Past Events

Cambridge Forum takes a look at our current health care to see how it is changing. Ask anyone who has fallen off mainstream medical coverage and into the dark recesses of illness to discover what a scary place it is to land. Where is the good guidance, the support and infrastructure? As ever, not everyone has the same ideas about how to fix the broken system.

Susannah Fox’s solution has been tracking the expert networks of patients, survivors and caregivers who have witnessed the cracks in the system and come up with a way forward. Fox believes that the next wave of health innovation will come from the front lines of a “patient-led revolution in medical care” and she has written a book about this new trend, entitled REBEL HEALTH.

Everyone seems to agree on one thing – the dire shortage of doctors and professional carers available to patients. In an age of increasing techno-medicine, many feel that no amount of tech can replace hands-on care and human support. Everyone appears to want the latest treatment options, yet patients complain about the lack of personal interaction and compassion, according to Dr. Allen Sussman, author of SAVING THE ART OF MEDICINE. Sussman is a retired endocrinologist and Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Washington.

They'll be joined by Alexandra Drane, Co-Founder and CEO of Archangels.

Celebrate Women's History Month with an evening of storytelling! Listen to the inspiring stories of women who have overcome obstacles through resilience and resourcefulness. Their adventures of love, hard work, and triumphs serve as testaments to women's tenacious spirit throughout history.

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!

6:30pm Doors open to GBH's Atrium where snack and drinks 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 160.
By RSVPing for this event, you agree to receive timely news and updates on events, films, and special offers from GBH.

Thank you to our sponsor, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

This event is also presented with support from Liberty Mutual Insurance.


https://www.stellarstory.com/ identifies and coaches storytellers for Stories from the Stage.

This event will be filmed for TV. If you cannot attend, you can look for Stories from the Stage: Youth Rising when it airs on TV and online here.

Photo credit: Stories from the Stage

The Boston University School of Theology is proud to present the bi-annual Lowell Lecture, which features a renowned speaker in a field related to theological studies. The Spring 2024 lecture, titled "Testifying: Notes on the Futures of Theological Education," will be delivered by Dr. Keri Day, Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religion at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Zahili Gonzalez Zamora is a pianist, composer, bandleader, arranger, and educator. Born in Manzanillo, Cuba, she started playing piano at the age of 6 and graduated from the National School of Music with a performance degree. Her passion for music has taken her to Canada, South East Asia and the United States. Her Afro-Cuban jazz trio, MIXCLA, has headlined at the landmark Scullers Jazz Club in Boston since 2018. She was a recipient of the Live Arts Boston grant in 2018 and is an assistant professor at Berklee College of Music.

Photo credit Robert Torres

James "Jimmy" Hills celebrates 4 years of Java with Jimmy.

Join Jimmy as he sits in the 'other side' of the desk and reflects on the past four years of the impact of Java With Jimmy. It all started with Jimmy grabbing a cup of java and talking to his community over Facebook when we were all in lockdown during the pandemic. Now, four years later, Jimmy is known for hosting a daily online talk show where he brings vital news and information on health, civic engagement, arts, community voices, and culture.

Courtney Boston of WWOC Media Network will ask Jimmy some of the questions many of his audience members have, and some of Jimmy's partners and supporters will share their personal connection to the Java Cafe.

Registration is encouraged for this free event.

The period from 1956 to 1976 introduced huge changes in racing sailboats. There was the transition in hulls from wood to fiberglass, in spars from wood to aluminum, in lines from manila to Dacron, and in sails from cotton to Dacron (main and jib) and Nylon (spinnaker). There were also major upgrades in the running rigging with the introduction of cam cleats, ball bearing travelers, light weight blocks, light weight shackles, and the ratchet block. Put today’s sailor in a boat from 1956 and it would all seem quite foreign and antiquated. Put that same sailor in a state-of-the-art boat from 1976 and except for the lack of electronics it would all feel quite familiar.

As a teenager, from 1964 to 1969, Alan Palevsky worked in a small machine shop that at the time was the leader in ball bearing travelers and light weight blocks. The shop won the contract to build much of the running rigging for 12-Meter Intrepid, the 1967 America’s Cup defender.

Little did Alan realize at the time that the hardware he worked on was the harbinger of major changes in hardware across all of sailing. The talk will cover some of his memories of working in that era and some of the details of the hardware design and fabrication techniques, and the new materials put into service.

The owner and brains of the operation was Edmund Laviano. He was a local sailor with an inventive mind who had gotten into designing and fabricating small boat hardware in the early 1960’s. Mr. Palevsky will tell Mr. Laviano's story in this immersive talk.

Join GBH for a night of pints and conversation at Widowmaker Taproom and Kitchen (Brighton) with USA Today Bestselling and Award-Winning Author, Hank Phillippi Ryan!

