Big news everybody! Well, news. This month’s event is going to be back at Manuel’s Tavern in Poncey-Highlands. Between the distance and the sound issues and the number of non-nerds at our last venue, we thought it best to go back to our roots. So, that being said, we’ve got a tremendous event this month: three grrreeeaaaat talks and the return of Nerd Nite trivia, plus a raffle! Not to mention, we’ll be screening a trailer for new nerd movie coming out this month. So lot’s of great stuff. We look forward to seeing you all back at Manuel’s on Wednesday. Read below to find out all the details.
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What: Nerd Nite ATL, No. 11
When: WEDNESDAY 7/23. Show at 8:00pm, but get there EARLY if you want to get a good seat and get a jump on ordering food/drink.
Where: Manuel’s Tavern, 602 North Highland Ave NE
Cost: $5 Cover
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“Southern Food’s Native American Roots ” by Laura Sullivan.
Crack open a cookbook from the Chickasaw Nation and you’ll find a line-up of recipes mighty familiar to the Southern cook: grits, corn bread, sweet potato pie and chicken and dumplings. Turns out that Southern cooking, with its fascinating mishmash of European and African influences, has its roots in Native American food. What connects the ubiquitous dishes you’d find at any good Meat & Three and the southeastern Native American tribes? We’ll find out in this food nerd-y talk about crops and foodways. We’ll even learn what the heck nixtamalization is. (It’s important for your cheese grits, so do pay attention.)
Bio: Laura Sullivan is an Atlanta native and long-time food and travel writer. On a trip to her family homeland in Oklahoma, she became a little obsessed with the Southern-Native food connection, learning much from experts on the subject, including Emmy award-winning Native chef Loretta Oden, and later penning a piece for Modern Farmer.
“An Albanian Woman’s Choice: Sex or Civil Rights?” by Valerie Walters.
Gender inequality is an uncomfortable, unpleasant, and omnipresent issue around the world. A rural, patriarchal society in northern Albania has an oppressive and rigidly gendered system of governance that’s existed since the 15th century, but also a unique solution for those women denied civil rights – they can become men. But this choice comes with trade offs, and leads to a plethora of implications about gender, sex, rights, and each societies perspectives on all of these topics.
Bio: Valerie currently does management consulting at KPMG. Before she started the most ambiguous job of all time, she attended the University of Alabama and competed on the nationally ranked speech and debate team, where she learned a lot about a lot of stuff.
“Hack Your Genome” by Kris Hite, Ph.D.
Want to know who you really are? What cave your ancestors crawled out of? When you’re gonna die? Well step right up and spit into this cup. Sounds great right? In this talk, an open access advocate gets personal about personal genomics. Is it some voodoo oracle to predict your destiny, or the latest fad in tech-narcissism? Come explore the As, Ts, Gs, and Cs with me and judge for yourself the value of knowing your own DNA.
Bio: Kris is a postdoctoral fellow in the Biology Department at Emory. He is currently working with the model plant organism Arabidopsis thaliana studying how certain genes affect plant development. When not at the bench Kris writes a blog called Tom Paine’s Ghost which tries to unpack topics in sustainably, politics, and new developments in life science. His writing has been featured at Scientific American, the World Science Festival, and the Open Laboratory and annual anthology of the best science writing on blogs.