Past Events

The 2024 presidential election cycle has been an almost literal rollercoaster ride. Join renowned pollster David Paleologos of Suffolk University's Political Research Center who will discuss the most recent Suffolk University survey results, the crucial issues motivating voters, and the key demographics that could make-or-break this next most unprecedented presidential election.

Climate Beacon, the region’s premier global climate change gathering, is back from October 16-18 at the UMass Club and the Boston Society of Architects. This is where corporate, municipal, institutional, and community leaders all come together with experts and practitioners to share information, get down to brass tacks, and chart paths to more sustainable, livable futures.

On October 17, GBH President and CEO Susan Goldberg will host Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and other phenomenal municipal leaders to dive into the decisions that are being made to try to keep our cities at the forefront of scaling climate change solutions while also ensuring healthier, safer, and more equitable communities for everyone.




Michelle Wu credit: Courtesy City of Boston, Mayor's Office
Susan Goldberg credit: Celeste Sloman

Join the Charles River Museum for an inspiring look at the life and times of Major Taylor, one of the most consequential athletes in American sports history.

Taylor was racing on the national and international stage at a time when the U.S. was deeply segregated. He combatted both racial prejudice and systemic barriers to triumph as the 'world's fastest man'. The legendary African American cyclist and the Charles Metz Company of Waltham, MA., were deeply intertwined through the golden age of bicycle racing and innovation. Taylor raced on Metz's "Orient" bicycles, and his sprinting ability and speed on the lightweight Orient bikes brought him national fame during the rise of cycling as a competitive sport in America.

However, as the 20th century progressed, the bicycle industry began to decline, largely due to the rise of automobiles. Charles Metz himself shifted his focus from bicycles to cars, founding the Metz Company in 1909, marking the end of an era for Waltham's bicycle production. Still, Taylor's triumphs in the face of racial diversity remain a lasting legacy of both his own perserverance, and the innovations of the Waltham-based Metz Company.

Join us for an evening of laughter and storytelling at this taping of Stories from the Stage. Our talented storytellers will share moments that turned awkward situations into unforgettable memories. You'll be reminded of the power of humor and why laughter truly is the best medicine. Don't miss out on this entertaining and uplifting event!

At Stories from the Stage, produced by GBH WORLD, ordinary people share extraordinary experiences that you will not soon forget. You’ll hear stories of love and loss, amazing adventures, incredible surprises and unexpected triumphs. In each taping, we get up-close and personal with storytellers about what inspires them and the craft of storytelling. Join us!

Monumental Market, a peanut and tree nut-free woman-owed bakery in Jamaica Plain, will be onsite selling sweet and savory bites starting at just $2.50!

6:30pm Doors open to GBH's Atrium where the bar is open and snacks are available for purchase
7:00pm Doors open to GBH's Calderwood Studio for seating

Note all onsite purchases will be credit card only.
Event registration is required. Seating is general admission.
The maximum capacity of this event is 120.

This event is presented with support from our sponsor Liberty Mutual Insurance.
This event is also presented with support from our sponsor MBTA Commuter Rail.

This event is SOLD OUT. Please join the waitlist. We will be in touch with you if tickets open up.

Explore the life and prolific works of artist, scientist, and engineer Leonardo da Vinci in Ken Burns’s latest film LEONARDO da VINCI. Following a sneak peek of clips from the film, GBH President and CEO Susan Goldberg will moderate a conversation with filmmakers Ken Burns and his co-director and Sarah Burns. The Museum of Fine Arts’ Senior Curator of European Sculpture & Phillips Curator of Judaica, Marietta Cambareri, will also join the panel to discuss the unique genius of this Italian Renaissance polymath.

About the film
LEONARDO da VINCI follows the artist’s evolution as a draughtsman and painter, scientist and engineer, who used notebooks to explore an astonishing array of subjects including painting, philosophy, engineering, warfare, anatomy, and geography, among many others. Though he intended to publish his writings, he never did, but the film delves into those he left behind to get inside his mind as he strove to master the laws of nature and apply them to his endeavors.

LEONARDO da VINCI looks at how the artist influenced and inspired future generations, and it finds in his soaring imagination and profound intellect the foundation for a conversation we are still having today: what is our relationship with nature and what does it mean to be human.

LEONARDO da VINCI will air November 18 and 19, at 8-10pm ET (check local listings) on GBH, PBS.org and the PBS App.

