Cultural Currents Attend: January 2026
Two moments a week for awe, wonder, and attention
Welcome to Attend.
It’s a monthly list of happenings in Brooklyn (and some in Manhattan).
When I moved to New York last year with two suitcases and a preschooler, I felt completely unmoored. Everything was unfamiliar — the streets, the rhythms, the people — and I was too busy surviving the transition to imagine how life here might eventually feel. But over the months, something shifted. I showed up at preschool events. I went to readings and talks. I wandered into museums on weekday afternoons. I said yes to new friendships and reached back out to old ones. Slowly, almost quietly, the year that began in chaos ended in immense joy.
So for 2026, I’m inviting you to join me in this practice of connecting, cultivating wonder, and seeking awe. As a solo mom, my life is shaped by rhythm, so each week I choose one thing for my son and one thing for me — two small anchors that make the week feel textured and alive. That’s the heart of Attend.
This monthly edition, along with other curated cultural insights, will soon be available only to subscribers. Take a look at this month’s list; if it resonates, I hope you’ll stay and subscribe. There’s a whole year of wonder ahead.
We don’t need more plans.
We need meaningful ones.
This list is an experiment in choosing just enough:
one moment each weekend to expand a child’s sense of wonder,
and one moment during the week to reawaken our own.
Mostly Brooklyn. Sometimes Manhattan.
Family-aware. Adult-curious. Easy to miss if you’re not paying attention.
WEEK 1 | January 5 –11
🧠 Weekday (Jan 7)
Under the Radar Festival — running from 1/7-26/2026
📍 Multiple NYC venues
Experimental theater designed to interrupt your thinking — not soothe it. One performance is enough. This is art in progress, and that’s the point. I’m looking at going to something on Wednesday, the 7th, when I typically have my weekly babysitter.
🔗 The Program
Why attend: creative recalibration
🧒 Sunday, January 11
Brooklyn Bowl Family Concert — The Music of David Bowie for Kids
📍 Brooklyn Bowl
A live, kid-friendly rock concert that invites movement, dancing, and shared joy. The Rock and Roll Playhouse introduces children to real music culture without dumbing it down or overwhelming them.
This one is Bowie — theatrical, playful, and perfect for little bodies that want to move.
🔗 Get Tickets
Good for: ages 3–7
Why attend: live music as shared joy
WEEK 2 | January 12–18
🎨 January 14, 6-9 PM
📚 LitClubNYC Book Club Event: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
📍 Sisters, BK
Join Lit Club NYC for their curated events. I’ve been wanting to attend an event now for six months, and finally, it lines up with my sitter schedule. And with this book. I’m listening to this masterpiece as I type.
🔗 Subscribe for info about their event schedule
Why attend: Community, Culture, and Literature. (A kindred spirit, right?)
🧒 Weekend (Jan 17, 18 &19)
The Tortoise & the Hare & Puppetworks Brooklyn — Marionette Theater
📍 Brooklyn (Park Slope)
Hand-carved marionettes, and fairy tales told with patience and warmth. Kids are transfixed because nothing here shouts at them. Parents remember what storytelling felt like before screens.
🔗 More Info & Reservations
Good for: ages 3–6
Why attend: analog wonder
WEEK 3 | January 20–26
🍷📚 Friday, January 23
Intro to Italian Wines: Wine Between the Lines — Liz’s Book Bar
📍 Liz’s Book Bar
A gentle workshop exploring the foundations of Italian wines — regions, grapes, labeling — paired with conversation among fellow readers. Perfect for beginners or anyone looking to deepen their wine knowledge in a warm, low-pressure setting.
🔗 https://lizsbookbar.com/events
Why attend: Wine + conversation + books = winter warmth
🧒 Weekend
NY Transit Museums: Holiday Train Exhibit
📍 Grand Central
My son loves trains, and I don’t want to miss this. The Holiday Train Show is a classic NYC winter tradition — model trains weaving through a miniature cityscape inside Grand Central. We’ll likely use this as a meet-up adventure with cousins.
🔗 https://www.nytransitmuseum.org/exhibits/#gct
Good for: ages 3–6
Why attend: There’s nothing like things that go
WEEK 4 | January 27–31
📚🚶 Wednesday, January 28
BK Walking Book Club, Reading: Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang
📍 Indoors for winter on a track in Park Slope
Books + walking + conversation. No sitting still. No pressure to finish perfectly. I founded and host the BK Walking Book Club, a growing community of Brooklyn readers who think best in motion — and it has become the adult rhythm that anchors my month and continues all spring.
🔗 DM me if you’d like to join (We have a WhatsApp group.)
Why attend: thinking in motion, real community
🧒 Saturday, January 31 | 11:00 AM–1:00 PM
Toddlertopia Brooklyn
📍 Brooklyn
A pop-up, multi-activity play experience designed for little bodies and curious minds — music, building stations, movement, and open exploration. It feels like a small festival scaled correctly for young children.
Energetic but not chaotic, social but not overwhelming — a great end-of-month release.
🔗 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/toddlertopia-brooklyn-tickets-1962120648679
Good for: ages ~2–6
Why attend: hands-on joy and exploration
BONUS (If You Have the Bandwidth)
🎬 New York Jewish Film Festival — one screening
📍 Film at Lincoln Center
📅 January 14–28
Pick one film. Treat it like an appointment. Global cinema, often with director Q&As, is shown once or twice and gone.
🔗 https://www.filmlinc.org/festivals/new-york-jewish-film-festival/
Why attend: a rare chance to see global Jewish stories that rarely hit mainstream theaters
🎨 A Moody Museum Moment: Monet and Venice
📍 Brooklyn Museum
A gentle, atmospheric exhibition that dissolves the city into color and light. Perfect for a quiet weekday escape. (Check the updated winter calendar — exhibitions shift.)
🔗 https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/monet_and_venice
Why attend: beauty that slows time
A Note on January
This issue is free.
Starting in April, Cultural Currents: Attend will be part of a paid subscriber-only rhythm—curated moments and seasonal lists designed to help you meet your people by showing up where meaning already exists.
If this list helped you choose even one thing you wouldn’t have found otherwise, I hope you’ll subscribe and come along.
Love this! Cant wait for this series :)