Why do women live longer than men? Why do women have menopause? Why do girls score better at every academic subject than boys until puberty, when suddenly their scores plummet? And does the female brain really exist? Considering the science and data collection methods we currently have, it is somewhat of a wonder that there is so little known about biology as it relates to sex, as well as our behavior. Author and Researcher, Cat Bohannon, argues that these questions should have been investigated decades ago, with a level of thoroughness and care that is still lacking in mainstream science. Bohannon points to the fact that societal attention has been on the male body for so long, that even natural occurrences like menopause, are considered a medical mystery. In her debut publication, Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution, Bohannon examines the evolution of the female sex. From the development of breastmilk, initially in mammals no larger than a field mouse, to the first placental mammals, to the way C-sections in the industrialized world are altering women’s pelvic shape, Bohannon brings hard science and a passionate curiosity to the subject of female biology. Please join us as Town Hall as Cat Bohannan makes the case for a greater understanding of the female body. Cat Bohannon is a researcher and author with a Ph.D. from Columbia University in the evolution of narrative and cognition. Her essays and poems have appeared in Scientific American, Mind, Science Magazine, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, The Georgia Review, The Story Collider, and Poets Against the War. She lives with her family in Seattle.  Bonnie Garmus is a copywriter and creative director who has worked widely in the fields of technology, medicine, and education. She’s an open-water swimmer, a rower, and mother to two pretty amazing daughters. Born in California and most recently from Seattle, she currently lives in London with her husband and her dog, 99.  Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution Third Place Books

Today’s information (and misinformation) overload is difficult and confusing to navigate. Post-truth politics and conspiracy theories abound. Science and scientists are under growing suspicion, causing even more confusion and unrest. At the same time, we need science to survive today’s biggest threats like pandemics and climate change. To bridge this gap, acclaimed physicist and New York Times bestselling author Jim Al-Khalili wants us all to start thinking like scientists. Al-Khalili believes that the practice of science can offer us a way of thinking and understanding our complex world. He’s created a guide to leading a more rational life, inviting people to engage with the world as scientists have been trained to do. He defines the “how” and “why” behind science, as well as what science is (and what it’s not). With today’s scrutiny over science, Al-Khalili admits that scientists need to do more to communicate how they work to build trust and credibility in the public eye. One way to do that is for everyone to adopt the scientific method in our daily lives. Science may not only solve today’s biggest problems, but it can be a way for everyone to make everyday decisions for themselves and their loved ones. Jim Al-Khalili is an Iraqi-born theoretical physicist at the University of Surrey, where he holds a Distinguished Chair in physics as well as a university chair in public engagement in science. He has written 14 books on popular science and the history of science, between them translated into twenty-six languages. His latest books include The Joy of Science and The World According to Physics, which was shortlisted for the Royal Society Book Prize. He is a regular presenter of TV science documentaries, such as the Bafta-nominated Chemistry: A Volatile History and he hosts the long-running weekly BBC Radio 4 program, The Life Scientific. The Joy of Science Third Place Books

