Upcoming Events

Sip Salon: Monsters We Make - Why We Fear What We Create

October 21, 6:30-8:30 PM

Nocterra Brewing Audubon

This month, we tell stories about dragons, goblins, ghosts, and witches—but why? In his essay “Why We Invented Monsters,” Paul Trout argues that our minds, shaped through millions of years of vulnerability, carry deep-seated fears of being prey. He suggests these primal anxieties were filtered through imagination, memory, mythmaking—leading humans to invent monsters that embody both danger and desire.

In this salon, we will:

• Explore how ancient human experience (as prey species) may have coded fear into our imaginations, giving rise to monster myths across cultures.

• Discuss how monsters function as symbolic warning signs—the “monster” doesn't just terrify us; it shows us what we dread most.

• Consider connections between monster myth and the lingering fascination with witches, specters, and other “othered” figures.

• Ask: when we imagine monsters today—on screen, in stories, in politics—what are they showing us about our fears, desires, and who we see as monstrous?

• Come prepared with your own favorite mythical creatures to share with the group. Whether is it's the classic vampire or a local legend, we look forward to scaring and learning about these together!

Join us for a conversation that bridges mythology, psychology, culture, and power. With drinks, curiosity, and room for speculation.

Bottled Up - Past, Present, & Future of Recycling in America

October 8, 7:00-9:00 PM

Oddfellows Liquor Bar

We will explore how the recycling systems in America are broken. Many of us struggle to think about what to do with our waste. Focusing on beverage containers, we'll take a deep dive into the past as we think about future solutions to our growing waste problems. Along the way we'll learn the history of Coca-Cola and what that companies past can teach us about creating a more eco-conscious economy in the future.

Speaker Bio: Bart Elmore is professor of environmental history and core faculty member of the Sustainability Institute at Ohio State University. He is an award-winning author of three books, Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism (W. W. Norton, 2014), Seed Money: Monsanto's Past and Our Food Future (W. W. Norton, 2021), and Country Capitalism: How Corporations from the American South Remade Our Economy and the Planet (Ferris & Ferris, 2023). In 2022, he was honored with the Dan David Prize, the world's largest history prize.

Witch, Please: Why the Witch Won't Leave Us Alone

October 27, 7:00-9:00 PM

Seventh Son Brewing

Why does the witch still cast such a long shadow? This talk explores how the figure of the witch continues to haunt our collective imagination—from pop culture icons to political metaphors and Instagram aesthetics. Building on foundational ghost work, our speaker dives into the witch as a spectral presence: a symbol of fear, freedom, rebellion, and otherness. What does our fascination with witches reveal about our anxieties, our desires, and the stories we tell about power? Come trace the crooked path of the witch through history, culture, and the present moment—and uncover why we just can't seem to let her go.

Speaker Bio: Nikki Kendra Davis is a multidisciplinary theatre artist, performance studies scholar, and haunted historian who holds a Master’s degree in Performance Studies from New York University. She is the creator of Theatre of the Ghostly Feminine, a feminist, political, history-adjacent performance praxis for reckoning with ghosts. She has led workshops at universities and theaters in Ohio, Kentucky, and New York, and has presented her ghost work at international academic conferences in the US and the UK. Davis lives in Columbus, OH where she has worked as an actor, playwright, director, and dramaturg since 2016.

Sip Salon: Bananas to Beer: Fermentation, Microbes, and Origins of Drinking

November 12, 6:30-8:30 PM

Nocterra Brewing Audubon

This month - From Bananas to Beer: Fermentation, Microbes, and the Origins of Drinking

Why do humans drink—and when did it all begin? Long before the first brewery, primates were sniffing out ripe, fermented fruit for a calorie boost. The “drunken monkey hypothesis” suggests that our attraction to alcohol may be millions of years old, rooted in the biology of survival. But fermentation is more than just booze: it’s one of humanity’s oldest technologies, shaping everything from our diets and health to our cultures and communities.

In this Siposium Salon, we’ll trace the surprising role of microbes in human evolution, explore how fermentation changed what we eat and who we are, and consider what it means for our diets today and in the future. From wild chimps sipping fermented fruit to the sourdough starter in your kitchen, microbes have always been at the table. Come ready to rethink your relationship with food, drink, and the unseen microbial world that makes it all possible.

The Siposium: You Are What You Eat -Diet, Evolution, Primate Connection

November 19, 7:00-9:00 PM

Columbus Brewing Company Beer Hall

This event is doubling as a fundraiser for For The Love of Primates and all proceeds will go towards the organization. So come learn, drink, and help a good cause!

Event Description:

From fruit-loving monkeys to hominins navigating shifting food landscapes, diet has always been one of the great engines of evolution. In this talk, we’ll trace the history of what primates—and eventually, modern humans—have eaten and why it mattered. How did different diets shape our biology, our behavior, and even the trillions of microbes living in our guts? What can the diets of modern primates tell us about our ancestors—and ourselves?

We’ll explore major dietary shifts across primate evolution, the hidden role of the microbiome, and the surprising ways food has shaped who we are today. Come ready to rethink your dinner plate in light of millions of years of evolutionary history—and discover how what we eat connects us to our primate cousins.

Speaker Bios:

Dr. Tessa Wilde (the Founder and Executive Director of For the Love of Primates) is a primatologist with a BA in Zoology, an MSc in Primate Conservation, and a PhD in Anthropology (Primatology). Her doctoral research explored the primate microbiome and how it shapes both biology and behavior.

Madee Green (the Board President of For the Love of Primates) is a human evolutionary biologist with a BA in Anthropology, an MSc in Forensic Anthropology, and is currently completing her PhD in Anthropology. Her research focuses on human evolution and biological adaptations.

Together, Tessa and Madee bring a unique perspective—linking primate biology, human evolution, and modern conservation—to highlight how the story of diet is really the story of us all.