National Geographic Live talk with explorer Ryan Carney about nature's bloodsuckers, with iconic National Geographic footage.
Ryan Carney brings Battling Bloodsuckers to Benaroya Hall this November, the first of six National Geographic Live talks coming to the venue over the next few months. Carney is an explorer and an epidemiologist, and he spends the hour looking at bats, mosquitoes, and the other blood-drinkers of the natural world. He frames it through a sci-fi lens on infectious disease research, so it's as much about the science of how these things spread as it is about the creatures themselves. The talk is built around iconic National Geographic footage and imagery, the kind of stuff you'd usually only see in the magazine, playing behind him while he tells the stories from the field.
It's part of the National Geographic Live Seattle Speaker Series, which brings the photographers, scientists, filmmakers, and adventurers from the organization onto the stage at Benaroya Hall. This is the first of six talks in the series, which runs from November 2026 through May 2027, with five other National Geographic Explorers taking the stage after Carney. If you've got a thing for natural history and the weirder side of biology, this is the one to start with.
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There are three chances to catch it: Sunday, November 1, at 2 PM; Monday, November 2, at 7:30 PM; and Tuesday, November 3, at 7:30 PM. Benaroya Hall is the home of the Seattle Symphony, and it's the most-visited performing arts venue in the city, so you've probably been there for a concert or a symphony program before. It opened in 1998 and picked up an AIA National Honor Award for architecture in 2001. Between the Sunday matinee and the two weeknight slots, you can pick the time that works best for you.