In the Pacific Northwest, many of us delight in Olympic National Park, a UNESCO natural World Heritage Site, located right in Seattle’s backyard. Yet the famed park is just the center of a much larger ecosystem including rivers that encompass old-growth forests, coastal expanses, and alpine peaks, all rich with biodiversity. For tens of thousands of years, humans have thrived and strived alongside this area. To tell the story of this place, award-winning poet and nature writer Tim McNulty and contributors such as Fawn Sharpe, president of the National Congress of American Indians, David Guterson, author of bestselling novel Snow Falling on Cedars, Wendy Sampson, and Seattle Times environmental reporter Lynda V. Mapes, collaborated with Braided River in a project called Salmon, Cedar, Rock & Rain. Braided River, the same organization that created the award-winning book and multimedia exhibit We are Puget Sound, is bringing awareness to the Olympic Peninsula through art and stories––stories of development, conservation, restoration, and cultural heritage, while writers from the Lower Elwha Klallam, Jamestown S’Klallam, Port Gamble S’Klallam, Makah Tribe, and Quinault Indian Nation share some of their own history and perspectives. The project, in partnership with The Mountaineers, Olympic Parks Associates, National Parks Conservation Foundation, and many more, is a diverse exploration of Olympic National Park and its surrounding peninsula. Tim McNulty is a poet, essayist, and nature writer and recipient of the Washington State Book Award and National Outdoor Book Award. David Guterson is a novelist, short story writer, poet, essayist, and journalist. He is best known for his award-winning debut novel, Snow Falling on Cedars, which won both the PEN/Faulkner Award and the American Booksellers Association Book of the Year Award. It has sold more than four million copies and was adapted as a major motion picture. He lives on Bainbridge Island near Seattle with his wife Robin and five children. Wendy Sampson is a member of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe (LEKT); she lives on the reservation with her family. She has been a Klallam language teacher for twenty years. Wendy has provided cultural outreach in the schools, taught after-school programs and community adult classes, and worked under various grant projects with the goals of creating tribal history and language lessons and developing tools for language learning. She is now a teacher for the Port Angeles School District offering courses in the Klallam language as well as history classes from a tribal perspective. Lynda V. Mapes is an award-winning journalist, author, and close observer of the natural world. She is the author of six books, including Orca: Shared Waters, Shared Home; Witness Tree: Seasons of Change in a Century Old Oak; and Elwha: A River Reborn. Lynda lives in Seattle where she covers nature, the environment, and tribes as a staff reporter for The Seattle Times. Salmon, Cedar, Rock & Rain: Washington's Olympic Peninsula The Elliott Bay Book Company

Why does it seem like some people matter more than others? Why are some given higher status or more recognition? And how do we broaden the circle of those who belong in society? Harvard sociologist Michèle Lamont examines these questions and unpacks the power of recognition—how we perceive others as visible and valued. She draws from her new book, Seeing Others, and nearly forty years of research and interviews to show how we need new narratives for everyone to feel respect and assert their dignity. For decades now, more people have become marginalized and divided. Lamont believes this is related to the fact that we’ve prioritized material and professional success, we have judged ourselves and others in terms of self-reliance, competition, and diplomas. At the same time, Lamont points out, we’re living in a moment where many marginalized social groups, including workers, people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and minorities, want to be seen and heard––to fully belong in society. How do we heal such a deeply divided world? Join us at Town Hall for a riveting evening as Lamont looks at the heart of our modern struggles and offers an inclusive path forward with new ways of understanding our world while recognizing the diverse ways one can live a life. Michèle Lamont is a Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, where she is also the Robert I. Goldman Professor of European studies. She served as the 108th President of the American Sociological Association and her research has received numerous awards, including honorary doctorates from six countries. The author or co-author of over a dozen books, she can be found on MicheleLamont.org. Seeing Others: How Recognition Works—and How It Can Heal a Divided World Third Place Books

The concept of finding joy has gone mainstream. Its benefits are well known: joy can improve overall well-being, strengthen relationships, and even extend lives. Yet for many, especially folks in marginalized communities, joy is elusive. Seattle-based Integrative Medicine Physician and activist Tanmeet Sethi wants to prove that joy really can be for everyone. In her book, Joy Is My Justice, she claims that the nervous system can shift its biochemistry into joy at the cellular level. She believes that people can find joy as they reclaim their personal power, strength, and purpose — despite living in an unjust world, past personal traumas, and a whitewashed wellness world. Sethi invites everyone who has felt like the wellness industry has left them behind to rediscover joy, not just the buzzword, but as a profound practice for healing. Even though joy has become a cultural mainstay, Sethi argues that it can also be a radical act of justice. Tanmeet Sethi, M.D. is an Integrative Medicine physician who has devoted her career to caring for the most vulnerable and teaching physicians how to care for these communities in the most humane and skillful way possible. She has spent the last 25 years on the frontlines practicing primary care, global trauma, and community activism. Dr. Sethi lectures nationally and has spoken on three TEDx stages about using gratitude as medicine. She lives in Seattle with her family. Rebekah “Bex” Borucki, founder of BexLife and Row House Publishing, is a mother of five, a meditation guide, a birth doula, a mentor for creative healers, and an author and publisher of books for big and little readers. Joy is My Justice: Reclaim What Is Yours Third Place Books

