How do you do?—

Perhaps you are just joining us after reading about the Summer of Ludd & other Luddite tales. Maybe this ethos of renewed Luddism is precisely what you've been looking for—creating a more porous public sphere in response to tech overreach. Or maybe you're coming here by route of SoRA seminars, Month Offline dumbphone tinkering, or something else entirely—like a friend who told you there are fun Events here—or a stranger standing in a park with hand-ripped quarter-page flyers.

I'd try to explain what is newsletter is about some more (as I have tried here), but it occurs to me that the only way to really understand is to ATTEND SOME EVENTS!

I'm so grateful to see this newsletter remain so dense, so full of off-tech life. Even bigger things are coming as the dog days turn into fall—I'm quite excited, but I won't blow the surprises today.

What about you? If you've been around a bit, have you been enjoying these Events? How's your journey to get off big tech going? Send me a note by replying directly to this newsletter.

More Events to come—including yours, perhaps!—

—Nick

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Resources & calls

★ VENUE OWNERS, UNITE — You, who run physical spaces in New York (& beyond)—the time has come to ORGANIZE! The School of Radical Attention has officially launched its Attention Sanctuary initiative. The project is to build a coalition of spaces resisting big tech & in turn facilitating life-giving experiences of joint attention. Read on for an Event about this on Mon., Aug. 24.

★ MONTH OFFLINE, EVERYWHERE — Month Offline has released a DIY guide for people to organize their own 30 days off of smartphones. Sessions are popping up all over the country already. More NYC groups will emerge in the next few months, too—keep an eye out. Consider swinging by MO's Event on Mon., Aug. 10 to hear more.

★ LUDD LOVERS — Awake from thy hinge message purgatory! Abandon ye reductionist 2D profile! Rid thyself of the binary swipe mindset! Instead, find real-world romance with a Ludd Lover personal ad. WRITE ABOUT YOURSELF HERE, send your ad to [email protected] by August 31, & stay tuned for more info about an Event to actualize our searches for luv.

★ FUTURE SCHOOLS? — The School for Poetic Computation is the latest resident in the FUTURE SCHOOLS program at the National Academy of Design. Read on for more information about programming, including open lab hours & public talks. The emphasis here is on modeling infrastructure wherein computers play a different role in our lives—& wherein we learn together in new ways.

★ TED HEADS — People are starting up a "more casual" TEDx chapter in Carnegie Hill to discuss space, time, human existence—& yes, technology. Their first event is in Sept., & they're looking for artists & volunteers in the meantime.

★ RUN EVENTS WITHOUT BIG TECH — If you know venues, hosts, anyone who is still primarily using big tech to promote their Events (IG, Partiful, etc.), put them in touch with me! Let’s see if we can help them incorporate more community-run infrastructure, like this newsletter, "The Event Is the Medium" strategies, & more!

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August & the September horizon

Sat., Aug. 1 | Handmade Datasets @ 1:30 p.m., National Academy of Design

✾ Aarati Akkapeddi introduces the concept of small, intentional datasets as an alternative to large-scale AI systems in Handmade Datasets. ✾

RSVP on Pools.

Sat., Aug. 1 | MASS FOR THE MAGNETIC FIELD @ 2 p.m., Wash. Sq. Park

It's like church, but for the earth's magnetic field, which is apparently weakening.

"In the name of the dipole, the bow shock, and the self-exciting geodynamo—"

Invisible, immanent, born of molten iron and rending tide, the Earth's magnetic field guides our way and protects us from harmful solar winds. Its origins are still unknown to science and its role in the possibility of life is unappreciated by many of us. We'll remix old rituals to celebrate this ancient mystery. Bring your compasses, if you have them.

Presided over by Connor Griffin, an educator, organizer, and rock enthusiast, most recently the host of Your Phone Is 4.6 Billion Years Old during the Summer of Ludd. Just show up—it'll probably be by the Girabaldi Statue, or else the park grass somewhere!

Sun., Aug. 2 | boshi's spontaneous orchestra @ 2–5 p.m., boshi's place

if you always wanted to play music but was scared of people being too good and precious about things, this is a jam for you, we are mostly not good and definitely not precious.

and you don't need to know how to play anything, we have instruments, and instructions and mostly come up with improvisation game ideas that give some structure.

