Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series

Town Hall Seattle
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The Arts & Culture series enriches our community with imagination and creativity. Whether reinventing the classics for a new audience or presenting an innovative new art form, these events are aimed at expanding horizons. From poetry to music to storytelling, this series leaves our audiences inspired, encouraged, and seeing the world with new eyes.

  1. 20h ago

    349. Lindy West: Adult Braces: A Memoir

    In her new memoir, Adult Braces, Lindy West brings readers along on an uproarious cross-country road trip as she unpacks her last few tumultuous years, rediscovers herself, and reinvents her marriage. Through Shrill—the book and then the Hulu series—Lindy West became an inspiration. To this day, she is stopped on the street and hailed as a beacon of empowerment by women who felt badly for not conforming to a narrow set of societal norms—thin, straight, compliant. But behind the scenes, Lindy never felt like she was the self-actualized woman fans made her out to be. When she found herself in the throes of a deep depression, with her marriage and sense of self-worth hanging in the balance, she knew she needed to make a change. In Adult Braces, Lindy shares the story of her rock bottom and of the journey she took to claw her way out of it. With her trademark candor and sense of humor, she examines her post-Shrill emotional implosion, her shifting feelings about traditional marriage, and her search for her long-lost self. She also tracks the highs and lows of her journey, from eye-opening natural wonders and kitschy roadside attractions to lackluster tourist traps and campground epiphanies. The result is an engaging and laugh-out-loud narrative of becoming as Lindy transforms from a passenger into the active navigator of her own life. Lindy West is the author of three books: the New York Times bestselling memoir Shrill as well as the essay collections The Witches Are Coming and Shit, Actually. Lindy is a former contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and her work has appeared in This American Life, The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Vulture, Jezebel, and others. She is the co-host of the comedy podcast Text Me Back and the author of the e-mail newsletter Butt News. Lindy was a writer and executive producer on Shrill, the Hulu comedy adapted from her memoir, and she co-wrote and produced the independent feature film Thin Skin. She lives on the Olympic Peninsula in rural Washington state. Buy the Book Adult Braces: Driving Myself Sane Elliott Bay Book Company

    56 min

  2. Jun 26

    348. V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke with Moira Macdonald: The Ending Writes Itself: A Novel

    Layering classic tropes of the mystery genre with a clever modern satire of the publishing industry, The Ending Writes Itself is the debut novel of "Evelyn Clarke," a new writing collaboration between best-selling authors V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke. Joined in conversation by local author and journalist Moira Macdonald, Schwab and Clarke explore their co-authoring venture and the twists and turns that await readers in their new take on a locked-room mystery thriller. How will the pages unfold for the six authors isolated with nothing but their own minds, a diabolical deadline, and a plot-driving incentive? Starting is often the hardest part. But getting to the end could be murder. World-renowned best-selling novelist Arthur Fletch is a reclusive genius who captivates readers with iconic protagonists and fiendish twists. So when six struggling authors of different genres receive an invitation to spend a weekend on his private island off the coast of Scotland, they pack their bags. But the twists have gone further than ever this time, and the authors are greeted with a shocking secret– Arthur Fletch is dead… and his highly-anticipated last novel remains unfinished. Desperate to publish, Fletch's agent and editor have summoned these writers hoping one of them can pen a worthy ending. To sweeten the deal, they pitch them the opportunity of a lifetime. Ghost write the final chapter and win an irresistible prize– a mind-boggling sum of money and a partnership that could relaunch their own careers and guarantee future bestsellers. And with that to motivate them, surely 72 hours is enough time to finish Fletch's magnus opus? All they have to do is write… V.E. Schwab is the critically acclaimed author of over 20 books spanning middle-grade, young adult, and adult fiction. Her previous publications include the Villains and Shades of Magic series, as well as standalone novels The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and most recently, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. Her work has been featured by outlets including the New York Times, the Guardian, and Entertainment Weekly, and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Cat Clarke is an author and screenwriter. She previously worked as an editor at Scholastic UK. Her previous writing projects include the novels Entangled, The Lost and Found, Girlhood, and We Are Young, as well as the film Something in the Water. Moira Macdonald is the longtime arts critic for The Seattle Times. Her debut novel, Storybook Ending, was published in May 2025 by Dutton/Penguin Random House, and is being released worldwide in 18 languages. Buy the Book The Ending Writes Itself: A Novel Third Place Books

