By Sophie
ABC has joined forces with the John Adams Institute (JAI) this year. One of the ways we’re supporting them is by spotlighting their excellent fall line-up (some of which you might have spotted in our general September events round-up earlier this week), because these authors and thinkers you really want to listen to and learn from!
Thursday 4 September: On the Edge with Nate Silver
What if the key to understanding our chaotic world lies with those who live at its very edges?
Join the John Adams Season Opener with Nate Silver, trailblazing statistician, author, and founder of polling platform FiveThirtyEight, as he unpacks the art of prediction, the allure of risk, and the high-stakes drama of American politics. From accurately forecasting elections to redefining the role of data in journalism, Silver has become one of the most trusted—and provocative—voices in the analysis of uncertainty.
His newest book, On the Edge, explores the lives of risk takers — a community of like-minded people he calls “the River” — whose mastery of risk allows them to dominate and shape so much of modern life, defying convention, courting chaos, and shaping the world in unprecedented ways. “Riverians” are not just thrill-seekers, but people whose decisions reflect the volatility of our time: from professional poker players to Silicon Valley CEOs. From the casino floor in Las Vegas to the White House, their stories offer insight into our high-stakes world that feels increasingly uncertain.
In a keynote talk and in-depth interview with journalist Casper Thomas, Silver will explore the tools that made him famous. His forecasting and modelling prowess, epitomized by his statistical analysis of politics, economics and sports provide the ultimate entry point to look at the current state of American politics and the world around us.
Offering his signature blend of clarity, scepticism and wit, join Silver as we navigate the turbulent waters ahead. Whether you’re a data nerd, a political junkie, or simply searching for clarity in a world seemingly without focus, this is an event that promises to challenge assumptions and change the way you think about risk, prediction, and the future.
Tickets: €27.50 (or €17 with your ABC Booklover Card)
Location: Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam
Nate Silver will also be at ABC Amsterdam on Friday 5 September for a flash book signing at 17.00 hrs.
Saturday 27 September: Nikole Hannah-Jones and the Battle for the Soul of America
History is never neutral. It is written, rewritten, and sometimes erased entirely. At a time when the very foundations of American democracy are under pressure and the past is being recast to serve political ends, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and creator of The 1619 Project Nikole Hannah-Jones returns to the John Adams Institute for an urgent conversation on the role of art and historical memory in the fight for freedom and justice.
This event draws inspiration from the bold and evocative work of painter Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000), whose vibrant visual storytelling chronicled Black life, struggle, and movement in America. His legacy, now revived in a major new exhibition at Kunsthal KAdE in Amersfoort, reminds us that artists have long been historians of the people, countering silence with color, and absence with action. The exhibition is on view from 27 September 2025 until 4 January 2026.
Across the United States, the past is being weaponized to serve the ambitions of the present. After his return to power, President Donald Trump has named himself honorary chair of the Kennedy Center, reshaped the National Endowment for the Humanities, and forced the Smithsonian to promote a vision of the nation that sidelines complexities and erases injustices. This is not simply a debate over textbooks or museums. It is a struggle over national identity, over who belongs, and whose stories get told. In this battle, art and historical truth are not luxuries—they are battlegrounds, and the effects will echo in America for generations.
Moderated by Jennifer Tosch in an evening that combines American art and history with the heady politics of the present, Hannah-Jones will explore the power of narrative. How is history being weaponized in America today? What does it mean when books are banned and curriculum censored? And how do artists and truth-tellers push back against a culture of forgetting?
Tickets: €25 (or €17 with your ABC Booklover Card)
Location: Dominicuskerk in Amsterdam
Friday 31 October: Pay the Piper: Halloween Night with Daniel Kraus
“The swamp doesn’t forget. It remembers every sin, every secret whispered into its depths.”
This Halloween, the John Adams Institute invites you to an evening steeped in shadows and storytelling with acclaimed gothic fiction and horror writer Daniel Kraus, known for Pay the Piper, The Living Dead (co-authored with the late George A. Romero), The Shape of Water and Trollhunters (together with Guillermo del Toro), Whalefall, and Angel Down. Kraus stands as a contemporary torchbearer in the gothic and horror literary tradition, following in the footsteps of luminaries like Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, and Shirley Jackson.
In Pay the Piper, Kraus undertakes the unique task of completing an unfinished manuscript by the legendary George A. Romero of zombie fiction fame, effectively collaborating with a truly ghostly writer. The novel reimagines the eerie legend of the Pied Piper in Alligator Point, a small community descended from pirate marauders deep Louisiana’s bayou, where all manner of pasts and themes come burbling up from the swamp. The novel’s rich tapestry of characters and cultures compels readers to confront what we owe the past and the dead—and what they might demand of us in return.
During this special Halloween event, moderated by program coordinator Ian Kenny, Kraus will delve into the uncanny experience of collaborating with a deceased author, explore why gothic fiction is the (sub)genre we turn to when reality becomes overwhelming, and discuss how horror stories serve not merely to frighten but to help us remember, reckon, and release.
Expect a night that transcends mere spookiness — it’s an exploration of the soulful, the subversive, and the questions that haunt us. Come (in costume) if you dare.
Tickets: €10, €17, or €25, depending or standing or seating room
Location: Het Documentaire Paviljoen in Amsterdam
