Upcoming BYT Events

Amanda Knox, A Cat, No Hats

Jenn TisdaleNovember 5, 2019

"Mr. Fats is not much of a movie or podcast person, but he loves books"...

Cute StuffTrue CrimeUpcoming BYT Events 01 min read

Announcing BYT Presents: Friendsgiving Fest!

Tom HausmanNovember 5, 2019

Join BYT for a special Friendsgiving charity party with an open bar, food tastings, and more!...

Eat & DrinkMiscStuff To Do In DCUpcoming BYT Events 06 min read

Lt. Joe Kenda looks back on his favorite episodes of Homicide Hunter

Jenn TisdaleNovember 5, 2019

"You don’t realize sometimes the affect you have on people, and you try to do your best, but you don’t know if it’s enough or not."...

True CrimeUpcoming BYT Events 17 min read

Your Bentzen Ball Pregaming Plan

BYT at largeOctober 22, 2019

Do you like drinking and helping people at the same time? ...

Eat & DrinkRestaurants & BarsStuff To Do In DCUpcoming BYT Events 12 min read

Announcing: Death Becomes Us Festival Warm-Up Events and a True Crime Beer!

Jenn TisdaleOctober 15, 2019

True crime authors! A true crime climb! A true crime beer! ...

BeerFeaturedStuff To Do In DCTrue CrimeUpcoming BYT Events 14 min read

Call For Volunteers: Bentzen Ball & Death Becomes Us

Tom HausmanOctober 11, 2019

Come volunteer with BYT and experience the true range of human existence – death AND comedy!...

Upcoming BYT Events 01 min read

One Month Until Death Becomes Us! Lorena Bobbitt, Latrice Royale & More Announcements

Jenn TisdaleOctober 9, 2019

A pop-up DC Sniper exhibit, tribute to Nicole Brown Simpson and so much more...

FeaturedStuff To Do In DCTrue CrimeUpcoming BYT Events 05 min read

ANNOUNCING: W Hotel DC Programming at Bentzen Ball

BYT at largeOctober 9, 2019

A belly laughs brunch and a comedy-in-the-District conversation. See you soon!...

Eat & DrinkFunny StuffStuff To Do In DCUpcoming BYT Events 03 min read

You’re Invited to the BYT Fall Book Swap

BYT at largeSeptember 23, 2019

We want to read what you read, we want you to read what we read ...

BooksFeaturedFunny StuffStuff To Do In DCTrue CrimeUpcoming BYT Events 02 min read

Photos: BYT’s End-Of-Summer-Camp @ Smithsonian American Art Museum

BYT at largeSeptember 23, 2019

Gather 'round campers!...

FeaturedPhotosUpcoming BYT Events 043 min read

Seven Camp Songs That Are Deeply Concerning, Looking Back On It

BYT Events InternSeptember 19, 2019

Looking back at some old camp songs, we found some… weird stuff. ...

MusicUpcoming BYT Events 06 min read

Last Minute Outfit Inspiration For End-Of-Summer Camp

Tom HausmanSeptember 18, 2019

You don’t have a camp outfit picked yet? That's okay. We’ve put together some of our favorite outfits to help you get the creative juices flowing....

Style & ShoppingUpcoming BYT Events 15 min read

Just Added to Bentzen Ball: Call Your Girlfriend! Sasheer Zamata! More Magical Humans!

BYT at largeSeptember 18, 2019

More magical human beings added to this year's Bentzen Ball Comedy Festival roster....

Cute StuffFeaturedFunny StuffStuff To Do In DCUpcoming BYT Events 011 min read

The Best Campsite Cooking In D.C.

BYT Events InternSeptember 17, 2019

To help step up your camp cuisine, we asked some of our favorite chefs for their go-to camping recipes!...

Eat & DrinkUpcoming BYT Events 012 min read

Eight Of Our Favorite Classic Camp Movies

Tom HausmanSeptember 13, 2019

Celebrate Friday the 13th with some of our favorite camp films...

Film & TVMiscUpcoming BYT Events 06 min read

Ten Campers You (Probably) Had A Crush On

BYT Events InternSeptember 12, 2019

Find true love at End-Of-Summer Camp...

Upcoming BYT Events 05 min read

Filter Events

12nov10:00 am10:00 pmImmersive Multimedia Exhibition: Lucid Motion by Rhizomatiksat ARTECHOUSE10:00 am - 10:00 pm ARTECHOUSE

12nov6:00 pm8:30 pmProfs & Pints: CSI—Then and Now6:00 pm - 8:30 pm Church Hall

Event Details

Profs and Pints presents: “CSI—Then and Now,” with Dr. Victor Weedn, forensic pathologist, attorney, and professor in the George Washington University Department of Forensic Sciences.

