Cathy Erway’s blog, Not Eating Out In New York, started in July of 2006, has developed a following befitting its own book.
A recent post last week was titled: Reason For Not Eating Out #37: Going Back to School. She wrote about the plethora of cooking classes, tutorials, workshops, and more that have been springing up all over the five boroughs. “For the more studious pupils,” she noted, “the 92nd Street Y hosts great food talks and tastings.She continued: “And compared to courses at “real” culinary institutes like the FCI or ICE, they cost a heck of a lot less; under $100 for a one-night class is to be expected.”
Because Every Joke is a Tiny Revolution: Hammer & Tickle
Trailer for Ben Lewis’ Hammer & Tickle
Director Ben Lewis’ Hammer & Tickle is a documentary feature demonstrating how in the former Soviet bloc, jokes enabled people to dissent during a time when overt opposition to the state was forbidden. Ben displays how jokes were the people’s means of dissent in the absence of free speech, affirming what George Orwell wrote in his 1945 essay, Funny but not Vulgar: “A thing is funny when it upsets the established order. Every joke is a tiny revolution.”
“...no one knows the story of the German cabaret troupe who were imprisoned by the Stasi in 1961 for telling bad jokes (bad in both senses). No one knows about the Romanian public transport worker who collected overheard jokes and then analysed his material statistically so he could calculate the speed of the average Romanian communist joke.”
And don’t miss our series on Jewish Comedians with Columbia Professor Jeremy Dauber, as he examines Jewish comedy’s classic voices. Next up on Thu Nov 19: Jewish Comedians: On Woody Allen. Following that is Jewish Comedians: On Mel Brooks, Feb 16.
Junot Díaz and Jamaica Kincaid read from their novels at the 92nd Street Y on Jan 26, 2009. Junot leads off the reading with a humorous and sometimes cringe worthy story about a couple’s fractious trip to Santo Domingo. Kincaid begins at the 2:52 mark, reading a personal excerpt from a book about her brother, who is no longer with us.
Kincaid will be here again on Feb 1 for The Immigrant Experience: Becoming Americans with Jamaica Kincaid, Norman Manea and others.
Browse all upcoming readings in the Main Reading Series. And for those of you 35 and under, a limited number of tickets are available to each Reading Series event for just $10.
Unterberg Poetry Center webcasts and access to our archive are made possible in part by the generous support of the Sidney E. Frank Foundation.
L-R Matthew Bishop and Bill Gates. Photo by Joyce Culver
Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft and Co-Chair and Trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, sat down with The Economist‘s Matthew Bishop last night. Adam Ostrow from Mashable was there and offers a recap. He writes:
Bishop asked Gates about comments that the Microsoft founder had previously made about the relative stinginess of some of those in a position to give major amounts of money (i.e. – the Forbes 400), as well as the role that the financial crisis has played on philanthropy. Gates jokingly said that last he checked, the people on that list are still in a good position to give, but it’s not his interest to go recruit people into philanthropy.
Looking around the globe, Gates is optimistic that emerging markets like China and India, where vast amounts of wealth are being created amongst the super rich, will eventually become #2 and #3 in the world in philanthropy, behind the US.
As for those of us without billions of dollars to spare, Gates believes the best way to get involved is with a similar approach to his, albeit on a micro scale. His theme can be summarized as ridding the world of inequality – which for regular people, means finding an inequality that you care about and doing what you can to help, first locally, and then if you can, on a wider scale.
Introducing 92Y Fridges: A New Video Series From 92Y
New York Times Metro Reporter Jennifer 8. Lee, author of The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, is the first subject in 92Y Fridges; a brand new 92Y video series. The concept for the video was simple; with video camera in hand, open up the fridges of foodies and non-foodies alike to see what is in there, bring you all the delectable, (or not so delectable) details! In the video above, we even scored the gratuitous bottle of champagne shot that has become a famous must have accoutrement in a well known television series of similar fashion.
On Dec 20, Lee will be at 92Y to talk about her book and these connections between Jews and Chinese food. During an overview of the talk she gave on video, Lee informed us the book: “...tries to answer the question, why is chow mein the chosen food of the chosen people?”
92Y Video: MindCapsules™ - One Life, One Lesson, One Minute with Susie Essman
For our next video in the MindCapsules™ series, Susie Essman offered some sage advice to the question, “What Advice Would You Give The Children in Your Life?”
In a nutshell, she said: pay attention. Almost verbatim, she offered the same advice we heard repeatedly from our own mother:
Pay attention. And I really believe that’s the key to life. If you pay attention, you’re not depressed. If you pay attention, you’re living your life, you’re not watching your life. And most important, pay attention to your own feelings.”
Watch the full video above, and check out past MindCapsules™ here.
