A new week in Phase 2 means a mixed bag of events happening virtually, in-person (modified to accommodate physical distancing, of course), and, sometimes, a combination of both. We're here to guide you through our top picks in every genre—from the Suffrage Special Whistle Stop Tour to a Naked Giants Album Release Party, and from a Town Hall talk with wildlife biologist Jonathan Slaght to the release of Chuck's Hop Shop's new Pay the Fee IPA benefiting King County Equity Now. In addition, check out our guides to supporting black-owned businesses and artists in Seattle, educating yourself through anti-racism resources, and donating to social justice causes. Find even more events on our complete streaming events calendar and our resistance & solidarity calendar, and check back on Friday for a roundup of the best local virtual events this weekend.
Jump to: Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | All Week
MONDAY
COMMUNITYMushroom Foraging for Beginners
PNW fungi resource organization Salish Mushrooms will lead a "fast-paced introduction" into mushroom-foraging. You'll learn about 10 types of mushrooms for beginners and where to find them, key characteristics to help with identification, and common poisonous mushrooms.
Auction of Washington Wines Online Auction & Virtual Gala
Bid on a variety of wine-themed events and experiences through this live virtual auction and gala, whose proceeds will benefit Seattle Children's and Washington State University's Wine Science Research (who knew!).
POP+ Punk Book Club: 'Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl'
Join an online discussion of Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, the wonderful memoir by living Pacific Northwest punk legend Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney, as part of MoPOP's Pop+ Punk series.
Spirits of Latin America Book Talk With Ivy Mix
Bartender Ivy Mix will discuss her new book about her travels through Latin America to research the histories and cultures of agave, cane, and grape spirits, and will teach you how to make a Novo Fogo Organic Cachaça- based cocktail from the book. For the Seattle edition, cocktail bar Navy Strength will have cocktail kits inspired by the book available for pickup, and the first 30 people who register will get a free copy of the book.
TUESDAY
COMMUNITYClimate Change Impacts on PNW Trees Symposium
The Pacific Northwest International Society of Arboriculture and UW Botanic Gardens will co-host this virtual symposium on the myriad ways in which climate change is affecting trees in our region. Professional arborists and those interested in environmental activism are encouraged to attend and ask questions.
The Science Inside Climate Pledge Arena
You may have read about Amazon's plan for the former Key Arena, which will be home to the newly monikered local NHL team the Seattle Kraken, when they announced it back in June—the company's "zero-carbon certified" stadium will feature 100% renewable electricity, "the greenest ice in the NHL," locally sourced food, solar panels, and on-site stormwater retention for landscaping. But how?! The Pacific Science Center will break down how all of these environmentally conscious amenities will work.
The True Story of Tommy Tucker
The Museum of Flight, in partnership with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, interrupts your Tuesday-night routine to tell you about a very important celebrity squirrel named Tommy Tucker, who not only traveled the country performing tricks but also helped sell war bonds while sporting the latest women's fashion accessories.
Live on KEXP at Home: serpentwithfeet
"The Pentecostal-forged queerness of Sylvester meets the gossamer harmonies of P.M. Dawn’s Prince Be and the sexualized spirituality of Prince," wrote former Stranger contributor Kathy Fennessy of Josiah Wise's (aka serpentwithfeet) debut album. "It's rich and full, yet as intimate as a prayer." The Baltimore-born artist will perform live on KEXP's YouTube channel.
George Dyson with Blaise Aguera y Arcas: Technology Beyond Programmable Control
Author and historian George Dyson traces the history of humans' relationship to machines in Analogia: The Emergence of Technology Beyond Programmable Control. He'll join Town Hall in conversation with software engineer Blaise Aguera y Arcas.
Micheline Aharonian Marcom with Keenan Norris
After being deported from the US, an undocumented college student travels back to California from Guatemala with a group of other migrants fleeing violence in their home country in Micheline Marcom's The New American. The Saudi Arabia-born, LA-bred author will discuss her latest novel with Keenan Norris (Brother and the Dancer).
TUESDAY-THURSDAY
COMMUNITYSuffrage Special Whistle Stop Tour
This eight-episode video series explores Washington State's role in the national women's suffrage movement, highlighting the local changemakers who led the way. Why a whistle-stop tour? The theme is based on the 1909 "Suffrage Special" train, which toted local and national suffragists across the country.
