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  • August 2025
  • Tue 12
    Flyer with a green background and the following text: The Writing Room @ Iffy Books / Every Tuesday 5-7:30 PM / Come co-work with other writers in three 4-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.
    August 12 @ 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm ✏️ The Writing Room

    ✏️ The Writing Room

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.

  • Wed 13
    Cover of the book 'Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI' by Karen Hao, with a blue-red gradient background
    August 13 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm βš™οΈ Neo-Luddite Reading Group

    βš™οΈ Neo-Luddite Reading Group: ‘Empire of AI’ by Karen Hao

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    ➑️ Virtual Meetup Link Discord: Email neoluddite@victorgom.es for an invite! Full schedule: victorgom.es/neoluddite If you're joining for the first time, I'd suggest you read this before anything else for brief context: What the Luddites Really Fought Against by Richard Conniff.The only expectation is that you read the chapter(s) of the book that's listed for that […]

  • Thu 14
    August 14 @ 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm 🎲 Pico Game Timer & Dice Workshop

    🎲 Pico Game Timer & Dice Workshop

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    11Learn to make a programmable game timer and dice with a Pi Pico microcontroller! First you'll solder six LEDs, two switches, and a vibration motor to the board's GPIO pins. Then you'll install and customize the CircuitPython code that makes it work. No experience needed! You'll need to buy a kit for $9 to complete […]

  • Fri 15
    Zine cover for "Build a Solar-Powered Music Synth," with the Iffy Books logo in the lower left corner. In the middle of the page there's a black-and-white drawing of cute hamsters assembling electronic components on a breadboard. A spiral sun is overhead, with a curving arrow pointing at a pair of music notes.
    August 15 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm β˜€οΈ Solar Music Synth Workshop

    β˜€οΈ Solar Music Synth Workshop

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Join us and build a tiny solar-powered square wave generator on a breadboard. No soldering required! The workshop is free to attend, but you'll need to purchase a kit for $12.50 to complete the project. Here's a link to the how-to zine we'll use. And here's a diagram of the oscillator circuit we'll build: Register: […]

  • Fri 15
    Animated GIF of a small circuit board with two blinking LED lights, two transistors, two capacitors, and four resistors
    August 15 @ 1:15 pm - 2:15 pm ⚑️ Beginner Soldering: Flashing LED Circuit

    ⚑️ Beginner Soldering: Flashing LED Circuit

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    In this workshop you'll learn the basics of soldering by building a tiny oscillator circuit with two transistors and two LED lights. No previous experience needed! Register:  

  • Sat 16
    Flyer with the Iffy Books Logo, an Ethernet port, an antenna icon, a USB logo, a VGA port, a pile of books, the SCSI icon, a cassette tape, an audio waveform, and the following text: Yard Sale Day Sat, August 16th 10 AM – 5:30 PM 404 S. 20th St., PHL
    August 16 @ 10:00 am - 5:30 pm

    πŸͺ§ Yard Sale Day

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    On Saturday, August 16th we'll be selling some of the computers, network switches, cables, and random odds and ends that have accumulated in our basement. You may want to show up early!  

  • Tue 19
    Flyer with a green background and the following text: The Writing Room @ Iffy Books / Every Tuesday 5-7:30 PM / Come co-work with other writers in three 4-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.
    August 19 @ 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm ✏️ The Writing Room

    ✏️ The Writing Room

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.

  • Wed 20
    Book cover for 'The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century' by Tim Weiner (2025). Blue background, white text, smudged gold seal with an eagle reading "Intelligence Agency"
    August 20 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm πŸ‘οΈ Intelligence History Reading Group: ‘Agents of Subversion’ by

    πŸ‘οΈ Intelligence History Reading Group: ‘The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century’ by Tim Weiner (1st half)

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Join us Wednesday, August 20th at 7 p.m. for a discussion on the first half of The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century by Tim Weiner (2025). At the turn of the century, the Central Intelligence Agency was in crisis. The end of the Cold War had robbed the agency of its mission. More […]

  • Thu 21
    Photo of a printing block with an image of a bird/flame shape next to two test prints with black ink
    August 21 @ 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm

    πŸ–ΌοΈ BΜΆlΜΆoΜΆcΜΆkΜΆ ΜΆPΜΆrΜΆiΜΆnΜΆtΜΆiΜΆnΜΆgΜΆ ΜΆWΜΆoΜΆrΜΆkΜΆsΜΆhΜΆoΜΆpΜΆ (postponed)