Sun., Aug. 2 | Sacred Sites Art Gallery @ 3–8 p.m., Movement Lab at Barnard

Through projection, installation, dance, and sculpture, our nine artists navigate the current virtual-physical cyborg reality, confronted by a social landscape unrestrained by limitations of distance or capacity. How has the digital plane evolved our images of the divine? Does religion twin or twist our relationship with technology? What practices and artifacts emerge from hybridity?

Various mediums explore the tensions between virtual / physical, public / private, and together / alone that create novel sacred sites and rituals.

Hosted at the Barnard Movement Lab | Curated by Teresa Lawlor & Cam My Nguyen.

WAITLIST HERE.

Sun., Aug. 2 | Luddite Club PAPER ROUTE @ 2:30 p.m., Tompkins Sq. Park

Bike (or run) around the East Village to complete a scavenger hunt. Meet by the mini pool on the north side of Tompkins Sq. Park (through the gate between the bathrooms!).

Tues., Aug. 4 & 11 | Conflict Lab @ 7 p.m., Tompkins Sq. Park

Conflict Lab contends that the problem isn't conflict—it's that so many of our experiences have been awful and we were never taught to do it well. We never learned how to disagree without becoming defensive, or how to repair after hurt. We also weren't taught to discern where/when healthy conflict simply isn't possible.

The Conflict Lab is a place to learn those skills. More at luma.com/a2rh925s.

Wed., Aug. 5 | Attention Lab SANCTUARY @ 6:30–9 p.m., DUMBO

The School of Radical Attention's flagship "Attention Labs" are experiential, participatory workshops dedicated to the joint exploration of human attention. Through group attention practices and guided discussions, we create and test tools to rebuild the art of sustained attention, which has been under attack by persuasive technologies.

This lab's focus is SANCTUARY: creating social space free from the influence of Big Tech.

Sign up for any lab here.

Fri., Aug. 7 | Junk Journal Night @ 5:30–7 p.m., Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library - 1st Floor Corner Space

Bring your junk journal with you to the library for an evening of community crafting. Each session will offer an opportunity to meet friends, share ideas, and participate in a guided activity to add a new spread to your journal. Bring your own notebook; all other materials provided.

More here.

Fri., Aug. 7 | Moving offline in an online age @ 7 p.m., Nightclub 101

Join August Lamm for tools, guidance, and encouragement to start making real changes. It'll also just be a fun night of art and music.

Dumbphones and pamphlets available if you're ready to take that leap—otherwise just enjoy, ask questions, and make friends! :)

Fri., Aug 7 | Singles Dating Using Palantir Data @ 8 p.m., Producers Club, Manhattan

Using just your name and phone number, the hosts will use the power of Palantir software to create a full picture and presentation about your best attributes. You do not have to present yourself! Professional wingmen will present and hype you up to everyone.

Note: Data can get polluted so presentations may contain some inaccurate information.

There will be also be a brief demo on the commercial uses of Palantir technology in case you are in the market for a license (Prices start at only $300,000/year).

[ Not free :-( — but tickets here if you are curious.]

Fri., Aug. 7 | Junction @ 9:30 p.m., Cassette

A free & phone-free dance party with sets by Anagouti (from LET’S GET OFF TOGETHER II & Soft and Lovely during the Summer of Ludd) and jsn (touring DJ and classical pianist).

Sat., Aug. 8 | Out Loud Reading Series @ 1 p.m., Ridgewood Public Library

A free participatory reading of Dostoevsky's White Nights in its entirety. A discussion will follow.

Part of the L-Train Literary Club. The flyer's QR code goes here.

Sat., Aug. 8 | Dan's Phone Free Birthday Bash @ 4 p.m., Fort Greene Park

Dan Fox (of Phone Free Adelphi & presidential potential) has a summer birthday. Dan misses throwing phone free events. Dan wants to celebrate his birthday (and maybe yours?) with a big-old phone-free public-park birthday bash!

Sat., Aug. 8 | Contact improv jam & open decks @ 6:30–9:30 p.m., Bushwick

All levels! In a cozy DIY loft with plenty of soft seating on the sidelines & food for purchase.

6:30 doors.

6:45-7:30: guided warmup $5+ sliding scale (highly recommended for beginners) with Nina, an opportunity to explore the fundamentals of touch, physics, gravity & get comfortable with folks in the jam.

7:30-9:30: jam $10+ sliding scale.

If you are a DJ interested in open decks, reply to this email or DM the Event Runners on luma.

