The October Calendar: Events for Each Day This Month
By Ethan Wolff
October is here, somehow, and even if we’re still living virtually there are plenty of great live presentations headed our way. We’re looking forward to hearing from Deepak Chopra, Nancy Pelosi, Jelani Cobb, Andrew Cuomo, Matthew McConaughey, and many more.
Thursday, Oct. 1. Enter the realm of Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture, as Sudhir Hazareesingh comes virtually to the Graduate Center, CUNY to look at a leader versed in Enlightenment ideas.
Friday, Oct. 2. Click the shutter for Photoville: An Evening with The New York Times, with a look at the year’s most striking stories, including contributors to Sources of Self-Regard: Self-Portraits From Black Photographers Reflecting on America.
Saturday, Oct. 3. Open up and say “ohm” as Deepak Chopra leads a meditation and conversation inspired by his new book, Total Meditation: Practices in Living the Awakened Life. New York Open Center.
Sunday, Oct. 4. Get inventive with The Museum of Interesting Things and a Secret Speakeasy dedicated to the History of Invention, with 16mm films and antique demos.
Monday, Oct. 5. Reorient yourself to Manhattan as Lenape territory as members of the diaspora join The Greene Space for a First Peoples Week session on forced migrations.
Tuesday, Oct. 6. Rack your brain for a good question for Nancy Pelosi, the first womanSpeaker of the House, who will participate in an audience Q&A and conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winner Jonathan Capehart. 92nd Street Y.
Wednesday, Oct. 7. Pucker up for a date with the science of love and relationships: Dr. Marisa T. Cohen leads a Think & Drink Different virtual meetup centered on Connections, Online Dating, and Communication.
Thursday, Oct. 8. Hear the scoop straight from Carl Bernstein of All the President’s Men fame as he joins the New-York Historical Society for a look at the role of the press in Watergate times and beyond.
Friday, Oct. 9. Crack open the book of early 19th century literature as the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden explores what people were reading and why.
Saturday, Oct. 10. Ban the bomb! Or at least think more deeply about it as nuclear anthropologist Martin Pfeiffer talks to artist Andrew Paul Keiper about atomic culture. apexart.
Sunday, Oct. 11. Head behind closed doors as Green-Wood Cemetery gets you out of the virtual realm for their annual Open Doors afternoon, allowing exploration of usually off-limits historic mausoleums.
Monday, Oct. 12. Don’t be an ignoramus when you have the chance to hear from leading critical thinker Renata Salecl, author of the new A Passion for Ignorance: What We Choose Not to Know and Why.
Tuesday, Oct. 13. Reconcile yourself to learning more about confronting dark national histories as the Museum of Jewish Heritage hosts Jelani Cobb and Susan Neiman, author of Learning From the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil.
Wednesday, Oct. 14. Recognize International Archaeology Day with Her Excellency Ms. Ambassador Vanessa Frazier, the Permanent Representative of Malta to the United Nations, who discusses her nation’s 7,000-year-old heritage of architecture and culture. The National Arts Club.
Thursday, Oct. 15. Unleash your creative side with a little help from design: architect Donald M. Rattner presents his new book, My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation, 48 Science-based Techniques, at a Greenwich Library virtual session.
Friday, Oct. 16. Solve one of the great mysteries of the 20th century with the Simons Foundation and Amanda McBrien, Assistant Director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s DNA Learning Center (DNALC), who will tell the story of Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov and the forensic evidence that set the record straight.
Saturday, Oct. 17. Answer the question Now What, New York? with Open House New York and Archtober, as they lead a first-ever virtual scavenger hunt across the five boroughs.
Sunday, Oct. 18. Heed the advice of Governor Andrew Cuomo as he talks about history in real time as laid out in his new book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Monday, Oct. 19. Lend an ear to The New School as it hosts a evening of readings and critical commentary on Lorraine Hansberry, “a literary genius, political revolutionary and a spiritual radical.”
Tuesday, Oct. 20. Lament the erosion of our checks and balances and learn more about their origins as the New-York Historical Society hosts a trio of experts sharing their insight into the origins of the American political system and the branches’s evolution through the presidencies.
Wednesday, Oct. 21. Figure out What Everyone’s Talking About as the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan hosts Jeffrey Toobin, author of True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump.
Thursday, Oct. 22. Tumble down the rabbit hole with the Victoria and Albert Museum and an immersive virtual reality event, providing a sneak preview of the forthcoming Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition.
Friday, Oct. 23. Rev up for Matthew McConaughey, as he sits down with Kate Hudson and talks about his new memoir, Greenlights. Murmrr.
Saturday, Oct. 24. Mark the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage with The New York City Department of Records and Information Services and a communal collecting of the stories of inspiring activist women.
Sunday, Oct. 25. Travel overseas, at least in spirit, as The Art Deco Society of New York goes on a Destination Deco adventure to the Philippines and the world of Deco Manileño.
Monday, Oct. 26. Hazard a conversation with the dead as Morbid Anatomy looks at the meteoric rise of the Spiritualism movement in the 1850s.
Peacock and Peonies, promised gift of Robert S. and Betsy G. Feinberg, ©Photography: John Tsantes and Neil Greentree ©Robert Feinberg.
Tuesday, Oct. 27. Focus on beauty as Japan Society takes a deep dive into standout paintings from Japan’s Edo period, 1615–1868.
Wednesday, Oct. 28. Prep for a System Malfunction as Company HQ brings in Michael Tubbs, mayor of Stockton, California, and Melvin Carter, mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota, to discuss redesigning the nation’s failing infrastructures.
Thursday, Oct. 29. Let literary London of the 18th century come to life with Leo Damrosch, author of The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age.
Friday, Oct. 30. Dress for success and a virtual visit to The National Arts Club for a look at fashion as an aid to committing (and detecting crime); historian Dr. Alison Matthews David (Fashion Victims: The Dangers of Dress Past and Present) leads the way.
Saturday, Oct. 31. Go interactive with artist Tania El Khoury, who talks live arts and engagement in The Audience Commemorating the Dead at The Cooper Union.
For a printable PDF of the October calendar, click here.
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