Roundtable

03/03/2026

It’s hard to imagine New York City without Robert Moses.

He built parks, parkways, beaches, and public housing at an unprecedented scale — and reshaped the city in ways we’re still debating today.

Roundtable, the online classroom of 92nd Street Y, takes a critical look at Moses’ complex legacy in an 8-session class led by Cornell University urban historian Thomas J. Campanella. Moving beyond myth (and even Robert Caro’s 'The Power Broker'), we’ll examine the full arc of his 50-year career. The heroic and the destructive alike.

How should we judge a figure who both built and dismantled so much of modern New York?

Grateful to partner with NYC creator Urbanist Ariel for helping bring this important conversation to a wider audience through his video feature.

If you care about cities, power, and the making of the modern metropolis, join us: https://tr.ee/lHXBHJ

02/23/2026

Unlock more with Roundtable Membership.

✨ 30% off all live classes
🎟 Early access to special events
📚 Unlimited access to hundreds of on-demand classes

Join a vibrant community of curious, lifelong learners — and make every class count.

Learn more at roundtable.org/membership

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02/11/2026

The year 1776 wasn’t just pivotal for America — it was pivotal worldwide.

While the Declaration of Independence reshaped the American colonies, the rest of the world was hardly standing still. France edged closer to revolution. The Ottoman Empire confronted mounting strain. Qing China and Tokugawa Japan navigated internal pressures and shifting global dynamics. Britain’s industrial transformation accelerated. Across continents, Enlightenment ideas, imperial ambition, trade, and political change were already redefining power.

In this five-part online history series, we examine 1776 as a single year in global time — asking what was happening around the world at that precise moment, and how those simultaneous developments shaped the modern age.

Register at roundtable.org or follow the link in our bio.

Online classes
American history
Continued learning

02/09/2026

From the Revolutionary War to the present day, American identity has defined itself in song through the voices of protest — anti-war anthems, songs against injustice, chants against authority. In fact, one might argue that there is no American identity without song, and no American song without protest.

In this class, Timothy Hampton, Professor of Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley, will explore this rich tradition, from early American anti-war songs through Civil War ballads, to the rich vein of modern protest song, from Woody Guthrie, to Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Marvin Gaye, Ani di Franco and Neil Young.

Register now: https://roundtable.org/live-courses/music/this-land-is-our-land-the-american-tradition-of-protest-music
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This class is part of America at 250, Roundtable’s year-long series exploring the history and identity of an evolving nation.

01/29/2026

In a moment of global uncertainty, understanding Iran’s trajectory matters far beyond the Middle East.

Happening today, Roundtable is hosting a live online conversation with Robin Wright — a longtime foreign correspondent and one of the most trusted voices on Iranian politics and U.S. foreign policy.

This timely discussion will explore:
• What internal pressures mean for Iran’s political future
• How recent developments affect regional stability
• Why Iran remains central to global security conversations
Designed for an engaged, non-specialist audience, this session offers clear, historically grounded insight — not punditry.

Live online | 1/26, 7pm
Register here: https://roundtable.org/live-courses/politics/iran-in-crisis-a-conversation-with-robin-wright

In recent months, widespread unrest and protests have erupted in Iran, fueled by long-simmering tensions over inflation, currency collapse, and shortages of basic necessities. The Islamic Republic has responded with mass arrests, deadly force, and information control, amid growing calls for politica...

01/16/2026

What’s happening in Iran—and what comes next?

Join Robin Wright, prize-winning journalist, The New Yorker columnist, and longtime Middle East correspondent, for an urgent live conversation unpacking the current crisis in Iran. With decades of on-the-ground reporting and deep historical perspective, Wright will help make sense of a rapidly shifting moment—and answer your questions in real time.

A must-attend discussion for anyone following global politics, foreign policy, and the future of the Middle East.

Iran in Crisis: A Conversation with Robin Wright
Thu, 1/29, 7pm
Join the conversation:

Join Robin Wright, leading Middle East expert and New Yorker columnist, for an urgent live conversation on the unfolding crisis in Iran. After brief opening remarks, Wright will take your questions.

01/08/2026

Just announced! Literary expert Stephanie Rabinowitz returns this January for two dynamic online classes exploring American and Global literature:

Best of World Literature — Winter 2026 | Explore the work of authors from around the globe and discover the world in which they write: Stefan Zweig, Patrick deWitt, Zadie Smith, Halldór Laxness, and George Eliot. Register now: https://tr.ee/C0DA2B

Great American Fiction — Winter 2026 | Read and discuss some of the best American novels ever written: works from James Weldon Johnson, Willa Cather, James McBride, Ann Patchett, and E.L. Doctorow. https://tr.ee/LhyGfy

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Photo: Zadie Smith. Portrait by Inez and Vinoodh.

11/10/2025

Manet, Morisot, and the Making of Modern Art
Use code MANET100 to audit this class for FREE:

Join curator Emily Beeny to explore the friendship and artistic exchange between Edouard Manet and Berthe Morisot: the "father" of modern painting and the pioneering female Impressionist.

Learn how their relationship as colleagues and friends, painter and model, collectors of each other’s work and, ultimately members of the same family, had a determining effect on the course of modern art.

Register for free with MANET100:
https://roundtable.org/live-courses/arts/manet-morisot-and-the-making-of-modern-art?utm_source=facebookgroup&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=manet

11/04/2025

Translation is never just about words.

Every act of translation asks: What is the writer really saying? And just as importantly, how can that truth survive in another language?

Acclaimed translator Damion Searls has spent his career exploring those questions — across languages, genres, and centuries. In his new Roundtable class, drawn from his book "The Philosophy of Translation" (Yale University Press, 2024), he shares the art and practice behind “reading like a translator.”

Searls, who has translated Nietzsche, Proust, Rilke, and Nobel laureate Jon Fosse, will unpack what translation can teach us about language itself — and what it means to think, write, and read across boundaries.

Whether you’re a translator, editor, writer, or reader fascinated by how meaning moves through words, this class is a rare opportunity to learn from one of the field’s most thoughtful practitioners.

Class starts Mon, 12/1 | Online
Learn more and join the conversation at roundtable.org: https://roundtable.org/live-courses/literature/damion-searls-on-the-philosophy-of-translation

Acclaimed translator Damion Searls discusses the approach to translation he lays out in his book The Philosophy of Translation (Yale University Press, 2024), with detailed, specific examples from his wide-ranging work translating nonfiction as well as fiction and poetry from several different Europe...

10/21/2025

In the history of literature, few authors have demanded as much from their readers as Nabokov — or rewarded the careful reader so profoundly. For him, reading was never passive: it was a puzzle, a collaboration.

Join leading Nabokov scholar Tatyana Gershkovich for a course exploring 'The Gift' and its inquiry into the creative nature of reading.

🎁 Use code THEGIFT50 for 50% off class registration.

Nabokov’s The Gift: How to Read Like a Writer
Thu, 10/30-11/20 | Online
Register now:

In the history of literature, few authors have demanded as much from their readers as Nabokov — or rewarded the careful reader so profoundly. For him, reading was never passive: it was a puzzle, a collaboration. Join leading Nabokov scholar Tatyana Gershkovich for a course exploring The Gift and i...