The Empiricist League

Dubbed "ad-hoc, small-scale TED Talks for scientists and the New Yorkers who adore them" by FiveThirtyEight, the Empiricist League is a Brooklyn-based science cabaret. Held in music and comedy venue of Union Hall, the Empiricist League asserts to shift topics in science from the inaccessible to the entertaining. Employing an an indie rock ethos and residual knowledge from tenure in the marketing world, David Leibowitz and I been curating the Empiricist League since 2012.

We've hosted some incredible individuals with an diverse array of expertise. Data scientists turned entrepreneur Christian Rudder from OkCupid took the stage to discuss "Love", with neuroscientist Bianca Acevado and evolutionary psychologist Glenn Geher. Maria Konnikova has talked about "Confidence Games" AND "Morality". We've unpacked "Creativity". We've fretted of the "Apocalypse" not once, but twice, with an FBI agent, a pollution tourist, an astrophysicist, a DIY fabricator, and more. We've covered human enhancement, exoplanets, the immune system, time, the "exciting" new machine age that's upon us, cognitive enhancement, the evolution of evolution, the question of free will, transformations in our food supply, and the hidden DNA of NYC... 

"Science, Exploration, Beer" is our mantra, and we seek to engage an adult audience of creators and science professionals by packaging hard sciences with human curiosities... and beer.

 

Posters

We invite designers and artists to create promotional posters for our events. Below are a few samples.

 
Neuroscientist and "Science Goest to the Movies" host Heather Berlin talks about "Free Will"

Neuroscientist and "Science Goest to the Movies" host Heather Berlin talks about "Free Will"

Recent speakers and topics

The Confidence Game —»
Writer Dr. Maria Konnikova, Campfire marketing men Mike Monello & Steve Coulson, Mentalist Vinny DePonto
Watch video from this event —»

The Hidden DNA of NYC —»
Researcher Rumi Chunara, Researcher Ebrahim Afshinnekoo, Architect Ian Quate

Food —»
Designer Ashley Marie Quinn, Journalist Drake P. Bennett, Entrepreneur & scientist Isha Datar
Watch video from this event —»

Free Will —»
Scientist and comedian Raj Sivaraman, Philosopher Justin Garson, Neuroscientist and TV show host Heather Berlin