The Universe in Verse livestream

NOTE: This newsletter might be cut short by your email program. [View it in full](.  If a friend forwarded it to you and you'd like your very own newsletter, [subscribe here]( — it's free.  Need to modify your subscription? You can [change your email address]( or [unsubscribe](. [Brain Pickings]( [Welcome] Hello, {NAME}! Here is something into which I pour my heart and soul each spring, celebrating three things so dear to me: science, poetry, and the human right to curiosity. This event is a monumental labor of love, with every single person involved donating their time and talent, and all proceeds benefiting the endeavor to build New York City's first-ever public observatory. [April 23: The Universe in Verse]( [TheUniverseInVerse_2019_v4_stephon.jpg?resize=768%2C768&ssl=1]( [The Universe in Verse]( — the annual celebration of science through poetry I host at [Pioneer Works]( — returns with a very special edition: This year’s show, benefiting Pioneer Works’ endeavor to build New York’s first-ever public observatory, celebrates the 100th anniversary of Sir Arthur Eddington’s historic eclipse expedition to Africa, which confirmed relativity and catapulted Einstein into celebrity. “Dear Mother, joyous news today,” Einstein [wrote]( upon receiving word of the results, which revolutionized our understanding of the universe and shaped the course of modern physics. The scientific triumph was also a heartening, humane moment—just after the close of World War I, a pacifist English Quaker, who had refused to be drafted in the war at the risk of being jailed for treason, and a German Jew united humanity under the same sky, under the deepest truths of the universe. An invitation to perspective in the largest sense. To our astonishment, the tickets sold out in mere hours. Because we must abide by the laws of physics, we cannot accommodate more bodies in our finite physical space. But thanks to a generous donation by [Emerson Collective]( the show is going to be livestreamed, beginning at 7PM EST on Tuesday, April 23. Make a date with your favorite humans or a cup of tea and [tune in]( for an evening of poems, stories, and music about eclipses, relativity, spacetime, and Einstein’s legacy, featuring musicians David Byrne, Regina Spektor, Amanda Palmer, Emily Wells, and Josh Groban, astrophysicists Janna Levin and Natalie Batalha, poets Elizabeth Alexander and Marilyn Nelson, theoretical cosmologist and jazz saxophonist Stephon Alexander, actor Natascha McElhone, comedian Chuck Nice, choreographer Bill T. Jones, and On Being host Krista Tippett, with some thrilling surprises in wait. [40059623-6418-4716-a07a-d03a263ba67d.png]( If you appreciate this many-hearted labor of love and the gift of this free livestream, please consider helping us build a dome of possibility for future Eddingtons and Einsteins by [making a donation](. The Universe in Verse itself, the production of which takes me innumerable hours and thousands of dollars each year, exists entirely thanks to donations from readers. Please note that due to various permission agreements, no recording will be available for later viewing — real time is the only time to savor this, so embrace it as an opportunity for presence. But in the meantime, you can watch the recordings of the first two years, also made possible by donations from readers: [d9010908-c10a-4057-b51b-2cfaff212ab9.png]( [808fd50b-5f2a-40f9-89c5-92f6d9d620b6.png]( [Forward to a friend]( YOUR TICKET]( [Like on Facebook]( donating=loving I pour tremendous time, thought, heart, and resources into Brain Pickings, which remains free and ad-free, and is made possible by patronage. If you find any joy, stimulation, and consolation in my labor of love, please consider supporting it with a donation. And if you already donate, from the bottom of my heart: THANK YOU. monthly donation You can become a Sustaining Patron with a recurring monthly donation of your choosing, between a cup of tea and a Brooklyn lunch.  one-time donation Or you can become a Spontaneous Supporter with a one-time donation in any amount. [Start Now](  [Give Now]( [---] You're receiving this email because you subscribed on Brain Pickings. This weekly newsletter comes out on Sundays and offers the week's most unmissable articles. Brain Pickings PLEASE DO NOT USE AS A MAILING ADDRESS 47 Bergen Street, 3rd floorBrooklyn, NY 11201 [Add us to your address book]( [unsubscribe from this list](   [update subscription preferences](