What role do questioning voices play in public life, and why do societies so often resist them? Join us for this facilitated, participatory discussion that invites everyone to read a short excerpt closely, think out loud, and listen to one another.
The text will be read together during the program, and provided in advance. Guidelines for the conversation are below. This event, offered in collaboration with Humanities New York (HNY), is inspired by our 7 Stories Up program Exploring the Lives and Legacies of Literary Innovators with Gayle Feldman & Adam Morgan.
About the Program
This Community Conversation takes its cue from a short, sharp excerpt from Plato’s Apology, which recounts the trial of Socrates in ancient Athens. Defending himself before a jury of fellow citizens, Socrates famously likens himself to a “gadfly”: a small but persistent presence that irritates the city into paying attention. Rather than seeking power or public office, he makes the case for questioning—pressing on truth, justice, and moral responsibility—as a necessary part of civic life.
Together, participants will explore how fear—especially the fear of speaking openly—shapes citizenship and encourages silence or self-censorship. Along the way, we’ll consider what it means to challenge accepted ideas, what happens when challenging accepted ideas collides with authority or social comfort, and how Socrates’ example still resonates in moments when moral judgment feels fraught.
Conversation Guidelines
This conversation is a library program of adults gathered to read, listen, and reflect on a piece of literature.
Participants share a common appreciation for art, literature, and civic dialogue.
They agree to speak and listen. No one or few participants will dominate the conversation.
Like the writers in our texts and songs, participants will imagine different perspectives, including how their words might sound if spoken from another’s position.
Learning can’t happen without risk. Participants will give grace to ideas shared in “rough draft” for the whole group’s benefit.
In this series, selected texts help us practice talking together about important topics that concern all of us, as co-citizens.
We can’t renew our democracy in a single program. But we can strengthen our capacities to have hopeful, ethical, aspirational conversations that lay, grounded in the conviction that people can change, and that such change matters.