World History

Stop drowning in manual tasks. Start driving real growth. Join us on the Autonomous Marketer World Tour in London. We’re traveling around the world on a mission to share how successful marketers are implementing AI for bottom-line results: scaling their impact, growing their business, and reclaiming their time. Agenda: 15:45 \| Registration opens \- Grab your badge\, meet fellow marketers\, and enjoy some coffee to get energized for the afternoon 16:00 \- 17:15 \| Learn about Autonomous Marketing and how it can help grow your business and see a demo of Active Intelligence 17:15 \- 18:15 \| Networking reception with fellow Marketers Register [HERE](https://ac.ac-page.com/autonomous-marketer-world-tour-london)

Having children can be a personal, national and global decision. Globally, human population looks unsustainable. But some countries are seeing greater birth rates decline than others, especially in the developed world. At a personal level, the question involves accounting for career trade-offs and other costs. So, do we really need [more] children? We'll discuss... 1\. Do we really *need* to have children? Why? 2\. Why are birth rates declining internationally? 3\. Should government policies incentivise/reward people who decide to have children? *Join us for a relaxed group conversation where we explore the real life, the grey areas, and how our different cultures and backgrounds shape our views about key topics.* *Expect real talk, no judgment, and a chance to hear how others see it.* **\*Come for the discussion, stay for the friendships. Our weekly discussion series brings together thoughtful people for honest conversations on relationships, life, and society—with warm social vibes before and after.\*** **WHAT TO EXPECT:** * Good vibes only: we chat big topics in a chill, respectful way. No arguing - just open-minded exchange. * We warm up with casual socializing (come solo or with friends!) * The topic starts around 7:45/8pm, wraps around 9:30. * 🍕 There's pizza, drinks, milkshakes and snacks available at the bar (incl plant-based options) * And most people stay until late for drinks and mingling! **DISCUSSION FORMAT:** **Our group conversations are open and flexible - there is a very soft guided flow to ensure we focus on the main questions, and to ensure that everyone gets a balanced opportunity to speak. Here's a typically structure, but we adjust on the day depending on the turnout:** \- Introductions and thoughts *(\~5 mins).* \- Group breakouts per question *(\~20 mins x 3).* \- Final round of opinions *(\~10 mins)*. \- Mix and mingle\, make new friends\, get drinks etc *(\~until late)* **EVENT ETIQUETTE (Rules & expectations)** \- Debate the topic\, not the participants \- no personal attacks\! \- No phones\, no interrupting\, no bystanding \- Always follow the moderator/host instructions and guidelines **WHAT IS WORLD CITIZENS?** We're one of London's longest-running and largest communities. Since 2012 we run socials, cultural activities and stimulating discussions to foster meaningful exchange and learning among London's global professionals. They are inspired by MUN (Model United Nations) and salon discussions and offer a more relaxed and social evening version. **LOCATION DETAILS** What: Discussion session followed by social/networking When: Tuesday, 7:30pm until late. Where: Curzon Aldgate (bar area), 2 Canter Way, E1 8PS Closest stations: Aldgate East, Aldgate, Tower Hill/Gateway Cost: Pay for your own meals or drinks Hosts: We have a rotating team and the actual host of each event varies. Our regular members can also help you out with basic matters. *NOTE: like most guests, our volunteer hosts also attend after work and may happen to arrive after the start time. If you are punctual or earlier than our hosts, we highly appreciate this! Please feel free to start socializing already and/or get something to eat or drink - that’s the point of our events anyway. Our regular members can also help you out with any basic matters.* **\*Our other weekly events\*** \- Friday evening socials every week \- Saturday afternoon cafe in Chelsea \- Canary Wharf socials every other Wednesday \- Outdoor fun \(hiking\, kayaking\, etc\) every weekend \- Dining\, cultural and travel activities on\-demand **JOIN OUR TEAM!** We're all volunteers, so if you enjoy organizing activities or events in your spare time, while meeting great people every week, send a message to our team account "TP"! **DISCLAIMER** We are a 100% volunteer-run team. Though we have high standards in planning, this is a private informal activity so we cannot be liable for any damage or inconvenience. However, we put safety and comfort first. We take all complaints seriously, and take severe action against any harassment, verbal or non-verbal, and anti-social behaviour, towards our guests or team members. We collaborate with the police when needed. We take photos and videos which may include you to help promote the community in line with GDPR Data Protection law, as well as stock photos from Pexels or Unsplash. We may restrict or prioritize guests at our own discretion for safety, quality and logistics reasons. While our team's decisions may not be perfect we ask that you follow our decisions first and raise any disputes to discuss with us later and privately. By attending you understand, agree with and respect all terms of this disclaimer.

