How Americans move around - whether by car, train, bus, bikes or on foot - is largely determined by what gets funded. Since the post-war 1950s, we’ve heavily funded the creation of an interconnected highway system to the detriment of, among others, establishing a robust public transit system throughout the country. As a result, we are decades behind other countries when it comes to affordable and accessible transit options.

This year, Congress is proposing the Building Unrivaled Infrastructure and Long-Term Development for America’s 250th Act, or BUILD Act which would cut the already disproportionately dwarfed (compared to roads and highways) funding for transit across the country. Massachusetts, in particular, already stands to lose about 18% of its current funding level or up to $400M.

This discussion offers a breakdown of the daunting topic of federal funding for transportation, its current constraints, what it takes for us to build world-class transit, and how we can better fund how people choose to move around in urban and rural America today.

According to research, public trust in the Supreme Court is near a three-decade low. Most Americans, across party lines, still say justices shouldn't let politics shape their rulings, and most also believe, increasingly, that they do. Rachel A. Shelden, author of “The Political Supreme Court: A Forgotten History,” speaks at the Cambridge Forum.

Rachel A. Shelden is a historian of nineteenth-century America and Associate Professor of History at Penn State University, where she also directs the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center. Her research explores the intersections of politics, constitutionalism, law, and slavery, with a particular focus on the role of personal relationships and political networks.

Nina Zannieri, Executive Director of the Paul Revere House, hosts two noted silver experts for a thoughtful discussion of Revere as perhaps America’s best-known silversmith.

Janinehas curated exhibitions, lectured, and written widely on the topics of silver, ceramics, and dining in England and America.

Jeannine is an independent curator working in craft, design, and American culture.

Journalist Jon Gertner explains the origins and unique capabilities of Bell Laboratories, AT&T’s vaunted R&D organization. The work at the labs led to many of the most revolutionary technologies of the 20th Century, including the transistor, the laser, digital communications, the solar cell, and communications satellites.

Jon is a writer for the New York Times Magazine and is an editor at Fast Company magazine.

After Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Sarah Longwell did what she's done nearly every week for the past eight years: She sat down with voters. Now she offers a playbook for building a coalition big enough, bold enough, and tough enough to defeat authoritarian populism for good.

Virginia Eubanks comes to Cambridge for a discussion of her new memoir, "A Guide to Open Water Lifesaving: Lessons on Love, Care, and Survival," a moving story of her own efforts to survive caregiving, trauma, love, and the systems seemingly set up to fail us.