Seminary Co-Op Bookstore
Elizabeth Metzger will be reading from The Going Is Forever: Poems. She will be joined by Richie Hofmann who will also read from his collection. A Q&A and signing will follow the reading.
Gautham Rao will discuss White Power: Policing American Slavery. He will be joined in conversation by Alison L. LaCroix. A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion.
Rhea Rahman will discuss her new book Racializing the Ummah: Muslim Humanitarians Beyond Black, Brown, and White. She will be joined in conversation by Eman Abdelhadi and Darryl Li. A Q&A and book signing will follow the discussion.
Ruth Bloch Rubin will discuss her new book Divided Parties, Strong Leaders. She will be joined in conversation by John Mark Hansen. A Q&A and book signing will follow the discussion.
Stephanie Soileau will discuss her new book Should the Waters Take Us. She will be joined in conversation by Ling Ma. A Q&A and book signing will follow the discussion.
Join Yotam Ottolenghi for an intimate and energizing evening celebrating his forthcoming Fall 2026 cookbook, SIMPLE TOO, the long-awaited follow-up to his bestselling Ottolenghi Simple. Eight years after redefining “flavor without fuss,” Ottolenghi returns to explore what “simple” means now — in a world of endless notifications, long commutes, and minds split between podcasts, WhatsApp groups, and homework help. In conversation, he’ll share how SIMPLE TOO was born from real life: recipes that work with you, not against you — dishes you can begin with half a plan and still end with a deeply satisfying meal. Expect laughter, honesty, and that signature Ottolenghi spark as he declares, “The lemon is back!” and explains why bold flavor remains at the heart of simplicity. Drawing from the book’s vibrant themes, Ottolenghi will dive into the ingredients and techniques that quietly shape this new collection: beans simply dressed, black chickpeas, sesame in generous handfuls, sweet-and-spicy balances, pasta cooked directly in its sauce, and whole meals roasted start-to-finish in a single tray (with far less washing up). He’ll also introduce the new “Fundamentals” chapter — fifteen fridge-ready flavor builders like spring onion oil, green salsa, za’atar oil, confit tomatoes, and chili crisp — the small things that make big differences on the busiest weeknights. Through stories from the writing process with co-author Verena Lochmuller, practical tips, and reflections on finding pleasure in cooking even when you’re already tired, Ottolenghi will reveal how SIMPLE TOO is less about doing less — and more about making everyday cooking feel generous, achievable, and full of joy.
Prize-winning historian Sarah M. S. Pearsall joins us for a conversation that will upend everything you thought you knew about the American Revolution. Drawing on her new book Freedom Round the Globe, Pearsall will take us beyond the thirteen colonies to uncover the freedom seekers and dreamers in India, West Africa, China, and the Caribbean whose struggles shaped the nature of American rebellion and nationhood. Pearsall will be joined in conversation by Northwestern University history professor Caitlin Fitz. A book signing will follow this program.
Join Anand Giridharadas as he explores his new book, Man in the Mirror, the story of a tragic encounter in a New York subway car in 2023 between a homeless man once known for being a Michael Jackson impersonator and an ex-Marine new to New York City. The journalist and political analyst will share the riveting story of this deadly encounter and its aftermath, revealing through painstaking, on-the-ground reporting the depth of the rage, violence, and division that have defined 2020s America. A book signing will follow this program.
Leïla Slimani is a bestselling author, the first Moroccan woman to win France’s most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, French President Macron's former personal representative for the promotion of the French language and culture, and chair of the jury for the 2023 International Booker Prize. She joins us to discuss her newest novel, I’ll Take the Fire, the final book in her trilogy based on her family’s roots in revolutionary Morocco. In it, she weaves the story of a young Arab woman on a quest for sexual and political freedom against the backdrop of era defining events like the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11.
You know him from Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Goldbergs, and his decades on the stand-up stage. What you may not know is that comedian Jeff Garlin also happens to be a gifted photographer. Join us in celebration of his newest book, Best Seat in the House, a collection of never-before-seen photographs and hilarious personal stories that capture the heart of life on and offstage. Garlin will share unscripted moments with comedy’s biggest stars from Larry David and Mel Brooks to Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman, and more. A book signing will follow this program.
For over a century, Americans have accepted a basic premise: that nine justices, not the people, get the final word on what the Constitution means. In Supremacy: How Rule by the Court Replaced Government by the People, legal scholar Daphna Renan argues that "judicial supremacy" was never required by the Constitution — it was seized, after Reconstruction, to weaken democracy rather than protect it. Renan joins NPR's Peter Sagal for an urgent conversation on how the Court took this power, and what it would take for Americans to reclaim it.
Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, novelist, and former president of PEN America, returns to Chicago Humanities. He’ll tell us about his newest work of fiction, The Radiance, named one of TIME’s most anticipated books of 2026. This novel is a fictional take on the cultural warfare currently playing out on college campuses across the country. And it moves between subjects that sometimes feel at odds: rural America and Europe, Islam and Christianity, the intimate and the metaphysical. Akhtar joins us to ask not only what has broken in America, but what radiance remains. Akhtar is joined in conversation by Agnes Callard, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago.
