Ed Park, Pippa Garner, jaimie branch, Black Holes, Ghost Streams, and more.

In celebration of Marlon James's epic new book "Moon Witch, Spider King," the second installment in his acclaimed Dark Star trilogy—his self-described “African Game of Thrones”—James is joined by author, astrophysicist, and Pioneer Works Director of Sciences Janna Levin to discuss fiction, speculation, and fantasy. 

Dark Star is not a linear trilogy; rather, each book is a very different version of the same story. "Moon Witch, Spider King" stands on its own as mythic and “deliciously obscene” (San Francisco Chronicle), bringing us deep into the world of Sogolon, the Moon Witch, as she endeavors to find a mysterious missing boy. The journey takes us to new truths about the Moon Witch and the world. ♦

, we speak with storytellers influenced by science in the broadest sense: from naturalism to futurism, from observation to fantasy, from the past to the future, from nature to technology.

In this event in the series, we are thrilled to host Pulitzer Prize winner 

Possibly a reference to the sinister edible houses of folklore, 

 deftly interweaves stories, narrative styles, and incisive observations to inspire speculation as well as nostalgia about both the past and the future. Join Pioneer Works Director of Sciences 

 as she welcomes Egan in conversation on memories, the collective unconscious, and a dystopian present. 

Books will be available for sale and a book signing will follow the conversation.

We regret that the band Semisonic will not be able to perform during this event as had been previously announced.

is the author of several novels and a short story collection.  Her 2017 novel, 

, a New York Times bestseller, was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and was chosen as New York City’s One Book One New York read.  Her previous novel, 

, won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Los Angeles Times book prize, and was recently named one of the best books of the decade by Time Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, and several others.  Also a journalist, she has written frequently in the New York Times Magazine.  She recently completed a term as President of PEN America.  Her new novel, 

 is the Director of Sciences at Pioneer Works and the editor-in-chief of 

. She is also a professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a PEN-award winning novelist. She is the presenter of the NOVA feature 

, aired on PBS—the first female presenter for NOVA in 35 years. She is the author of 

How the Universe Got Its Spots, A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, 

Space is limited for this event. We want to welcome everyone and will do our best to accommodate our audience, although we regret that an RSVP cannot guarantee a seat. We encourage you to come early to secure a seat or a spot.

This project is supported by Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation initiative dedicated to engaging everyone with the process of science, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology, bridging the two cultures of science and the arts.

Doors: 7:00pm
 
Conversation: 8:00pm
 
 
Book signing will follow
 
 
RSVP Required

Science vs Fiction: Jennifer Egan on The Candy House

Science vs. Fiction: Marlon James and Janna Levin on Moon Witch, Spider King

In this new series, we speak with storytellers influenced by science in the broadest sense: from naturalism to futurism, from observation to fantasy, from the past to the future, from nature to technology.

Famed Academy Award and Emmy Award-nominated writer, director, and producer Jonathan Nolan joins PW Director of Sciences Janna Levin to talk about his catalogue of imaginative works, from "Memento" to "The Prestige" to "Westworld" to "The Peripheral." The two discuss collaborating with his brother, the promise and perils of AI, the origins of Batman, and more. As Levin notes on Nolan's canon, "One of the most amazing things about looking at your work is you seem infused naturally with a genuine love of science. You’re that rare animal who also finds these dramatic narrative threads and extrapolations from those ideas.” ♦

Famed Academy Award and Emmy Award-nominated writer, director, and producer Jonathan Nolan joins PW Director of Sciences Janna Levin to talk about his catalogue of imaginative works, from "Memento" to "The Prestige" to "Westworld" to "The Peripheral." 

Science vs. Fiction: Jonathan Nolan

"I don't want to talk about my films." It was quite a proviso, coming from legendary German filmmaker Werner Herzog, at the start of his conversation with Janna Levin at Pioneer Works. Known for producing, writing, and directing more than 60 feature and documentary films, including 

, Herzog wanted to focus instead on his long standing writing practice—specifically, his new memoir, 

Every Man for Himself and God Against All

. Long-awaited, the book is as inventive and daring as Herzog is, and tells the story of his epic artistic career in his inimitable voice.

Luckily for everyone, Herzog did end up discussing his films (if only as a means to return to poetry), as well as his childhood of poverty in Germany, the “murderousness” of nature, and surviving against all odds. ♦

To launch his new memoir, Every Man for Himself and God Against All, Werner Herzog sat down with Janna Levin to talk about his childhood of poverty in Germany, the “murderousness” of nature, and surviving against all odds. 

Science vs. Fiction: Werner Herzog

In celebration of his latest film, "The Whale," award-winning director Darren Aronofsky is joined by our Director of Sciences, astrophysicist Janna Levin, for a special conversation about storytelling, science, math, and god. ♦

In celebration of his latest film, "The Whale," award-winning director Darren Aronofsky is joined by our Director of Sciences, astrophysicist Janna Levin, for a special conversation about storytelling, science, math, and god.

