1. Not only does LIVE from the NYPL has some impressive guests coming to the stage soon, but some of these guests have some impressive facial hair, too. Behold the first ever LIVE from the NYPL Guest Battle of the Beards! Pictured above on the left is philosopher Daniel Dennett, coming to LIVE tomorrow night (May 8). On the right is artist Matthew Barney, LIVE’s guest on May 21. We’re thinking this is a tie… Speaking of ties, beards and LIVE guests, congrats to David Chang for winning the title of outstanding chef at last night’s James Beard Foundation awards. He shares the honor with Paul Kahan, becoming only the third pair to tie for the top award in the foundation’s history. Chang comes to LIVE from the NYPL on May 28. 

    Not only does LIVE from the NYPL has some impressive guests coming to the stage soon, but some of these guests have some impressive facial hair, too. Behold the first ever LIVE from the NYPL Guest Battle of the Beards! Pictured above on the left is philosopher Daniel Dennett, coming to LIVE tomorrow night (May 8). On the right is artist Matthew Barney, LIVE’s guest on May 21. We’re thinking this is a tie…

    Speaking of ties, beards and LIVE guests, congrats to David Chang for winning the title of outstanding chef at last night’s James Beard Foundation awards. He shares the honor with Paul Kahan, becoming only the third pair to tie for the top award in the foundation’s history. Chang comes to LIVE from the NYPL on May 28. 

  2. Attention Moist Robots

    Human beings, Mr. Dennett said, quoting a favorite pop philosopher, Dilbert, are “moist robots.”

    “I’m a robot, and you’re a robot, but that doesn’t make us any less dignified or wonderful or lovable or responsible for our actions,” he said. “Why does our dignity depend on our being scientifically inexplicable?”

    - Daniel Dennett speaking with The New York Times 

    Attention moist robots: Daniel Dennett will be at LIVE from the NYPL next week with fellow philosopher Jim Holt talking about how we answer life’s most fundamental questions. 

    And, according to today’s Times (quoted above), Dennett isn’t just a fascinating philosopher, he also knows his way around a boat, too. 

  3. Can’t join us in person? Tune in online!

    Can’t make it to the Library for the Performing Arts tonight for “Platinum Punk,” Debbie Harry and Chris Stein’s conversation with Will Hermes? Didn’t snag tickets to tomorrow’s sold-out installment of LIVE from the NYPL with Sandra Day O’Connor, Madeleine Albright and moderator Anne-Marie Slaughter? If you can’t join us in person, you can still join us online. We’ll be live-streaming both events!

    Click here to watch tonight’s program - part of the Rhapsodic City: Music of New York series - with Blondie’s Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, and Will Hermes, starting at 6pm EDT. 

    And tune in here tomorrow night at 7pm EDT, to watch Sandra Day O’Connor and Madeleine Albright in conversation with Anne-Marie Slaughter.

  4. Almost everything I love about New York is typified in this curator of public curiosity…Holdengräber crafts unreasonably interesting conversations in front of live audiences to satisfy a public curiosity that we sometimes don’t even realize we collectively have. He likes to talk to the best people in their respective fields, and in the course of conversation to ‘see what falls out of their pockets.’ With Holdengräber acting as a sort of cultural Robin Hood, we’re the lucky beneficiaries of his intellectual pickpocketing.

    — 

    Head on over to Full Stop to check out Tyler Malone’s great interview with our very own Paul Holdengräber, director of LIVE from the NYPL.

    And visit the Library on February 25, when Adam Phillips takes the stage with Paul for the next installment of LIVE. Adam talked about “what falls out of your pockets once you start to speak” when he appeared at LIVE from the NYPL back in 2007. Listen to a recording of the conversation here.

  5. It’s become a LIVE from the NYPL tradition for Paul Holdengräber to begin each event by reading a seven-word bio written for the occasion by the evening’s guest. Last night, Paul welcomed John Irving to the stage for opening night of LIVE’s Spring 2013 season, and the audience soon found out that the acclaimed author had been inspired to write a few others, too. Oh, and that he’s a big fan of the semi-colon. John Irving’s seven-word bio for himself: “Imagined missing father; wrestled, wrote, fathered children.”  …for his dog, Dickens: “Best dog ever — she had a family.”  …for Charles Dickens: “Had many kids; wrote about unhappy childhoods.”   …for Herman Melville: “More than a postal worker; knew whales, too.” LIVE’s Spring season continues on Monday with Carlo Ginzburg. Check out the full schedule here.  Photo credit: Sarah Stacke

    It’s become a LIVE from the NYPL tradition for Paul Holdengräber to begin each event by reading a seven-word bio written for the occasion by the evening’s guest. Last night, Paul welcomed John Irving to the stage for opening night of LIVE’s Spring 2013 season, and the audience soon found out that the acclaimed author had been inspired to write a few others, too. Oh, and that he’s a big fan of the semi-colon.

