Antibiotics: the next frontier

From the early decades of the 20th century, antibiotics transformed medicine, making mortality from bacterial infections a rarity in developed nations. However, we currently face a crisis of antibiotic resistance, with infection-causing bacterial pathogens increasingly acquiring or evolving the means to mediate infection in the presence of antibiotic therapy. In this Baltimore Science Café, we will discuss the past, present, and future of antibiotics, with particular emphasis on new strategies to treat bacterial infection. We will talk about what antibiotics are, how they act to cure bacterial infection, and how bacteria evade them. We will address important questions including: What caused the current crisis in antibiotic resistance? What are scientists doing to combat this problem? What kinds of therapies are on the horizon to avoid a return to a pre-antibiotic era of life-threatening bacterial diseases? What can you do to help?

We are excited to welcome Russia expert and former CIA analyst Mel Goodman to present his new book, Whistleblower at the CIA: An Insider's Account of the Politics of Intelligence! Mel Goodman's long career as a respected intelligence analyst at the CIA, specializing in US/Soviet relations, ended abruptly. In 1990, after twenty-four years of service, Goodman resigned when he could no longer tolerate the corruption he witnessed at the highest levels of the Agency. In 1991 he went public, blowing the whistle on top-level officials and leading the opposition against the appointment of Robert Gates as CIA director. In the widely covered Senate hearings, Goodman charged that Gates and others had subverted "the process and the ethics of intelligence" by deliberately misinforming the White House about major world events and covert operations.

In this breathtaking expose, Goodman tells the whole story. Retracing his career with the Central Intelligence Agency, he presents a rare insider's account of the inner workings of America's intelligence community, and the corruption, intimidation, and misinformation that lead to disastrous foreign interventions. An invaluable and historic look into one of the most secretive and influential agencies of US government--and a wake-up call for the need to reform its practices.

In a world of misinformation and “alternative facts,” we need axioms of truth and justice! Join us for an open mic of justice, conscious thought, spirituality, fam, real life—whatever advances the village! In the tradition of Emma Goldman’s Mother Earth magazine, come drop some progressive “fiyah” on us, or contribute just with your presence and energy! 

Smart and provocative, witty and uncompromising, this collection of Laurie Penny's celebrated essays establishes her as one of the most important and vibrant political voices of our time. Bitch Doctrine takes an unflinching look at the definitive issues of our age, from the shock of Donald Trump's election and the victories of the far right to online harassment and the transgender rights movement. Penny is lyrical and passionate in her desire to confront injustice, and she's writing at the raw edge of a revolution-hungry zeitgeist, a time when it has never been more vital to actively question and fiercely dispute all forms of complacency, including social norms. This darkly comic, often biting yet empathic, revelatory collection will inform, challenge, and engage, and give readers hope and tools for change. Join us as we welcome Laurie Penny to Red Emma's to present Bitch Doctrine: Essays for Dissenting Adults!

If you come to Red Emma's often, you know we don't serve meat. Perhaps you even have some ideas about why that is. But you probably haven't heard us talk much about the politics of animal rights and why we decided to make a commitment to a 100% meat-free restaurant over a decade ago - we're busy cooking up some vegan treats in the back kitchen. Luckily for us, there are folks like Australian animal rights activist James Aspey out there, fighting every day to raise awareness about how we can and should think about using our individual and collective power to protect the rights of our animal friends. James hit news headlines all around the world after breaking a 365 day vow of silence during an interview on Australia’s most popular morning TV show. His first words were watched by millions and inspired countless people to make positive changes in their life. In his talk at Red Emma's, James will focus on how we can make our vegan activism more effective: we have to learn what to say and how to say it. Are you a committed vegan? A curious maybe-vegetarian? Hard-core meat-eater? All open minds are welcome at this talk!

Since 2000, water rates have more than tripled in Baltimore City and more than one third of residents cannot afford their water bills. When our neighbors can’t afford to pay, the City shuts off their water, renters are evicted, and homeowners lose their homes through tax sales. With the lack of substantial assistance from the Department of Public Works, it’s time for radical change to come from City Hall. Access to safe, affordable water is a fundamental human right, one that our City must affirm for all Baltimoreans.

