Schedule

Members of Paris’s Oulipo literary collective, whose members have included Raymond Queneau, Georges Perec, and Italo Calvino, will lead two workshops offering an introductory sampler of generative literary forms and constraints, from the alphabetical to the macro-narrative. These participatory writing exercises, the fruits of which will be presented later in the evening, show the fascinating fate of freedom of expression when we voluntarily, precisely, curtail it. Each workshop is limited to 20 participants, and advanced registration is required.

Members of Paris’s Oulipo literary collective, whose members have included Raymond Queneau, Georges Perec, and Italo Calvino, will lead two workshops offering an introductory sampler of generative literary forms and constraints, from the alphabetical to the macro-narrative. These participatory writing exercises, the fruits of which will be presented later in the evening, show the fascinating fate of freedom of expression when we voluntarily, precisely, curtail it. Each workshop is limited to 20 participants, and advanced registration is required.

Harper’s Magazine, the nation’s oldest continuously published monthly magazine and now celebrating its 175th anniversary, has served as both witness to and participant in American history—chronicling the moments when once-familiar certainties collapsed and gave way to new worlds. For this session, writers and performers will read selections from the magazine’s archives that capture transformative moments in American democracy, including texts by Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, James Baldwin, and more.

Let’s play a serious game. Imagine you wake up and you are living in good conditions. You’re excited about your life, the state of the world, and what lies ahead in the future. What is it like? How does the world differ from the present? Most importantly, how are we going to keep going?

This workshop is an invitation to imagine the routine supports and services, conditions and systems, organizations and institutions that would allow a society to adapt to changing circumstances—to flourish and explore and grow. We are going to practice speculative thinking in order to sketch what is required for leading a good life and to put some anchors in place for strategically thinking about where we go from here.

Participants are encouraged but not required to attend the keynote conversation on inequality at 6:00 PM. This session is organized in collaboration with Interintellect, which convenes online and in-person salons focusing on philosophy, science, literature, history, and the arts. This workshop is limited to 20 participants, and advanced registration is required.

A musical improvisation inspired by the evening’s program.

Join us for this intimate salon exploring equality, a central topic of this year’s Night of Ideas. Over wine and cheese, we will consider: What does it mean to treat equality not simply as a policy goal but as a condition of human dignity? Come ready for a warm, searching conversation about what we owe one another—and what it takes to build a society where showing up as yourself is enough.

Participants are encouraged but not required to attend the keynote conversation on inequality at 6:00 PM. This session is organized in collaboration with Interintellect, which convenes online and in-person salons focusing on philosophy, science, literature, history, and the arts.

The workshop is limited to 20 participants, and advanced registration is required.

John Ganz, author of When the Clock Broke and creator of the Unpopular Front newsletter, and journalist Max Read, who writes the newsletter Read Max, will discuss the so-called “Dark Enlightenment”—a loose constellation of neoreactionary thought that rejects core tenets of liberal democracy and the egalitarian legacy of the Enlightenment. They will trace its development and examine its leading figures, consider why it resonates so strongly in tech and media circles, and ask what the growing attention to these ideas around the world reveals about our present political moment. Ganz and Read host a weekly Substack Live chat about politics, tech, and culture.

Curated by New York Review Books, this literary program brings together writers and performers to read texts shaped by encounters with French and American literature. The session features works by François-René de Chateaubriand, Henry James, Colette, Raymond Queneau, and more. Readers include writer and critic Lucy Sante (author of The Other Paris, Low Life, and I Heard Her Call My Names), punk pioneer Richard Hell (who will read from Godlike, his novel transposing the notorious romance of Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud to the East Village), and acclaimed novelists Sophie Kemp (Paradise Logic) and Stephanie Wambugu (Lonely Crowds).

An upbeat performance to close Night of Ideas. Peter Matson and Domenica, co-leaders of the New York band Underground System, perform Afro-disco, highlife, and dance classics alongside longtime collaborators Mayteana Morales (vocals, percussion) and Nikhil P. Yerawadekar (vocals, bass).