TUESDAY
But What If We’re Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past
June 7 at 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 33 East 17th Street.
Let your inner skeptic flag fly! Chuck Klosterman has come out with a book for all the doubting Thomases who can’t help but question even the most basic certainties of existence –like, do we really, truly, need that extra cup of coffee to become human? Jokes aside, Klosterman tries to leap into the future and put our present beliefs under the microscope. After all, many so-called truths (the shape of the earth? the role of women? the necessity of using leeches as a cure?) have been debunked over the centuries– we look at the past and wonder “how did they believe that?” Klosterman explores some of his most pressing doubts about the concepts of time, gravity, art, democracy and more through conversations with a long list of current creative thinkers (including George Saunders, Kathryn Schulz, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Junot DÃaz, Amanda Petrusich, and Richard Linklater).
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Gay Talese
Greenpoint Fire Burns for 11 Hours; Beastie Boys Settle with ‘Princess Machine’ Creators
Photo: Skate Park by C Ceres Merry
Take a look at photos from the scary fire that raged all night at a Greenpoint recycling plant. The flames were finally quelled around 6 a.m. Four firefighters suffered minor injuries and there were no fatalities. [Greenpointers]
The Beastie Boys have settled a legal dispute with GoldieBlox, a toy company that used a tweaked version of the rappers’ song “Girls” to promote their “Princess Machine” to, you guessed it, girls. Now, more importantly, where can we get our hands on one of those Princess Machines (asking for a friend)? [NY Daily News]