. Via Zoom.

The Poet­ry Soci­ety of New York invites poet­ry orga­ni­za­tions and col­lec­tives of all shapes and sizes to bring their unique for­mats, aes­thet­ics, and per­son­al­i­ties to this week­end of read­ings, work­shops, open mics, instal­la­tions, per­for­mances, writ­ing activ­i­ties, book­selling, chil­dren’s pro­gram­ming, a beer gar­den, deli­cious food, and a whole lot of lying around in the grass lis­ten­ing […]

In mid-20th century New York, on a landfilled street of lower Manhattan—named after 17th century Dutch settlers—a group of artists changed American art forever. In this compelling book talk celebrating the release of The Slip: The New York City Street That Changed American Art Forever, author Prudence Peiffer will join in conversation with moderator Ada […]

Reading. The sun has disappeared from the sky. No one can explain where it has gone, but one wayward traveler is determined to try. As our unnamed narrator begins his odyssey across the parched landscapes of the American Southwest, he is drawn into a web of illusion and mystery, a shifting astral mindscape that shimmers […]

Reading. Saturday Storytime with Cindy Eagan, author of The Story of Barbie and the Woman Who Invented Her. Cindy will read and personalize books for McNally families, plus she will answer our many questions about this fantastic new book. This festive event will be fun for all genders and all ages. Feel free to wear […]

Part biography, part Holocaust testimonial, and part mystery investigation, “Song Searcher: The Times and Toils of Moyshe Beregovsky” recounts the life of Moyshe Beregovsky, who is responsible for saving and preserving much of Ukraine’s Yiddish musical tradition.

One of Japan's most important and best-selling writers, Mieko Kawakami mixes stylistic inventiveness, wry humor, and riveting emotional depth to tell a story of contemporary womanhood in Japan. Breasts and Eggs recounts the intimate journeys of three women on the path to finding peace and futures they can call their own.

In Hotel Cuba, Aaron Hamburger, whose gift for storytelling has been recognized by the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Lambda Literary Awards, tells a story of sisterhood and the immigrant experience. Centered in a 1920s Havana filled with the lush, sensual local sights, sounds, and tastes, this novel was inspired by Hamburger’s […]

Mix and mingle and discuss a new book or an older title worth revisiting. This August the book club is reading Emma Cline's highly anticipated The Guest, the perfect summer read for any New Yorker lusting after an escape to the Hamptons.

Maddy Kramer, producer and editor of The Last Generation, will moderate a live recording of her podcast with Mark Schonwetter, a member of the Museum’s Speakers Bureau, and his family. In The Last Generation, Kramer facilitates interview-style conversation between survivors and their families, especially grandchildren. This brings an intimate and personal approach to survivor storytelling, […]

Cleo Qian presents Let's Go Let's Go Let's Go, in conversation with Katie Kitamura. With precision and provocation, Cleo Qian’s immersive debut jolts us into the reality of lives fragmented by screens, relentless consumer culture, and the flattening pressures of modern society—and asks how we might hold on to tenderness against the impulses within us.

Designed in 1960 and completed in 1965, the CBS corporate headquarters, known as Black Rock, was New York's first concrete office tower. Architect Eero Saarinen envisioned a sober granite-clad monolith – rising from a sunken plaza on a full Midtown block on Sixth Ave. from 52nd to 53rd streets – a form that contradicted the […]