There’s nothing quite like listening to a group of intellectuals discuss the future that makes you feel like everything might be OK after all. The comforting optimism of academia is just one of the reasons to catch this discussion from Amanda Little, Steven Pinker and Carl Zimmer titled “2020 and Beyond: Tackling Global Issues in the Decades to Come.” Little is an investigative journalist and author of the book The Fate of Food: What We’ll Eat in a Bigger, Hotter, Smarter World, which explores the challenges of feeding 9 billion people sustainably and equitably in the future. Pinker is a Harvard professor who has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. His most recent book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, argues that the world is getting better, not worse. Zimmer is a science writer for The New York Times, where he’s been reporting since 2004. The three guests will be joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and political science professor Jon Meacham in a conversation that’s sure to be enlightening and — if we’re lucky — maybe even a little inspirational. Regardless, it will give you a ton to talk about with family during holiday gatherings. 6:30 p.m. at Vanderbilt’s Langford Auditorium, 2209 Garland Ave. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER
