• May 12
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• Stevenson

The Ancient Fruitcake: What Really, Really Old Food Tells Us about History, Culture, Love, and Memory

This talk is not about the old leftovers in the fridge. It is about food that is so old, so unusual, or so meaningful, that no one dares throw it away. Discover the foods archeologists have found buried with mummies, the petrified banana so appealing it sparked a Banana Museum, the 350-year-old fruitcake handed down […]

• May 12
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• Lake Forest Park

The Pine and the Cherry: Japanese Americans in Washington

In the lead-up to World War II, Japantown in Seattle featured grocery stores, cafes, and native-language services, as well as labor and music clubs. Trading companies imported Japanese goods, and restaurants served the familiar sukiyaki, tofu, and miso soup. In Eastern Washington, Japanese farmers prospered. Then came Executive Order 9066. Those born in Japan, as […]

• May 12
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• Spokane

Sasquatch: Man-Ape or Myth?

Throughout the Northwest, people have been reporting encounters with the Sasquatch—a hairy, eight- to ten-foot-tall hominid—for hundreds of years. Yet aside from a collection of large footprint casts and a sizable assemblage of eyewitness accounts, some attributable to the earliest humans in the Northwest, no scientifically accepted evidence has been offered to establish this being’s […]

• May 11
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• White Salmon

The Ancient Fruitcake: What Really, Really Old Food Tells Us about History, Culture, Love, and Memory

This talk is not about the old leftovers in the fridge. It is about food that is so old, so unusual, or so meaningful, that no one dares throw it away. Discover the foods archeologists have found buried with mummies, the petrified banana so appealing it sparked a Banana Museum, the 350-year-old fruitcake handed down […]

• May 11
• |
• Redmond

What Our Teachers Never Told Us about the American Revolution

Discover the American Revolution you never learned about in school. Why did Native Americans and African Americans support the British? How did a Muslim general come to fight the British with a French ally named Admiral “Satan”? Why did the fighting spread around the world, from Hudson Bay to South America, India to Africa, Arkansas […]

• May 10
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• Goldendale

The Ancient Fruitcake: What Really, Really Old Food Tells Us about History, Culture, Love, and Memory

This talk is not about the old leftovers in the fridge. It is about food that is so old, so unusual, or so meaningful, that no one dares throw it away. Discover the foods archeologists have found buried with mummies, the petrified banana so appealing it sparked a Banana Museum, the 350-year-old fruitcake handed down […]

• May 10
• |
• Mount Vernon

When Artists Get Together They Talk About Real Estate

Portrayals of artists as moody, solitary, eccentric, flighty, and impoverished abound in popular culture—a familiar stereotype that traces its roots to the 1500’s. In the 19th century, the image of bohemian artists serially evicted from drafty Parisian garrets became even more popular and inspired the opera La Boheme, which begat countless other adaptations. Today, neighborhoods, […]

• May 10
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• Ellensburg

Hollywood and the Homefront: Tinsel Town’s Contribution to WWII

During World War II, the War Department realized the importance of not only keeping up the morale of America’s fighting forces abroad, but the morale of those at home. The result was an unprecedented push by Hollywood to contribute morale-building war dramas, troop entertainment, and training films to the war effort. Special radio programs, documentary […]

• May 9
• |
• Seattle

The Ancient Fruitcake: What Really, Really Old Food Tells Us about History, Culture, Love, and Memory

This talk is not about the old leftovers in the fridge. It is about food that is so old, so unusual, or so meaningful, that no one dares throw it away. Discover the foods archeologists have found buried with mummies, the petrified banana so appealing it sparked a Banana Museum, the 350-year-old fruitcake handed down […]

• May 5
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• Seattle

Feminism and Popular Culture

Over the past few years, the question “Are you a feminist?” has become the new litmus test for young female celebrities. Their responses—which vary from Lady Gaga’s “I’m not a feminist. I hail men, I love men,” to Madonna’s “I’m not a feminist, I’m a humanist”—indicate a lack of clarity on what the term means, […]