Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series

Amidst the danger of Nazi-occupied Island of Jersey in the British Channel, two French women, Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe, drew on their skills as Parisian avant-garde artists to write and distribute “paper bullets”—wicked insults against Hitler, calls to rebel, and subversive fictional dialogues designed to demoralize Nazi troops. History professor Jeffrey Jackson joined us with the history of the audacious anti-Nazi campaign undertaken by this unlikely pair. In this presentation,...

Art is fundamental. While in some places and times, it may be deemed nonessential or decorative, the reality is that it is a fundamental expression from one human to another, of curiosity, of perspective, of connection. Now an icon of theatre and film, Andre Gregory, joined us to share stories from a life lived for art. With his co-writer Todd London, Gregory pulled from his non-linear not-memoir This Is Not My Memoir to look back at his life in this livestreamed presentation. Gregory told...

The Cold Moon occurs in late December, auguring the arrival of the winter solstice. Approaching the winter solstice of his own life, author Roger Rosenblatt embarked upon writing Cold Moon: On Life, Love, and Responsibility, dedicated to the three most important lessons he has learned over his many years. In this conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Muldoon, Rosenblatt delved into those three lessons: an appreciation of being alive, a recognition of the gift and power of love, and...

The COVID-19 crisis has led to a moment of grief, isolation, and uncertainty that is nearly unprecedented in recent memory. How are we changing as a result, both as individuals and a society? In response to the pandemic, author and editor Jennifer Haupt rallied 90 authors, her publisher, and other business partners to explore the impact in Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19, all proceeds of which benefit the Book Industry Charitable Fund. Haupt joined us in...

“Ebo Barton is the queer echo to the first whisper of revolution.” This is what author Tara Hardy had to say about spoken word poet Ebo Barton’s first collection of poetry, Insubordinate, which explores Barton’s discovery of themselves, acknowledging their history, and navigating a world not ready for their existence. Barton invited us to hear selections from their collection, and join in conversation with Hardy about the work and generally about being in a body in the world. A leader in...

Long neglected in world history, the Ottoman Empire was a hub of intellectual fervor, geopolitical power, and enlightened pluralistic rule. Yet, despite its towering influence and centrality to the rise of our modern world, the Ottoman Empire’s history has for centuries been distorted, misrepresented, and even suppressed in the West, historian Alan Mikhail believes—and he joined us to present a vitally needed recasting of Ottoman history. Mikhail was joined in conversation with history and...

Only a few years after the 2013 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Blackfish—an independent documentary film that critiqued the treatment of orcas in captivity—visits to SeaWorld declined, major corporate sponsors pulled their support, and performing acts cancelled appearances. And that was just the beginning of the impact of documentary films. Producer and scholar Caty Borum Chattoo joined us in conversation with producer Marcia Smith to examine the role of social-issue documentaries in...

Ever wondered what nonbinary and gender nonconforming really mean? Genderqueer writer Stuart Getty joined us with a charming guide that answers that question and many more. In this livestreamed presentation, Stuart Getty unpacks all your burning questions in a fun, visual way, in conversation with local comedian Max Delsohn. With clips from their short documentary, and insight from their book How to They/Them, Getty introduced a gender-friendly primer that emphasizes that it’s about more...

Comedian, actor, and father Michael Ian Black wants to get (mostly) serious about the trouble with masculinity. He shared a heartfelt letter to his college-bound son—which also happens to be his book A Better Man: A (Mostly Serious) Letter to My Son—to offer a poignant look at boyhood, reveal his own complicated relationship with his father, and explore the damage caused by the expectations placed on boys to “man up.” Black searches for the best way to help his son be part of the solution,...

For better or worse, Wagner is often considered the most widely influential figure in the history of music. Around 1900, the phenomenon known as Wagnerism saturated European and American culture. Anarchists, occultists, feminists, and gay rights pioneers saw him as a kindred spirit. Then Adolf Hitler incorporated Wagner into the soundtrack of Nazi Germany, and the composer came to be defined by his ferocious antisemitism. In this livestreamed conversation, music critics Alex Ross and Ann...

