Night of Ideas

The French Consulate in San Francisco, KQED, San Francisco Public Library, and SFMOMA invite you to the second edition of Night of Ideas.

This seven-hour marathon of philosophical debate, keynotes, panels, performances, and interactive experiences is designed to spur dialogue and creative participation on the theme "Living on the Edge."

We live in a world balanced on the edge between immense challenges and even grander possibilities. How do we reckon with these tensions and use them to create new visions for how we live together?

Each floor of the library is devoted to exploring the different edges on which contemporary life in the Bay Area is balanced:
 

CHAOS + CREATION How do we cope with disorder and disruption to fashion new ways to think and be?

WONDER + WORRY What anxieties about the future weigh on us most, and what fascinations will transform the way we live?

EXCLUSION + BELONGING How do we find belonging and identity while making space for differences of lived experience?

TRUTH + DOUBT With consensus about history and facts increasingly fractured, what narratives should we affirm?

CIRCULATION + BORDERS How do we transcend limits on movement for a healthy economy and a just society?

The SETI Institute will host a session on the Drake Equation which will include conversations with Jill Tarter, co-founder of the SETI Institute, along with Bill Diamond, President and CEO, Nathalie Cabrol, Director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research, Andrew Siemion, Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI and Franck Marchis, Senior Planetary Astronomer. Is there intelligent life out there in the universe? Find out how likely you think it will be! The SETI Institute session will be held from 10PM-12AM.

Join thought-leaders, creators, storytellers, dreamers, and change-makers as they address these topics in keynote talks and discussion sessions. See a special live broadcast of KQED's Forum with host Mina Kim. Share your own creative voice and exchange ideas in a range of participatory workshops, activities, or open mics. Enjoy spectacular performances and music by local artists shaping the culture of the Bay Area.