Sharlet: I’ve had occasion to speak in some handsome venues over the years, but I’ll probably never find a more lovely forum than Manhattan’s midtown General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, at which I’ll be speaking on reporting about religion — especially American religious conservatism — this Tuesday, January 30, at 7:00 p.m. The Society’s theme this year is labor, landmarks, and literature, a sort of Ben Katchoresque combination that leads to the talks following mine in the coming weeks on the secret lives of Waldorf-Astoria bellboys, the great theater scene-painters of the mid-20th century, and Jennifer Szali, the Harper’s books editor who’s been publishing some of the most interesting review-essays around lately.

As for me, I’ll be going from the Victorian splendor of The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen to the proletarian glory of workers, plain and simple — or, at least, those who believe that not only do the workers have nothing to lose but their chains, but also that they’re going to do so soon. On Wednesday, January 31, 7 p.m., I’ll be talking about “Through a Glass, Darkly” (above) at Revolution Books, W. 19th between Fifth and Sixth Ave.