Welcome to our new conversation series, inspired by Boccaccio’s collection of tales, in which friends share stories as they wait for an epidemic to pass.

EPISODE 5:

Shakespeare in Utopia

Following the cancellation of Shakespeare in the Park, Oskar Eustis talks about a utopian story in one of Shakespeare's plays. A practical guide to what a vision of the future can do—and what it can’t.

EPISODE 4:

Lorraine Hansberry at the End of the World

Can a new society arise from a cataclysm? Does humanity deserve a second chance? Chicago author and journalist Natalie Moore and a virtual audience explore utopia, dystopia, and the radical imagination while discussing the great Chicago dramatist’s play, What Use Are Flowers?.

Episode 3:

The Tortoise, the Hare, and Will Leitch

To tide us over until baseball returns, sportswriter Will Leitch breaks down the most famous athletic competition of all time, and a lively virtual audience debates its moral today.

Episode 2:

Chicken Little

The sky may or may not be falling, but the story that popularized that phrase is everywhere. Stephanie Ybarra and a fascinating group of people from all over the country gather to talk about the tale of the moment.

Episode 1:

Zen in Seattle

Martin Edlund, a global health leader and Seattleite, interprets the Zen fable about the tiger and the strawberry, and what happens when the crisis hits home.