Hank Phillippi Ryan will take us through the many twists and turns of her literary landscape, sharing insights into her mysterious characters and her writing process.

Brace yourselves for an engaging encounter and come armed with your most curious questions all while savoring local brews and reveling in the allure of storytelling! 

Hank is a  USA Today bestselling author of 15 psychological thrillers, winning the most prestigious awards in the genre, including five Agathas, five Anthonys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also an on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, earning 37 Emmy Awards and dozens more journalism honors.

Her newest novel is the page-turning thriller, One Wrong Word, a twisty non-stop story of gaslighting, manipulation and murder.

Stick around until the end of the evening for the opportunity to have Hank sign YOUR copy of One Wrong Word, which will be available onsite for purchase and signing. All proceeds will support GBH News and programming.

Get your tickets now, for this FREE IN-PERSON event! 

Doors open at 7pm and Hank Phillippi Ryan will speak starting at 7:30pm. Event registration is required. Seating is general admission.

The maximum capacity of this event is 75 people.

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

Please note: Guests must be 21 years old to participate in alcohol related events.

About the Brewery

Widowmaker Brewing Co. started as a passion homebrew project by friends Ryan Lavery and Colin Foley and has now blossomed into multiple locations across Massachusetts. Our event will be located at their newest opening, Widowmaker Taproom and Kitchen located at 190 North Beacon Street, Brighton, MA 02135.

Where can I park to visit?
There are multiple options for parking around the area. There is free street parking all along North Beacon Street, street parking on Market Street, as well as various street parking on neighboring streets.

This event is presented in partnership with Widowmaker Taproom and Kitchen

Food presented by Bone & Bread

Research has shown that the question is not “if,” but “when” the next pandemic will occur. Although the previous pandemic seems to have waned, there are many lessons to learn about what’s needed for a new, global biosecurity infrastructure, so that we can mitigate the risks from the next pandemic. We need technology that can support rapid identification and understanding of emerging threats, such as collecting samples, analyzing data, and generating meaningful insights for public health officials and policymakers.

Join WorldBoston for a timely discussion of this topic with Ashish Jha, former White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator, and Matthew McKnight, General Manager for Biosecurity at Ginkgo Bioworks. The program features expert remarks from Mr. McKnight and Dr. Jha, and live audience Q&A.

The sixth mass extinction currently underway is due to a combination of climate change and destruction of natural habitats. Both crises are the result of our energy, industrial, and food production systems that have upended Nature. Biologist Michael Reed explains how the vitality of our planet depends on the health of ecosystems. Using migratory birds as an example, he describes the interdependence of different forms of life --- birds, animals, fish, insects, plants --and terrain. Dr. Reed also suggests why some species are better able to adapt to the climate and extinction crises than others. Worldwide action is urgently needed.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is pleased to present a film preview and discussion of our upcoming film, The Cancer Detectives. The event will feature an extended clip from the film and a panel discussion with filmmakers and participants.

Click this link to join: https://wgbh.zoom.us/j/99001979557

Featured guests include:

Gene Tempest is the writer and director of The Cancer Detectives. She is an award-winning filmmaker and historian whose work has appeared in The Boston Globe and The New York Times. From 2016-2017, she served as the first-ever Historian in Residence for American Experience, where she helped fund and develop new history programming for public television.

Deirdre Cooper Owens is an award-winning historian and popular public speaker. She is an associate professor of history at the University of Connecticut and the author of Medical Bondage: Race, Gender, and The Origins of American Gynecology.

Rachel Gross is an award-winning science journalist and the author of Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, National Geographic, WIRED, New Scientist, Slate, Undark, and NPR, among others.

The discussion will be moderated by Cameo George, executive producer of AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.

About the film: The story of how the life-saving cervical cancer test became an ordinary part of women’s lives is as unusual and remarkable as the coalition of people who ultimately made it possible: a Greek immigrant, Dr. George Papanicolau; his intrepid wife, Mary; Japanese-born artist Hashime Murayama; Dr. Helen Dickens, an African American OBGYN in Philadelphia; and an entirely new class of female scientists known as cyto-screeners. But the test was just the beginning. Once the test proved effective, the campaign to make pap smears available to millions of women required nothing short of a total national mobilization. The Cancer Detectives tells the untold story of the first-ever war on cancer and the people who fought tirelessly to save women from what was once the number one cancer killer of women.

The Cancer Detectives premieres Tuesday, March 26th at 9/8c on PBS.



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Major funding for American Experience provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance, Carlisle Companies and by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Funding for The Cancer Detectives provided by GBH Voices and Equity Fund and members of The Better Angels Society including The Fullerton Family Charitable Fund. Additional funding for American Experience provided by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, The American Experience Trust, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television viewers. American Experience is produced for PBS by GBH Boston.


Photo credit: GBH Creative