The members of the Baltimore Right to Water Coalition are working with the City Council on a water affordability bill that will be introduced onMonday, August 14. Join us on Wednesday, August 9 at 6:30PM to hear from an expert panel about how we got into this mess, the proposed solutions, and what YOU can do to ensure that everyone in our city has access to water. Grab your friends and join us!

New York City's identity as a cultural and artistic center, as a point of arrival for millions of immigrants sympathetic to anarchist ideas, and as a hub of capitalism made the city a unique and dynamic terrain for anarchist activity. For 150 years, Gotham's cosmopolitan setting created a unique interplay between anarchism's human actors and an urban space that invites constant reinvention. In Radical Gotham, Tom Goyens gathers essays that demonstrate anarchism's endurance as a political and cultural ideology and movement in New York from the 1870s to 2011. The authors cover the gamut of anarchy's emergence in and connection to the city. Some offer important new insights on German, Italian, and Yiddish- and Spanish-speaking anarchists. Others explore anarchism's influence on religion, politics, and the visual and performing arts. A concluding essay looks at Occupy Wall Street's roots in New York City's anarchist tradition. Please help us welcome Tom Goyens to Red Emma’s to present Radical Gotham!

The problem of dealing with fascism, the problem of the rise of the neo-Nazi movements on the post soviet territories started almost immediately after the fall of the Soviet Union. While the official propaganda praises the “memory of our grandfathers” and flirts with Stalinism, it also encourages the xenophobic attitude among the young (often combining the two). As a response to the neo-Nazi street violence, a new movement arose – an antiauthoritarian, antiracist group, which later, under the influence of Anarcho-Communism, became what we now know as “Antifa”. Please join us as we welcome Danya Piunov to speak about the current Russian antifa movement and their persecution by the government.

“More Than a Fraction” takes you on a journey with the Fraction family including two brothers, Thomas and Othello, their service in the Civil War, and their subsequent fight after the war for rights and inclusion. Dr. Moseley-Hobbs is the 3rd great-granddaughter of Thomas Fraction. Her passion for education and history led to her uncovering hidden stories and forgotten legacies.

That education should instill and nurture democracy is an American truism. Yet organizations such as the Business Roundtable, together with conservative philanthropists such as Bill Gates and Walmart’s owners, the Waltons, have been turning public schools into corporate mills. Their top-down programs, such as Common Core State Standards, track, judge, and homogenize the minds of millions of American students from kindergarten through high school. But corporate funders would not be able to implement this educational control without the de facto partnership of government at all levels, channeling public moneys into privatization initiatives, school closings, and high-stakes testing that discourages independent thinking.

Educational Justice offers hope that there’s still time to take on corporatized schools and build democratic alternatives. Forcefully written by educator and journalist Howard Ryan, with contributing authors, the book deconstructs the corporate assault on schools, assesses the prevailing teachers union responses, and documents best teaching and organizing practices. Reports from various educational fronts include innovative union strategies against charter school expansion, as well as teaching visions drawn from the social justice and whole language traditions. Bold, informative, clearly reasoned, this book is an education in itself—a democratic one at that.

Behind the smiling faces of cashiers, wait staff, and workers of all sorts, a war is going on, usually without the knowledge of official political and labor organizations. Guerrillas of Desire maps these undercurrents, documenting the history of everyday resistance under slavery, in peasant life, and throughout modern capitalism, while showing that it remains an important factor in revolution and something radicals of all stripes must understand. Join the author for a reading and discussion.

Join us as we welcome local author Kenneth Rogers to present his new book, "Heroes, Villains, and Healing"- a guide to help male survivors of childhood sexual abuse understand and heal from the trauma of their past using comic book superheroes and villains. The book was written to help male survivors open up about their abuse, seek help, and stop suppressing their trauma through drug and alcohol abuse, or suicide.

Red Emma’s is thrilled to welcome to Adam Greenfield, author of Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life. Radical Technologies argues that the new technologies transfiguring our lives come at a great cost. From smartphones, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality to cryptocurrency, 3D-printing and the “smart city,” Adam forces us to reconsider our relationship with the networked objects, services and spaces that define us. It is time to re-evaluate the Silicon Valley consensus determining the future.