Three fun-yet-informative visual presentations about Howler Monkey Testicles & the Bee Gees, Breastfeeding Through the Ages and Pythagoras Meets Pink Panther! We hear from Dr. Ramesh Laungani, Associate Professor of Environmental Science at Marist College, Julie Kling, a humor, health, and parenting writer and Yvonne Caruthers, a 35 year career cellist in the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) in Washington, D.C.  Friday February 21st at 7:30pm at The Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY.

With fun music, libations and guaranteed good company: Doors at 7pm. Tickets: bit.ly/nnhv-feb21

THE SPEAKERS

Yvonne Caruthers
Science and Music: from Pythagoras to the Pink Panther

You see a flash of lightning and immediately start to count: one thousand one, one thousand two….based on a snippet of science you learned as a wee child. Science underpins everything we love about music, from the instruments we play to our favorite soundtracks. Yvonne Caruthers plays her cello to blend scientific principles with musical excerpts…as well as a pop quiz!

Before Yvonne Caruthers moved to Beacon in 2021, she had a 35 year career as a cellist in the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) in Washington, D.C. In addition to made-for-TV specials, and foreign tours, in the early ‘90’s, the NSO began a series of state residencies, and it was then that Ms. Caruthers realized a need for programs connecting music to the standard school curriculum. Tonight she presents a short version of “Science and Music,” borne out of those experiences. She began studying the violin at 8 in her local public school, switched to the cello at 9 and never looked back. She has three adult children and three grandchildren.

Julie Kling
It’s Udderly Fascinating! A Look at (Mostly Human) Breastfeeding Through the Ages

Raise your glass/bottle and prepare for a milk-drenched romp through the wild history of nursing! Did you know the Milky Way got its name from the Greek myth of Hera accidentally spraying a whole bunch of breast milk across the sky while trying (and failing) to nurse baby Hercules? Or that medieval aristocrats hired wet nurses so they could get back to partying and making more heirs? From Victorian-era doctors warning that “overindulgent” breastfeeding could spoil a child’s character to modern debates over formula, public nursing, and breast pump technology, we’ll explore how feeding babies has always been both essential and (for some reason) controversial.

Julie Kling is a humor, health, and parenting writer based in a New York suburb that is not as cool as Beacon. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Scary Mommy, and on-stage at the Upright Citizens Brigade. Sign up for her free and sporadic newsletter Mom Rage(r): Turning Your Mom Rage Into Raging Fun! @ juliekling.com

Dr. Ramesh Laungani
Howler Monkey Testicles: Should Barry Gibb have Sung the Theme Song to Shaft?

What do howler monkey testicles, Barry Gibb’s falsetto, and the “Shaft” theme song have in common? More than you think. From Barry Gibb’s high notes to Shaft’s swagger, this talk unravels the wild connections between one of nature’s loudest voices and well… their packages, revealing one nature’s quirkiest trade-offs. Come for the Bee Gees and Shaft and learn a little biology along the way.

Dr. Ramesh Laungani is an Associate Professor of Environmental Science at Marist College. Before Marist, Ramesh was a professor of Biology for +10 years at Doane University in Nebraska. Dr. Laungani’s background is in plant ecology and climate change and has given many Nerd Nite talks back in Lincoln, NE and even a few in Brooklyn before moving up to the Hudson Valley. He also used to co-host a podcast about climate change called Warm Regards with Dr. Jacquelyn Gill from the University of Maine.