Join author David A. Banks for a discussion of and reception for his new book The City Authentic: How the Attention Economy Builds Urban America. After a presentation and Q+A, we’ll enjoy cocktails on the lawn of SCHS.

This is the first book to explain how and why cities borrow the tactics and strategies of reality tv stars and social media influencers and why it works. Blending insightful analysis with pop culture, this engaging study of New York State’s Capital Region is an accessible glimpse into the social phenomena that influence contemporary cities. The rising economic fortunes of cities in the Rust Belt, Banks argues, are due in part to the markers of its previous decay—which translate into signs of urban authenticity on the internet. The City Authentic unpacks the odd connection between digital media and derelict buildings, the consequences of how we think about industry and place, and the political processes that have enabled a new paradigm in urban planning. Mixing urban sociology with media and cultural studies, Banks offers a lively account of how urban life and development are changing in the twenty-first century.

David A. Banks is Lecturer and Director of Globalization Studies at the University at Albany, a delegate to the Troy Area Labor Council, and author of many essays on technology, cities, and politics which have appeared in The Baffler, The Guardian, Dwell Magazine, and more.

$8, free for members. No advanced tickets.