WEDNESDAY
COMMUNITYVirtual Silent Reading Party
The first worldwide silent-reading party was such a huge success that we're making it weekly. Every Wednesday at 6 pm we're going to throw these parties, at least until stay-at-home is over. Attendees at the first Zoom silent-reading party included famous actors, writers, composers, artists, families, teenagers doing their homework, people staring into space listening to the music because it was just so beautiful, cats, and even one household on Orcas Island that was eating dinner and decided to broadcast the reading party as their background music. (What a brilliant idea!) It wasn't just a great party to be at. Behind the scenes, this was a roaring success as well. The Stranger brought in revenue from the reading party for the first time ever, our musician Paul Matthew Moore made ten times more on Venmo tips than he's ever made in the tip jar at the Sorrento (thank you for your generosity—he deserves it!), and hundreds of people at the party have written us emails, clamoring for more. CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE
Jack's Prime Rib Dinner
Tuck into a juicy slab of smoky prime rib cooked low and slow by Jack's BBQ, along with sides. Reserve a table for dine-in at either the Sodo or South Lake Union location, or place an order for takeout.
Jonathan Slaght: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl
The rare Blakiston's fish owl, the largest living species of owl, coexists with brown bears, tigers, and leopards in a remote forest in Eastern Russia. Unsurprisingly, it's in danger of extinction. Wildlife biologist Jonathan Slaght is rightfully obsessed with them, as he'll prove in this Town Hall talk concerning his book A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl.
Kevin O’Brien with Laurie Frankel
"Summer means breezing through thrillers, and you can't really go wrong with a new one from Kevin O'Brien, a New York Times best-selling author and a member of the Seattle7Writers collective," Rich Smith wrote last year, adding that the author "is good about providing some substance with his confectionary stuff, so expect to tear through this gossipy, creepy book in a couple of days without feeling too empty inside." This year, the "Capitol Hill flaneur" (per Elliott Bay) will discuss his new book, The Bad Sister, about "two half-sisters who learn that they’re at the center of a copycat killer’s obsession with the brutal murders on a college campus fifty years earlier." He'll appear in conversation with Laurie Frankel (This Is How It Always Is) in this livestreamed event.
Kiku Hughes
A teenager is pulled back in time to witness her grandmother's experiences in World War II-era Japanese internment camps in Kiku Hughes's new historical graphic novel Displacement. Hear the local author/cartoonist talk about her work with Third Place Books.
THURSDAY
FOOD & DRINKPay the Fee IPA
Proceeds from Chuck's latest beer, an IPA made in collaboration with Seapine Brewing (and named after the call to "pay the fee" to Black and brown communities who have suffered most under the actions of SPD), will benefit King County Equity Now, which is led by and champions Black-led and organizations and communities.
Burke From Home Trivia Night
Test your knowledge of natural history and culture for a virtual trivia night hosted by the Holocaust Center for Humanity and the beloved Burke Museum. Once you register, they'll send you a Zoom link with the info to play along on a trivia platform called Crowdpurr.
Grounded - Weep Wave & Antonioni
BIG BLDG's cozy weekly music series will welcome psych rockers Weep Wave and the grungy alt-rock band about whom Jasmyne Keimig once wrote: "Antonioni is what I imagined, as a millennial, the great local Seattle bands of the '90s sounded like, back when Seattle was Amazon-free and you could rent a room on the Hill for, like, $200 and a bag of magic beans or whatever. It's easy to picture the characters from 10 Things I Hate About You listening to them."
HDLSC Presents: Peyote Ugly
Space out to synth-psych trio Peyote Ugly's trippy jams on High Dive's virtual stage.
NVCS Presents: Naked Giants Album Release Party
Local rock trio Naked Giants will give you a sneak peek into their sophomore album, The Shadow, with this virtual Nectar performance. You can also see the band perform on-demand here.
SAMA Sounds: Carmen Rizzo, Meriem Ben Amor, Kiran Ahluwalia
Join Seattle Sacred Music & Art and Seattle Theatre Group for an exploration of sacred sounds from around the globe, featuring live music every Thursday evening.
BJ Cummings with James Rasmussen & Paulina Lopez: The River That Made Seattle
Author BJ Cummings will read excerpts from The River That Made Seattle: A Natural and Human History of the Duwamish online and show new and old photographs highlighting the river's Native, immigrant, and industrialist histories. He'll be joined by the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition's James Rasmussen and Paulina Lopez.
