Past Events

In September, 1974 – two days after her 14th birthday – Leola Hampton boarded a school bus that would launch her into the heart of one of the most divisive and defining moments in Boston history: court-ordered school desegregation. She and her older sister, Linda Starks-Walker, were bused from their home in the predominantly Black neighborhood of Roxbury into the white, working-class neighborhood of South Boston. They navigated a violent and virulently racist high school experience so scarring that a half-century later, they are only now beginning to discuss it with each other.


Leola and Linda share their story in GBH News' short documentary, "'Never Cried': Boston's Busing Legacy". Join us for a screening of the film, along with a discussion with the film's producer and subjects about how the legacy of Boston's busing crisis lives on today.

Cambridge Forum is pleased to mark the 75^th anniversary of the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four in 1949, with an in-depth discussion about George Orwell’s life, work and legacy.

Written at a time when Orwell was seriously ill, 1984 had a dubious beginning with few interested in publishing it, yet it went on to become a classic literary example of political and dystopian fiction. Its themes struck a chord with readers worldwide due to its focus on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance and repression, which have remained timeless. The novel, which was Orwell’s final book, examines the role of truth and facts within society and the ways in which they can be manipulated, hence the creation of the term “Orwellian”.

To help us understand the complex but brilliant mind of this great writer, we have two wonderful writers who are specialists on Orwell, Dorian Lynskey, author of The Ministry of Truth: A Biography of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, and Nathan Waddell, Professor of Twentieth-Century Literature at the University of Birmingham.

Susan E. Eaton, in conversation about her book, The Other Boston Busing Story: What’s Won and Lost Across the Boundary Line.

METCO, America’s longest-running voluntary school desegregation program, buses children of color from Boston’s city neighborhoods to predominantly white suburban schools. In contrast to the infamous violence and rage that greeted forced school busing within the city in the 1970s, the work of METCO has quietly and calmly promoted school integration. But how has this program affected the lives of its graduates? Would they choose to participate if they had it to do over again? Would they place their own children on the bus to suburbia? In The Other Boston Busing Story, sixty-five METCO graduates who are now adults answer those questions and more, vividly recalling their own stories and assessing the benefits and hardships of crossing racial and class lines on their way to school.

Susan Eaton will be in conversation with Stephanie Leydon, executive producer of digital video at GBH News.

The book talk will be preceded by the screening of the GBH News documentary Never Cried: Boston's Busing Legacy and a talkback with the filmmaker Emily Judem.

More about the film here.

The United States and Middle East are at a crossroads. In spite of a reduced presence in the Middle East, the U.S. still has significant national interests there and the area is a key arena for global power politics. Can the U.S. continue to defend its interests in the Middle East and globally with a lower level of military and political involvement, or should it recommit to a leading role in the region?

Join WorldBoston for a timely discussion of this topic with Dr. Ali Banuazizi, Research Professor of Political Science at Boston College.

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.

This event is SOLD OUT

Spend an evening creating your very own masterpiece with step- by- step instruction from Nicholas Hankins, Bob Ross Certified Instructor and host of The Joy of Painting with Nicholas Hankins: Bob Ross’ Unfinished Season. Whether you’re an experienced painter or picking up the brush for the first time, this is your chance to paint like the myth, the legend ...Bob Ross!

See the canvas come to life as you spend three entertaining hours guided by Nicholas. You are the artist creating a beautiful Bob Ross- classic filled with those happy little clouds. Registration includes everything you need to create your masterpiece.

And it gets better – October 29 is Bob Ross’ birthday! Celebrate Bob by doing what he loved- painting!

About Nicholas Hankins
Nicholas Hankins began painting along with Bob Ross on his local public TV station in 1993. He was just eleven years old when he got his first Bob Ross paint kit, saying he felt “an indelible excitement that day which has grown exponentially over the past three decades.” Nicholas is a Certified Bob Ross Instructor and host of the new how-to painting series The Joy of Painting with Nicholas Hankins: Bob Ross’ Unfinished Season.

Ticket Includes:
- Access to the Zoom Webinar
- 3 hours of instruction by Bob Ross Certified Instructor Nicholas Hankins
- Art kit which includes
o (5) Bob Ross Oil Paints
o (1) Bob Ross 'Secret Formula' Liquid White
o (1) Bob Ross Landscape Brush
o (1) Bob Ross Fan Brush
o (1) Bob Ross Painting Knife
o (1) Bob Ross Canvas
o (1) Disposable Palette Paper

Please note: Each person who is painting will need their own ticket. For example, if two people will be painting together, please register for two tickets so we can send you two paint kits. Paint kits are provided by our friends at Bob Ross Inc..

Spread the joy of painting! You can add an additional kit (for an additional cost) and ship it to a separate address! Just purchase an additional kit and enter the shipping address for that person.