In the bizarre world of Franz Kafka, salesmen turn into giant bugs, apes give lectures at college academies, and nightmares probe the mysteries of modern humanity’s unhappiness. More than any other modern writer in world literature, Kafka captures the loneliness and misery that fill the lives of 20th-century humanity. The Metamorphosis and Other Stories reveals the author’s extraordinary talent in a variety of forms—prose poems, short stories, sketches, allegories, and novelettes—and showcases the straight–faced humour, startling psychological insight, and haunting imagination for which he is revered as a modern master. We will be reading the Penguin edition of Metamorphosis and Other Stories which contains the following stories: Contemplation (1913) Children on the Road Unmasking a Confidence Trickster The Sudden Walk Resolutions The Excursion into the Mountains The Plight of the Bachelor The Businessman Looking out Distractedly The Way Home The Men Running Past The Passenger Dresses The Rejection For the Consideration of Amateur Jockeys The Window on to the Street Desire to be a Red Indian The Trees Being Unhappy The Judgement: A Story for F. (1913) The Stoker: A Fragment (1913) Metamorphosis (1913) In the Penal Colony (1919) A Country Doctor: Short Prose for my Father (1920) The New Advocate A Country Doctor In the Gallery An Old Journal Before the Law Jackals and Arabs A Visit to the Mine The Neighbouring Village A Message from the Emperor The Worries of a Head of Household Eleven Sons A Fratricide A Dream A Report to an Academy A Hunger-Artist: Four Stories (1924) First Sorrow A Little Woman A Hunger-Artist Josefine, the Singer, or The Mouse People Appendix Aeroplanes in Brescia (1909) Great Noise (1912) The Coal-Scuttle Rider (1921) Available from all good libraries and book shops. You don't have to have read it to join us - but it'll probably help. We will be meeting in The Ludski Bar in the Rio Cinema. [https://www.riocinema.org.uk/your-visit/](https://www.riocinema.org.uk/your-visit/) You are welcome to bring outside food in with you but please buy your drinks from inside the cinema. Thank you. We hope to see you there. ... To join the Brain Worms WhatsApp Group please click here: [https://chat.whatsapp.com/EvFibn1d6AsEwdVGmwkhko](https://chat.whatsapp.com/EvFibn1d6AsEwdVGmwkhko) (in order to stop spam bots this will take you to a Waiting Room. Once in please write your name and we will join you to the main chat). Meetup charges subscription fees. If you would like to make a donation please click here: [https://paypal.me/philosophycollective](https://paypal.me/philosophycollective)

This week we'll discuss chapter 6 of [How Language Began](https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Language-Began-Humanitys-Invention/dp/1781253935/ref=sr_1_1?crid=27SNUKXPY1BWO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pTtn5alJgGZxLimiVijnr1oxTj0AiKpPdpaaVkIUio1hwzPu48_laQFrsnpFEGZMkWvnwbcALfmeyhyeuVQbcNCtoB6oD_Bg6K-GRhzBWrI.g5fzcdJdVKVgxgrTe1s6wn3c6dilMbYkHbhe_yGuzbQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=how+language+began&qid=1768693702&s=books&sprefix=how+language+began%2Cstripbooks%2C90&sr=1-1), by Daniel Everett. In this work Everett presents his views about the origin of language -- that it is a culturally evolved tool for communication, not the product of innate biological instinct or pre-wired universal grammar. If this is your first time attending we meet in the cafe of the Barbican Cinema -- look for for people with copies of How Language Began. Please read the chapter before attending.

