Brooke Gladstone and Josh Neufeld
Powerhouse Books; 6/16 at 7 p.m.; 37 Main St., nr. Water St., Dumbo, Brooklyn; 212-604-9074
NPR’s On the Media host (and self-professed sci-fi comics geek) and the alt-cartoonist present their new illustrated book, The Influencing Machine, examining the manipulation of facts by the media.
Gabriel Cohen, Jennifer Egan, Marlon James, and Jessica Hagedorn
Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus, Room 107 in the Health Science Building; 6/16 at 7:30 p.m.; 1 University Plaza, at Flatbush Ave; 718-488-1000
The inaugural event for L.I.U’s Summer Writer’s Lab centers around local fiction and features Gabriel Cohen (Red Hook), Jennifer Egan (A Visit From the Goon Squad), Marlon James (John Crow’s Devil), and host Jessica Hagedorn (Toxicology, Dogeaters). Free for Summer Lab participants, $5 for the general public.
Kelle Groom and Nick Flynn
Bookcourt; 6/20 at 7 p.m.; 163 Court St., nr. Pacific St., Boerum Hill, Brooklyn; 718-875-3677
Floridian poet Kelle Groom reads from her new memoir, I Wore the Ocean in the Shape of a Girl, along with Nick Flynn, author of The Ticking Is the Bomb.
Paul Shaw
Lower East Side Tenement Museum ; 6/21 at 6:30 p.m.; 108 Orchard St., nr. Delancey St.; 212-431-0233
Font nerds (we can say that because we are one) will flock to this event, where the author discusses his award-winning Helvetica and the New York City Subway System, answering mysteries like: Why was Helvetica not chosen originally?
Great Speeches and Other Outbursts
Symphony Space; 6/20 at 8 p.m.; 2537 Broadway., at 95th St.; 212-864-5400
Hear famous speeches the way they were meant to be: read aloud by a star-studded list curated by Sarah Vowell, including Amy Sedaris (giving an Amway pep talk), Bobby Cannavale (as Mario Cuomo), Eric Bogosian, John Hodgman, Wyatt Cenac, John Oliver, and Ira Glass (reading as Abraham Lincoln). The evening is a benefit for the literary nonprofit 826NYC.
I Like Your Glasses Too: One Hot Summer With CoverSpy and Alikewise
Housing Works Bookstore Café; 6/22 at 11 p.m.; 126 Crosby St., nr. Houston St.; 212-334-3324
Not only a reading but also a mixer to meet others that delight in words and judge people based on appearances (although you don’t need glasses to attend). Featuring giveaways, beer specials, and summer-themed readings by Dan Wilbur, Maris Kreizman, and Emily Gould, with an after-party to follow at Botanica.