Profs and Pints Meetup-Metro DC

Profs and Pints DC presents: “Doom and Dinosaurs,” a look at how mass extinctions shaped the dinosaurs and what research on these events tells us about Earth life’s long-term prospects, with Ian Wilenzik, paleontologist and visiting assistant professor of biology at George Washington University.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/dc-doom-and-dinosaurs .]

Pity the poor dinosaurs. They lacked both scientific research to help deal with potential environmental catastrophes and places where they could have a beer and discuss it.

You, on the other hand, have the opportunity to come to Profs and Pints to hear a fascinating talk on the impact of mass extinctions on dinosaur evolution and what research on dinosaurs tells us about biodiversity and Earth’s current biodiversity crisis.

Dr. Ian Wilenzik, who has studied and taught courses on dinosaur evolution, population spread, and extinction, will leave you with a greater appreciation of the resilience of life on earth and how we’re both the product and source of biologically catastrophic events.

Many of us are familiar with how a big meteor impact about 66 million years ago wiped out the Earth’s dinosaur population, leaving us only with their feathered descendants, birds. Less well known is how the Earth actually has undergone five periods of mass extinction that wiped out nearly all life, and how dinosaurs arose from one and endured another—both caused by volcanic activity—before meeting their match in the third.

To ground his discussion, Dr. Wilenzik will talk about how we study mass extinctions by looking for geologic evidence of volcanic activity, meteoric blasts, and other catastrophic activity and of gaps in the fossil record after them.

He’ll also discuss what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur, describing their distinct anatomical features. He’ll talk about how they and other forms of life evolved over long periods of time and were affected by extinction events.

We’ll look at how the meteor-caused mass extinction that wiped out dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous paved the way for the rise of mammals and the emergence of primates, and, eventually, us. Looking ahead to future mass extinctions and what might survive them, we’ll talk about how that plant you forget to water might have the last laugh, as well as why crocodiles might be around a while. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.)

Image: A Triceratops mounted skeleton at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History (Photo by Allie Caulfield / Wikimedia Commons).

Profs and Pints Northern Virginia presents: “Doom and Dinosaurs,” a look at how mass extinctions shaped the dinosaurs and what research on these events tells us about Earth life’s long-term prospects, with Ian Wilenzik, paleontologist and visiting assistant professor of biology at George Washington University.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nv-dino-doom .]

Pity the poor dinosaurs. They lacked both scientific research to help deal with potential environmental catastrophes and places where they could have a beer and discuss it.

You, on the other hand, have the opportunity to come to Profs and Pints to hear a fascinating talk on the impact of mass extinctions on dinosaur evolution and what research on dinosaurs tells us about biodiversity and Earth’s current biodiversity crisis.

Dr. Ian Wilenzik, who has studied and taught courses on dinosaur evolution, population spread, and extinction, will leave you with a greater appreciation of the resilience of life on earth and how we’re both the product and source of biologically catastrophic events.

Many of us are familiar with how a big meteor impact about 66 million years ago wiped out the Earth’s dinosaur population, leaving us only with their feathered descendants, birds. Less well known is how the Earth actually has undergone five periods of mass extinction that wiped out nearly all life, and how dinosaurs arose from one and endured another—both caused by volcanic activity—before meeting their match in the third.

To ground his discussion, Dr. Wilenzik will talk about how we study mass extinctions by looking for geologic evidence of volcanic activity, meteoric blasts, and other catastrophic activity and of gaps in the fossil record after them.

He’ll also discuss what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur, describing their distinct anatomical features. He’ll talk about how they and other forms of life evolved over long periods of time and were affected by extinction events.

We’ll look at how the meteor-caused mass extinction that wiped out dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous paved the way for the rise of mammals and the emergence of primates, and, eventually, us. Looking ahead to future mass extinctions and what might survive them, we’ll talk about how that plant you forget to water might have the last laugh, as well as why crocodiles might be around a while. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.)

Image: A Triceratops mounted skeleton at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History (Photo by Allie Caulfield / Wikimedia Commons).

