Iffy Books | 404 S. 20th St., PHL

📚 Capital Reading Group
2025-02-20 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Join us on the first and third Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. for a reading group on Capital by Karl Marx. For February 20th we’re reading chapters 3 and 4.
We’ll be reading Paul Reitter’s recent translation (Princeton University Press, 2024).

📄 Design a Flyer with Scribus
2025-02-21 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-02-22 10:00 - 11:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Scribus is a free computer program you can use to design flyers, zines, books, and anything else you want to print! Unlike Microsoft Word, you can arrange text and images however you like. And unlike online design programs, your creative work won’t be vacuumed up by the surveillance state. 🙂
Register:
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🔓 TOOOL Lock Picking Meetup
2025-02-21 18:00 - 20:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
The third Friday of every month from 6–8 p.m. we host a meetup run by the Philadelphia Chapter of the Open Organization of Lockpickers.
> Come join us for our monthly open pick night at Iffy Books! Whether you’re a novice who just stumbled upon LockpickingLawyer, a seasoned safecracker, or somewhere in between, come join us for a evening of fun as we pop some locks.

💡 Solder & Code: Make a 3-Button Keyboard with a Pi Pico
2025-02-24 12:00 - 13:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
In this workshop you’ll build and program a customizable 3-button USB keyboard using a Pi Pico microcontroller. You can program each button to type a chunk of text (e.g., your email signature), enter a keyboard shortcut, or launch an application. It’s easier than it sounds!
Here’s what we’ll do:
• Solder three push button switches onto your Pi Pico
• Install CircuitPython firmware
• Install Adafruit HID libraries
• Copy example code to your Pi Pico
• Adjust the example code to make your own custom keyboard
We’ll have a limited number of computers to share, so bring a laptop (Windows/macOS/Linux) if you can.
You’ll need to buy a Pi Pico Push Button Interface Kit for $9.75 to complete this project. We’re recommending a $5–$25 donation for the class (notaflof).

Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

✏️ The Writing Room
2025-02-25 17:00 - 19:30, 2025-03-04 17:00 - 19:30, 2025-03-11 17:00 - 19:30, 2025-03-18 17:00 - 19:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, 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.

🖇️ Volunteer Zine Folding Session
2025-02-26 12:00 - 14:00, 2025-03-12 12:00 - 14:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
We print a *lot* of zines at Iffy Books, which we distribute for free or by donation. That means we’re constantly folding and stapling, which takes patience. And we’re currently having a hard time keeping all 150+ titles in stock.

So we’re running a volunteer zine folding session every other Wednesday afternoon! If you’ve been looking for a way to get involved at the shop, here’s your chance. (We’re limiting the number of sign-ups because we only have three booklet staplers.)
Register for Jan 15:
Registration is now closed. We'll offer this event again soon!

If you register and you can’t make it, let us know at iffybooks@iffybooks.net. Thanks!

🪐 Speculative Futures Reading Group: 'The Birds of Maine' by Michael DeForge
2025-02-26 19:00 - 20:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
On Wednesday, February 26th at 7 p.m. we’ll discuss the graphic novel The Birds of Maine by Michael DeForge. Hope to see you there!
> Long after the demise of humankind, birds roam freely around the Moon complete with fruitful trees, sophisticated fungal networks, and an enviable socialist order. The universal worm feeds all, there are no weekends, and economics is as fantastical a study as unicorn psychology. No concept of money or wealth plagues the thoughts of these free-minded birds. Instead, there are angsty teens who form bands to show off their best bird song and other youngsters who yearn to become clothing designers even though clothes are only necessary during war. (The truly honorable professions for most birds are historian or librarian.) These birds are free to crush on hot pelicans and live their best lives until a crash-landed human from Earth threatens to change everything.
> Michael DeForge’s post-apocalyptic reality brings together the author’s quintessential deadpan humor, surrealist imagination, and undeniable sociopolitical insight. Appearing originally as a webcomic, Birds of Maine follows DeForge’s prolific trajectory of astounding graphic novels that reimagine and question the world as we know it. His latest comic captures the optimistic glow of utopian imagination with a late-capitalism sting of irony.