Hear from legendary comedian Eric Idle as he shares how buying a crumbling ruin in Provence, France allowed him to escape from Monty Python mania. In that “shackeau," he wrote iconic songs and scripts and hosted a revolving door of brilliant friends: George Harrison, Robin Williams, Paul Simon, and more. Get a behind-the-scenes look into Idle’s creative process, stories of fame, and meditations on life, purpose, and the power of laughter. Plus a singalong!
Professor and political scientist Francis Fukuyama has spent five decades at the center of the most critical debates of our time. Now, for the first time, he is reflecting on how his personal experiences — including his family's internment during World War II — transformed his deepest convictions. Fukuyama will discuss his time in the intellectual circles of Allan Bloom's Cornell and the halls of Washington power, as well as his public break with the neoconservative movement over the Iraq War. And along the way, he will revisit the ideas that have defined his work — recognition, identity, institutions, and the Last Man — and ask what they reveal about democracy's uncertain future. Fukuyama will be joined in conversation by Northwestern professor Bruce Carruthers.
One of the funniest, most shape-shifting performers of her generation, live on stage. Kate McKinnon spent a decade on Saturday Night Live becoming one of the most decorated cast members in the show’s history: ten Emmy nominations, two wins, and a catalogue of characters that lodged themselves permanently in the cultural memory. Hillary Clinton. Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Rudy Giuliani. Weird Barbie. Off screen, she’s proven just as hard to categorise. Novelist, voice actress, comedian, children’s author with a #1 New York Times bestselling series: she has built a body of work that refuses easy summary, animated throughout by the same sensibility. Her Millicent Quibb series, following three peculiar sisters and their mad scientist mentor through increasingly chaotic adventures, has found readers of all ages who recognise something of themselves in its celebration of the brilliantly strange. Kate joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about a life spent making people laugh, the craft behind character work, and what it means to keep finding new forms. An unmissable evening with one of America’s most beloved comedic voices. Guests who purchase either a ticket with a bundled book or a ticket plus a book add-on will be automatically entered for the chance to meet Kate before the event. A limited number of winners will be selected at random, with priority given to family groups attending with children under 18. Sep 29
You know Kyle MacLachlan. You love Kyle MacLachlan. But where does the Kyle we see on TV end and the real Kyle begin? To mark the publication of his memoir Fictional Selves, the beloved actor and star of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks and internet darling, joins us live to tell the story of his offbeat journey through Hollywood and the projects that have made him who he is today. During this special evening, Kyle will share behind-the-scenes stories from his most famous roles and collaborations, his battles with fear and fame, and much more. Part masterclass, part confession, he will take us inside the acting process itself: how a character is found, and what it costs to let one go; what 40 years of friendship and collaboration with the late David Lynch taught him about art, instinct, and trust; and why the roles that eluded him shaped him as surely as the ones that made him a cult icon. Come and discover where the fiction ends and the man begins.
Marlon James is one of the most decorated novelists of the 21st century, known for his novels, A Brief History of Seven Killings and Black Leopard, Red Wolf. He joins us to celebrate his newest work, The Disappearers, an unflinching exploration of queer life in Jamaica during the 1980s and 1990s. You won’t want to miss James as he dives into this deeply human story of men forced to make compromises to survive what the society they live in demands.
Join us for a conversation with the artists and curator behind Chicano Camera Culture, an exhibition highlighting the last six decades of Chicano photography. The exhibit, which is currently on display at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture, spans from early activist photographers to contemporary artists. Moderated by artist and art historian Josh T. Franco, the conversation features: - Elizabeth Ferrer, the exhibit’s curator and the leading scholar of Latinx photography in the U.S. - Thalía Gochez, a self-taught Los Angeles photographer of Mexican-Salvadoran heritage whose film-based portraits transform cultural identity into acts of love and community - Deanna Ledezma, a Tejanx scholar who offers critical context on the visual and political traditions uniting Chicano artists across generations - Diana Solís, a Chicago-based documentary photographer whose decades of work in the city's Latino neighborhoods anchor the exhibition's intergenerational scope Together, the panelists will explore the significant, historically overlooked role that Chicano photographers have played in advancing aesthetic and technical innovations in photography.
Join us as Emily St. John Mandel, the award-winning author of Station Eleven, Sea of Tranquility, and The Glass Hotel, celebrates the release of her breathtaking new novel, Exit Party. Known for her genre-defying works of fiction, Mandel will explore the price of safety, the perils of the surveillance state, and resilience in the face of cataclysmic change. She’ll be joined in conversation by podcast host Greta Johnsen. Mandel’s books have been translated into 25 languages, and Station Eleven was adapted into a critically acclaimed 10-episode limited series on HBO, set and filmed in Chicago.
A new iteration of the far right is on the rise. Award-winning authors and organizers Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor join us to share a dangerous development they’ve identified: Christian nationalists, tech-bro reactionaries, and populist survivalists are united in their apocalyptic belief that some kind of cleansing cataclysm is coming. And, rather than avoiding this conflagration, they welcome it. Klein and Taylor will provide a recipe for how to fight back, because most of us desperately want a future we can believe in — and leaders who believe in us. This event is generously underwritten by Ellen Stone Belic. We are pleased to partner with the Seminary Co-op Bookstores, the country’s first not-for-profit bookstore. Pre-order End Times Fascism through the Chicago Humanities box office and save up to 20% while supporting local, independent bookselling. Add books to your cart when adding tickets. Your PDF ticket will contain a book voucher, which you show to the bookseller on-site to pick up your book(s). Please visit our FAQ for more information.
