BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Westport Journal - ECPv6.16.4.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://westportjournal.com X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Westport Journal REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20261101T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251026T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251026T150000 DTSTAMP:20250926T135517Z CREATED:20250926T135517Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250926T135517Z UID:10000174-1761487200-1761490800@westportjournal.com SUMMARY:TEA Talk: Seeing is Deceiving: A Search for Visual Perspective DESCRIPTION:The Westport Arts Advisory Committee presents its annual TEA (Thinkers\, Educators\, Artists) Talk\, a panel discussion moderated by photographer and curator Art Nager and three panelists. Panelists to be announced.\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Add as a preferred\n source on Google URL:https://westportjournal.com/events/tea-talk-seeing-is-deceiving-a-search-for-visual-perspective/ LOCATION:The Trefz Forum\, The Westport Library\, 20 Jesup Road\, Westport\, CT\, 06880\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://westportjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TEA-Talk-Graphic-October-2025-Z6ndlG.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251023T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251023T200000 DTSTAMP:20250926T135449Z CREATED:20250926T135449Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250926T135449Z UID:10000163-1761246000-1761249600@westportjournal.com SUMMARY:Ruth Steinkraus-Cohen Memorial Lecture DESCRIPTION:Celebrate United Nations Day with a program that will explore current international issues\, including contributions of the United Nations system. This event is organized by the United Nations Association of Southwestern Connecticut in honor of its founder\, Ruth Steinkraus-Cohen.\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Add as a preferred\n source on Google URL:https://westportjournal.com/events/ruth-steinkraus-cohen-memorial-lecture/ LOCATION:The Trefz Forum\, The Westport Library\, 20 Jesup Road\, Westport\, CT\, 06880\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://westportjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/UNA-Logo-zVoTdm.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251021T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251021T140000 DTSTAMP:20250926T135403Z CREATED:20250926T135403Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250926T135403Z UID:10000143-1761048000-1761055200@westportjournal.com SUMMARY:Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce Selectmen’s Debate: Candidates for First and Second Selectmen DESCRIPTION:The Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce\, in collaboration with The Westport Library\, will host a debate featuring the candidates for Westport first selectman and second selectman.\n\n\nThis periodically held candidate’s forum is an interactive debate with open discussion. Invited candidates include Kevin Christie and Amy Wistreich\, Don O’Day and Andrea Moore\, and David Rosenwaks. The event will once again be moderated by Matthew Mandell\, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce.\n\n\nThe event is free to attend and all are welcome.\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Add as a preferred\n source on Google URL:https://westportjournal.com/events/westport-weston-chamber-of-commerce-selectmens-debate-candidates-for-first-and-second-selectmen/ LOCATION:The Trefz Forum\, The Westport Library\, 20 Jesup Road\, Westport\, CT\, 06880\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://westportjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/selectmen-debate-D0kx8M.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251018T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251018T210000 DTSTAMP:20250926T135340Z CREATED:20250926T135340Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250926T135340Z UID:10000135-1760812200-1760821200@westportjournal.com SUMMARY:StoryFest 2025 Presents: Saturday Night Double Feature with Clay McLeod Chapman and Josh Malerman! DESCRIPTION:Event Details\nSaturday night at StoryFest will be a raucous affair. StoryFest favorite Clay McLeod Chapman kicks off the evening at 6:30 pm with a special live edition of his Verso Studios podcast Fearmongers\, live on the main stage.