By Ethan Wolff
Looking for the best talks, lectures, and author events in New York City this August? From Pulitzer Prize–winning authors to jazz-and-math mashups, these NYC events spotlight American history, art, activism, and imagination.
Friday, August 1: Alight on a conversation with “accidental ornithologist” Trish O’Kane as she presents her new memoir Birding to Change the World at the International Center of Photography (ICP).
Saturday, August 2: Feast your eyes on the 8th Annual Latin American Foto Festival at Terraza 7 in Queens, with a reception, a screening around water rights (“Agua es Vida”), and live music.
Sunday, August 3: Lend an ear to Grammy Award winning "Queen of the Tar" Sahba Motallebi and fellow Tar virtuoso Reza Mohsenipour as they perform with vocalist Mitra Khorsandi at Untermyer Gardens Conservancy.
Monday, August 4: Belly up to the Final Drafts Book Club as restaurant vet Molly McLoone leads a discussion of restaurateur Keith McNally’s memoir, I Regret Almost Everything.
Tuesday, August 5: Celebrate National Oyster Day at the Center for Brooklyn History with a gathering of historians, entrepreneurs, community organizations, and artists looking at the legacy of Black foodways.
Wednesday, August 6: Take flight for the Bryant Park Reading Room and author Laurie Gwen Shapiro's The Aviator and the Showman: Amelia Earhart, George Putnam and the Marriage that Made an American Icon.
Thursday, August 7: Shout out for a special screening of Ukrainian artist collective's Repeat After Me, shownon the High Line in an immersive karaoke bar installation.
Friday, August 8: Dig the creative process across disciplines and how improvisation fuels insight at a Simons Foundation session on Riffing Between Math and Jazz.
Saturday, August 9: Commemorate the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a Remembrance, Reflection, and Reckoning screening and discussion at Powerhouse Arts.
Sunday, August 10: Strap on your dancing shoes for an exploration of The Dance: Tap Dance, from Master Juba to Hip Hop at Lefferts Historic House in Prospect Park.
Monday, August 11: Ferret out historian Charles Dewey’s stories of the spies—soldiers and civilians, men and women—who risked their lives in support of the American Revolution. Fraunces Tavern Museum.
Tuesday, August 12: Heart the ’80s in NYC with author Jonathan Mahler and the launch of his The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990. Greenlight Bookstore.Wednesday, August 13: Explore intersections of art, history, and resistance with an artist talk around the SEED BOMB exhibition and NYC’s role in the birth of the Manhattan Project. Hamilton Landmark Galleries.
Thursday, August 14: Fashion a way to hear costume designer Mona May as she talks about her work on Clueless, screened in conjunction with the exhibition A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250 at the Morgan Library & Museum.
Grabados Mexicanos del Taller de Gráfica Popular (Mexican Prints from the People’s Graphic Workshop), 1958 Lorenzo Homar.
Friday, August 15: Enter the world of Puerto Rico in Print: The Posters of Lorenzo Homar as Poster House hosts a docent tour of a pioneering printmaker, poster designer, and designer.
Saturday, August 16: Step lively through a curator’s tour of the Museum of the City of New York, as The Lindy Hop Sessions: Armstrong, Swing, and the Birth of Lindy Hop opens up a fascinating era in city history.
Sunday, August 17: Stroll the Hudson with the Municipal Art Society and MAS Director of Tours Ted Mineau, who’ll talk about an evolution from bustling port to decay to revitalization as public space.
Monday, August 18: Open an aperture onto a fascinating cultural history as photography professor Sarah Barsnes gives a virtual talk in conjunction with Museum at Eldridge Street exhibition Lower East Side, 1975: Portrait of a Changing Jewish Neighborhood.
Tuesday, August 19: Join Amanda Knox herself as she headlines a screening and conversation about the new Hulu series The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox. The 92nd Street Y, New York.
Wednesday, August 20: Pour one out for Hank Chinaski as Three Rooms Press celebrates the 18th Annual Charles Bukowski Memorial Reading at the Bitter End.
Thursday, August 21: Encounter art and politics at a Society of Illustrators Museum Mixer celebrating the opening of Worm: A Cuban American Odyssey, showcasing the work of Edel Rodriguez.
Friday, August 22: Immerse yourself in Indian performance at the first night of the New York Kathak Festival, with sarod, tabla, and dance. The Ailey Studios.
Saturday, August 23: Time travel to Kaunas, Lithuania, circa 1941, being re-created as a scale model at the Museum of Modern Art; artist Jonathan Berger will discuss his residency along with his community of collaborators.
Sunday, August 24: Make a surreptitious entrance to The Museum of Interesting Things Secret Speakeasy, with an evening devoted to spy, cipher, and crime short films and vintage spy tech.
Monday, August 25: Be reminded we all go a little mad sometimes at a Film Works Alfresco screening of Psycho at The Hudson in Inwood.
Tuesday, August 26: Pull up a seat for a storytelling variety show as Pangea hosts The Ideasymth Salon: Stories on Stage.
Wednesday, August 27: Hear about the extraordinary life of Eve Adams, whose story connects the bohemian world of Greenwich Village and the horrors of World War II, at a virtual Village Preservation presentation.
Thursday, August 28: Live “A Day in the Life” along with other explorations as music professor and noted Beatles expert John Platoff gives a multi-media talk on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. New York Distilling Co.
Friday, August 29: Learn the backstory to The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge on site as the New York Adventure Club leads a private trip to Washington Heights and an unlikely Manhattan landmark.
Saturday, August 30: Find a glimpse of the bodhisattva path with New York Insight Meditation Center and a hybrid session on Choosing Love – Bodhisattvas in Perilous Times.
Sunday, August 31: Drift away on a Guggenheim Museum Dream Walk, designed by 2025 Poet-in-Residence Traci Brimhall to be “a journey not of answers, but of unfolding questions.”
For a printable PDF of the August 2025 calendar, click here.
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