Town Hall Seattle Science Series

Despite grief being one of the most universal of human experiences, there is still much that we do not know about it. Can we die of a broken heart? What happens in our bodies as we grieve; how do our coping behaviors affect our physical health, immunity, and even cognition? While we may be more familiar with psychological and emotional ramifications of loss and sorrow, we often overlook its impact on our physical bodies. In The Grieving Body: How the Stress of Loss Can Be an Opportunity for Healing, the follow-up to its successful predecessor The Grieving Brain (2022), grief expert, neuroscientist, and psychologist Dr. Mary-Frances O’Connor focuses on how the painful ordeal of grief impacts the body. O’Connor shares scientific research, charts, and graphs coupled with personal stories, revealing new insights on grief’s physiological impact and helping illuminate the toll that loss takes on our cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune systems and the larger implications for our long-term well-being. The Grieving

The routines of modern life can often cause us to fall out of touch with our surroundings. But reconnecting with our world can go much further than just stopping to smell the roses – and without having to travel very far at all. In his newest book Close to Home: The Wonders of Nature Just Outside Your Door, conservation biologist Thor Hanson encourages readers to see just how many exciting natural discoveries can be made in our most familiar environments. Close to Home takes a magnifying glass to the yards, gardens, and parks we already know and shows the hidden wonders that lie in plain sight – if you know how to look for them. With a skilled and enthusiastic eye, Hanson shows the range of natural features and systems that thrive all around us. From migrating monarch butterflies casually moving through Kansas City to the language of neighborhood birds to the complexity of life in an overgrown lawn in New England — digging into the secrets of our local soil can help satisfy our sense of curiosity without leav

Have you wondered how psychedelics are being intentionally used by artists, writers, musicians, and other creatives to push the boundaries of their craft? This session kicks off our new series, Psychedelic Salon, with a panel of esteemed Seattle artists who will discuss the role of psychedelics in Seattle’s countercultural movements and how they influence artistic expression. Expect a candid conversation on the relationship between altered states and creativity, with insights from prominent Seattle creatives known for their experimentation. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how psychedelics can be used as a tool for creative flow and self-expression. April Pride is a serial creative entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience developing brands and products across interiors, fashion, lifestyle, cannabis, psychedelics, audio, and more. In 2015, she launched Van der Pop, an industry defining, female-focused cannabis lifestyle brand. Van der Pop published the pioneering Women & Weed Survey explo

Artificial intelligence is an actively surging field in today’s digital landscape, and as each new AI interface reaches the public it throws into sharper resolution that all the big tech players are getting involved. And quickly. But where are the roots of this rapidly expanding industry’s interests? How does AI impact individuals, established industries, and the future of our society if it continues to grow faster than it is critically examined? In his newest book Taming Silicon Valley: How We Can Ensure That AI Works For Us, author and scientist Gary F. Marcus uses his expertise in the field to help readers understand the realities, risks, and responsibilities the public faces as AI gains widespread traction. Taming Silicon Valley aims to compare and critique the potential futures that AI– alongside Big Tech strategies and governmental involvement– could present to our world. Marcus asserts that if used and regulated properly, there are openings for huge advancements in science, medicine, technology, and

The ocean has proven endlessly mysterious and fascinating to all manner of people across the globe, but for centuries true knowledge of the depths was simply out of reach. As modern technologies advance, science has debunked much once held to be true – including the idea of the “silent world” of the ocean. What was once thought to be a muffled marine landscape with little to no perceptible sounds has now been revealed to be a complex interplay of aquatic acoustics. In her debut book Sing Like Fish: How Sound Rules Life Under Water, science journalist Amorina Kingdon turns up the volume on groundbreaking discoveries in ocean soundscapes, why this research is important to our ecosystems, and how human impact is playing more of a role than science realized. Sing Like Fish explores how the complexity of oceanic noise goes far deeper than the familiar hits like whale song and crashing currents. Sound travels four times faster in water than in air and its reach in environmental impact is as expansive as the seas th