\n\n\nNext\, at 7:30 pm\, you’re in for a once-in-a-lifetime experience as New York Times best-selling author Josh Malerman (Bird Box\, Watching Evil Dead) and his theatrical troupe Wow Town present a theatrical reading of scenes from Malerman’s instant best-seller\, Incidents Around the House. Following the presentation\, Josh will sit down with best-selling author Gregory Galloway for exclusive talk-back on the production\, and more!\n\n\nDoors open at 6 pm.\n\n\nClay McLeod Chapman Presents: Fearmongers… LIVE at StoryFest!\nThe best StoryFest tradition returns — Fearmongers is back on the main stage! Join Clay and friends for readings\, spooky shenanigans\, and even a surprise or two.\n\n \n\n\nClay McLeod Chapman is the author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes\, Kill Your Darling\, Stay on the Line\, What Kind of Mother\, Ghost Eaters\, Whisper Down the Lane\, The Remaking\, and miss corpus; story collections nothing untoward\, commencement\, and rest area; as well as The Tribe middle-grade series: Homeroom Headhunters\, Camp Cannibal\, and Academic Assassins.\n\n\nUpcoming books include the short story collection Acquired Taste (September 2025)\, the YA sci-fi/horror novel Shiny Happy People (November 2025)\, the novella Bodies of Work (April 2026) and the Harlequin “horrormance” novel Devil Inside (August 2026).\n\n\nClay has been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award and the Shirley Jackson Award.\n\n\nQuiet Part Loud\, a 12-part horror podcast from Jordan Peele/Monkeypaw Productions\, written by Chapman and Mac Rogers\, is available on Spotify.\n\n\nJosh Malerman’s Incidents Around the House: LIVE at StoryFest! \nYou’re in for a once-in-a-lifetime experience\, as New York Times best-selling author Josh Malerman and Wow Town present a theatrical reading of scenes from Malerman’s instant bestseller\, Incidents Around the House. \n\n\nWow Town mixes narration\, props\, actors\, and a live score from Jim Byrne (multi-instrumentalist)\, Tessa Stransky (violin)\, and Chad Stocker (bass). And as Josh always reminds the troupe: “It’s not a play\, it’s still a reading. But it’s a lot more than me alone at a podium.”\n\n\nStick around after the program for an exclusive talk back with Josh and best-selling author Gregory Galloway.\n\n\n***\n\n\nJosh Malerman is The New York Times best-selling author of Bird Box\, Incidents Around the House\, and Watching Evil Dead. He’s also a filmmaker\, cartoonist\, and one of two singer-songwriters of the Michigan rock band The High Strung\, whose song “The Luck You Got” can be heard as the theme song to the Showtime show “Shameless.” He lives with his wife\, the artist/musician Allison Laakko\, and their gazillion pets.\n\n\nWow Town is a theatrical troupe co-founded by Malerman and Laakko. Thus far they’ve primarily done performances of almost all of Malerman’s book launches\, performing in chapels (Inspection)\, gymnasiums (Daphne)\, theaters\, and bars. Laakko is pressing for the troupe to do a play and Malerman envisions a movie starring the entire troupe. Laakko does almost all the props\, effects\, stage sets\, and much more\, including acting and singing. The main players are: voice actor/narrator Kristi Billings\, magician/actor James Driscoll Hall\, actors Jeannine Coughlin and Erin Driscoll Hall\, actor/director Lilli Bishop. The theatrical readings are always scored live by Byrne and Stransky\, and Byrne has written two albums worth of original songs based on the Malerman books the troupe performs.\n\n\nGregory Galloway is the author of the crime novels All We Trust and Just Thieves\, as well as the Alex Award-winning As Simple As Snow. His short stories have appeared in the Burning Down the House\, Rush Hour\, and Taking Aim anthologies. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and currently resides in northwest Connecticut.\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Add as a preferred\n source on Google URL:https://westportjournal.com/events/storyfest-2025-presents-saturday-night-double-feature-with-clay-mcleod-chapman-and-josh-malerman/ LOCATION:The Trefz Forum\, The Westport Library\, 20 Jesup Road\, Westport\, CT\, 06880\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://westportjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/StoryFest25_Clay-McLeod-Chapman-and-Josh-Malerman-lo-dnJQ21.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251017T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251017T220000 DTSTAMP:20250926T135334Z CREATED:20250926T135334Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250926T135334Z UID:10000132-1760725800-1760738400@westportjournal.com SUMMARY:StoryFest 2025 Presents: Special Screening of Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues\, Followed by a Performance by the James Montgomery Blues Band DESCRIPTION:Event Details\nStoryFest has always been about celebrating storytelling in all its forms\, dating back to its inception in 2018. And this year it’s adding something new: A special screening of the renowned documentary\, Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues\, followed by a concert featuring songs from the film.