Nerd Nite Los Angeles - May 2024

Nerd Nite is fun-yet-informative lectures at a bar. It's like TED Talks...but with beer.

We all know that learning is more fun when you’re drinking with friends and colleagues. Thus, Nerd Nite is a monthly event held in more than 100 cities across the globe during which several folks give 20-minute fun-yet-informative and easily accessible presentations across all disciplines – while the audience drinks along.

https://linktr.ee/nerdnitela

FAQ's:

- Doors open at 7pm. Intro at 7:45pm. Presentations at 8pm.

- The Brewyard Beer Company is a 21+ venue.

- There is free street parking surrounding the bar, but we recommend utilizing a ride share service.

PRESENTATION LINE-UP:

PRESENTATION #1: Gone Plaquin': The Pleasure, Pain, and Politics of Building a Historic Register

By Kyle Jarrett

Summary: The world is peppered with plaques—metal, stone, even wood—drawing our attention to the people and stories that came before us. But who put them there? Who decided what story they should tell and how it should be told, practically forever? And who footed the bill? Join one man, and one beaver, on a decade-spanning adventure through California's historical landmark program, and find out how hands no different from yours have built, broken, and rebuilt history, one plaque at a time.

Bio: Kyle Jarrett hated history in high school—it caused his first car crash after all. Today, history fuels his insatiable adventuring, which has spanned 6 Wonders of the World, over 200 national parks, and thousands of historical landmarks across all 50 states. Kyle has worked to replace four stolen plaques and designate California's first landmark to recognize LGBTQ+ history. When not on an adventure, you'll find him planning the next one or blogging about the last one on thebillbeaverproject.com.


PRESENTATION #2: Time to Increase Your Clitoracy Rate! Homo Sapiens, Simian, and Snake Slits Explained

By Natalia Reagan

Summary: Let's talk about the unhung hero of genitalia - the clitoris! In October 2022, Dr. Blair Peters, a queer gender-affirming care surgeon, and their team of researchers published that they finally counted all the nerve fibers on the human sweet bean. The result? 10,281 nerve fibers on average - a whopping 2000 more than previously stated (and wait till you hear WHY the old stat was off!). And it’s not just humans that are celebrating. Just a month later, in December 2022, another paper was published by an all-female team of researchers that determined snakes not only have a clitoris, but they have two devil’s doorbells, or a hemiclitores. These scientific discoveries further illustrate why diverse voices and representation matters in science. Lastly, we will lightly touch on the hypertrophied clitoris (or pseudopenis) of some very lucky monkeys. Get ready for more than your fair share of clitbait!

Bio: Natalia Reagan is an anthropologist, primatologist, comedian, host, producer, podcaster, professor, writer, and monkey-chasing weirdo. She has hosted a Bigfoot TV show, been a comedy writer, correspondent, podcast host on Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “StarTalk”, an animal expert on “Nat Geo Wild’s Everything You Didn’t Know About Animals”, and a host and writer for Discovery’s DNews. Your dad’s probably seen her on History’s “UnXplained”, Travel Channel’s “Paranormal Caught on Camera”, "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "My Name is Earl". She also has been producing science comedy content for over a decade, including series like “Talking Shit with Dr. Todd and Natalia” and her recent science comedy special "Survival of the Filthiest". Natalia also hosts educational trips all over the world and you should come! Next one is to Madagascar- follow her on IG for more info: @natalia13reagan


PRESENTATION #3: Cocaine in Coca-Cola Myth and Why it Makes People Angry

By Dr. Joseph Coohill

Summary: The story that there was an effective amount of cocaine in Coca-Cola in the early 20th century is a myth, but one that won’t go away. Low-information talking heads such as Bill Mahar even use the story as “proof” that people can handle certain levels of drug intake, and that our drug laws should be changed because of that. The true story is too complicated for media-types to handle, so they just repeat the urban legend. And it’s now become an integral part of American folklore, so much so that, when the myth has been busted, people often get angry and combative in their defense of what has become a core belief. Joe Coohill/Professor Buzzkill tells you the full story!

Bio:  Dr. Joseph Coohill is an Oxford-educated history professor and media personality who overturns widely-held, but incorrect, assumptions and beliefs about the past. The public knows him as the host and producer of the wildly popular Professor Buzzkill History Podcast. He has spoken at Nerd Nites in Denver, New York, and Pittsburgh, and is totally stoked to be presenting in LA!