Indigenous Ideas for Postponing the End of the World: Lessons of Brazil

Join us for lectures on niche topics given by professors, subject experts, & storytellers in cool bars & breweries. Cheers, Scholars!
About this Event

Lectures by professors and subject experts on mind-stimulating topics, served up at cool Bay Area bars.

Date: Monday, September 14th 2026 🌙

Time: 7 PM doors open, 7:30 lecture⏳

Location: Mother Tongue, Oakland

Lecture: “Indigenous Ideas for Postponing the End of the World: Lessons of Brazil” 🖼️

Speaker: Michelle Taylor Bruno, Writer, International Development Strategist, MSc Comparative Social Change (Trinity College, Dublin) 🧠

Most of us are quietly bracing for some version of the apocalypse. Climate crisis, political upheaval, collapsing institutions, AI, war—the list is long.

But what if we listened to people whose worlds have already ended?

For Indigenous and Black communities in Brazil, “the end of the world” isn’t a hypothetical future. It’s something generations have survived—and survived with creativity, resistance, humor, and imagination intact.

At this Pub Scholar, Oakland-based writer and recovering international-development strategist, Michelle Taylor Bruno, brings two of Brazil’s most important modern thinkers into the bar: Ailton Krenak, an Indigenous philosopher and activist, and Lélia Gonzalez, a pioneering Black feminist thinker.

No seminar. No doom spiral. No prior knowledge required.

Instead, Shells will translate their ideas live through stories, conversation, and a distinctly Brazilian lens—and ask a deceptively simple question:

What if we already have some of the tools we need to postpone the end of the world?

No prior knowledge of Brazillian Indigenous philosophy, or Black feminist theory required. Just bring your curiosity—and grab your favorite drink.

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Agenda

🕑: 07:00 PM - 07:25 PM
Check-in

Info: Doors open! Our event is open seating, so come early to grab a seat and grab your drinks + food.

🕑: 07:25 PM - 07:30 PM
Introduction
🕑: 07:30 PM - 08:15 PM
Lecture Time
🕑: 08:15 PM - 08:30 PM
Audience Q&A
🕑: 08:30 PM - 09:00 PM
Mix & Mingle

Info: Mingle, grow your bar tab, vibe!