Past Events

Tiya Miles' scholarship examines enslavement in the U.S. South. In this lecture, she discusses the stories of several enslaved, Black women who drew upon their experiences and relationships with the natural world to find hope and help them achieve the lives they imagined.

Miles has consulted with colleagues at historic sites and museums on representations of slavery, African American material culture, and the Black-Indigenous intertwined past, including, most recently, the “Fabric of a Nation” quilt exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

She is a MacArthur Genius and an award-winning author who has published eleven books, essays and reviews in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, The New York Review of Books, as well as other publications. Her time-bridge novel The Cherokee Rose, is a ghost story set in the plantation South.

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This lecture is co-sponsored by Boston College History Department, American Studies, African and African Diaspora Studies, Women’s Studies, Environmental Studies, the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, and the Forum for Racial Justice in America.

The Lowell Humanities Series is sponsored by the Lowell Institute, Boston College's Institute for the Liberal Arts, and the Provost's Office.

The American Ancestors American Inspiration series and Boston Public Library present the 2025 Pulitzer Prize–winning author Kathleen DuVal to discuss her book, "Native Nations."

The GBH BPL studio will host Outspoken Saturdays, a spoken word poetry event for emerging artists. Every first Saturday of the month, the series will be created in collaboration with spoken word artist Amanda Shea. Join us!

Registration is encouraged for this free event.

GBH Amplifies is a community conversation series focused on expanding the reach of local voices from Greater Boston and beyond. The series features community leaders hosting public conversations in the GBH Studio at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, providing a platform for inclusive perspectives on the issues that matter most to New England communities. GBH Amplifies happens weekly on Thursdays from 12:30-1:30pm at the GBH BPL Studio. This event is free and open to the public. The monthly schedule is:
First Thursday of the Month: James ‘Jimmy’ Hills, Host of Java with Jimmy
Second Thursday of the Month: Ron Mitchell, Publisher and Editor of The Bay State Banner
Third Thursday of the Month: Alberto Vasallo III, President and CEO of El Mundo Boston
GBH Amplifies is also being supported by the Barr Foundation.

The labor movement in the United States has been a bulwark of democracy and a driving force for social and economic equality. Yet the stories remain largely unknown to Americans.

Bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan takes us beyond the page of her brand-new psychological thriller, "All This Could Be Yours."

Known for her pulse-pounding plots and powerhouse prose, Hank is the author of 16 thrillers, an Emmy-winning investigative reporter, and a true master of suspense. Her latest novel delivers a captivating look at the dark side of success, when a glamorous book tour becomes a deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

Guided by GBH News investigative reporter Liz Neisloss, get the inside scoop behind this latest work, called Hank’s “best book to date,” by the Library Journal. Plus, enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at her career and writing process in an evening that promises twists and turns.

Stories from the Stage warmly invites you to our home (studio) for a night of storytelling related to the concept of “home.” It can be a safe haven — or something you had to escape; a person, a location, or a dream; a place you swore you'd never return to; or a sanctuary you created. Come listen to true stories of home in all its beauty, heartbreak, complexity, and contradiction as you sit on set at Stories from the Stage.

At Stories from the Stage, produced by GBH WORLD, ordinary people share extraordinary experiences that you will not soon forget. In each taping, we get up-close and personal with storytellers about what inspires them and the craft of storytelling. Join us!

6:30pm Doors open to GBH's Atrium
7:00pm Doors open to GBH's Calderwood Studio for seating



This event is presented with support from our sponsor Liberty Mutual Insurance.

Join us at the GBH Studios at the Boston Public Library for a night of NOVA science trivia! Get ready for creative categories and exciting prizes as we test your knowledge, from the depths of the universe to the history of science.

This month, we will be going back to school to revisit your favorite school subject... science, of course!

Registration is encouraged for this free event.

Schools and colleges are open for business – it’s the fall semester – but the statistics are depressing. Nationally, high school seniors have scored the worst on reading results since 1992. The data, from the respected National Assessment of Education Progress, showed that a third of 12th-graders who were tested last year, did not meet basic reading skills. Forbes magazine recently reported on the “dark side of AI: tracking the decline of human cognitive skills” and the National Endowment for the Arts noted that federal data showed a slump in reading for pleasure. So, is any or all of this attributable to the invasion of AI into our kids’ classrooms?

ChatGPT was initially pitched as a useful technological “tool”, yet more educational analysts are expressing concerns that tests show we are losing fundamental critical thinking skills in the process. As Sarah O’Connor commented in a Financial Times opinion piece, “without solid skills of your own, it is only a few short steps from being supported by the machine, to finding yourself dependent on it, or subject to it.”

MIT’s recent media study published unsettling results on cognitive performance using ChatGPT and the only people who seem unconcerned are Sam Altman and other tech leaders. CF has put together a panel of AI observers, including a neuroscientist, a professor of humanities and a student to discuss some of the challenges and concerns associated with generative AI and learning. Until we know more about the cognitive effects of technology like ChatGPT, should we be inserting it into the classroom? And if, as recent studies indicate, it homogenizes thinking and creativity, are we content to let our kids’ education go into experimental free fall?

Join NOVA at Harvard University's Science Center for a screening of selected clips from Critical Condition and When Machines Prescribe paired with a panel discussion featuring filmmakers and experts from the film. The program will begin at 4PM and the event will be followed by a catered reception.

In Critical Condition: Health in Black America, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Stanley Nelson investigates the dramatic health disparities in the US, even as scientists confirm that there are no meaningful genetic differences between races. From the deep history of pseudoscientific beliefs about race that still permeate modern medicine, to the latest research on how experiencing discrimination can directly damage the body’s DNA and biology, Critical Condition reveals the factors behind the health crisis facing Black Americans.

The accompanying short documentary, When Machines Prescribe, produced by Llew Smith and Kelly Thomson, investigates the use of race in clinical algorithms. Designed to weigh factors like symptoms, medical history, and test results to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients, some medical algorithms were built using data based on old pseudoscience about racial differences and their continued use has harmed the health of Black patients.