Curiosity Club: Fun with Factual Failures

Showings

Hollywood Theatre Mon, Jun 22, 2015 7:00 PM
Series
Series:Regular Programming
Promotions
Promos in Effect:Member Guest Pass (YES)
Guest Pass (YES)

Description

Monday, June 22 at 7:00pm  |  $5  |

The first ever Curiosity Club off-site is coming! On June 22nd, 2015, Curiosity Club takes over the Hollywood Theatre to try out an experimental new format. As their slogan goes, "We admit that it is impossible to know everything about anything and thus we remain perpetually curious and perpetually novice.” Part of good noviceship is asking questions, and Curiosity Club is taking your questions to the stage!

Throughout life human beings are presented with de facto “truths” that are actually totally erroneous. These untrue “truths” may come from pervasive misunderstandings within culture, they may be handed down through institutional systems like education, government or religion, and sometime they come straight from a trusted authority figure like a parent. Big or small, they deserve to be questioned!

We've asked a power panel of Curiosity Club alumni to share some of the best and worst “facts" that they've ever come across. They will discuss the historical situations that led to these misconceptions, the proof that these “truths" are actually false, and their thoughts and feelings on living these lies.

Confirmed Speakers:

CHRIS HIGGINS
AUTHOR - CHRISHIGGINS.COM
"TRUST TYLENOL"

In 1982, seven people in Chicago died after taking cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules.  In the years since, Johnson & Johnson’s response to the crisis has been lauded as a public relations triumph…but what really happened?

Chris Higgins is the author of The Blogger Abides, and his work has appeared in This American Life, mental_floss, and The Atlantic. Primarily a magazine writer, Higgins’s latest piece is the cover story for Oregon Business Magazine, entitled The Good Hacker.

NORA WENDL
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE AT PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY - NORAWENDL.COM
"THE FICTION OF ARCHITECTURE"

One woman's journey through the lie that buildings tell the truth.

Nora Wendl questions the composition of architecture—seeking to expand the perception of what the discipline’s built forms and histories are (and could be). Her compositions exist on a spectrum between the written artifact and the built artifact, aligning architecture and its histories with the adjacent fields of fiction, poetry, contemporary art and literature. She is Assistant Professor of Architecture at Portland State University. She has co-edited a book with Isabelle Loring Wallace, of Contemporary Art about Architecture: A Strange Utility (Ashgate, 2013). Her research has been featured in various academic and literary publications including Journal of Architectural Education, Architecture and Culture, On Site: Review, Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, 306090, and Invisible City and presented, performed and exhibited at various international and national venues.

ETHAN SIEGEL
THEORETICAL ASTROPHYSICIST AND PROFESSOR, LEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE - STARTS WITH A BANG
"ACCEPTING THE FATE OF THE UNIVERSE"

It's relatively common knowledge that the Universe began from a hot, dense state known as the Big Bang, but the scientific answer for how the Universe will end was only uncovered in 1998. It flew in the face of our sensibilities and expectations, but here's the story of how one scientist overcame his objections and biases to accept it.

Ethan Siegel fell in love with the Universe at a young age, and has spent his life trying to understand the mysteries of space, time, and everything that exists. He's a theoretical astrophysicist, professor and science communicator, who writes for NASA, Forbes, and the award-winning science blog Starts With A Bang!

COLEMAN STEVENSON
FACULTY, ART INSTITUTE OF PORTLAND  - JAWS OF HELL
"MOTHS | RUST | THIEVES"

From her mother's haunting personal "wisdoms," to the question of Pluto's planethood, Stevenson's talk (part poem, part essay) looks at ways we encourage children to believe our existence is fixed and absolute.

Coleman Stevenson's first collection of poems, The Accidental Rarefication of Pattern #5609, was published by bedouin books in 2012. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in a variety of publications such as Paper Darts, Seattle Review, E-ratio, Laurel Review, Osiris, Louisiana Literature, and Mid-American Review, and the anthology Motionless from the Iron Bridge. She was a featured writer for the FA/WI 2014 Poetry Press Week. She lives in Portland, Oregon, where she teaches poetry and design communication.

CHARLES BOARDMAN
ASSISTANT CLINICAL PROFESSOR - OREGON HEALTH SCIENCES UNIVERSITY
"UNKNOWN UNKNOWNS, OR, WHAT THE BEARS SAW"

Charles will talk about how Goodnight Moon is actually a post-human meditation on the enslavement of carnivores to an all-powerful herbivore master race, and the permanent, matryoshka-esque expansion of the unknown.

Charles Boardman is a medical practitioner, scientist, teacher, father, untrained male dancer, and failed extremist.

NIAL MCGAUGHEY
AMPLIFIER BUILDER - HOVERCRAFT AMPS
"TBA"

memes become fact
the truth of the past, wasn’t…  
experience is relative

Nial McGaughey is a Designer, Engineer, and Founder of several Musical Instrument manufacturing companies including Hovercraft Amps. He spent over 2 decades breaking things in the video game and software industry with a 'secret other life' playing in bands around the world.

MIKE MERRILL
PUBLICLY TRADED PERSON - KMIKEYM.COM
"TBA"

Description Forthcoming

Kenneth Michael Merrill (also known as Mr. Mike Merrill, Mikey, or KmikeyM) is a publicly traded person and businessman in Portland, Ore. He is a co-owner of Manila Mac, and the owner of K5 Media LLC. He manages Urban Honking, where he has a blog, is the Editor-In-Chief of Portland Sportsman, and is a highly esteemed member of The YACHT Trust. He runs a co-operative Research Lab, co-hosts the Bright Future of Tobacco podcast, produces TV with Team Video, is a founding member of Whiskey Friends, and is currently working on some exciting new developments.ok!