SNOW BE DAMNED! TONIGHT WE LEARN!

How do the Avengers represent our hopes and fears around science and technology? And how do you play a nearly century-old instrument that you never touch?

• When: Wednesday, February 25 – doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:00pm
• Where: The Oriental Theater
• Tickets: $5 online, $8 at the door – 18+

Embrace that inner early-bird and grab your tickets now!

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Why You’re Afraid of Science and Technology, as Explained by the Avengers

by Kyle MunKittrick

How are our collective hopes and fears about science and technology demonstrated in the characteristics of each Avenger? You might be surprised to find out!

Speaker creds: NYU educated bioethicist Kyle Munkittrick works by day to revolutionize health care, by night he a can be found oversharing his opinions and over analyzing science, philosophy, and culture on twitter @popbioethics. His longer writing can be found on Discover Magazine, Slate, and io9.

A Century of Electronic Music

by Victoria Lundy

The theremin was invented by a young Russian physicist named Lev Sergevich Termen (known in the West as Léon Theremin) in October 1920. It’s a electronically straightforward but musically difficult instrument, and it influenced everything that came after it. We’ll take a look at these early electronic instruments and see how we’ve come back to the theremin after it almost disappeared in the 20th century, only to experience a renaissance in the 21st. Victoria will demonstrate the basic principles of playing the instrument, give a short lesson, and play a few pieces demonstrating its versatility.

Speaker creds: Victoria Lundy has been playing theremin in the Denver experimental/underground/punk scene since the 90s. She was a member of the avant garde Carbon Dioxide Orchestra, who opened for the legendary Silver Apples in 1997; is a founding member of Denver’s acclaimed nerd rock band The Inactivists and has appeared all of their 6 CDs and EP, and as a guest player live and in recordings with other local artists. She also was a member of Jackson Induced Mutant Laboratory and performed with them at the 2011 Denver Noise Festival and at the 2013 Denver Post Underground Music Showcase with ambient project Pythian Whispers. Victoria has appeared at many venues in Denver as well as Boulder’s Dairy Center for the Performing Arts, and demonstrated the theremin at the World Science Fiction Convention. In the last year she’s participated in a series of musique concréte performances at the Walnut Room and DU Lamont School of Music, and concentrating on solo ambient work that explores the expressive qualities of the theremin.

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As always, a huge thanks to our primary sponsor Sexpot Comedy and to our photographer partners in crime From the Hip Photo!

Take a moment to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts, and be the first to know event details by signing up for our email list (in the bar to the right).

Want to be a Nerd Nite speaker? Or know someone who should be? Let us know!

The holidays are over and the breaking of resolutions is well underway. So what better time to talk about the science of responsibility, marijuana, and dead bodies. Wait…what? Join us January 22 for a new year with new speakers and the same ol’ rowdy nerdery!

Plus we’re thrilled to announce a new partnership with Sexpot Comedy! These hilarious, Denver-based wunderkinds are the masters of all things entertaining in the Mile High City and look forward to bringing you the science of comedy throughout Nerd Nite in 2015. Keep an eye on our Nerd About Town calendar for other exciting Sexpot shows around town.

• When: Thursday, January 22 – doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:00pm
• Where: The Oriental Theater
• Tickets: $5 online, $8 at the door – 18+

Embrace that inner early-bird and grab your tickets now!

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What Makes a Responsible Person?

by Rachel Weston Rowell

The Responsibility Process is a model that explains how your brain responds to a problem. In an effort to allow you to cope with problems and move on quickly, your brain does a lot of work to give you someone or something else to pin your problem on. The process includes steps such as Blame (someone did this to me), Justify (the world/environment/situation did this to me), Shame (blame myself), and Obligation (the world/environment/situation I created is doing this to me). In our lives we spend a lot of time in Shame and Obligation. The issue with all of these responses is that they are coping, not growing and learning spaces. Only when we move to responsibility can we move beyond the problem. Rachel teaches us how to get there.

Speaker creds: Rachel did her undergrad and graduate work at UC Berkeley and CU Boulder respectively in communication and linguistics and now works for Rally Software in Boulder investigating what’s next for the ever-challenging work of building Lean and Agile teams. When she isn’t transforming engineering and business practices, Rachel does improv at the Bovine Metropolis Theater in Denver and volunteers for Code for America through the Code for Denver Brigade. That is, when she isn’t enjoying her very own at home hilarity: her husband and 3 year old daughter.

A Complete Guide to Marijuana

by Jake Browne

We all have an endocannabinoid system, but what is it and how did it get there? Why do some marijuana smell like a dead skunk and why do some people actually like that? Jake Browne, marijuana critic for the Denver Post, breaks down everything you never knew about marijuana, from the gene level to Cheech and Chong sized joints.

Speaker creds: Jake Browne is a Denver-based comedian, writer, and co-host of the Whiskey and Cigarettes podcast. He founded the HempBox, a subscription box focused on hemp consumer goods, in 2014; is co-host of Comics Against Civility, a Cards Against Humanity themed game show that runs monthly in Denver; and is a writer for CULTURE Magazine. He also happens to be a pot critic for The Denver Post. Check him out on Facebook and Twitter!

Inside the Mind of a Coroner

by Lora Thomas

We’ve all seen intense, case-solving, music montage scenes with coroners on CSI or The X-Files but what does a coroner actually do? Do you even want to know? We do! Lora explains the real world of dead bodies and how a hyper-sucessful cop becomes a coroner.

Speaker creds: Lora Thomas was elected Douglas County Coroner in 2010 and served until January 13, 2015. The county coroner is responsible for determining the cause and manner of death. Lora’s term was nothing if not eventful. She cut the budget by 33% while the caseload increased 45% and two former employees are now convicted felons! Wha?

Before being elected coroner, Lora Thomas worked with the Colorado State Patrol for 26 years, becoming the first woman captain and major in the organization.  She has earned an MBA, finance, and criminal justices degrees.

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Take a moment to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts, and be the first to know event details by signing up for our email list (in the bar to the right).

See you soon!

p.s. Want to be a Nerd Nite speaker? Or know someone who should be? Let us know!

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