About Ken Burns
Ken Burns is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who has directed and produced numerous acclaimed historical documentaries over the past fifty years, including the Academy Award nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, The Civil War, The Vietnam War, and Country Music. He has been honored with multiple Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

About Sarah Burns
Sarah Burns is an author and documentary producer, best known for her work on The Central Park Five and Jackie Robinson. Her documentaries have won several awards and nominations, including a Peabody Award and Writers Guild of America award.

About Marietta Cambareri
Marietta Cambareri, Ph.D., is Senior Curator of European Sculpture and Phillips Curator of Judaica at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She curated and wrote the publications accompanying the exhibitions Della Robbia: Sculpting with Color in Renaissance Florence (MFA, Boston and the National Gallery of Art, 2016-17) and Strong Women in Renaissance Italy (MFA, Boston, Fall 2024), and was lead curator on the recent installation of two galleries of Italian Renaissance art.

This event is presented by GBH and Bank of America.

By RSVPing for this event, you agree to receive timely news and updates on events, films, and special offers from GBH.

Cambridge Forum continues its series AI: Servant or Master with Greg Epstein

exploring the global worship of technology and discussing what prompted him to write Tech Agnostic. Epstein contends that technology has overtaken religion as the chief influencer in 21st Century life and community. He questions whether technology is deserving of our trust, and who profits from our uncritical faith in it? Epstein argues for tech agnosticism, not worship, and encourages us all to exert a critical freethinking perspective toward innovation, until it proves itself worthy of our faith.

He will be joined by Gideon Lichfield, journalist and science writer, former editor-in-chief of WIRED magazine and MIT Technology Review He now focuses on the future of democracy and governance which he covers in his weekly newsletter, Futurepolis.

The state-run guardianship system, called conservatorship in some states, is largely unregulated, ill-understood, and increasingly populated by financially motivated predators. Just how guardianship works and its real-life effects remained a mystery to most until the very public case of pop star Britney Spears. It suddenly became clear that those conscripted into the system lose all their civil rights in the process. Currently, there are an estimated 1.5 to 2 million Americans under court control, but no one can say for sure how many are affected because no government entity keeps track of citizens who have lost the right to determine their own fate.

Established in the late 1800s, the guardianship system was designed to assist the most vulnerable citizens: the elderly and the physically or intellectually disabled. While guardianship has been beneficial to many “wards of the court,” this little-understood process can be a judicial rollercoaster from which there is seldom an escape, and which often leads to financial devastation for the ward. Each year, fifty billion dollars belonging to wards are placed under the control of court appointees, tempting bad actors. As investigative journalist Diane Dimond discovers, the number of exploitive and abusive guardianship cases nationwide demands our urgent attention.

Explosive and compelling, We're Here to Help tells the human stories behind the headlines and shows how to avoid the risks of voluntary or involuntary guardianship.

GBH Music and JazzBoston are co-hosting a new series to showcase the breadth of incredible jazz talent in the Greater Boston area. The event is held on the second Thursday of every month through February.

This month, hear Latin rhythms fused with a modern jazz concept, led by acclaimed Puerto Rican flutist Kristalis Sotomayor.

GBH Jazz Nights are made possible by the Goldstein Family Fund.

With the General Election fast approaching, Massachusetts’ top law enforcement official — Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell — discusses the importance of voting in 2024, and her efforts to promote voter access and participation, and ensure voter protection in the Commonwealth.  

Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell will be in conversation with Celia Johnston Blue, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition (MAWOCC).

This talk is a partnership between MassINC and GBH Forum Network supported by
the Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition (MAWOCC).

Camille T. Dungy is the author of four collections of poetry, most recently Trophic Cascade, which won the Colorado Book Award. She is also the author of the essay collections Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden and Guidebook to Relative Strangers: Journeys into Race, Motherhood and History, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Dungy has also edited anthologies including Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry and From the Fishouse: An Anthology of Poems that Sing, Rhyme, Resound, Syncopate, Alliterate, and Just Plain Sound Great. A 2019 Guggenheim Fellow, her honors include NEA Fellowships in poetry (2003) and prose (2018), an American Book Award, two NAACP Image Award nominations, and two Hurston/Wright Legacy Award nominations. Dungy’s poems have been published in Best American Poetry, The 100 Best African American Poems, the Pushcart Anthology, Best American Travel Writing, and over thirty other anthologies. She is University Distinguished Professor at Colorado State University.

Cosponsored by the Boston College Poetry Days Series, American Studies Program, and English Department.