    1h 8m

  3. Jun 4

    347. David Pogue: The Most Iconic Brand in the World: The History of Apple

    Although the present ubiquity of Apple is well-known, how much do you know about its past? Just in time for Apple's 50th anniversary, author and CBS correspondent David Pogue tells the history of the iconic company: how it was born, nearly died, and was revived under the legendary Steve Jobs, and how it later became the most iconic brand in the world. On April 1, 1976, two men in their 20s, both named Steve, founded a modest startup. Their goal was to bring the power of computers to everyone. Over the next five decades, Apple revolutionized the tech landscape, introducing the public to many products that we use today and marrying technology with design. Marking this 50th anniversary milestone is Apple: The First 50 Years, a 600-page, definitive account of the tech giant. At this very special event, author David Pogue will share what he learned from interviewing 150 current and former Apple executives, designers, and engineers. He'll reveal, for the first time, some amazing origin stories (Apple II, iMac, iPod, iPhone). He'll draw some counterintuitive but powerful lessons from Apple's unlikely rise, fall, and rise. And he'll punctuate the evening with Apple song parodies at the piano (yes, really). David Pogue is a seven-time Emmy Award winner for his stories on CBS Sunday Morning, a five-time TED speaker, host of twenty NOVA specials on PBS, and a New York Times bestselling author. He's written about Apple for his entire career, including thirteen years as a Macworld columnist, thirteen more as tech columnist for The New York Times, and twenty years as the #1 bestselling author of books about Macs and iPhones . Buy the Book Apple: The First 50 Years Elliott Bay Book Company

    1h 24m

  4. May 28

    346. Burl Dirkman: Power Thru It! With Special Guests J. Kenji López-Alt and Tomo Nakayama

    From the mind of Brett Hamil, the cartoonist behind Doom Loop and co-producer of Joketellers Union, comes an utterly unique talk show. Starring Hamil's wistful handyman alter ego Burl Dirkman, Power Thru It! with Burl Dirkman will take the audience on a comedic journey of self-discovery, featuring interviews with local luminaries J. Kenji López-Alt and Tomo Nakayama, and cathartic activities designed to help you access your long-neglected emotional core. Prepare to cry real tears of joy! Brett Hamil is a cartoonist and comedian living in Seattle. He publishes a weekly political cartoon, Doom Loop, for the South Seattle Emerald, and produces a critically acclaimed live comedy show, Joketellers Union at the Clock-Out Lounge. He's also the author of 3 graphic novels. Tomo Nakayama has explored the lines between intimate indie folk, exuberant synth pop, and cinematic soundtracks for over two decades. His fourth album, Ocean, was released last year. Kenji López-Alt is a former restaurant cook, New York Times columnist, and author of the James Beard Award–winning and bestselling books The Food Lab and The Wok, as well as the children's book Every Night Is Pizza Night.

    1h 6m

  5. May 12

    345. Lauren Groff with Amber Flame: Brawler: Short Stories

    Whether you know her from her short stories in The New Yorker or The Atlantic or from one of her bestselling novels, Lauren Groff is arguably one of the leading literary voices in the U.S. Groff will share from her new collection of short stories, Brawler, which reflects upon humanity's ceaseless battle between our dark and light angels. Ranging from the 1950s to the present day and moving across age, class, and region––from New England to Florida to California––the nine stories in Groff's newest collection dive into the animal and the divine within us all. The characters paint a different picture of the same theme: a young woman suddenly responsible for her disabled sibling; a hot-tempered high school swimmer in need of an adult; a mother blinded by the loss of her family; and a banking successor with a different kind of inheritance. Motivated by love, challenged by the double edges of other people's good intentions, they all try to do the right thing for as long as they can. It's through these stories that Groff illuminates what it means to be human. Groff's popularity comes from her insight into human nature. Through her various stories, Brawler offers specific turning points in people's lives, highlighting all of our thin boundaries between love and fear, compassion and violence, reason and instinct, altruism and what it takes to survive. Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and the New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, Fates and Furies, Matrix, and The Vaster Wilds, and the celebrated short story collections Delicate Edible Birds and Florida. She has won the Story Prize and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and has been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2024, she was named one of the "TIME 100 most influential people." Groff's work regularly appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Her work has been translated into thirty-six languages. She lives in Gainesville, Florida, where she and her husband run an independent bookstore, The Lynx. Amber Flame is an interdisciplinary artist garnering residencies with Hedgebrook, Baldwin for the Arts, Millay Arts, and more. A former church kid from the Southwest, Flame's first collection of poetry, Ordinary Cruelty, published in 2017 through Write Bloody Press. Flame's second book, apocrifa, a love story told in verse, launched May 2023 from Red Hen Press. Flame is Deputy Publisher at Generous Press, a new romance venture publishing inclusive love stories, and Program Director for Hedgebrook, a literary organization serving women. Amber Flame is a queer Black dandy mama who falls hard for a jumpsuit and some fresh kicks.  Buy the Book Brawler: Stories Elliott Bay Book Company