    John Irving’s seven-word bio for himself: “Imagined missing father; wrestled, wrote, fathered children.” 

    …for his dog, Dickens: “Best dog ever — she had a family.” 

    …for Charles Dickens: “Had many kids; wrote about unhappy childhoods.”  

    …for Herman Melville: “More than a postal worker; knew whales, too.”

    LIVE’s Spring season continues on Monday with Carlo Ginzburg. Check out the full schedule here. 

    Photo credit: Sarah Stacke

  6. livefromthenypl: Do what the man says. The John Irving Meme is officially a thing. (Or we just made it one, anyway.)  LIVE from the NYPL’s Spring 2013 season begins tonight with John Irving! Get tickets here.

    livefromthenypl:

    Do what the man says.

    The John Irving Meme is officially a thing. (Or we just made it one, anyway.) 

    LIVE from the NYPL’s Spring 2013 season begins tonight with John Irving! Get tickets here.

  7. The Mystery Guest on Bloomberg TV’s “Taking Stock with Pimm Fox” last Friday might not have been much of a mystery to our Tumblr readers. That’s because it was our very own Paul Holdengräber, Director of LIVE from the NYPL. And speaking of LIVE, tickets for the series’ Spring 2013 season are on sale now at www.nypl.org/LIVE, and guests include John Irving, Toni Morrison, Sandra Day O’Connor, Junot Díaz and more!

  8. It’s no secret that The New York Public Library has a hearty appreciation for food. So with chef Marcus Samuelsson here on Monday, restaurateur Danny Meyer and a delicious panel of writers here on Tuesday, and the Lunch Hour NYC exhibition currently on display, we did what anyone would do: have a Macaroni and Cheese Cook-Off! Head on over to the Huffington Post to find out what happened when NYPL staffers tried out mac and cheese recipes from Marcus Samuelsson, Blue Smoke, and even Horn & Hardart’s Automat recipe, available at Lunch Hour NYC. (The photo above is the winning dish!) 

    It’s no secret that The New York Public Library has a hearty appreciation for food. So with chef Marcus Samuelsson here on Monday, restaurateur Danny Meyer and a delicious panel of writers here on Tuesday, and the Lunch Hour NYC exhibition currently on display, we did what anyone would do: have a Macaroni and Cheese Cook-Off! Head on over to the Huffington Post to find out what happened when NYPL staffers tried out mac and cheese recipes from Marcus Samuelsson, Blue Smoke, and even Horn & Hardart’s Automat recipe, available at Lunch Hour NYC. (The photo above is the winning dish!) 

  9. Two fun facts we learned about Tom Wolfe at last night’s installment of LIVE from the NYPL:1) He has excellent taste in footwear (that’s a picture of his shoe/sock ensemble above)2) His writing implement of choice is the Twist-Erase mechanical pencil. That’s what he used to write most of his new book, Back to Blood. Photo Credit: Jori Klein

    Two fun facts we learned about Tom Wolfe at last night’s installment of LIVE from the NYPL:
    1) He has excellent taste in footwear (that’s a picture of his shoe/sock ensemble above)
    2) His writing implement of choice is the Twist-Erase mechanical pencil. That’s what he used to write most of his new book, Back to Blood.

    Photo Credit: Jori Klein

  10. Get your novel-writing on tomorrow evening when LIVE from the NYPL hosts a National Novel Writing Month write-in.  livefromthenypl: LIVE from the NYPL welcomes all National Novel Writing Month participants to come to The New York Public Library on Tuesday, November 20th for a Write-In. Spend a few minutes or hours writing in the Edna Barnes Salomon room to brainstorm, ponder, and work on your NaNoWriMo challenge.  Where else would be a better place to write than somewhere that is already home to thousands of stories? LIVE would like to help you add your story to our collection.

    Get your novel-writing on tomorrow evening when LIVE from the NYPL hosts a National Novel Writing Month write-in. 

    livefromthenypl:

    LIVE from the NYPL welcomes all National Novel Writing Month participants to come to The New York Public Library on Tuesday, November 20th for a Write-In. Spend a few minutes or hours writing in the Edna Barnes Salomon room to brainstorm, ponder, and work on your NaNoWriMo challenge. 

    Where else would be a better place to write than somewhere that is already home to thousands of stories? LIVE would like to help you add your story to our collection.