Mon., Aug. 10 | MO Gallery Exhibition @ 7 p.m., telos.haus

Come celebrate 35 fellow NYers who went a full month without their smartphones and reclaimed presence away from the attention economy. Performances, installations, and offline epiphanies will be on full display at this Free Offline Expo in partnership with dumb.co.

Bring ur offline curious, chronically online and every friend in between for an inspiring exhibition, participant fireside chat, raffle, & more!

REFRESHMENT: Light FOOD & DRINKS provided. BYO encouraged!

Come see how u can get involved in future offline adventures in NYC! Stand by for information on MO September.

BLISS OUT IN THIS NO PHONE ZONE—leave it at home or put it in a pouch upon arrival!

Tues., Aug. 11 | Physical Media Swap @ 6 p.m., Tompkins Sq. Park

Come one, come all! Bring something you're ready to part with and discover something new-to-you! Plan to meet by the Hare Krishna Tree—but we'll relocate if we need to.

Tues., Aug. 11 | CDNY Dance Lab @ 7 p.m., 520 8th Ave., 3rd Floor, Manhattan

The CDNY Dance Lab, in Contra and English. The goal is not only to have fun dancing but to improve our dance skills by focusing on various elements such as graceful recovery from mistakes, giving weight, helpful non-verbal communication, being a great partner, and more!

Tickets can be reserved through the recurring Eventbrite donation link.

Tues., Aug. 11 | Attention Activism 101 @ 7 p.m., online

Attention is the touchstone problem of our age. Over the last twenty years, an unprecedented concentration of technical and financial power has successfully monetized human attention. The harms of this new system — in effect, the "fracking" of our most intimate selves — are familiar to all. Less widely understood is the nature of the movement that has emerged to fight back against this historic injustice: ATTENTION ACTIVISM.

In this course, we will survey the intellectual and practical foundations of the nascent ATTENTION ACTIVISM movement. We'll draw on texts by Anna Tsing, Natasha Dow Schull, Shoshanna Zuboff, Tim Wu, and Jonathan Crary among others. What do the extractive incursions of the Attention Economy mean for shared life in the twenty-first century — and how are communities of activists already working to resist them?

A few spots remain! Sign up for this or another session here.

Sat., Aug. 15 | GUNK's Third Birthday Party @ 12 p.m.–12 a.m., Secret Riso Club

GUNK takes over both floors of Secret Riso Club for a 12-hour anniversary celebration of underground music, publishing, art, and community.

From 12 PM to 12 AM, the event will feature 10 live bands, 7 DJs, 2 panel discussions, tattooing, live screen printing, raffles, GUNK merch, alcohol, light snacks, and more.

Come for an hour, stay all day, or leave and return later. Your ticket covers the full 12-hour event, with programming happening throughout the day across both levels of the space.

Sat., Aug. 15 | OPT OUT OF UTOPIA: an art pop-up @ 1–3 p.m., Wash. Sq. Park

The billionaires behind social media, AI, & meta glasses lay their utopian fantasies bare for us—they want machines watching over us, automated systems coddling us, "loving" us ... even if that renders your job, your values, your life as you know it obsolete.

Is that what YOU want?

What if we turn the words of tech CEOs into blackout poetry?—or send a scathing note to an institution of your choice (a love letter works, too, for a good one). And what if we make a big mural together to commemorate ALL THE OTHER POSSIBILITIES that aren't delusional and ignorant of true human needs?!

There will be a few readings offered for discussion (like this or parts of this or this) plus those ongoing activities.

Run by Young People's Alliance & other friendly folks. Just show up near the Wash. Sq. arch. But here's a luma if you decide to have a reminder the day before.

Sun., Aug. 16 | ManhattanHike @ 10 a.m., 215th St Stairs (215th St and Broadway)

Have you ever thought "hey, it'd be kinda fun to walk the length of Manhattan?"

Well, so has Koll!

Join as we walk from Inwood to South Ferry on August 16th, 10AM. Our meeting point will be the stairs on 215th St and Broadway (2 mins from the 1 Train Stop at 215 St). We'll also be pausing for lunch halfway. Don't forget to bring ample sunscreen, water, and snacks, and whatever else you'll need to enjoy 6+ hours of walking, chatting, and looking :)

If you have any questions or want to join midway through, shoot me an email—[email protected]!

