After5Boston - Geography of Success: Is The Game Rigged?

A Conversation on Geography, Human Nature, and the Unequal Rules of Success

Join a professor of geography and geopolitics for Geography of Success: Is the Game Rigged?, a thought-provoking exploration of how the world around us shapes our lives, opportunities, and futures. Why do some places flourish while others struggle? Why do certain communities gain wealth and influence while others face persistent challenges? Drawing on geography, geopolitics, and human behavior, we will examine the hidden forces that shape our world and challenges us to look beyond individual choices to understand the bigger systems at play.

What We'll Cover:

• How geography shapes our destiny - Explore how the places we live influence access to resources, economic opportunities, and the conditions that help individuals and communities thrive.

• The human nature behind power and inequality - Discover how people's incentives, fears, and decisions interact with their environments to shape competition, conflict, and the distribution of opportunity.

• Is the system working in everyone's favor? - Examine why some regions prosper while others fall behind, and question whether success is determined by individual effort or by larger forces beyond our control.

Whether you're fascinated by geopolitics, human behavior, economics, or the forces shaping our everyday lives, you'll leave with a deeper understanding of why the world works the way it does and a fresh perspective on whether the game of success is truly fair.

About The Speaker:

Anup Desai is a professor of geography and geopolitics at the City University of New York, where he has spent over 15 years exploring how the world really works beyond headlines and surface-level explanations. His work sits at the intersection of geography, human nature, and conflict. He believes that to understand war, you have to understand people their incentives, fears, environments, and the systems they build. He is also the founder of Rentah, a platform designed to rethink how we live, consume, and support local economies in an increasingly uncertain world. Through his lectures, Anup connects global forces to everyday life, offering a perspective that is both sobering and strangely hopeful.

Good to know before you come:

• Exact bar location will be disclosed in your confirmation email

• Arrive early to grab a drink and get settled

• The speaker portion lasts 1 hour, with optional time to stay and socialize afterward

• This is a participatory event

• Seating is limited to keep the experience intimate