MONDAY, JANUARY 13
FOOD Find delicious deals for cheap(ish) during Winter Restaurant Week. Get a 3-course meal for $22 (brunch or lunch) or $35 (dinner); there are dozens of participating restaurants, such as RPM Italian, Rustico, the Pig, Ivy City Smokehouse, and Founding Farmers. Through January 19.
FILM The Backcountry Film Festival celebrates human-powered recreation and tours over 100 cities to raise funds for local winter communities; DC outdoor enthusiasts can watch the films on Monday at Penn Social. This year’s lineup includes documentaries about skiing in Norway (Endless Winter: Chapter One), climate change in Alaska (Climate Change in the Kennels), and a woman who climbed Mount Everest (A Climb for Equality). There will be raffles for gear from Patagonia and REI; proceeds will benefit the nonprofit Winter Wildlands Alliance. $17, 7 PM.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 14
LECTURE The seventh Nerds in NoMa lecture series kicks off this month at 1200 First St. NE; this month’s theme, “Once Upon a Time: Stories from the Neighborhood,” will highlight the history of the neighborhood. Storyteller Chris Maier will facilitate the evening; look for snacks from Laos in Town and free beverages as well. Free, 6 PM.
BOOKS How did we get to a fractured state of heightened individualism? Bob Garfield, co-host of WNYC’s On the Media, shows that Trumpism has been developing over the past 50 years; he presents six actionable steps that we can take to pull the country back together in his new book, American Manifesto: Saving Democracy from Villains, Vandals, and Ourselves. Garfield will discuss his work at Politics and Prose in conversation with New York Times magazine’s chief national correspondent Mark Leibovich. Free, 7 PM.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15
THEATER Dominique Morisseau’s play Pipeline highlights the inequities that persist in education (the inspiration for the play’s title is a reference to the school-to-prison pipeline). A single mom teaches at an inner-city school and hopes for a better future for her son. He, in turn, faces disciplinary consequences at his elite private school for an altercation with a teacher, leaving him to question whether he will ever escape racial stereotypes in his education. Pipeline runs through February 16 at Studio Theatre. $20-$97.
COMEDY See journalist/comic Chloé Hilliard (Last Comic Standing) perform at the Bier Baron; her new book, F*ck Your Diet: And Other Things My Thighs Tell Me, shares stories from her own life, plus her perspectives on race and culture. Expect that same wit in her stand-up; she will sign copies of her book after the show. $15, 7:30 PM.