    1h 15m

  6. May 7

    344. Andrew Yang with Jonathan Sposato: Hey Yang, Where's My Thousand Bucks?

    Remember that one time in 2019 when presidential candidate Andrew Yang promised a thousand dollars a month for a whole year to ten U.S. families if they donated to his campaign? Yang would like to address this. Pulling from his latest book titled Hey Yang, Where's My Thousand Bucks?, Yang shares stories from his remarkable life so far, including this viral moment during a live presidential debate. Beyond championing universal basic income, Yang would like to bring a little humor into the world. In his candid and playful accounts, Yang examines where the U.S. sits today through the lens of his unexpected journey from entrepreneur to presidential candidate. Part political memoir, part comedy, and part interior monologue, his stories attempt to make complex ideas accessible and entertaining. It's this entertainment that he sees as a unifying potential. Yang believes in the power of laughter, even in — and maybe especially in — trying times. For anyone frustrated with traditional political narratives, curious about the human behind the headlines, or simply looking for a light-hearted exploration of trying to improve life in the U.S., Yang wants to enlighten, entertain, and inspire. It's through this optimism, Yang hopes, that we can create real positive change. Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur and the cofounder of the Forward Party, a new independent political movement dedicated to restoring the promise of American democracy. He was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 whose campaign outlasted over a dozen mainstream political officeholders and attracted support from hundreds of thousands of everyday Americans, dubbed "the Yang Gang." His best-selling books The War on Normal People and Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy helped introduce the idea of universal basic income and ranked choice voting into the mainstream. His most recent work was the novel The Last Election, co-written with Stephen Marche. Named by President Obama as a Presidential Ambassador of Global Entrepreneurship, Yang is the founder of Humanity Forward and Venture for America, and founder and CEO of Noble Mobile. He lives with his family in New York. Jonathan Ng Sposato is a serial entrepreneur, media executive, and impact investor who has helped shape the national tech and media landscape. He is the only entrepreneur to sell two startups to Google (Phatbits and Picnik) and a third, PicMonkey, to Shutterstock. He is chairman and co-founder of GeekWire, one of the country's most trusted technology news platforms. A former senior leader at Microsoft, Jonathan played a key role in the early development of Xbox, MSN applications, and major consumer initiatives. In 2016, he made national headlines by committing to invest exclusively in female-founded companies and has since been honored by organizations including American Women in Science, Vital Voices, and the University of Washington. He is the founder of JoySauce.tv, an American-Asian focused media channel recognized by the Center for Asian American Media and GLAAD, and hosts JoySauce Late Night. He also owns and publishes Seattle Magazine and Seattle Business Magazine, restoring the legacy titles to local ownership. His civic leadership has earned him the Seattle Mayor's Impact Award, and in 2024 he was inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame as a media trailblazer. Buy the Book Hey Yang, Where's My Thousand Bucks? And Other True Stories of Staggering Depth Elliott Bay Book Company

    55 min

  7. May 5

    343. Judith Enck with Bellamy Pailthorp: The Problem with Plastic

    In less than 100 years, plastic has gone from a novel invention to a ubiquitous feature across the globe. Plastic is now found in everything from household objects to industrial mechanisms to inside human bodies themselves. Once a marvel of modern science, plastic has become so inextricably woven into our lives that imagining a world without it can seem impossible. Backed by years of research and reflections taking place in real time with changing technology and environmental awareness, The Problem with Plastic critically examines the paradox of this material and how swiftly its integration has affected public health and the planet as a whole. The book explores how, despite being first celebrated for its innovations, plastic is now broadly recognized as a leading contributor to environmental pollution at every level, the climate crisis, and building waste levels that disproportionately impact marginalized communities that bear the brunt of petrochemical pollution. Author and environmental policy expert Judith Enck, in collaboration with co-author Adam Mahoney and the Beyond Plastics project, strives to draw attention to the alarming extent that microplastics have infiltrated society and the ways consumers can challenge what they think about the roles they can play. Unpacking illusions about recycling, mechanisms of environmental racism, and deceptive greenwashing strategies, the authors emphasize the urgency of calling for real, actionable measures to push against the effects of the plastics industry. The Problem with Plastic highlights powerful stories of frontline resistance in places like Louisiana, Texas, and Appalachia, and seeks to equip readers with practical tools– including a "Household Waste Audit" to track and reduce plastic consumption and model policy guides for driving legislative change. Fortified with calls for individual responsibility, citizen action, and governmental regulations, The Problem with Plastic aims to show that while plastic is a formidable problem, coordinated efforts can lead to solutions. Judith Enck is the founder and president of Beyond Plastics, whose goal is eliminating plastic pollution everywhere. She was appointed by President Obama to serve as regional administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2009 and served as deputy secretary for the environment in the New York Governor's Office. She is the co-author of The Problem With Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It's Too Late (The New Press; 2025). She is currently a professor at Bennington College and lives in upstate New York. Bellamy Pailthorp covers the KNKX environment beat with an emphasis on climate justice, human health and food sovereignty. Bellamy likes reporting stories about how we will power our future while maintaining healthy cultures and livable cities. Fluent in German, Bellamy worked in Berlin and has a masters in journalism from Columbia University. She joined KNKX (then KPLU) in 1999. From 2000-2012, she covered the business and labor beat for KNKX. Outside work, she practices yoga, enjoys tasting new foods and is frequently on the water with her rowing team. Buy the Book The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It's Too Late Elliott Bay Book Company

    1h 17m

  8. May 3

    342. John Patrick Green with Ben Clanton: InvestiGators: Agents of S.U.I.T.: Sew Much Trouble

    When something wacky is going on in the Gatorverse, the Special Undercover Investigation Teams know that it's time to S.U.I.T. up! Join the team at S.U.I.T. headquarters with the newest book in John Patrick Green's InvestiGators spinoff series– Agents of S.U.I.T.: Sew Much Trouble. Someone has stolen the Notorious P.I.G. food truck, and with it, Piggy Smalls' special BBQ sauce! But before super-spy Badgers Bongo and Marsha can solve the case, they need to solve the problems they're having with each other. To help them realize what a great team they truly are, General Inspector decides to split them up. Marsha gets placed on a super-secret pilot program with chameleon field agent, Cilantro. Meanwhile, Bongo is paired with Sven, the octopus lead designer of A.R.M.S (Apparel Manufacturing and Research Section), on a not-so-secret reality competition: "Sew You Think You Can Sew!" But here's the rub: this season of the show includes a chef challenge, and underground sources say Piggy Smalls' notorious sauce was stolen to help one of the contestants win! Find out what saucy secrets Bongo, Marsha, and the rest of the mystery-solving squad can spill before the whole team unravels in Agents of S.U.I.T.: Sew Much Trouble! John Patrick Green is a human with the human job of making books about animals with human jobs, notably the smash-hit graphic novel series InvestiGators. John is definitely a multiple New York Times-bestselling human author and not just a bunch of animals in a trench coat pretending to have a human job. With over four million copies of InvestiGators in print, John is a successful human being with only two hands and a normal amount of fur. He lives in a Brooklyn apartment that doesn't allow animals other than the ones living in his head. Ben Clanton is the New York Times–bestselling author and illustrator of the Narwhal and Jelly series, whose picture books include the Ploof series (with Andy Chou Musser) and the Tater Tales series. He lives with his wife and kids in Seattle, Washington. Buy the Book InvestiGators: Agents of S.U.I.T.: Sew Much Trouble Brick and Mortar Books

    56 min
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About

The Arts & Culture series enriches our community with imagination and creativity. Whether reinventing the classics for a new audience or presenting an innovative new art form, these events are aimed at expanding horizons. From poetry to music to storytelling, this series leaves our audiences inspired, encouraged, and seeing the world with new eyes.

Information

  • Creator
    Town Hall Seattle
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2017 Town Hall Association. All Rights Reserved.
  • Show Website
    Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series