PLEASE NOTE YOU MUST book and pay for your ticket in advance at http://www.londonbuiltenvironment.com/ The London Built Environment committee would like to extend you an invitation to our March 2026 City Of London après-work Networking Reception to be held at the famous Gherkin - and hope you can join us for pre-work delicious breakfast and productive business networking to make new contacts and deals for the Rest Of The Year. We now have over 20,000 diverse and relevant London members so it’s the perfect opportunity for making new business connections. See photos from our latest events at http://www.londonbuiltenvironment.com/ PLEASE NOTE YOU MUST book and pay for your ticket in advance at http://www.londonbuiltenvironment.com/ ALSO PLEASE NOTE we take most of our event bookings through our website and EventBrite so the numbers booked is much larger than displayed on this Meetup page (normally about 70-100 guests).

Join Tim for a walk round Albertopolis, better know today as South Ken, the world's first artistic quarter. It emerged after the Great exhibition of 1851, the brainchild of Prince Albert, Victoria's consort. He used the profits from the exhibition to purchase and build a district devoted to the arts and education. Today it is home of some of the world’s greatest public institutions such as the Albert Hall, the V&A and Imperial College. At the time it represented perhaps the peak of Victorian self-confidence at a time when Britain was the world's dominant power and London its greatest city. We'll look at the Victorians’ concerns: the links between art and science, technology and design and the power of education to drive progress. In particular we'll look at the weird and wonderful world of Victorian architecture from mock Gothic to mock renaissance, mock Dutch, and mock baroque. You'll never look at the Natural History Museum in the same way again! We meet at the Pret opposite South Kensington Tube at 11. I'll be there waiting for you from 10.45. We'll walk round the neighbourhood looking at the peculiarities of the Victorians and all their different styles of architecture before ending in a pub for a meal and a chat. Fee is £12 payable in cash on the day, by card, through PayPal or bank transfer. Phone number is O7846899156 for emergencies

Join us at SOAS for a free discussion with author Mattin Biglari about his book *Nationalising Oil and Knowledge in Iran* (2025). ***Nationalising Oil and Knowledge in Iran: Labour, Decolonisation and Colonial Modernity, 1933–51* by Mattin Biglari** Iran’s nationalisation of oil in 1951 was a key catalyst for the rise of resource nationalism as an animating force of global decolonisation, expelling the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC, now known as BP) after nearly fifty years of domination in southwest Iran. *Nationalising Oil & Knowledge in Iran* turns attention to the origins of nationalisation in the everyday struggles between the oil company and subaltern actors in the city of Abadan, then home to the world’s largest oil refinery and deeply imbricated in networks of colonialism and racial capitalism. Engaging with energy history, postcolonial/subaltern studies, and science & technology studies, the book focuses on the politics of expertise: how nationalisation reproduced the epistemic coloniality of the oil company, which rested on local dispossession, social engineering, as well as racial and gendered segregation. It argues that nationalisation diverged from subaltern contestations of oil expertise in Abadan, which presented a more fundamental challenge to colonial modernity. Reservation details: [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/soas-book-discussion-with-mattin-biglari-on-nationalising-oil-in-iran-tickets-1980422394694?aff=ebdssbdestsearch](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/soas-book-discussion-with-mattin-biglari-on-nationalising-oil-in-iran-tickets-1980422394694?aff=ebdssbdestsearch%0A%0A) After the two-hour discussion, we’ll hang around for a chit chat. Are you interested in reading world fiction and non-fiction in English, Spanish and French? Join my other groups: -www.meetup.com/gaia-books -www.meetup.com/gaia-libros -www.meetup.com/gaia-livres -French Art Group (send me a request) -Instagram: @persian_culture_ -Persian Culture Whatsapp group: [https://chat.whatsapp.com/EZk35ZbJZ6W6wwyHyuxoS2](https://chat.whatsapp.com/EZk35ZbJZ6W6wwyHyuxoS2)

Boston Manor House, photo © Copyright [Stefan Czapski](https://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/19114 "View profile") My number is 07815009191. MEET: No. 6 Coffee, 6 Boston Parade, Boston Road, Hanwell W7 2DG. Join me on this walk mostly through green spaces: through Boston Manor Park, along the Grand Union Canal and through the once thriving site of Brentford Dock. We'll even take in an orchard, as we discover the history of Brentford. The town was once the centre of the fruit and veg garden of England with its thousands of acres of market gardens and orchards, the site of two major battles, the place to live with its grand 18th century houses and the 'Golden Mile' of art deco factories. We'll enjoy all this and see the site of probably the greatest crime against heritage of the 20th century. The cost is £12, either cash on the day or to my account sort code 090128 acct number 75471878.

