Charlottesville Profs and Pints

Profs and Pints Charlottesville presents: “Tariffs, Corruption, and Sugar,” a look at how capitalism and empire changed the food we eat, with David Singerman, assistant professor of history and American studies at the University of Virginia and author of Unrefined: How Capitalism Reinvented Sugar.

[All tickets must be purchased online, with sales tax and processing fees added, at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/charlottesville-tariffs-corruption-sugar .]

The wealthier societies get, the more sugar they seem to eat, even though scientists increasingly blame sugar for various modern maladies such as widespread obesity and diabetes.

Our addiction to sweetness is hardly just the product of our appetites, however. It has a long, unsavory history driven by forces infinitely more powerful than any sweet tooth, being largely the creation of sugar empires that over the past 500 years have made fortunes for a few and brought misery to millions.

Learn the fascinating story of how sugar came to dominate both our pantries and our politics with David Singerman, a historian of science, technology, the environment, and American capitalism.

You’ll learn how sugar was once an artisanal product, valued on the basis of natural properties like color, taste, texture, and even sound. The owners of Caribbean plantations depended on the expertise of enslaved workers to make sugar that could be sold back to Europe.

Eventually, however, the planters and industrialists involved with the sugar trade grew uncomfortable with their reliance on the knowhow of the enslaved. They responded by reinventing sugar as a pure chemical substance. In the process, they also changed the landscape of the Caribbean.

Professor Singerman will describe how sugar interests later became major players in American politics in the Gilded Age, an era marked by political corruption somewhat similar to that of our own time. The “Sugar Trust” became the most notorious monopoly in the country, and tariffs on sugar imports emerged as one of the nation’s most divisive partisan issues.

You’ll hear about politicians being punched in the street, about sugar con men who vanished with millions in investors’ money, and about a conspiracy so sweetly devious that not even the Justice Department could figure it out.

This talk will offer insights on the origins of current issues including debates over President Trump’s tariffs and America’s interests in the Caribbean. (Advance tickets: $13.50. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Doors open for talk attendees at 4:30 pm and the talk starts at 6 pm.)

Image: “Shipping Sugar,” an 1823 print by William Clark (Royal Museums Greenwich / Public domain).

Profs and Pints Charlottesville presents: “How Do You Fly This Thing?” a discussion of the basics of piloting airplanes and navigating your local airspace, with Nate Young, FAA-certified commercial pilot and flight instructor at Washington International Flight Academy.

[All tickets must be purchased online with sales tax and processing fees added. Available at https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/profsandpints/charlottesville-fly .]

For many of us, riding in an airplane from point A to B is an act of faith. Lacking much understanding of how the plane flies, how anyone flies it, or what’s happening around us, we sit there experiencing varying degrees of trust and trepidation.

Profs and Pints is offering those who want a deeper understanding of airplane flight the next best thing to a seat in the cockpit: An evening with an airplane pilot and instructor at one of the region’s largest flight schools.

You’ll learn the basics of how airplanes fly, focusing on the importance of lift, weight, drag, and thrust as well as how airplanes harness the laws of physics. Young will explain what pilots are actually looking at when they scan the instrument panel, how to understand and predict turbulence, and principles on landing an airplane—and living to tell all about it—should you ever find yourself in a cockpit all by yourself.

We’ll cover the basics of how to read a navigation chart and look at the “roadmaps” that pilots of all types use in getting around the United States. You’ll learn how to read and predict weather like a pilot, based on how they take into consideration cold or warm fronts, low- or high-pressure systems, radar, and weather information sites. You’ll gain a sense of how to view clouds through their eyes, considering cloud shape, color, and height to predict bumpiness or unstable air and whether a nasty thunderstorm is brewing.

Young, who trains private pilots, commercial pilots wanting to become flight instructors, and retiring U.S. military pilots seeking to transition to commercial airline work, also will discuss how pilots make risk assessments using FAA-approved frameworks. We’ll cover explanations for in-flight turbulence and other things you might experience as a passenger.

Finally, we’ll explore Virginia’s rich aviation heritage, including its pivotal role in early American aviation. You’ll hear about how Virginia has long punched above its weight in terms of aviation’s historical milestones, from the early days of reconnaissance balloons used in the Civil War, to the first powered aircraft, to cutting edge aeronautical research during the Cold War.

Young will connect that history to the airspace pilots fly today and explain how regional airspace design reflects both history and modern safety needs. Whether you’re a nervous flyer, a frequent traveler, a history buff, or an aerodynamicist, you’ll be glad you climbed on board for this talk. ( Advance tickets: $13.50. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Doors open for talk attendees at 4:30 pm and the talk starts at 6 pm.)

Image: Photo by Nate Young