Talks and events in the East Bay

A guided walk and talk led by Kristina Parkison exploring Ohlone plant uses and cultural objects that sustain the Ohlone people's deep connection to the land they have stewarded since time immemorial. The program centers both historical and contemporary Ohlone practices. Ages 8 and up; adult participation required. Bring water, hat, layers, and sturdy shoes.

A full-day experiential workshop with Liz Koch exploring primal gestures and spinal awareness through movement practice. Drawing on embryological and somatic paradigms, participants will engage in 6 hours of guided movement (10am–1pm and 2–4pm, with a one-hour lunch break) designed to stimulate neuroplasticity, reduce stress, and awaken creativity. Koch, an internationally recognized somatic educator and author with 45+ years of expertise in psoas and core awareness, frames the spine as the nexus of embodied being and explores how micro-undulations and spirals in tissue reflect planetary rhythms. A Friday evening lecture by Koch is available as a separate ticketed event.

A four-week seminar exploring Dante's *Inferno* as both a masterwork of Western literature and a profound meditation on human striving and justice that resonates in our own historical moment. Led by Timothy Hampton, Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley, the course will read the poem slowly, unpacking its mysteries, medieval philosophical context, and enduring relevance. Open discussion follows each session. Meets Thursdays, October 10, 17, 24, 31, 11 am–1 pm.

Professor Elisa Tamarkin, Chair of UC Berkeley's English Department, speaks to the UC Berkeley Emeriti Association. Tamarkin is a scholar of American literature and cultural history. The specific topic of her remarks will be announced closer to the event date.

A guided walk-through of Shannon Rogers: Myriad, an exhibition of geometric abstraction paintings by Oakland-based artist Shannon Rogers. The show features expansive, intricately constructed works that move between recognizable landscape and abstraction, drawing from archetypal visions of volcanoes, canyons, ruins, and sunsets while geometric structures disrupt coherent perspective. Rogers explores interconnectedness and multiple readings of space, informed by Daoist philosophy. The artist will lead the walk-through.

A talk demystifying El Niño and its local impacts, followed by an open community forum on preparedness and resilience. Learn what to expect from this climate pattern and how Oakland residents can prepare.

An afternoon of civic performance and dialogue exploring the U.S. Constitution's historical role and modern relevance. Artist Christy Chan performs readings from the Constitution in reverse, interrogating whose rights it protects and whose it excludes, followed by a moderated panel discussion titled "Whose Constitution?" featuring cultural historian Jeff Chang (moderator), Michael Schulze-Oechtering (CSU East Bay community organizer), and Nicole Ozer (UC Law SF's Center for Constitutional Democracy and Electronic Frontier Foundation). The panel examines citizens' relationship to the Constitution in the present moment.

Fantasy author Kiri Callaghan discusses writing, worldbuilding, and magic, drawing on her USA Today bestselling works including The Hemlock Saga and The Terra Mirum Chronicles. The event includes a Q&A, book signing, and a special treat courtesy of Wingen Bakery. Books available for purchase from Towne Center Books.

Joshua Frank reads from and discusses his book *Bad Energy* in conversation with Scott Parkin at Nomadic Bookshop.

Gabriele Vajente, Deputy Head of System Science and Engineering at the LIGO Laboratory (Caltech), explores gravitational waves and what we've learned from a decade of detections. Ten years after LIGO first detected gravitational waves from colliding black holes, the field has become central to modern astronomy. Vajente will discuss how LIGO detects these ripples in space-time, discoveries about black holes and neutron stars, and future directions for gravitational-wave science.

An immersive workshop exploring the esoteric meanings within the poetry of Indian mystic saints—Kabir and Guru Nanak—through indigenous folk songs of the Malwa region. Priyal Maheshwari, a musician and yoga teacher, guides participants by singing and interpreting these 600-year-old oral-tradition songs while accompanying himself on tambura and kartaal. The workshop alternates between song, storytelling about Kabir's life and India's oral traditions, collective reflection, and shared silence. Printed translations enable participants to follow along and join the singing. A contemplative experience designed to deepen self-discovery and a sense of connection.

A book discussion for adult children of immigrants exploring mixed cultural identity and belonging. Participants will gather in a small-group salon format to discuss Sahaj Kaur Kohli's memoir and reflect on how bicultural experiences shaped their upbringings and sense of self. The event centers on shared questions about navigating multiple cultural worlds.

The Oakland Museum of California hosts its 32nd annual Día de los Muertos Community Celebration, a vibrant day honoring people, traditions, and stories that connect communities across generations. The day opens with a procession led by the Día de los Muertos Committee, featuring music, movement, and collective acts of remembrance. The event includes gallery access and garden programming. ASL interpretation will be provided for outdoor stage events. $10 admission; members and children under 12 are free with advance reservations.

Professor Galen Crantz displays her personal tax returns from 1963–2018 in a one-day public installation, inviting visitors to witness the accumulation of bureaucratic effort embedded in decades of filing. Attendees are welcome to bring their own tax documents (older than 7 years) to shred manually onsite or deposit in secure bins for later shredding at Berkeley Shreds. The exhibition critiques the collective time investment required by tax filing and asks what more productive uses of our effort might look like.

Meet tarantulas in their natural habitat as summer turns to fall. Led by naturalist Alex Collins, this hands-on program explores why these arachnids emerge during mating season and offers a chance to observe them up close. Drop-in, no registration required; adult participation needed.

A 30-minute gallery talk with Batul True Heart, a 2Spirit Yaqui-Chicane and Panamanian death and grief worker, herbal medicine maker, and emotional release specialist. Batul will share their personal experience practicing traditional medicine during times of mourning, discussing the path to earth-based ancestral medicine, Indigenous perspectives on emotion, and practical ways to connect with feelings, the earth, and natural elements. As part of OMCA's Día de los Muertos Community Celebration, they will introduce cempoalxóchitl (marigold) and how to work with it during grief. Batul co-creates Floripondio End of Life Planning and Services and produces Maaso Medicina: Flower Medicine for Ancestral, Generational, and Personal Pain.

A workshop on Jungian dreamwork exploring how dreams provide access to the unconscious and support psychological growth and individuation. Alyssa Polizzi, a Jungian scholar and founder of The Artemisian educational platform, guides participants through the foundations of dream interpretation, common archetypal motifs, and a practical four-step method for analyzing dream symbols. Attendees are invited to bring a dream or striking dream image to explore in class.

We are pleased to host author Linda Drattell for Coffee & Conversation on Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 2:00 pm at Towne Center Books (555 Main St, Pleasanton, CA). We will also be joined by sign language interpreter Becky Kasyanova. This is a free event but RSVP's are appreciated. You can RSVP below or you can call 925-846-8826 during store hours.

A witty, chess-playing stray cat tries to elude a catnapper while helping two tournament-bound schoolkids navigate life's challenges. Authors Ilona Bray and Stephen C.S. Soong discuss their novel.

How can policy, law, and institutional design advance equity during periods of social and political constraint? This session explores research-informed levers for creating more equitable developmental pathways for children, families, and communities. Speakers include Wendy Ellis, Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Community Resilience at George Washington University, and Laura Huerta Migus, Director of Fellowship Alumni Engagement at Ascend at the Aspen Institute, with moderation by Katie Albright, Executive Director of UC Berkeley's Equity and Excellence in Early Childhood program.

Urban planner Jesse M. Keenan, Associate Professor of Sustainable Real Estate and Urban Planning at Tulane University, discusses his book *North: The Future of Post-Climate America*. The talk explores how climate change is reshaping where and how Americans live, documenting population shifts that are transforming cities, electoral politics, and regional geographies of risk and opportunity. Keenan examines how markets and public institutions shape human mobility, analyzing communities' capacity to adapt as climate impacts accelerate and Sun Belt migration patterns shift. The event frames climate adaptation through the lens of everyday people caught between fast-moving markets and slow-moving governments, exploring both climate-driven relocation and emerging zones of opportunity for sustainable living.

Sharon Weill, Professor of International Law and Director of the Justice Lab at American University of Paris, discusses her ethnographic study of terrorism trials in France, published by Cambridge University Press. Based on hundreds of courtroom observation days spanning small cases to landmark trials including the Charlie Hebdo and Bataclan proceedings, the book examines how terrorism logics are negotiated within criminal proceedings. Through courtroom immersion, legal performance analysis, and interviews with judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and victims, Weill investigates how justice actually functions in practice and traces three generations of evolving trial approaches. The work offers both empirical insights into French criminal procedure and comparative perspective for Anglophone readers unfamiliar with civil law systems.

Judge Thelton Henderson, UC Berkeley Law Class of 1962, shares stories and insights from his career as a civil rights lawyer and federal judge, in conversation with Federal Appeals Court Judge and UC Berkeley Law Professor William Fletcher. Henderson's work spans landmark civil rights cases and his tenure on the federal bench, offering a window into judicial reasoning and social change advocacy.

A workshop on supporting clients impacted by violence and trauma, led by Orchid Pusey, Executive Director of Asian Women's Shelter. Designed for legal professionals engaged in pro bono work, the session draws on clinical and advocacy expertise to equip participants with trauma-informed approaches to client care. Held in connection with Domestic Violence Awareness Month and National Pro Bono Week.

