Enjoy a range of talks from bestselling authors and thought leaders.

Brought to you in partnership with the Library Speakers Consortium.

Learn more.

Illuminating Hope and Grace in the Face of Hardship with Rex Ogle (5th-8th Grade)

Wednesday, July 23 at 1 p.m.
This event will be 45 minutes in length.

You’re invited to join us online with award-winning author Rex Ogle as he talks to viewers about his struggles to navigate sixth grade as written about in his book Free Lunch.

Instead of giving him lunch money, Rex’s mom has signed him up for free meals. As a poor kid in a wealthy school district, better-off kids crowd impatiently behind him as he tries to explain to the cashier that he’s on the free meal program. The lunch lady is hard of hearing, so Rex has to shout.

Free Lunch is the story of Rex’s efforts to navigate his first semester of sixth grade—who to sit with, not being able to join the football team, Halloween in a handmade costume, classmates and a teacher who take one look at him and decide he’s trouble—all while wearing secondhand clothes and being hungry. His mom and her boyfriend are out of work, and life at home is punctuated by outbursts of violence. Halfway through the semester, his family is evicted and ends up in government-subsidized housing in view of the school. Rex lingers at the end of last period every day until the buses have left, so no one will see where he lives.

Unsparing and realistic, Free Lunch is a story of hardship threaded with hope and moments of grace. Rex’s voice is compelling and authentic, and Free Lunch is a true, timely, and essential work that illuminates the lived experience of poverty in America.

Register now to join the conversation!

On the Strangeness and Wonder of Our Brains with Pria Anand

Thursday, July 31 at 11 a.m.

You’re invited to a fascinating conversation with neurologist and author Pria Anand to chat about her new book The Mind Electric: A Neurologist on the Strangeness and Wonder of Our Brains.

The Mind Electric speaks to the stories we tell ourselves about our brains, and the stories that our brains tell to us.

A girl believes she has been struck blind for stealing a kiss. A mother watches helplessly as each of her children is replaced by a changeling. A woman is haunted each month by the same four chords of a single song. In neurology, illness is inextricably linked with narrative, the clues to unraveling these mysteries hidden in both the details of a patient's story and the tells of their body.

Stories are etched into the very structure of our brains, coded so deeply that the impulse for storytelling survives and even surges after the most devastating injuries. But our brains are also porous—the stories they concoct are shaped by cultural narratives about bodies and illness that permeate the minds of doctors and patients alike. In the history of medicine, some stories are heard, while others—the narratives of women, of Black and brown people, of displaced people, of disempowered people—are too often dismissed.

In The Mind Electric, neurologist Pria Anand reveals—through case study, history, fable, and memoir—all that the medical establishment has overlooked: the complexity and wonder of brains in health and in extremis, and the vast gray area between sanity and insanity, doctor and patient, and illness and wellness, each separated from the next by the thin veneer of a different story.

Moving from the Boston hospital where she treats her patients, to her childhood years in India, to Isla Providencia in the Caribbean and to the Republic of Guinea in West Africa, she demonstrates again and again the compelling paradox at the heart of neurology: that even the most peculiar symptoms can show us something universal about ourselves as humans.

Register now to join this intriguing virtual conversation!

The Stories, Science, and History of Birds with Smithsonian Biologist Jay Falk

Tuesday, August 5 at 11 a.m.

Delve into the fascinating world of birds through astonishing photography and clear explanations in this absorbing global guide, The Bird Book: The Stories, Science, and History of Birds.

Birds are dinosaurs with a history going back millions of years. Our fascination with them runs deep in history, and our close association is reflected in creation stories, myths, legends, songs, and children's stories.

This book and presentation explore:

Both the natural history of birds and that deep cultural connection. From their evolution and anatomy to their behavior and diversity.

Hawks, finches, swans, or birds of paradise, moving the focus away from a predictable species-by-species account and allowing for truly global coverage.

The bold nature of European Robins and why they are associated with Christmas; the mythical Phoenix, which rises from the ashes; and learn about eagles, from their hunting prowess to their myriads of stories and symbolism.

Packed with information, beautiful photography, and illustrations, The Bird Book is a must-have for nature enthusiasts.

Register today to learn more about your very own backyard friends!

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All ages can play now through August 1!