Join Denise Malm, Social Worker and Geriatric Mental Health specialist, as she dives into the fascinating world of Personal Safety Nets (PSN) and their role in combating the growing issue of loneliness and isolation in our society. Discover how this concept, born in 2007 thanks to Judy Pigott and Dr. John Gibson, offers creative ways to build meaningful relationships. Malm will uncover the potential of PSN to enhance connections and boost health and well-being as we age. Denise Malm, LSWAIC, GMHS serves as a social worker at the Wallingford Community Center. As a geriatric mental health specialist, Denise is trained to holistically assess and incorporate the complex physical and behavioral health conditions faced by each individual in her care. She also works with the University of Washington Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences AIMS Center as a clinical researcher supporting a study evaluating older adult participants engaged in a short-term behavioral activities intervention. Denise provides a multitude of services in a non-profit community setting including assessing dementia and delirium, evidence-based interventions for depression, facilitating discussions of end-of-life wishes, and working with adult children to plan and create a safety net for their aging parents. Presented by Town Hall Seattle and Northwest Center for Creative Aging

Did you know that there are 40 million miles of roadways on earth? While roads are practically invisible to humans, wild animals experience them entirely differently. Conservation journalist Ben Goldfarb has explored the environmental effects of this ubiquitous part of the modern world. In his book, Crossings, Goldfarb explains how creatures from antelope to salmon are losing their ability to migrate in search of food and mates; invasive plants hitch rides in tire treads; road salt contaminates lakes and rivers; and the very noise of traffic chases songbirds from their habitat. These effects on nature are everywhere, all because of human activity. Yet there is human activity that is working to combat these effects as well. Goldfarb describes conservation work such as highway wildlife bridges, similar to the I-90 wildlife corridor in Washington state. He explains how tunnels for toads and deconstructing old logging roads can make a difference. These projects and other research in road ecology are working toward lessening the hazards of roadways. While they may take up millions of miles of the planet, roads can leave a smaller impact in the future. Ben Goldfarb is an award-winning environmental journalist who covers wildlife conservation, marine science, and public lands management, as well as an accomplished fiction writer. His work has been featured in Science, Mother Jones, The Guardian, High Country News, VICE, Audubon Magazine, Modern Farmer, Orion, World Wildlife Magazine, Scientific American, Yale Environment 360, and many other publications. He is the author of Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter. Brooke Jarvis is an independent journalist based in Seattle. She’s a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine and a winner of the Livingston Award and the Whiting Award. Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet Third Place Books

As awareness of the current climate crisis grows, we can’t help but wonder how the decisions of the past will affect our future.  In Stephen M. Gardiner’s Dialogues on Climate Justice (co-written by Arthur R. Obst), we follow a cast of fictional characters as they experience the very real consequences of climate change. Spanning from the election of Donald Trump in 2016 until the 2060s, Gardiner’s protagonist, aptly named Hope, spurs conversations exploring the many aspects of the climate justice discussion. She engages with climate skepticism, explores her own climate responsibilities, and finally, as an older woman, to reflects with her granddaughter on what one generation owes another. Gardiner’s book allows us to explore all aspects of the tricky topic through the eyes of a reliable and relatable narrator. Through Hope’s story, we can better understand the philosophy and science of the current climate crisis. Gardiner joins us at Town Hall to continue the conversation. Stephen M. Gardiner is a professor of Philosophy at the University of Washington. He is the author of A Perfect Moral Storm: The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change (2011), and co-author of Debating Climate Ethics (2016). His edited books include The Ethics of “Geoengineering” the Global Climate (2020), The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics (2016), and The Oxford Handbook of Intergenerational Ethics (2022).