Dr. Archana Raja, Staff Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab's Molecular Foundry, discusses how artificial intelligence accelerates the discovery and characterization of quantum materials. She'll present experimental work on topological phase transitions in van der Waals heterostructures, including isotope-controlled switching in HfTe5, then introduce LEAP (Low-Energy, AI-Informed Phase Transitions), a UC AI Science at Scale initiative coordinating theory, experiment, and simulation to target topological materials for energy-efficient electronics. She'll demonstrate Struct-R1, an agentic system that navigates materials structure space through physics-grounded reasoning loops, and LEAP-Bench, a benchmark testing whether AI agents can reason from raw experimental data to scientific conclusions suitable for laboratory deployment.

A panel examining Taiwan's 30-year democratic trajectory since its historic 1996 direct presidential election and the trilateral strategies needed to sustain democratic resilience in an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape. Speakers include David Chih-Hsiang Wu, Director-General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco; Thomas B. Gold, Professor of Sociology Emeritus at UC Berkeley; and panelists from Goucher College, Academia Sinica, the University of Pennsylvania's Perry World House, and the German Institute of Development and Sustainability.

A lecture on aging and eldercare in fin-de-siècle Russian and Yiddish theater, examining how playwrights Anton Chekhov and Jacob Gordin represented old age and care on stage. Gabriella Safran, professor at Stanford University, explores how these two literary traditions approached the theme of aging during this period of cultural and social transformation.

A physics colloquium featuring Alexander Sushkov. This lecture is part of UC Berkeley's regular colloquium series in the Department of Physics, open to the university community and interested public.

Brandon Mull discusses his new novel Guardians: Forbidden Mountain, sharing insights into his writing process and answering questions from readers. The bestselling author of The Fablehaven series and Beyonders returns to Rakestraw Books for an after-school event.

A book talk on China's prison camps, their Soviet roots, and the threats to journalists investigating them. Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Vice President of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society and former Berkeley Journalism dean, discusses his research with Adam Hochschild, author of *The Unquiet Ghost* and *King Leopold's Ghost* and lecturer at Berkeley Journalism. Welcoming remarks from Sasha Schell, supervising reporter at the Human Rights Center. Hosted by the Human Rights Center at Berkeley Law.

Who gets called a witch—and what happens when people believe them? UC Berkeley PhD candidate Ilyssa Forman traces the history of American witch hunts from Salem through the Lavender Scare, exploring how the idea of the witch has been weaponized against those deemed dangerous by society: women who refused to obey, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, sex workers, and other criminalized "others." Through centuries of American fear and difference, Forman asks what makes witch hunts possible, why people become convinced danger hides among them, and what happens when the hunt outlasts the supposed threat. A lecture on power, persecution, and the language of exclusion, followed by Q&A and discussion.

How does the brain construct our conscious visual experience? Michael Silver, Professor of Optometry, Vision Science and Neuroscience at UC Berkeley and director of the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics, explores how vision is an active inference shaped by attention, expectations, goals, and past experience—closer to a controlled hallucination than a camera. He will discuss how psilocybin research is revealing how the brain generates these inferences and illuminating the nature of consciousness itself. Includes Q&A.

Ken Goldberg, Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at UC Berkeley, discusses his work as part of the Berkeley Writers at Work series. The event takes place Tuesday, October 27, noon–1:30 pm.

A presentation and discussion of *Depose: Luigi Mangione, the Right to Health, and the Unfinished American Revolution*, written by the December 4 Legal Committee, which created Luigi Mangione's legal defense fund. The book brings the American healthcare debate to fundamental political questions: Who profits from sickness? Who gets access to health? What would a healthcare system serving everyone look like? A spokesperson for the authors will present.

Congresswoman Lateefah Simon discusses combating public corruption, ensuring government accountability and equal treatment under the law, and protecting American democracy in conversation with Laura Faer, Senior Program Manager at UC Berkeley's Edley Center.

A conversation with past and current leaders of UC Berkeley's Center for the Study of Sexual Culture surveying trans and queer studies scholarship, documenting attacks on LGBT studies, and exploring how the field might move beyond defensive responses. The dialogue will highlight the social movements, artistic interventions, and research reshaping the field. Featuring Mel Y. Chen (Gender & Women's Studies), Michael Lucey (French and Comparative Literature), and Roshanak Kheshti (Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies), moderated by Eric A. Stanley (Gender and Women's Studies).

Ayesha S. ​Mahmud is an Associate Professor of Demography in the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley. She is a demographer whose research broadly examines the interplay between population change, environmental factors, and infectious disease dynamics. The event is moderated by Elora Shehabuddin, Professor of Gender Studies at UC Berkeley.

Physicist and public intellectual Pervez Hoodbhoy examines recent signs of social and political change in Pakistan, asking whether they represent a genuine retreat from religious fundamentalism or a more limited and uncertain shift. Drawing on decades of activism for science and rationalism in South Asia, Hoodbhoy discusses his latest book *Pakistan: Origins, Identity and Future*. Moderated by Munis D. Faruqui, Director of the Institute for South Asia Studies and Sarah Kailath Chair of India Studies at UC Berkeley.

Nicholas Kristof, Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times columnist, bestselling author, and documentarian, discusses his path from an Oregon farm to leadership on global justice and climate issues. Kristof's journalism and films have brought urgent humanitarian and environmental stories to millions, bridging the gap between reporting and advocacy. This talk explores how journalism can drive change on the world's most pressing challenges.

Dr. Catie Cuan, founder of ART Lab (AI Robot Technology) and pioneer in choreorobotics, explores what happens when artificial intelligence moves beyond screens into physical robots. Drawing on her background in dance and robotics, she argues that movement is not merely functional but expressive—shaping emotion, trust, and human connection. Through examples including robots trained to improvise, respond to human gestures, and move collectively, Cuan demonstrates how choreography informs the design of intuitive, responsive, and human-centered machines. Part of UC Berkeley's Design Field Notes lecture series.

A 3-part prompt-based storytelling workshop for adults and older adults led by Stagebridge, the nation's oldest performing arts organization for seniors. Participants can join a single session, multiple classes, or the entire series. Registration required by calling Montclair Branch at (510) 482-7810.

Fatimah Asghar discusses her debut poetry collection *Daughter of the Mountains*, which explores exile, displacement, belonging, spirituality, and lineage through meditative, formally inventive verse. The collection grapples with fulfillment, betrayal, love, loss, and longing, using vivid imagery and disruptive form to examine how place and environment inform spiritual practice. Asghar appears in conversation with poet Hieu Minh Nguyen.

A release-night celebration for the new ACOTAR novel featuring wine tasting with a special guest winemaker, book & wine trivia, costume prizes, photo opportunities, and the Suriel's Prophecy Board for reader predictions. Attendees are encouraged to dress in character — Night Court black, Spring Court florals, full Illyrian leathers, or power wear of choice. NA options available.

A four-session immersive workshop with Silvia Nakkach, Grammy-nominated composer and sound shaman, exploring sound as a living cosmic force. Participants will learn to improvise medicine melodies—spontaneous transmissions from nature and the spirit world—drawing on practices from Peruvian Amazon icaros, Afro-Brazilian invocations, Indian ragas, and healing invocations. The workshop cultivates deep listening, tonal centering, and vocal freedom as forms of spiritual attunement and musical divination. No singing experience required; open to anyone willing to listen, feel, and explore the sacred intelligence of the voice.

A monthly gathering for graphic novel enthusiasts featuring author talks, participant recommendations, and collaborative drawing and writing sessions. The October 27th meeting features Rina Ayuyang, an Eisner-nominated cartoonist and 25-year veteran of the Bay Area indie comics scene. Ayuyang's latest graphic novel, *The Man in the McIntosh Suit*, was named one of the best books of 2023 by the New York Public Library. Meetings held the fourth Tuesday of each month.

What happens if election meddling triggers large-scale civil protests in 2026? Can U.S. troops be lawfully deployed to intervene against civilian demonstrators, and under what circumstances might they use force? Moderator Rear Admiral Michael Baker (U.S. Navy, ret.) explores the legal and constitutional boundaries of military involvement in domestic unrest, set against the backdrop of recent ICE agent shootings and the militarization of federal enforcement.

What if election interference triggers mass civilian protests in November 2026? Can U.S. troops legally intervene with force against demonstrators? Moderator Michael Baker, a retired Rear Admiral and physician, examines the legal and constitutional constraints on military deployment against civilians, alongside escalating ICE violence in Minneapolis, Texas, and beyond. The event explores how militarization of domestic law enforcement raises the stakes for civic dissent.

A panel discussion on community leadership and social change featuring Claudia Leung (Director of Programs, New Breath Foundation), Tash Nguyen (community organizer, Restore Oakland), and Krishna Desai (attorney, Desai Tran), moderated by Kim Tran. Panelists will explore refuting the model minority myth, overcoming learned powerlessness, and building lasting community change. Attendees will gain new models and inspiration for taking active roles in social transformation. Childcare and light refreshments provided.

A discussion of Jenn Scott's debut novel *All the Tiny Beauties*, which spans 90 years in Oakland and explores shifting notions of self across generations through interconnected stories: a reclusive man, his estranged daughter, and a young housemate who form an unlikely friendship that defies age and expectation. Scott and facilitator Andrea Gough examine how the novel grapples with the fragility of identity, societal constraints on authentic selfhood, and the question of who we might become under different circumstances. Scott's work has appeared in *Fiction*, *Gettysburg Review*, and *Alaska Quarterly Review*; her debut collection *Her Adult Life* was longlisted for the PEN America/Bingham Award. Gough is an educator specializing in discussion-based curricula and the transformative power of literature to unsettle and expand thinking.

