Chris Stedman's book IRL: Finding Realness, Meaning, and Belonging in Our Digital Lives is a captivating exploration of identity in the digital age. Interrogating the conventional distinctions between real and fake, online and offline, Stedman asks whether virtual spaces might offer new sites of experimentation and play and satisfy our longing for meaning and community. He explores a similar set of questions in his recent podcast series "Unread" (named one of the best podcasts of 2021 by Vulture), which revisits a friend's death and the cryptic digital breadcrumb trail that emerged in the aftermath. Stedman will be in conversation with the writer Meghan O'Gieblyn (author of God, Human, Animal, Machine) to discuss what it means to be authentic at a moment of virtual immersion and how digital technologies are both changing and affirming longstanding ideas about what it means to be human. Join us in person for this event on October 15, 2022 at 7:00pm.