Free cultural events for the week beginning Tuesday, September 6

I just couldn't resist!  I just had to share the many exciting events already underway in the new school year.  Be sure to note the Cajun concert at the Library of Congress this Wednesday.

September Tuesday, 6

Book lecture: Nadia Lopez – "The Bridge to Brilliance: How the principal in a tough community is inspiring the world" – P&P – 7 PM

Wednesday 7

Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad - U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 2007-2009 U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, 2005-2007 Ambassador to Afghanistan, 2003-2005 For a discussion on his book The Envoy: From Kabul to the White House My Journey Through a Turbulent World  Moderated by Vali Nasr

4:30-6:00pm Johns Hopkins University

Book lecture: Daniel J. Levitin – "A Field Guide to Lies: Critical thinking in the information age" – 

P&P - 7PM

Concert: Yvette Landry presents Cajun music and Louisiana honky-tonk – Coolidge Auditorium – Jefferson building – Library of Congress – noon

Thursday, 8

Film:  TV news broadcasts from 1964 with a panel of Tim Sherwood, NBC 4; Police Chief Cathy Lanier; and local activists, Susan Meehan – National Archives – 7 PM

Book lecture: Joe Solmonese – "The gift of anger: use passion to build the destroy" – busboys and poets – fifth and K streets Northwest – 6:30 PM

Booktalk: Joseph E. Stiglitz – "The euro: how a common currency threatens the future of Europe" – P&P – 7 PM

:Friday, 9

Booktalk: Nicholson Baker – "Substitute: going to school with 1000 kids" – P&P – 7 PM

Saturday, 10 

Film: "Awakening in Taos: Mabel Dodge's influence on O'Keefe, D. H. Lawrence and Ansell Adams – Smithsonian American Art Museum – 3 PM

Sunday, 11

Concert: Steinway series – pianist Stephen Lin – Smithsonian American Art Museum – 3 PM

Monday, 12

Booktalk: Ross King: "Mad enchantment: Claude Monet and the painting of the water lilies" – P&P – 7 PM

Symposium: American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress presents "Collections, collaborations and connections" panels highlighting the work of the center – Montpelier room – Madison building – Library of Congress – continues Monday and Tuesday – registration is required – 202 – 707 – 5510 – 9 AM to 5 PM

Tuesday, 13

Booktalk: Zachary Roth – "The great suppression: voting rights, corporate cash and the conservative assault on democracy" – busboys and poets – 14th and V – 6:30 PM

Book Talk:  Larry Tye - Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon" - National Archives - Noon

Booktalk: Heather Ann Thompson – "Blood in the water: the Attica prison uprising of 1971 and its legacy" – P&P – 7 PM

"Faith, Anger, and Trust in Campaign 2016" September 13, 2016 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Gaston Hall, Georgetown University

RSVP NOW

Description: This surprising, sometimes scary, 2016 campaign is being shaped by voter anger, issues of trust, and questions of faith. As the campaign moves into the fall, a distinguished and diverse panel will examine how these forces are influencing candidates and impacting Catholic, evangelical, and young voters. This dialogue will also explore how Catholic social teaching and the message of Pope Francis are or are not shaping the debate and decisions this election year. Featuring:   Emma Green (GU '12) is senior associate editor for the Atlantic, regularly covering millennials, religion, and U.S. politics. Melinda Henneberger is the former editor-in-chief of Roll Call and founding editor of "She The People" at the Washington Post. Jerry Seib is the Washington bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal, appears regularly as a media commentator, and writes a weekly column, “Capital Journal.” Mark Shields is a weekly commentator for PBS NewsHour and syndicated columnist.

Wednesday, 14

Booktalk: Kenneth D. Ackerman –: "Trotsky in New York, 1917: portrait of a radical on the eve of revolution" – busboys and poets – 14th and V – 6:30 PM

Booktalk: Lawrence Wright – "The Terror Years: from Al Qaeda to the Islamic state" – P&P 7 PM

Lecture: Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen – "The garden as picture: stained-glass designs for Lewis C. Tiffany – Smithsonian American Art Museum – 6:30 PM

Book lecture: Arthur T. Downey – "the Cold War: law, lawyers, spies and crises" – National Archives – noon

Thursday, 15

Booktalk: Joe Conason – "Man of the world: the further endeavors of Bill Clinton" – P&P  –  7 PM

Reading and presentation: Simon Schwartz, German cartoonist, discusses his editorials/cartoons regarding life in east Germany – Goethe Institute - 1990 Street Northwest Suite 03 – reservation suggested www.goetheinstitutewashington.eventbrite.com – 6:30 PM

Concert: "Take 5! John Coltraine celebrated! With the Ted Baker quintet "– Smithsonian American Art Museum – 5 PM – 7 PM

Symposium: "Nathaniel Comfort, astrobiology chair leads panel discussing "The emergence of life: on the earth, in the lab and elsewhere" – room LJ 119 – Jefferson building – Library of Congress – contact 202-707-0213 – 9 AM – 5 PM

A few special events and a report on a remarkable experience

With a visitor in tow last week, I followed my own advice and for the first time went into the (soon to closed) World Bank Bookstore. While some may regret its closing, it's a boon to any of us looking for good reading at a remarkably low price. For instance I purchased George Packer's "The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America."  I'm finding it utterly fascinating.   Published three years ago and sold for $27. 00,  my cost without tax was $3.00. The hours of the bookstore are 10 AM – 6 PM Monday through Friday and it is located at 1776 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.