Screenwriter Matthew Aldrich discusses his debut novel about a billionaire tech visionary who discovers a method to stop aging. A propulsive exploration of ambition, mortality, and the ethics of technological transcendence, featuring a book signing.

A book talk and launch celebration for critical theorist and UC Berkeley author Grace Lavery's new work, *Personal Demons*. Lavery discusses her writing with Damon Young.

A regional summit convening 250+ senior women leaders from Bay Area business and civic sectors to discuss pressing issues shaping the region's economic and social future. Keynote from First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Hosted by the Bay Area Council at PG&E Auditorium.

RNA cleavage is essential for processing and regulating all classes of RNA. Current methods profiling genome-wide RNA cleavage are biased towards cytoplasmic events and ignore compartmentalized differences. We have recently coupled subcellular RNA fractionation with degradome profiling to detect genome-wide nucleoplasm- and cytoplasm-enriched RNA cleavage in Arabidopsis thaliana . Using this enhanced profiling data we are studying RNA processing, including microRNAs, as well as RNA modification-mediated effects of RNA cleavage-mediated post-transcriptional regulation of the plant transcriptome. Our most recent results on miRNA processing and RNA modification-mediated regulation of the plant transcriptome will be presented. Speakers: Brian D. Gregory, Professor (Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania)

Historian David Henkin (UC Berkeley) discusses *Out of the Ballpark* (Oxford, 2026), a reconsideration of baseball's character and meaning that challenges familiar mythologies about the sport. Rather than treating baseball as uniquely American or examining only on-field action, Henkin traces the game's history across borders and centuries, exploring its structures, rituals, and resonances with labor, imperialism, race, media, and modernity. He's joined in conversation by philosopher Alva Noë (UC Berkeley), followed by audience questions.

Economic historian Jan de Vries, Ehrman Professor Emeritus of History at UC Berkeley, presents his newly published book *Life, Death, & Migration in the Early Modern City*, which explores urban demographic dynamics, migration patterns, and social life in a German city around 1700. De Vries is a pioneering scholar of Dutch economic development during the industrial revolution whose work has fundamentally shaped our understanding of early modern European urbanism and economic change.

Two UC Berkeley PhD researchers present work on postcolonial Africa and the archive. Derek Allen (Hispanic Languages and Literatures) discusses postcolonial identity in Luso-Afro-Brazilian literature and film depicting the Luso-African wars for independence and the Mozambican and Angolan civil wars. Chukwudi Isiani (History) explores how architecture functioned as an archive of imperial power in Eastern Nigeria from 1857 to 1960. Part of Berkeley's African Studies lunch seminar series.

A panel discussion on careers in plaintiffs'-side civil law, exploring opportunities to advocate for justice on behalf of individuals and families. Hear from lawyers at Public Justice, Our Children's Trust, and members of the National Plaintiffs' Law Association about their work in environmental, consumer protection, and civil rights litigation. Aimed at students and early-career professionals considering public interest legal work.

A discussion of decolonial approaches to human rights practice, examining the power imbalances between Global North and Global South advocacy organizations. The authors of *Decolonial Human Rights Practice: Tactics, Obstacles, and Futures* explore how domination persists within transnational human rights work and strategies for transforming it.

A panel discussion on health privacy law strategy across biotech and pharma sectors. Heather B. Deixler (Latham & Watkins), Joanna Kim and Alexis Watson (Abbott) explore how in-house and outside counsel navigate evolving state-level privacy regimes. Moderated by Vincent Joralemon, Director of the Life Sciences Law and Policy Center at Berkeley Law.

A conversation on critical race theory with Osagie K. Obasogie, Haas Distinguished Chair and Professor of Law at UC Berkeley, and Savala Nolan. They will explore CRT's core tenets, its applications and misapplications across law, politics, and culture, and how students can deploy its analytical frameworks for social justice work inside and beyond law school. Obasogie's research spans law, race, and medicine, examining policing, bioethics, and reproductive technologies.

A conversation with Professor Emeritus Charles P. Henry about his new memoir exploring his involvement in pivotal social movements—the search for social identity and the fight for civil and human rights. Drawing on personal experiences of place, memory, family, and Black Studies, Henry's narrative expands to broader issues including the Black diaspora, global community, and intersectionality. Henry is Professor Emeritus of African American Studies at UC Berkeley, former chair of Amnesty International U.S.A., and author of eight books on Black politics, public policy, and human rights.

A screening of two films centering disability narratives and experiences, part of UC Berkeley's commitment to accessible public programming. The event highlights filmmaking that amplifies disabled voices and perspectives, fostering dialogue around disability representation and social inclusion. Free and open to the public with accessibility accommodations.

How are surveillance technologies and data systems transforming U.S. immigration enforcement, and what are the stakes for civil liberties and democratic oversight? This panel examines the convergence of AI-assisted identification, inter-agency data-sharing, and on-the-ground policing practices. Panelists include David Hausman (UC Berkeley Law, Deportation Data Project), Caitlin Patler (UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy), and Jennifer Urban (UC Berkeley Law, Samuelson Clinic), moderated by Deirdre Mulligan (UC Berkeley School of Information, former Principal Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer). Part of the Matrix On Point discussion series.

How does AI infrastructure concentrate power and extract wealth? Geographers Dillon Mahmoudi (University of Maryland Baltimore County) and Alan Wiig (University of Florida) argue that the AI economy is fundamentally material and geographic—anchored to specific territories by data centers, energy demands, and land availability. They analyze two forms of monopoly rent: control of location and network proximity (extracting value from proximity to data and low latency), and control of computation itself (concentrated in a handful of firms charging tribute for access to scarce training capacity). Drawing on financial filings, industry reports, and fieldwork in Northern Virginia's Data Center Alley, they show how what appears as agglomeration economy is actually rent extraction through strategic fixity of capital in digital infrastructure—and how rising fixed-capital requirements are driving a profitability crisis in the sector.

Dr. Alan Wiig, Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Florida, examines how data centers shape cities and urban life. His research explores the intersection of urban geography and infrastructure, investigating the physical form, economic function, and political dimensions of AI data centers as they reshape metropolitan landscapes, labor markets, and resource systems.

How can machine learning transform compiler design to finally fulfill the promise that began with FORTRAN—generating high-performance, architecture-agnostic code across CPUs, GPUs, and specialized accelerators? Saman Amarasinghe, Thomas and Gerd Perkins Professor of EECS at MIT and leader of the Commit Compiler Research Group, traces the history of compiler abstraction, explores how AI is reshaping traditional optimization, and examines whether the next generation of compilers can make hardware disappear once again. Amarasinghe's lab has developed StreamIt, Halide, TACO, Tiramisu, and numerous other influential languages, compilers, and tools.

A roundtable discussion with Yu Miri, 2022 Berkeley Japan Prize winner, on her work-in-progress play *OBON*, based on oral history interviews with approximately fifty members of the Japanese American community in Chicago. Yu Miri discusses her approach to writing the play, emphasizing how she listens to her interviewees' voices without authorial appropriation. She is joined by Dan O'Neill (EALC), Miryam Sas (Comparative Literature), and Andrew Leong (English) to explore key concepts including postmemory and tojisha. Yu Miri is author of *Tokyo Ueno Station* (winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Translated Literature) and *The End of August*, both translated by Morgan Giles.

Paul Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., head of the Molecular Metabolism Lab at The Rockefeller University, presents research on how brown fat—the metabolically active tissue that converts energy to heat—affects human health and disease. Using large patient cohorts and novel imaging methods, Cohen's lab investigates the genetics and biology of brown fat to understand its role in metabolic health and its potential to mitigate obesity-linked diseases including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. A systems-based approach to understanding a fundamental lever in human physiology.

Award-winning author Erika Krouse, the 2026 Joyce Carol Oates Prize recipient, reads from her work and discusses writing, storytelling, and the art of paying attention in conversation with Hannah Onstad. Krouse's most recent collection, *Save Me, Stranger*, was longlisted for The Story Prize; her memoir *Tell Me Everything* won the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime and was a New York Times Editors' Choice. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Esquire, and The Kenyon Review, and her story "Eat My Moose" won the 2025 Edgar Award for Best Short Story. She teaches at Lighthouse Writers Workshop in Denver.

Cecillia Wang, Deputy Legal Director of the ACLU, discusses civil rights, legal defense, and advocacy strategies for protecting fundamental freedoms. Presented by the Asian American Research Center at UC Berkeley.

How does architecture shape society, and what can we learn from the built environment's relationship to political and cultural change? Laura Sánchez Carrasco and Íñigo Cobeta, both associate professors at Madrid's School of Architecture (ETSAM), present research on postwar North American and Spanish architecture and their transatlantic connections. Sánchez Carrasco specializes in architectural history combined with digital analysis; Cobeta's recent work focuses on public schools and the relationship between architecture, territory, and civic space. Both are part of an ongoing research project tracing connections between Spanish and American architecture from 1976–2006.

Author-researcher Ashia S. Ajani and community organizer Keala Uchôa discuss *Tending the Vines*, which unpacks the rhetorical and ethnobotanical lives of plants moved across the Western Hemisphere. The book examines how plants have served as metaphors for Black incursion and symbols for Black liberation, while complicating notions of "invasive" species and belonging. Ajani contextualizes plant migration through an eco-griot and abolitionist lens, while Uchôa brings her work at the intersection of abolition and environmental justice. A conversation on diasporic plant relatives and tender living amid the decline of empire.

