“The Stories We Tell: Classic True Tales By America’s Greatest Women Journalists”
Jan. 18
Thanks to some savvy rereleases, the past few years have resulted in the lifting up of a few women journalists whose reputations, if not exactly forgotten, are not where they should be (and a lot of that has to do with them being women and journalism being like most things, a big dumb boys club) such as Renata Adler and Eve Babitz (who is a journalist even when she’s a fiction writer). On Netflix, there is the Joan Didion documentary “Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold” (if you want to understand the current political situation, read “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” and “The White Album”) and oh, here in Baltimore there is even a restaurant named after Ida B. Wells. It is all, well, a start to usurping the journalistic canon. Editor Patsy Sims’ anthology “The Stories We Tell: Classic True Tales By America’s Greatest Women Journalists” collects pieces of nonfiction from Didion, Susan Orlean, Lillian Ross, and 16 others. Sims is joined by journalists Suzannah Lessard and Maggie Mes at Ivy Bookshop to discuss the anthology. 7 p.m., The Ivy Bookshop, 6080 Falls Road, (410) 377-2966, theivybookshop.com, free. (Brandon Soderberg)
“It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What The Trump Administration Is Doing To America”
Jan. 23
So readers, you could spend the beginning of this week listening to Donna Brazille cogently explain why the Democratic party is hot mess, and you could end it hearing investigative journalist David Cay Johnston, who has been around covering Trump for about 30 years, explain why—well, just look at the title of his new book: “It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What The Trump Administration Is Doing To America.” All of this might get you more depressed and that’s totally legit, but it might also be good to endure a whole bunch of sobering real talk about politics, and Johnston knows Trump’s bullshit well. The book is split up into different sections where it unpacks what Trump’s doing or not doing piece-by-piece (“A President Like No Other,” “Jobs,” “Taxes,” “Fossil Fuels,” “Global Affairs,” “Education,” “Law and Order,” and so on). Here’s a quick, cogent excerpt: “Emotionally, [Trump] remains the thirteen-year-old troublemaker his father sent off to a military academy, where by his own account brutality was common. Being stuck in the awkward year between childhood and maturity for nearly six decades is a terrible fate, one that has twisted Trump’s personality.” 6:30 p.m., Enoch Pratt Free Library, Central Branch, 400 Cathedral St., (410) 396-5430, prattlibrary.org, free. (Brandon Soderberg)
Baltimore County Public Library Pikesville Branch, 1301 Reisterstown Road, (410) 887-1234, bcpl.info. Chef, author, and owner of Gertrude’s John Shields discusses his book, “Chesapeake Bay Cooking.” Jan. 17, 2:30 p.m.
Bird In Hand, 11 E. 33rd St., (410) 814-0373, birdinhandcharlesvillage.com. Charm City Spec, a speculative fiction series, featuring Tom Doyle, Malka Older, and Ariel S. Winter. Jan. 17, 7 p.m. A reading series featuring 2016’s Rubys Artist Project Grantees Thea Brown, Andria Nacina Cole, Michael Downs, Carla Du Pree, Andrew Klein, and Susan Muaddi Darraj. Jan. 23, 7 p.m.
Church of the Redeemer, 5603 N. Charles St., prattlibrary.org. The Enoch Pratt Free Library presents Donna Brazile, a longtime Washington insider and the author of “Hacks: The Inside Story Of The Break-Ins And Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump In The White House.” Jan. 17, 7 p.m.
Enoch Pratt Free Library, Central Branch, 400 Cathedral St., (410) 396-5430, prattlibrary.org. David Cay Johnston discusses his new book, “It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What The Trump Administration Is Doing To America.” Jan. 23, 6:30 p.m.
Enoch Pratt Free Library, Govans Branch, 5714 Bellona Ave., (410) 396-6098, prattlibrary.org. Katia D. Ulysse, the Kratz Center’s Writer-in-Residence at Goucher College and author of “Mouths Don’t Speak.”
The Ivy Bookshop, 6080 Falls Road, (410) 377-2966, theivybookshop.com. A discussion about Patsy Sims’ “The Stories We Tell: Classic True Tales By America’s Greatest Women Journalists,” part of the Sager Group Women In Journalism Series, with Sims, Suzannah Lessard, and Maggie Messitt. Jan. 18, 7 p.m. Singer-songwriter ellen cherry and poet Edward Doyle-Gillespie. Jan. 21, 5 p.m. “Love, Hate, And Other Filters” author Samira Ahmed in conversation with Sujata Massey. Jan. 22, 7 p.m.
Red Emma’s, 30 W. North Ave., (443) 602-7585, redemmas.org. Baltimore Science Cafe: Brain Stimulation with Dr. Pablo Celnik, a researcher and clinician in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Jan. 17, 7:30 p.m. Cindy Millstein, the editor of “Rebellious Mourning: The Collective Work Of Grief.” Jan. 21, 3 p.m.