Past Events

Black History Month is a time to celebrate Black excellence, and so James “Jimmy” Hills welcomes to the GBH Studio in the Boston Public Library three rising voices from the community to talk about their advocacy and impact on equity in the city of Boston.

Join us at GBH Studios in Brighton at 7:00 pm for a panel discussion on one of the least known forms of hierarchical oppression: Caste. It is an ancient form of division and the subject of Ava Duverney’s shocking new film, Origin, which examines a writer’s journey through India, Germany and America to understand caste and its enduring impact.

Our panelists include: Suraj Yengde, W.E.B. Dubois fellow at Harvard University, who plays himself in “Origin”, Tufts professor Ravi Shankar, whose new book explores race, shame, the criminal justice system and what it means to be a brown man in America; Arun Rath, host and executive editor of GBH’s local All Things Considered; and moderator, Chellamal Keshavan, current Masters in Public Policy Candidate at the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University.

Together they will explore their personal reckonings of growing up in the U.S. yet not escaping caste, how caste intersects specifically with anti-Black racism in America, and the ways in which individuals and society perpetuate oppressive structures.

Phillip Martin, Senior Investigative Reporter will deliver the welcoming remarks.

Bobby Stevenson, a renowned local gospel recording artist, has achieved remarkable success in the Boston music industry. With five Boston Music Awards to his name, including the prestigious Ricky Award, his soulful voice and inspiring lyrics have left an indelible mark on the Boston gospel music scene. Stevenson continues to uplift and inspire listeners with his award-winning talent.

Join us for an evening of music, wine, and food. Registration is encouraged for this free event.

Suffolk University’s Ford Hall Forum, the Moakley Archive & Institute, and GBH Forum Network present a program exploring the relationship between access to affordable housing and educational opportunity in Boston’s public schools nearly fifty years after the school busing crisis. This program, moderated by Stephanie Leydon, Executive Producer of digital video at GBH News, is the second in a series examining the lasting impacts of the landmark decision to desegregate Boston’s Public Schools in 1974. This discussion will take a look back at the impact of race-based discriminatory housing policies and education funding formulas while addressing the more recent problems of gentrification and housing affordability. How does Boston position itself to compete with its suburban neighbors when it comes to educational outcomes?

Join us and lend your voice to this important discussion.

Event sponsored by The Boston Desegregation & Busing Initiative.

Join GBH Music in welcoming the Ulysses Quartet as its first-ever quartet in residence with a free performance at the GBH Studio at the Boston Public Library.


The Ulysses Quartet's season-long partnership as quartet in residence furthers GBH Music's ongoing effort to connect with listeners of all backgrounds and ages. The partnership will span over fifty performances and events throughout the year, including with the Boston Public and Massachusetts schools.



Registration is encouraged for this free event.



Photo credit: Lara St. John



This event is presented with support from CRB and the Ulysses Quartet.

The Ulysses Quartet’s residency at GBH is made possible by a generous contribution from the Mattina R. Proctor Foundation.

Cambridge Forum continues its “Living on Borrowed Time” climate series with Dana R. Fisher, renowned climate researcher and self-proclaimed ‘apocalyptic optimist’ discussing her belief that we can no longer wait for governments to pass the laws we need, businesses to do the right thing, or technological silver bullets to maintain a livable planet. Each of us must take action to save ourselves and save the planet.

She'll be joined in the conversation by Pennie Opal Plant and Kathleen Sullivan, and polar explorer and scientist, Dr. Susana Hancock.

“After 28 years of failed climate negotiations, scientifically informed emissions reductions set by governments have languished. Consequently, the pace at which the world is mitigating and adapting to the threat of climate change is far too slow to meet the challenge. Carbon concentrations in the atmosphere continue to rise quickly, as the ice sheets melt and climate shocks—like droughts, floods, and heatwaves—increase in frequency and intensity.

Meanwhile, leadership of the climate negotiations at this late hour has been relegated to petrostates and former fossil fuel executives, which has helped make it impossible to agree upon, let alone implement, policies that could save us from the worst of the climate crisis. The writing is on the wall: the only way for things to get better is after they get much worse. Lives will be lost, and social conflict driven by climate migration and competition for increasingly scarce resources will proliferate. These look like insurmountable odds, and in many ways they are. But there is a slim chance that we can slow climate change enough to preserve our planet and minimize the catastrophe that is just around the corner.”
Adapted from SAVING OURSELVES.

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The major cause of the global warming crisis is excess atmospheric CO2 emitted mainly by fossil fuels. The extreme level of atmospheric CO2 is well beyond a “capture and storage/sequestration” solution, yet the hype persists that some clever extraction innovation will resolve the problem. Dr. Charles Harvey, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT, has extensive experience with both CO2 capture/storage (CCS) engineering and the realization that CCS cannot reduce CO2 enough to reduce global warming. He argues instead for rational policy: drop fossil fuels and shift to renewables. Now. His expert advice is gaining a wide audience.

Join a remarkable musical odyssey with South African vocalist NALEDI as she shares songs from her debut album, BATHO, at the next JazzNOW event from GBH Music and JazzBoston on February 8 in Fraser Performance Studio.

D James Thomas and Rey Royale are Boston-based artists. Their genres include inspirational R&B and R&B. Join us for an evening of music, wine, and food. Registration is encouraged for this free event.

Registration is encouraged for this free event.


Photo provided by artist

The sustainable future we are collectively building comes with significant environmental costs, primarily felt by the global south. The mining and processing of rare earth metals, nickel, cobalt, copper, and many other critical materials, essential for electrification and renewable technologies, often result in considerable ecological damage.

These activities can lead to deforestation, contamination of water sources, soil erosion, and the emission of harmful gases. Consequently, the health and safety of workers and local residents are compromised along with the environment. All of this stands in stark contrast to the overall goals of the green revolution, but currently represents an unavoidable aspect of progress.

This talk explores how the mining and extraction of these materials, while essential for driving forward the clean energy revolution, often contradicts the principles of environmental stewardship. The lecture particularly focuses on the impact in the global south, where much of the world's mining and refining activities take place, often with less stringent environmental regulations and oversight. This raises critical questions about the true cost of our transition to renewable energy and electric mobility.

In response to these challenges, Dr. Tomas Villalón shares Phoenix Tailings’ transformative approach to mining and material processing. Our innovative strategies aim to revolutionize the industry by extracting rare earth metals and other crucial materials sustainably. He discusses their cutting-edge techniques for minimizing ecological impact through rethinking the approach to material refining and the remediation of toxic waste. By turning a historically pollutive process into a more environmentally responsible one and cleaning up the toxic byproducts of mining operations, Phoenix Tailings is not only contributing to the cleaner production of electrification materials but also paving the way for a more equitable and truly sustainable future.