A discussion of Mark Danner's essay collection *Crossing the Rubicon*, which examines the erosion of American democratic institutions and the rise of authoritarianism from the 2000 election through 2026. Danner, a renowned political journalist and contributor to The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books, traces how the U.S. arrived at its current state of polarization, offering portraits of key figures like Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and critiquing mass media's role in politics. He is joined in conversation by Emeritus Professor Michael Pollan, followed by audience Q&A.

A screening and discussion of The Haunted Bay, an Amazon Prime documentary series exploring reported paranormal activity at Bay Area locations. Creator and producer Ying Liu discusses her investigations into historic San Francisco theaters, bars, the USS Hornet, and other sites, examining both rational explanations and unexplained occurrences while uncovering the history behind each location. Liu will take attendees behind the scenes of the documentary and share what goes into investigating a haunting, followed by audience Q&A. Part of Pub Scholar's lecture series at Bay Area bars.

Dr. Priti Patel, Vice President and Chief Medical Information Officer at John Muir Health, discusses how AI tools are transforming patient care and workforce efficiency in healthcare systems. Drawing on her background as a family physician and clinical informaticist, Dr. Patel will explore where AI adds value in healthcare today, practical implementation strategies, and the ethical guardrails necessary for safe and responsible deployment.

The first of a four-part series of lectures on the origins of the Arts & Crafts Movement in 19th-century England, examining the philosophical and aesthetic contributions of John Ruskin and William Morris. The event explores how these influential figures shaped modern design and architecture through their critique of industrialization and promotion of craftsmanship.

Eric Beck Rubin discusses his fictional account of the final stages of pursuing the right to die. A deeply personal exploration of end-of-life autonomy and mortality through narrative.

A monthly poetry and literary reading series curated by Sharon Coleman, featuring local and visiting writers. Hosted at Pegasus Books Downtown.

Angela Davis, activist, author, and cultural icon, reflects on Nina Simone's iconic song 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free' in conversation with Poulomi Saha. The event explores the intersections of music, activism, and freedom through the lens of one of the Civil Rights era's most powerful artistic statements and its enduring cultural resonance.

The 4th annual Collaborative Learning Experience on Reproductive Justice brings together medical students, law students, social work students, undergraduates, and others for a day of transdisciplinary learning. Co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley–UCSF Joint Medical Program, UC Berkeley Gender & Women's Studies, the School of Social Welfare, and the Center on Reproductive Rights & Justice, the workshop integrates perspectives from medicine, law, social work, and gender studies to explore reproductive justice as a framework connecting health, rights, and systemic inequality.

Four legal experts examine President Lincoln's extraordinary use of executive power during the Civil War and its parallels to contemporary presidential authority. Speakers include UC Berkeley Law Professors Daniel Barber (Co-Director of the Edley Center on Law & Democracy) and John Yoo (Faculty Director of the Public Law & Policy Program), alongside Steven Hayward (Pepperdine School of Public Policy) and Michael Paulsen (University of St. Thomas School of Law).

A lunchtime conversation with Professor Anna Spain Bradley, Distinguished MacArthur Foundation Chair in International Justice and Human Rights at UCLA School of Law, discussing her forthcoming book *Global Racism: A Challenge for the World* (Oxford University Press, October 2026). Bradley examines racism as a global phenomenon operating across continents and centuries, arguing it poses a serious threat to humanity and human rights. She draws on two decades of legal scholarship on peace, dignity, and human rights worldwide. Executive Director Savala Nolan moderates. Attendees enter a raffle for a signed copy.

A century after the University of California erroneously declared the Ohlone people extinct in 1925—leading to the loss of land rights for the Verona Band of Alameda County—UC Berkeley's 'ottoy Initiative (an Ohlone philosophy and practice of repair) is charting a new path forward. Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino, founders of the 'ottoy Initiative, discuss this historic institutional reckoning and how the campus is uplifting Ohlone culture and knowledge. First in a series on contemporary and historical issues impacting East Bay Ohlone communities.

Mona Fawaz, professor of urban studies and planning at the American University of Beirut and co-founder of the Beirut Urban Lab, interrogates how participatory planning practices navigate fractured publics and rising populist politics. Drawing on a case study of co-designing public space in Beirut following the 2020 Port explosion, Fawaz examines tensions between expert knowledge, political conflict, and representation in a post-truth environment. She reflects on how planning theory's consensus-driven model breaks down when the state's legitimacy erodes and epistemic divisions deepen, and proposes pathways for reintegrating power and reimagining co-production within increasingly polarized cities. Part of UC Berkeley's Department of City & Regional Planning fall lecture series.

An open-class lecture featuring Yu Miri, the internationally acclaimed novelist and 2020 National Book Award winner, discussing her novel *Joban Line Yonomori Station*. The work traces a protagonist raised on a small island in the Seto Inland Sea who now works as a decontamination laborer in Fukushima, exploring themes of landscape, memory, and material traces in post-disaster Japan. Yu Miri will read passages from the novel, then discuss it in conversation with Junko Habu, the course instructor at UC Berkeley, followed by an audience Q&A.

A pop-up exhibition and lecture on Lauren Kroiz's new book *Living Power: Women's Suffrage and Modern American Art* (University of California Press, 2026). Drawing on materials ranging from book covers to photographs in the California wilderness, Kroiz traces a visual history of feminist art and inclusive political citizenship, expanding our understanding of how women's suffrage shaped modern American visual culture. The exhibition runs 4:00–5:00 p.m., with the lecture beginning at 5:30 p.m. Kroiz is an Associate Professor in the Department of History of Art at UC Berkeley.

In late Ming and early Qing China, a major Buddhist revival coincided with growing fascination for theater. Mengxiao Wang explores how performance became a vehicle for Buddhist philosophy and enlightenment, examining the intersection of religious practice and dramatic art in early modern China. Wang is a scholar of Chinese intellectual and cultural history with expertise in Buddhism, literature, and theater.

What is the role of private equity in the U.S. economy? Charlie Eaton, Associate Professor of Sociology at UC Merced, presents new research assembling systematic data on PE's shifting strategies and ownership patterns since the 1980s. Drawing on a working paper co-authored with Albina Gibadullina, Marie-Lou Laprise, and Adam Goldstein, Eaton analyzes four interconnected PE roles—corporate raider, main street invader, shadow owner, and monopoly-builder—and how their balance has changed over time. He explores PE's expansion from traditional corporate restructuring toward agglomeration of private companies, longer hold times, and the spread of shareholder value logic across the economy with minimal transparency or regulation.

Janet Poole of the University of Toronto examines the life and work of modernist writer O Changhwan (also Ch'oe Myŏngik), a Pyongyang-based author whose fiction documented urban life and decolonization hopes in early 20th-century Korea. Poole, a specialist in Korean literary modernism and translator of mid-century Korean writers, contextualizes O's work within her broader research on Korean modernist responses to colonialism and the political division of Korea after 1945.

Should universities remain institutionally neutral on political and social questions, or does neutrality itself represent a choice about universities' role in public life? Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University and historian of higher education, explores institutional neutrality, academic freedom, and the responsibilities of university leaders in a polarized era. Drawing on his tenure at Wesleyan and scholarship including *Safe Enough Spaces* (2019), he discusses when institutions should speak, when they should listen, and how to protect open inquiry while engaging democracy's challenges. In conversation with UC Berkeley English faculty Stephen Best and Colleen Lye, leaders of the Townsend Center's yearlong Sawyer Seminar on Neutrality.

The Holloway Poetry Series presents a reading by poet Fady Joudah, co-sponsored by Palestinian & Arab Studies. Joudah is a physician, translator, and acclaimed poet whose work explores identity, displacement, and cross-cultural experience. Part of UC Berkeley's flagship poetry programming.

A screening of the acclaimed Off-Broadway one-man play Other, written and performed by Tony Award winner Ari'el Stachel. Directed by Tony Taconne, the dramedy follows Stachel's anxious search for belonging, drawing on voices from his past as he navigates identity, self-acceptance, and the pursuit of his dreams with humor and vulnerability. Stachel, known for originating the role of Haled in The Band's Visit on Broadway, brings his signature blend of hilarity and heart to this raw, relentlessly funny performance about anxiety, reinvention, and the art of belonging.

Two Bay Area novelists discuss their new works. Tomas Moniz presents *The King of Aloe Vera*, a novel about the Mission, intergenerational friendship, and aging. Laleh Khadivi discusses *Female Life on Planet Earth*, exploring mothers, daughters, and family secrets. Khadivi chairs the creative writing MFA at USF and is author of *The Age of Orphans* and *A Good Country* (New York Times Editors' Choice); Moniz teaches at Berkeley City College, Antioch MFA, and USF, and his novel *All Friends Are Necessary* won the 2024 California Golden Poppy Award.

Three Bay Area writers read and discuss flash fiction and short stories. Claudia Monpere, Senior Lecturer at Santa Clara University, will read from her forthcoming collection *The Periodic Family* (Cowboy Jamboree, 2026). Kathryn Silver-Hajio, whose upcoming collection *Spinning* draws on years lived in Beirut, will share her work. Patricia Bidar, moderator and author of *Pardon Me for Moonwalking* (Unsolicited Press, 2025), a collection of short stories and flash fiction, will frame the conversation.