***"The spectacle is the existing order’s uninterrupted discourse about itself, its laudatory monologue. It is the self-portrait of power in the epoch of its totalitarian management of the conditions of existence. The fetishistic, purely objective appearance of spectacular relations conceals the fact that they are relations among men and classes: a second nature with its fatal laws seems to dominate our environment."*** **\- Guy Debord\, *The Society of the Spectacle*** Welcome back readers! By popular request, we're bringing back (for a new generation of LMRG readers) an old favourite: the always-relevant Guy Debord and his masterful *Society of the Spectacle*. We'll kick off with the first three chapters. Find the next here: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/debord/society.htm Often maligned as theorymaxxed nonsense but little-read, this slim volume is certainly dense with ideas - all of which carry as much relevance today as those half-forgotten postwar years when the Situationist International made its mark on the world, if not more. With the rise of the Internet and social media, the decline of literacy and the closing of the mass mind, the endless doom-loop of doomscrolling and bed-rotting, increasingly performative protest, the commodification of everything, the Epstein-approved culture war, and the theatre of spectacular cruelty that is imperialist colonial policy from Gaza to Venezuela, we really are living an age where everything that was once directly participated in has passed into representation. Every hand-grip one searches for to get some kind of grasp on the world seems to be a mirage; "participation" in anything, from politics to culture, has been reduced to fandom - limited to nothing more than expressing approval or disapproval through totally mediated social media platforms. Above it all stands an utterly corrupt, irresponsible elite class more and more transparent in how it relishes in conspiratorial play, power-games with unlimited stakes for us and no consequences for them. Such a world where power wears a shit-eating grin and keeps us off our balance by endlessly[ "flooding the zone"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_the_zone) (in Steve Bannon's terms) with distractions so intricate they short-circuit the collective brain is exactly what Debord not only predicted but described in frightening detail, with more than a little bit of humour. So let's dig in and find out: just what can we do to unplug from the spectacle? Is the spectacle even un-plug-from-able? Debord haters, cope and seethe: as a much more orthodox Marxist than he ever gets credit for, there really are some strategies in here. We just need to be creative. Take care and happy reading!

