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Heather Christle in Conversation With Zachary Schomburg

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR, United States

Heather Christle has just lost a dear friend to suicide and now must reckon with her own depression and the birth of her first child. As she faces her grief and impending parenthood, she decides to research the act of crying: what it is and why people do it, even if they rarely talk about it. Honest, intelligent, rapturous, and surprising, Christle’s investigations look through a mosaic of science, history, and her own lived experience to find new ways of understanding life, loss, and mental illness. The Crying Book (Catapult) is a deeply personal tribute to the fascinating strangeness of tears and the unexpected resilience of joy. Christle will be joined in conversation by Zachary Schomburg, Octopus Books publisher and author of Pulver Maar.

Free

The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last

Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR, United States

We have lost the war on cancer. We spend $150 billion each year treating it, yet – a few innovations notwithstanding – a patient with cancer is as likely to die of it as one was 50 years ago. Most new drugs add mere months to one's life, at agonizing physical and financial cost. In The First Cell (Basic), oncologist Azra Raza offers a searing account of how both medicine and our society (mis)treat cancer, how we can do better, and why we must. A lyrical journey from hope to despair and back again, The First Cell explores cancer from every angle: medical, scientific, cultural, and personal.

Free

Endangered Orcas: The Story of the Southern Residents

Powell's Books on Hawthorne 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR, United States

The critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales are the most watched and studied whales in the world, yet they struggle for survival in the waters of Washington State and British Columbia. These urban orcas, a Pacific Northwest icon, are at the center of human politics as we attempt to learn from the past and find a sustainable future. Our relationship to these whales, complicated by both the positive attachments and negative politics we have created around them, has changed dramatically over the last 50 years. With more challenges on the horizon, one question looms: Can we still create a sustainable future for humans and orcas in the Salish Sea? Monika Wieland Shields’s Endangered Orcas (Orca Watcher) is the story of the Southern Resident killer whales.

Free

Daniel J. Siegel

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR, United States

One of the very best scientific predictors for how any child turns out – in terms of happiness, academic success, leadership skills, and meaningful relationships – is whether at least one adult in their life has consistently shown up for them. In an age of scheduling demands and digital distractions, this might sound like a tall order. But as Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson, authors of The Whole-Brain Child, reassuringly explain, showing up doesn’t take a lot of time, energy, or money. Siegel joins us to present his new book (cowritten with Bryson), The Power of Showing Up: How Parental Presence Shapes Who Our Kids Become and How Their Brains Get Wired (Ballantine).

Free

Daniel J. Levitin

Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR, United States

Daniel J. Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain on Music and The Organized Mind, turns his keen mind to what happens in our brains as we age, why we should think about health span, not life span, and what you can do to make the most of your 70s, 80s, and 90s today. Successful Aging (Dutton) uses research from developmental neuroscience and psychology to show that 60+ years is a unique developmental stage that has its own demands and advantages. Levitin takes a scientific approach to what we all can learn from those who age joyously, as well as how to adapt our culture to take full advantage of older people’s wisdom and experience.

Free

R. Douglas Fields

Powell's Books on Hawthorne 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR, United States

Analyzing brainwaves, the imperceptible waves of electricity surging across your scalp, has been possible for nearly a century. But only now are neuroscientists becoming aware of the wealth of information brainwaves hold about a person’s life, thoughts, and future health. In Electric Brain (BenBella), world-renowned neuroscientist R. Douglas Fields takes us on an enthralling journey into the world of brainwaves, detailing how new brain science could fundamentally change society.

Free

I Never Knew There Were So Many Books About Us!

Multnomah County Library - Hollywood Meeting Room 4040 NE Tillamook Street, Portland, OR, United States

Come celebrate Black families and Black art with Interactive Science, Story, and Art Activities for grades K-2 and their favorite adult.

Free

Virtual Book Launch – Walking the High Desert: Reading and Q&A with author Ellen Waterston

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Join us to hear author Ellen Waterston read from her new title, Walking the High Desert: Encounters with Rural America along the Oregon Desert Trail. Uniting stories from across this diverse landscape—the humans and non-human voices—Waterston weaves an incomparable narrative of wonder, science, history and prose. Walking the High Desert is at once travelogue, meditation, memoir, history, philosophy, social commentary,  and commonplace book. It deeply explores the desert and the complex interplay of humans with this piece of the Intermountain West, calling out regional challenges that, more often than not, turn out to be issues the nation, and in some cases, the world, are grappling with. A selection of stunning images will accompany the reading. A live audience question and answer session will follow. In addition to Walking the High…

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Free

Eva Holland in Conversation With Ferris Jabr

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Award-winning long-form journalist Eva Holland had always understood that her deepest fears were the death of her mother and falling from heights. She spends the majority of her life avoiding heights when possible, and managing exposure when necessary; but when her mother suddenly passes away, Holland is sent spiraling into a period of deep grief. When, months later, she begins to resurface, the realization that she has survived her worst fear emboldens her to begin an odyssey of confronting fear itself. Nerve: Adventures in the Science of Fear (The Experiment) chronicles Holland’s investigation of the science of fear, trauma, and anxiety. Using herself as a test subject, she jumps out of airplanes, ice climbs to nerve wreaking heights, and delves into her fears of loss…

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Free

Mario Livio in Conversation With Adam Frank

Online N/A, Portland, OR, United States

Mario Livio's Galileo: And the Science Deniers (Simon & Schuster) is a fresh interpretation of the life of Galileo Galilei, one of history's greatest and most fascinating scientists, that sheds new light on his discoveries and how he was challenged by science deniers. "We really need this story now, because we're living through the next chapter of science denial" (Bill McKibben). Galileo's story may be more relevant today than ever before. At present, we face enormous crises — such as the minimization of the dangers of climate change — because the science behind these threats is erroneously questioned or ignored. Galileo encountered this problem 400 years ago. His discoveries, based on careful observations and ingenious experiments, contradicted conventional wisdom and the teachings of the church…

Continue readingMario Livio in Conversation With Adam Frank
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