Author Reading w/ Jessica Elefante - CANCELLED

Join this exciting debut author as she discusses what shapes us, how modern life affects us, and how to regain our free will in a culture rife with manipulation, persuasion, and behavior modification. 

A high-spirited exploration through the troublesome influences of our world, Raising Hell, Living Well, Jessica Elefante’s eye-opening debut, follows one bullshit artist’s journey, from small-time salesperson to award-winning corporate strategist to founder of the digital wellbeing movement Folk Rebellion, in coming to terms with how she was wielding influence—and the forces she was under herself.  

With whip-smart writing and wry humor, Elefante’s collection of essays is a head-trip through her misadventures. From explaining productivity as a symptom of the influence of capitalism to how the wellness industry makes us feel more unwell or our unquestioning participation in oversharing, optimization, and instant 

gratification, she invites us to reexamine our world, our pasts, and ourselves through the lens of influence. Now a reformed brand strategist, Elefante lays bare her own culpability, sharing what she learned—and what she got wrong. She offers a new take on intentional living and provides a simple practice to deconstruct how the powers-that-be are attempting to modify our behaviors. Before you know it, you’ll be questioning everything from how you take your coffee to how our social institutions are structured. And you’ll learn how to live free from the influences around us—including Elefante herself. 

Jessica Elefante is a writer and the author of Raising Hell, Living Well: Freedom From Influence in a World Where Everyone Wants Something From You (including me) (2023). She has spent the last few decades examining what it means to be human in our modern world and her writing works to shine a light on the untenability of our times. She's also the creator of acclaimed Folk Rebellion and as a critic of today’s culture, Elefante’s award-winning talks, films, and work have been featured by Vogue, the Los Angeles Times, The Observer, Paper magazine, Wired, and elsewhere and her essays have appeared in The Guardian, the Huffington Post and more. In her previous life as a brand strategist, she was recognized as one of Brand Innovators’ 40 Under 40 and has been a guest lecturer at Columbia Business School and New York University. She lives in Brooklyn with her family. 

6PM   |   FREE