Sun., Aug. 16 | Poetry Today Reading—Ingrid Jacobsen's "Sonnets ..." @ 11 a.m., Book Club Bar East Village

We'll spend Sunday brunch at Book Club Bar talking about a poetry collection released in the last six months. We'll read the book beforehand and then gather for an intimate gab session. No other preparation needed; just come curious. Boozy, if that's your thing.

This month's poetry collection: Sonnets on the Attempted Murder of Me, Bugs B, by Ingrid Jacobsen. Ingrid will join the discussion! Her book is the first publication of The Can Press, which host Daniel started with fellow BCB bookseller Mathuson and BCB alum Keri.

Tickets here.

Sun., Aug. 16 | Unplatform Office Hours @ 6 p.m., online

Most people agree that letting Silicon Valley control our whole society was a bad idea. Fewer people know what to do about it.

That is where the Unplatform project comes in: an interactive guide and recommendations database made to help people and communities find alternatives to Big Tech's monopolistic tools.

We'll talk about how to find news, events, and culture outside the shadow of Silicon Valley, and we might even catch a glimpse of an internet beyond the "five giant websites, each filled with screenshots of the other four."

Sign up here.

Wed., Aug. 19 | Unplatform ORGANIZER MEETUP @ 6:30 p.m., 875 Third Ave., Lower Level

You've probably heard a ton of people complaining about the role that social media, planned obsolescence, or digital surveillance plays in our lives. You probably haven't seen nearly as many people doing something about it.

This isn't a personal failing. It's a social one. It's not possible for one person to take on Silicon Valley on their own. It's a journey that entire communities need to embark on together—and this is exactly what Unplatform is here to help you do.

This organizer's meetup is tailor-made for people trying to liberate their communities from extractive tech, whether those communities are creative, cultural, or political. We'll talk about the resources, tools, and organizations that already exist to help you reclaim your collective relationship with technology, and depending on where you're at, we might help you build some of your own.

RSVP here, or just show up.

Thurs., Aug. 20 | Offline Book Club—Moderation: A Novel @ 6:30 p.m., Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library Room 405

Girlie is the greatest content moderator in the world, and she just got a promotion to the VR team. Are her nerves of steel ready for the psychological challenges that await? A gripping and immersive novel about real romance in the virtual workplace.

Stop scrolling, & put down your phone … SNFL's Offline Book Club is a space for in-person conversation about the role technology plays in our world. Each month highlights a different book on the topic of technology's impact on our individual lives as well as society as a whole, followed by an open discussion to share recent experiences and observations

RSVP preferred.

Thurs., Aug. 20 | Radical Attention & Economies of Care: A Conversation with the co-founders of the Simone Weil House @ 7 p.m., DUMBO

What does a care-based economy look like in practice? On Thursday, August 20, SoRA is convening with Emma Coley Fitzgerald and Bert Fitzgerald to envision an alternative attention economy: not the industrial-scale monetization of human eyeballs, but the structures of mutual care that undergird "a society where it is easier to be good."

As co-founders of the Simone Weil House, Emma and Bert built an initiative to help communities in Portland, Oregon self-organize their own zero-interest micro-credit unions and created a "free exchange area" for a non-transactional local economy.

Join to explore these worldbuilding efforts in theory and in practice! RSVP here!

Sat., Aug. 22 | Trephelobia Poetry Circle @ 7 p.m., Prospect Park

An informal, come and go as you please poetry circle, bring your own poetry or poetry you like. Recommended donation of $5 for snacks and drinks, or bring snacks/drinks.

Contact Josh for exact location: [email protected], or just show up to Fallkill Falls in Prospect Park.

Mon., Aug. 24 | Attention Sanctuary Salon @ 6:30 p.m., DUMBO

As promised above—this is an evening for space owners to come together as SANCTUARY KEEPERS.

How might our physical spaces deepen the culture change we're seeing around New York? What guidelines can we set inside to ensure that visitors attend to good, nourishing things? What other programming might we welcome to this end? Can we organize among ourselves to create more infrastructure free from big tech?

We will ponder these questions and more in facilitated discussions & group practices.

Come ye bar owners, restaurateurs, maker space runners, DIY venue people, co-workers, co-livers, community gardeners, farmers, listless landlords—

Email [email protected] to secure a spot!

