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- Does antitrust law affect me? (Zoom)
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Speaker: Douglas Ross
Dates: W, 5/15/2024
Times: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location: Zoom Online
You may think antitrust law is an abstract area of corporate law that has little do with the rest of us. But wait!
• Do you shop at a supermarket? Kroger (which owns Fred Meyer and QFC) is planning to buy Albertson’s (which owns Safeway). If they merge, what happens to prices, quality, and employees? The Federal Trade Commission and our state’s Attorney General are both suing, in separate cases, to stop the deal. The companies are fighting back. They say the deal will help consumers. What happens next?
• Do you shop online? At Amazon? Maybe you or someone in our family also works at Amazon. Did you know the FTC has filed a massive antitrust case against the company, in court here in Seattle? What’s at stake?
• Do you rent an apartment? Stay in a hotel when you travel? Did you know that a Seattle law firm has filed class action suits asserting that apartment managers and hotel chains here and around the U.S. are secretly price fixing through an algorithm many use to set rents and rates?
• When you want to get away from it all, do you ever fly to Hawaii? Perhaps on Alaska Airlines or Hawaiian Airlines? Alaska has announced plans to buy Hawaiian. The Department of Justice is investigating...will the deal fly?
• Where do you get your health care? At Swedish? It was taken over by Providence a decade ago. At Virginia Mason? It was taken over by Catholic Health Initiatives-Franciscan Health in 2021. How did these deals get through the antitrust authorities? What do they mean for my health care?
Antitrust policy affects you on a daily basis. So what is antitrust law? Do we need new laws for the tech age? Who are the enforcers? (Preview: the chair of the FTC is a 35-year old woman who graduated law school only seven years ago and wants to take antitrust law in an entirely new direction.) Come to this lecture, learn more, and ask questions!
Members, look for the Zoom pre-registration link in an upcoming Weekly Email.
Click here to become an annual member to participate in this lecture.
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- Concussion (In-Person)
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A concussion is the brief alteration of consciousness, but it's a lot more than that after the event. For many years, concussions were viewed as an almost trivial, brief event. However, as in many things in medicine, times have changed. In the current understanding of concussions, these changes have been largely driven by the relatively new discovery of CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which can produce major alterations in both brain architecture and behavior. Join us to hear Richard Rapport, clinical professor of neurological surgery at the UW School of Medicine, discuss the latest research on concussions.
Click the Add to Cart button to RSVP for this in-person lecture.
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- Cultivating a More Drought Resilient Garden (In-Person)
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With the growing seasons trending toward warmer and dryer, and record-breaking weather events popping up with some regularity, the gardening climate in the Pacific Northwest is often less forgiving than it used to be. Some common gardening practices and plant choices may no longer be bringing the same success as before. This talk will provide practical tips for adjusting basic garden care and watering practices, and approaches to plant selection to cultivate gardens with improved resiliency to growing conditions in a changing climate.
Click the Add to Cart button to RSVP for this in-person lecture.
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- A brief history and current state of artificial intelligence
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Aimed at a general audience, this talk explores the evolution of artificial intelligence, highlighting key developments and current advancements. In particular, we will discuss the early beginnings of AI in the 50s, the rise of machine learning in the 90s, and the deep learning revolution of the 2010s that led to the recent achievements like ChatGPT. We will also discuss critical ethical considerations, including privacy concerns and algorithmic fairness.
For those attending in-person bring your lunch at noon and enjoy the lecture at 12:30.
To RSVP for this in-person lecture click the Add to Cart button.
This talk is also being live-streamed on Zoom. Click here to pre-register on Zoom.
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- What If We’re Wrong about Drugs? (Zoom)
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Speaker: Ingrid Walker
Dates: F, 6/14/2024
Times: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location: Zoom Online
Fifty years into “Just Say No,” the United States has made little progress with its significant drug problems. The overdose crisis is escalating, access to addiction treatment is limited, and people are still sent to prison for simple possession. Even as we shift toward the legal use of some drugs, other drugs remain deeply stigmatized and criminalized. Yet proven solutions are out there—so what’s not working?
In a talk that incorporates both scientific data and examples from popular culture, professor Ingrid Walker shows that our perceptions about “drugs” depend on who is taking which drugs. Why are we stuck in the same failed approaches? Could it be that the answer is as basic as questioning and changing our cultural stories about drugs and their users?
