Many CBH Talks were recorded. To view, visit the Center for Brooklyn History Talks YouTube channel at bklynlib.org/CBH-Talks.
Past Events
CBH Talk | Women Laughing: A Film Screening and Panel Discussion
In celebration of Women’s History Month, join us for a screening of the documentary Women Laughing, a joyful tribute to female humor and sensibility as expressed through the works and words of The New Yorker magazine’s women cartoonists. Directed by four-decade New Yorker cartoonist Liza…
CBH Talk | Preserving Your New York Story: Investigating Jewish Genealogy in Brooklyn
Join the Center for Brooklyn History and the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society (NYG&B) for this free in-person event to learn the essentials of tracing Jewish ancestors and preserving your own family history.
Family history is a fascinating and personal way for…
CBH Talk | Maya Kornberg and Julian Zelizer Discuss “Stuck”
Congress, the central democratic institution in the United States, is hanging on by a thread. In Stuck: How Money, Media, and Violence Prevent Change in Congress, political scientist Maya Kornberg chronicles the efforts of congressional reformers over the last fifty years, and documents the…
CBH Talk | Heather Ann Thompson on the Legacy of Bernie Goetz
In 1984, a white New Yorker named Bernie Goetz shot four Black teenagers on a subway train, igniting one of the most explosive public debates in modern New York history. Hailed by some as a hero and condemned by others as a vigilante, Goetz became a flashpoint for national anxieties about crime…
CBH Talk | Chris Hayes Discusses “The Siren’s Call” with Alondra Nelson
Journalist, author, and Emmy Award–winning MSNBC host Chris Hayes joins sociologist and Institute for Advanced Study scholar Alondra Nelson for a timely conversation about Hayes’s latest book, The Sirens’ Call, an urgent examination of how the attention economy has reshaped our inner lives, our…
CBH Talk | How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance
Global superstar Bad Bunny—born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio—has become far more than a chart-topping artist. For millions, he is a voice of pride, defiance, and cultural power, shaped by a Puerto Rico marked by blackouts, hurricanes, political corruption, and the enduring realities of U.S.…
Freedom and Its Futures: Conversations on the Meaning of Freedom Today
Join the third in a series of small group discussion about freedom and responsibility, in connection with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. We'll be using a short excerpt from Zadie Smith's essay "Joy" as the anchor.
New Yorkers live amid…
CBH Talk | From the Inside Out: How Writing and Art Support Justice-Affected Lives
For people impacted by policing and incarceration, reclaiming one’s humanity is often bound up with the ability to tell one’s own story. Arts and literacy programs inside prisons and during reentry, offer powerful tools for recovery from the harms of state punishment and the stigma of…
Exhibition Opening Day: The Battle of Brooklyn: Fought and Remembered
In August of 1776, the first and largest battle of the American Revolution took place in what is now Brooklyn, NY. The Battle of Brooklyn: Fought and Remembered uses primary source material from the Center for Brooklyn History's collection to relay the story of this turning point in American…
CBH Talk | Book Launch of “Freedom Lost, Freedom Won”: Eugene Robinson and Darren Walker in Conversation
CBH is honored to host the launch of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eugene Robinson’s latest book, Freedom Lost, Freedom Won, a deeply personal and sweeping work of history, memory, and moral reckoning. Robinson will be led in conversation by Darren Walker.
Freedom Lost, Freedom Won…
New York City History Day Virtual Office Hour
Virtual drop-in office hour to talk to the New York City History Day Coordinator about your History Day project. Get one-on-one help with registration, brainstorming, research, and more! Open to all students and teachers. Zoom link will be sent on the day of the office hour to those who've…
New York City History Day Virtual Office Hour
Virtual drop-in office hour to talk to the New York City History Day Coordinator about your History Day project. Get one-on-one help with registration, brainstorming, research, and more! Open to all students and teachers. Zoom link will be sent on the day of the office hour to those who've…
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