We’ve started a discussion on our Facebook page, seen in the screen shot above, asking you: “Who Would You Like To See at 92Y?”
Names mentioned so far include: Barbara Ehrenreich, Naomi Klein, Rachel Maddow, Michael Pollan, Nancy Pelosi, David Axelrod, Anna Wintour, Samantha Power, Sarah Vowell and Susan Jacoby. A number of these individuals have indeed been here prior. Ehrneriech was here in Jan; Klein was here Nov ‘07; Maddow in April; Pollan last Jan; Pelosi was here last year as well; and Anna was here in May of this year. Those are great names, and for what it’s worth, we would love to have Sarah Vowell here too!
The Art of Giving: The Future of Philanthropy with Charles Bronfman and Jeffrey R. Solomon
As mentioned yesterday, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and author Matthew Bishop are up next in Bishop’s The Business of Giving series tomorrow, Nov 11, when they discuss Gates’ pioneering career in business and philanthropy. Use code “SNET” at checkout to receive 25% off ticket prices.
And next week on Nov 17, Bishop will continue the series downtown at 92YTribeca with philanthropists Charles Bronfman and Jeffrey R. Solomon, furthering the discussion and analysis on the future of philanthropy.
David Lehman, author of A Fine Romance—a look at the formation of the American songbook that explores the extraordinary fact that this songbook was written almost exclusively by Jews—will be on WNYC’s Leonard Lopate show this afternoon to discuss A Fine Romance. The segment is slated to air at 12:40 pm, and you can listen online or by tuning your radio (remember those things?!) to 93.9 FM.
And tonight, head over to 92Y where Lehman will be joined by pianist Jonathan Breit and vocalists Thomas Dolan, Hannah Oberman-Breindel, and Megan Stern as they he delve further into the American Songbook with live performances of some of America’s most beloved classic tunes.
Bill Gates with Matthew Bishop: The Business of Giving
Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft and Co-Chair and Trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and his wife Melissa believe child deaths worldwide can be cut by almost 50% in the next 15 years—if funding from the United States continues:
Government funding that’s coming from the United States is making a huge difference on the ground in the developing world,” Melinda Gates said in an interview last week. Particularly over the past four to five years, she said, “it’s really palpable—it’s making a huge difference saving lives.”
[...]
They point to an AIDS program launched in 2003 by President George W. Bush that is estimated to have saved more than 1 million lives. A Bush initiative on malaria reached an estimated 32 million people last year. And the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which gets a third of its budget from the United States, helped bring 88 million bed nets treated with insecticide to children at risk of getting malaria from mosquitoes.
Thomas Friedman and Dov Seidman: What’s the Question? The Answer is How
Video: Dov Seidman talks “HOW” with Charlie Rose
What’s on Tom Friedman’s mind these days? The best-selling author and acclaimed New York Times columnist is embracing the work of Dov Seidman, the author of How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything in Business (and in Life) and founder of LRN. For Friedman, along with many business leaders, writers and thinkers, How is not just a transformative book, but a lens for seeing the world and making decisions in a completely different way: wired, interconnected, cooperative and transparent. Seidman argues that concepts like trust, reputation and culture have long been seen as nice “extras” or “perks,” but not central to the way business is conducted. “As a society,” he says, “we don’t associate doing the right thing with getting ahead.” Now, Seidman argues, doing things right in our public, private and professional lives is the most powerful way to “chart a course of enduring personal and organizational business achievement.”
On Dec 13, Tom Friedman brings Dov Seidman to the 92Y stage to talk about the thinking behind How and what it can mean in our lives and in our world. Having already shown us that the world is Hot, Flat and Crowded, Friedman talks with Seidman about how we need to change the way we behave in that hot, flat and crowded world.
We Didn’t Quite Hear You, Can You Repeat That Please?
“Researchers found that exposure to subway noise levels for two hours or, at one 102.1-decibel-loud station, as little as two minutes a day could damage hearing."–L Magazine: Subway Noise is Making You Deaf.
“Noise is the number one complaint to the City’s 311 citizen service hotline, currently averaging nearly 1,000 calls a day."–CityMayors.com: New York Mayor in fight against noise pollution
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Noise Abatement and Control was defunded in 1982. The Noise Control Act of 1972 and the Quiet Communities Act of 197: “...remain in effect today, although essentially unfunded."–EPA.gov
Living in New York City is a privilege people all over the world fantasize about. It can also be challenging and stressful, particularly when dealing with the noise. Noise is not only a nuisance, as the information noted above shows. Studies have also shown it is a hazard to our physical and mental health.
To learn more about these issues, and new strategies to preserve and improve hearing for life, join audiologist Craig A. Kasper on Nov 17 for Healthy Hearing, Healthy Life. Explore the link between healthy hearing and overall well-being. May Center Members will receive more than %50 off ticket prices when calling 212.415.5500 to purchase tickets.