Murder has been a crime throughout history and in all civilizations, and where there’s a crime, there’s a need to investigate the scene. Come let Victor Weedn, a leading expert on forensic science, walk you through the fascinating history of that field and teach you about its basic methods, current controversies, and future.

You’ll learn about the development of forensic medicine, of forensic toxicology, and the first crime labs. You’ll come to know the key figures who helped professionalize the field, and how the field has been changed by fingerprint examination, chemistry instrumentation, DNA instrumentation, computerized databases, and the attention drawn to it by the wildly popular CSI crime-show franchise.

Then you’ll get brought up to speed on the key controversies and debates in the field today, dealing with forensic fraud, hair analysis errors, bite-mark analysis, and misleading statements by forensic expert witnesses. Although there is much that the field is doing right, it continues to evolve, improve, and become more powerful, giving plenty of cause to end the talk on a hopeful note.

Dr. Weedn has a fascinating background that leaves him distinctly suited to deliver such a talk. He has worked as a medical examiner, crime laboratory director, and academic. He founded the military’s DNA identification program and oversaw the Armed Forces Identification Laboratory which identified Czar Nicholas II of Russia, the Branch Davidian victims, and later Michael Blassie, the Vietnam unknown in the National Cemetery in Arlington. He also has worked on mass graves in Iraq to develop evidence against Saddam Hussein, has been a leading advocate of the need for forensic science reform, and is deeply involved in the federal response to the current opioid crisis. Whether you’re a crime-show buff or just interested in the sciences or our own mortality, you’ll be glad to be alive to hear his presentation. (Advance tickets: $12. Doors: $15, save $2 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later. Please allow yourself time to place any orders and get seated and settled in.)

Time

(Tuesday) 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Location

Church Hall

1070 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20007

Cost

Advance ticket: $12. Door: $15, save $2 with student ID.

Learn More

Calendar GoogleCal

12nov7:00 pmClairow/ beabadoobee • Hello Yello7:00 pm 9:30 Club

12nov7:30 pm10:00 pmAMADEUS7:30 pm - 10:00 pm Folger Theatre

13nov10:00 am10:00 pmImmersive Multimedia Exhibition: Lucid Motion by Rhizomatiksat ARTECHOUSE10:00 am - 10:00 pm ARTECHOUSE

13nov6:00 pm8:30 pmProfs & Pints: Was Fighting World War I a Grave Mistake?6:00 pm - 8:30 pm Bier Baron Tavern

Event Details

Profs and Pints presents: “Was Fighting World War I a Grave Mistake?” with Michael Kazin, professor of history at Georgetown University, co-editor of Dissent magazine, and author of War Against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914-1918.

Veterans Day originally marked the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. Historians continue to debate whether that conflict could have been prevented, but for the United States it was indisputably a war of choice. Germany neither threatened a trans-Atlantic attack nor had the ability to mount one. And while Woodrow Wilson and the government’s propaganda agency portrayed the Kaiser’s regime as a cruel autocracy, that regime could not raise an army without the approval of the Reichstag, an elected legislature. It was unclear that Imperial Germany was significantly morally inferior to the three empires it was fighting—the British, the French, and, until March of 1917, the realm of the Tsar.

We cannot know what impact continued U.S. neutrality would have had; by its nature, counter-factual history is a speculative enterprise. But we do know the consequences of the U.S. decision to join the Allied powers in the spring of 1917. At home, the decision to go to war also led inexorably to a campaign of repression of individual rights far greater than any that had occurred before. Newspapers were banned for making the slightest criticisms of government policy. Critics of the war were jailed for speaking out against it. Vigilantes freely assaulted people who failed to echo the hyper-patriotic gospel. The fear of “seditious” radicals and aliens would lead, in the 1920s, to the post-war Red Scare and the racist immigration laws.

Over in Europe, the American Expeditionary Force played a highly significant part in compelling the Germans to sue for peace in the fall of 1918. But the victory won by the U.S. and its allies led to an even greater tragedy, with a deeply flawed peace treaty helping to spur bloody revolutions and sow the seeds of the Second World War, a far deadlier global conflict.

Professor Kazin will analyze arguments made for and against U.S. entry into World War I at the time and in the century since. You’ll gain a much greater understanding of the conflict and its impact. (Advance tickets: $12. Doors: $15, save $2 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later. Please allow yourself time to place any orders and get seated and settled in.)