*This lecture is livestream only. A recording will not be available.
Members, look for the Zoom pre-registration link in an upcoming Weekly Email.
Click here to become an annual member to participate in this lecture.
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- How do we discern reliable science from less reliable science? (In-Person)
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Speaker: Jevin West
Dates: Tu, 6/18/2024
Times: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Location: UW Seattle Campus - Gates Ctr for Computer Science & Engineering
Science is the greatest of human inventions. Through its norms and procedures, we have improved human health and longevity. But what about the health of science itself? And how do we discern reliable science from less reliable science, especially in this new era of generative AI? Turning the proverbial microscope on science itself, this seminar will explore some of the mechanisms spreading misinformation in and about science and will provide a set of skills, tools, and case studies for identifying predatory journals, statistical mishaps, misplaced expertise, publication bias, hype, and other related issues of misinformation.
Click the Add to Cart button to RSVP for this in-person lecture.
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- Big Apples, Big Business: How Washington Became the Apple State (In-Person)
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Why do so many apples in the grocery store look the same? And why do so many come from Washington?
In this talk, explore how Washington became the top apple producing state in the country, and how, in the process, it transformed apples into an industrialized commodity. Many regions in the West attempted to grow apples, but in Washington, big apples became big business thanks to the work of scientists, investors, irrigators, railroad corporations, marketers, and apple growers. How does the history of Washington apples reflect larger changes happening in the American food system—changes that continue to affect our environment and the way we eat today?
Click the Add to Cart button to RSVP for this in-person lecture.
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- Who Needs Literature Today? A Persian Perspective (Zoom)
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Speaker: Aria Fani
Dates: F, 6/28/2024
Times: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location: Zoom Online
I teach at the University of Washington in Seattle, a public school with a large number of working class, first-generation, and immigrant college students. The unique student body here has compelled me to ask: Whom does literary studies really serve? Who needs literature today? This presentation draws on my book, Reading across Borders: Afghans, Iranians, and Literary Nationalism, in order to historicize the modern idea of literature and unpack its connections to the rise of nation-states in the early twentieth century. Given its ties with national and civilizational thinking, I ask, can we bring literature as a conceptual category into harmony with our aspirations of equity, justice, and diversity.
Members, look for the Zoom pre-registration link in an upcoming Weekly Email.
Click here to become an annual member to participate in this lecture.
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Redmond History 102
John will be reviewing the history of Redmond from 1871 through the present, describing significant places and people responsible for developing Redmond into what it is today. Hear about early settler families, economic industries back then and forward to the incorporation of the town in 1912. Learn about town politics, population growth, the history of Derby Days, new industries in high tech and the recently recognized Redmond Space District.
Bring along your questions and stories of your Redmond history to share. John is a Washington native and retired pharmacist and has lived in Redmond since 1974.
REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS CLOSED. This class is already in session.
- Dates: F, 4/5/2024 - 4/5/2024
- Times: 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
- Instructor: John Oftebro
For those attending in-person bring your lunch at noon and enjoy the lecture at 12:30.
To RSVP for this in-person lecture click the Add to Cart button.
This talk is also being live-streamed on Zoom. Click here to pre-register on Zoom.
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The Israel-Hamas War in Perspective
How did the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis come into being, and what is the background of the current war? Analytic overview with focus on Gaza and Hamas.
REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS CLOSED. This class is already in session.
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Dementia and Memory Loss
This free lecture will be a chance to hear the latest understanding of how the brain is affected by dementia and memory loss that is associated with it. Join us in person or stay tuned for a recording which will be on our website at a future date.
REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS CLOSED. This class is already in session.
- Dates: F, 4/19/2024 - 4/19/2024
- Times: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
- Instructor: Thomas Grabowski
- Click the Add to Cart button to RSVP for this in-person lecture.
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Amelia Bassano and her impact on Shakespeare
A Woman for the Ages. The unlikely tale of Amelia Bassano: the shadowy woman behind Shakespeare and his canon. And how it might change our traditional image of Shylock and the original goal of "The Merchant of Venice."
REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS CLOSED. This class is already in session.
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Cybersecurity, AI, and the Future
This talk will cover the current state of cybersecurity addressing criminal and nation state activity, the use of artificial intelligence, and what the war in Ukraine has taught us about cyber warfare.
REGISTRATION FOR THIS CLASS IS CLOSED. This class is already in session.
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