Profs and Pints Northern Virginia presents: “Facing Fascism,” on the history, hallmarks, and lingering power of a deadly ideology, with Kevin Matthews, professor of history at George Mason University and teacher of courses on early 20th century European history.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/nv-facing-fascism .]

Few political movements have aroused as much anger and fear as fascism. But despite its legacy of violence, persecution, and genocide, fascism continues to hold a strange attraction to many.

Join historian Kevin Matthews for an in-depth look at an ideology that brought death to millions in Europe and yet continues to deeply influence our politics and culture.

Dr. Matthews will start by discussing how the ideology of fascism arose in the aftermath of the First World War and took hold in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s.

To give you a better grasp of what exactly fascism is, he’ll discuss its central themes: Anti-democracy. Extreme nationalism and anti-communism. The use, or threat, of violence in politics. Rejection of established values such as scientific objectivity. Denial of equal rights, especially for women. The assertion of power where a power vacuum exists.

We’ll examine the rise and fall of two notorious fascist dictators, Adolf Hitler of Germany and Benito Mussolini of Italy. For a time it was believed that fascism died in the ashes of the Second World War, but it clearly didn’t, and we’ll look at where it remains a political force today.

Finally, we’ll examine how fascism continues to permeate popular culture in ways that trivialize it, popping up in music from punk to Madonna, with its latent eroticism making it the subject of films such as The Night Porter. Having been called “the most self-consciously visual of all political forms,” it enlisted fashion leaders to produce uniforms and continues today to inspire a look known as “Nazi chic.”

Dr. Matthews previously has given fantastic Profs and Pints talks on Ireland’s fight for independence and on World War II German submarine attacks off our coasts. He’s sure to leave you with a much better understanding of fascism and a recognition that is has hardly gone away. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.)

Image: Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler during Mussolini's 1940 visit in Munich (photographer unknown / public domain).

Profs and Pints DC presents: “Fake News and War of the Worlds,” a look at an infamous Orson Welles broadcast as an early lesson on mass media’s dangers, with Daniel H. Foster, associate professor and chair of liberal arts at Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute.

[Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/dc-war-of-worlds .]

On the evening of October 30th, 1938, somewhere between 6 and 12 million Americans tuned in the radio version of New York City’s experimental Mercury Theater. It was a decision that some, no doubt, came to regret. What they heard was an all-male chorus of talking heads—scientists, journalists, politicians, and military experts—repeatedly telling them that New Jersey was being invaded by Martians.

The ensuing hours were alarming ones for those who did not realize they were listening to Mercury Theater on the Air’s adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells science fiction novel War of the Worlds. The performance, directed by and starring Orson Welles, pushed the still young medium of radio drama further than many had pushed it before. Its masterful use of music, sound effects, and especially silence showed how radio could ignite the imagination and make listeners fear the worst.

Revisit that classic moment in media history, and learn what lessons it holds for us today, with Professor Daniel Foster, who over the years has taught the “War of the Worlds” broadcast as part of courses in radio, theater, and sound studies at several universities.
His talk will go beyond the trivia and urban legends surrounding the broadcast and focus on the broadcast itself, to reveal what really happened and why it mattered. He’ll look at the broadcast not just as a moment of public panic, but a daring work of art.

Aired during a period of rapid modern change, marked by the rise of dictators in Europe to the recent fiery destruction of the Hindenburg, the “War of the Worlds” broadcast tapped into widespread anxiety about new technologies and invading forces. Often labeled as an early case of “fake news,” it exposed deep questions about the institutions listeners trusted: education, the media, government, and the military.

To emphasize the mischief radio can bring to the world, Orson Welles, at the end of the broadcast and in person, compared the radio to a jack-o-lantern and warned us to beware this “invader of the living room.”

Answering questions about the performance, its historical context, and radio as a medium—new, blind, and global— isn’t merely an academic exercise. It can help us better understand how fake news works today and how to detect such lies before they cause irreparable harm. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.)

Image: A Henrique Alvim Corrêa illustration from a 1906 edition of War of the Worlds (Wikimedia Commons).