An evening celebrating David Maisel's career survey *View from the Precipice*, a comprehensive monograph spanning forty years of photography, painting, and video. Maisel's aerial works address landscapes transformed by mineral extraction, resource reclamation, and military testing—sites rendered as destabilizing abstractions that use beauty to force attention on environmental catastrophe. His large-scale paintings respond to wildfire and flood; his immersive installations layer spatial ambiguity with human-altered geographies. Maisel will appear in conversation with art historian Alexander Nemerov (Carl and Marilynn Thoma Provostial Professor at Stanford, author of *Fierce Poise*) and Clio's founder Timothy Don to discuss the artist's practice and the monograph's development.

A summit on belonging, identity, and America's future co-hosted by UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy, School of Law, Graduate School of Journalism, and the Othering and Belonging Institute. The event brings together scholars, policymakers, journalists, and community leaders to explore how Americans can reimagine national identity and strengthen social cohesion at a pivotal moment. Free to attend.

Prof. Tania Roy (Duke University) presents her group's memory-centric hardware co-design for edge AI, spanning devices, circuits, and architectures. Topics include in-sensor computing with optoelectronic synaptic pixels, in-memory computing with Flash-based content-addressable memory and CMOS-compatible memristors, and reliability of amorphous oxide semiconductors. Roy explores how emerging hardware—optimized for edge constraints rather than conventional CMOS scaling—can enable efficient LLM inference and fine-tuning at the device edge.

Julien Monardo of the University of Bristol presents research on scalable nonparametric methods for estimating consumer demand in differentiated product markets. The talk addresses methodological challenges in industrial organization and applied microeconomics, part of UC Berkeley's Agricultural and Resource Economics Friday Seminar Series.

Mads Rosendahl Thomsen, professor of comparative literature at Aarhus University, Denmark, speaks as part of UC Berkeley's Cultural Analytics Series. Thomsen's work examines literature across national traditions and cultural contexts.

Mohammad Darawshe, Director of Strategy at Givat Haviva's Center for Shared Society, joins UC Berkeley's Yoni Furas to discuss the challenges facing Jewish and Arab communities in Israel working toward peaceful coexistence. Drawing on three years of escalating tensions and their impact on intergroup relations, the conversation explores both the obstacles to shared society and pathways forward at this critical moment. Darawshe has dedicated his career to building models of respectful and sustainable collaboration across communities.

A collaborative discussion with Mads Rosendahl Thomsen on cultural analytics and the quantitative study of culture. Thomsen is a scholar and researcher exploring how data and computational methods illuminate cultural patterns, texts, and digital phenomena.

A pre-election roundtable on California's 2026 midterms featuring Berkeley IGS Poll Director Mark DiCamillo presenting the latest statewide election data conducted with the LA Times, followed by expert panel discussion. Topics include the gubernatorial race between Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton, prominent ballot measures including Proposition 39 (Voter ID) and Proposition 40 (Billionaires Tax), and voter attitudes toward key issues shaping the 2026 election. Hosted by the Citrin Center and Institute for Governmental Studies.

Adam Plantinga, author of the Kurt Argento thriller series and nonfiction books on crime and policing, discusses his latest novel *Dark Country*. The story follows Argento, a former Detroit cop living undercover in small-town South Dakota, who becomes entangled with a Syrian refugee teenager fleeing powerful pursuers. Plantinga, an investigator with the San Francisco Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children unit, brings authenticity from his law-enforcement background to his crime fiction, which has earned Agatha and Macavity nominations and USA Today bestseller status.

A four-week seminar on Dante's Inferno, exploring one of Western literature's greatest narrative poems and its continued relevance to contemporary crises of justice and human striving. Timothy Hampton, Aldo Scaglione and Marie M. Burns Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and French at UC Berkeley, will provide historical and philosophical context on Dante's medieval worldview before opening discussion of the text. Participants should read Robert Pinsky's English translation. Meeting Fridays, October 10–31, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. at Clio's Books.

A guided nature walk and craft activity exploring plant galls—the bizarre growths created by insects, mites, and other organisms on plants. Led by Martha Cerda, this program combines botanical inquiry with creative play: after learning about gall ecology during a short forest walk, participants design and wear their own gall-inspired costume accessories, then parade them along the trail. All ages welcome; parent participation required. Drop-in, no registration needed.

Artist Steffani Jemison and choreographer Leslie Cuyjet perform a collaborative piece reflecting on the dynamic artistic relationship between Maren Hassinger and Senga Nengudi. The work explores the intense intimacy and attunement involved in longstanding artistic collaborations and the powerful intergenerational legacy of these artists' collective works.

Death Day is a half-day symposium exploring mortality, grief, and meaning-making through talks, storytelling, and conversation. Ecologist Kirra Swenerton discusses ecological grief as reverence for biodiversity loss; Maria Mangini traces the cultural history of mourning dress and bereavement customs from the Middle Ages to present; Tom Banger explores terminal diagnosis and proximity to death. Hosted by The Berkeley Alembic.

A community conversation on lung cancer in the Asian American community, with clinical and research perspectives. Dr. Velotta, a thoracic surgeon at Kaiser Permanente, will discuss clinical insights alongside patient experiences. Dr. Lin, a clinical researcher and lung cancer patient at Stanford University, will share both research findings and her personal experience. The discussion covers prevention, diagnosis, treatment, research advances, and lived experiences, with a focus on raising awareness and encouraging open dialogue about lung cancer in Asian communities.

Erika Krouse, the 2026 Joyce Carol Oates Prize winner, discusses her collection of short stories *Save Me, Stranger* (Flatiron Books), longlisted for The Story Prize. Krouse is a two-time Edgar Award winner and author of four books of fiction and nonfiction, including the memoir *Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation*, a New York Times Editors' Choice. In conversation with Hannah Onstad, NewLit's Communication director.

A guided birdwatching walk exploring migratory and resident waterbirds at Crab Cove, led by naturalist Kevin Dixon. Participants will learn how local birds—from plovers to herons—are adapted to Bay habitats and seasonal food sources. Binoculars provided; beginners welcome. Ages 6+.

A grief tending circle led by Shannon Knorr and Petra Gojun, designed as a container to honor and metabolize grief through somatic exploration, movement, dream tending, and creative art-making. Participants will engage in altar building, writing, and ritual to hold personal and collective grief — including grief from loss, life transitions, chronic illness, identity shifts, and systemic crises. This is not talk therapy but rather an earthy, concrete practice space welcoming all types of grievers. Bring a journal, writing materials, and comfortable clothing for movement; art supplies and yoga props provided.

Learn the principles and practice of Japanese tea ceremony in an immersive 75-minute workshop led by Harue Imaizumi, a certified Omotesenke tea instructor based in Berkeley. The session covers matcha and Japanese tea culture, wellness benefits, ceremony etiquette, and hands-on whisking technique. You'll prepare and enjoy your own bowl of matcha with traditional Japanese sweets, then receive practical guidance on brewing matcha at home from water temperature to storage. Tea sourced from ochamode, founded by Mayuka Inaba, featuring organic matcha from Shizuoka, Japan. Q&A with instructor and founder included.

A lantern-lit Día de Muertos walk to Jewel Lake led by Paula Urtecho, honoring deceased loved ones and extinct and endangered park species. Bring a photo of someone you wish to remember to add to a communal altar. The walk covers 0.5–2 miles on paved and gravel trails with minimal elevation change. Drop-in, no registration required.

A somatic movement workshop led by interdisciplinary artist Steffani Jemison, an Associate Professor at Rutgers University and exhibiting artist whose work spans mark-making, gesture, projection, and movement. Drawing on the children's game 'Marco Polo,' participants will explore orientation, perspective, and relation through guided improvisation, playful prompts, and contact improvisation. The workshop integrates theory, fiction, and poetry—referencing Dionne Brand, Tyrone S. Palmer, and Quincy Troupe—and is adaptable to all bodies and physical capacities. No prior movement experience required.

A behind-the-scenes factory tour of Quarry House, considered the finest stone fabricator in North America. Attendees will see full-scale mockups, rare imported stone blocks, and the largest CNC stone-carving machine in North America mid-fabrication. Meet founder and CEO Edward Westbrook, whose 30+ years managing stone masonry and hardscape projects has earned him collaborations with legendary landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and leading architects and designers. Lunch included. Organized by the Center for Architecture + Design.

Sharan Grewal, Associate Professor of Government at American University and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, discusses his forthcoming book examining Tunisia's democratic transition and collapse. Drawing on interviews with senior officials and three nationally representative surveys, Grewal argues that while power-sharing institutions can stabilize early transitions, extending them too long frustrates voters and enables populists and extremists to gain traction. The book explores this dynamic through Tunisia's own trajectory after the Arab Spring and tests the theory quantitatively across all democratic transitions from 1942–2020, revealing how consensus-focused governance can paradoxically undermine democracy.

Emergent excitations from topological and correlated quantum systems can drive new phase instabilities and enable novel device concepts. Dr. Chenhao Jin, Assistant Professor of Physics at UC Santa Barbara, discusses recent efforts to investigate excitations in semiconducting moiré superlattices using ultrafast imaging techniques that capture their complete space-time evolution. He will present how space-and-time-resolved transport simultaneously captures and separates multiple collective excitations, distinguishing emergent excitations from conventional ones and revealing their role in phase stability and transitions.

A poetry writing workshop led by writer and educator Darius Simpson, exploring vulnerability and creative expression through verse as a form of resistance. The workshop welcomes all experience levels and draws on traditions of the Black Arts Movement and spoken word circles, fostering peer dialogue and collective learning. Simpson is a New Afrikan writer, farmer, and recipient of fellowships from the Poetry Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts; his collection Never Catch Me is recently published.