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    This workshop is postponed 'til September. Stay tuned for the new date! We apologize for the inconvenience. ΜΆJΜΆoΜΆiΜΆnΜΆ ΜΆuΜΆsΜΆ ΜΆoΜΆnΜΆ ΜΆTΜΆhΜΆuΜΆrΜΆsΜΆdΜΆaΜΆyΜΆ,ΜΆ ΜΆAΜΆuΜΆgΜΆuΜΆsΜΆtΜΆ ΜΆ2ΜΆ1ΜΆsΜΆtΜΆ ΜΆaΜΆnΜΆdΜΆ ΜΆlΜΆeΜΆaΜΆrΜΆnΜΆ ΜΆtΜΆhΜΆeΜΆ ΜΆbΜΆaΜΆsΜΆiΜΆcΜΆsΜΆ ΜΆoΜΆfΜΆ ΜΆbΜΆlΜΆoΜΆcΜΆkΜΆ ΜΆpΜΆrΜΆiΜΆnΜΆtΜΆiΜΆnΜΆgΜΆ!ΜΆ ΜΆWΜΆeΜΆ'ΜΆlΜΆlΜΆ ΜΆuΜΆsΜΆeΜΆ ΜΆSΜΆpΜΆeΜΆeΜΆdΜΆyΜΆ-ΜΆCΜΆaΜΆrΜΆvΜΆeΜΆ ΜΆbΜΆlΜΆoΜΆcΜΆkΜΆsΜΆ ΜΆtΜΆoΜΆ ΜΆcΜΆrΜΆeΜΆaΜΆtΜΆeΜΆ ΜΆdΜΆeΜΆsΜΆiΜΆgΜΆnΜΆsΜΆ,ΜΆ ΜΆtΜΆhΜΆeΜΆnΜΆ ΜΆwΜΆeΜΆ'ΜΆlΜΆlΜΆ ΜΆmΜΆaΜΆkΜΆeΜΆ ΜΆpΜΆrΜΆiΜΆnΜΆtΜΆsΜΆ ΜΆuΜΆsΜΆiΜΆnΜΆgΜΆ ΜΆaΜΆ ΜΆmΜΆaΜΆnΜΆuΜΆaΜΆlΜΆ ΜΆpΜΆrΜΆeΜΆsΜΆsΜΆ.ΜΆ ΜΆFΜΆuΜΆnΜΆ!ΜΆ     Photo CC-BY mosmanlibrary

  • Fri 22
    Animated GIF of a small circuit board with two blinking LED lights, two transistors, two capacitors, and four resistors
    August 22 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ⚑️ Beginner Soldering: Flashing LED Circuit

    ⚑️ Beginner Soldering: Flashing LED Circuit

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    In this workshop you'll learn the basics of soldering by building a tiny oscillator circuit with two transistors and two LED lights. No previous experience needed! Register: coming soon!  

  • Sat 23
    Photo of bookshelves with the following text overlaid: Saturday, August 23rd, 2025 The Philly Bookstore Crawl
    August 23 @ 10:00 am - 6:00 pm

    🐌 Philly Bookstore Crawl

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    The third annual Philly Bookstore Crawl is on Saturday, August 23rd. Can't wait to see y'all!

  • Tue 26
    Flyer with a green background and the following text: The Writing Room @ Iffy Books / Every Tuesday 5-7:30 PM / Come co-work with other writers in three 4-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.
    August 26 @ 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm ✏️ The Writing Room

    ✏️ The Writing Room

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.

  • Wed 27
    A 1950s-era book cover for 'A Canticle for Leibowitz' by Walter M. Miller Jr., with an illustration of a man wearing a cross necklace, wringing his hands with a distressed look on his face
    August 27 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm πŸͺ Speculative Futures Reading Group

    πŸͺ Speculative Futures Reading Group: ‘A Canticle for Leibowitz’ by Walter M. Miller Jr.

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    The Speculative Futures Reading Group meets on the last Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m.!

  • Thu 28
    Photo of a DIY macro keyboard sitting next to a laptop: a block of oak wood with two mechanical keyboard switches mounted on top, connected to a Raspberry Pi Pico device on the rear side. The key caps are mint green and pastel orange.
    August 28 @ 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm ⌨️ DIY Macro Keyboard Workshop

    βš™οΈ DIY Macro Keyboard Workshop

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    For this workshop you'll use a Pi Pico board and CircuitPython to create a programmable mechanical keyboard with two keys. No soldering experience necessary! To complete this project you'll need to buy a kit for $14. Here's what's included: β€’ RP2040/Pi Pico board β€’ 2 mechanical keyboard switches β€’ 2 key caps β€’ oak base […]