You'll note in the following list of events that I'm trying to anticipate the fall season by sharing a few of the less publicized cultural events that might have broad appeal.

And I'm hopeful that even more of you than usual will seek out my other blog:

http://www.ronlehkersrants.blogspot.com

It's my report of an event I attended recently that I wish I could share with all America!

August 

Thursday, 11

Book lecture: John Yochelson: "Loving and Leaving Washington: Reflections on Public Service"  Politics and Prose – 7 PM

Friday, 12

Concert: Jazz in the Garden – saxophonist Paul Carter – the highly popular series of weekly jazz continues in the Sculpture Garden – National Gallery of Art – 5 PM – 8:30 PM

Saturday, 13

Old Time Radio

August 13, 2016, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Members of the Metropolitan Washington Old Time Radio Club will re-create three broadcasts complete with sound effects the Golden Age of Radio: a 1940 episode of the soap opera, John s Other Wife, a 1936 episode of the children s series Little Orphan Annie (two examples of daily, 15 minute radio serials), and a 1949 episode of the private-eye series Pat Novak for Hire, a self-contained thirty minute evening program. This event will be held in the Coolidge Auditorium inside the Thomas Jefferson Building.
Location: Jefferson Building, Ground floor, Thomas Jefferson Building
Contact: (202) 707-5508

The Inner Landscapes of Bruce Baillie

August 13-21

A founding member of independent film distributor Canyon Cinema and cofounder of the San Francisco Cinematheque (with artist Chick Strand, in 1961), Bruce Baillie (b. 1931) is a true pioneer of American avant-garde film. His experiments in sound and image are firmly rooted in the land and the observational, often connecting to a place, mood, history, and mythos of the American West, while remaining entirely subjective, always evocative, and unabashedly playful. From the very beginning, Baillie stretched the technical limits of his medium with optical printing, superimpositions, and other visual and aural collaging methods. Three programs of his 16mm film work have been chosen for this series from the recent retrospective All My Life: The Films of Bruce Baillie. With thanks to curator Garbiñe Ortega and to Antonella Bonfanti, executive director of Canyon Cinema, for the generous loan of these 16mm film prints.

Why Take Up the Camera?

August 13 at 2:30
East Building Auditorium

Charles Covington 
8/13/2016 at 6:00 PM

Recognized as a virtuoso jazz pianist and jazz organist, Charles Covington incorporates the styles of jazz greats while achieving the colossal feat of blending disparate elements into a coherent, codified style.

Featured Artist(s)
Charles Covington Jr.

Sunday, 14

Searching for Heroes

August 14 at 4:00
East Building Auditorium

Sunday, August 14, 2016, 3pm
CATEGORIES	Performances
LOCATION	American Art Museum
EVENT LOCATION	McEvoy Auditorium
COST	Free.
NOTE	Sejoon Park made his orchestral debut at the age of ten, and since then has received top prizes from numerous piano competitions. A graduate of the Peabody Institute and The Juilliard School, Park has appeared on stages across the U.S. and has been a soloist with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. For more on Sejoon Park click here. PROGRAM Etudes-Tableaux Op.33............................. Sergei Rachmaninoff Fragilité, Op. 51, No.1................................. Alexander Scriabin Sonata No. 5, Op.53.................................... Alexander Scriabin Intermission Pictures at an Exhibition........................... Modest Mussorgsky

Monday, 15

Book Lecture: Rosa Brooks – "How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon" – P and P – 7 PM

Tuesday, 16

Big band concert: John Kocur band performs jazz favorites – Woodrow Wilson Plaza – Ronald Reagan Building – 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. – noon – 1:30 PM

Wednesday, 17

Book Lecture: Terry Tempest Williams – "The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks" – P &P – 7 PM

Movie: "Sue, Mai and Sawa: Righting the Girl Ship" - heartwarming drama about three women struggling with their careers – Japan Information and Cultural Center – 1150 18th St., Northwest – registration required – www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jicc - 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM

Thursday, 18

Concert: American Roots Concert series features vintage #18 with soul and blues – US botanic Garden – 100 Maryland Ave. SW. – 5 PM to 7 PM

WHEN	Thursday, August 18, 2016, 5 – 7pm
CATEGORIES	After Five, Performances
LOCATION	American Art Museum
EVENT LOCATION	Kogod Courtyard
COST	Free.
RELATED EVENTS	americanart.si.edu…
NOTE	Relax and Take 5! with free, live jazz in the Kogod Courtyard. Stop by the Courtyard Café for refreshments and borrow a board game to play during the concert. Feeling inspired to create? Local artists from ArtJamz set up a temporary studio, offering an opportunity to paint your own canvas while you listen to music during theTake 5! programs. Register at artjamzdc.com. Guitarist Kenny Burrell’s career spans over 60 years and he continues to influence jazz guitar. Josh Walker and his ensemble will pay tribute to Burrell’s tone, time, and technique by presenting a variation of arrangements to reflect the depth and impact of Burrell’s unique and unparalleled contribution.