New Yorker Festival 2012 schedule (Portlandia, Beirut, Vampire Weekend, Lucinda Williams, Raphael Saadiq, Punch Brothers and more)

The 2012 New Yorker Festival happens October 5 – 7, bringing together writers, musicians, filmmakers, chefs, deep thinkers and all other sorts of creative types. Highlights for the 13th annual fest include “Portlandia Live” with Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein and special guests performing sketches live; Atul Gawande and the band Vampire Weekend; Sasha Frere-Jones and the singer Norah Jones; Alec Wilkinson and the neo-bluegrass band Punch Brothers; Ariel Levy and the singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams; John Seabrook and the indie-folk band Beirut; and Ben Greenman and singer, songwriter, and producer Raphael Saadiq.

Other notable events: the Wachowskis will present their new film Cloud Atlas with co-director Tom Tykwer; Mad Men‘s John Slattery hosts a panel on “period acting”; Paul Muldoon will interview Patti Smith and loads more meetings of minds.

Tickets to the 2012 New Yorker Festival will go on sale on Friday, September 14 at noon. Full line-up is below.

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FRIDAY / OCTOBER 5

FICTION NIGHT / DISCUSSIONS AMONG WRITERS

Money
With Martin Amis, John Lanchester, and Zadie Smith.
Moderated by Deborah Treisman.
7 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre • 110 West 57th Street ($30)

Utopia / Dystopia
With Margaret Atwood, Jennifer Egan, and George Saunders.
Moderated by Daniel Zalewski.
7 P.M. Gramercy Theatre • 127 East 23rd Street ($30)

Cities
With Aleksandar Hemon, Hisham Matar, Colum McCann, and Orhan Pamuk.
Moderated by Willing Davidson.
7 P.M. MasterCard Stage at SVA Theatre 1 • 333 West 23rd Street ($30)

Faith
With Chris Adrian, Nathan Englander, and Marilynne Robinson.
Moderated by Cressida Leyshon.
7 P.M. MasterCard Stage at SVA Theatre 2 • 333 West 23rd Street ($30)

Love and Marriage
With Julian Barnes, Junot Díaz, and Lorrie Moore.
Moderated by Leo Carey.
9:30 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre • 110 West 57th Street ($30)

The Old Country
With Jonathan Safran Foer, Téa Obreht, and Gary Shteyngart.
Moderated by Adam Gopnik.
9:30 P.M. MasterCard Stage at SVA Theatre 1 • 333 West 23rd Street ($30)

Crisis
With Louise Erdrich, Joyce Carol Oates, and Paul Theroux.
Moderated by Peter Canby.
9:30 P.M. MasterCard Stage at SVA Theatre 2 • 333 West 23rd Street ($30)

CONVERSATIONS WITH MUSIC

Norah Jones talks with Sasha Frere-Jones
Pop balladeer.
10 P.M. Acura at SIR Stage37 • 508 West 37th Street ($35)

Punch Brothers talk with Alec Wilkinson
Radical bluegrass.
10 P.M. Gramercy Theatre • 127 East 23rd Street ($35)

TALES OUT OF SCHOOL 4 / A NEW YORKER NIGHT WITH THE MOTH

The Moth once again teams up with The New Yorker for an evening of stories about life at the magazine. With Lauren Collins, Anthony Lane, Rebecca Mead, Nicholas Schmidle, and Lawrence Wright.
Hosted by Andy Borowitz.
6 P.M. Acura at SIR Stage37 • 508 West 37th Street ($50)

SATURDAY / OCTOBER 6

IN CONVERSATION

Patti Smith talks with Paul Muldoon
Lyric poetry.
1 P.M. Acura at SIR Stage37 • 508 West 37th Street ($30)

Christian Louboutin talks with Lauren Collins
Happy feet.
4 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre • 110 West 57th Street ($30)

Alison Bechdel talks with Judith Thurman
Drawn from life.
4 P.M. MasterCard Stage at SVA Theatre 2 • 333 West 23rd Street ($30)

TALKS

Malcolm Gladwell / Birmingham: Fifty Years Later
10 A.M. MasterCard Stage at SVA Theatre 1 • 333 West 23rd Street ($30)

Jill Lepore / The Boys from Hope: A History of Presidential Candidates and Campaigns
1 P.M. MasterCard Stage at SVA Theatre 2 • 333 West 23rd Street ($30)

PANELS

Period Acting
Living history.
With Jennifer Ehle, Cherry Jones, John Slattery, and Dan Stevens.
Moderated by Rebecca Mead.
10 A.M. Acura at SIR Stage37 • 508 West 37th Street ($30)

Presidential Biographers
How they governed.
With Ron Chernow, Annette Gordon-Reed, David Maraniss, and Edmund Morris.
Moderated by David Remnick.
10 A.M. Directors Guild Theatre • 110 West 57th Street ($30)

Giving Voice
The have-nots.
With Abhijit Banerjee, Katherine Boo, Geoffrey Canada, and Jose Antonio Vargas.
Moderated by George Packer.
10 A.M. MasterCard Stage at SVA Theatre 2 • 333 West 23rd Street ($30)