Nikita Gill will discuss her newest book STYX: The River, followed by a book signing. She will be joined in conversation by Erika L. Sánchez. BUY TICKETS HERE (Tickets are Required) Join us for a conversation with New York Times bestselling author Nikita Gill as she discusses her new book, STYX: The River. She will be joined in conversation by New York Times bestselling author Erika L. Sánchez. A book signing will follow the discussion. We are so excited to welcome Nikita Gill and Erika L. Sánchez to the Seminary Co-op! About the Book: Perfect for fans of Madeline Miller and Alexandra Bracken, this novel-in-verse from world-renowned poet Nikita Gill is a richly imagined retelling of the Greek myth of Styx, goddess of the underworld river. Before the tale of Zeus and Hera, and their powerful siblings, there were the Titans. A golden age of divinity when the earth was still new. Back then, there was no hierarchy. There were simply Gods and Goddesses. Until one God broke the sacred peace and decided that under his new order, lesser Goddesses would lose their divinity and were instead named nymphs. But Goddesses are an ancient force, unanswerable to anyone. This is an untold story of a nymph who fought the odds. A tale of a nymph who became a Goddess. This fierce and heartrending tale of sisterhood, identity, love, and war reimagines a Greek myth to explore the fall of the Titanomachy and showcases the coming of age of one of the most infamous deities of the underworld. Meet all the Goddesses of the Underworld: Hekate: The Witch Styx: The River Nyx: The Night (coming Fall 2027!) About Nikita Gill: Nikita Gill is an Irish-Indian poet, playwright, illustrator, and author based in the south of England. She has written and curated seven volumes of poetry, including Wild Embers, Fierce Fairytales, Great Goddesses, and These Are the Words. Her novel Hekate: The Witch, the first book in her chthonic gods trilogy, was a #1 New York Times bestseller. Nikita is one of the most followed poets on Instagram and her work is beloved around the world. Nikita invites you to visit her on Instagram @nikita_gill About Erika L. Sánchez: Erika L. Sánchez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Her debut poetry collection, Lessons on Expulsion, was a finalist for the PEN America Open Book Award. Her debut young adult novel, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter was a #1 New York Times bestseller, a National Book Awards finalist, and Tomás Rivera Award winner. Time has recognized it as one of the best YA novels of all time. It is now is being made into a MGM Orion film directed by America Ferrera. She is an executive producer on the project. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter has also been adapted to the theater at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, Seattle Rep Theater, Greenway Court Theater in Los Angeles, and Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Also, her novel has been banned across the country due to its “controversial” themes. Most recently, Sánchez published a critically acclaimed memoir-in-essays titled Crying in the Bathroom with Viking Books. It won the Chicago Review of Books Nonfiction award and has been optioned for television. Sánchez was a Fulbright Scholar, a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent fellow from the Poetry Foundation, a Princeton Arts Fellow, a recipient of the 21st Century Award from the Chicago Public Library Foundation, and a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in poetry. Sánchez earned a BA from UIC and an MFA from the University of New Mexico. Her books have been translated and published in Korea, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Brazil, France, Mexico, Poland, Turkey, and Italy. She’s appeared on WGN, PBS, NPR, Good Morning America, Telemundo, Univision, and MSNBC. Erika holds an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from New School University. She lives in Chicago with her family.
David Conrad-Pérez will discuss Fire in the Heart of the City: The Triangle Shirtwaist Tragedy and the Origins of Modern Charity. He will be joined in conversation by Bill Ayers. A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion. RSVP HERE About the book: In American history, few tragedies have been as consequential―and as enduringly misunderstood―as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911. Long remembered as a turning point in the struggle for labor protections, Fire in the Heart of the City shows how the fire also helped transform another cornerstone of modern American life: the rise of modern charity. Set in early twentieth-century New York, the book tells the extraordinary story of what happened when a catastrophic fire in Greenwich Village threw Adolph Ochs, the ambitious new publisher of the New York Times, and Rose Schneiderman, a defiant young labor organizer, into a momentous struggle over who should organize the city's response: a rising charity sector led by wealthy financiers and civic elites, or the reform-minded unions and activists of Lower Manhattan. Drawing on newly released archival documents, interviews with the descendants of Times publisher Adolph Ochs and New York labor organizers, previously confidential reports, and long-overlooked private diaries and correspondence, historian and former journalist David Conrad-Pérez offers a striking new account of the disaster and its aftermath. He shows how a handful of charities on the brink of irrelevance were suddenly recast as New York's best answer to the social and economic conditions the fire laid bare―a watershed moment in the rise of modern charity and elite authority over social welfare in the United States. A deeply researched and absorbing work of narrative history, Fire in the Heart of the City offers a major reinterpretation of one of the most important urban disasters in American history, revealing how a single catastrophe helped reshape not only the politics of labor, but also the moral and institutional foundations of modern American charity. About the author: David Conrad-Pérez is a historian and former journalist whose work examines the forces that shape the media, philanthropy, and public life. He serves as research director for the Center for Media & Social Impact at American University. A former producer for On the Media and Public Radio International’s The World, he has also written for the New York Times, Reuters, and Columbia Journalism Review. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. About the interlocutor: Bill Ayers is a social justice activist, teacher, Distinguished Professor of Education (retired) at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and author of two memoirs, Fugitive Days and Public Enemy.
