Monday, Nov 17, 6 PM at The Irish American Bar - sign up here.

An interview with City Councilmember Tiffany Cában. We talk about the issues of mental health and substance use, often in the context of public safety and crime in NYC. How much of the talk is cheap? How many existing and proposed solutions actually move the needle on the crisis NYers see in their daily commutes? Expect a tough, but fair exchange on the city’s role and effectiveness in addressing mental health issues and drug use in the streets. What’s the way forward? Bring respectful questions.

6 PM - “Doors” Open

6:15 PM An interview with r: Ed Manzi, Founder of Unmuted

6:45 PM Q&A

7:15 PM Closing Comments

The events I’ve got my eye on this week across the spectrum. A mayoral debate between comics, mobile voting, and two political halloween parties! Plus the marathon is Sunday.

🗓 Monday, November 3
• 4:30 PM Walls of the Mind(⚪ Non-partisan, open-mindedness)
Where: 115 Broadway, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10006
Who: New York Academy for Sciences
What: Excited for this one - I plan to be there. Americans have profoundly different ideas about what is real, ideas that sometimes verge on the irreconcilable. These notions depend on walls of the mind: stubborn boundaries that work to enforce particular points of view, as if each of us was stranded on some other island of idiosyncratic thought. This may SEEM a bit too meta, but it is a really important topic and I’m curious how Prof. Anand Pandian (speaker) tackles the subject.

• 6:00 PM Democracy Under Pressure (🟦 Liberal, Anti-Trump)
Where: Roosevelt House, Hunter College
Who: Roosevelt House
What: A talk between Dorian Warren and Joseph Lowndes, progressive academics who do not like Trump and aren’t willing to have a genuine conversation on why the electorate turned on them, on how cities can resist authoritarianism in grassroots ways. I hope one of the resistance ideas is “build a platform that people actually want to vote for you on”, but something tells me the time for true Democratic soul-searching has passed…

🗓 Tuesday, November 4
• 6:00 PM – Election Watch Party (🟥 Republican, Watch Party)
Where: Maxwell Social
Who: The Manhattan Institute
What: Maxwell Social is an AMAZING venue. So if you’re a republican looking for a place to watch, I can’t over-recommend this venue. I also recommend this event if you want some fancy h’ordeuvres!!

•8:00 PM – Election Watch Party(🟦 Socialist, Watch Party)
Where: Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden, 2919 24th Ave, Astoria, Queens.
Who: NY Democratic Socialists of America
What: It’s the (likely) ascendancy of Zohran Mamdani and the DSA as a legitimate political force. If you voted for Mamdani, or really really enjoy watching people celebrate winning, this is the event for you. If you didn’t vote for Mamdani, just say you voted for Sliwa. I think this crowd would be weirdly more receptive….

🗓 Wednesday, November 5
• 6:00 PM – Religion in America (⚪ Non-partisan, Religion)
Where: SoHo Torch & Crown
Who: UNMUTED
What: We are at 65+ paid sign ups, and will cap at 75. So sign up now! A Rabbi, a Priest, and an Imam discuss immigration, October 7, and other topics. A bit of a panel, a bit of organized break-outs, and some Q&A. These are the tough but engaging conversations we need to have.

🗓 Thursday, November 6
• 6 PM – Safety & Security Summit: An Evening with Paul Mauro
(🟥 Republican, Public Safety)
Where: Metropolitan Republican Club
What: An open bar event at the Metropolitan Republican Club. Discussing recent violence that the Club blames on the Radical Left, including Charlie Kirk, Portland, and others. Won’t be anything you haven’t heard before - I will NEVER understand how bringing in the national guard is supposed to be a viable strategy - but it’s a nice space.

• 7 PM – The Age of Extraction (🟦 Liberal, Antitrust)
Where: Stephen A. Schwartzmann Building
Who: NYPL
What: Tim Wu (Columbia Law) and Lina Khan (former head of the FTC) discuss all things anti-trust and Big Tech. If that doesn’t excite you without any more information, then this might not be the event for you. Tickets currently sold out, but website mentions they may release tickets in the last 30 minutes to ensure a packed house (free tickets too). I will be attending this if I can.

🗓 Friday, November 7
• 6 PM – Women’s Event
Where: Ziegfeld Ballroom (141 W 54th St)
Who: The LGBTQ Community Center of New York
What: The Center's premier event celebrating the contributions of LGBTQ+ women. The gala and after party help raise funds for the work of the org, including advocacy, immigration and mental health assistance, and other support services. If you’ve got the money and a free Friday event, seems like a good time!

🗓 Saturday, November 8
• 1 PM – Collage Making for Liberation (🟦 Super Liberal, Protests)
Where: Elizabeth Catlett Art Space & Printmaking Studio
Who: The People’s Forum
What: A one-day course w/ Queens-based therapist and artist Ashley Lagrange. Seems like a nifty workshop to learn how to create collage art as a medium for protest. It will be very liberal (the People’s Forum are practically self-identified communists), so keep that in mind, but if that's no issue, this seems like a really cool learning experience on learning how to create protest art.

🗓 Sunday, November 9
• 8 AM –Kristallnacht Remembrance / Anti-antisemitism Vigil Space
(⚪ Non-partisan, Judaism)
Where: Museum of Jewish Heritage
Who: Museum of Jewish Heritage
What: The Museum is open free from 8:00 AM–8:00 PM for Kristallnacht Remembrance, marking the 1938 anti-Jewish pogroms and, this year, explicitly tying rising antisemitism, October 7, and threats to Jewish safety to current politics

Show up, think deeper, and as always, stay Unmuted!

The Unmuted Team