Brains Uncorked by Coriolis at The Nickel Mine
About this Event
Join us for the June installment of Brains Uncorked, a live event series where three scholars share powerful, thought-provoking talks, each just 10–15 minutes long.
This is not a traditional academic lecture. Hosted in a relaxed bar setting, Brains Uncorked challenges three scholars to deliver concise and compelling talks and invites attendees to explore bold ideas while enjoying a drink and good company. The format is simple: no slides or dense jargon, just clear and thought-provoking insights designed to spark meaningful conversation. Expect fresh perspectives, surprising connections, and discussions that will stay with you well after the night ends.
📍 Tuesday, June 30th, 2026
🕖 6:30 PM (doors at 6:00 PM)
🍷 The Nickel Mine in Sawtelle
🎟️ Free to attend, reservations encouraged
🎤 Our Speakers
Fiori Berhane
Fiori Berhane is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Southern California. She studies race, migration and refugee policies in the European Union, with a specific focus on Italy. Her forthcoming book, The Crisis of Legibility, (to be published by Stanford University Press) traces global anti-refugee policies through the experiences of Eritrean refugees, who emerge as test subjects for offshoring refugees and other migrants through new and often violent means.
Anand Pandian
Anand Pandian is Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University. His work aims for ecological awareness, a sense of appreciation for the many beings and elements that sustain our worlds. Anand has written several books, including Something Between Us: The Everyday Walls of American Life and How to Take Them Down, which just won the 2026 Zócalo Book Prize.
Lauren Textor
Lauren Textor is a psychiatrist and medical anthropologist who studies how drug and health policies ostensibly designed to protect us and improve health equity can paradoxically make our society sicker and more unequal. She earned her MD and PhD in Anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and is currently a resident in the department of psychiatry at UCLA.
Agenda
Doors open
🕑: 06:30 PM
Brief welcome and introduction
Host: Nanda Dyssou, Coriolis Company Founder
🕑: 06:35 PM
Why did the Trump administration set out to deport Kilmar Abrego to Uganda?
Host: Fiori Berhane
Info: The US government has quietly been sending humanitarian visa holders to Eswatani, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Rwanda. The 2026 EU migration pact is seeking to do the same, creating offshore asylum processing centers in Rwanda. These policies, known as third country removals, are testing the very foundation of the refugee regime, if not the liberal democratic order. Where do they come from? Based on extended fieldwork with Eritrean refugee activists in Italy, I trace these policies to ad hoc and experimental practices EU member states undertook to prevent Eritrean asylum seekers from entering the EU.
🕑: 06:50 PM
How to Have an Open Mind?
Host: Anand Pandian
Info: Polarization is a highly personal phenomenon, a consequence of how we see the world around us and the lives we lead in the company of others. We often encounter walls of the mind: stubborn mental boundaries that enforce particular points of view. In the face of such divides, and drawing on my own stories as a cultural anthropologist, I will explore how to open our minds to the experience of others.
🕑: 07:05 PM
Neurochemical Afterlives of State Violence
Host: Lauren Textor
Info: The same opioid Medic*tion given to two different people can yield opposite effects: for one person, it feels like it does less than nothing, while for another, it feels terrifyingly powerful. How do past experiences of criminalization, racism, incarceration, 12-step ideology, and health care encounters shape embodied effects and efficacy of medications for opioid addiction treatment? Rather than taking a Medic*tion at its pharmacological face value, Dr. Textor will explain how a Medic*tion's chemical behavior is shaped by the context in which it is given and received, and how patient-driven epistemologies of medicines can hold a mirror up to societal injustices.
🕑: 07:20 PM
Q&A and Discussion
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