  • Fri 29
    Zine cover for "Build a Solar-Powered Music Synth," with the Iffy Books logo in the lower left corner. In the middle of the page there's a black-and-white drawing of cute hamsters assembling electronic components on a breadboard. A spiral sun is overhead, with a curving arrow pointing at a pair of music notes.
    August 29 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm β˜€οΈ Solar Music Synth Workshop

    β˜€οΈ Solar Music Synth Workshop

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Join us and build a tiny solar-powered square wave generator on a breadboard. No soldering required! The workshop is free to attend, but you'll need to purchase a kit for $12.50 to complete the project. Here's a link to the how-to zine we'll use. And here's a diagram of the oscillator circuit we'll build: Register:

  • Fri 29
    Animated GIF of a small circuit board with two blinking LED lights, two transistors, two capacitors, and four resistors
    August 29 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ⚑️ Beginner Soldering: Flashing LED Circuit

    ⚑️ Beginner Soldering: Flashing LED Circuit

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    In this workshop you'll learn the basics of soldering by building a tiny oscillator circuit with two transistors and two LED lights. No previous experience needed! Register:  

  • Sat 30
    The Meshtastic logo, with the word "Meshtastic" in black
    August 30 @ 10:30 am - 12:00 pm πŸ“‘ Meshtastic 101

    πŸ“‘ Meshtastic 101

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Join us for an introduction to Meshtastic, an application that lets you send private text messages over the air using pocket-sizedΒ LoRa radio transceivers. We’ll show you how to flash the latest Meshtastic firmware to the device, customize the settings, and start chatting with your friends. Here’s a link to our zine on LoRa + Meshtastic. […]

  • September 2025
  • Tue 2
    Flyer with a green background and the following text: The Writing Room @ Iffy Books / Every Tuesday 5-7:30 PM / Come co-work with other writers in three 4-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.
    September 2 @ 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm ✏️ The Writing Room

    ✏️ The Writing Room

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.

  • Thu 4
    Painting of workers and enormous machines in a Detroit auto plant, painted by Diego Rivera
    September 4 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm πŸ“š Capital Reading Group

    πŸ“š Capital Reading Group

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Join us for a discussion on Marx's Capital by. We'll post the sections we're covering before each meeting. We're reading Paul Reitter's recent translation (Princeton University Press, 2024).

  • Fri 5
    Animated GIF of a small circuit board with two blinking LED lights, two transistors, two capacitors, and four resistors
    September 5 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm ⚑️ Beginner Soldering: Flashing LED Circuit

    ⚑️ Beginner Soldering: Flashing LED Circuit

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    In this workshop you'll learn the basics of soldering by building a tiny oscillator circuit with two transistors and two LED lights. No previous experience needed! Register:  

  • Fri 5
    The words "Philly 2600" in an old-school digital font
    September 5 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm πŸ’» Philly 2600 Meetup

    πŸ’» Philly 2600 Meetup

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    > The Philly 2600 meeting is a monthly gathering of local hackers, phreaks, nerds, geeks, activists, tinkerers, developers, infosec professionals, and other interesting people.

  • Sun 7
    '80s style pink glowing text reading "Homebrew Website Club" with a purple triangle and rainbow and grid receding into the background
    September 7 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm 🏠 IndieWeb Homebrew Website Club

    🏠 I̢n̢d̢i̢e̢W̢e̢b̢ ̢H̢o̢m̢e̢b̢r̢e̢w̢ ̢W̢e̢b̢s̢i̢t̢e̢ ̢C̢l̢u̢b̢ ̢(canceled this month!)

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    The Homebrew Website Club is canceled this month! See y'all on October 5th. Homebrew Website Club is a growing world-wide network of meetups for everyone who wants to take back their web experience from social media silos, and own their online identities & content, or just want support with blogging!

  • Tue 9
    Flyer with a green background and the following text: The Writing Room @ Iffy Books / Every Tuesday 5-7:30 PM / Come co-work with other writers in three 4-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.
    September 9 @ 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm ✏️ The Writing Room

    ✏️ The Writing Room

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.