\n\n\nLegendary bluesman James Montgomery produced the film alongside Judy Laster\, Jacklyn Hairston Cotton\, and Bestor Cram\, and his band\, the James Montgomery Blues Band\, will be performing the after-film concert\, joined by SNL Beehive Queen Christine Ohlman\, celebrated saxophonist Crispin Cioe of the Uptown Horns (Rolling Stones\, J Geils Band)\, and other special guests.\n\n\nDoors open at 6 pm. The film will start at 6:30 pm and run approximately 90 minutes\, followed by the live concert performance.\n\n\nWhy You Should Come\nBonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues is an emotionally evocative documentary film that portrays the untold story of James Cotton\, a legend whose musical influence shaped the Chicago Blues style having been mentored with the originators of the Delta blues tradition. (See below for more about the documentary.)\n\n \n\n\nThe film will be followed by a can’t-miss concert featuring the acclaimed James Montgomery Blues Band. Montgomery has played with some of the biggest names in music\, including Johnny Winter\, Mick Jagger\, Bruce Springsteen\, Steven Tyler\, and B.B. King. He will be joined on stage by SNL Beehive Queen Christine Ohlman and Westport’s own celebrated saxophonist Crispin Cioe of the Uptown Horns (Rolling Stones\, J. Geils Band).\n\n\nAbout StoryFest & StoryFest 2025\nStoryFest 2025 runs October 13 to October 20\, featuring the debut of Oscar-nominated Julian Brave Noisecat’s memoir\, We Survived the Night\, on Monday\, October 13; followed by the screening and concert on Friday\, October 17; a full day of panel discussions\, author signings\, book talks\, and podcast recordings on Saturday\, October 18; and the 10th anniversary celebration of Shonda Rhimes’ memoir\, Year of Yes\, on Monday\, October 20.\n\n\nNow in its eighth year\, StoryFest is the largest annual literary festival in Connecticut and one of the biggest in the Northeast. It is a celebration of the story in all its forms and storytellers from across all media\, each year drawing scores of authors and hundreds of readers\, writers\, and fans.\n\n\nPast participants include National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds; Goosebumps author R.L. Stine; acclaimed essayist and memoirist Roxane Gay\, New York Times best-selling authors Michael Lewis\, Mitch Albom\, Claire Messud\, Angie Kim\, Stephen Graham Jones\, and Caroline Kepnes; young adult superstars Nic Stone\, Tiffany Jackson\, and L.L. McKinney; Emmy Award winner Sheila Nevins; best-selling memoirist Isaac Fitzgerald; Kirkus Prize recipient Saeed Jones; and Pinkalicious author/illustrator Victoria Kann.\n\n\nAbout the Film\nBonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues depicts the untold story of James Cotton\, a legend whose musical influence shaped the Chicago Blues style. Cotton’s life tracks a swath of America’s history — from the post-depression cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta to tough Chicagoland’s era of brilliant artistic reinvention to today’s live music scene in Austin\, Texas. In between are tours with Janis Joplin\, Paul Butterfield\, and sessions with the Rolling Stones\, Grateful Dead\, Led Zeppelin\, Santana\, Steve Miller\, B.B. King\, and many more. This new film capture’s America’s soul as the blues becomes interpreted in jazz\, big band\, rock and roll\, punk\, hip-hop\, and rap.\n\n\nBonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues combines original footage with archival footage\, including never-before-seen concerts with Cotton and many blues legends recorded in 2004 at the House of Blues in Boston\, as well as other concert footage filmed in 2012 with Cotton and his band recorded in Connecticut. Numerous interviews create a narrative that begins in the cotton fields of Mississippi and travels throughout America reflecting social change and upheaval within a nation that is often defined by its cultural embrace of music.\n\n\nAbout James Montgomery\nMontgomery is an American blues musician\, best known as the lead singer\, blues harp player\, frontman\, and bandleader of The James Montgomery Blues Band. Throughout his remarkable career\, Montgomery has collaborated with a host of star performers and recording artists\, including Johnny Winter\, Mick Jagger\, Bruce Springsteen\, Steven Tyler\, and B.B. King. In addition\, Montgomery has toured with the Allman Brothers Band\, Aerosmith\, Bonnie Raiit\, the J. Geils Band\, the Steve Miller Band\, and more.