Events to transcend the screen life

It’s happening. Our tech-addled minds have had ENOUGH. People everywhere are moving beyond talk of how smartphones, social media, and AI affect us—they’re running to DO something about it.  

Just look around, and you’ll see it: phone-free spaces, protests at tech company offices, graffiti countering AI subway ads, manic gnome rallies on the High Line.

“Gen Z” is on fire, but it’s not just young people acting rebellious, as the press can make it seem. Leaders of all ages are working together to educate the public on coercive tech, reflect on their humanity, and create alternative connection points.

The broader Movement might not have a single name—some will say it’s Attention Liberation or to free the “Anxious Generation,” and others that they’re holding Big Tech accountable. More recently, people are calling for a MASS EXODUS—a collective migration from harmful tools towards convivial ones (including in-person socialization itself). And buzz is growing around the Luddite Renaissance. (Those who have reclaimed that L word know it’s been misunderstood historically and are joyfully opting out of stale platforms.)

Call it what you will; it’s all the same force. We all REFUSE a life dulled by passive consumerism and defined by devices that alienate us from ourselves and each other. And we are all BUILDING something better for ourselves—real people, in real time, with tools that serve our needs.

Consider this a tool for further discovery—to meet like-minded people, to grow community, and to make your move. I know it’s just a sliver of what’s happening out there, so please reach out: nickplante@proton.me.

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All events are public & free!

Oct. 4 | Reconnect Phone-Free Field Trip @ 10:30 a.m., Governor’s Island

​A phone-free island day! We are taking the 10:15 am ferry over from Manhattan and the 5:00 pm return. Expect a day full of social games, unstructured hanging, & physical activities.

​Phones will be valeted at the start of the voyage, so come prepared for a day of in-person connection. 

Limited space! Sign up at https://luma.com/37igc571 for the full rundown.

Learn more about Reconnect’s NYC chapter at reconnectmovement.org.

Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25 | McGolrick Park Bird Club, every Saturday @ 9 a.m.

The Bird Club seeks to bridge the gap between the small community of birders and open-minded individuals who wish to experience the benefits of reconnecting with the natural world. (Birders have had a major influence on resistance to the attention economy!)

Give it a try; it’s a better way to start the weekend than on a screen! Learn more here: https://mcgolrickpark.org/mcgolrick-bird-club

Oct. 5, 7, 12, 14 … | Appstinence Office Hours, Tuesdays & Sundays online

Drop in for FREE personal guidance on reclaiming your life from extractive tech. Get the low-down on de-platforming and using alternative devices; discover how to fill newly won free time (yay!), and learn ways to talk about all this with your friends and family.

Tuesdays at 7 p.m. & Sundays at 1 p.m. EST: www.appstinence.org/appstinenceacademy.

For questions or to request one-on-one coaching, email henry_m@appstinence.org.

Oct. 5 & 19 | DOOT (Do Our Own Things) @ 11 a.m., online

Come do something you’ve been putting off, in the presence of others. You’ll use technology in a more community-oriented way in the process.

We’ll tinker for 30 to 45 minutes and end on a debrief facilitated by knaveHaven.

Sign up for either session by emailing knavehaven@gmail.com.

Oct. 6, 13, 20, 27 | Community-Building Meditation, Mondays in Crown Heights

Join in for a new season of group meditation, focused on clear thoughts and care-taking in a post-digital life. You could say we’re reprogramming our mind or arranging new patterns—training new muscle habits as we regain control from the screens.

We meet every Monday at 7 p.m. To enroll, email Phil Nguyen, nguy.philip@gmail.com.

Oct. 7 | SoRA 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. (No, you don't have ADHD!)

This lab’s focus is COALITION: to work together to liberate our attention across our communities.

Sign up for any session at www.schoolofattention.org/programs/attention-labs.

Questions to peter@sustainedattention.net. 

Oct. 7 | Harvest Moon Party @ 7 p.m., Fort Greene Park

Picnic harvest feast at 7, full moon ritual at 8:00. Bring a gift to share with the group. Hosted monthly by Kyle Barnes.

We’ll meet east of the monument; look for the red blanket.

Oct. 9 | ENSHITTIFICIATION with Cory Doctorow and Lina Khan @ 7 p.m., Central Library Bklyn

Spend the evening with two MIGHTY forces in the movement against extractive tech: activist Cory Doctorow and former FTC Chair Lina Khan. They’ll be discussing Doctorow’s new book Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It and charting the path away from overbloated Big Tech bullshit.

