Richard Stengel

Thu., Dec. 2, 6:30 p.m., free (reservations required), National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St., 215-409-6700, constitutioncenter.org.

by Shaun Brady

[ reading/signing ]

Everyone knows there's simply too much information from far too many sources these days. The modern news environment requires an aggregator to sift through it all and distill it for the casual reader. That's the M.O. for the Huffington Post and its ilk, but it was no less the case in 1923, when Henry Luce and Briton Hadden founded Time magazine with the same purpose in mind. The new Time: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Influential Magazine , as the chest-thumping title implies, traces the red-bordered weekly's evolution through three-quarters of the "American Century," from impudent upstart to founding father and into an uncertain future where seven days seems a news-cycle eternity. No doubt current managing editor Richard Stengel, returning to his old stomping grounds at the National Constitution Center where he served as president and CEO from 2004 to 2006, will speculate on that future as he celebrates Time's storied past.

Thu., Dec. 2, 6:30 p.m., free (reservations required), National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St., 215-409-6700, constitutioncenter.org.