During the Pacific War, more than 200,000 Korean girls were forced into sexual servitude for Japanese soldiers. Barely 10 percent survived to return to Korea, where they lived as social outcasts. Since then, self-declared comfort women have come forward only to have their testimonies and calls for compensation largely denied by the Japanese government. In One Left, author Kim Soom tells a fictionalized story of a comfort woman, kidnapped at the age of thirteen to live a life of horror, who...

Every year, Town Hall selects exceptional local artists and scholars for paid residencies. This fall, Town Hall’s Artist in Residence Hailey Tayathy designed a new piece which will serve as a visual installation of Town Hall’s land acknowledgement, written by the elders and youth of UNEA Clear Sky Native Youth Council. In this special presentation, Tayathy will be reflecting on the art they have created during their residency, on the process of creation and collaboration with other Coast...

The Deep End Friends podcast is an exploration of liberation, healing, hope, joy, and wholeness. What does it mean to be free? What are Black people doing to heal themselves and the world? Hear from incredible people from all walks of life about their journeys, what they are doing to thrive and how they are contributing to broader movements of empowerment and liberation. Co-hosts Reagan Jackson and Anastacia-Renee joined us via livestream to record a live episode of Deep End Friends...

Dr. Madeline Levine contends that the role of parent has evolved into an unhealthy relationship with achievement and stress. The COVID-19 epidemic is throwing many into dual roles as both parent and full-time teacher, leaving many to wonder how to best serve our children—and what the long-term effects will be on their education. Levine joined us for this livestream event with insight from her book Ready or Not: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Uncertain and Rapidly Changing World,...

Award-winning reporter Erica Barnett her first sip of alcohol when she was thirteen. By her late twenties, her addiction became inescapable. By the time she was in her late thirties, she had run the gauntlet of alcoholism, and volatile relationships, blackouts, and unsuccessful stints in detox defined Barnett’s life. Barnett joins us via livestream, drawing from her book Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery to share moments of her life along with essential new insights into...

From reproductive rights and the wage gap to #MeToo and #TimesUp—gender inequality permeates nearly every aspect of our culture. According to award-winning psychology professor Joanne Bagshaw, the message that our society sends to women and girls is clear: you’re not enough. In conversation with Washington at-large City Councilmember Kirsten Harris-Talley, Bagshaw offered tools for women everywhere to navigate sexist institutionalized power structures, attitudes, and events that are outside...

Celebrate the magnificence of waterbird migration along the Pacific Flyway—the 10,000-mile migratory corridor from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego. Join the authors of the book Pacific Flyway, along with wildlife photographer Gerrit Vyn, and discover the vast network of saltwater and freshwater habitats linked by millions of waterbirds who migrate between their breeding and overwintering grounds. Through stunning photography, migration sounds, and amazing video footage, explore the...

Our children’s first digital footprints are made before they can walk—even before they are born. More and more parents are using fertility apps to aid conception, posting ultrasound images to social media, installing baby monitors with built-in AI, and storing terabytes of baby pictures in the cloud. Educator Leah Plunkett arrived at Town Hall to examine the implications of this phenomenon, which she calls “sharenthood”—adults’ excessive digital sharing of children’s data. Drawing from her...

Recent years have witnessed significant progress toward gender equality—from the ousting of prominent men accused of sexual misconduct to the unprecedented popularity of the 2019 Women’s World Cup. Following the shocking, infuriating accounts shared as part of the #MeToo movement, sociologist and philosopher Raphaël Liogier felt compelled to reassess toxic masculinity as the deepest root of gender inequality and its many manifestations. Liogier took Town Hall’s stage to share reflections...

Like trigger warnings and gender-neutral bathrooms, pronouns are sparking a national debate. They’re prompting new policies in schools, workplaces, and even prisons. Pioneering linguist Dennis Baron joined us with insight into our pronoun patterns, drawing from his book What’s Your Pronoun: Beyond He and She. Baron lent us essential insight into understanding how twenty-first-century culture has evolved based on past pronoun use—and how our modern day usage is nothing new. He highlighted how...