\n\n\nMontgomery founded the James Montgomery Blues band in 1970. Together\, the band has recorded 12 albums\, with Montgomery recording three more solo records and accompanying on a number more. Past and current band members include Billy Squier\, Wayne Kramer\, Jeff Golub\, Jim McCarty\, Nunzio Signore\, Steve Strout\, Jeff Pevar\, Bobby Chouinard\, Ted Nugent\, Jeff Levine\, Tom Gambel\, George McCann\, and David Hull.\n\n\nAbout Christine Ohlman\nOhlman\, nicknamed the Beehive Queen for her towering blond hairdo\, has been a featured vocalist with the SNL Band for 31 years\, appearing on both the 25th and 40th Anniversary SNL telecasts. She has also been a regular guest and host at the Library’s annual VersoFest music and media celebration\, including serving as host for this year’s oral history podcast with Paul Shaffer.\n\n\nDedication to preserving the soul in rock n’ roll has been the hallmark of Ohlman’s work. In total\, her band\, Christine Ohlman & Rebel Montez\, has released six albums to date: The Hard Way (1996)\, Radio Queen (1997)\, Wicked Time (2000)\, Strip (2003)\, Re-Hive (2008)\, and The Deep End (2010).\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Add as a preferred\n source on Google URL:https://westportjournal.com/events/storyfest-2025-presents-special-screening-of-bonnie-blue-james-cottons-life-in-the-blues-followed-by-a-performance-by-the-james-montgomery-blues-band/ LOCATION:The Trefz Forum\, The Westport Library\, 20 Jesup Road\, Westport\, CT\, 06880\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://westportjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Bonnie-Blue-Band-2160x1320-1-NyoPtA.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251014T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251014T200000 DTSTAMP:20250926T135254Z CREATED:20250926T135249Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250926T135254Z UID:10000109-1760468400-1760472000@westportjournal.com SUMMARY:From Division to Unity: Lessons in Bridging Divides (a Star-Studded Common Ground Panel Discussion) DESCRIPTION:Event Details\nJoin us for an extraordinary evening of insight and inspiration as a panel of nationally recognized innovators from the fields of business\, sports\, and the military share how they’ve navigated complex divisions to lead diverse teams toward common goals.\n\n\nFeatured panelists include:\n\n\n\nBonnie Hammer\, Retired Vice-Chair\, NBC Universal\nMel Raines\, CEO\, the Indiana Pacers (NBA)\nSteve Parrish\, Retired Senior Vice President\, Altria Group\, Inc.\nTony La Russa\, Hall of Fame Major League Baseball Manager\nLindsay Czarniak\, Emmy Award-winning sports broadcaster\nGeneral William Welch\, U.S. Air Force General (retired)\n\nThe conversation will be facilitated by Dr. Allen Hilton\, executive director of the House United Movement and Consulting Theologian at Greens Farms Church\, who brings decades of experience in fostering dialogue across lines of difference.\n\n\nWhy You Should Come\nBecause\, at a time when the United States is marked by deep political\, racial\, and cultural divides\, the voices we need most are those who have successfully built unity across difference — not in theory\, but in practice. And the remarkable panelists taking part in this panel discussion have done just that.\n\n \n\n\nAbout the Common Ground Initiative\nThe Common Ground Initiative is The Westport Library’s forum for public discourse on topical issues of importance to the community. The aim of the initiative is to host a positive\, productive conversation on how we work together to move forward as a civil society; encourage respectful\, constructive dialogue; and build capacity to tackle challenging and/or controversial issues.\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Add as a preferred\n source on Google URL:https://westportjournal.com/events/from-division-to-unity-lessons-in-bridging-divides-a-star-studded-common-ground-panel-discussion/ LOCATION:The Trefz Forum\, The Westport Library\, 20 Jesup Road\, Westport\, CT\, 06880\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://westportjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/From-Division-to-Unity-Lessons-in-Bridging-Divides-A-Common-Ground-Panel-Discussion-mD1RxB.