R. Aída Hernández Castillo discusses her forthcoming book *Digging for Hope: A Feminist Ethnography in the Land of Mass Graves* (University of Arizona Press, 2026), an ethnographic study of women-led search collectives in Mexico who exhume and memorialize disappeared loved ones. Drawing on a decade of fieldwork, Hernández Castillo explores how these women enact what she calls a "pedagogy of love"—rooted in care, solidarity, and refusal to forget—to reclaim dignity for the dead and resist normalized violence. In conversation with Diana Negrin (UC Berkeley geographer) and Omar Gómez Trejo (human rights attorney and former lead prosecutor of the Ayotzinapa case), Hernández Castillo examines the gendered dimensions of violence and the grassroots movements that challenge it through emotional community-building and new languages of justice.

A physics colloquium featuring Chung-Pei Ma. The specific topic will be announced closer to the event date. Hosted by UC Berkeley Physics at Lecture Hall #1, Physics North.

An artist talk and screening featuring Tanya Lukin Linklater, a dance artist and filmmaker exploring indigenous technologies, knowledge systems, and creative practice. The event includes both a public talk/screening and a separate workshop component. Hosted by UC Berkeley at Grimes Engineering Center.

Historian and curator Gregory Dreicer examines the grand narratives and building processes that shaped the construction of the modern nation during the 19th century. How did America's physical infrastructure reflect and enable the idea of a unified nation?

Learn to tell compelling stories across any medium with writer and filmmaker David Feather. This hands-on workshop explores story structure using popular media, examines storytelling techniques from cultures around the world, and includes collaborative writing and feedback on participant ideas. Designed for teens, tweens, and young adults. Part of Literally How, a monthly life literacy series at Berkeley Public Library's North Branch offering hands-on skill-building workshops.

How did coal materially produce and sustain patriarchal gender orders in Upper Silesia? Anna Seidel, Associate Professor at the University of Vienna, traces the entanglement of coal, masculinity, and heteronormativity through Upper Silesian literature, film, and performance from the early twentieth century to today. Drawing on energy humanities and feminist resource theory, she shows how coal-based patriarchy—men as underground miners, women confined to domestic roles—was consolidated through cultural production, persisted through socialist realism and postsocialist transition, and only began to destabilize as mines closed during Poland's and the Czech Republic's energy transitions. Contemporary works like the Netflix series Królowa and drag performances by Śląsk Przegięty recast coal and queerness as entangled rather than opposed, revealing how cultural representation becomes the space where coal's gender legacies are contested and reimagined.

A panel discussion on feminist approaches to death, mourning, and memorialization in South Asia, examining how gender shapes experiences of loss across the region. Speakers include Fawzia Afzal-Khan (Montclair State University / Princeton University), Angana P. Chatterji (UC Berkeley Center for Race and Gender), Jyoti Puri (Boston University), and Ather Zia (University of Northern Colorado), with panel chair Leti Volpp (UC Berkeley School of Law). Hosted by UC Berkeley's Political Conflict, Gender, and People's Rights Initiative and the Institute for South Asia Studies.

A book launch talk on the strategic gaps between AI ambitions and organizational readiness to deploy automation effectively. Stefanie Hutka, design leader and author of *What Your Machines Should Do: The Science and Strategy of Human-Centered Automation*, examines what she calls the "Automation Strategy Gap"—the distance between companies' AI plans and their actual capability to implement them usefully. Drawing on human factors, cognitive science, and management theory, she argues that automation accelerates existing organizational systems and beliefs, making it essential to map your organization's foundational assumptions before automating anything. Essential for anyone navigating AI roadmaps and deployment strategy.

Tommy Orange, author of *There There*, discusses the new Indigenous horror anthology *Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night Part II* with co-editor Shane Hawk. This collection features 21 stories by established and emerging Native and First Nations writers—including Stephen Graham Jones—drawing on Indigenous experiences, histories, and traditions to showcase horror as a vehicle for survival and transformation. The editors describe the work as 'sustained dread, sustained appetite, sustained consequence.'

On election night, physicist and author Sky Nelson-Isaac guides an interactive workshop on staying grounded when politics divides us. Drawing on his forthcoming book *The Synchronicity Path* and years of seeking out people with different worldviews, Nelson-Isaac introduces SEW (Style, Emotions, Wholeness)—a simple framework for staying curious rather than taking sides. The event combines real conversation, wine, and collective inquiry into the deeper questions beneath recurring arguments.

Join UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies and Robert T. Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service for live coverage of the 2026 midterm election results. The evening includes a brief overview of California ballot measures and a panel of graduate students — Andrew Zhao, Anne Marie Green, Benjamin Gelman, and Jack Maedgen — discussing significant statewide ballot measures, key state and local races, control of Congress, and trends to watch as results come in. Food and drinks provided.

Rich Lyons, Chancellor of UC Berkeley, in conversation at the Berkeley Forum, UC Berkeley's student-run speaker series. The event features a moderated conversation with audience Q&A.

A public forum reviewing California's tech policy developments from the past legislative session. Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Chair of the Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, leads discussion with an expert panel of civil society leaders on landmark legislation addressing AI transparency, consumer data privacy, algorithmic accountability, and online safety. Speakers examine how recent state laws protect individuals, hold tech platforms accountable, and establish ethical standards for emerging technologies, while exploring future legislative priorities and the collaboration between lawmakers and advocates.

Art historian Atreyee Gupta examines modernism in India through the lens of decolonization and the Non-Aligned Movement. Gupta traces how Indian artists engaged with the Third World project and anti-colonial politics in the mid-twentieth century, revealing modernism not as a Western export but as a site of postcolonial resistance and nation-building. A lecture on art history, political struggle, and cultural sovereignty in the postwar era.

Historian Timothy Stewart-Winter (Rutgers University) discusses his book *Outed: LBJ's Confidant and the Arrest That Transformed a Presidency*, exploring how the exposure of a close adviser's homosexuality became a turning point in both LGBTQ history and American presidential politics during the Johnson administration.

Carolina Valdivia, Assistant Professor of Criminology, Law and Society at UC Irvine, discusses her book *Sanctuary Making: Immigrant Families Reshaping Geographies of Deportability*. As U.S. immigration enforcement expands into neighborhoods, workplaces, hospitals, and homes, undocumented and mixed-status families employ strategies to shield themselves from deportation. Valdivia explores the emotional and material labor of young adults who take on parental responsibilities, broker legal processes, and provide emotional support while navigating these terrains of enforcement. The talk examines how policymakers, organizers, educators, and communities can better support these young people in creating sanctuary for their families.

Emmy Award–winning investigative journalists Michael Rey and Oriana Zill de Granados of 60 Minutes discuss their book investigating the Havana Syndrome attacks that have wounded hundreds of U.S. intelligence officers, diplomats, and special operators. Drawing on nearly a decade of reporting, more than 70 victim interviews, and evidence of Russian intelligence operations, the authors reveal whether a mysterious energy weapon was deployed or whether the U.S. government has covered up a multi-year mystery. A tour de force of investigative journalism examining how government prioritizes its own interests over those who serve the country.

Daniele Valisena, Visiting Fellow at the German Historical Institute, UC Berkeley, discusses his book *Italian Lives, Belgian Coal*, which examines the 1946 'men in exchange for coal' agreement between Italy and Belgium. Drawing on archival documents, primary sources, and oral histories, Valisena traces how labor migration, coal extraction, and environmental transformation intersected in the Belgian Walloon coalfields, exploring the agency of states, industry, miners, and ecosystems. The book reveals the environmental and corporeal injustice inflicted by capitalist institutions on workers' health, society, and nature.

A lecture examining how data are constructed rather than discovered—exploring the philosophical, methodological, and political dimensions of data creation in research and society. Hosted by UC Berkeley.

A conversation on Israeli theatre's role in contested political speech. Theatre director Ronnie Brodetzky discusses her bold reinterpretations of canonical plays and experimental works drawing from digital media — including *Typing…*, created from WhatsApp conversations, and *How to Get Up from a Chair*, inspired by YouTube tutorials — and what live performance reveals about contemporary Israeli society. Hosted by Helen Diller Institute for the Study of Jewish Texts, Culture, and Intellectual Life at UC Berkeley.

Rebecca Tarlau, Associate Professor of Education at Stanford University, discusses her ethnographic research on teacher organizing strategies across Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. Drawing from her book *Occupying School, Occupying Land*, Tarlau examines why teachers' unions in São Paulo, Oaxaca, and New York have pursued radically different approaches—leftist party politics, autonomist politics, and rank-and-file caucuses—and what these divergent strategies reveal about transforming institutions for educational and social justice. The talk explores how teachers' political choices shape both schools and society, offering lessons for scholars and activists working toward more equitable education systems.

Wildfires and smoke are the fastest-growing environmental threat in the US and globally. Marshall Burke, professor of Global Environmental Policy at Stanford's Doerr School of Sustainability, reviews advances in measuring smoke constituents and quantifying short- and long-term health impacts from smoke and fire exposure. He estimates that short-run smoke exposure causes tens of thousands of deaths annually, with that number likely to grow due to climate change. Burke discusses prescribed burning as a leading intervention strategy, presenting evidence that meeting California's prescribed burning targets could meaningfully reduce smoke exposure.

A comparative literature talk examining how Natsume Sōseki drew on Murasaki Shikibu's *The Tale of Genji* despite claiming indifference to the work. Keith Vincent traces echoes of the Genji in Sōseki's *Sanshiro*, *The Gate*, *Kokoro*, and *Light and Dark*, arguing that Sōseki learned from Lady Murasaki about how fiction illuminates the emotional depths of human experience. Vincent is Associate Professor of World Languages & Literatures at Boston University and directs the MFA Program in Literary Translation; he will be in conversation with Alan Tansman, Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at UC Berkeley.

