Thursday, January 23 @ 2:00 pm - Author Amanda Montell

Join us as we chat with the New York Times bestselling author, Amanda Montell about her newest book, The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality.  Registration is required and you can submit a question for the author!

In a delicious blend of cultural criticism and personal narrative that explores our cognitive biases and the power, disadvantages, and highlights of magical thinking, Amanda Montell now turns her erudite eye to the inner workings of the human mind and its biases in her most personal and electrifying work yet.  She is the author of the acclaimed books Wordslut, Cultish, and The Age of Magical Overthinking. Along with hosting the podcast Sounds Like a Cult, her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, and more.

Tuesday, January 28 @ 1:00 pm - An Inside Look at Working with a Literary Agent: A Conversation with Seth Fishman

You’re writing a book (or thinking about it), but what happens next? Join us for an inside look into working with an agent and the beginning stages of the publishing process with Seth Fishman, Vice President and Literary Agent at The Gernert Company. Registration is required for this virtual program. 

The Gernert Company represents more than 500 authors and is a full-service literary agency with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Their client list is as broad as the market and they represent fiction, both literary and commercial (such as Liz Moore, John Grisham, Louise Penny, Cixin Liu), as well as general nonfiction and practical nonfiction genres. 

Tuesday, January 28 @ 2:00 pm - Electronic Resources Available at Eldredge Public Library

Did you know that we offer 22 electronic resources (databases) through EPL and an additional 51 electronic resources are available from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners?  All free and easily accessible online with your CLAMS card.  There is something for everyone including DIY craft projects, investment resources, online newspapers, genealogy databases, readers advisory resources, access to consumer reports online and so much more.  Join us for an overview of what’s available and how you can access these valuable resources.  No registration is required.  This program is part of our Digital Literacy series.

Thursday, January 30 @ 2:00 pm - The Gilded World of Isabella Stewart Gardner

The life of Boston’s arts patroness typifies the lives of many of the wealthy and cultured Americans who lived during the Gilded Age of American history. We will explore the details of Isabella Stewart Gardner’s life, friends, travels and collections. She broke all kinds of rules while setting up her museum but perhaps we can understand this when we read her personal motto “It is my pleasure.” She arranged things the way she wanted with relationships between objects that may at first escape us. What is left for us is to marvel at the space she created and filled with beautiful things. This program is presented by art historian Mary Woodword. No registration is required.

Tuesday, February 4 @ 2:00 pm - How We Create Pandemics, From Our Bodies to Our Beliefs with Smithsonian Curator Sabrina Sholts

Join us for this enlightening presentation with Smithsonian curator Sabrina Sholts as she talks about how the very fact of being human increases our pandemic risks—and gives us the power to save ourselves. Registration is required.

The COVID-19 pandemic won't be our last—because what makes us vulnerable to pandemics also makes us human. That is the uncomfortable but all-too-timely message of The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, From Our Bodies to Our Beliefs, which travels through history and around the globe to examine how and why pandemics are an inescapable threat of our own making.

Thursday, February 6 @ 11:30 am - The Sweet Life of Google Suites

If you have a Gmail address, then you have access to a very powerful tool: Google Suites. Google Docs, Sheets, and Presentations give you almost all the same functionality as Microsoft Office but for free - and with the ability to share your work or even collaborate with folks no matter where they are. Google Photos, Meet, and Chat give you other fun and useful ways to be connected to family or colleagues. Join Mike McCartney as he provides an overview of this wonderful set of tools! This program is part of our Digial Literacy series.

Thursday, February 6 @ 5:30 pm - Sound Bowl Healing with Ashley Woodworth

Sound meditation is an integrated practice that combines a restorative setting with an emphasis on breath, mindful presence, and judicious listening. Instruments such as Tibetan singing bowls, etheric chimes, frame drums, rattles, and crystal pyramids are played during the meditation.  Ashley guides yoga practices in hatha, vinyasa flow, power, meditative, and restorative styles, drawing upon over 400 hours of training in the Kripalu and Bhakti traditions. She trained with ethnomusicologist, sound therapist, and sound researcher Alexandre Tannouse to learn the art and science of sound meditation and now facilitates extended meditations with a suite of overtone-rich instruments. Ashley also holds advanced certifications in subtle-body work and is reiki-attuned. 

Monday, February 10 @ 7:00 pm - Kehinde Wiley - Color and Splendor with Jane Oneail

We welcome Jane Oneail back for another Culturally Curious offering, Kehinde Wiley - Color & Splendor!   Registration is required for this virtual program.

Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of President Obama cemented his status in the contemporary art world as an artist who mixes Grand Manner portraiture traditions, intricate patterns and designs, and a vibrant, technicolor palette. His paintings often depict contemporary African American subjects and examine visual codes for power and challenge expectations. This program explores the artist’s life and provides an overview of his works and inspiration.

Tuesday, February 11 @ 7:00 pm -Dystopian Tropes from an Indigenous Perspective: In Conversation with Waubgeshig Rice

You’re invited to a riveting conversation with bestselling author Waubgeshig Rice to chat about his newest book Moon of the Turning Leaves, the hotly anticipated sequel to the bestselling novel Moon of the Crusted Snow. Registration is required for this virtual program.

Thursday, February 13 @ 11:30 am - Surviving Social Media with Mike

Saturday, February 15 @ 11:00 am - Cape Cod Turtles with Wildcare

Turtles are a truly ancient species, that have existed since the time of the dinosaurs (about 300 million years). Cape Cod and its surrounding environs host 5 species of migratory sea turtles, and 7 species of land turtles. Come and learn a bit about each of these species, along with turtles in general, and meet Wild Care's Animal Ambassador, Eastern Box Turtle, Garv, up close and personal.  Questions are welcomed and encouraged.

Tuesday, February 18 @ 2:00 pm - I Am Nobody’s Slave: An Author Talk with Pulitzer Prize Finalist Lee Hawkins

We welcome you to our conversation with journalist and author Lee Hawkins as he talks to us about the examination of his family’s legacy of post-enslavement trauma and resilience in this riveting memoir, I Am Nobody's Slave: How Uncovering My Family’s History Set Me Free.  Click on the Event URL below to register and submit questions for the author. Lee Hawkins was a 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist as a lead reporter on a series about the Tulsa Massacre of 1921 at the Wall Street Journal, where he worked for nineteen years. Registration is required for this virtual program.

Wednesday, February 19 @ 2:00 pm - Mass Audubon: A Campaign to Rescue Raptors

Join us as we welcome David Shapiro from Mass Audubon to discuss Cape Cod Raptors. This presentation will introduce the species that are commonly seen as well as describe some of the ongoing threats these special birds face; and how it impacts raptors, foxes, coyotes, and other predators keep Massachusetts’ ecosystems in balance.