Throw horns for history and rush the stage* for statistics riffs at the bar show where the nerds are the rock stars and smart is punk af.
Cue it up: Three experts. Dozens of cheeky slides. A bar full of former gifted kids gone feral who love special interest deep dives. This is Nerd Nite DC.
*okay maybe just do this in spirit. Nerds are wild creatures who can be easily spooked by sudden movements.
Nerd Nite DC has been DC’s favorite irreverent lecture series since 2009.
Join us for our final show of 2026– we take December off, so this is your last chance to Nerd out with us this year! Your host this month is the ever-fabulous Diva Darling, joined by our three wildly entertaining and wickedly smart speakers giving three must-see talks:
– Laura Darby, “Body of Lies: You’re Fatphobic and You Don’t Even Know It”
Most people think fatphobia is just “being mean to fat people”, but it’s much bigger, older, and more deeply embedded than that. Using research from sociology, psychology, medicine, media studies, and feminist theory, this talk traces how fatness became moralized in Western culture and why thinness became associated with discipline, goodness, desirability, intelligence, and even humanity itself. Anti-fat bias shows up everywhere from healthcare and hiring practices to school bullying, dating culture, social media, fashion, and celebrity discourse, often in ways people genuinely don’t recognize as bias at all.
Laura Darby is a primatologist, conservationist, writer, vocalist, and creator of the Substack “Thick Me Up,” where she writes about fatphobia, body politics, culture, media, and the systems that shape how we think about bodies. She’s particularly interested in how moral panic around bodies gets constructed, reinforced, and monetized, and she has a habit of turning deeply uncomfortable topics into talks that still make people laugh.
– Mara Sherman, “Otzi the Iceman: Copper Age Hottie”
Otzi the Iceman, a naturally formed ice mummy from the Copper Age in the Otzal alps in Italy. He was discovered by hikers in the early 90s, and his discovery has changed our understanding of the copper age in Europe. There’s also an interesting fuck you to MAHA because our man was literally eating a paleo diet and was fit enough to climb the alps and he STILL had atherosclerosis. Oh, and also he was fully murdered!
Mara Sherman is a theater director currently based in Central NY, but her artistic home is DC!
– navi, “Don’t Trust the Pitch in A-440”
Tune down for what? A-440 is the globally recognized concert pitch for tuning musical instruments, but…why? From ancient times to extremely recently, tuning instruments was far less standardized, and even today, certain musicians (and meditation influencers) swear by alternate tuning methods. Join Nerd Nite co-producer navi (and a special musician guest) for a deep dive into the history of tuning – rife with squabbling scientists, cranky composers, and grifting gurus. Pick apart the myths, scale down the misconceptions, and riff microtonally in this multimedia exploration of physics, standardization, and the intangible nature of music!
navi is one of Nerd Nite DC’s co-producers. They took one year of piano when they were in first grade. They promptly forgot everything. They have been composing digital music in some form and have performed and toured as a nerdcore rap artist for 10+ years.
Doors open at 6, show at 6:30. Talks are 15 minutes with a 5 minute Q&A, and during the breaks, you can play along in our “alternate talk titles” competition to try to win a free drink on us. It’s rowdy, interactive, and the most fun you’ll have learning something all month.
The show is on the second floor of DC9 and is mostly standing room with limited seating available on a first-come, first served basis.
Nerd Nite DC is produced by Rae Pendergrass, navi, and Diva Darling.
Throw horns for history and rush the stage* for statistics riffs at the bar show where the nerds are the rock stars and smart is punk af.
Cue it up: Three experts. Dozens of cheeky slides. A bar full of former gifted kids gone feral who love special interest deep dives. This is Nerd Nite DC.
*okay maybe just do this in spirit. Nerds are wild creatures who can be easily spooked by sudden movements.
Nerd Nite DC has been DC’s favorite irreverent lecture series since 2009.
In honor of spooky season, your Nerd Nite team is bringing you an extra-special Halloween spectacular for October’s show! Not only will we have our usual three mind-blowing speakers, audience games, and overall rowdiness, but we’re also featuring the dazzling burlesque of Aquarius Moon AND the inimitable Prudence Blowhole performing three original spicy songs from “S*x Monster” about some of our favorite monsters and their lore.
PLUS– come in costume and participate in our super-nerdy costume contest during one of our breaks, and you could go home with a nerdy prize. Will your costume require a Ph.D. to get the joke? Well, we want to see it! We’ve got tricks, treats, dance playlists, and the ultimate Halloween pregaming party!
Your host this month is legendary chaos gremlin Diva Darling, joined by our three wildly entertaining and wickedly smart speakers giving three must-see talks:
– Aquarius Moon, “The Revolution Will Be Teased: Understanding Burlesque as a Cultural Force”
From ballroom culture to modern Hollywood, from political pushback to queer nightlife, striptease has shaped more of American culture than anyone realizes. Burlesque has always been more than glitter but a true rhinestone revolt. Burlesque artist Aquarius Moon reveals how costume, character creation, sensual storytelling, and glamour have impacted social movements, representation, gender power dynamics, and even commercial entertainment.
Aquarius Moon is an award-winning burlesque artist, cultural curator, and movement educator whose work sits at the intersection of politics, pleasure, and performance. Named a “Top 50 to Watch” by 21st Century Burlesque and crowned the Queen of Sin City Burlesque, she tours nationally while teaching thousands of women how to reclaim power through sensual movement. Her work examines how striptease, ballroom, and nightlife shape American identity, from Hollywood to political culture.
