Unlikely Collaborators Spark Salon with Eliot Stein

What Do We Lose When Traditions Disappear?

Around the world, small communities are preserving extraordinary skills and forms of knowledge that have endured for centuries, from rare crafts to rituals that require years of apprenticeship to master. These traditions are not simply artifacts of the past. They are living bodies of knowledge, sustained through discipline, memory, and care.

In this Spark Salon, BBC journalist and author Eliot Stein shares stories from his search for the last keepers of remarkable traditions. Through immersive reporting and personal encounters, he explores what it takes to carry specialized knowledge across generations and what is lost when those skills disappear.

As modern life accelerates and expertise becomes increasingly digital and disposable, Stein invites us to reflect on the value of embodied knowledge, apprenticeship, and continuity. What does it mean to inherit a skill? What responsibility comes with preserving it? And how do forms of knowledge shape the communities that sustain them?

6:00 p.m.: Doors open, reception

7:00 p.m.: Program begins promptly

8:00 p.m.: Book signing and reception

Stein is the author of Custodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive, available for purchase at your favorite book retailer.

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Host or Publisher Unlikely Collaborators