Welcome to the monthly Nerd Nite, where nerds can share their passions and unusual research with a room full of people eager to spend a weekend night in a bar learning.

Nerd Nite DC is DC’s original science + nerd + drinking event. See us nerd out!

“What Happened in DC Before Gentrification?” by Tanya Golash-Boza

Talk Description: Let’s explore how DC went from being the murder and incarceration capital to becoming one of the most gentrified cities in the country.

Bio: Tanya Golash-Boza was born and raised in Washington, DC. She is a proud graduate of DC Public Schools, the University of Maryland (BA in Philosophy), and the University of North Carolina (PhD in Sociology). She currently works as the Executive Director of the University of California Washington Program.

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“Beakers and Boners” by Joe Meany

Talk Description: Chemistry these days is actually pretty cool, producing beer, vaccines, and batteries, but in the past it was a practice heavily seated in superstition. The history of alchemy was hyper-focused on perpetuating life and virility (cough cough male life and virility cough cough) and other discoveries are “well this is cool too I guess.

Bio: Joe is a science consultant and author currently living in Arlington, VA. He has a background in chemistry and materials science, and you can find him around the internet as The Crimson Alkemist.

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“From The Enterprise to Anonymous: A Smutty Public Speaking AU History of Fan Fiction” by Lisa Crawford

Talk Description: Lisa will take you on a journey through a brief history of modern fan fiction starting with its “creation” in the 70s all the way to a recent hacker attack of a popular fan fiction site to punish us for our fictional degeneracy. She’ll discuss why something so dorky is so compelling, explain how fan fic writers transform their stories into best selling original works, demonstrate the science—nay! the art of choosing a good fic, and bring it home with a highly intellectual audience-participation game called “smut or angst” where the audience decides on the genre of a fic based solely on its title.

Bio: Lisa is a badass shark biologist who works for the government. In her spare time, she enjoys rotting her brain with television and reading excessive amounts of fan fiction. Lisa is a mother of 22 guppies—only because she can’t keep a shark in her apartment.

When: 6:30pm on Oct 21

Where: DC9 Nightclub

Tickets: $10 at bit.ly/octnerd23