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251013T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251013T203000 DTSTAMP:20250926T135239Z CREATED:20250926T135234Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250926T135239Z UID:10000100-1760382000-1760387400@westportjournal.com SUMMARY:StoryFest 2025 Presents: Debut Book Launch for 'We Survived the Night' by Critically Acclaimed Writer and Filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat DESCRIPTION:Event Details\nStoryFest\, The Westport Library’s annual literary festival\, is kicking off its eighth year by celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day with an exclusive book launch for We Survived the Night\, the highly anticipated debut memoir by author and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat — one day in advance of the book’s official nationwide release.\n\n\nNoiseCat will be joined by Ramin Ganeshram\, executive director of the Westport Museum for History and Culture\, for a keynote conversation in the Library’s Trefz Forum.\n\n\nTickets are $30 and include a copy of We Survived the Night. It is the same price for one seat and a copy of the book or two seats and a book. Books will also be available for purchase at the event and a signing will follow the talk.\n\n\nThis kickoff event for StoryFest 2025 is sponsored by the Lance Lundberg Family Foundation.\n\n \n\n\nAbout StoryFest & StoryFest 2025\nNow in its eighth year\, StoryFest is the largest annual literary festival in Connecticut and one of the biggest in the Northeast. It is a celebration of the story in all its forms and storytellers from across all media\, each year drawing scores of authors and hundreds of readers\, writers\, and fans.\n\n\nThe 2025 edition runs October 13 to October 20\, starting with NoiseCat’s book launch and ending with a 10th anniversary celebration of Shonda Rhimes’ New York Times best-selling memoir\, Year of Yes.\n\n\nThe festival rings in its hallmark weekend on Friday\, October 17\, by showcasing storytelling through film and music with a screening of the documentary Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues\, followed by a concert event with James Montgomery’s Blues Band featuring SNL Beehive Queen Christine Ohlman.\n\n\nSaturday\, October 18\, will feature a series of events starting at 10 am and going until 6 pm — including panel discussions\, author talks\, book readings\, signings\, and more.\n\n\nPast participants include National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds; Goosebumps author R.L. Stine; acclaimed essayist and memoirist Roxane Gay\, New York Times best-selling authors Michael Lewis\, Mitch Albom\, Claire Messud\, Angie Kim\, Stephen Graham Jones\, and Caroline Kepnes; young adult superstars Nic Stone\, Tiffany Jackson\, and L.L. McKinney; Emmy Award winner Sheila Nevins; best-selling memoirist Isaac Fitzgerald; Kirkus Prize recipient Saeed Jones; and Pinkalicious author/illustrator Victoria Kann.\n\n\nAbout We Survived the Night\nWe Survived the Night is a stunning narrative that interweaves oral history with hard-hitting journalism and a deeply personal father-son journey into a searing portrait of Indigenous survival\, love\, and resurgence. Told in the style of a “Coyote Story\,” a legend about the trickster forefather of NoiseCat’s people who was revered for his wit and mocked for his tendency to self-destruct\, We Survived the Night brings a traditional art form nearly annihilated by colonization back to life on the page. Through a dazzling blend of history and mythology\, memoir and reportage\, NoiseCat unravels old stories and braids together new ones.\n\n\nPenguin Random House\, NoiseCat’s publisher\, describes him as “one of the most powerful young writers at work today.” And his debut has been praised as “invigorating and soul-stirring” (Megha Majumdar\, author of A Guardian and a Thief) and “a powerful archive of Indigenous pain and resistance” (Publishers Weekly).\n\n\n“This is a love letter to Oakland\, to the Canim Lake Band Tsq’secen of the Secwepemc Nation\, to a father from his son\, to the act of being a Native person in the 21st century finding ways to love even through all that wounds have opened and wrought\,” said Tommy Orange\, New York Times best-selling author of Wandering Stars. “With this\, Julian Brave NoiseCat has written a book I’ve been waiting my whole life to read.”\n\n\nAbout Julian Brave NoiseCat\nNoiseCat’s journalism has appeared in dozens of publications including The New York Times\, The Washington Post\, and The New Yorker\, and has been recognized with many awards including the 2022 American Mosaic Journalism Prize. In 2021\, NoiseCat was named to the TIME100 Next list of emerging leaders.