From the very creation of the planet to the present day, water has always been central to life on Earth. And while the amount of water on our planet has not changed, it has, in fact, changed the world. It has shaped our very existence. Renowned scientist Peter Gleick sheds light on water’s long history in his book, The Three Ages of Water. Gleick recounts how water has developed civilizations and empires, and driven centuries of advances in science and technology — from agriculture to aqueducts, steam power to space exploration — and progress in health and medicine. But the achievements that have propelled humanity forward also brought consequences like unsustainable water use, ecological destruction, and global climate change, that now threaten to send us into a new dark age. In Gleick’s research, he has found that billions of people today do not have access to clean water or sanitation. The scarcity of this fixed resource, Gleick believes, is directly linked to the growing violence and conflicts around the globe. Gleick says that we must change our ways, and quickly, to usher in a new age of water for the benefit of everyone. Drawing from the lessons of our past, Gleick charts a path toward a sustainable future for water and the planet. While water may be a fixed resource, Gleick believes we have the power to change the trajectory of the planet’s future by understanding its role in today’s current climate. Peter Gleick is perhaps the world’s most widely known and cited water expert. Educated at Yale and Berkeley, he went on to cofound the Pacific Institute, the leading independent research group devoted to reimagining water for a changing world. He is a scientist by training, winner of a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” award, and an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. In 2018 he was awarded the Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization. He lives in Berkeley, California. The Three Ages of Water: Prehistoric Past, Imperiled Present, and a Hope for the Future Third Place Books

Taking us to the cutting edge of the new frontier of medicine, a visionary biotechnologist and a pathbreaking researcher show how we can optimize our health in ways that were previously unimaginable. We are on the cusp of a major transformation in healthcare—yet few people know it. At top hospitals and a few innovative health-tech startups, scientists are working closely with patients to dramatically extend their “healthspan”—the number of healthy years before disease sets in. In The Age of Scientific Wellness, two visionary leaders of this revolution in health take us on a thrilling journey to this new frontier of medicine. Today, most doctors wait for clinical symptoms to appear before they act, and the ten most commonly prescribed medications confer little or no benefit to most people taking them. Leroy Hood and Nathan Price argue that we must move beyond this reactive, hit-or-miss approach to usher in real precision health—a form of highly personalized care they call “scientific wellness.” Using information gleaned from our blood and genes and tapping into the data revolution made possible by AI, doctors can catch the onset of disease years before symptoms arise, revolutionizing prevention. Current applications have shown startling results: diabetes reversed, cancers eliminated, Alzheimer’s avoided, and autoimmune conditions kept at bay. This is not a future fantasy: it is already happening, but only for a few patients and at a high cost. It’s time to make this gold standard of care more widely available. Inspiring in its possibilities, and radical in its conclusions, The Age of Scientific Wellness shares actionable insights to help you chart a course to a longer, healthier, and more fulfilling life. Dr. Leroy Hood is a world-renowned scientist and recipient of the National Medal of Science in 2011. Dr. Hood co-founded the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) in 2000, served as its first President from 2000-2017 and is a Professor and Chief Strategy Officer. In 2022, Dr. Hood started Phenome Health, a non-profit dedicated to delivering value through health innovation. Dr. Nathan Price is CEO of Onegevity, a division of Thorne HealthTech. He is also an (on leave) Professor at the Institute for Systems Biology, where he and Lee Hood co-direct the Hood-Price Lab for Systems Biomedicine. Additionally, Dr. Price is an affiliate faculty at the University of Washington in the Departments of Bioengineering, Computer Science & Engineering, and Molecular & Cellular Biology. In 2019, he was selected by the National Academy of Medicine as one of their 10 Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine. Dr. Jim Heath is President and Professor at Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle. Heath also has the position of Professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA. Formerly, he directed the National Cancer Institute-funded NSB Cancer Center, was the Elizabeth W. Gilloon Professor of Chemistry at Caltech, and served as co-director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at UCLA until 2017. Presented by Town Hall Seattle and the Institute of Systems Biology. The Age of Scientific Wellness: Why the Future of Medicine Is Personalized, Predictive, Data-Rich, and in Your Hands Third Place Books