Whether it’s staying up late in front of the screens or waking up before dawn for that early morning flight – it’s easy to tell when something big has thrown off our routines. But what about the little things that add up over the course of a day, a week, or our lives overall? How do small adjustments to our daily practices affect our long-term relationship with the balance between our bodies and the busy technology-driven world we live in? In her new book, author and science journalist Lynne Peeples explores how our often hectic habits can impact our physical, mental, and social health. The Inner Clock: Living In Sync with Our Circadian Rhythms peeks behind the blackout curtains to consider how learning more about our internal systems could help provide an extra boost to ourselves, our performance, and our planet. Drawing from emerging new fields of research and exciting first-hand experiments, Peeples seeks to understand how the science of circadian rhythms could potentially be applied to a wide range of are

With tech giants such as Microsoft and Amazon, Seattle will be instrumental in the future of data and its effects on society. What are the long-term consequences of humanity’s recent rush toward digitizing, storing, and analyzing every piece of data about ourselves and the world we live in? How will data surveillance, digital forensics, and AI pose new threats––and opportunities? In their new book, The Secret Life of Data, authors Aram Sinnreich and Jesse Gilbert explore what might happen with all the data that we collect. They build on this basic premise: no matter what form data takes, and what purpose we think it’s being used for, data will always have a secret life. They show how this data can be used, by other people in other times and places, and the profound implications for every aspect of our lives––everything from our intimate relationships to our professional lives to our political systems. Sinnreich and Gilbert have interviewed dozens of data experts to explore a broad range of scenarios and conte

One instance of grief can be difficult enough to cope with, but for Lawrence Ingrassia, losing multiple family members was not only devastating but perplexing. Typical discussions surrounding inheritance may include heirlooms or estates — not rare tumors in the cheeks of toddlers, as was the case for Ingrassia’s two-year-old nephew. After he lost his mother, two sisters, brother, and nephew to different types of cancer, Ingrassia was unsure whether his family’s generational heartbreak was merely misfortune or if there was some other cause. In his book A Fatal Inheritance: How a Family Misfortune Revealed a Deadly Medical Mystery, Ingrassia weaves his own family history with a history of cancer research. Part memoir, part medical thriller, Ingrassia’s work begins in the 1960s with Dr. Frederick Pei Li and Dr. Joseph Fraumeni Jr., groundbreaking researchers and physicians who would later uncover links between genetics and cancer. A Fatal Inheritance journeys from the early days of discovery to present-day devel

Did you know that plants can hear sounds? And have a social life? Science writer Zoë Schlanger shares even more remarkable plant talents in her latest book, The Light Eaters, illustrating the tremendous biological creativity it takes to be a plant. To survive and thrive while rooted in a single spot, plants have adapted ingenious methods of survival. They communicate. They recognize their own kin. Schlanger immerses into the world of being a plant, into its drama and complexity. Scientists have learned that plants, rather than imitate human intelligence, have perhaps formed a parallel system. What is intelligent life, Schlanger argues, if not a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing, and make its way toward it? Our understanding and definition of a plant is rapidly changing. So then what do we owe these life forms once we come to comprehend their rich and varied abil

Can you think of occasions where you wanted to say something, but couldn’t? Perhaps you stopped yourself out of fear, or due to outside pressures. Having a seat at the table doesn’t necessarily mean that your voice is welcome. A new book is aiming to examine the influence of silence and offer ways that we can begin to dismantle it to find our voices at home and work to shift the paradigm. In Unlearning Silence: How to Speak Your Mind, Unleash Talent, and Live More Fully author Elaine Lin Hering explores the difficulty that can come with speaking up, especially when there may be incentives to stay silent to avoid unwanted consequences. Hering discusses how we as a society have learned to be silent, how we have benefited from silence, and how we have silenced other people. She also offers advice on how we can choose another way,  creating new patterns, becoming more complete versions of ourselves, engaging more fully with our talents, and helping others do the same. Elaine Lin Hering is a facilitator, speaker,

