Communications strategist, long-distance swimmer, and author, Matthew Moseley will be at The Garden District Book Shop for a festive evening celebrating his latest book, Soul is Waterproof: Adventure Swimming and Stories of Adventure. 

The evening kicks off with a short cocktail hour complete with refreshments and light bites catered by The Chicory House, and music from Papa Mali. Moseley will then lead a discussion on his book, read a short passage and open up the floor to questions. Following the Q&A, he will be available to mingle with guests and sign copies of his book. 

Soul is Waterproof takes readers on Moseley’s swimming adventures around the world-from New Orleans, the Caribbean, Costa Rica, the Colorado River, the Sea of Galilee, and points between; he becomes an ambassador for water, passing along essential lessons about adaptability and durability. He shows us why water--either too little or too much--will be the defining issue of our times. His account is a meditation on, a celebration of, and a love story with Earth's life-giving resource. Reading Soul is Waterproof is like being on Moseley's support boat as stories and characters unfold around every bend. Put your life-vest on and buckle up.

PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE DISCUSSES ROGUES: TRUE STORIES OF GRIFTERS, KILLERS, REBELS AND CROOKS WITH JOHN M. BARRY

The Garden District Book Shop invites you to spend an evening with award-winning journalists and authors Patrick Radden Keefe and John M. Barry to celebrate the paperback release of Keefe’s New York Times bestselling book Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks. Enjoy a glass of wine while listening to a lively convo between Keefe and Barry as they discuss all things Rogues.  

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Keefe will sit down with Barry for a discussion on the book and his research journey. Afterward, Keefe will host a brief Q&A and sign copies of his book for guests. Wine will be served and additional refreshments will be available for purchase at The Chicory House, The Garden District Book Shop’s sister concept.

In Rogues, Keefe brilliantly explores the intricacies of forging $150,000 vintage wines, examines whether a whistleblower who dared to expose money laundering at a Swiss bank is a hero or a fabulist, spends time in Vietnam with Anthony Bourdain, chronicles the quest to bring down a cheerful international black market arms merchant, and profiles a passionate death penalty attorney who represents the “worst of the worst,” among other bravura works of literary journalism.

The Garden District Book Shop is thrilled to announce that award-winning science journalist Rachel Nuwer will celebrate the release of her book I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World, the unlikely story of how the psychedelic drug MDMA emerged from the shadows to the forefront of a medical revolution--and the potential it may hold to help us thrive.

The event is free. Rachel Nuwer will sit down to discuss her research and book with Lori Tipton, who was the first person in New Orleans to take part in an FDA-approved clinical trial of MDMA (also known as Ecstasy) to treat PTSD. After their discussion, Nuwer will be available to chat with guests and sign copies of I Feel Love. Copies of her book will be available for purchase at the event.

Few drugs in history have generated as much controversy as MDMA--or held as much promise. Once vilified as a Schedule I substance that would supposedly eat holes in users’ brains, MDMA (also known as Molly or Ecstasy) is now being hailed as a therapeutic agent that could transform the field of mental health and outpace psilocybin and ketamine as the first psychedelic approved for widespread clinical use. In I Feel Love, science journalist Rachel Nuwer separates fact from fantasy, hope from hype, in the drug’s contested history and still-evolving future. Evidence from scientific trials suggests MDMA, properly administered, can be startlingly effective at relieving the effects of trauma. Results from other studies point to its usefulness for individual and couples therapy; for treating depression, alcohol addiction, and eating disorders; and for cultivating personal growth. Yet scientists are still racing to discover how MDMA achieves these outcomes, a mystery that is taking them into the inner recesses of the brain and the deep history of evolution. With its power to dismantle psychological defenses and induce feelings of empathy, self-compassion, and love, MDMA may answer profound questions about how we became human, and how to heal our broken social bonds.

From cutting-edge labs to pulsing club floors to the intimacy of the therapist’s couch, Nuwer guides readers through a cultural and scientific upheaval that is rewriting our understanding of our brains, our selves, and the space between.