Past Events

A.I. companions increasingly replace human romantic, erotic, social, educational, therapeutic, and collegial relationships. Whether interpersonally or society-wide, we are ill-equipped to engage in moral discernment about the ethical implications of this shift. The turn to A.I. companions reveals fractured expectations, systemic pressures, and misaligned desires troubling human-to-human relationships misguided by echoes of religiously inflected sexual and gender-based historical trauma embedded in hierarchies of material embodiments and on-going abuses. Our response to this unveiling must reshape relational ethics. What are the possibilities for creative, morally grounded A.I. companion design and use to promote human and agentic flourishing rather than diminishment? What resources might religious communities offer that remedy historical wrongs and promote moral formation? Is theological education be a place for this work?

Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, will accept the Third Lantern Award, which is presented annually to an individual who embodies the values symbolized in Old North’s iconic signal lanterns: leadership, courage, hope, tenacity, and active citizenship.

Stories from the Stage invites you to our home (studio) for a night of true stories that make you stop and think. Ever been so sure of something….until you weren’t? Maybe you walked away from a “perfect” plan, reconnected with someone from the past, or realized what you were chasing wasn’t really worth it. On April 16 guests will hear true, first-person stories about reversals, redirections, and revelations. Whether it was a small shift, or a life-altering pivot, hear true tales that made people think twice. From the moments that saved a life, to occasions a person regrets for the rest of their life. Storytellers will share their unbelievable accounts with you.

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.

Timeline

6:30pm Doors open to GBH's Atrium for the pre-reception

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

7-9:15pm Formal program with live storytellers

Note all on-site purchases will be credit card only.

Event registration is required. Seating is general admission.


Photo credit: Stories from the Stage

Cuba: A small island with an outsized story. From the days of being one of the world’s ultimate tourist spots to the echoes and impact of the Cuban Revolution to the 13 days that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, Cuba is a unique place where history, culture, and resilience collide.

Governed by a communist regime for 67 years, shaped by decades of tension with the United States, and an exiled community that has flourished in South Florida and beyond, the island has become one of the most fascinating and complex societies in the world.

Join us as we explore Cuba through the lens of several Cuban Americans living here in Massachusetts.

Guests:

Ana Hebra Flaster
Author of Property of the Revolution: From a Cuban Barrio to a New Hampshire Mill Town

Grecia Ordoñez
Activist

Michael "Cuban Mic" Reyes
Radio Host

Jorge Lucas Álvarez Girardi
Researcher and Author of De verde como la palma a rojo como la sangre

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.

GBH Amplifies is also being supported by the Barr Foundation.

Registration is encouraged for this free event.

Limited seating is available on a first come, first serve basis. If you require a seat, we encourage you to arrive before the start time of this event.

The People’s Uprising and the Fall of the Warsaw Ghetto, April 1942–June 1943, a new book by Havi Ben-Sasson Dreifuss, sheds light on the lives, choices, and experiences of the tens of thousands of Jews who were not part of the underground armed resistance, but nonetheless supported the famed Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

This riveting and dramatic account focuses on the final year of the Warsaw ghetto, from the Great Deportation in the summer of 1942 through the suppression of the uprising in mid-1943. Drawing on powerful contemporary testimonies, diaries, and documents—many of them previously unexplored—Havi Ben-Sasson Dreifuss reveals how members of the broader Jewish population struggled to survive, maintain family and community life, and make impossible moral decisions in the face of fear, hunger, and daily violence. Looking beyond the fighters themselves, the book offers a story of devastation, but also of resilience and human dignity.

Stories from the Stage invites you to our home (studio) for an entertaining night of storytelling. What happens when a person shares a difficult truth? Come to hear first-person stories about choices that mattered: confessions that changed everything, secrets that refused to stay hidden, and moments of truth that bring about consequences. Whether a person stood their ground, kept the peace, dodged the question, or said what had to be said, guests will learn all about what transpired.

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.

Timeline

6:30pm Doors open to GBH's Atrium for the pre-reception

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

7-9:15pm Formal program with live storytellers


Event registration is required. Seating is general admission.


Photo credit: Stories from the Stage

Uncover the legacy and impact of Boston’s Black Pullman Porters.

Experience the power of musical storytelling alongside a dynamic panel discussion as we honor the legacy and impact of Boston’s Black Pullman Porters. This event brings history to life, celebrating the voices, contributions, and lasting influence of these trailblazers through meaningful dialogue and shared narratives.

Leading this dialogue are distinguished speakers, including Ingrid Monson, Quincy Jones Professor of African American Music at Harvard University; and Angela Tate, Chief Curator and Director of Collections at the Museum of African American History.

Step into this powerful exchange of history and perspective and help carry these stories forward.

Harvard Book Store welcomes Caroline Maguire, in-demand expert in social emotional learning and a sought-after key-note speaker with more than 200 speaking engagements, for a discussion of her new book, Friendship Skills for Neurodivergent Adults: A Guide for the Anxious, Uniquely Wired, and Easily Distracted.

Friendship can be hard for many Neurodivergent adults. There is an assumption that good, worthwhile friendships “should” come easy. However, for Neurodivergent adults, there are brain-based reasons why friendship can feel less intuitive. From differences in the parts of the brain that are vital to managing the logistics of a fulfilling social life to difficulty with self-regulation, the way neurodiverse individuals experience social bonding and connection can feel unintuitive.

Friendship Skills For Neurodivergent Adults is a guide to navigate these differences, broken into three parts: How friendship works; How to find your people; How connecting will get you in motion.

Maguire will be joined in conversation by Brendan Mahan, host of the ADHD Essentials Podcast.

MassINC Greg Torres fellow Charlotte Golar Richie will convene her fellowship cohort as their two-year terms come to completion. Each Torres Fellow is a civic leader with a distinct project and a vision for the future they hope we’ll see in Massachusetts 30 years from now.

Some institutions are home to centers that study and aim to improve democracy. Among other functions, they involve students in their research, and they may study civic education.

On this panel, to discuss their institutions, civic involvement, and research, are:

Jessica Kimpell Johnson, Director of Research, Karsh Institute of Democracy; Manager of the John L. Nau III Lab on the History & Principles of Democracy, University of Virginia

Amy Binder, SNF-Agora Professor of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University

Mindy Romero, Founder and Director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy (CID), University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy in Sacramento

Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, Founding Director of the Center for Governance and Markets; Professor, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs

Moderator: Leela Strong, Newhouse Director of the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), Tisch College at Tufts University

Photo by Laurie Swope for Tufts University, Apr 10, 2026.

This panel is part of the Civics in Higher Education National Summit that took place on the Tufts University campus on April 10, 2026.