Things to Do

Culture Vulture

A compilation of interesting—and, most important, free—lectures, cultural events, and more throughout the week.

Monday, November 9
Busboys and Poets at 14th and V streets hosts author James W. Loewen as he discusses and signs his new book, Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History. In the follow-up to his book Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, Loewen calls for a new way to teach history by exploring the hidden facts of America’s past. The event begins at 6:30 in the Langston Room.

Tuesday, November 10
The National Museum of Women in the Arts continues its second annual festival with staged readings of plays and poetry. Today’s event, Voices of Liberty: English Women Poets from 1649-1750,” features work by such poets as Aphra Behn and Anne Bradstreet as well as a dance performance by the Artefacts Dance Company. The event runs from 7 to 9.

Wednesday, November 11
Stephen P. Cohen, founder and president of the Institute for Middle East Peace & Development, will discuss and sign his new book, Beyond America’s Grasp: A Century of Failed Diplomacy in the Middle East, at Politics and Prose. The book is the product of more than 40 years of work and study in the region, and it explores the volatile legacy that began with Woodrow Wilson and continues today. The event begins at 7.

Thursday, November 12
The Emmy Award-winning photographer Joshua Cogan will present a special series on music at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue as part of FotoWeek DC. His photographs capture the energy of many musical genres and highlight rising Washington musicians as well as local performances by the world’s biggest stars. The event begins at 7. To RSVP, click here.

Friday, November 13
The iconic cartoon superhero Astro Boy lives on at the Freer Gallery for a special retrospective examination one of animation’s seminal creations. Frederik Schodt, author of The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution, will screen and discuss four episodes in the Meyer Auditorium. The event begins at 7; free tickets are available on a first come, first served basis.

Saturday, November 14
The Washington National Opera will be at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage as part of this year’s Opera Week. The renowned group will present an “informance” to show how the orchestra accompanies singers, using experts from The Marriage of Figaro. The performance begins at 6.

Sunday, November 15
The Writer’s Center in Bethesda will feature two poets for its Open Door reading series. Gerry LaFemina will read from his newest book, Proofreading America and Other Stories, and Michael Salcman reads from his collection, The Clock Made of Confetti. The reading begins at 2. To register, click here.

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Staff Writer

Michael J. Gaynor has written about fake Navy SEALs, a town without cell phones, his Russian spy landlord, and many more weird and fascinating stories for the Washingtonian. He lives in DC, where his landlord is no longer a Russian spy.