Don’t delay! Tickets are limited and registration will only be open until October 7, 2024  to allow for timely shipment of kits shipped within the continental U.S.. For kits needing to be shipped to Hawaii, Alaska, and Canada, ticket sales end September 16.

Shipping Details:
- Ticket sales end October 7 for kits being shipped to the continental US, so sign up now!
- Ticket sales end September 16 for Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada.
- Select the right ticket! Note that there are two ticket types depending on where your kit will be shipped. Failure to select the right ticket will result in delay in shipping or even the possibility that your ticket will not be fulfilled.
- Make sure that your address is submitted correctly (no typos!)
- Tickets for kits shipped to Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada will incur an additional shipping fee
- Please note that kits shipped to Canada will come from the US and will incur customs and/or duty fees added by the Canadian Postal System
- Ticket holders will receive their paint kits approximately 3 weeks after purchase for the continental US and approximately 6 weeks after purchase for kits shipped to Hawaii, Alaska and Canada.
- Please open your kit when it arrives to ensure you are ready to paint on October 29! Upon the arrival of your kit, please open it up and ensure you have all the necessary materials before the event. If you have any questions regarding your paint kit, please let us know.

This event is presented by GBH with support from The Joy of Painting with Nicholas Hankins: Bob Ross’ Unfinished Season, American Public Television, Create TV and Bob Ross Inc..

Ticket purchases for this event support GBH programming.

How it works:
This virtual event will take place via Zoom Webinar. Zoom is free to the public but requires a computer download. You can download Zoom here. Your kit will arrive to you in the days before the event.

By RSVPing for this event, you agree to receive timely news and updates on events, films, and special offers from GBH. Your registration information will be shared with Bob Ross Inc. for the shipment of the art kits.

Photo of Bob Ross provided by Bob Ross Inc.. Graphic designed by GBH.

Epidemiologist Joel Schwartz is noted for his work on the acute and chronic health effects of fossil fuel air pollution.  One of his recent collaborative studies revealed that exposure to fine combustion particles in the air at concentrations well below current standards are associated with a range of conditions, including dementia, asthma, heart attacks, and lung cancer.  The study indicated that the death rate from this pollution is almost 1 in 5 deaths worldwide, about twice the previous mortality estimate.  Not surprisingly, the pollution impact falls disproportionately on poorer communities.  This research is finally leading to tighter U.S. air quality standards. In this program, Dr. Schwartz discusses the wide health effects of fossil fuel pollution and why restrictions have been so lax.  

How do Americans navigate an election with so much at stake including the very future of democracy? Half the country will view the outcome as an existential threat to their identities, values, and concept of what it is to be an American. How do we stay true to our values while keeping our country together no matter the outcome? How do we build and maintain relationships of respect and dignity anchored in democratic values and norms?

Join Monica McWilliams, founder of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition and key negotiator in the Northern Ireland peace process and Donna Hicks, of the Weatherhead Center at Harvard University and the author of the acclaimed book, Leading with Dignity: How to Create a Culture That Brings Out the Best in People as they discuss the state of our country on the eve of the November election. The moderator is Tim Phillips, founder and CEO of Beyond Conflict, who has worked globally to promote peace and reconciliation through the model of Shared Human Experience.

Suffolk University's Ford Hall Forum presents author Arlie Russell Hochschild, Ph.D., one of the most influential scholars of her generation upon the publication of her latest book, Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right in conversation with award-winning author James Carroll.

In her first book since the widely acclaimed Strangers in Their Own Land, National Book Award finalist and bestselling author Arlie Russell Hochschild now ventures to Appalachia, uncovering the “pride paradox” that has given the right’s appeals such resonance. For all the attempts to understand the state of American politics and the blue/red divide, we’ve ignored what economic and cultural loss can do to pride. What happens, Arlie Russell Hochschild asks, when a proud people in a hard-hit region suffer the deep loss of pride and are confronted with a powerful political appeal that makes it feel “stolen”?

Hochschild’s research drew her to Pikeville, Kentucky, in the heart of Appalachia, within the whitest and second-poorest congressional district in the nation, where the city was reeling: coal jobs had left, crushing poverty persisted, and a deadly drug crisis struck the region.

In Stolen Pride, Hochschild focuses on a group swept up in the shifting political landscape: blue-collar men. In small churches, hillside hollers, roadside diners, trailer parks, and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, Hochschild introduces us to unforgettable people, and offers an original lens through which to see them and the wider world. In Stolen Pride, Hochschild incisively explores our dangerous times, even as she also points a way forward.

Bring your smartest friends to the GBH Studios at the Boston Public Library for a nerdy night of NOVA science trivia! Get ready for creative categories and exciting prizes as we test your knowledge of the natural world, space, the history of science, and more!

This month, we’re getting spooky in space as we travel to the darkest corners of our solar system in search of answers to the mysteries (and horrors!) of the cosmos.

Registration is encouraged for this free event.