  • Thu 11
    September 11 @ 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm 🎲 Pico Game Timer & Dice Workshop

    🎲 Pico Game Timer & Dice Workshop

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    11Learn to make a programmable game timer and dice with a Pi Pico microcontroller! First you'll solder six LEDs, two switches, and a vibration motor to the board's GPIO pins. Then you'll install and customize the CircuitPython code that makes it work. No experience needed! You'll need to buy a kit for $9 to complete […]

  • Thu 11
    Cover of the current edition of Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by E. F. Schumacher, with an illustration of two hands, black on a white background, one holding the Earth
    September 11 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm βš™οΈ Neo-Luddite Reading Group

    βš™οΈ Neo-Luddite Reading Group: ‘Small Is Beautiful’ by E. F. Schumacher (moved to Thursday)

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Join us Thursday, September 11th at 6:30 p.m. ET for a discussion on Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by E. F. Schumacher. ➑️ Virtual Meetup Link Discord: Email neoluddite@victorgom.es for an invite! Full schedule: victorgom.es/neoluddite If you're joining for the first time, I'd suggest you read this before anything else for brief […]

  • Fri 12
    Zine cover for "Build a Solar-Powered Music Synth," with the Iffy Books logo in the lower left corner. In the middle of the page there's a black-and-white drawing of cute hamsters assembling electronic components on a breadboard. A spiral sun is overhead, with a curving arrow pointing at a pair of music notes.
    September 12 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm β˜€οΈ Solar Music Synth Workshop

    β˜€οΈ Solar Music Synth Workshop

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Join us and build a tiny solar-powered square wave generator on a breadboard. No soldering required! The workshop is free to attend, but you'll need to purchase a kit for $12.50 to complete the project. Here's a link to the how-to zine we'll use. And here's a diagram of the oscillator circuit we'll build: Register:

  • Fri 12
    Animated GIF of a small circuit board with two blinking LED lights, two transistors, two capacitors, and four resistors
    September 12 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ⚑️ Beginner Soldering: Flashing LED Circuit

    ⚑️ Beginner Soldering: Flashing LED Circuit

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    In this workshop you'll learn the basics of soldering by building a tiny oscillator circuit with two transistors and two LED lights. No previous experience needed! Register:  

  • Sat 13
    A drawing of two smiling turtles facing each other, with a wi-fi symbol over their heads. One is wearing a cowboy hat and the other is wearing a little bowler. Both turtles have computers on their backs. The text "Model Internet Club" is at the bottom in a typewriter font.
    September 13 @ 10:30 am - 12:30 pm πŸš‚ Model Internet Club

    πŸš‚ Model Internet Club

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    The Model Internet Club is back! Join us every third Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for an informal meetup focused on building small-scale computer networks. No registration needed for this event! If we run out of space we can expand into our back yard area.

  • Tue 16
    Flyer with a green background and the following text: The Writing Room @ Iffy Books / Every Tuesday 5-7:30 PM / Come co-work with other writers in three 4-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.
    September 16 @ 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm ✏️ The Writing Room

    ✏️ The Writing Room

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.

  • Wed 17
    Book cover for 'The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century' by Tim Weiner (2025). Blue background, white text, smudged gold seal with an eagle reading "Intelligence Agency"
    September 17 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm πŸ‘οΈ Intelligence History Reading Group: ‘Agents of Subversion’ by

    πŸ‘οΈ Intelligence History Reading Group: ‘The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century’ by Tim Weiner (2nd half)

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Join us Wednesday, September 17th at 7 p.m. for a discussion on the second half of The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century by Tim Weiner (2025). 🎧 Get the audiobook on Libro.fm At the turn of the century, the Central Intelligence Agency was in crisis. The end of the Cold War had robbed […]

  • Fri 19
    Top-down photo of an FM transmitter circuit on a printed circuit board, with a capsule microphone and audio input jack on the left side
    September 19 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm πŸ“» FM Transmitter Soldering Class

    πŸ“» FM Transmitter Soldering Class

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Come out and get some soldering practice! This time we're assembling a short-range FM transmitter kit with a built-in mic and a 1/8" audio input jack. This project is recommended for folks who have soldered at least once or twice before. If you're brand new to soldering, we recommend taking a beginner class first. Register: […]

  • Sat 20
    The Meshtastic logo, with the word "Meshtastic" in black
    September 20 @ 10:30 am - 12:00 pm πŸ“‘ Meshtastic 101

    πŸ“‘ Meshtastic 101

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Join us for an introduction to Meshtastic, an application that lets you send private text messages over the air using pocket-sizedΒ LoRa radio transceivers. We’ll show you how to flash the latest Meshtastic firmware to the device, customize the settings, and start chatting with your friends. Here’s a link to our zine on LoRa + Meshtastic. […]

  • Tue 23
    Flyer with a green background and the following text: The Writing Room @ Iffy Books / Every Tuesday 5-7:30 PM / Come co-work with other writers in three 4-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.
    September 23 @ 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm ✏️ The Writing Room

    ✏️ The Writing Room

    Iffy Books 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, United States

    Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.

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