Bonny Wolf, NPR commentator and author of the book "Talking With My Mouth Full"
@ National Harbor
Q:What's your favorite food TV show or host?
A:"I like 'Top Chef.' They're serious about food, and have personality."
WEDNESDAY: Today would be Arthur Conan Doyle's 150th birthday and, in celebration, the Smithsonian is hosting a lecture and performance in honor of his greatest literary creation — and fiction's finest sleuth — Sherlock Holmes. Mystery writer Daniel Stashower and actor Scott Sedar collaborate to bring you inside Doyle's world and into Holmes' adventures. Extra points if you wear a deerstalker hat.
» Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Drive SW; Wed., June 17, 6:45 p.m., $45; 202-633-3030. (Smithsonian)
Photo by Marshall S. Berdan
TUESDAY: So you want to see a Ben Affleck thriller, but you don't want to shell out $12 or put up with all that claptrap about the nobility of journalism that runs rampant in "State of Play"? We've got a solution: the Spy Museum is screening "Sum of All Fears" this evening.
Affleck plays a young CIA analyst blah blah race against time blah blah explosion. Real-life CIA analyst John Hedley will give an insider's view of the movie.
» International Spy Museum, 800 F St. NW; Tue., May 12, 6:30 p.m.,$7; 202-393-7798. (Gallery Place)
Photo courtesy Paramount Pictures
WEDNESDAY: Tony Horwitz makes history look easy. He teases out the anecdotes and storylines that catch your attention and get you to fall in love with his subject in a way your high school teacher with the droning voice and endless knowledge of dates never could.
Tonight, Horwitz will be speaking about his latest book, "A Voyage Long and Strange," which deals with the first European explorers in North America.
» Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Drive SW; Wed., May 6, 7 p.m., $25; 202-633-3030. (Smithsonian)
Photo by Susan Sterner
MONDAY: Art Spiegelman brought the comic book to maturity with his stunning, upsetting "Maus," which won him the Pulitzer Prize. He's gone on to pen funny, strange, fearless comics about his own childhood and 9/11, among other things.
He'll be speaking about the history and importance of comics — we predict he'll name check Pogo, Krazy Kat and Calvin and Hobbes — at the Corcoran tonight.
READ AN INTERVIEW with Art Spiegelman here.
» Corcoran Gallery of Art, 500 17th Street NW; Mon., May 4, 7 p.m., $25; 202-639-1700. (Farragut West)
Photo by Helayne Seidman/The Washington Post
MONDAY: Lyricist Sheldon Harnick is a representative of the golden age of Broadway.
He's the man who wrote lyrics for some of the most successful musicals in history — "Fiddler on the Roof," "Fiorello!" — and he'll be at the Kennedy Center on Monday to discuss his life's work and what's next for musical theater.
» Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW; Mon., April 20, 7 p.m., $18; 202-467-4600. (Foggy Bottom)
Photo courtesy Kennedy Center
THIS WEEKEND: If you're a foodie — and especially if you're a Food Network fan — then it might be worth it to you to devote your Saturday morning to learning about sustainable fare. The National Museum of Natural History has invited Alton Brown to moderate a discussion on sustainable seafood, which will be followed by a panel of D.C. chefs talking about cooking and eating locally.
So, skip brunch — yes, even the bacon — and come learn about how to eat an earth-friendly diet. Student tickets are only $25, which will be especially useful if your dorm has a kitchens.
» Museum of Natural History, 10th St. and Constitution Ave. NW; Sat., March 21, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m., $25-$75; 202-633-3030. (Smithsonian)
Photo courtesy Food Network
MONDAY: Ever wanted to be able to fight like James Bond? Well, maybe you don't have time to train nonstop for six months, but luckily you probably won't be fighting off villains quite as dastardly as his nemeses.
Nonetheless, you can learn the basics of stage combat tonight at the National Theatre, as part of their series of Monday events. Local fight choreographer and stunt double Robb Hunter will give a seminar on how to make fake fighting look real. At the very least, your kids could freak out their grandparents with their newfound (and harmless) violence.
» National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW; Mon., March 9, 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., free; 202-628-6161. (Metro Center)
MONDAY: Want to travel, but can't afford it? It's OK, nobody can right now. For the young person seeking a hip destination that will sound cool when you talk about it but won't be too dangerous or inconvenient, Prague is the holy grail. So what if you know nothing about it, other than that it's hipper than Paris and less chaotic than Mumbai? You can learn! That's what the Smithsonian is for!
Travel writer David Farley will be giving lecture on the history and magic of Prague, telling you all the anecdotes that will make you yearn to jet off to Eastern Europe, illustrated with mouth-wateringly gorgeous pictures of the city's architecture and monuments.
» National Museum of the American Indian, Rasmuson Theater, 4th St. and Independence Ave. SW; Mon., Feb. 23, 6:45 p.m., $40; 202-633-3030. (Smithsonian)
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images
WEDNESDAY: So you sort of like classical music, but you never really "got" it. It's pretty, right? But why do people go so ape over it? I doesn't make sense.
Wonder no more! Rob Kapilow, a noted composer and conductor, will deconstruct several romantic piano pieces for you and teach you just what makes them good. So not only do you get to hear some lovely Schumann, you'll get smarter in the process. BONUS!
» Freer Gallery Meyer Auditorium, 1200 Jefferson Drive SW; Wed., Feb. 18, 7 p.m, $25-$30; 202-633-3030. (Smithsonian)
Photo by Peter Schaaf
FRIDAY: If you're trying to woo an English major, take her to hear Marjorie Garber's lecture on Shakespeare and modernity. Garber's a Harvard professor and the author of several books on the Bard, so she's a worthy addition to this season's Folger lecture series.
Her book, "Shakespeare After All," is extraordinarily user-friendly considering the norms of academe, so if you're worried about looking stupid, you can browse through it in the bookstore and pick up some facts before you attend.
» Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St. SE; Fri., Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m., $12; 202-675-0344. (Capitol South)
Photo courtesy Harvard University
Addison Road