– Mike Bock, “AHHH!: A History of the Jump Scare”
Join scary movie enthusiast Mike Bock for a thrilling journey from the movie palaces of the early 20th century to the viral frights of the internet age. Plus, see a live demo on how to create your very own jump scare in PowerPoint!
Mike Bock is a DC area comedian and science communicator. He has written, produced, and taught sketch comedy for over a decade, with performing credits at Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival, SketchFest Seattle, DC Sketchfest, and others. He works for the Smithsonian Institution.
– Alex Hillman, “Drift, Incentives, and Control: How the Systems Around Us Fail”
Complex systems and major institutions don’t fail because people are evil (well, mostly). They fail because people are rewarding inside incentives that are completely fucking insane. And once you understand that, you stop asking “Why are people so stupid?” and you start asking the much scarier question: “What is this system rewarding?” Because whatever it’s rewarding… that’s what you’re gonna get. Every time. But don’t worry– we’re also going to talk about how to prevent those fails!
Alex Hillman is a DARPA Program Manager who allocates technology investments at the nexus of AI, Cyber, and complexity management, as well as an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel with 15 years of experience as a data scientist and aerospace engineer. He holds masters degrees in operations research, systems engineering, and flight test engineering, and completed his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Aero/Astro. Fun fact: after a catastrophic scheduling error in undergrad, he is now proficient in Russian and Ukrainian.
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DOORS 6PM | 21+
Doors open at 6, show at 6:30. Talks are 15 minutes with a 5 minute Q&A, and during the breaks, you can play along in our “alternate talk titles” competition to try to win a free drink on us. It’s rowdy, interactive, and the most fun you’ll have learning something all month.
The show is on the second floor of DC9 and is mostly standing room with limited seating available on a first-come, first served basis.
Nerd Nite DC is produced by Rae Pendergrass, navi, and Diva Darling.
Throw horns for history and rush the stage* for statistics riffs at the bar show where the nerds are the rock stars and smart is punk af.
Cue it up: Three experts. Dozens of cheeky slides. A bar full of former gifted kids gone feral who love special interest deep dives. This is Nerd Nite DC.
*okay maybe just do this in spirit. Nerds are wild creatures who can be easily spooked by sudden movements.
Nerd Nite DC has been DC’s favorite irreverent lecture series since 2009.
Your host this month is Nerd Nite legend Rae Pendergrass, joined by our three wildly entertaining and wickedly smart speakers who are all postdoc fellows with the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, giving three must-see talks:
— Dr. Sarah Leventhal, “Jurassic Park-émon: Gotta Catch ‘Em All!”
Where did Pokémon developers come up with the subset of critters known as Fossil Pokémon (which are obtained by reviving their fossils)? Some, like Aerodactyl and Omanyte, are pretty similar to real-life prehistoric creatures whose fossils we’ve seen in museums. But others (Lileep, anyone??) are far less obvious. A real-life paleontologist pulls back the curtain on the inspirations for some of our favorite ‘mons!
Sarah is a paleontologist at the National Museum of Natural History! In her spare time she loves playing Pokémon games, collecting Pokémon cards, and baking cookies (that are not yet Pokémon shaped – but she’s getting there).
— Dr. James Mulqueeney, “How a Sea Creature Became a Love Symbol”
What do The Birth of Venus, medieval pilgrims, and your Valentine’s Day decorations have in common? This talk explores the surprising cultural history of the scallop, tracing how a humble shellfish became an enduring icon of love, beauty, and symbolism.
James Mulqueeney is a paleobiologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History who spends his days studying evolution, extinction, and what dead marine animals can tell us about life on Earth. Somehow, this has led him to giving public talks about the romantic history of scallops.
— Dr. Kat Turk, “Earth Had a Dune Phase (Except the Worms Were Cannibals With Donut-Shaped Brains)
500 million years before David Lynch soft launched Twin Peaks in space, Earth’s apex predators were cannibalistic, goo-secreting “penis worms” that breathed through their butts and had brains wrapped around their throats. While probably not facilitators of interstellar travel, these weird worms and their hot new behaviors were potentially responsible for such important paradigm shifts as to usher in our modern “age of animals” — thus setting the stage for everything from dinosaurs to buzzsaw sharks to eight-foot-long millipedes to even, yes, you.
Dr. Kat Turk received a PhD against her will and once ran the world’s largest living colony of penis worms out of a German parking lot. Becoming a Bene Gesserit wasn’t a super feasible option in this economy so she is instead currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Paleobiology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, where she spends most of her time irradiating rocks for both business and pleasure.
DOORS 6PM | 21+
Nerd Nite DC https://dc.nerdnite.com/ https://www.facebook.com/NerdNiteDC/ https://www.instagram.com/nerdnite_dc/
Doors open at 6, show at 6:30. Talks are 15 minutes with a 5 minute Q&A, and during the breaks, you can play along in our “alternate talk titles” competition to try to win a free drink on us. It’s rowdy, interactive, and the most fun you’ll have learning something all month.
The show is on the second floor of DC9 and is mostly standing room with limited seating available on a first-come, first served basis.
Nerd Nite DC is produced by Rae Pendergrass, navi, and Diva Darling.