Darren Aronofsky

Science vs. Fiction: Darren Aronofsky

In celebration of Jennifer Egan's new book, 

, a sibling novel to her Pulitzer Prize-winning 

, Egan is joined by author, astrophysicist, and Pioneer Works Director of Sciences Janna Levin to discuss memories, the collective unconscious, and a dystopian present.

 deftly interweaves stories, narrative styles, and incisive observations to inspire speculation as well as nostalgia about both the past and the future. ♦

In celebration of Jennifer Egan's new book, The Candy House, a sibling novel to her Pulitzer Prize-winning A Visit from the Goon Squad, Egan is joined by author, astrophysicist, and Pioneer Works Director of Sciences Janna Levin to discuss memories, the collective unconscious, and a dystopian present.

Possibly a reference to the sinister edible houses of folklore, The Candy House deftly interweaves stories, narrative styles, and incisive observations to inspire speculation as well as nostalgia about both the past and the future.

Science vs. Fiction: Jennifer Egan on "The Candy House"

Science vs. Fiction: Marlon James on "Moon Witch, Spider King"

Janna Levin and Jonathan Lethem talk about the science of fiction and the fiction of science. Lethem weaves conceptual and scientific notions into his masterful novels, including his latest, 

, which tells of the arrival of a monstrous, technologically advanced, espresso-machine supercar into a charming, placid, small town in coastal Maine. While the vision came to him quite suddenly, he explained that the idea stems from apocalyptic notions as a child of the 60s and 70s. Levin’s new book, 

 (with artwork by Lia Halloran), is a fun romp through an ill-fated exploration of black holes. The pocket-size book invites readers into the very real science of this ultimate universal force.

Is there a distinction we should draw between dystopian and apocalyptic? Or between Sci Fi and speculative fiction? Tune in while the authors converse from their own murky environments in the ether. Get ready for some troubling yet curious visuals while Lethem and Levin discuss their respective new books, their Dystopian Top 5 and beyond.

The whole show (including the credits and music) is at the center of my dystopian sensibility, so I’m just listing it rather than singling out one episode. Though certainly it is eight or ten episodes that actually matter to me: “The After Hours”, “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street”, “Walking Distance”, “Eye of the Beholder”, “The Invaders”, “Good Enough at Last.” These are akin to paranoid mid-century short SF stories by American writers like Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Robert Sheckley and Philip K. Dick, but the 

 was my entrée, and emblematic of that mood.

The Man Who Fell To Earth/Station to Station

Again, I’m running stuff together here: Walter Tevis’s terse novel, Nicholas Roeg’s psychedelic film, Bowie’s image in the film and the stills of him on the cover of his most ominous and dystopian recordings, all of which hit me like a ton of bricks. This was, for me much more than 

, dystopian brought up to the countercultural edge of the dissipated, druggy ‘70’s.

So basic and background an influence on me that I can’t see around its edges. Orwell’s fundamental assertion is that the future is an allegory of the past, if we are allowed to read it. It was written by an Englishman but it seems to me to describe The Great American Amnesiac totally.

One of the first, and one of the harshest, eco-fictions. As with Vonnegut’s 

, the world ends in ice, not fire. Still feels like where we’re headed.

The ultimate surrealist cold war phatasmagoria, Lem’s book features a paranoiac environment known as “The Building”—a gigantic Kafkaesque bureaucracy that is obsessed with the existence of an unseen hidden enemy, called “The Anti-Building.” Within that frame come satires of science and academia, postmodernism and religion.

Arecibo is a much beloved 1000-ft radio telescope nestled in a sinkhole in the mountains of Puerto Rico. For six decades this generous instrument sent and received messages from space. When a 900-ton observation deck collapsed this month, tearing struts from the mountainside and landing in the dish, that big beautiful telescope was destroyed and along with it some of our interstellar ambitions.

Really I’m a sucker for any sort of monolith. Kubric’s monolith of course assumes pride of place as archetypal. Admittedly, the recent shenanigans in Utah undermined the fearsomeness of the oddly haunting shape. I heard that the guys who disassembled the thing apparently shouted epithets at the obelisk as they carted it offsite in a wheelbarrow.

Sometimes I imagine Sputnik incinerating in the Earth’s atmosphere, which is a respectable demise for a spacecraft. There is so much space debris out there that NASA has a division to track potential conjunctions, a euphemism for collisions. Occasionally defunct cold-war satellites threaten modern instruments. Worst is the debris from satellites intentionally destroyed by their countries of origin in a demonstration of military might.

Static in video or audio transmissions is just haunting. Probably my low-level anxiety around static originates from the first time I heard the crackling recording of 

. In some kind of ironic twist, we’re all presently communicating with advanced technology that’s delivering low-fidelity experiences. The pixelation of our video calls isn’t due to static, but has that vintage veneer.

There are many ways to explore death by black hole, and all of them are extravagantly interesting. Jonathan Lethem invented a manner of suicide by black hole that I hadn’t considered. Trap one in your laboratory and despite all safety warnings and best scientific practices, climb right in. ♦

If you want books fast for the holidays, try your usual online venues or, even better, your local bookstore—it might be on a slower timescale, but we’d be honored to send you a signed copy!

 is the bestselling author of twelve novels, including 

The Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn

, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, 

 is his twelfth novel. His writings have appeared in the 

 and many other periodicals. He was born in New York and attended Bennington College, and currently teaches creative writing at Pomona College in California. His most recent book is 

 is the Director of Sciences at Pioneer Works and Editor-in-Chief of the Broadcast. She is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. Janna won a PEN prize for a first work of fiction. Her most recent book is 