Cracks in PoMo at the NYEncounter
Sunday 2/18 @ 3:15
Cracks in PoMo will be sponsoring an event at the annual New York Encounter.
, , and Stephen Adubato will be discussing identity, the internet, and youth culture at 3:15 pm on Sunday, February 18th at the Metropolitan Pavilion.In this change of epoch—to use an image dear to Pope Francis—there is no doubt that younger people are facing certain specific challenges, which seem to further widen the natural gap with older generations, to the detriment of better relationships. However, it would be interesting to verify if, even in the midst of them, there is still something irreducible and universal in their humanity, as the Encounter theme points out. Speakers, because of their artistic and academic interests, had the opportunity to reflect and address some of these topics.
Read more about our panel here.
The Cracks in PoMo after party is set to happen in the same room directly following the panel. All are welcome to stay and mingle.
Tara will also be available to sign books.
The NYEncounter is a three day annual cultural festival that features panels, exhibits, and performances. Other guests of note will include friends of the pod
and Carlo Lancelotti, Cardinal Pizzaballa of Jerusalem, and will also feature an exhibit on Armenia. See the full program here.Some of us will also be presenting exhibits about Armenia and about the life of Simone Weil throughout the weekend.
Here’s an excerpt about the theme of this year’s NYE:
What is happening to our humanity? There is no shortage of reasons to ponder this question: daily images of gratuitous violence; an epidemic of suicide; feeling suffocated by the imposition of opposite ideologies and their language, starting in school; the potential threat of generative AI; a sense of paralysis in front of the future; suffering and evil devoid of meaning or redemption; general weariness, malaise, numbness, and lack of desire.
These signs suggest that our humanity is asleep. What can reawaken it? “Something unexpected is the only hope.”—Eugenio Montale, Before the Trip
When something wakes us up, things come alive again. If we pay attention to our experience, these very same signs reveal that what makes us human is irreducible. We are ill at ease with our apathy because we are made to desire. We feel lonely because we are made to be in relationship. We feel empty when we “check-out” because we are meant to be “checked-in.” We feel disappointed because to be born comes with a promise. We are afraid because we have something to lose. We feel suffocated because we are made to be free and to affirm what is true. And we feel lost because we are made for a purpose.
“Childhood memories … tears of happiness … the bitterness of parting … a mother’s tenderness … friendship … sudden hope … a fortunate guess … melancholy … unreasoning joy … The machine may be able to recreate all of this! But the surface of the whole earth would be too small to accommodate this machine.”
—Vasily Grossman, Life and Fate
Read more about the theme here.