Writer and explorer Dan Buettner reveals the secrets to a long life at the S. Dillon Ripley Center on Tuesday.

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

Lectures in the District have caught the travel bug this week, exploring Wales, ancient Greece, and the top 500 of the world’s most peaceful and spiritual places. Don’t worry though, we’ve still got your regular selection of uplifting talks on the FBI, the economy, the failing Earth, illiteracy, and conflicts in Palestine to brighten up your week.

Tuesday:
>> Novelist Lisa See makes an appearance at Politics and Prose at 7 p.m. tonight to read from Shanghai Girls, which “tells the story of May and Pearl, well-educated, beautiful Chinese sisters who experience difficulties when their family tries to marry them off to Gold Mountain Men in America.”

>> At 6:45 p.m., the S. Dillon Ripley Center explores Living Longer, Living Better with writer and explorer Dan Buettner, who will reveal geographical “blue zones,” where “people have similar diets, activities, outlook, and stress-coping mechanisms that he and his research team have condensed into nine healthy habits.” $25.

Wednesday:
>> The New America Foundation (NAF) presents some depressing news today from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at The Jobless Recovery: What the “Green Shoots” Optimists are Missing. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Leo Hindery, Jr., Chairman of the NAF’s Smart Globalization Initiative will discuss their new report, which “finds that unemployment is more severe than reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics … [and] warns that the U.S. economy is headed toward a ‘jobless recovery’ that could perpetuate the banking and housing crises.” At least it’s free.

>> Learn about local literacy issues from 6 to 8 p.m. with Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Colbert King and the Washington Literacy Council at the 14th Street Busboys. The event will cost you a $50 tax-deductible donation to the Council, who is “the largest provider of basic adult literacy services in the District,” and hopes to reduce the amount of adult illiteracy in our city, which is estimated at a whopping 37%. Free glass of wine, snacks and soft drinks. RSVP to AScoffier [at] cityfirstbank.com.