Where do our libraries come from? Beginning at the turn of the last century, there was a building boom across the nation, thanks to the deep pockets of philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. In Denver alone, nine Carnegie libraries were built early in the twentieth century -- five of which still operate as public book-lenders. But that's just a snippet of local library lore. For a deeper chunk of the narrative, you need to turn to "Dr. Colorado" Tom Noel, the beloved arbiter of Colorado state history, who always seems to have the inside story.

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​Slither up to Boulder tonight to hear herpetologist Robert Jadin lecture on "Venomous Snakes," including a new breed of pit-viper snakes belonging to the genus crotalus. "Many different biodiversities exist and have yet to be discovered," he says. Earth has just as much to be discovered on the surface as in the ocean."

Jadin has always been interested in snakes, and says he has no fear of them. But he confesses to being afraid of large felines and mammals, having encountered a growling jaguar during his studies in Peru.

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​The University of Colorado Denver is firing up its College of Arts & Media this week by bringing in iron sculptor and performance artist Matt Toole for a lecture tonight and live pour tomorrow.

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Klosterman.

​Things that intrigue me are my job. If something is problematic or beautiful, it is my job to discover why and write about it," author Chuck Klosterman told a crowd Tuesday at the Auraria campus, home to three colleges.

"Now I get to come and speak at colleges like this, and sometimes I even wonder why all of you are listening to me. It seems dreamlike. I have been in a twelve-year-long dream."

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Dr. Allen Lim pedals around the stage at last year's inaugural event.

​In January, the Denver branch of the national TED think tank staged its first-ever salon (and second-ever event). The evening's three hours of discussions and performances featured seven area personalities sharing their Ideas Worth Spreading -- with a couple even marking return performances with progress updates. The low-key evening, styled after an eighteenth century salon, was limited to a maximum audience of 300 people at RedLine Gallery, compared to the 1,800 who flocked to the Ellie Caulkins Opera House last year for the full-day TEDx conference.

But if you missed basking in all the Colorado inspiration, there's time to catch up between now and the next big event in June. All of this year's salon presentations are now available on YouTube -- and below the jump.

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​Wonder what's going to happen on December 21? Ed Barnhart, director of the esteemed Maya Exploration Center, has been studying the Mayans since long before 2012 conspiracy theorists dreamed up this whole end-of-the-world thing, and he'll be lecturing on "Misunderstanding the Maya: 2012 and Why You Shouldn't Worry" at the Denver Art Museum on Sunday, February 19, at 2:30 p.m.

We recently caught up with him to ask why he doesn't think we should worry, what might happen on December 21 and more:

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Wikimedia Commons

​"Think of it as American Idol meets Bill Nye the Science Guy," says David Grinspoon, astrobiology curator of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. This is his best description of FameLab, an international competition for young scientists that has made its way across the pond for the first time ever; Denver was one of only three cities that was asked to host. Tonight, FameLab will challenge beginning career scientists to communicate their passions to an audience of laypeople. Only one winner will move on.

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Courtesy of TEDx Mile High

Dr. Allen Lim at last year's inaugural event.

​Every TEDx event is many things, and all of them are happening at once. A cross between a theater and a lecture hall, the discussion series follows a creative combination of performance and insight, becoming a circus for the mind. And tonight, local chapter TEDx Mile High will reinvision an abridged version: Introducing the TEDx Mile High Salon.

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​In the video documentary Flashing on the Sixties, by Lisa Law (, whose photographs are on view through February at the Byers-Evans House Museum), it's noted that even in the early alternative hippie world of communes and cohabitation, women still did the traditional "woman's work" -- they cooked and watched after the children, while the men did the hard labor and drove the wildly painted buses.

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​David Sedaris is a tiny man with a huge life. Truly, the man is pretty darn small, and though his voice sounds like that of a timid librarian, it packs a biting combination of charm and painful humor that's strong enough to ring through even the spaciousness of the Paramount.

Last night's lecture by the frequent New Yorker and NPR contributor found him reading from previously published nonfiction and his equally hilarious diary with a pace that paused just for laughter -- and then only to prevent some sort of rupture. In honor of his wry and refined sense of humor, Show and Tell collected ten of his funniest lines. (If it's even possible, they might be funnier without their original context -- or at least weirder.)

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