New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu


Step Inside Your Mind in Amanda Montell's Ocean County Library Virtual Author Talk

originally published: 01/02/2025

Photo by Kaitlyn Mikayla

(TOMS RIVER, NJ) -- Author-podcaster Amanda Montell's acute, wry perception of humanity's fine points and foibles has ever-growing audiences of listeners and readers clamoring for more. If the world at large is making ever-decreasing sense to you, join the New York Times bestselling writer for her Ocean County Library Virtual Author Talk on Thursday, January 23, 2025. The event begins at 2:00pm.

The Age of Magical Thinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality, available in print, audiobook and digital versions at the Ocean County Library, probes the upsides and downsides of the human mind’s cognitive biases. She builds on her premise of “magical thinking,” the belief that one’s inner thoughts can create positive impacts on the external world, suggesting that in the revved-up information age our brains are oversaturated, and irrationality has shifted into overdrive.

With empathy and hope, keen observations and cunning wit, Amanda explores the exaltation of celebrities through the “halo effect,” how the “sunk cost fallacy” detours failed relationships from their end points, and many more unexpected outgrowths of our reasoning processes.

The Californian’s previous works, Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism and Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language, are also available at OCL. Amanda’s work has won plaudits from NPR and publications including The Atlantic, Kirkus Reviews and The Economist. Her podcast Sounds Like a Cult has earned awards from iHeart Radio, Marie Claire, Vulture and Esquire.

Please register at https://libraryc.org/theoceancountylibrary to attend this free program, to view the upcoming schedule, and to view previous talks. Registrants will receive links to the program by email and may submit questions for the author during signup.




Promote your shows at New Jersey Stage! Click here for info



OCL turns 100 this year and you’re why they’re celebrating! See details on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Spotify, Pinterest and https://theoceancountylibrary.org.

FEATURED EVENTS

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Theresa

Theresa Caputo Live: The Experience

Thursday, February 20, 2025 @ 7:30pm
State Theatre New Jersey
15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
category: community


 

Miss

Miss Grand New Jersey

Sunday, February 23, 2025 @ 5:00pm
Hamilton Stage at Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC)
360 Hamilton Avenue, Rahway, NJ 07065
category: community


 

Artrageous

Artrageous 2025 - Sensory-Friendly Theater

Sunday, February 23, 2025 @ 2:00pm
Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC) - Main Stage
1601 Irving Street, Rahway, NJ 07065
category: community


 

Stories

Stories of a Lifetime Workshop for Union County Seniors – UCPAC Legacy Arts Club

Monday, February 24, 2025 @ 5:00pm
Hamilton Stage at Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC)
360 Hamilton Avenue, Rahway, NJ 07065
category: community


 

Illusionist

Illusionist Rick Thomas - Mansion of Dreams

Friday, February 28, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC)
30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood, NJ 07631
category: community


 



Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info





 

EVENT PREVIEWS

One

One Family's Post-Enslavement Legacy: Lee Hawkins's Ocean County Library Virtual Author Talk

(TOMS RIVER, NJ) -- Institutionalized inhumanity carries repercussions across generations. So we learn in journalist and podcaster Lee Hawkins's powerful I Am Nobody's Slave: How Uncovering My Family's History Set Me Free. Learn how Lee's discoveries shaped his views of his forebears and America during his Ocean County Library Virtual Author Talk on Tuesday, February 18, 2025. The event begins at 2:00pm.



Friends'

Friends' Big Book Sale at the Ocean County Library Long Beach Island Branch to Take Place March 7-8

(SURF CITY, NJ) -- Looking for your next absorbing book? Starting to think about summer beach reads? Find hundreds upon hundreds of tempting hardcover, softbound and audiobook titles at the Friends of the Island Library’s two-day Big Book Sale in the Ocean County Library Long Beach Island Branch, March 7 and Saturday, March 8, 2025, from 9:00am to 3:00pm each day.