Khiara M. Bridges, Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at UC Berkeley, discusses her book *Expecting Inequity: How the Maternal Health Crisis Affects Even the Wealthiest Black Americans*, which examines why wealthy Black Americans face dramatically higher maternal mortality than their white counterparts. Drawing on ethnographic research at a San Francisco obstetrics clinic serving affluent patients, Bridges explores the reproductive choices and healthcare decisions class-privileged Black people make to survive the ongoing maternal health crisis. A nationally recognized expert on race, class, and reproductive rights, Bridges brings legal scholarship and anthropological insight to this urgent public health challenge. Moderated by Charles Briggs, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Co-Chair of the Berkeley Center for Social Medicine.

A technical lecture on quantum interconnects and modular quantum processors. William D. Oliver, Henry Ellis Warren Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and Chief Engineer at Google Quantum AI, presents recent advances in entanglement distribution via directional photon emission and absorption in superconducting qubit systems coupled to microwave waveguides. The talk covers demonstrations of high-fidelity single-photon control, remote entanglement generation between physically separated qubit modules, and driven dissipative entanglement schemes designed to enable scalable, modular quantum information processing.

Julie Riley, inaugural Creedon Fellow at UC Berkeley's Department of Architecture, discusses her design research examining materials, production tools, and historical narratives. Riley is a designer and educator whose work bridges contemporary design methods with critical historical inquiry, informed by her experience as a project designer at Welcome Projects and d.esk, and her teaching at Woodbury University. The lecture explores how designers can engage materially driven and research-oriented approaches to architecture and design practice.

An intimate evening with chef and food writer Rachel Gurjar celebrating her debut cookbook, East to East: Recipes and Stories from Mumbai to New York. A Culinary Institute of America graduate who cooked at New York's ABC Kitchen and served as food editor at Bon Appétit, Gurjar brings a produce-forward, market-driven sensibility to 101 Indian-inspired recipes that fuse Mumbai and New York pantries—Caesar salad meets chicken kebab marinade, shrimp biryani finished with pineapple raita. Part cookbook, part memoir, East to East tells stories of leaving home and building a life between two cultures.

Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, discusses her work building a national teacher corps and her vision for education equity. The Berkeley Forum hosts moderated conversations with audience Q&A, open to the public.

A lecture on how cinema portrays the paranormal compared to actual reported paranormal experiences. Loyd Auerbach, a parapsychologist, paranormal investigator, and author who appeared in Netflix's Surviving Death, draws on decades of research investigating paranormal claims to unpack Hollywood's ghost-story tropes, myths, and cinematic liberties. He'll explore where films take creative license, where portrayals may align with reported experiences, and why the reality of the paranormal is often more complex than movies suggest. Includes audience Q&A.

A launch celebration and conversation with Bay Area poet and writer Truong Tran discussing his memoir *How to Exi(s)t*, in conversation with Esmé Weijun Wang.

The second of a four-part series of lectures on the origins of the Arts & Crafts movement in England, examining the influence of John Ruskin and William Morris on design philosophy, craft practice, and the reaction against industrial production.

An exploration of bioelectricity across molecular, membrane, and cellular scales, featuring scientific presentations from leading researchers. The 2026 Philomathia Day honors Associate Professor Karthik Shekhar, John F. Heil Jr. Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley. Speakers include Stephen Brohawn, Na Ji, Olga Dudko, Kranthi Mandadapu, Bill Jia, Eric Mulhall, and Christoph Haselwandter. The day includes breakfast, lunch, and an evening reception.

Stephanie Young reads from her work as part of Lunch Poems, UC Berkeley's renowned noontime poetry series founded by Robert Hass. Young is an author of five poetry and prose collections including *Pet Sounds* (Lambda Literary Award winner) and the forthcoming *Crowd Control: The Racial Ordering of Literary Reward* (with Claire Grossman and Juliana Spahr, Columbia University Press). She directs the creative writing program at Mills College at Northeastern University, serves as an editor at Krupskaya Books, and co-curated the 2026 *Poetics and Plant Medicine* reading series at UC Berkeley.

A panel discussion on the history, current state, and future of U.S. human rights diplomacy. Three former Deputy Assistant Secretaries of State — Uzra Zeya (President and CEO, Human Rights First), Scott Busby (Senior Advisor, Human Rights First), and Bennett Freeman (Senior Fellow, Institute of International Studies) — examine how U.S. human rights policy has balanced commitment against hypocrisy, its degradation amid broader foreign policy disruption, and whether it can be revived in a polarized America and fragmented world. Moderated by Susan Hyde, Director of the Institute of International Studies.

Part of UC Berkeley's Leo Simon Ag & Natural Resource Thursday Seminar Series. Dalia Ghanem of UC Davis presents research on agriculture and natural resources. Title to be announced.

A professional development workshop for K–12 and college educators on US involvement in fascism from the Spanish Civil War through the Nuremberg trials and beyond. Sebastiaan Faber of the Abraham Lincoln Brigades Archives and Oberlin College explores how American citizens, policy, and institutions responded to the rise of fascism in Europe and its legacies. Designed for teachers and students seeking historical context and pedagogical approaches to this period.

A lecture on industrial agriculture's impact on bee populations and efforts to protect pollinators. Jennie Durant, ESPM alum and author of *Bitter Honey*, explores why bees and other pollinators are declining and what it will take to build a more just and sustainable food system. Her work weaves together science, agriculture, environmental policy, and human stories to reveal the ecological and economic costs of industrial farming for bees, beekeepers, and food security. A social hour follows the talk.

Historian Kelly Lytle Hernández, Thomas E. Lifka Endowed Chair in History at UCLA and MacArthur Fellow, presents her forthcoming book *Racist by Design: Two Centuries of U.S. Immigration Control*. Hernández reveals how U.S. lawmakers and law enforcers systematically built the immigration system to welcome white migrants while targeting nonwhite immigrants for exclusion, punishment, and removal—creating a permanent caste of criminalized undocumented workers for cheap labor. Drawing on her earlier works *Migra!*, *City of Inmates*, and *Bad Mexicans*, she examines the explicit racist architecture of American immigration control and charts a path toward dismantling it.

A panel examining artificial intelligence as a force shaping knowledge, disinformation, and politics in the U.S., with focus on how AI platforms influence information production and university partnerships with tech companies. Panelists include Matyas Bohacek (Stanford, media forensics and AI), Martha Kenney (SF State Women & Gender Studies, biomedical narratives and justice), Martha Lincoln (SF State Anthropology, cultural politics of health), and Edward Wasserman (UC Berkeley Journalism). Moderated by Cori Hayden, Director of Social Science Matrix. Co-sponsored by UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies, Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative, School of Information, and EECS.

A work-in-progress seminar on fascism in the era of post-Fordism and immaterial labor. Drawing on Paolo Virno's account of cognitive and affective exploitation, the seminar asks how the capacities that promise liberation have become sites of extraction and abandonment, especially for Black communities. By bringing Virno into dialogue with Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Black studies scholarship, Lorenzo Fabbri (McKnight Land-Grant Associate Professor of French and Italian, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, author of *Cinema is the Strongest Weapon: Race-Making and Resistance in Fascist Italy*) proposes a new diagnosis of fascism grounded in freedom and deregulation rather than discipline. The seminar concludes by exploring what infrastructures of care and sociality might sustain good lives as labor transforms.

An evening celebrating 60 years of UC Berkeley's Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), which has supported first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students in accessing higher education. The event honors the program's legacy of breaking barriers and advancing equity while fostering community connection among alumni, current students, faculty, and supporters.

A lecture on how international observers and global media covered the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, examining geopolitical perspectives from major powers and international publics. Derek Penslar of Harvard University explores how different nations and press outlets framed this pivotal conflict and its diplomatic dimensions. Part of UC Berkeley's annual Diller Lecture series, hosted at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life.

A screening of Frontline's award-winning documentary One in a Million, which follows Israa's 10-year journey from Syria through Turkey and Eastern Europe to Germany, and her return to Aleppo after the fall of the Assad regime. The film documents her family's navigation of war, exile, and integration challenges as Western culture clashes with Syrian traditions. After the screening, Frontline Editor-In-Chief Rainey Aronson-Rath will discuss the film with Berkeley Journalism's Jason Spingarn-Coff and take audience questions. Sundance winner for Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary and World Cinema Documentary Directing Award.

A panel discussion and networking event for students and early-career professionals interested in labor organizing and social justice work. Labor movement professionals across organizing, policy, legal advocacy, and related fields will discuss career paths, skill-building, and entry points into the movement. Hosted by UC Berkeley.

A screening of *One Fighting Irishman*, a 30-minute documentary by Sharon Yamato and Evan Kodani narrated by George Takei, followed by a panel discussion on immigrant rights, Japanese American history, and allyship. The film tells the story of Wayne M. Collins, the San Francisco civil rights attorney who prevented the deportation of more than 5,500 Japanese Americans imprisoned at Tule Lake Segregation Center during WWII. The panel features filmmaker Sharon Yamato, Justice Tracie Brown (California Court of Appeal), and civil rights advocates, moderated by Justice Brown. Light refreshments provided.

