This week asks us to look up, look down and look back.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5
THE ROLE OF THE CRITIC: PARUL SEHGAL
Noon–1 p.m. | Humanities Quadrangle | Free
New York Times critic-at-large Parul Sehgal talks with Joanna Biggs about the importance of the critic in today’s media landscape.
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: ADAM VOITH
6–8:30 p.m. | Best Video, Hamden | Free
Music-industry veteran Adam Voith reads from his debut novel, Recommended If You Like, joined by writers Emily Costa and Chelsea Dodds. Doors open at 6; the program begins at 6:45.
THE DIVE OF A LIFETIME
6–7:15 p.m. | Burke Auditorium, Yale School of the Environment | Free with registration
Oceanographer and Esri chief scientist Dawn Wright recounts her historic descent to Challenger Deep, the deepest known point on Earth, and what science can reveal about the planet.
AN EVENING WITH DAVID SEDARIS
7:30 p.m. | Shubert Theatre | Ticketed
David Sedaris returns with new and unpublished stories and observations, followed by one of his characteristically generous book signings.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6
2026 CT FOOD BUSINESS LAB
9 a.m.–6 p.m. | SCSU School of Business | Free
CitySeed and the Hispanic Federation bring food entrepreneurs together for workshops, advice, capital conversations and networking.
CHORAL EVENSONG WITH YALE CONSORT
5:30–6:30 p.m. | Trinity Church on the Green | Free
Yale Consort performs music by Imogen Holst, Dyson and Harris.
SHORELINE JAZZ QUINTET: THE MUSIC OF THELONIOUS MONK
6:30–7:30 p.m. | Thornton Wilder Hall, Hamden | Free
The Shoreline Jazz Quintet returns to Thelonious Monk four years after its first tribute. Arrangements feature saxophone, vibraphone, guitar, bass and drums.
AKROPOLIS REED QUINTET
7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall | Ticketed
The Grammy-winning Akropolis Reed Quintet brings its unusual combination of oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bass clarinet and bassoon to Yale’s Oneppo Chamber Music Series.
KRS-ONE
9 p.m. | Toad’s Place | $35 advance / $40 day-of | All ages
Acclaimed hip-hop original KRS-One headlines with FROZE.40 and Suave Ski, with beats by Hot 93.7’s DJ Buck.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7
THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
Noon–1:30 p.m. | Yale Schwarzman Center | Free with registration
Literary agent Sara Crowe pulls back the curtain on finding an agent, publishing trends and what actually happens between an author’s manuscript and a finished book.
THE OLD SONG AND DANCE
4:30–6:30 p.m. | Beinecke Library | Free
Yale Collegium Musicum explores the historical relationship between song and dance, joined by Renaissance wind band Piffaro; a lecture at 4:30 precedes the performance.
JOY HARJO READING
5 p.m. | Linsly-Chittenden Hall, Room 101 | Free
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, a member of the Muscogee Nation and winner of Yale’s Bollingen Prize, reads as part of the Schlesinger Reading Series.
SILENT SIGNATURES: CHISELED IN STONE
6:30–7:30 p.m. | Seymour Public Library | Free
Historian John Cilio investigates the mostly anonymous craftsmen who carved early New England tombstones.
FJORD — ADVANCE SCREENING
6:30–9 p.m. | Humanities Quadrangle | Free; 18+
Yale screens Cristian Mungiu’s new Cannes Palme d’Or winner Fjord, starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, before it gets wider release.
COMMUNITY CEREMONY COMMEMORATING OCTOBER 7
7–9 p.m. | Slifka Center, 80 Wall St.
The Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale gathers for a ceremony commemorating the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage—the largest single-day loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. Attendees are invited to remain afterward to share memories.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8
JEWISH WOMEN / JEWISH BOOKS
3:30–5 p.m. | Beinecke Library | Free; timed registration recommended
Beinecke librarians bring rare books, manuscripts and ephemera from Yale’s Judaica collections out for a one-afternoon pop-up exhibition.
SMALL TOWN UNIVERSE + DIRECTOR Q&A
3:30–6 p.m. | Humanities Quadrangle | Free
Small Town Universe visits Green Bank, West Virginia, where one of the world’s most powerful radio telescopes has helped create a community without ordinary Wi-Fi or cell service. Director Katie Dellamaggiore takes questions afterward.
EAST OF EDEN SCREENING
4:15–6:30 p.m. | Humanities Quadrangle | Free
Yale previews the first episode and additional clips from Zoe Kazan’s new Netflix limited-series adaptation East of Eden, followed by a conversation with Kazan and Steinbeck scholar Karin Roffman. In case you were wondering, yes, Zoe's grandfather, Elia, directed the original starring James Dean.