❤️ Soldering Practice: LED Heart Board
2025-02-27 12:00 - 13:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Come out and get some soldering practice! This time we’re making a heart-shaped board with 22 LEDs, using an oscillator circuit to dim and brighten them at the speed you choose.
This project is ideal for folks who have soldered at least once before. Beginners are welcome to join us, but it may take you more than one session to finish. Working with a friend is encouraged!
The kit you’ll need to complete this project costs $5.50. We’re suggesting a $10–$25 donation for the class, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

🎵 Cassette Mixtape Session
2025-02-28 12:00 - 13:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Bring a playlist on your phone/computer and we’ll help you record it to an audio cassette tape. We have plenty of tapes to share!
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

📡 ̶M̶e̶s̶h̶t̶a̶s̶t̶i̶c̶ ̶1̶0̶1̶ (tomorrow at PCW instead!)
2025-02-28 15:00 - 17:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
We’re calling off this workshop because we’re doing one with Philly Community Wireless the following day, Saturday, March 1st. We’re very sorry for the inconvenience.
Join us for an introduction to Meshtastic, an application that lets you send private text messages over the air using pocket-sized 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.

📡 Meshtastic Workshop with Iffy Books & PCW
2025-03-01 11:00 - 14:00 | Philly Community Wireless, 2141 N Howard St., Philadelphia, PA, United States
Join us Saturday, March 1st at 2141 N. Howard St. to learn about Meshtastic and LoRa for building encrypted networks with Steve McLaughlin from @iffybooks!
Meshtastic uses small radios to send signals, and these radios connect to each other to form a “mesh” network of devices without using the internet or phone lines. We’ll start off by working with individual nodes, break for lunch, and then we’ll focus on router algorithms and outdoor router nodes.

🐧 Linux Lab: E-Z Command-Line Encryption
2025-03-02 10:30 - 12:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
The first Sunday of every month we’ll host a self-guided tutorial for Linux beginners.

On March 2nd we’ll focus on no-frills encryption techniques using the command line. Stop by any time from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and learn a new skill! We have plenty of computers to share.
We’re suggesting a $5–$10 donation for this one, no one turned away for lack of funds.
echo "My secret message ❤️" > example.txt

openssl aes-256-cbc -a -in example.txt -out message.enc.txt

openssl aes-256-cbc -d -a -in message.enc.txt -out plain-text.txt
Photo CC-BY-SA Mark Dickson

⚡ Beginner Soldering: Make a DIY Guitar Cable
2025-03-05 12:00 - 13:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Join us for a relatively quick and easy soldering workshop, suitable for total beginners! You’ll strip some wires and solder 1/4-inch plugs to the ends, creating your own guitar cable.
You can get a kit with 6 inches of cable for $4.25, or 4 feet for $13.50. We’re suggesting a $5–$15 donation for the class, notaflof.
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

📚 Capital Reading Group
2025-03-06 19:00 - 21:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Join us on the first and third Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. for a reading group on Capital by Karl Marx.
We’ll be reading Paul Reitter’s recent translation (Princeton University Press, 2024).

October 17:
• The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, Chapters 1–5
• Principles of Political Economy by John Stuart Mill, Chapter 1
November 7: Chapter 1, section 1
November 21: Chapter 1, section 2
December 5: 4. Chapter 1, section 3
December 19: Chapter 1, section 4
January 2: Recap and discussion
January 16: Chapter 2
February 6: Chapter 3, section 1
February 20: Chapter 3, section 2
March 6: Chapter 3, section 3
March 20: Chapter 4 ..

🔊 Beginner Soldering: DIY Audio Meter
2025-03-07 14:00 - 15:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Join us for another beginner-friendly soldering project at Iffy Books! You’ll assemble a DIY audio meter kit, which you can use to visualize an audio signal’s amplitude.
To complete this project you’ll need to buy a kit for $7.95. We’re suggesting a $10–$30 donation for the class. We’ll provide soldering irons and solder.
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

💻 Philly 2600 Meetup
2025-03-07 18:00 - 20:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, 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.

💡 Solder & Code: Make a 3-Button Keyboard with a Pi Pico
2025-03-08 10:00 - 11:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
In this workshop you’ll build and program a customizable 3-button USB keyboard using a Pi Pico microcontroller. You can program each button to type a chunk of text (e.g., your email signature), enter a keyboard shortcut, or launch an application. It’s easier than it sounds!
Here’s what we’ll do:
• Solder three push button switches onto your Pi Pico
• Install CircuitPython firmware
• Install Adafruit HID libraries
• Copy example code to your Pi Pico
• Adjust the example code to make your own custom keyboard
We’ll have a limited number of computers to share, so bring a laptop (Windows/macOS/Linux) if you can.
You’ll need to buy a Pi Pico Push Button Interface Kit for $9.75 to complete this project. We’re recommending a $10–$30 donation for the class (notaflof).

Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

⚙️ Neo-Luddite Reading Group
2025-03-12 18:30 - 20:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Full schedule: victorgom.es/neoluddite
➡️ Virtual Meetup Link
Time and Place: The 2nd Wednesday of each month 6:30-8:30 EST in-person at Iffy Books. There is also a virtual option for accessibility purposes, also hosted by Iffy Books.

Email neoluddite@victorgom.es, or sign up at iffy to be added to the mailing list! Necessary for receiving the jitsi link (video-conferencing software we will use) and if you’d like to join the discord.The issues and harms surrounding emerging technologies are especially concerning given the lack of regulation in the tech industry generally, and the tendency of productivity-increasing technology to further concentrate power in the hands of the few. This reading group will explore these risks and engage with how they work in the hopes of better organizing to protect the rights of workers and individuals. The goal is to have a better understanding of the costs (data, carbon, human labor) and risks (misinformation, unpredictability, bias) of making these machines, as well as limitations in what they can learn about the world primarily through data scraped from the internet.
We’re currently reading two books on privacy and related practices: Cybersecurity by Duane C. Wilson and Obfuscation by Finn Burton and Helen Nissembaum.
Archived pages of our previous books include: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Resisting AI, The Human Use of Human Beings, Race After Technology, Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech, and The Eye of the Master: A Social History of Artificial Intelligence by Matteo Pasquinelli. If you’d like to learn more about me, you can visit victorgom.es for a bio.

Schedule
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 meeting. You’re still welcome to participate if you haven’t done the readings as long as you are mindful. For each chapter, I’ve also noted some optional readings for context, so I’d suggest checking those out rather than reading ahead in the book. And remember, if you ever find yourself struggling with any of the readings or concepts, reach out! Either directly to me over email or to the entire group over discord.

Meeting 1 (March 12th):📖 Cybersecurity

1. Cybersecurity Origins

A History of Cryptography From the Spartans to the FBI by Panos Louridas

2. Foundations

The Surveillance AI Pipeline by Kalluri et al.

3. Cryptography Demystified

A Primer on Cryptography by Aïda Diop

4. Cybersecurity in Layers

TBD by

5. Who Attacked Me?

TBD by

6. Malware in Action

TBD by

7. Modern-Day Applications

Homeland Security Uses AI Tool to Analyze Social Media of U.S. Citizens and Refugees by Joseph Cox

8. Cybersecurity for the Future

Artificial intelligence is going to supercharge surveillance by James Vincent

Meeting 2 (April 9th):📖 Obfuscation

1. An Obfuscation Vocabulary

TBD by

2. Understanding Obfuscation

TBD by

Additional resources

Outreach Resources & Guides

📜 Digital Defense Playbook: Community Power Tools for Reclaiming Data by Our Data Bodies
📜 A People’s Guide to AI by Mimi Onuoha and Mother Cyborg (Diana Nucera)
📜 Algorithmic Accountability: A Primer by Data & Society
🗞️ Prior to (or instead of) using ChatGPT with your students by Autumn Caines

Potential Future Reads

📖 Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor by Virginia Eubanks
📖 Questioning Technology: Tool, Toy or Tyrant by John Zerzan & Alice Carnes
📖 Technofix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us or the Environment by Michael Huesemann & Joyce Huesemann
📖 Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor by Kim Kelly
📖 The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation by Cory Doctorow

Links to more links

📋 Critical Lenses on AI by Iris van Rooij
📋 Resources by Ruha Benjamin

More on Luddites

🗞️ I’m a Luddite. You should be one too by Jathan Sadowski
🗞️ Byron Was One of the Few Prominent Defenders of the Luddites by Kat Eschner

Poems

🎵 A Luddite Lullaby by Don Bogen
🎵 All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace by Richard Brautigan
🎵 I Am the People, the Mob by Carl Sandburg
🎵 They Say This Isn’t a Poem by Kenneth Rexroth
🎵 Under Which Lyre by W.H. Auden
🎵 When I Heard The Learn’d Astronomer by Walt Whitman

🗯️ Overflowing Poetry: Dylan Angell, Lizzy Hindman-Harvey & Robert David Carey
2025-03-13 19:00 - 21:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Doors at 7, reading at 7:30!