\n\n\nHe also is a critically acclaimed filmmaker who was nominated for an Academy Award for Sugarcane\, directed alongside Emily Kassie\, which follows an investigation into abuse and missing children at the Indian residential school NoiseCat’s family was sent to near Williams Lake\, British Columbia.\n\n\nSugarcane premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival\, where NoiseCat and Kassie won the Directing Award in the U.S. Documentary Competition. Additionally\, the film has been recognized with dozens of awards\, including Best Documentary from the National Board of Review and\, of course\, the Oscar nod.\n\n\nBefore turning full-time to writing and filmmaking\, NoiseCat was a political strategist\, policy analyst\, and cultural organizer. In 2019\, he helped lead a grassroots effort to bring an Indigenous canoe journey to San Francisco Bay to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Alcatraz Occupation. Eighteen canoes representing communities from as far north as Canada and as far west as Hawaii participated in the journey\, which was covered by dozens of local and national media outlets\, including The New York Times.\n\n\nIn addition\, NoiseCat is a champion powwow dancer and student of Salish art and history. His expansive repertoire pays homage to his cultural roots as a proud member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq’escen and a descendant of the Lil’Wat Nation of Mount Currie.\n\n\nAbout Ramin Ganeshram\nGaneshram has served as the executive director of the Westport Museum since 2018. In recognition for her work as curator of the Museum’s 2018-19 exhibit\, Remembered: The History of African Americans in Westport\, Ganeshram received the prestigious award for Leadership in the Museum Field from the New England Museum Association. In 2019\, Ganeshram was also awarded the Paul Cuffee Memorial Fellowship for the For the Study of Minorities in American Maritime History. And in 2022\, she was named a fellow at the Fred W. Smith Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon.\n\n\nUnder Ganeshram’s leadership\, the Museum has partnered closely with organizations focused on BIPOC cultural movements. With her at its helm\, the Museum has been recognized by museum-industry leaders and by Connecticut Humanities as a standard-bearer for how small to midrange museums can truthfully and faithfully address American history around race and identity — particularly relating to slavery and civil rights.\n\n\n\nIndigenous American Mythologies\nREAD Like A Librarian\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Add as a preferred\n source on Google URL:https://westportjournal.com/events/storyfest-2025-presents-debut-book-launch-for-we-survived-the-night-by-critically-acclaimed-writer-and-filmmaker-julian-brave-noisecat/ LOCATION:The Trefz Forum\, The Westport Library\, 20 Jesup Road\, Westport\, CT\, 06880\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://westportjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/StoryFest25_2160x1080_JBNC25-zWLZH9.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251011T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251011T173000 DTSTAMP:20250926T135218Z CREATED:20250926T135217Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250926T135218Z UID:10000093-1760184000-1760203800@westportjournal.com SUMMARY:Verso University Presents: AI & Us: A Civic Symposium DESCRIPTION:AI & Us is a community-centered symposium exploring the implications of artificial intelligence across legal\, civic\, creative\, business\, healthcare\, and technological spheres. Designed for broad public engagement\, the event will offer multiple perspectives — from policymakers and technologists to journalists and academics.\n\n\nEach session includes an audience Q&A\, fostering open dialogue and public insight.\n\n\nAbout Verso University\n\n\nVerso University is The Westport Library’s lifelong learning and education initiative. Verso U functions as a year-round series of high-level classes\, workshops\, and lectures designed to further education and learning — and above all\, learning for a lifetime.\n\n \n\n\nOfferings run the gamut of educational opportunities to take your learning to the next level\, ranging from one-time lectures to ongoing courses to classes that meet weekly or perhaps monthly. And they will cover a wide variety of topics\, with classes and courses to appeal to all ages and interests\, from our younger patrons to our most experienced.\n\n\nVerso University programs are made possible by the generous support of the Nancy J. Beard Lifelong Learning and Education Fund.