let's do fun things

last call lectures · chicago

last call lectures

thinking, drinking, talking. someone who really knows their subject takes the floor at a chicago bar for one big idea, from why we haven't cured cancer to how the vampire got hot, and the room asks questions after. come curious, come solo, or bring a friend.

upcoming

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last call lectures: rogue cells, real hope: why we haven’t cured cancer (yet)

last call lectures: rogue cells, real hope: why we haven’t cured cancer (yet)

Tue, Nov 3·7:00 PM CT

Swift Tavern - Wrigleyville

3600 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60613, USA

cancer isn’t one enemy. it’s hundreds of them, and they cheat. we’re breaking down why “cancer” isn’t one disease but hundreds, each with its own rules, how tumors evolve to outsmart the very drugs designed to kill them, and how scientists are teaching the immune system to fight back. we’ll look at a real case where a once-deadly cancer became something people manage with a daily pill, explore where the next breakthroughs are actually coming from, and close with what “cured” will really look like. leading the talk is dr. manead khin. dr. khin holds a phd in pharmaceutical sciences with a focus on analytical chemistry and cancer biology. she is the founder and host of petri dish perspectives, a biotech and pharma podcast built on turning dense molecular science into stories a general audience actually wants to hear. here is how the night runs: enjoy drinks and food from swift while dr. khin opens with a 45 minute lecture, followed by 15 minutes of live q&a. then we break into small groups for 45 minutes of guided discussion, closing with a quick debrief to bring it all back together. stick around after for mingling, this crowd always has more to say.

tickets available
last call lectures: night shift: how to lucid dream and alter memories in your sleep

last call lectures: night shift: how to lucid dream and alter memories in your sleep

Tue, Nov 10·7:00 PM CT

Mary Jo McGuire's

2251 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614, USA

Did you watch Inception and leave the theater certain that dream control is a fun plot idea but not possible? What if we told you that you actually could control your dreams? Learn about the relationship between sleep and memory, how we study sleep in the lab, and how we're starting to investigate lucid dreaming. Sadie Witkowski, PhD will cover the history of scientific research on sleep, how it relates to memory, and how lucid dreaming is studied today. Plus, we'll spend some time on how it all relates to sleep disorders and our understanding of consciousness. Come for the science, stay to learn how to lucid dream! here is how the night runs: dr. Witkowski opens with a 45 minute lecture, followed by 15 minutes of live q&a. then we break into small groups for 45 minutes of guided discussion, closing with a debrief to bring it all back together. stick around after for mingling, this crowd always has more to say.

tickets available
last call lectures: the frozen frontier: glory, disaster, and the race for the north pole

last call lectures: the frozen frontier: glory, disaster, and the race for the north pole

Tue, Nov 17·7:00 PM CT

The Scout Waterhouse + Kitchen

1419 N Wells St, Chicago, IL 60610, USA

before astronauts raced to the moon, another kind of adventurer captured the world's imagination: the explorer. during the golden age of exploration, these daring, ambitious, and occasionally unhinged individuals became international celebrities, chasing fame and national glory into the most dangerous corners of the planet. but one prize stood above all others: the north pole. why were men willing to risk starvation, frostbite, shipwreck, and almost certain death just to be the first to stand on an invisible point in a frozen ocean? from vanished expeditions and extraordinary feats of survival to bitter rivalries, accusations of fraud, and some of history's most spectacular disasters, historian dr. john j. murphy explores the personalities and obsessions behind humanity's race to the top of the world. along the way, we'll discover how exploration became a spectator sport, how nations turned adventurers into heroes, and why the greatest prize in exploration may have been less about discovery than the desperate desire to be remembered. from the frozen arctic to the modern space race, it's a story of courage, ego, ambition, and the question that has driven explorers for centuries: how far would you go to be first? here's how the night runs: dr. murphy opens with a 45 minute lecture, followed by 15 minutes of live q&a. then we break into small groups for 45 minutes of guided discussion. stick around after for mingling, this crowd always has more to say.

tickets available
last call lectures: the wild west was woke: how hollywood erased the radical history of the american west

last call lectures: the wild west was woke: how hollywood erased the radical history of the american west

Thu, Nov 19·7:00 PM CT

Barcocina West Town

1814 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60622, USA

The American West Was Gay, Non-White, and Anti-Billionaire and hollywood propagandized it. We’ve all heard the tales of the American Wild West, but what if there was a side that was lost to history? Or perhaps, intentionally obscured? Seventh-generation Kansas farmer and rancher Chloe Burns walks us through some of the true history of the west, covering issues from gender to race to working-class solidarity, and why these stories were rarely shown on the silver screen. Chloe burns is a comedian, filmmaker, and writer of the upcoming one-woman show, Virago! , a western about the most notorious female outlaw you’ve never heard of. She holds a degree in Film & Media Studies from the University of Kansas. Her film work includes the 2025 documentary about a regenerative agriculture project in Western Kansas, titled The Wallace Project: Year Four, which has won awards at film festivals centered around climate and water security. Her comedy often centers around her split life as both a rancher and city-dweller. how the night runs: 45 minutes of chloe burns walking us through the untold history of the Wild West, 15 minutes of q&a, then 45 minutes of small group discussion with other people just as curious as you are.

tickets available

past nights

common questions

do i need to know anything about the topic?
no. every lecture is given for a curious room, not specialists, and starts from the beginning.
can i come alone?
yes. the questions at the end and the bar afterwards make it easy to talk to the people around you.
how much is a ticket?
each lecture's page shows its price. pick a night below to see it.
can i give a lecture?
yes. speakers get a $200 honorarium and four tickets for friends. apply on the speaker page.

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