Limited space remains:
https://www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/cory-doctorow-discusses-central-library-dweck-20251009-0700pm

Oct. 10 | DELETE DAY @ 6 p.m. Tompkins Square Park

Delete Day is the time for you to delete an unwanted account of your choosing in solidarity with others. This is a chance to try life without that social media app, streaming service, or messaging platform that you want to break up with.

ALL are welcome—the delete-ready, the delete-curious, and ANYONE who wants to share in the collective joy of free attention out in the public square.

Guest speakers @ 6 p.m. & Deletion @ 7 p.m. sharp. Phone-free celebration follows.

www.timetorefuse.com

Oct. 11 & 24 | Attention Potlucks @ 7 p.m., Crown Heights

These are potluck dinners designed for unbroken collective attention, which we are deprived of in our current technological moment. Come break bread and experience the restorative power of attending to one another without interruption.

Bring a small dish to share. Each week will have a bit of a different format, so join for any!

Facilitated by Connor Griffin, an educator and organizer working to help people expand their attentional capacity. Email griffin75006@proton.me for a spot. 

Oct. 13 | deplatform: Music Streaming @ 6 p.m., online

Explore alternatives to platforms like Spotify and Apple Music with knaveHaven.  

Sign up by emailing knavehaven@gmail.com. (Gmail and Zoom will be next, lol.)

Oct. 16, 23, 30 | SoRA Attention Activism 101, Thursdays @ 8:00 p.m., online

Attention is the touchstone problem of our age. Over the last twenty years, an unprecedented concentration of technological 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 Karl Marx, Guy Debord, Shoshana Zuboff, Tim Wu, and Yves Citton 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?

Sign up at https://www.schoolofattention.org/enroll/.

Oct. 16, 23 | BOYB: Bring Your Own Book, Thursdays @ 7:00 p.m., Crown Heights

Join for an hour of silent reading after a brief group exercise. We’re interested in reading as a way to nourish our attention and deepen our sense of humanity. And sometimes we also just need an excuse to read more. Bring a book!

Facilitated by Connor Griffin, an educator and organizer working to help people expand their attentional capacity. Email griffin75006@proton.me for a spot.

Oct. 19 | ‘Monthly Molting’ Ecology Workshop @ 1 p.m., Prospect Park

In Monthly Moltings, join us to shed our human-centered, content-addled perspectives and investigate the intimate lives of nonhumans in NYC. Each month, we’ll reflect and learn from the wisdom of how one species changes along with the seasons. Come for ancient stories, playful movement exercises, and deep attention to the urban ecology of our city.

This month we will attend to the Kuku Persimmon, ancient fruit tree, autumn’s candy maker. 

Register here: https://luma.com/q2psbb2r

Oct. 19 | Come Say Hi to Friend AI @ 5 p.m., Father Demo Square (6th and Bleeker)

Meet the Friend AI in person, for FREE!

This is your chance to see what all the hype is about. Come ready with your deepest questions.

Be prompt—we anticipate a long line.

Oct. 23 | Offline Book Club: Superbloom @ 6:30 p.m., Stavros Library (SNFL) 4th Floor, 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.

Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart by Nicholas Carr (2025).

Space is limited. Walk-ins welcome, but priority will be given to those who register in advance: https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2025/10/23/offline-book-club-superbloom

Oct. 31 | Pop-Up Spooky Walk @ 5 p.m., Tompkins Square Park

Visit the graves of old friends like boredom, serendipity, attention, & more.

Endure the anxiety of eye contact, small talk with strangers, and minor inconveniences.

Can we conquer these, our deepest fears, together?

Nov. 1 | RETOOLING @ 1 p.m., Williamsburg

RETOOLING workshops allow participants to explore their relationship to tools old and new. Through group practices and guided discussions, we discover existing alternatives that better suit our needs and build new tools from scratch. Past activities include “de-phoning” your daily routines, field trips with physical subway maps, and device settings audits.

Details TBA at https://www.generationattention.com/events. 

Email generationattention@proton.me for more information.

Nov. 15 | Lamp Club: East Village Public Intervention @ TBD

Lamp Club wants to introduce a pro-social alternative to addictive digital media by introducing a better street-life culture, which will de-alienate the neighborhood and help us create interdependent friendships and networks.

Activities will include Seed Sowing, Metro-Card Vigil, and a discussion for transplants. For more information, contact LampClub@proton.me.

All of Nov. | NoSo November Challenge

On your way to getting off socials, you might consider this month-long community challenge. Learn more at https://www.nosonovember.org/join.

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Say hi IRL (where we are tabling)

10/14: Wash Sq. 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Check back for more times ….

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