Wonkette

* Chris Hitchens in conversation with Zachary Leader about Kingsley Amis. Olsson’s in Penn Quarter, free at 7PM. [Olsson's]
* John Vanderslice at the R&R Hotel with St. Vincent. $12 at 9PM. [R&R Hotel]
* Novelist Julia Alvarez in conversation with the NYT’s Mirta Ojito. This free event is at the Smithsonian but you need tickets, 7PM. [Smithsonian]

* CQ Senior Editor, Observer columnist and husband to someone-or-other Chris Lehmann plays guitar in a band called The Charm Offensive. They play The Red & The Black tonight at 9:30PM. [The Charm Offensive]
* American Prospect editor Paul Starr “offers a robust view of the promise of liberalism to tackle some of the social and political problems of our nation” in Freedom’s Power. P&P, free at 7PM. [P&P]
* Tonight is the first of five panel discussions about intelligence and terror. Tonight’s panel is called “The Continuing Necessity for Intelligence: The Eternal Verities.” Former Acting CIA director John McLaughlin and fomer director of the CIA’s Counter Terrorism Center Robert Grenier discuss how the world has changed. At Meridian House, 6:30 PM. $200 for five nights. [Smithsonian]

* New Republic Senior Editor Jonathan Cohn discusses his i-love-universal-health care book, Sick at P&P. “Government is not the bogeyman, but ‘an expression of our will and resources as a community.’” Free at 7PM. [P&P]
* Remember Shakespeare’s The History of Cardenio? Oh, you’ve never heard of it? There’s a free staged reading tonight at the Shakespeare Theatre on 7th St, 7:30PM. [Shakespeare Theatre]
* Bryan Scary and The Shedding Tears at the Black Cat with Head Like A Kite. $10 at 9PM. [Black Cat]

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* Talib Kweli at the University of Maryland with Sugarcult and William Tell. $15-20 at 7PM. [Ticketmaster]
* Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, 2006 . “Douglas Gordon and Philipe Parreno have created a film that is part documentary about a soccer match (Real Madrid vs. Villareal, April 23, 2005), part conceptual art portrait.” Free at 8PM [Hirshhorn]
* Local band Lejeune at DC9 with Life in a Hospital, the Jaguar Club and the Glory and the Majesty. $8 at 9PM. [DC9]

* Check out this jazzy film Independent Media in the Time of War and get free pizza and pasta at University of Maryland. [DC Indymedia]
* Vandaveer with the Oranges Band at the Rock and Roll Hotel. $10 at 8:30PM. [R&R Hotel]
* $1 fake burgers and DJ Dave Nada at Vegetate, which finally has a liquor license. 7-9PM. [Brightest Young Things]

* Blue Cheer at the Black Cat with An Albatross. $13 at 8PM. [Black Cat]
* Double booking at the 9:30 Club. Doors for The Books at 6PM and Ratatat with Despot & Hexa at 10PM. Both shows $15. [9:30 Club]

* If you super duper love the Kennedys then you might want to head out to Crystal City to see Neil Connolly. He was Rose Kennedy’s chef at the compound in Hyannisport and has written a book about the special Kennedy lobster salad, Kennedy potato salad and Kennedy plates of cold roast chicken. Refreshments will be served. Olsson’s, free at 7PM. [Olsson's]
* Aqualung at the 9:30 Club with Sara Bareilles. $20 at 9PM. [9:30 Club]
* Keith Jarrett: The Art of Improvisation at the Mary Pickford Theater. The 2005 documentary about pianist Keith Jarrett uses “rare clips, interviews and performances featuring his American and European Quartets, Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Manfred Eicher and the Standards Trio.” [LOC]

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* A.M. Homes reads from her memoir The Mistress’s Daughter at Politics & Prose. “vivid memoir about her confrontation with her biological parents after being raised by loving adoptive parents.” Remember the except in The New Yorker? Free at 7PM. [P&P]
* Air America is still broadcasting, and one of their hosts has written a book called Blue Grit. Her name is Laura Flanders and the book is “a searing attack on the Democrats from one of today’s most engaging political voices, and an incisive strategy for victory over the Republican party.” Free at 7PM at the Olsson’s in Penn Quarter. [Olsson's]
* Artists Pae White and Virgil Marti collaborated to create the new exhibit in the Hirshhorn lobby. They will discuss their ideas about ” how we interact with the spaces around us.” Free at 7PM, but tickets needed. [Hirshhorn]