The Future of Sitcoms
Laughing matter.
With Greg Garcia, Nahnatchka Khan, Michael Schur, and Mike White.
Moderated by Emily Nussbaum.
1 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre • 110 West 57th Street ($30)

The Fifty-one Per Cent
Winning the female vote.
With Kellyanne Conway, Margaret Hoover, Melissa Harris-Perry, and Cecile Richards.
Moderated by Dorothy Wickenden.
1 P.M. MasterCard Stage at SVA Theatre 1 • 333 West 23rd Street ($30)

Rereading David Foster Wallace
Ad infinitum.
With Mark Costello, Mary Karr, Dana Spiotta, and Deborah Treisman.
Moderated by D. T. Max.
4 P.M. Acura at SIR Stage37 • 508 West 37th Street ($30)

Politics and Money
Democracy for sale?
With Lawrence Lessig, Cleta Mitchell, Theodore Olson, and Seth Waxman.
Moderated by Jane Mayer.
4 P.M. MasterCard Stage at SVA Theatre 1 • 333 West 23rd Street ($30)

IN CONVERSATION

Ben Stiller talks with Tad Friend
Meet the Focker.
7 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre • 110 West 57th Street ($35)

Viola Davis talks with David Denby
Profiles in courage.
7 P.M. MasterCard Stage at SVA Theatre 2 • 333 West 23rd Street ($35)

Sarah Silverman talks with Andy Borowitz
Pushing the envelope.
10 P.M. Directors Guild Theatre • 110 West 57th Street ($35)

Lisa Kudrow talks with Henry Alford
Life after “Smelly Cat.”
10 P.M. MasterCard Stage at SVA Theatre 2 • 333 West 23rd Street ($35)

LA GRANDE BOUFFE

Join M. Wells’s Hugue Dufour and Sarah Obraitis, in conversation with Adam Gopnik, for a one-night-only multi-course meal with wine.
7 P.M. Ticket buyers will be contacted concerning the location. ($250)

CONVERSATIONS WITH MUSIC

Lucinda Williams talks with Ariel Levy
Delta heart.
7 P.M. Acura at SIR Stage37 • 508 West 37th Street ($35)

Beirut talks with John Seabrook
Gypsy redux.
7 P.M. Gramercy Theatre • 127 East 23rd Street ($35)

Vampire Weekend talks with Atul Gawande
School of rock.
10 P.M. Acura at SIR Stage37 • 508 West 37th Street ($35)

Raphael Saadiq talks with Ben Greenman
Gospedelic.
10 P.M. Gramercy Theatre • 127 East 23rd Street ($35)

SNEAK PREVIEW

“Cloud Atlas”
The U.S. première of the epic drama, followed by a conversation between Aleksandar Hemon and the film’s writer-directors, Tom Tykwer and Andy and Lana Wachowski.
7 P.M. MasterCard Stage at SVA Theatre 1 • 333 West 23rd Street ($50)

SUNDAY / OCTOBER 7

ABOUT TOWN

Morning at the Frick
Peter Schjeldahl will lead his fifth annual tour of the museum before public hours begin, followed by coffee and conversation.
10 A.M. The Frick Collection • 1 East 70th Street ($85)

Back to the Old Hotel
Mark Singer will host a tribute to the seminal New Yorker writer Joseph Mitchell, featuring a conversation with Ian Frazier and Nora Mitchell Sanborn and a reading by Bob Balaban.
Local oysters and champagne will be served.
11 A.M. South Street Seaport Museum • 12 Fulton Street ($100)

Come Hungry
Calvin Trillin will lead his twelfth annual walk from Greenwich Village to Chinatown, for a dim-sum lunch, with snacks along the way.
11 A.M. Ticket buyers will be contacted concerning the location. ($120)

The Cartoon Caption Game
A live version of The New Yorker’s Cartoon Caption Contest, hosted by Robert Mankoff.
Harry Bliss, George Booth, and Kim Warp will judge the results.
1 P.M. Condé Nast Executive Dining Room • 4 Times Square ($50)

Coffee Talk
Kelefa Sanneh will host a tasting of world-class coffees and talk with Aida Batlle, Katie Carguilo, and Darrin Daniel.
1 P.M. The Cell • 338 West 23rd Street ($60)

Partners in Style
Isabel and Ruben Toledo will discuss their latest designs with Judith Thurman in their atelier.
Champagne and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
2 P.M. Ticket buyers will be contacted concerning the location. ($100)

No Limits
Ashrita Furman will talk to Alec Wilkinson about his life as a Guinness World Record-breaker, and attempt to break a few records on the spot.
4 P.M. The Cell • 338 West 23rd Street (Free tickets online)

IN CONVERSATION

Lena Dunham talks with Emily Nussbaum
Girl power.
1 P.M. Acura at SIR Stage37 • 508 West 37th Street ($30)

Salman Rushdie talks with David Remni