Past Events

Computers are learning to read our emotions and it is big business. Alexa will soon be servicing all our needs. But can we really trust the robots? Join Judith Shulevitz, from the Atlantic Monthly, and Maxim Pozdorovkin, film-maker of The Truth About Killer Robots, as they discuss the future of robots.

We love to hate villains, but entertainment certainly wouldn’t be the same without them. They are the necessary evil that defines every hero, but what exactly is a villain? Listen as a TV critic and an academic talk all about villains. Images: Presentation Slides

Surveillance capitalism is the foundation of a new economic order. Firms compete on the manufacture of "prediction products" traded in lucrative new "behavioral futures markets." Surveillance capitalism's proprietary digital architectures -- what Shoshana Zuboff calls "Big Other" -- are designed to capture and control human behavior for competitive advantage in these new markets, as the production of goods and services is subordinated to a new "means of behavioral modification" that favors private market outcomes free of democratic oversight or control. Acclaimed scholar and author Shoshana Zuboff, Ph.D., Harvard Business School professor emerita speaks on the publication of her new book, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight For a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. The event is moderated by Christopher Lydon, radio host of WBUR's Open Source. Image: Book cover

Enjoy poetry with Sally Wen Mao, Jennifer Tseng, and Ocean Vuong to celebrate the release of Sally Wen Mao’s new poetry collection Oculus. Through poetry and fiction, through experimentation with form and genre, the work of these writers complicates our understanding of nationality and place by considering all that goes into their construction - technology and spectacle, translation and language, trauma and war. Image: Book Covers

Scientist, inventor, diplomat, statesman, philanthropist - Benjamin Franklin’s long list of contributions to American history demonstrates the brilliance and public spirit that made him an enduring legend. Franklin also made his mark as a writer of poems and essays, even as a teenage printer-in-training, when he lived on Milk Street and attended church in the 1669 wooden meeting house on this site. Franklin scholar Robert Martello helps us peek over the shoulder of this literary founding father, born January 6, 1706 and baptized at Old South Meeting House. Experience the political controversies, pen names, wisdom, and humor that shaped not only Franklin’s career, but the identity of the young republic. Part of the Series Bibliophile Birthdays: Celebrating the Authors of Old South Meeting House Image: [Wikicommons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin#/media/File:Benjamin_Franklin_1767.jpg "Wikicommons")

[The Shaw 54th Memorial on the Boston Common](https://www.nps.gov/boaf/learn/historyculture/shaw.htm "Shaw Memorial info") has been called “one of the monuments that changed America.” More than 120 years ago the bronze sculpture was placed strategically on Boston Common opposite the Massachusetts State House and dedicated to "the group of men who were among the first African Americans to fight in [the Civil] war." As plans get underway to restore the memorial, four organizations—the National Parks Service, the City of Boston, Friends of the Public Garden, and the Museum of African American History— convened citizens together for a conversation to deepen dialogue about race, freedom, and justice and raise awareness of the significance of the memorial and the story it tells. **About the Renewal of the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial** The Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial is at the heart of a powerful narrative that unfolds along Boston’s Black History Trail. The sculpture and its foundation requires significant upgrades to assure its longevity. A new partnership has been established to undertake a complete $2.8 million restoration of the Memorial to stabilize the monument. The work is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2019. Image: [Wikicommons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gould_Shaw_Memorial#/media/File:St_GaudensShaw_Mem.jpg "Wikicommons")

Comprehensive immigration reform has been a hot button issue for decades in this country. Immigration policy forces politicians and citizens alike to weigh economic and security concerns against humanitarian interests. The current administration has approached this issue with an emphasis on "security first" regarding immigration policy, looking to slash immigration to the United States. Measures including the "travel ban," the proposed border-wall with Mexico, and pledges to deport millions of undocumented immigrants all raise questions on how to balance keeping America safe from terrorism while still being a "nation of immigrants." This panel examines the Immigration Debate: Balancing Security and Compassion. The event is co-sponsored by Vilna Shul, Boston's Center for Jewish Culture. Image: Pexels.com

Tina Brown is an award-winning writer and served as the editor at Tatler, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. She visited the Boston Public Library to discuss her 2017 book, The Vanity Fair Diaries, a look at her time at the helm of Vanity Fair, and at life among well-heeled New Yorkers in the 1980s. Brown is also the founder of the Women-in-the-world-summit , and began a new podcast in 2018 called TBD With Tina.

The African National Congress (ANC) party has governed South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994. But the party today suffers from popular frustration over official corruption and economic stagnation. It faces growing threats from both left and right opposition parties, even as intraparty divisions surface. Given America’s history of opportunistic engagement with Africa, there are few prospects for a closer relationship between the two countries. Meanwhile, a weaker ANC could lead to political fragmentation in this relatively new democracy. Learn more about the state of South Africa's democracy with Evan Lieberman. Image: [Pexels.com](https://www.pexels.com/photo/atlas-continent-country-creativity-269850/ "Pexels.com")

Crafting memories into compact verse, D. M. Aderibigbe traces the history of domestic and emotional abuse against women in his family. As a son, grandson, nephew, and brother, he rejects the tradition in his native Nigeria, where men are praised in song, refusing to offer tribute to men who dishonor their wives. Image: Book Cover