Scripps College’s “Scripps Presents” events are going forward, with a robust calendar of free, interesting events.

All of the events are virtual, but registration and tickets are required. Click through www.scrippscollege.edu/ events/calendar for information.

On Tuesday, September 15 Scripps hosts Ayad Akhtar and Ben Rhodes: America is My Home at 5 p.m.

“Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author Mr. Akhtar’s latest novel, Homeland Elegies, offers a portrait of Muslim American life in a fractured country,” read a Scripps press release. “Mr. Akhtar will be joined in conversation by author and former Deputy National Security Advisor under President Barack Obama Ben Rhodes to discuss the novel’s origins and themes, including the immigrant experience, the relationship between fathers and sons, racial identity, and political polarization.”

Hit podcaster Dylan Marron of “Conversations With People Who Hate Me” will be featured at 5 p.m. Thursday, September 17.

“Few of social media’s many influences have been as powerful as its amplification of the court of public opinion via ‘cancel culture’: the practice of withdrawing support from public figures and companies who have done or said something deemed objectionable,” read a Scripps press release. “It’s a practice that has proven to be an especially effective way to influence community mores.

“For Dylan Marron, the creator and host of the hit podcast Conversations With People Who Hate Me, cancel culture comes with a caveat. ‘We have to remember there’s a human on the other side of the screen, and I don’t just mean that as this cute little sign-off line,’ says Marron in Forbes.”

On Tuesday, September 22, Harvard historian, author and New Yorker staffer Jill Lepore will discuss “Inventing the Future” at 11 a.m.

“Long before the world grew concerned about the invasive practices of Cambridge Analytica and Facebook, a short-lived data analytics firm sprung forth in the 1950s,” read a press release.

“The Simulmatics Corporation became the template for the now ubiquitous Google, creating a mechanism to mine every detail of human behavior for commercial and political profit. Its simulator, which was christened the ‘People Machine,’ churned out predictions on voting behavior.”