Stacey Gordon discusses her debut novel *The Pearl Farm*, a multigenerational family saga about three estranged sisters navigating the collapse of their freshwater pearl farm in rural Tennessee while reckoning with family secrets and inherited legacies. Gordon, who grew up in Appalachian Ohio and spent her early career as a trade journalist covering the cultured pearl industry before transitioning to Silicon Valley tech, brings both intimate family insight and industry knowledge to this exploration of love, loss, ambition, and resilience. In conversation with Bronwyn Emery.

A recurring philosophical discussion group exploring fundamental questions about human life, meaning, and the explanatory concepts underlying civilization. The group welcomes those interested in philosophical, scientific, and religious theories alongside psychological insights into the human condition—topics often dismissed as impractical but essential to understanding how we pursue happiness and navigate existence.

Lisa Hanawalt discusses her memoir *I Can't Stop Thinking About Horses and Sex*, a candid, humorous exploration of sexuality, relationships, and self-discovery. In conversation with cartoonist and author Julia Wertz. Hanawalt is the cartoonist behind Netflix's *BoJack Horseman* and *Tuca & Bertie*.

An evening discussion on *The Havana Syndrome*, the investigative book by Emmy-award-winning 60 Minutes producers Michael Rey and Oriana Zill de Granados, in conversation with Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Lowell Bergman. Rey and Zill de Granados recount their decade-long investigation into a mysterious weapon that has targeted U.S. diplomats, intelligence officials, and military personnel from Havana to Vienna. They discuss how they interviewed victims, uncovered suppressed government documents, and identified evidence of a highly specialized technology—all while the U.S. government denied the attacks. Bergman, a legendary investigative journalist and professor of journalism at UC Berkeley, will explore their groundbreaking reporting and the obstacles they faced breaking through classified material and institutional resistance.

Oakland librarian and public historian Dorothy Lazard discusses her memoir *Behind the Desk at Main: A Librarian's Memoir*, an insider's account of modern American library work. Through personal stories spanning decades at the Oakland Public Library's flagship branch, Lazard reveals how libraries serve as vital civic hubs defending knowledge, connection, and community life. Drawing on her experience as keeper of Oakland's public history archives, she shares the joys and dilemmas of serving one of the nation's most diverse cities.

Learn how Medicare changes coming in 2027 will affect your health care coverage, formularies, copays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs. Denise Lombard, a health insurance specialist with 25+ years of experience, will help you understand the impact on both Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plans and Original Medicare with Medigap coverage, and guide you through making the best coverage decision for 2027.

ARE Friday Seminar Series featuring Prakash Mitra of Caltech. Part of UC Berkeley's regular research seminar program.

Fizzah Sajjad, Assistant Professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences and winner of the 2025 S. S. Pirzada Dissertation Prize, presents her research on speculative real estate development in Lahore. Her dissertation examines how developers profit from land conversions through a mechanism she calls 'accumulation by speculative circulation'—using financial instruments like 'the file' to finance expansion without institutional lending. Sajjad argues that these speculative practices structure the real estate market to serve investors and state actors rather than housing-seekers, deepening spatial inequality and dispossession. She explores how state entities enable sprawl and gentrification, and extends theories of financialization and urbanization in the Global South. Moderated by Munis D. Faruqui, Director of the Institute for South Asia Studies at UC Berkeley.

A two-part workshop exploring movement building rooted in deep relationships and collective responsibility. Part One uses guided poetry and storytelling to explore kuleana—our responsibilities to ourselves, families, lands, and communities—through hands-on writing exercises. Part Two, facilitated by SOUL, RUKUS Society, and the Huli Movement, covers campaign strategy, organizing tactics, targets, messaging, and security culture for building sustainable movements. Led by Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, a Kanaka Maoli organizer, scholar, and Associate Professor of Indigenous and Native Hawaiian Politics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Kirk Lombard, author of the award-winning *Sea Forager's Guide to the Northern California Coast*, reads from his new children's novel *The Shadow Stream*, an epic family adventure following Gabriel, a boy in juvenile detention, and a cast of talking animals who must save their river from being dammed. Lombard is an angler, sustainable fishmonger, tuba player, and former juvenile rehabilitation counselor whose work has been praised by NPR for its poetic approach to nature.

A 2-hour introductory workshop in Guided Imagery and Music (GIM), an experiential group practice rooted in the Bonny Method—a recognized music-psychotherapy modality developed from Helen Bonny's work supporting LSD-assisted therapy in the 1960s. Participants lie down and listen to two curated classical music programs designed to surface inner imagery, emotion, and insight, then integrate the experience through mandala drawing. No musical or art background required; the practice opens expanded awareness through sound, relaxation, and attention alone. Led by Sophia Wang at The Berkeley Alembic.

Nicholas Epley, John Templeton Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavior Science at Chicago Booth School of Business, discusses his new book *A Little More Social*, which explores the paradox at the heart of human life: we are a deeply social species equipped to connect, yet we habitually avoid opportunities to do so. Epley examines why we skip conversations with strangers, hesitate to express gratitude, and miss daily moments of connection—and how small, approachable practices can unlock the happiness and health benefits of a more social life. His research on decision-making and human behavior has been widely featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, NPR, and other major outlets.

A screening of Safar (Journey), a film by Priyanka Suryaneni tracing South Asian histories at Angel Island, followed by a post-film discussion and program with the filmmaker. Hosted by EastSide Arts Alliance.

Learn traditional seed-cleaning techniques—threshing and winnowing—with Farmer Sama of Reyhan Herb Farm, a small-scale Bay Area grower of heritage crops from the SWANA region. This hands-on workshop transforms the end-of-season seed harvest into dry, shelf-stable seed lots ready for storage and sharing. Participants will engage in practices unchanged since agriculture's origins while entering a flow state of meditative, connective work. The event celebrates ancestral foodways, ecological knowledge, and the relaxation found in working with your hands alongside others.

Discover which owls inhabit the Bay Area and learn about their adaptations in this hands-on nature program led by naturalist Melissa Fowlks at Tilden Nature Area's Environmental Education Center. Participants will dissect owl pellets to understand these silent hunters' diets and behavior. Drop-in; no registration required.

A gallery walkthrough exploring BeHere/1942: A New Lens on the Japanese American Incarceration, an exhibition featuring enlarged and recontextualized photographs by Dorothea Lange and Russell Lee, activated with augmented reality. Museum educator Margaret Yee examines media representation and the language used to describe forced incarceration, examining the power dynamics between photographers and subjects. The session concludes with a poetry exercise centered on Mitsuye Yamada's 'Evacuation,' encouraging visitors to look beyond the images to the emotional and historical dimensions of this moment.

An informal monthly gathering inspired by Rob Walker's 'Savor of the Month' practice from *The Art of Noticing*. This month's theme is Myth — urban legends, neighborhood lore, everyday magic, imaginary things, things that recall fairytales, folklore or mythology, or inspire your own myths. Bring photos, poems, videos, or other works to share with the group.

An immersive afternoon of mantra, sound practice, and embodied exploration with Grammy-nominated artist and teacher Radhika Vekaria. Through direct practice—chanting, mudras, breath work, and group vocalization—participants explore sound as an organizing intelligence for cultivating focus, presence, and inner coherence. The workshop draws on yogic philosophy to examine mantra's deeper meaning, the relationship between sound and resilience, and chant as a practice of clarity and courage. No prior experience required. The afternoon closes with a 75-minute live performance by Vekaria in a communal setting.

Cooking is personal, communal, and filled with histories. Bring a dish and the story behind it—whether rooted in deep family lore or a new kitchen success story. Participants share food and discuss why these dishes matter to them, leaving with something new to make and closer connections to fellow cooks. Hosted by Danny Scuderi at Local Economy.

Explore Fairyland's 75-year history and cultural impact on Oakland through a curated exhibition at OMCA. The show features a timeline of the beloved amusement park's journey, before-and-now photographs of iconic attractions, miniatures by local artists, vintage Magic Keys, and one of Fairyland's original Jolly Trolly cars for visitors to explore. This celebration of Fairyland's legacy runs through the feature's closing.

Educator, anthropologist, and community organizer Isa Prieto leads a discussion and collective mapmaking activity exploring utopianism and the fragments of utopia already present in Bay Area neighborhoods. Participants will engage in hands-on mapping as both an intellectual and creative practice, examining how communities envision and build alternative futures. Hosted at BAMPFA (Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive).

Tech critic Paris Marx discusses his book *Hyperscale*, which exposes how tech companies exploit vulnerable communities to power their data infrastructure while pursuing digital dominance. The conversation explores the industry's deceptive practices around energy and water resources, the growing public backlash—including Oakland's recent moratorium on new data centers—and pathways toward technology that serves the social good rather than billionaire profits. Marx, host of the podcast *Tech Won't Save Us*, is joined by Dr. Alex Hanna, a sociologist of technology and labor at the Distributed AI Research Institute and co-author of *The AI Con*.

An open mic night for original spoken word, music, and cover songs hosted by poet and organizer Aya De Leon. Singing and dancing are optional; the evening centers on community performance and connection. Representatives from California Working Families Party and Bay Resistance will be on hand for attendees interested in political organizing.

A reading and generative workshop celebrating Emilie Lygren's anthology *How to Get Home in the Dark: Poems on Mental Health and Healing*. Lygren reads alongside poets Alegria Barclay, Zeina Hashem Beck, Melissa Fowlks, and Antwan Linton Penn, followed by a brief panel discussion. Attendees then write their own pieces in conversation with the anthology—paper, pens, and journal space provided. A space for poetry, reflection, and shared creative practice around healing and mental health.