Walda Katz-Fishman and Jerome Scott will discuss Motown and the Making of Working-Class Revolutionaries: The Story of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers. A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion. At the Co-op RSVP HERE About the book: Motown and the Making of Working-Class Revolutionaries offers a fresh perspective on class, race, and revolution in the United States. Drawing on more than forty hours of interviews with former members of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, Scott and katz-fishman share the rich story of the League, including the women and students. That story includes the history of the automotive industry in Detroit, the 1967 Detroit Rebellion, and the wildcat strike that sparked the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM). The authors describe the rise of the League from 1968 to 1971. They explore the centrality of struggle and political education as the League split and a section of League comrades moved into revolutionary organizations and social movement spaces, many of whom remain active today. League comrades share their analysis of the current moment, lessons for today's generation of revolutionaries, and staying the course of revolutionary struggle. About the authors: Walda Katz-Fishman, a scholar activist and professor emerita of sociology at Howard University, was a founding member of Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty & Genocide. She facilitates political education in academic and movement spaces and is a contributing author/co-author and editor of popular education toolkits and numerous chapters and articles on the global capitalist crisis, the AI/digital revolution, class, race and gender, and revolutionary transformation. She was co-recipient of the American Sociological Association 2004 Award for the Public Understanding of Sociology and is active in academic and social justice organizations, including the League of Revolutionaries for a New America. Jerome Scott, a former labor organizer in the Detroit auto plants in the 1960s-70s and a founding member of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, was the founding director of Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty & Genocide. He is a political educator in movement and labor organizations in the South and nationally, and a contributing author/co-author to political education toolkits and numerous articles on the capitalist crisis, the digital and AI technological revolution, and class, race, and the revolutionary process. He was co-recipient of the American Sociological Association 2004 Award for the Public Understanding of Sociology, is a board member of the General Baker Institute, and is a member of the League of Revolutionaries for a New America. About the interlocutor: Dr. Jesú Estrada is an author and a professor at Harold Washington Community College. She has a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition from Washington State University, a Masters Degree in English from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelors of Arts from Northern Arizona University.
Roland Betancourt will discuss Disneyland and the Rise of Automation: How Technology Created the Happiest Place on Earth. A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion. At the Co-op. About the book: When Disneyland opened to the public in 1955, it demystified the hidden world of factory automation through its extraordinary new attractions. In this fascinating book, Roland Betancourt tells the story of how the visionary engineers and designers at Disney transformed the technologies of the postwar assembly line into an entertainment experience unlike anything the world had ever seen. Disneyland and the Rise of Automation traces the origins and evolution of these technical innovations during the theme park's first three decades in operation, exploring how engineers reimagined the systems and machines of industrial manufacturing and the military. The magnetic tape used to test ballistic missiles was repurposed to animate the talking macaws in the Enchanted Tiki Room. Programmable Logic Controllers, widely used on automotive assembly lines, brought to life the spectacular rides of the Matterhorn Bobsleds and Space Mountain. Betancourt shows how these and other attractions helped to allay fears about automation and job displacement in 1950s America. Along the way, he situates Disneyland's remarkable creations within a broader history of the technologies that increasingly order and construct the world around us, from the Fordist factory to artificial intelligence. Essential reading for anyone interested in engineering, corporate histories, or popular culture, Disneyland and the Rise of Automation invites us to consider how technology and the logic of automation become integrated into our lives through entertainment. About the author: Roland Betancourt is Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Irvine. He is currently the Andrew W. Mellon Professor at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art. A 2023 Guggenheim Fellow, he has published books on Byzantine visual culture, gender, and sexuality, including the prize-winning Byzantine Intersectionality.
Michael Copperman will discuss his new book Seeking Kenny: A Wrestler's Journey. He will be joined in conversation by James Stewart III. A Q&A and book signing will follow the discussion. At the Co-op About the Book: Kenny Cox devoted his life to wrestling: winning ten Oregon championships in collegiate, freestyle, and Greco-Roman and five junior national championships. But when his college career came to a close, Cox realized he wasn’t sure who he was or how to go about living his life. A few years later, he walked from Oregon to Mexico and back, and upon his return, sold his house and flew to Kauai, where he ventured deep into the wilderness and survived seventy days without supplies. Just weeks after reemerging from the wild, he died at the age of thirty-one. Michael Copperman considers the life and untimely death of Cox, reconstructing memories of his former training partner with the help of Cox’s family, friends, fans, and fellow wrestlers. Seeking Kenny is, in part, an ode to a storied athlete. But it’s also a cautionary tale about the mental and bodily extremes Cox demanded for his achievements. Copperman asks what it means to live past one’s “glory days,” and what roles loss, grief, faith, and memory play when athletes leave pieces of themselves behind. About the Author: Michael Copperman's work has appeared in The Oxford-American, Guernica, The Sun, Creative Nonfiction, Boston Review, Salon, Gulf Coast, and in many other venues. He is the author of the memoir Teacher: Two Years in the Mississippi Delta, a finalist for the Oregon Book Award in Creative Nonfiction. His next book, Seeking Eden, is about the extremes of the American subculture of wrestling as seen through the story of five-time national champion Kenny Cox’s pilgrimage deep into the wilderness of Kauai’s Na Pali Coast, and is forthcoming June 2026 from University of Iowa Press. About the Interlocutor: James Stewart III is a Black writer and arts organizer from Chicago. His debut novel, Defiant Acts (Acre Books, 2025), has been named one of Chicago Magazine’s “Summer’s Required Reading” picks and was recently featured in the Chicago Reader. He was also named to Newcity’s 2025 Lit 50 list, recognizing influential voices in Chicago’s literary culture. His writing has appeared in journals including Lampblack, The Forge, and Midwest Review. Additionally, he is a co-founder of the reading series and artist collective Exhibit B. Stewart holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, an MA from North Central College, and a BA from Columbia College Chicago. He lives with his wife and daughter at the end of DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
August Clarke will discuss his new book The Felicity Complex. He will be joined in conversation by Tamara Jerée. A Q&A and book signing will follow the discussion. At the Co-op About the Book: Annie Bot meets Fallout in this dystopian satire: six women created in a lab, designed to serve the billionaires of the future in a luxury fallout shelter, rebel against their programming after the end times arrive. Welcome to the Felicity Complex! Constructed during the height of the Cold War, our unique hotel is prepared to protect you, the billionaire class, from nuclear annihilation! Shielded from radiation and supplemented with closed air systems and hydroponic gardens, this resort bunker offers a prime existence underground: full gymnasium and spa, gourmet meals, top-tier medical care, and the best in entertainment. Meet Hallelujah! Grown in a lab and educated in the ways of concierge hospitality, she believes in her duty to comfort the Lord-anointed refugees of the apocalypse. (Even if her lover Anastasia disagrees. Even if her creator Dr. Younghusband is disappointed in her.) Don't worry--everyone is safe from communists in the Felicity Complex! Look, Hallelujah, guests have finally arrived! Hallelujah and her sister specimens have waited ages for you. Never mind the secrets other rich survivalists may be hiding. Just make sure they don't notice the violent intentions behind our staff's wide, wide smiles... A sendup of traditional womanhood and lampooning the paranoias of the elite, The Felicity Complex questions the ambitions behind the entitled few who plan for the end times--and who truly survives them. About the Author: August Clarke is here and queer, etc. They have been published in PRISM international, Portland Review, and Eidolon. He was a 2019 Lambda Literary Fellow in Young Adult Fiction and a Locus Award, Dragon Award, and Pushcart nominee. They researched queerness, labor, and monstrosity at the University of Chicago. He is the author of the indie-bestselling series The Scapegracers, which he writes as H. A. Clarke. About the Interlocutor: Tamara Jerée is a fan of women with sharp teeth. Their short stories have appeared in the Shirley Jackson Award-winning anthologies Unfettered Hexes: Queer Tales of Insatiable Darkness and Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology. Their debut novel The Fall That Saved Us won the 2023 Indie Ink Award. They’re a bookseller based in Chicago.
Flint Taylor will discuss his new book, The Conviction Machine: Prosecutors, Politicians, and Police Violence in Chicago. He will be joined in conversation by Congressman Bobby Rush and Ann Campbell-Kendrick. At the Co-op About the Book: A captivating account of the most corrupt and blood-soaked chapters in Chicago law enforcement history In December 1969, the FBI, the Chicago Police Department, and the office of States Attorney, led by rising political star Edward V. Hanrahan, conspired to assassinate Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, and then flagrantly covered up their misconduct. Thirteen years later, Jackie Wilson was tortured by the same police department and wrongfully incarcerated for thirty-six years. Drawing on unique insights from his role as a leading opposition lawyer in both cases, award-winning author Flint Taylor details the vast political corruption uncovered in the Hampton case and the twists and turns of Wilson's forty-year effort to win his freedom. With blistering clarity and righteous indignation, The Conviction Machine shines a penetrating light on the sordid world of prosecutorial misconduct and police violence. About the Author: As a law student, Flint Taylor was a founding member of the People’s Law Office and has been a partner of the PLO since 1972. As a student and lawyer, he has been dedicated to litigating against police violence and racism for more than fifty-four years. Among the landmark cases that Taylor has litigated are the Fred Hampton Black Panther case; the Greensboro, North Carolina case against the KKK, Nazis and Greensboro police; and a series of cases arising from a pattern and practice of police torture and cover-up by Chicago police Commander Jon Burge, former Cook County State’s Attorney and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, and numerous other law enforcement officials. He has represented, and continues to represent, many wrongfully convicted persons, including