New York—

Knicks games with a couple hundred on a friend's street corner—people sprawling off the sidewalk, someone hanging on scaffolding to see it, then the big win—a spontaneous parade as is meant to be, all in one, boundaries dissolving this night.

Let's remember this—that more is always possible ...

This is what the "offline activism" is about—more time with phones away, sure, but really for making more full-body effervescence—familiar faces all along your walk in public & new ones welcomed with ease—a sense that we STAND for something again.

Now I will go dance at Public Service in HVK. I'll be sending a special Summer of Ludd calendar later this week.

May this all continue—

—Nick

★ ★ ★

Rest of June & the July horizon

All Month | SoRA In-Person Summer Seminars

SoRA's summer seminars start with on June 2 with TOXIC UX led by an industry insider. Kyle Barnes' class on THE PARTY starts June 11, followed by PUPPETS, RAGE BAIT, prankster activism, and more. Full list here.

All Month | Summer of Ludd Prep Events

SoL is a week of free, public, and participatory programming to get people off big tech and into public space. In the lead up to the weeklong festival, help plan activities, build props for main Events, & learn more about Luddite organizing. Email theofficialsummerofludd@proton.me for more. Festival schedule coming soon—

• Tues., June 23 | SoL PRESS CONFERENCE @ 6 p.m., Tompkins Sq. Park All journalists, documentarians, and independent writers are invited to this conference with Gowanus, the Luddite Media Spokespuppet. Email mediapuppet@proton.me with questions.

• Sun. and Wed. | Prop Builds @ 6 p.m., Tompkins Sq. Park Build art, signs, event props in public space. No experience necessary—a great way to meet people and get more involved in the festival!

Mon., June 15 | Science Fair (Open House) @ 6:30 p.m., 136 Milton St., BK

What are we supposed to do after we get off our phones? How are we supposed to share our discoveries with each other in the absence of TikTok? The answer is obvious: SCIENCE FAIRS. Presenters are not professional scientists, just adults with a lot of questions about the world we live in.

This is a free event open until 9 p.m., but if you'd like to bring something, we will be collecting popsicles for the Greenpoint Hunger Program!

Tues., June 16 | Commonality Salon #1 | AI, the Pope, and the Future of Humanity @ 7 p.m., Tompkins Sq. Park

On May 25th, Pope Leo XIV presented his first encyclical, entitled Magnifica humanitas (magnificent humanity), in which he raised serious concerns about AI's impact on the future of mankind. The most remarkable thing about the encyclical is how familiar the Pope's concerns are to anyone in the neo-Luddite movement—and it's because of that familiarity that the encyclical is worth talking about.

In the first of what will become a regular series, Commonality magazine invites you to join a discussion about the encyclical, what it might mean for the future of tech-critical organizing, and what the reactions to it tell us about the state of the mainstream media and the tech industry. RSVP here.

Thurs., June 18 | Design It for Us Monthly @ 5:30 p.m., Online

Design It for Us (DIFU) is a community of young people (26 and under) from around the world fighting to hold Big Tech accountable and improve our digital ecosystems.

Members are encouraged to attend monthly calls to learn more about state and federal tech policy, join campaigns, and directly advocate for legislative change.

Join here.

Thurs., June 18 | NYPL Offline Book Club: THE MACHINE STOPS @ 6:30 p.m., SNFL Room 405

Stop scrolling and 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.

The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster, first published in 1909, is a dystopian sci-fi novella that imagines a world where humans live underground and are dependent on an oppressive and omnipresent Machine for survival. Public domain and freely available online.

Space is limited. Walk-ins welcome, but priority will be given to those who register in advance.

Sat., June 20 | An Evening of Experimental Games Presentations with boshi's place @ 5:30 p.m., DUMBO

Join us for a gathering of performances and presentations by members of boshi's place, with Everest Pipkin, assistant professor at Pratt University. This open-projector format will gather artists, designers, and researchers examining and reconceptualizing the creative mediums of play and interactivity, and how these systems become forms of artistic expression and experimentation. No prior knowledge of games development required.

RSVP HERE!

Sat., June 20 | PATTERN RECOGNITION: Mario Kart @ 6 p.m., Upper West Side

Welcome to Pattern Recognition: a series of studies taking a closer look at games as a medium. This month we'll dive into the philosophy of Competition and Ethics as discussed in Plato's Republic, as it pertains to... Mario Kart!

We'll read some passages from the text and then engage in some truly despicable acts of banana peeling and blue shelling each other, being mindful of how the intensity and acts of play can shift our morality (in the context of play, of course!).

Free, but space is limited. RSVP HERE!

Tues., June 23 | Attention Lab COALITION @ 6:30 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 COALITION: the collective potential for attention activism.

Wed., June 24 | Sidewalk Study: Reshaping Relations @ 7 p.m., Bed-Stuy

The contemporary western world (and beyond) has designed infrastructures of oppression, containment, and the erasure of Black and Indigenous life.

This Study will examine the relational infrastructures that overlay "the weather" (Christina Sharpe) — that is, the machinations that shape our lived spatial environments. How might we move through "geographies of unfreedom" towards liberatory futures? Can an abolitionist framework direct us in unmaking spaces of enclosure? Can we shape more expansive spaces capable of holding our full selves?

If you are interested in attending this Study, email strotherschool@sustainedattention.net.

