GATHERINGS

GORE’S NEW EARTH The Minds That Move the World is a timely new series focused on the plurality of perspectives driving the current American political discourse. Over the course of three months, top political bloggers, pundits, campaign operatives, and national leaders, including President Clinton, will gather to debate and deliver insights about news of the day. The second of four talks is led by Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmentalist Vice President Gore. His Academy Award-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” (2006) brought global attention to issues of climate change. He discusses the dangers facing the environment, weighs in on the protracted Democratic presidential contest, and addresses other pressing issues. Friday, 8 p.m., Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Sixth Ave., between 50th and 51st streets, 212-247-4777, $30-$250.

ISRAEL @ 60

MAZEL TOV! Israel turns 60 this year, and to honor the country’s diamond anniversary, local campuses have organized events, in conjunction with the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office/Jewish Agency and an international Jewish fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi. Proceeds raised from the events will benefit hospitals in Israel. At New York University, the Edgar M. Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life has organized a series of events to celebrate the Jewish state, but also to promote discussion and awareness of issues important to supporters of Israel. On Friday, May 9 (10 a.m.-1 p.m.), festivities are at Madison Square Park, where an Israeli band, Shotei Hanevua, performs a free concert. The group’s sound is a fusion of dub reggae, hip-hop, and dance music. Israeli vendors are on hand serving free food; other activities include face painting, dancing, and a tournament of sheshbesh, a version of backgammon. (Broadway and Madison Avenue, between 23rd and 26th streets; for more information, go to nyu.edu/bronfman/new).

New Yorkers can also groove and dance during Israel Week at Queens College, where the band Moshav jams its reggae, rock, and Israeli-influenced tunes. A free barbecue presented at the college’s Hillel will offer tasty kosher dishes on Monday, May 5 (12:15-1:30 p.m., Queens College Hillel, Student Union room 206, 65-30 Kissena Blvd. at Melbourne Avenue, Flushing, Queens, 718-793-2222; for more, go to qchillel.org).MUSIC

A SOPRANO FOR ALL SEASONS Soprano Jessye Norman performs a program of music by composers such as Brahms and Mahler in “The Five Seasons: Summer, Winter, Spring, Fall, and the Eternal Season of Love!” at Carnegie Hall. Pianist Mark Markham accompanies Ms. Norman on such songs as “O Komme, holde Sommernacht” (Brahms), Gershwin’s “Love Walked In,” Vernon Duke’s “April in Paris,” and Richard Danielpour’s “I Envy Public Love.” Tomorrow, 8 p.m., Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium, 54 W. 57th St. at Seventh Avenue, 212-247-7800, $32-$108.

KISS THE GIRLS, MAKE THEM CRY The Brooklyn Philharmonic, in collaboration with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, performs Igor Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The ballet’s mischievous titular character devises an elaborate scheme to win back his girlfriend after she catches him with another woman. The production features new choreography by the artistic director of Complexions, Dwight Roden. Conductor Emil de Cou leads the orchestra. Friday, 7:30 p.m., Brooklyn Academy of Music, Howard Gillman Opera House, 30 Lafayette Ave., between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn, 718-636-4100, $20-$60.

TALKS

WORD’S WORTH

A conversation with author Ian McEwan and a Harvard scholar, Steven Pinker, is presented as part of the PEN World Voices Festival. A Booker Prize-winning author, Mr. McEwan’s most recently published novel is “On Chesil Beach,” about a newly married couple in their 20s. His “Atonement” was adapted for film in 2004 with actors Keira Knightley and James MacEvoy in lead roles. Messrs. McEwan and Pinker discuss the relationship between language and thinking. Mr. Pinker has written various books on the psychology of language, among them the best-selling “The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature” (Viking). Saturday, 2 p.m., Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave. at 36th Street, 212-868-4444, $15.

GUIDING LIGHTS

Artist Paul Chan discusses “The Spirit of Recession” in a conversation featured as part of the Public Art Fund’s Spring Talks program. Mr. Chan’s complex, digital animation works have earned him recognition. His first extensive exhibit in America, “The 7 Lights,” is currently on view at the New Museum of Contemporary Art. The series features large-scale digital projections, writings, drawings, and collages. Tonight, 6:30 p.m., the New School, John Tishman Auditorium, 66 W. 12th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-980-3942, $5 general, $3 seniors, free for students.

HAMBURGER HELPER A self-proclaimed hamburger expert, George Motz, discusses his new book, “Hamburger America: One Man’s Cross-Country Odyssey to Find the Best Burgers in the Nation” (Running Press). Mr. Motz, who embarked on a journey to find the 100 best patties in America, became engrossed in the hamburger world while filming his documentary, “Hamburger America,” which was nominated in 2006 for a James Beard Foundation Award. The director, who later taught a course about hamburgers at New York University, is the co-founder of the New York City Food Film Festival, which bows in June. Tomorrow, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble, 267 Seventh Ave., between 6th and 7th streets, Park Slope, 718-832-9066, free.

To submit an event for consideration for the Calendar, please wire the particulars to calendar@nysun.com, placing the date of the event in the subject line.

To submit an event for consideration for the Calendar, please wire the particulars to calendar@nysun.com, placing the date of the event in the subject line.