Your gut microbiome consists of trillions of microbiota and is a critical health determinant, affecting your immune system, mood, energy level, and much more. As a scientific field, microbiome research is new to the scene, but the intricate relationship between our gut and our overall health is clear – and getting clearer. In April, Netflix started streaming Hack Your Health, an informative documentary about the gut microbiome, gut health, and the science of eating. In this collaborative event between Town Hall Seattle and the Institute for Systems Biology, Hack Your Health Director Anjali Nayar will sit down with gut microbiome specialist Dr. Sean Gibbons, a scientific advisor on the film, to discuss the project, interesting developments in microbiome research, and much more. Anjali Nayar is an Indian-Canadian director, former climate scientist, and tech founder. Anjali’s newest film, a Netflix Original called Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut is streaming on Netflix, and her fantasy short Closer h

The very fact of being human makes us vulnerable to pandemics, but it also gives us the power to save ourselves. The COVID-19 pandemic most likely won’t be our last—that is the uncomfortable but all-too-timely message of Sabrina Sholts’ new book, The Human Disease. Traveling through history and around the globe to examine how and why pandemics are an inescapable threat of our own making, Sholts draws on dozens of disciplines—from medicine, epidemiology, and microbiology to anthropology, sociology, ecology, and neuroscience—as well as a unique expertise in public education about pandemic risks, to identify the human traits and tendencies that double as pandemic liabilities. Though the COVID-19 pandemic looms large in Sholts’s account, it is, in fact, just one of the many infectious disease events explored in her book. When the next pandemic happens, and how bad it becomes, is largely within our highly capable human hands—and will be determined by what we do with our extraordinary human brains. Sabrina Sholts i

Can you find lifelong love with an AARP card in your wallet? Dori (72) and Mack (69) did, and they’ve got a lot to say on the subject! Join them for a candid chat where they dish on discovering love later in life. Balancing time for each other, family, friends, and furry companions? Yep. Talking about merging households? Yep. Starting a family? Probably not going to happen. People in their third act of life tend to seek more than mere flesh and flash, instead craving depth and maturity. Ignorance of each other’s previous lives provides the bliss of having an abundance of stories, perspectives, and wisdom waiting to be discovered; an endless adventure! Dori Gillam is a speaker and writer on aging creatively and ageism and is the Board Chair for the Northwest Center for Creative Aging. She is a native Seattle-ite and loves hiking. www.dorigillam.com Mack McCoy is New York City born and raised and has been a real estate broker in Seattle for 30 years. His hobbies include playing pop music with friends and admiri

Disinformation has been used throughout history as a tool to intentionally deceive or manipulate the enemy. In our present age of information, where fabricated news stories, photos, or posts of any kind can be spread in an instant, we find ourselves especially vulnerable to the potentially devasting effects of weaponized disinformation. Lee McIntyre is an author and Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University. McIntyre has penned multiple publications exploring the science behind strategic deception. In On Disinformation, the author guides readers through a seventy-year history of strategic political denials, dating back to Soviet intelligence operations in the 1920’s. With the added support of interviews from leading experts on information warfare, counterterrorism, and political extremism, McIntyre lays out the path that has led to our current moment of polarization. In response to the crisis McIntyre presents, he outlines steps that political leaders can take to

Have you ever made coins float in water? Or created a geode from an egg? If not, Emmy-nominated science TV host Emily Calandrelli can show you how. Calandrelli, MIT-trained engineer turned internet STEAM star, demonstrates science experiments you can do at home with common household products as the host of Netflix’s Emily’s Wonder Lab and through her popular social media channels. Following the success of her first book, Calandrelli has developed 50 new science experiments for the whole family to do together in Stay Curious and Keep Exploring: Next Level. Calandrelli is passionate about exploring science with families. She is open about her own parents’ lack of science background and how that led her to hone her skill of explaining scientific concepts in ways that are understandable and accessible. By offering opportunities to explore STEAM in your everyday life, Calandrelli will invite you to get your hands in some real, fun science. Emily Calandrelli is an MIT engineer turned science TV host. She’s the host