Wed., June 24 | Burner Phone Writing Group @ 7:30 p.m., Lalin's

This group meets every other week, sometimes in workshop style. Come work on a submission for the Burner Phone zine—which is entirely offline—or just hang out and free write.

Email bushwickburnerphone@gmail.com for more info.

Fri., June 26 | Airplane Mode Vol. 6 @ 6:30 p.m., The Bench

Sign up for any lab here.

The premise is simple: Dinner, then 24 hours with no phone.

Are you up for it?

RSVP here. Mention "NYC Off Tech" in how you heard about this.

Sat., June 27 | Turn the Q Train Quiet @ 11 a.m., 96 St. Station

Join author Nicole Kelner and Rizzoli New York as we create a quiet environment on the Brooklyn-Bound Q Train for the second time! No phones, just analog activities—

RSVP here for a complimentary copy of Nicole’s new book!

Sun., June 28 | Summer of Ludd OPENING CEREMONY @ 5 p.m., Tompkins Sq. Park

IT BEGINS on a Sunday evening with a big, public ceremony—a live theatre show, group rituals, music, & more. Get your schedule books, & see what to expect for the rest of the week.

Mon., June 29 | What Are You Doing Tonight? Make Your Own Event Calendar @ 5:30 p.m., La Plaza Cultural

Panel discussion and one-on-one conversations with editors and publishers of low-tech New York City events calendars. Featuring Jeff Stark (nonsense nyc), Theo Ballew (Red Cal), Moon Bulletin (Kyle Barnes), The People's Circuit, Stitches, NYC Off Tech, & more. Moderated by Damian Thomas (Unplatform).

Tues., June 30 | Luddite Conference on Participatory Futures @ 10 a.m., The New School

What is the relationship between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon? What are the social and political consequences of new AI technologies? And what can we do in response?

Please join us for a day of learning how Big Tech brought us to this existentially threatening moment, and how we can reclaim personal and collective agency for a participatory future.

Speakers will include William Hartung (author of Trillion Dollar War Machine), Koohan Paik-Mander (co-founder of the Tech-Critics Network), and Juan Sebastian Pinto (Colorado People's Caucus on AI).

FREE, but all guests must register.

Thurs., July 2 | Computer Care Café @ 7 p.m., 15 Rutherford Pl., Manhattan

Engage in a ritual cleansing of a personal device and build a more lucid relationship with technology—set up anti-surveillance tech stacks, activate a dumbphone, etc. Care for yourself, too, with tea, pastries, and some light spa treatments.

Fri., July 3 | LET'S GET OFF TOGETHER @ 10 p.m., telos.haus

LET’S GET OFF TOGETHER is a celebration of social life as it’s meant to be: free from the grip of greedy tech platforms. That means more than just saying “please don’t use your phone on the dance floor” (although there will most certainly not be any phones on this dance floor)—

We’re talking presence, real attention to one another, to music, to community. Organized by artists, activists, and friends from the NYC offline community, this gathering weaves together immersive art, facilitated experiences, ritual, magic, & DJ sets—

KOOKS VS. COGS! MORE MAGICK! SORDID PAGEANTRY!

ALL are welcome. Sign up to stay in the know, if you aren't already on the list.

Sat., July 4 | SHITPHONE @ 2 p.m., Tompkins Sq. Park

The Gnomes are back—parade downtown on America’s birthday. This is a main event of the Summer of Ludd.

★ ★ ★

Weekly Gatherings

Every Sun. | Luddite Club @ 2 p.m., Central Library

The Brooklyn Luddite Club returns, at its original meeting place. All are welcome.

Email logan@theludditeclub.org for more.

Every Sun. | Community Meditation @ 6 p.m., Various Locations in BK

Phil Nguyen draws from Opening Awareness and other practices in these weekly meditation sessions. Come for one, or join every week to exercise your mind and expand your capacity to CARE.

Sign up here!

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.

sighren.ludd@proton.me if you want in.

Every Wed. | Technocritical Writers Room @ 10 a.m. / 7 p.m., Hybrid

Writers from across the community engage in generative sessions to share stories, visualize futures, and push critiques of digital technology towards new action.

10 a.m. at Jefferson Market Library, and 7 p.m. on a Jitsi call.

Facilitated by artist and organizer Amalia Mayorga. Email rosemayorga@proton.me for more.

Every Wed. | Phone-Free Adelphi @ 7 p.m., Fort Greene

Screen-free night of creativity from 7 to 10 p.m. We turn off our phones, work on something creative (or just read or meditate), then reflect on the experience.

Capped at 15 people. Please only come if you can stay the whole evening!

Stay up to date and RSVP for any week using this form. Email danmaxfox@gmail.com with questions.

Every Thurs. | Quiet Reading @ 7 p.m., Crown Heights

Join for an hour of quiet reading & then some chatting. Bring any book for yourself!

Facilitated by Connor Griffin, an educator and organizer working in this community. Email griffin75006@proton.me for the location.

Every Fri. | Crafternoon @ 1:30 p.m., Stavros Library (SNFL) First Floor Corner Space

Two hours of freeform crafting and conversation every week at the midtown Manhattan library. Bring your own project. We have tools and materials for sewing, painting, fiber, and paper arts, and are always happy to assist you in finding books related to your creative interests. Walk-ins welcome. More info here.