Intellectual Discussions

🗓 **English Speaking Club — Sunday Meetup at Grabli (Pyatnitskaya Street, 27с1)** Want to practice your English, meet new people, and have some fun? *Join our English Speaking Club this Sunday at 15:00 at Grabli (Pyatnitskaya Street, 27с1)! ☕️* 💬 **What to Expect:** We meet in a **friendly atmosphere to chat 1-on-1 in English — every 15–20 minutes you’ll switch partners**, so you get to talk to many different people. **After that, we play some English board games** — it’s a great way to relax, laugh, and keep practicing naturally. 🎲✨ ⏳ **Duration:** *Around 2 hours total:* 🗣 *1.5 hours of chatting* ☕️ *5-min break* 🎯 *25 min of English games* 👥 **Who Can Join:** *Our club welcomes everyone from Intermediate to Advanced (B2–C2) levels. We’re here to practice and get better together.* 💵 **Price & Registration:** * 🇷🇺 **For locals: 600₽** *+ a drink at the café* * 📱 **Sign up in advance** *via* [Telegram-bot](https://t.me/Payment_RealTalkEnglish_bot) * ✨ **If it’s your first time**, *you can pay at the meeting — welcome!* * 🌍 ***For foreigners: FREE entry — no sign-up required!*** ⚡️ **Club Rules:** * ***Speak English only.*** * ***Don’t “teach” or correct others unless they ask for help.*** * ***Be respectful and open-minded — we’re all here to connect and learn together.*** * ***Don’t impose your religious, political, or other personal views on others.*** * ***Please order a drink or snack to support the café that hosts us.*** ☕️ ✏️ **Questions?** *Don't hesitate to reach out to Kirill via* [WhatsApp ](https://wa.me/+79857387761) / [Telegram](https://t.me/RealTalkSpeakingClub). **💻 Stay connected:** [Our Telegram channel](https://t.me/RealTalk_english_speaking_club) [Our VK](https://vk.com/yourrealtalk)

🗓 **English Speaking Club — Sunday Meetup at Grabli (Pyatnitskaya Street, 27с1)** Want to practice your English, meet new people, and have some fun? *Join our English Speaking Club this Sunday at 15:00 at Grabli (Pyatnitskaya Street, 27с1)! ☕️* 💬 **What to Expect:** We meet in a **friendly atmosphere to chat 1-on-1 in English — every 15–20 minutes you’ll switch partners**, so you get to talk to many different people. **After that, we play some English board games** — it’s a great way to relax, laugh, and keep practicing naturally. 🎲✨ ⏳ **Duration:** *Around 2 hours total:* 🗣 *1.5 hours of chatting* ☕️ *5-min break* 🎯 *25 min of English games* 👥 **Who Can Join:** *Our club welcomes everyone from Intermediate to Advanced (B2–C2) levels. We’re here to practice and get better together.* 💵 **Price & Registration:** * 🇷🇺 **For locals: 600₽** *+ a drink at the café* * 📱 **Sign up in advance** *via* [Telegram-bot](https://t.me/Payment_RealTalkEnglish_bot) * ✨ **If it’s your first time**, *you can pay at the meeting — welcome!* * 🌍 ***For foreigners: FREE entry — no sign-up required!*** ⚡️ **Club Rules:** * ***Speak English only.*** * ***Don’t “teach” or correct others unless they ask for help.*** * ***Be respectful and open-minded — we’re all here to connect and learn together.*** * ***Don’t impose your religious, political, or other personal views on others.*** * ***Please order a drink or snack to support the café that hosts us.*** ☕️ ✏️ **Questions?** *Don't hesitate to reach out to Kirill via* [WhatsApp ](https://wa.me/+79857387761) / [Telegram](https://t.me/RealTalkSpeakingClub). **💻 Stay connected:** [Our Telegram channel](https://t.me/RealTalk_english_speaking_club) [Our VK](https://vk.com/yourrealtalk)

This month's prompt concerns the idea of the “warrior philosopher” (seemed appropriate in these times)--that is someone whose understanding of violence, power, and justice is forged through direct experience of war. We are looking at Major General Smedley D. Butler, a highly decorated U.S. Marine raised in a Quaker (pacifist) tradition who later became a prominent critic of American militarism (there is a wonderful biography of Gen. Butler called "Gangsters of Capitalism") Butler's argument in *War Is a Racket* (1935): that many U.S. interventions were driven less by national defense than by corporate and financial interests, with Butler portraying himself as an enforcer for business and Wall Street. We can consider the moral ambiguity of his insider critique—whether complicity strengthens or undermines credibility and also consider some of the concrete reforms he proposed (e.g., “conscript” capital before soldiers, restrict the military to coastal defense, and have only those who fight decide on war). Butler’s life arc clearly changed from pacifist upbringing to warrior to antiwar crusader—and asks whether true understanding of peace requires firsthand knowledge of war, and what that implies about the cost of suffering. So do we need to suffer to understand suffering? Do we have to experience war to appreciate peace? As one more question: in the movie "A Few Good Men" Jack Nicholson's character says that "you have the luxury of not knowing what I know" so do most of us go through life oblivious to real violence and suffering? See you at Drunken Philosophy!

In *City Lights*, Chaplin's Little Tramp meets a blind girl selling flowers who mistakes him for a wealthy man. When he learns that an operation may restore her sight, he sets off to earn the money she needs to have the surgery. He also befriends an alcoholic millionaire who only recognizes him when he is drunk. When the blind girl and her grandmother fall behind in the rent and face eviction, he tries working and even enters a boxing competition to raise the money they need. Regarded as Chaplin's masterpiece, *City Lights* has been ranked on more than seventeen "100 greatest movies of all time" lists. Orson Welles cited it as his favorite picture. *City Lights* is available for streaming on Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBOMax, Tubi and PlutoTV. The Columbus Library lists three copies on blu-ray and eight copies on DVD. Watch the movie on your own, then join us upstairs at East Market to discuss the film.

Who else is ready to sit outside? Join us for a casual chat over coffee & tea at Grandview Grind! Come out and meet some new people, enjoy your favorite drink, and make some new friends!

...and speaking of breakthrough roles: who can forget the first time we saw Tom Cruise singing Bob Seeger in his underwear? Often considered an updated 1983 version of The Graduate, the movie sparkles with memorable lines and original music. I only regret that I was never told that "Princeton could use someone like Bob..." See the movie first and join us for some "Cruisin'"

Let’s meet and share our thoughts about Carson McCullers’ novella, The Ballad of The Sad Café.

Sleep in on Sundays. When you've had your fill of pajama-time, roll out and have some tasty brunch with your fellow Humanists!

Let’s meet, wander the exhibits and open galleries, and enjoy an evening out in the Franklinton Arts District. (Nearby pay parking is available in the garage on McDowell, right around the corner from One Line Coffee, and, past it along the curb as McDowell dead ends.)