⚡️ Tabling at Temple Electronics Faire
2025-03-14 10:30 - 16:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Temple Electronics Faire Website
Electronics are complex technical objects. They have militaristic and colonial origins, are made out of materials invasively extracted by western corporations on indigenous lands, have short use cycles and decay on a slow geological scale. Circuit boards are embedded with sexist and racist logics, and formal training in understanding, producing, and repairing them continues to operate under exclusionary principles. Despite– or maybe in spite of this history, manifold traditions of marginalized communities using electronics as a form of social relating, intimacy, and resistance continue to flourish.
Electronics Faire is a multi-layered celebration and demonstration of this flourishing. The event features a sit, tinker, and walk-through fair tabled by local organizations in Philadelphia working with electronics, a series of paper presentations, and workshops for hands-on learning and experimentation with electronics.
Past tablers include: Iffy Books, Philly Typewriter, Philly Community Wireless, Temple’s Computer Recycling Center, and the Low Pass Synths and Coffee.
“I proposed the event upon realizing that there’s very limited curriculum at Temple (and most higher education institutions in the greater Philadelphia region) for interdisciplinary work with electronics–whether that be in the arts or humanities– and there is generally a lack of awareness about the myriad communities who are doing radical work with electronics within and beyond Philadelphia. The heart of the faire is about creating community between the people doing this work, and making this type of work more accessible to those interested in joining.”
– Hannah Tardie, Makerspace Manager, LCDSS

💕 Late Blooming Lovers Market at Love Park
2025-03-15 12:00 - 17:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Vday was for the birds this year in Philly, so we are offering all our late blooming lovers a chance to join us for a our annual lovers market in March to celebrate the start of Spring.
EVENT IS INSDE THE LOVE PARK SAUCER LOCATED AT 1600 JFK
🎁Our Now + Then Marketplace features the following vendors:
🕯️TBA – candles
🧂Sundry Mornings – spices, sauces & bloody mary mix
🍃TOAST – smokeware
👕Leopard Luvin Vintage – vintage clothing
🐶Designed 4 paws philly – dog coats
🫂Not A Bad Life – self care gifts
🧴Joint Joint – CBD topicals
🪡Cotton Vine Thread Co. – handmade embroidery items
🧸Vamvaki – crochet plushies
🧁Frost & Crumb Body Co LLC – dessert themed body products
🍷Moka Melts – glass art
🍰NiniBSweets – desserts, cakes pies and cookies
📖Iffy Books- love & romance themed books
🐛Moss & Bug – Handmade rugs, stickers, clay pins keychains and prints
🏺Lasagna Bandit Ceramics – wheel-thrown functional dishware, figurines, and trinkets.
🦇Bat in the Attic – sports jerseys & vintage toys / collectibles from the 90s
☕Many Hands Coffee Co.- Coffee & Espresso based drinks
💬 Free Dating Advice Philly – A table where people can drop by and get objective opinions about their dating drama, get a dating profile review, etc
🆓 FREE to attend
🐕 Dog & kid friendly! See less

🚂 Model Internet Club (moved to Sunday!)
2025-03-16 10:30 - 12:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
The Model Internet Club is back! Join us every third Sunday 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.

📡 Meshtastic 101
2025-03-17 12:00 - 13:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Join us for an introduction to Meshtastic, an application that lets you send private text messages over the air using pocket-sized 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.
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

🪡 Beginner Darning Workshop
2025-03-18 15:00 - 16:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Join us for a class on how to darn your clothes! Bring a garment with a small hole (dime-sized is ideal) or we’ll provide a scrap you can use. We’re recommending a $10–$20 donation for this workshop, notaflof.
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

⚡ Beginner Soldering: Make a DIY Guitar Cable
2025-03-19 12:00 - 13:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Join us for a relatively quick and easy soldering workshop, suitable for total beginners! You’ll strip some wires and solder 1/4-inch plugs to the ends, creating your own guitar cable.
You can get a kit with 6 inches of cable for $4.25, or 4 feet for $13.50. We’re suggesting a $10–$20 donation for the class, notaflof.
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!
