New York Public Library - Stephen A. Schwarzman Building

Luke Herbermann is an indie-folk artist who grew up in Rhode Island and currently resides in Murray Hill. Luke is known for his molding of several varying genre styles into unique, emotive, indie-folk albums. His latest album, The Tides, explores themes of love and loss through 7 original songs and a Bob Dylan cover. Luke performs live with a band around NYC about 3 times a year. This Corner Space event was recorded live on September 11, 2024, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL). This program was made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

Scholar and author of 'Devil's Contract' Ed Simon and Mark Lilla discuss the Faustian bargain that has plagued our collective imaginations from time immemorial. A fascinating and accessible narrative of the Faustian bargain throughout the ages, 'Devil’s Contract' juxtaposes humanity’s choices with the history of the Devil and suggests how we arrived where we are today. From ancient times to the modern world, the idea of the Faustian bargain -- the exchange of one's soul in return for untold riches and power -- has exerted a magnetic pull upon our collective imaginations. Scholar Ed Simon takes us on a historical tour of the Faustian bargain, from biblical themes to bluesman Robert Johnson, and illustrates how the instinct for sacrificing our principles in exchange for power models all kinds of social ills, from colonialism to nuclear warfare, and even social media, climate change, and AI. In doing so, Simon conveys just how much the Faustian bargain shows us about power and evil ... and about ourselves. “Marlowe staged Dr. Faustus at the very beginning of what is increasingly being called the Anthropocene, the geological epoch in which humanity was finally able to impose its will upon the earth. There are costs to any such contract, as the wisdom of the legend has it, so that it’s worth considering after five centuries of human domination of the planet that we might now be facing our own collective appointment at Deptford. We seem to finally be facing the final act, the apocalyptic tenor of our times, from climate change to nuclear brinkmanship making the continued survival of humanity an open question, our sad predicament the result of hubris, and greed, and vainglory. It may be appropriate to rechristen this age the Faustocene. Because whether or not the Devil is real, his effects in the world are." This 7 Stories Up event was recorded live on September 12, 2024, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL). This program was made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

Linguist and writer Ross Perlin discusses his new book, 'Language City: The Fight to Preserve Endangered Mother Tongues in New York,' with fellow writer Jason Diamond. Half of all 7,000-plus human languages may disappear over the next century and—because many have never been recorded—when they’re gone, it will be forever. Ross Perlin, a linguist and co-director of the Manhattan-based non-profit Endangered Language Alliance, is racing against time to map little-known languages across the most linguistically diverse city in history: contemporary New York. In Language City, Perlin recounts the unique history of immigration that shaped the city, and follows six remarkable yet ordinary speakers of endangered languages deep into their communities to learn how they are maintaining and reviving their languages against overwhelming odds. Perlin also dives deep into their languages, taking us on a fascinating tour of unusual grammars, rare sounds, and powerful cultural histories from all around the world. Seke is spoken by 700 people from five ancestral villages in Nepal, a hundred of whom have lived in a single Brooklyn apartment building. N’ko is a radical new West African writing system now going global in Harlem and the Bronx. After centuries of colonization and displacement, Lenape, the city’s original Indigenous language and the source of the name Manhattan (“the place where we get bows”), has just one fluent native speaker, bolstered by a small band of revivalists. Also profiled in the book are speakers of the Indigenous Mexican language Nahuatl, the Central Asian minority language Wakhi, and the former lingua franca of the Lower East Side, Yiddish. A century after the anti-immigration Johnson-Reed Act closed America’s doors for decades and on the 400th anniversary of New York’s colonial founding, Perlin raises the alarm about growing political threats and the onslaught of “killer languages” like English and Spanish. Both remarkable social history and testament to the importance of linguistic diversity, 'Language City' is a joyful and illuminating exploration of a city and the world that made it. This 7 Stories Up event was recorded live on September 16, 2024, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL). This program was made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

T-shirts, nonprofit annual reports, and campus diversity-center walls. But even those who are inspired by Lorde’s teachings on “the creative power of difference” may be missing something fundamental about her life and work, and what they can mean for us today. Lorde’s understanding of survival was not simply about getting through to the other side of oppression or being resilient in the face of cancer. It was about the total stakes of what it means to be in relationship with a planet in transformation. Possibly the focus on Lorde’s quotable essays, to the neglect of her complex poems, has led us to ignore her deep engagement with the natural world, the planetary dynamics of geology, meteorology, and biology. For her, ecological images are not simply metaphors but rather literal guides to how to be of earth on earth, and how to survive―to live the ethics that a Black feminist lesbian warrior poetics demands. In 'Survival Is a Promise,' Alexis Pauline Gumbs, the first researcher to explore the full depths of Lorde’s manuscript archives, illuminates the eternal life of Lorde. Her life and work become more than a sound bite; they become a cosmic force, teaching us the grand contingency of life together on earth. This 7 Stories Up event was recorded live on September 13, 2024, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL). This program was made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

Award-winning journalist and author Bianca Bosker has a conversation about her new book, 'Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey Among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See,' with artist Julie Curtiss and gallerist Robert Dimin. Author Benjamin Lorr moderates. An award-winning journalist obsessed with obsession, Bianca Bosker’s existence was upended when she wandered into the art world—and couldn’t look away. Intrigued by artists who hyperventilate around their favorite colors and art fiends who max out credit cards to show hunks of metal they think can change the world, Bosker grew fixated on understanding why art matters and how she—or any of us—could engage with it more deeply. In 'Get the Picture,' Bosker throws herself into the nerve center of art and the people who live for it: gallerists, collectors, curators, and, of course, artists themselves—the kind who work multiple jobs to afford their studios while scrabbling to get eyes on their art. As she stretches canvases until her fingers blister, talks her way into A-list parties full of billionaire collectors, has her face sat on by a nearly-naked performance artist, and forces herself to stare at a single sculpture for hours on end while working as a museum security guard, she discovers not only the inner workings of the art-canonization machine but also a more expansive way of living. Probing everything from cave paintings to Instagram, and from the science of sight to the importance of beauty as it examines art’s role in our culture, our economy, and our hearts, 'Get the Picture' is a rollicking adventure that will change the way you see forever. This 7 Stories Up event was recorded live on September 18, 2024, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL). This program was made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

Authors and creators from Penguin Random House, DC Comics, Archie Comics, Kodansha USA. Featuring Marie Javins, James Tynion IV, Jacoby Salcedo, Alex Segura, TJ Ferentini, and Tomoko Nagano. Panels - Keynote with James Tynion IV in conversation with Marie Javins, CEO of DC Comics - Graphic Novel Panel with Jacoby Salcedo, Alex Segura and Kelly Coyle Crivelli, Penguin Random House - PM Manga Panel with Tomoko Nagano and Tiff Joshua TJ Ferentini (Mx.), Kodansha USA - This 7 Stories Up event was recorded live on September 17, 2024, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL). This program was made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).