\n\n\n12-1:30 pm: Opening Keynote Conversation with Yale Prof. Scott Shapiro on AI\, Law\, and Cybersecurity\nScott Shapiro\, Yale Law School professor and author of Fancy Bear Goes Phishing\, will discuss AI’s role in legal reasoning\, government ethics\, and cybersecurity\, drawing from his experience at Yale and the Department of Homeland Security.\n\n\n2-3:30 pm: Panel: AI and Its Impact in Connecticut\nA cross-sector conversation about how AI is shaping the state’s innovation landscape\, higher education\, healthcare\, workforce\, and legislation.\n\n\n4-5:30: Closing Reflections with Kate Crawford on the Politics of AI\nJoin one of AI’s leading scholars of artificial intelligence and its material impacts. Kate Crawford is a research professor at the University of Southern California\, senior principal researcher at Microsoft Research New York\, and author of Atlas of AI. TIME100 named her as one of the world’s most influential people in AI.\n\n\nAI Explained SeriesArtificial Intelligence\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Add as a preferred\n source on Google URL:https://westportjournal.com/events/verso-university-presents-ai-us-a-civic-symposium/ LOCATION:The Trefz Forum\, The Westport Library\, 20 Jesup Road\, Westport\, CT\, 06880\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://westportjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AI-and-Us-MM6RvI.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251008T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251008T210000 DTSTAMP:20250926T135152Z CREATED:20250926T135145Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250926T135152Z UID:10000077-1759946400-1759957200@westportjournal.com SUMMARY:StartUp Westport 2025 Innovator of the Year: Mark Shapiro & 2025 Community Impact Innovator Award: Sweet P Bakery DESCRIPTION:Register Here\n\n\nEvery year\, Startup Westport gathers for one of its most meaningful traditions: the Innovator of the Year Awards. It’s our moment to honor Westport’s own — leaders who live and breathe the spirit of entrepreneurship — the risk-takers\, the builders\, the visionaries who transform industries and the changemakers who strengthen our community.\n\n\nOn October 8\, Startup Westport will honor two extraordinary Westport-based leaders who embody that spirit in very different ways: Mark Shapiro as its 2025 Innovator of the Year and Sweet P Bakery as the recipient of its 2025 Community Impact Innovator Award.\n\n\nAt the event\, Mark will sit down with CNBC anchor Sara Eisen for a fireside chat\, “Pivotal Moments: The Risks That Paid Off (and the Ones That Didn’t).” In this candid conversation\, Mark will share the decisions that shaped his career and the lessons that continue to guide him today.\n\n \n\n\nWhy You Should Come / What to Expect on October 8:\n\n\n\nThe official recognition of Startup Westport’s 2025 award honorees.\nBig ideas and never-before-told stories from the front lines of leadership.\nA spotlight on innovators shaping culture — on the global stage and right here at home.\nA room full of founders\, funders\, and community builders who believe in bold ideas.\nComplimentary treats from Sweet P Bakery\n\nCheck out the StartUp Westport website for the full event details and agenda.\n\n\nAbout Mark Shapiro\n\n\nSome leaders follow the playbook. Mark Shapiro rewrites it. If you’ve ever watched a UFC fight\, followed WWE\, or noticed how WME has become one of the most influential agencies in the world\, you’ve seen Shapiro’s fingerprints.\n\n\nAs president & COO of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO) and president & managing partner of WME Group\, Mark has had a hand in shaping some of the most influential names in sports and entertainment. His career has been defined by bold calls — bets that others might not have made — that changed the trajectory of companies\, industries\, and even culture itself.\n\n\nStartUp Westport selected Mark as this year’s Innovator of the Year because he represents the kind of leadership that defines entrepreneurship at its best: courageous\, inventive\, and unafraid to fail forward.\n\n\nAbout Sweet P Bakery \n\n\nIf Mark’s story is about reshaping industries\, Sweet P Bakery is about reshaping community. Founded by Andrea and Bill Pecoriello\, Sweet P started with a simple but powerful idea: create a bakery that provides inclusive hiring opportunities. The result? A thriving business that proves you can lead with heart\, grow with purpose\, and still make amazing cookies in town (and at Yankee Stadium!).\n\n\nStartUp Westport is honoring Sweet P because they remind us that innovation isn’t only measured in scale — it’s also measured in impact. Their work shows that business can be a force for dignity\, inclusion\, and joy.