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ! Welcome to the Highest Rated International Language Exchange group in London,🏆 with 1400+ reviews rated 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Join us on **Friday** for our weekend global language exchange and social 😊🍻🥂 TO ATTEND THIS EVENT YOU **MUST**👇👇 1. Have your Meetup confirmation visible on your phone when you arrive. 2. Collect & wear your badge as soon as you arrive and always BEFORE buying your drinks and food. 3. Pay the £2 event fee. The event starts at 7pm. **The event fee is £6 if you arrive after 8:30pm** Start meeting the community and having fun...lots of fun! www.languages.london 🇬🇧🇪🇸🇫🇷🇯🇵🇮🇹🇩🇪🇮🇳🇨🇳🇧🇷🇰🇷🇪🇬🇭🇰🇺🇸🇨🇴🇺🇦🇹🇷🇷🇺🇦🇺 WHEN & WHERE This Friday we'll be returning to The Craft Beer Co, St Mary Axe.** **Address: 29-31 Mitre Street, London, EC3A 5BU** https://maps.app.goo.gl/49HnHGap8hQMbQNWA **HOW WE DO IT** It's simple .... \~ When you arrive please collect your personalised language badge from us. We'll be waiting to give you a warm welcome 😃 \~ Please wear your badge during the event and always return it before you leave ♻️ \~ Start meeting the community and having fun...lots of fun! Please buy something from the bar to support the venue, who kindly offer us a dedicated space. 🇵🇱🇹🇼🇲🇽🇻🇳🇧🇬🇵🇸🇸🇪🇮🇱🇨🇦🇳🇱🇿🇦🇭🇺🇹🇭🇵🇪🇧🇴🇳🇬🇳🇿🇨🇭 **WHO** Languages in London events are organised for our community - being social, making new friends, building cultural bridges and always very relaxed. We have the largest number of languages and countries represented in our weekly language exchange and social events in London. This is **not** a dating event. Our events are open to Internationals, Locals, Expats, Students, Travellers..... Everyone! Are you an 18 to 24 year old? Come and explore our events. This is the event for a truly global community and for citizens from around the World. Is this the Intercambio you've been looking for? Want to practice your ingles, espanol , francais, italiano, Deutsch, portugues or other European languages? Asian languages ? Or maybe prefer to only speak English.... that's just fine. **All languages and all fluency levels are welcome** Spread the love...Bring your friends 💙 The creator and organiser of **Languages in London - Girish**, will always be visible at the event and there to support you and help with introductions, if you prefer. We want to remain the BEST language events group in London, being the biggest isn't our focus. These are real events with real people. We don't fill our events with inflated numbers and fictitious attendees 👻 **Community members that no-show at our events and inactive members are regularly removed from our group.** **LANGUAGES** Here's a selection of some of the languages that our community speak or have been practicing ... English, Spanish (incl Latin American), French, Italian, Portuguese (incl Brazilian), German, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin & Cantonese), Russian, Korean, Hindi, Turkish, Arabic, Ukrainian, Polish, Hebrew, Swedish, Bulgarian, Vietnamese, Hungarian, Bengali, Dutch, Catalan, Farsi, Greek, Urdu, Welsh, Romanian, Norwegian, Czech, Slovakian, Estonian, Danish, Finnish, Turkmen, Latvian, Lithuanian, Nepali, Yoruba, Filipino, Thai, Albanian, Croatian, Serbian, Ebo, Afrikaans, Tamazight, Tagalog, Creole, Malagasy, Mongolian, Tok Pisin and more... you get the idea! 🇷🇴🇬🇹🇨🇿🇳🇴🇩🇰🇫🇮🇨🇾🇺🇾🇪🇬🇧🇬🇦🇷🇰🇪🇱🇰🇲🇦🇹🇳🇩🇿🇸🇬🇲🇾 **SUSTAINABLE** 🌎🌳 Like you, we really care about our planet. We don't like single use paper name tags, stickers or wristbands as they can't be reused or recycled and can even damage your clothing ☹️ The Solution? ...Our personalised and completely reusable Languages in London badges! 🏆👍 So, please make sure you return your badge to us, before you leave the event. We'll sanitise it (anti bacterial & disinfectant cleaners) and use it again & again & again. Thanks for helping us do the right thing and keep our costs down🙏 **SAFE SPACE FOR EVERYONE** 👮‍♂️ We don't tolerate prejudice or harassment of any kind, at any time. Be polite and respectful to everyone else and they will reciprocate. Let's keep the space safe, welcoming for everyone and free of any political agendas. Please report any concerns to the Organiser immediately. Please look after your belongings, the venue is a public place. We may take photos or video at the event for future promotional use. Let us know if you'd rather not be included, we respect your choice 📸 **SPREAD THE WORD** 🗣️💬 If you enjoy our events, please tell your friends and colleagues and help us grow **your** community, thank you ♥️ Join our community - https://www.languages.london/ We're looking forward to welcoming you at Languages in London 😊👋 🇲🇰🇳🇵🇧🇩🇵🇭🇦🇪🇦🇱🇧🇪🇮🇪🇰🇿🇱🇦🇯🇴🇱🇹🇱🇻🇪🇪🇰🇭🇨🇱🇲🇳🇨🇺

**Join LCC Sunday, March 8th at the Hackney Marshes playing field as we make another attempt at playing the Soviet Union's very own *Zarnitsa,* a capture-the-flag alternative with a small twist.** **WHAT IS ZARNITSA?** Zarnitsa (Зарница), or heat-lightning, officially known as the All-Union Young Pioneer military sports game "Zarnitsa", is a massive multi-player physical sports game developed and practiced by the Young Pioneers communist youth organisation during the Soviet era. The game provides a simulation of military actions such as reconnaissance, co-ordinated offensives, giving chase, etc. Popular once again in modern Russia, this is a simple game designed for children and young people in military/cadet organisations, but great fun for active people of all ages. The rules of Zarnitsa are based on the classic capture the flag concept. Two teams each have a "base area" with a flag contained within, concealed or otherwise. Each team's goal is to protect their own flag and seize the other team's and bring it back to the base area. Players can walk, run, sneak, hide, create diversions and use any means short of physical violence to achieve their objectives. What makes Zarnitsa different from classic CTF is simply this: every player has two velcro-attached shoulder straps that serve as health indicators and can be torn off by the opponents. Losing one indicates "wounded", losing two indicates "dead". The "wounded" players cannot run and should only walk. The "dead" players return to a respawn point or leave the game in some modes. Why are we doing this? Capture the flag is simply top fun and anyone who says otherwise is joking themselves. Zarnitsa's slightly elevated level of complexity should give us just that extra challenge needed to really make it interesting. That said, this is our first go with organising multiplayer sports games, so we'll see what the results are! As always comments, questions, suggestions and concerns are more than welcome - just contact an organiser. Sports games are a great way to get and stay active, meet new people, and break the monotony of everyday life under British capitalism. Let's get out there! For our first attempt at organising a little Zarnitsa league here in London, we'll hit up Hackney Marshes and Wick Woodland. We'll divide into two teams; each will receive coloured vests or other garments to which the health indicator strips are attached. Then we'll take up our places, count down from 60 seconds, and let the games begin! **Note: we'll want at least five people per team for this to really work right, so we'll cancel or reschedule if this one gets less than 9 RSVPs.** There's no limit to how big our group can be of course, so please do join us! Just be sure to either turn up on the day or change your RSVP if you can't make it in the end, just so we know what to expect. Take care and see you on the pitch!

**This is a ticketed event for £10, purchases available at [eventbrite here](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/philosophies-of-east-west-first-evening-tickets-1982072570414?aff=oddtdtcreator&_gl=1%2A1ynpvct%2A_up%2AMQ..%2A_ga%2AOTQxMTAzNjU3LjE3Njk3ODM4NTk.%2A_ga_TQVES5V6SH%2AczE3Njk4NzEwNzckbzMkZzEkdDE3Njk4NzE5NTMkajQ5JGwwJGgw).** Philosophy means the love of wisdom, and being a philosopher essentially means having an active attitude and awareness towards life. We are all born philosophers, with a natural need to ask questions and with the intuition that there are answers to be found. Every civilisation has tried to pass on its wisdom, leaving us a vast heritage of useful knowledge and experiences to rediscover. Explore the timeless ideas that have inspired and guided humanity throughout history and their relevance and practical application for our lives. This first evening can be attended for £10 as a standalone introduction to **Philosophies of East & West** however if you are interested in learning more about the full 18-week course and applying, please visit [philosophiesofeastandwest.org](https://www.philosophiesofeastandwest.org/ "https://www.philosophiesofeastandwest.org/")

**Association of Black Humanists Book Club Meeting** We are delighted to invite members to our next Book Club gathering, where we’ll be discussing ***Spirituality Before Religions: Unseen Science and Seen Spirituality*** by **Prof. Kaba Hiawatha Kamene**. This book challenges us to explore African-centred understandings of spirituality, science, consciousness, and human meaning. It’s a powerful invitation to interrogate what spirituality can look like outside dogma—and what it has meant for Black people historically and today. As Black humanists, this conversation sits right at the intersection of culture, reason, history, and liberation. Expect a rich, respectful discussion, critical reflection, and space for diverse perspectives. The book confronts one of the most enduring legacies of colonial domination: the erasure and distortion of African knowledge systems. Long before imposed religions, our ancestors engaged deeply with science, consciousness, spirituality, and the natural world—without dogma, without fear, and without submission. Date: Saturday, 7th March 2026 Time: 4pm Where: 55 Square Bar & Restaurants, 126 Barking Rd, London E16 1EN

Christians in Tech is a community at the intersection of faith and technology. Our meetups are designed to spark meaningful conversations, promote knowledge sharing, and encourage growth—both in your career and your spiritual walk with God. Whether you're an experienced professional or just starting your tech journey, CIT welcomes you. Our Website [https://linktr.ee/citcbus](https://linktr.ee/citcbus) Sponsors and Partners * Improving (Venue Sponsor) * Bethel World Prayer Center (Fiscal Sponsor) * Fruits & Roots (Coffee Partner)

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

The topic for March is "Our Bodies, Ourselves" Speak Easy: true stories, told live. The idea is simple: an audience, an open microphone, and great stories. Hilarious, gripping, poignant- it's up to you. Audiences are invited to come to listen or come to tell as folks from all corners of Columbus offer their stories live on stage! Held at Wild Goose Creative's warm, intimate space, this night of tales occurs on the 3rd Thursday of every month. Doors open at 6:30 pm, show starts at 7:00 pm. Please arrive early if you want to tell, as we generally only have room for a limited number of tellers, and the sign-up sheet has a tendency to fill up fast. Formed around the idea that people need stories--they're what hold and draw us together--SpeakEasy celebrates the strangeness and commonness of being human. And in a world of smartphones, Facebook, Twitter, and more . . . it gives people a real, breathing, in-person way to connect. The night is geared for true stories of all kinds, taking the best tales told around kitchen tables, in darkened pubs, on the street corner, and at late-night parties and giving them an audience. Speak Easy is also a great outlet for performers, writers, and artists looking to share their favorite stories and perfect their skills. We strongly encourage tellers to please tell the story rather than read it so we keep within the spirit of good storytelling and stay engaged with the audience. All are welcome. Hang around after the show for a drink and build community!

The Humanist Monthly Program is our longest running event and still a community favorite. In the old days it used to be called "Going to HCCO" and we still like to think of it as our flagship event. Food and drinks will be provided at the event. Feel free to show up a little bit early to hang out and talk. Our March speakers are Molly Gaines and Zack Parrish, co-organizers of the Secular Education Association: They will share their story of how a small group of Ohio parents grew into a national organization tracking released-time religious instruction and other church–state issues in public schools. The presentation will cover SEA’s early wins and hard lessons, what we’re seeing nationally right now, and how local advocates can play a meaningful role in protecting public education. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the landscape — and practical ways to get involved. Going forward our meetings will be hybrid. You can meet us in-person or attend online Join Zoom Meeting [https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87836564953?pwd=4Mi57ElZkDIFlb1fnlNwOJ0NiOK4tP.1](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87836564953?pwd=4Mi57ElZkDIFlb1fnlNwOJ0NiOK4tP.1) Meeting ID: 878 3656 4953 Passcode: 760812 One tap mobile +19292056099,,87836564953#,,,,\*760812# US (New York) +13017158592,,87836564953#,,,,\*760812# US (Washington DC) The formal presentation will start at noon

Let's grab some coffee/food and share a morning chat! The East Market has an ample parking lot and outdoor and indoor seating. Grab a cup of coffee from Winston's Coffee & Waffles or on your way to East Market and meet us on the second floor - table behind or east of the elevator. Per what this group is about: "Everyone is welcome! International transplants to Columbus who want to improve language skills, Columbus residents who want to discuss international travel and culture, and anyone who enjoys getting together for good conversations."

Rev. Steven Clevenger is an ordained spiritualist minister with over 40 years experience as a Spiritual Healer, Clairvoyant and Spiritual Teacher, educated and trained at the White Lily Chapel. Rev. Siobhan Wolf Shaffer is an ordained spiritualist minister and certified medium and healer with over 20 years experience. She began her development in 1988 in Pennsylvania and continued when she moved to Ohio in 1998 where she studied at Rays of Lights Church with Rev. Steven Clevenger. Our full worship services consist of an inspirational lecture, healing meditation, and messages from the spirit world that serve to demonstrate evidence of eternal life. Please visit our Official Church Website (http://raysoflightchurch.com) for more information.

Inspired by our successful events like "Saturday Mornings @ East Market" and other "Pot Luck in the Park" lunches, this gathering promises to be a blend of fun conversations, language exchange, and cultural insights, all while sharing wonderful foods with each other. Please bring a dish to share and anything you would like to drink. We will provide plates, plastic silverware and napkins. So, come hungry and ready to chat!