CT STUDENT ART: OPENING + ARTIST TALK
5–7 p.m. | Lotta Studio, 903 Whalley Ave. | Free
Open Studios week continues with a Connecticut student-art exhibition and talk by student artist Maya McDougald, in a show designed to be approachable for young children.
TWITCHING AT THE YALE CENTER FOR BRITISH ART
7–9 p.m. | Whitney Center Cultural Arts Center, Hamden | Free
New Haven Bird Club’s Mark Aronson traces the strange overlap between birdwatching, natural history, collecting and British art.
THE MIDNIGHT: TIME MACHINES TOUR
8 p.m. | College Street Music Hall | $49+ | All ages
Synthwave duo The Midnight bring their neon-lit blend of electronic pop, saxophone and ’80s nostalgia to College Street, with Jessie Frye opening.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9
SARAH SZE: IMAGES IN TRANSLATION
10 a.m.–5 p.m. | Yale University Art Gallery | Free
Opening today, Images in Translation brings new paintings by Sarah Sze together with an earlier room-size sculpture to “challenge the static nature of painting and sculpture by blending these art forms while incorporating aspects of other media, particularly photography, printmaking, video, and installation.”
YALE’S ORIGINAL 1701 CHARTER
Noon–5 p.m. | Beinecke Library | Free
Exactly 325 years after Connecticut approved the legislation creating the Collegiate School that became Yale, the original charter goes on temporary display at the Beinecke.
GROUNDED: WÁBI GALLERY GRAND OPENING
5–9 p.m. | Wábi Gallery, 126 Court St. G2 | Free
A new downtown gallery opens with Grounded, curated by Moshopefoluwa Olagunju and featuring Nona Faustine, Inkpa Mani and Yves François Wilson.
ELI WHITNEY MUSEUM TURNS 50
6–9:30 p.m. | Eli Whitney Museum & Workshop | $50+
The Eli Whitney Museum & Workshop celebrates 50 years by returning to the barn where it began for an evening of food, drinks, music and stories.
HAUNTED TROLLEY: IN SEARCH OF SASQUATCH
6, 7, 8 & 9 p.m. | Shore Line Trolley Museum, East Haven | $29 advance
Forty riders at a time board an antique trolley for an interactive Bigfoot hunt mixing theater, mystery, audience participation and comedy.
YALE FILM ARCHIVE DOUBLE FEATURE
7 & 9:05 p.m. | Humanities Quadrangle | Free
Yale Film Archive goes back-to-back with two Sundance-born neo-noirs, both screened from 35mm prints: Bryan Singer’s twisty crime classic The Usual Suspects at 7, followed at 9:05 by Rian Johnson’s high-school detective debut Brick.
CABARET
8 p.m. | Lyman Center, SCSU | $25 general; student and senior discounts; ages 12 and under free
Southern’s Crescent Players stage the Kander-and-Ebb musical during Homecoming Weekend. Performances continue Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 3.
THERE’S A YEARNIN’: MUSIC FOR WINDS AND VOICE
8:30 & 10 p.m. | Firehouse 12 | Ticketed
Clarinetist Jeff Lederer, vocalist Mary LaRose and the Wildebeest Wind Quintet unearth rarely heard wind music by Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy and Oliver Nelson—including a previously unheard Dolphy woodwind sextet discovered in the Library of Congress.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10
SCSU PLANETARIUM: EXOPLANETS
11 a.m. & 1 p.m. | Morrill Hall, SCSU | Free
Southern lights up its new digital planetarium projector for two 30-minute full-dome shows exploring far-away planets—and the possibility of life on them.
MARSH BOTANICAL GARDEN OPEN HOUSE & TOUR
Noon–2 p.m.; guided tour at 1 | 265 Mansfield St. | Free
Peek inside Yale’s greenhouses, home to more than 2,000 plant species.
¡FIESTA LATINA!
Noon–5 p.m. | JUNTA for Progressive Action, 169 Grand Ave. | Free
The annual celebration fills Fair Haven with live salsa, cumbia and merengue, food vendors, artists, children’s activities and more.
GUILFORD OKTOBERFEST
Noon–7 p.m. | Martin-Bishop Field, Guilford | $20 adults 21+ / $5 ages 15–20 / under 15 free
Edelweiss Lodge’s fundraiser for Guilford VFW Post 7666 features strolling accordionist Richard Cartier from noon–2 and The Austrian Boys from 2–7, plus Schuhplattler dancing by H.S.V. Bavaria, stein-holding, Nageln, traditional dress contests and East Rock beer.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11
BEACH MARKET & CAR SHOW
10 a.m.–3 p.m. | Devon Rotary Pavilion at Walnut Beach, Milford | Free to attend
The Walnut Beach Association combines a neighborhood tag-sale market and artisan vendors with classic and modern cars, food trucks and a live DJ. The rain date is October 18.
Written by Daily Nutmeg Staff.