\n\n\n\nEntrepreneurship\nIndustry Resources\n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Add as a preferred\n source on Google URL:https://westportjournal.com/events/startup-westport-2025-innovator-of-the-year-mark-shapiro-2025-community-impact-innovator-award-sweet-p-bakery/ LOCATION:The Trefz Forum\, The Westport Library\, 20 Jesup Road\, Westport\, CT\, 06880\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://westportjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/SUW-Innovator-of-the-Year-0820.25-Ucfb5z.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251006T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251006T200000 DTSTAMP:20250926T135111Z CREATED:20250926T135109Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250926T135111Z UID:10000063-1759777200-1759780800@westportjournal.com SUMMARY:Common Ground Initiative: 'Somebody Should Do Something' With Michael Brownstein\, Alex Madva\, and Daniel Kelly DESCRIPTION:Changing the world is difficult — but attainable through the choices we make every day. Join Michael Brownstein\, Alex Madva\, and Daniel Kelly\, the authors of Somebody Should Do Something\, as they paint a picture of how social change happens\, one choice at a time. Alongside moderator Sharon Suchotliff\, principal at ZS Consultants and a member of the Library’s Common Ground Initiative\, this panel will delve into a novel and scientific approach to creating transformative social change — and the surprising ways that each of us can help make a real difference.\n\n\nCopies of Somebody Should Do Something will be available for purchase at this event.\n\n\nCrucial issues like climate change\, racism\, and poverty\, are structural. They emerge from our collective practices: laws\, economies\, history\, culture\, norms\, and built environments. The dilemma is that there is no way to make structural change without individual people making different — more structure-facing — decisions. In Somebody Should Do Something\, Michael Brownstein\, Alex Madva\, and Daniel Kelly show us how we can connect our personal choices to structural change and why individual choices matter\, though not in the way people usually think. Taking inspiration from the writer Bill McKibben\, they stress how one “important thing an individual can do is be somewhat less of an individual.”\n\n\nOrganized into three main sections\, the book first diagnoses the problem of “either/or” thinking about social change\, which stems from the false choice of making better personal choices or changing the system. The narrative then offers a different way to think about social change\, anchored in a new picture of human nature emerging across the social sciences. Finally\, the authors explore ways of putting this picture into practice. Neither a how-to manual nor an activist’s guide\, Somebody Should Do Something pairs stories and science (plus some jokes) to help readers recognize their own power\, turning resignation about climate change and racial injustice into actions that transform the world.\n\n \n\n\nMichael Brownstein is professor and chair of philosophy at John Jay College and professor of philosophy at The Graduate Center\, CUNY. He is the author of The Implicit Mind.\n\n\nAlex Madva is professor of philosophy\, director of the California Center for Ethics and Policy\, and co-director of the Digital Humanities Consortium at Cal Poly Pomona. He is a co-editor of An Introduction to Implicit Bias and The Movement for Black Lives.\n\n\nDaniel Kelly is professor of philosophy at Purdue University. He is the author of Yuck! The Nature and Moral Significance of Disgust (MIT Press).\n\n\nThe Common Ground Initiative is The Westport Library’s forum for public discourse on topical issues of importance to the community.  The goals of the Initiative are to: host a positive\, productive conversation on how we work together to move forward as a civil society; encourage respectful\, constructive dialogue; and build capacity to tackle challenging and/or controversial issues.\n\n\n\n\n\nStop Racial Injustice\n\n\nClimate Change \n\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Add as a preferred\n source on Google URL:https://westportjournal.com/events/common-ground-initiative-somebody-should-do-something-with-michael-brownstein-alex-madva-and-daniel-kelly/ LOCATION:The Trefz Forum\, The Westport Library\, 20 Jesup Road\, Westport\, CT\, 06880\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://westportjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/somebody-should-do-something-c0hieM.png END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR