The next NY Salon event will be a discussion of Rebecca Skloot’s NY Times best seller: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Wednesday February 8 2012, 7pm.
This is not a walk-in event. You must email jean@nysalon.org to attend. Spaces are limited so please let us know if you wish to attend and if you wish to bring a guest.

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells – taken without her knowledge in 1951 – became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance. This phenomenal NY Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew.

You can buy the book here (and yes, you must read the book!).

What started off as a fairly small “occupation” has now gained international attention and spurred similar spontaneous proceedings in several parts of America. The protestors at Zuccotti park present the issue as 99% of people against 1% of people in society. Is this a new radical movement that promises to upend the contemporary consensus in mainstream politics? Is this a new dawn of a 1960’s style series of demonstrations? To what extent does the extensive media attention given to OWS reflect a sympathy more broadly in society for them? Is there a need for leadership in such situations?

The New York Salon invites you to a dinner, with international journalist Nathalie Rothschild, who recently reported from Israel on the “J14 tent” demonstrations and has written about OWS.

The wannabe tyrants of Wall Street: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/11145

Please RSVP to alanvibe@aol.com or nysaloninfo@yahoo.com if you would like to attend and venue details will be released.

The NY Salon has partnered with The Battle of Ideas 2011, organizing this event in NYC in November as part of an international series of Satellite events that spans Europe, India and the US.

The next NY Salon event will be a discussion of New York Times columnist David Brooks’ new book: The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement.

Monday May 9 2011, 7pm.
This is not a walk-in event. You must email jean@nysalon.org to attend. Spaces are limited so please let us know if you wish to attend and if you wish to bring a guest.

Brooks’ satirical novel explores the way we form our emotions and character. It chronicles the life cycle of a fictional couple—Harold, a historian working at a think tank, and Erica, a Chinese-Chicana cable-TV executive—as a case study of the non rational roots of social behaviors, from mating and shopping to voting. Through their story Brooks explores the unconscious mind and how it shapes the way we eat, love, live, vacation, and relate to other people. What is the best way to build true relationships? How do we instill imaginative thinking? How do we develop our moral intuitions and wisdom and character?

You can buy the book here (and yes, you must read the book!).