We all get frustrated with our inability to remember people’s names, find our keys, or recover a lost computer password. Fortunately, these experiences are not reflections of our broken brains, but the fact that the brain didn’t evolve the complex mechanisms of memory so that we could remember that guy we met at that thing. In fact, human memory is so much more than a personal archive or database. It’s a powerful and pervasive force that runs through all human experience and to a shocking degree makes us who we are – not just a record of the past, but as a determinative force in the present. Dr. Charan Ranganath, a leading memory researcher, unveils the surprising aspects of human memory in his new book Why We Remember revealing how memory shapes our lives, impacts our decisions, and holds the key to understanding our past and planning for the future. This science narrative explores the unseen influence of memory on emotions, choices, and well-being, offering valuable insights for a broad audience, including

Join Judy Kinney, Executive Director of GenPride, and members of the LGBTQ+ community for a lively discussion about how to stay proud and engaged as they age. GenPride advocates for Seattle/King County older LGBTQIA+ adults’ unique needs through programs and services that cultivate well-being and belonging. Judy Kinney (she/they) is an experienced non-profit leader and community builder who has devoted 20 years of her career to protecting, supporting, and advancing the well-being of older adults, including promoting the equality, safety, and health of older LGBTQIA+ people. Judy is deeply committed to centering the intersections of age, race, and LGBTQ+ identities in GenPride’s work. Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Northwest Center for Creative Aging.

Discover the unexpected diversity, beauty, and strangeness of life in ancient lakes — some millions of years old — and the remarkable insights they yield about the causes of biodiversity. Most lakes are less than 10,000 years old and short-lived, but there is a much smaller number of ancient lakes, tectonic in origin and often millions of years old, that are scattered across every continent but Antarctica: Baikal, Tanganyika, Victoria, Titicaca, and Biwa, to name a few. Often these lakes are filled with a diversity of fish, crustaceans, snails, and other creatures found nowhere else in the world. In Our Ancient Lakes, biology professor Jeffrey McKinnon introduces the remarkable living diversity of these aquatic bodies to the general reader and explains the surprising, often controversial, findings that the study of their faunas yield about the formation and persistence of species. Shining a light on a class of biodiversity hot spot equivalent to coral reefs in the ocean or tropical rainforests on land, Our An

Delve into the urgent and critical issue of cervical cancer prevention with Dr. Linda Eckert.  Cervical cancer claims the lives of almost 350,000 women each year, a staggering toll that is compounded by the fact that the disease is nearly 100% preventable. Dr. Linda Eckert, a leading expert in cervical cancer prevention, brings her wealth of experience to the forefront in her book, Enough. Dr. Eckert intertwines evidence-based information with the poignant narratives of women who have battled cervical cancer, using their experiences to advocate for change. The book provides a compelling exploration of the barriers — cultural, gender-related, and political — that hinder women’s access to healthcare and contribute to the devastating consequences of this preventable cancer. Dr. Eckert addresses the issues with clarity and compassion, making for a talk that’s accessible to everyone from the general public to those passionate about global health, women’s stories, and the pressing need for health equity. Be part of

Join Rebecca Crichton in conversation with Andrea Cohen, a long-time facilitator of Compassionate Listening practices. Andrea will share personal stories of how these practices have transformed conflicts – with families, friends, and within challenged communities – into relationships based on greater understanding, caring, and connection. Andrea Cohen, MSW, is a certified Compassionate Listening facilitator. She is the author of Practicing the Art of Compassionate Listening and director of the Compassionate Listening film Children of Abraham. She also co-directed the Compassionate Listening-based Jewish-German Reconciliation Project for several years. Rebecca Crichton started her “Encore Career” as Executive Director of NWCCA in 2012 after 21 years with The Boeing Company. She refashioned her skills and knowledge as a writer, curriculum designer, and leadership development coach to offer Creative Aging programs at many Seattle area venues. An active participant in the local aging community, she writes regula