Goethe Pop Up Book Klub: Yoko Tawada's Memoirs of a Polar Bear
Yoko Tawanda's dreamy novel Memoirs of a Polar Bear centers three German polar bears who write books, perform at the circus, and find peace at a Berlin zoo. Read it and discuss your thoughts at this online book club with German cultural center Goethe Pop Up.
Maaza Mengiste & Salar Abdoh
Maaza Mengiste, the author of Beneath the Lion’s Gaze and the Man Booker Prize-longlisted The Shadow King, will discuss Addis Ababa Noir, an anthology she helped edit featuring Ethiopia’s capital city from various perspectives.
MarginShift Presents: Barton Cardenas Harrison Roth and Wright
Soothe your weary soul with poetry from Ebo Barton, Brenda Cardenas, Roberto Harrison, Dia Roth, and Carolyne Wright.
Molly Wizenberg
Wizenberg is the co-host of the local comedy/food podcast Spilled Milk and the author of Delancey: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage, about the experience of opening Delancey, the acclaimed pizza restaurant in Ballard, with her ex-husband. She'll offer her life story as an insight into the changing nature of sexuality and the unexpected turns of life that can disrupt even the most seemingly stable families: At the age of 36, married to a man, she unexpectedly found herself attracted to a woman.
Strange Storytelling Hour – Outside Worlds w/ Emmett Montgomery
Storytellers recount peculiar tales and bizarre happenings based on their own experiences in this multi-episode series co-presented by the North Bend Film Festival. For this round, local comic and wizardly ex-Mormon Emmett Montgomery will tell tales revolving around "how to exist safely beyond our front doors."
Re/frame: Still Life
Join Ann Poulson, the Henry’s Associate Curator of Collections, for an interactive online tour of the gallery's collection.
Steven Holl: Making Architecture
Renowned American architect Steven Holl will talk about his exhibit Making Architecture, currently on view virtually at the Bellevue Arts Museum as part of the Seattle Design Festival.
ALL WEEK
COMEDYWelcome to El: An Intimate Night of Comedy with El Sanchez
Beloved local comedian El Sanchez recorded an intimate, hilarious show at the Fremont Abbey Arts Center just before the quarantine took effect. For those who missed it, the show is now on demand!
2020 Democratic National Convention
Normally the DNC looks like a bunch of people milling about and giving each other standing ovations and waving signs. It's kind of like a concert festival, but for politicians who are just there to play the hits and get offstage. Maybe it's supposed to mean more than that, and maybe the 2020 version of the DNC, being held as a series of livestreamed, socially-distant events and speaking engagements when the country is literally on the verge of implosion, will live up to that. Watch live as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris officially accept their nominations, as other prominent Democrats like the Obamas, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders deliver speeches, and even as pop stars like Billie Eilish and the Chicks perform.
Pike-Pine Summer United
Get 10% off your bill at local bars and eateries like Amandine Bakeshop, A Pizza Mart, Bateau, and tons of other places on Capitol Hill moving into Phase 2 of reopening by mentioning The Stranger's Pike-Pine promotion.
Various locations (Capitol Hill)
Doe Bay Fest Artist Residency
Local artists have been invited to post up in the Orcas Island-adjacent Doe Bay resort (which is currently operating at 50% capacity) to bring live music to the people throughout the summer. Catch sets in-person from performers like Anna Tivel and Ok Sweetheart this week.
Doe Bay Resort (Olga)
Saint Joan
Despite George Bernard Shaw's trenchant atheism, his classic depiction of the Maid of Orleans stresses her strength, bravery, faith, and humanity in the face of political and religious oppression. The original date of this production, staged by Mathew Wright, was canceled due to COVID-19. This is a digital rendition.
Seattle Deconstructed Art Fair
The Seattle Art Fair was canceled, but a bunch of local galleries—many of which are in Pioneer Square—are taking it upon themselves to keep the tradition alive while abiding by social distancing guidelines with a DIY, self-guided version featuring exciting new pieces by artists like Anthony White.
Seattle Design Festival
Now in its 10th year, Design in Public's Seattle Design Festival will switch over their programming to the internet to continue to explore how urbanism, architecture, and design can further justice, ecology, and community. Look forward to livestreamed webinars and discussions, a weekly "Thinkercyze" virtual challenge, and even in-person displays throughout the city that you can visit while social distancing.