Ted Sorensen, John F. Kennedy’s special counsel, speechwriter and close advisor, appeared at 92Y on May 6, 2008 to speak with foreign affairs expert Ralph Buultjens about his memoir, Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History and Kennedy’s legacy.You can listen to the full program above.
Related:On Dec 10 at 92Y, Katie Couric will moderate a Special Celebration of the Life of Senator Edward M. Kennedy with Vicki Reggie Kennedy and Ted Kennedy Jr.
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100 Heartbeats is the next premiere in MSNBC’s landmark Future Earth series. This 2-hour special, reported by famed naturalist and biologist Jeff Corwin, tells the story of the “Sixth Extinction” — an extinction of our planet’s wild species caused by people and which can only be stopped by people. The show is the basis for a book of the same name, 100 Heartbeats: A Journey to Meet Our Planet’s Endangered Animals and the Heroes Working to Save Themsoon to be released.
To hear more from Corwin in person, you can visit 92Y this Sunday, Nov 8, where Corwin will talk about the effect humans have had on our planet’s inhabitants, many which are on the brink of extinction, and conservation efforts made for endangered species and ecosystems around the globe. Use discount code “COR” at checkout to purchase a ticket for only $10, and tell your friends who share concern in these matters. Jeff will be available for a book signing after the event.
As part of our series of Food Talks, last Sunday the New York Times‘ Frank Bruni—their recently departed restaurant critic—joined Mike Colameco, host and producer of Public Television’s Colameco’s Food Show, for a candid discussion about Bruni’s life and career thus far. We’ve recapped some highlights in the video above with a few bullet points:
On calorie counting, Colameco asks Bruni, whose new book Born Round, documents his life-long battle with weight and unhealthy eating:
“Do you keep track of calories? ...Especially as a critic, you’re obliged to eat...you’re supposed to eat food. And a lot of food. And taste everybody else’s food. And swallow. Well, calories.” Bruni playfully replied, “That almost sounded dirty.”
About the expense of maintaining a food critic at a paper like the New York Times, Bruni explained: “I never had them reduce my dining out budget. I know they haven’t reduced it for my successor Sam Sifton. It’s one of the most expensive beats to maintain.” Maintaining this is important he argues, so the readers know they are getting: “...a considered opinion based on at least three restaurants visits, based on a thorough canvassing of the menu, and based on money spent by the paper.” According to Bruni, that might not always be the case with restaurant criticism elsewhere, particularly online, where arrangements might be clouding the reviews:
“A lot of the stuff you see online, a lot of it’s lively, a lot of it’s great, some of it has a lot of integrity, “ he said, “but some of it, you have no idea. You’re reading it because that’s a restaurant in which the person writing it dines for free, frequently.
...You know at least when you read the Times, there’s utter economic independence of the critic.”
On restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow, who placed a full page ad in the New York Times attacking Bruni after receiving zero stars from the critic, both men verbally jabbed him: “I don’t know how you can write many flattering reviews of any of his restaurants,” Colameco opined. Bruni chuckled, and continued: “You might have to look long and hard in the archives to find a flattering review of a Jeffrey Chodorow restaurant.
On anonymity and how important it is, or isn’t, to the job. Bruni related stories he heard about the lengths some restaurants went to neutralize a surprise visit from a critic, including sentries posted on the street corners nearby, employees whose sole job is to stand in the restaurants lobby keeping an eye out, or chefs who will make two dishes of everything for a critics table, picking the best one to serve. So it is more important to make sure they don’t know you are coming, as opposed to staying anonymous once there, he argued. What they can’t do without a lengthy advance notice, is to rework the menu, change the staff, or make a new run to the market for fresher food. “You will still get a...fundamentally honest experience at the restaurant.”
The evening ended with Bruni and Colameco offering recommendations for various restaurants and bakeries, or more accurately, where they have been spending their money as of late. Peasant on Elizabeth Street in Manhattan was mentioned, Bruni said he was a “big fan.” Vinegar Hill House in Brooklyn was mentioned as a “nice experience for the money,” and Veloce Pizzeria in the East Village was called: “a very pleasant place.” Levain Bakery on 74th Street was held up as a place that does very limited things, but what they do, they do “really, really well.” Bouchon Bakery, the bakery at Petrossian, and any place Karen Demasco or Kate Zuckerman hang their hat at were also given mention as places and people deserving praise for their pastries.
She wrote about the plethora of cooking classes, tutorials, workshops, and more that have been springing up all over the five boroughs. “For the more studious pupils,” she noted, “the 92nd Street Y hosts great 
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Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft and Co-Chair and Trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and his wife Melissa believe child deaths worldwide can be cut by almost 50% in the next 15 years—if funding from the United States continues: 
