We’re expanding our monthly show at The New Parkway! We’ll have our usual live show in theater 1 and will be streaming to the comfy retro lounge that is theater 2. So: roll out of bed and listen to Matt Walker tell you why you probably should catch a few more Zs later, hear Guy Branum explain how we had the audacity to think we could take over our neighbors to the north (eh?), and catch a shooting star with Chabot’s Jonathan Braidman.
Be there and be square with beats by DJ Citizen Zain and general grumblings from Rick and Rebecca!
Monday 3/25 Doors at 7 pm, show at 8 The New Parkway, 474 24th St, Oakland (less than half-a-mile from the 19th St BART) $8 All Ages Tickets FB event g+ event
THE SECRETS OF SLEEP by Matt Walker
We spend one third of our lives asleep, yet doctors and scientists still have no complete understanding as to why. It is one of the last great scientific mysteries. This talk will describe new discoveries suggesting that, far from being a time when the brain is dormant, sleep is a highly active process critical for a constellation of different functions. These include the importance of sleep for learning, memory and brain plasticity. Furthermore, a role for sleep in intelligently synthesizing new memories together will be examined, the result of which is next-day creative insights. Finally, a new role for sleep in regulating emotional brain networks will be discussed, optimally preparing us for next day social and psychological challenges. Perhaps if you don’t snooze, you lose.
Matthew Walker earned his PhD in neurophysiology from the Medical Research Council in London, UK, and subsequently became an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School in 2004. He is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of California Berkeley. He is the recipient of funding awards from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. In 2006 he became a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences. His research examines the impact of sleep on human brain function in healthy and disease populations. He provided his non-verbal implied consent that Rick can add an amusing remark at the end of the bio to make you less likely to fall asleep if you’ve read this far.
THE TIME WE TRIED TO STEAL CANADA: THE WAR OF 1812 AND YOU by Guy Branum
We all know about America rescuing Europe in World War I, defeating the Nazis in World War II, and saving the Union in the Civil War, but no one ever talks about America’s FIRST war. No, not that one, America’s first war as an independent nation: The War of 1812. It’s the 200th anniversary of America’s stupidest war, and together we’ll re-trace the idiotic steps that led to us declaring war on the greatest power of the age, expecting to be welcomed by Canadians as liberators, and finally learning, once and for all, what the Canadian dream is: to not be American.
Guy Branum is a writer and comedian best known for his work on Chelsea Lately and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. Guy is also the host of the informational comedy series “The Factuary” on Youtube. He has a JD from the University of Minnesota, but that won’t really play into things much.
THE SKY IS FALLING! CRAP FROM OUTER SPACE AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT by Jonathan Braidman
Two meteor impacts and a near miss asteroid; all in one weekend! What’s up with that, Space? Find out if these events are a coincidence or a cosmic warning shot from the universe. We’ll talk about how this crap gets to Earth and if that emergency kit has the tools you need to survive. There will be real meteorite samples for you to handle (no licking). It’s the closest thing to touching space!
Jonathan works at Chabot Space and Science Center (right here in the Oakland hills!) as a planetarium show developer, educator, and news liaison. He also runs the Challenger Learning Center, which is just about the closest thing to a space mission that the average non-astronaut can experience. When not searching the skies, Jonathan likes bicycling, making bagels, and any kind of space video game.