police torture victims who have spent decades in prison and on death row. He has chronicled his work and that of the People’s Law Office in an award-winning historical memoir titled The Torture Machine. About the Interlocutors: Congressman Bobby Rush, a legendary figure in modern African American politics, exhibited extraordinary leadership long before his 1992 election to Illinois' First Congressional District. Rush was born in Albany, Georgia, in November 23, 1946, under extremely segregated conditions. Rush’s family moved to Chicago in 1953, when he was seven years old. In 1963, at the age of seventeen, Rush enlisted in the U. S. Army and served honorably until 1968. Later, Rush made history when he formed the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party after having been inspired by the activism of Stokely Carmichael and others. During this time, Rush formed the Free Medical Clinic in Chicago. It was later that Rush would confront the political establishment with a more traditional approach. Rush ran for alderman of Chicago's Second Ward in 1975, but lost the election. Rush later won that same seat in 1983; and he continued to serve as an alderman until 1992, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Rush participated on the subcommittees on Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protections, and Energy and Power, as well as on the House Committee on Commerce. These three entities accounted for three-quarters of all national legislation. During his term, Rush served as member of the U.S. delegation of the North Atlantic Assembly, and sponsored many community-based initiatives. In 2022, Rush announced that he would not seek reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives. Ann Campbell-Kendrick is a prominent activist and former member of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party. She joined the Party at age twenty and served as the acting communications secretary, helping to share the Party's political agenda and community initiatives. Working closely with leaders like Chairman Fred Hampton, she played a key role in the organization's fight against police brutality and its advocacy for proper education, better jobs, and housing. Today, Campbell-Kendrick continues to share her legacy as an active participant in the Historical Preservation Society of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party
Join the Seminary Co-op on Saturday, July 11th from 4-7pm for the After School Special: A Book Fair for Grown Ups! Browse a curated selection of Co-op titles with a beer (or your drink of choice) in hand, thanks to our host and friends at the Woodlawn Tap — also known as Jimmy’s. Read more about tickets, accessibility, and more helpful information below! FIND TICKETS HERE Purchase of a ticket includes one drink ticket for either wine/beer or a cocktail. A pay-what-you-can tier is available, and nobody will be turned away at the door for lack of funds. (Though, of course, you must be 21+ with a valid ID to enter.) Accessibility: There is one main entrance to the Woodlawn Tap, located on the east side of the bar up a short flight of three stairs, without a handrail. Please email mgmt@semcoop.com if you purchase a ticket and require entry from the sidewalk. Masks are optional for this event. Street parking is available on 55th Street and along Woodlawn Avenue.
Kathleen Rooney will discuss her new novel Man Overboard! She will be joined in conversation by Deborah Shapiro. A Q&A and book signing will follow the discussion. At the Co-op About the Book: Patrick “Kick” Kilpatrick hates the ocean. Has always been terrified of it. And now he’s in a real pickle. Drifting alone in the sea after falling (or jumping? He can’t remember as the all-inclusive drinks on the cruise he was taking with his extended family were, well, inclusive) Kick must survive. Breath by breath, hour by hour in the lonely sea. As the waves crash over him, so too do the thoughts and memories of just how he got there. A Thanksgiving cruise with an obnoxious brother-in-law he has to bite his tongue to keep from screaming at. A father who gives the Great Santini a run for his money. And a mother, who already left the family boat, so to speak, a long time ago. His family may be complicated, and the pains of life may seem unbearable—infuriating enough to leap from the deck—but maybe the will to survive is stronger. Man Overboard! is an inventive, slyly hilarious, and inspiring novel about what it means to be alive, stay alive, and what keeps us going no matter how choppy the waves of our journey become. Hold on for dear life! About the Author: Kathleen Rooney is a founding editor of Rose Metal Press, a nonprofit publisher of literary work in hybrid genres, as well as a founding member of Poems While You Wait, a collective of poets and their typewriters who compose poetry on demand. Winner of the XJ Kennedy Prize for her poetry collection Where Are the Snows (Texas Review Press, 2022), Rooney is the author of five novels, including Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk and From Dust to Stardust and the co-author—with her sister Beth Rooney—of the picture book Leaf Town Forever (University of Minnesota Press, 2025). She lives in Chicago with her spouse, the writer Martin Seay. About the Interlocutor: Deborah Shapiro is the author of the novels The Sun in Your Eyes (2016, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice), The Summer Demands (2019), and Consolation (2022). Her latest book is Watching the Detective (2025). Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, Sight Unseen, Chicago Magazine, Literary Hub, Washington Square Review, and elsewhere. She is the publisher of B-Side Editions and lives with her family in Chicago.
Nuno Castel-Branco will discuss The Traveling Anatomist: Nicolaus Steno and the Intersection of Disciplines in Early Modern Science. A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion. At the Co-op.
Nicholas Enrich will present his book "Into the Wood Chipper: A Whistleblower's Account of How the Trump Adminstration Shredded USAID." At the Co-op About the author: Nicholas Enrich is a former civil servant who worked at USAID under four administrations. He served as the Bureau of Global Health’s director of policy, programs, and planning until January 2025, when he was designated as USAID’s acting assistant administrator for global health. On March 2, 2025, he was placed on administrative leave for exposing the Trump administration’s illegitimate and dangerous dismantling of USAID. About the book: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Propulsive….When the full history of this moment is ready to be written, Into the Wood Chipper will be a vivid source.” —The New York Times “A gripping page-turner that doubles as both a warning and an inspiration.” —Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Problem from Hell A civil servant discovers his breaking point when the Trump administration’s cruelty and indifference threaten to violate the oath he swore to uphold.
Dan Wang will discuss his new book "Lyric Personhood: On the Aesthetics of Being Someone in the West." He will be joined in conversation by Daniel Morgan. At the Seminary Co-op About the book: A new theory of personhood makes the case that a “person” has always been an aesthetic category, not just a legal, political, or moral one. What does it mean to be a person? "Lyric Personhood" contends that to be encultured in the modern West is to learn, on top of everything else, an unspoken and mostly felt sense of what it means to be someone, a sense transmitted not only in language but also through encounters with aesthetic form. Through close readings that span nineteenth-century European opera, commercial cinema, and amateur YouTube proposal videos, Dan Wang shows that a “person” has become an aesthetic concept—and not just a legal, moral, political, or philosophical one—in the last two hundred years of Western culture. It’s hard to let go of the organizing promise of romantic love, the dream of therapeutic “health,” and the aspiration to belong to national culture, Wang argues, because these longings have been shaped by an archive of sentimental and melodramatic works that trains people’s expectations for life, genre, and even the knowing promised in theory itself. Tracing a surprisingly continuous imagination of personhood through opera and film aesthetics, Lyric Personhood introduces modes of reading audiovisual works that allow a longer story to be told about the forms that make personhood sensible in the West. About the author: Dan Wang is assistant professor of music at the University of Pittsburgh. He has contributed articles to The Oxford Handbook of Voice Studies and to the journal 19th-Century Music. About the interlocutor: Daniel Morgan is Professor of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago. He is author of Late Godard and the Possibilities of Cinema and The Lure of the Image: Epistemic Fantasies of the Moving Camera.
Leonhard Emmerling will discuss his new book "Idiots: The History of the Homo Nullus." He will be joined in conversation by W. J. T. Mitchell. A Q&A and book signing will follow the discussion. At the Seminary Co-op About the Book: In a world obsessed with expertise and control, the figure of the idiot illuminates deeper truths about society. Dostoevsky and Nietzsche wrote about him; Dadaists and punks idolized him; artists like Warhol and Beuys made him their icon. From holy fool to punk rebel, the idiot—a figure that traces its roots back to the Greek idiotes, a person who was alienated from public life—has always challenged society’s norms from the margins. Far from a simple madman, the idiot is a powerful subversive, a person who disregards norms and finds profound insight in a state of unmediated inspiration. Using a cross-disciplinary approach bridging literature, religion, art, and philosophy, this volume traces a rich journey up to the present, where the idiot reemerges in a dramatic twist: a public figure who inverts social norms, confounds the boundary between private and public, and declares a new, paradoxical view of the world. About the Author: Leonhard Emmerling, who holds a PhD from the University of Heidelberg, worked as a curator, author and teacher in Germany, New Zealand and India. He currently serves as the director of the Goethe-Institut Chicago. He authored several books, among other on Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jackson Pollock. His most recent books published in English are “The art of diremption” and “Idiots. The History of the Homo Nullus”. His most recent publication in German is "Aesthetics. What for?" About the Interlocutor: W. J. T. Mitchell is Emeritus Professor of English, Art History, and Cinema at the University of Chicago. He is known for his many publications on art, visual culture, and media politics, including "Iconology" (1986), "Picture Theory" (1994), "What Do Pictures Want?" (2005), and "Image Science" (2015). "Mental Traveler," a memoir of his son’s twenty year struggle with schizophrenia appeared in 2020. He was editor-in-chief of the journal Critical Inquiry from 1977-2020. His latest book, "Seeing through Madness: Essays in Crazy Times," will be published by the University of Chicago Press in 2026.
In View from the East Wing, Dr. Biden tells her story in her own words — the story of an ordinary woman living an extraordinary life, and what it truly means to serve as wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, and First Lady all at once. In this onstage program, she offers a candid, behind-the-scenes look at life in the East Wing — from grading papers in the Rose Garden to traveling aboard Air Force One, from weekends at Camp David to the unforgettable moment her husband’s reelection bid came to an unexpected end. Drawing on her years at the center of American politics, Dr. Biden shares hard-won lessons in leading with purpose, navigating crisis with grace, and staying grounded in your values when the stakes couldn’t be higher — insights that resonate far beyond the White House, and long after the conversation ends. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear directly from one of the most distinctive voices of a defining era in American history. All VIP ticket buyers and their guests with tickets in the VIP section are required to undergo heightened security screening in order to be admitted to the VIP photo experience. Screening includes providing your Social Security Number, date of birth, and address several weeks in advance of the event. All VIP attendees must present a photo ID that matches the submitted info to be admitted to the VIP photo experience. Chicago Humanities is pleased to partner with Chicago’s Seminary Co-op Bookstores, the country’s first not-for-profit bookstore. Select tickets include a copy of View from the East Wing, which you pick up at the event by showing the book voucher in your PDF ticket. The balcony of the Athenaeum can only be reached by stairs while the main floor is flat and accessible. We have protected seats on the main floor for accessibility. If you cannot climb stairs or need wheelchair-accessible seating, please call our box office at (312) 661-1239 or email us at tickets@chicagohumanities.org so an audience services representative can ensure your tickets are in an accessible area. Please visit our FAQ for more information.
Join us for an evening with Matt Haig, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the novels The Midnight Library, The Life Impossible, and How to Stop Time, as well as the acclaimed memoirs Reasons to Stay Alive and Notes on a Nervous Planet. Expanding on the time-traveling world of The Midnight Library, Haig’s newest novel The Midnight Train asks the question: When your life flashes before your eyes, where would you stop? This enlightening conversation will traverse Haig’s journey with mental health, the choices that go into a life well lived, and what makes it worth living in the first place. A book signing will follow this event. Chicago Humanities is pleased to partner with Chicago’s Seminary Co-op Bookstores, the country’s first not-for-profit bookstore. Tickets include a copy of The Midnight Train, which you pick up at the event by showing the book voucher in your PDF ticket. Student, teacher, and Humanist Circle member tickets do not include a book, but anyone can add a book to their cart when selecting their tickets. If you are purchasing multiple tickets for patrons in the same household, call the box office at (312) 661-1239 for additional information about book bundle exemptions. Please visit our FAQ for more information.
