The Air and Space Museum hosts a Milky Way discussion with Dr. Sandy Faber on Thursday evening. Image courtesy of NASA.

DCist’s guide to lectures and discussions in the D.C. area

Monday:
>> Graphic designers: we hope you got tickets last week for tonight’s 7 p.m. Corcoran lecture with type designer Matthew Carter, because now it’s sold out.

>> If not, head to Sixth and I for an author event with novelist Sara Houghteling and her book, Pictures at an Exhibition, which “tells the story of a son’s quest to recover his family’s lost masterpieces — Picassos, Matisses, Monets —looted by the Nazis during the occupation.” $8, or get two free tickets with book purchase that night. 7 p.m.

Tuesday:
>> At 6:45 p.m., the S. Dillon Ripley Center hosts an unusual inexpensive evening of discussions on East and West: 17th-Century Art from Amsterdam to Agra, led by painter and scholar Julian Bell. Only $10.

>> Or, head to National Geographic at 7:30 p.m. for a discussion on The Lost City of Z with author and New Yorker writer David Grann. His new book investigates the mystery of a lost city in the Amazon rainforest which British explorer Percy Fawcett searched for, revealing his diary secrets and other clues from the explorer and Grann’s own trek. $18.