Howland Cultural Center to host first Nerd Nite
Nerds of Beacon, unite.
Marjorie Lewit, a film and theater director who works behind the scenes on a reality television show, will present the inaugural iteration of Nerd Nite at the Howland Cultural Center on Friday (Nov. 15).
Lewit, 42, will hang special lighting and neon signs that illuminate glasses (for reading, of course), a light bulb (inspiration) and the outline of a brain with red letters inside that read “Open.”
Launched in 2003, Nerd Nite, which resembles a casual TED Talk or Moth Radio Hour, is a loosely organized international movement. Local hosts figure out the details and theme of each gathering.
“Usually we hold events at bars and breweries, so we’re lucky to have a more sophisticated setting at the Howland, although I wish I could have way more cocktail tables,” says Lewit.
On the Nerd Nite website, chapters are delineated by a mug of beer inside a green circle. The motto is “Be There and Be Square.”
Between musical interludes at the Beacon premiere, Lewit and three other presenters will share their knowledge.
Caroline Eisner, a Beacon resident and editor of academic books, will explain why “no grammar is incorrect.” Her write-up includes the phrases “tables are for eating customers only” and “pinned to the wall, Rudy read the note.”
Brendan Koerner, a magazine writer and author, will explore the airplane hijackings that occurred almost weekly during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In addition to plumbing the skyjackers’ motivations and techniques (including threats with jars of acid), he will explain why the epidemic came to an end.
According to Lewit, anyone can become a nerd. All it takes is a passion for knowledge (no matter how obscure) and intellectual engagement.
“It’s about going against the grain,” she says. “It seems sort of antithetical to have an evening dedicated to it. Where some people can read just the headline, we read the entire article, research more about it, ask questions and become more curious, taking an incredible journey down a rabbit hole.”
She credits her scientist father for fostering the geek gene and instilling a love of storytelling. Her next project is a David Lynch-themed holiday show to be held in Beacon next month.
After attending Nerd Nites and similar talks in Los Angeles and New York City, Lewit decided to give it a go. At the Howland Center, she and Nadia Azizi, the outreach coordinator for the Hudson Highlands Land Trust, will discuss frog movement in the Hudson Valley and reference the video game Frogger.
Lewit started tracking amphibians on a visit to Germany and volunteers with the land trust and the state Department of Environmental Conservation to document “indicator” species that face risks during migration.
“It’s dorky, but sometimes I feel removed from social circles,” she says. “Sometimes people are shy [about their obsessions], but there are writing nerds, theater nerds, music nerds, sports nerds and people interested in the vastness of outer space and hijacking airplanes.”
The Howland Cultural Center is located at 477 Main St. in Beacon. Nerd Nite begins at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 15. Tickets are $10 ($15 door). See hudsonvalley.nerdnite.com.
The next Nerd Nite, on Dec. 7, will feature a conversation between an astrophysicist and a Christian minister about faith and science, followed by a screening of Contact (1997) presented by Story Screen.