American Writers Festival Two days, two locations. One free literary event in Chicago. June 6, 2026: American Writers Museum 180 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60601 June 7, 2026: Harold Washington Library Center 400 S. State St. Chicago, IL 60605 The American Writers Museum will offer free admission on June 6 and will be closed on June 7. The Harold Washington Library Center is always free. Presented by The American Writers Museum & Chicago Public Library View Schedule
American Writers Festival Two days, two locations. One free literary event in Chicago. June 6, 2026: American Writers Museum 180 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60601 June 7, 2026: Harold Washington Library Center 400 S. State St. Chicago, IL 60605 The American Writers Museum will offer free admission on June 6 and will be closed on June 7. The Harold Washington Library Center is always free. Presented by The American Writers Museum & Chicago Public Library View Schedule
Theodore Richards will discuss What Happened to Icarus: Encountering the Unfathomable in a World of Crisis. A Q and A and signing will follow the dicussion. At the Co-op.
Join us for a discussion with the writer of #HorrorBookTok sensation The Troop! Nick Cutter will chat his most recent book, The Dorians. The Seminary Co-op is so excited to welcome author Nick Cutter to our stores! Nick will be discussing his newest book, The Dorians, followed by a Q&A and book signing. Nick will be joined in conversation by horror and dark fantasy author, Christina Henry!
The Allure of the Mirror: Mass Consumption of Fine Things in the Han Empire BOOK GIVEAWAY! Score a FREE copy of Yanlong Guo’s book! The first (3) University of Chicago students (currently enrolled) who register to attend the event will receive their very own copy, compliments of the Center for East Asian Studies! Registrant MUST register using their full name AND UChicago email address and check in on the day of the event. Registrant will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to retrieve their book from CEAS.
Peony Lantern Tales: Ghostly Encounters in the Early Modern Sinosphere BOOK GIVEAWAY! Score a FREE copy of Fumiko Joo’s book! The first (6) University of Chicago students (currently enrolled) who register to attend the event will receive their very own copy, compliments of the Center for East Asian Studies! Registrant MUST register using their full name AND UChicago email address and check in on the day of the event. Registrant will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to retrieve their book from CEAS.
Jamila Michener will discuss her new book Uncivil Democracy: How Access to Justice Shapes Political Power. She will be joined in conversation by Cathy J. Cohen. A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion. At the Co-op
Nicholas Epley will discuss his new book A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection. A Q&A and book signing will follow the discussion. At the Co-op Presented in Partnership with the Roman Family Center for Decision Research
Devin Johnston will discuss Bright Thorn: Poems 2000-2026. A Q&A and signing will follow after the reading. At the Co-op.
Join us for a conversation with New York Times bestselling author Shannon Chakraborty as she discusses her new book, The Tapestry of Fate! Shannon Chakraborty will join us for a conversation about her new book THE TAPESTRY OF FATE, followed by a book signing!
Stefan Williamson Fa & Babak Rahimi will discuss their new books Sonic Relations and Senses of Mourning, respectively. A Q&A and book signing will follow the discussion. At the Co-op
Overview Imperial Animations in Transpacific Contemporary Art BOOK GIVEAWAY! Score a FREE copy of Namiko Kunimoto’s book! The first (4) University of Chicago students (currently enrolled) who register to attend the event will receive their very own copy, compliments of the Center for East Asian Studies! Registrant MUST register using their full name AND UChicago email address and check in on the day of the event. Registrant will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to retrieve their book from CEAS.
Overview Geographies of Gender: Family and Law in Imperial Japan and Colonial Taiwan BOOK GIVEAWAY! Score a FREE copy of Tadashi Ishikawa’s book! The first (2) University of Chicago students (currently enrolled) who register to attend the event will receive their very own copy, compliments of the Center for East Asian Studies! Registrant MUST register using their full name AND UChicago email address and check in on the day of the event. Registrant will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to retrieve their book from CEAS.
Sara Moslener will discuss After Purity: Race, Sex, and Religion in White Christian America. A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion. At the Co-op.
Edgar Garcia and Benjamin A. Saltzman will discuss their new books Cantares and Turning Away, respectively. A Q&A and signing will follow the discussion. At the Co-op BENJAMIN A. SALTZMAN is associate professor of English at the University of Chicago, where he coedits the journal Modern Philology. Saltzman is the author of Bonds of Secrecy: Law, Spirituality, and the Literature of Concealment in Early Medieval England and the coeditor of Thinking of the Medieval: Midcentury Intellectuals and the Middle Ages. EDGAR GARCIA is associate professor of English at the University of Chicago, where he is affiliated with the Program in Creative Writing. He is the author of Emergency: Reading the Popol Vuh in a Time of Crisis, Skins of Columbus: A Dream Ethnography, and Signs of the Americas: A Poetics of Pictography, Hieroglyphs, and Khipu.