The Poetry Project held a reading on a recent humid Wednesday evening at St. Mark's Church in the East Village featuring the contemporary poets Matvei Yankelevich and Robert Fitterman. Both poets are somewhat topical in their subject matter.  Yankelevich balances idealism with irony in the treatment of his hip themes, while Fitterman favors humor with a hint of self-deprecation.

The room was packed. 

Use the player above to listen to the entire event.

David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker magazine, engaged in a candid and casual conversation about his new book, "The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama," at Barnes & Noble, Union Square on April 28. After a brief history of why he chose to write a book on Obama, a figure who has been extensively covered, Remnick answered questions from the audience.

Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses are routinely pitted against each other--or at least their philosophies are--in conversations regarding street life and car and highway culture in New York City.   Earlier this spring, the Museum of the City of New York hosted a panel discussion on the two big thinkers called "Robert Moses, Jane Jacobs and the Automobile." The auditorium was packed, and the conversation lively, as discussions on these contentious subjects often are.

Ian Buruma, author of Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents, sat with Columbia University professor Andrew Delbanco during the Pen World Voices Festival. The two intellectuals met head-to-head at  powerHouse Arena in Dumbo, Brooklyn and hashed out some of the most important and highly controversial topics in modern discourse both in America and Europe: religion, freedom, immigration and democracy.

Stream and download the entire conversation here.

StoryCorps founder and award-winning public radio producer David Isay presented real-life stories about moms at the Tenement Museum. Listen to the full event here.

For the PEN festival, Francine Prose, Ernie Colón and Sid Jacobson discussed Anne Frank's diary, its impact on literature, history and society.

Shirley Hazzard spoke with fellow author Richard Ford about writing, poetry and much more for the PEN World Voice Festival. Listen to their conversation here.

Colm Tóibín, Roxana Robinson, Darryl Pinckney and Quim Monzó discuss New York's effect on writers for the PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature. Stream and download audio from the panel event here.

In his first appearance in the U.S. since the Bush Administration revoked his visa six years ago, Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan joined a panel discussion about "Secularism, Islam, & Democracy." Listen to the full conversation here.

When poet Philip Schultz was preparing for a literary conference in Ireland a year ago, he turned to the works of Irish writer Colm Tóibín. Little did he know they would be flying to Ireland on the same plane, and that he'd be face-to-face with the author in the same cab. They reunited on Friday night at Le Poisson Rouge.

Year-end lists are not just about remembering the best. Where there's the good, there's always the bad. Here are some "worst of the worst" lists that remind us of what we loved to hate in 2009.

Best-of lists for 2009 and all of the "aughts" have been coming in for weeks. To make things a little easier, we've decided to make a list of the lists. Our criteria:  quirky. We surely haven't found them all...so chime in with yours!