Nerd Nite Bloomington #4

Doors at 6:00pm | Presentations at 6:30

We all know that learning is more fun when you’re drinking with friends and colleagues. Nerd Nite is an event held in more than 120 cities across the globe during which several folks give 15 minute fun-yet-informative presentations across all disciplines – while the audience drinks along. It’s like the Discovery Channel… with beer! Imagine learning about everything from math feuds or the science of the Simpsons, to the genealogy of Godzilla or debunking beer myths, while having a few or a few too many.

Come join us for a drink, learn something new, and meet fellow nerds. Be there AND be square!

This month's speakers and presentation topics:

1) SpongeBob... DrillPants?: How an Inside Joke Became the Internet’s Strangest Rap Sensation

by Wolfe Allen

While the world turned its eyes to Kendrick vs. Drake, another rap feud boiled in the stranger corners of the internet: The Krusty Krab Crew vs. Plankton & the Chum Bucket. Enter Glorb, a rapper who channels his voice through filters to transform characters from the SpongeBob SquarePants series into unlikely hip-hop rivals. His tracks are part parody, part storytelling, and all chaos. In this presentation, we’ll explore Glorb’s bizarre rise, the community around him, and the mystery behind his identity.

Wolfe is a writer, artist, and worldbuilder who can’t resist diving into the strange, nerdy corners of culture and technology. When not creating fictional worlds or digital designs, they’re diving down Internet rabbit holes and turning them into stories worth sharing. Wolfe studied Social Studies Education at Indiana University, is a life-long Bloomington resident, and enjoys lounging with his cats Luma and Noki.

2) Poverty, Transcendentalism, a Failed Utopia, and Little Women: The Life of Louisa May Alcott

by Dana Duffy

Louisa May Alcott lived a chaotic, driven and fascinating life. She was born to educated parents who were supporters of the abolitionist movement, women's rights and transcendentalism. She grew up being mentored and taught by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau in Concord, Massachusetts. She also lived much of her life in poverty, brought on in part by her father's disastrous, and expensive pursuits of his impractical but noble ideas. The book Little Women is full of references to the plights of women, the new ideas concerning a liberal interpretation of Christianity, and class divisions in America. It's not just a novel for kids, it's a great insight into America's divisions and struggles in the 1860s.

Dana Duffy is a long-time librarian, and children's literature and illustration nerd. She loves nothing more than to find out about the authors, and illustrators, who shaped what we read and look at today. She taught the history of children's literature and illustration for many years at the Luddy School of Informatics in Bloomington. She currently works as the program coordinator for the Monroe County Public Library.

3) The Hunt for the Quintic Formula

by Ben Spitz
Remember the quadratic formula? The one that goes minus b plus or minus square root of b squared minus blah blah blah? They teach it to you in school because it's super useful, but what they *don't* teach you is that the quadratic formula is just one small part of an unbelievable story that spans more than a thousand years, and ends with one of the most interesting theorems in modern mathematics. Featuring: math duels, gun duels, intellectual property disputes, and medieval fortune-telling -- stay tuned! No background knowledge is assumed :)
Ben Spitz is a postdoc in the math department at IU. He loves plants, rocks, sounds, and movement, and is a bit scared of bees.

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Do you have a nerdy passion? Want to talk about it with a room full of smart drunk people at a future Nerd Nite? Contact us! We’d love to hear from you. Invite your friends and help us spread the word about Nerd Nite Bloomington!

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