Karen Hao – Thursday, September 17, 2026

Geoffrey Baer – Tuesday, October 20, 2026

Dr. Eve L. Ewing – Thursday, November 12, 2026

Sasheer Zamata – Tuesday, January 19, 2027

David Grann – Thursday, February 18, 2027  

Megha Majumdar – Tuesday, March 16, 2027

Ocean Vuong – Tuesday, April 13, 2027

Angela Davis – Tuesday, May 11, 2027

Join a timely conversation with Karen Hao, award-winning journalist and author of Inside the Empire of AI. In this virtual event, Hao will explore the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, the social, political, and ethical questions surrounding AI development today, and the questions posed in her work – Will AI produce broad-based societal benefit for all? Or return us to an age of empire? The path forward is in our hands.

Whether you’re excited about AI, cautious about it, or just trying to understand the hype, this event offers an accessible look at one of today’s biggest technological shifts.

Karen Hao is the instant New York Times bestselling author of Empire of AI and named one of the most influential people in AI by Time. She is lead designer of the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight series as well as co-host of BBC’s podcast, The Interface. The first journalist to ever profile OpenAI, Hao was formerly a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, covering American and Chinese tech companies, and a senior editor for AI at MIT Technology Review. Her work has been cited by Congress, featured in university curriculums, and remade into museum exhibits.   

Moderator
Reanna Esmail, Lead Librarian for Instruction at Cornell University and a prominent voice in critical digital pedagogy and intellectual freedom, will join Karen Hao in conversation.

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Closed Captioning are provided for all events by default—no special request needed.

If a patron needs accommodations not listed above, please email the library at stjosephtownshiplibrary@gmail.com