Fri., Aug. 28 | Tech Policy Q&A @ 3 p.m., Tompkins Sq. Park

When the federal government is working hand in hand with the very tech companies it's supposed to regulate, getting off big tech can feel like the only real way to resist. And doing so matters a lot. But the truth is, there is real political will out there to regulate these companies and open the door to better tools, both at the state level and at the federal level. We just need more people power behind policies with actual teeth—not ones written by industry or ones that invade peoples privacy even more, says DC-based organzier Kendall Schrohe.

Come to the Hare Krishna Tree and ask questions about the state of tech policy. We'll talk social media, AI, and privacy policy at the state and federal level—the good bills and the bad ones. Then we will also explore how we can translate this insane grassroots power into political power. Especially with midterms coming up and the 2028 election ahead, we need an informed public that knows the difference between good and bad tech policy, and we need votes for the people who actually know how to hold big tech accountable.

Sun., Aug. 30 | Vainglory Record Release Show @ 7 p.m., The Sultan Room

MILES HEWITT & his band will probably play through Vainglory top to bottom only once—on this night. Featuring performances by JANA HORN, ANDY CUSH/DOMESTIC DRAFTS, & a reading by SOPHIE STRAND.

From a recent review: "This preemptive death knell for genuine art—and a plea for its survival—is where the Brooklyn-based Hewitt centers his record."

And in a recent interview: "Vainglory refers to some greater sense of mankind's misplaced confidence in his own ability to control technology—or to prevent it from stripping humanity from the very things that once defined it."

Also, Miles is just a really good writer and musician.

21+. Tickets here.

Sat., Sept. 12 | STRANGERS Teach-In @ 2 p.m., Tompkins Sq. Park

Yours truly is going to do a teach-in on STRANGERS in September.

We are NEW YORKERS! We live in a land of IMMENSE SOCIAL POTENTIAL—but, due to urban planning fallacies, digital machinery, crusty societal habits, and so forth, we leave so much unattended & unexperienced—

More to come, but we'll ponder some Walt Whitman, Richard Sennett, Julia Kristeva, or maybe others—we'll bask in the unpredictability of park encounters—& we'll chip away at the chains of "safety."

What if we had more faith in each other & our ability to navigate complex city terrain? I've sure been gaining faith lately, thanks to you all.

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Recurring Events

Every Sun. | Luddite Club @ 2 p.m., Tompkins Sq. Park

A new vehicle to bring your own Luddite events—get on the bus. Meet on the north side of Tompkins Sq. Park (through the gate between the bathrooms!).

First and Third Sun. | Date with Détournement @ 9 p.m., Various Locations

Join public art projects that push back against alienating tech.

First and third Sundays.

[email protected] if you want in.

Every Thurs. | Crown Heights Silent Reading @ 7 p.m.

Celebrate reading in community. We'll read for an hour then chat over tea. Bring any book for yourself!

Facilitated by Connor Griffin, an educator and organizer working off big tech. Email [email protected] for the location.

Every Fri. | Crafternoon @ 1:30–3:30 p.m., Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library - 1st Floor Corner Space

Join us for two hours of freeform crafting and conversation. Bring your own project. We have tools and materials for sewing, fiber, and paper arts, and are always happy to assist you in finding books related to your creative interests.

More here.

Every Fri. & Sat. | Fort Tilden & Breezy Point Beach Cleanup @ Fri. 10 a.m. & Sat. 11 a.m., Fort Tilden

Get outside, get some sun, help restore the habitat for the plovers, and meet new people offline! Leave feeling rejuvenated from soaking up nature together!

Fridays at 10:00 a.m. and Saturdays at 11:00 a.m.—trains & ferries can be hit or miss, so show up whenever you can and come look for the group!

Join this Signal chat to stay in communication, ask questions, and find our meeting place.

Every Sat. | Internet & Tech Addicts Anonymous @ 2 p.m., 208 W 13th St., Manhattan

Welcome to Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous! We're glad you've found us, and we hope our community can be as helpful to you as it has been for us. ITAA is a Twelve-Step fellowship of individuals who support each other in recovering from internet and technology addiction. This includes addiction to social media, smartphones, streaming video or audio content, games, news, pornography, dating apps, online research, online shopping, or any other digital activity that becomes compulsive and problematic.

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Well, hello from the bottom of the bulletin! If it was worth all that time to scroll through, perhaps you will consider sharing NYC Off Tech with a friend, foe, beloved, or a stranger :)