Past Events

Local journalism is in crisis. Community newspapers are folding and those that remain struggle to devote resources to reporting on local issues. Meanwhile political polarization is growing and local issues are increasingly viewed through the lens of national politics and partisanship. This year’s Masterman Speaker Series will examine the relationship between the decline of local news and the rise of polarization, as well as the effect this decline has had on government accountability and democracy more generally. The discussion will also consider models for strengthening and reimagining local journalism in the years ahead. With : * Joshua P. Darr, associate professor of political communication in the Manship School of Mass Communication and Department of Political Science at Louisiana State University * Renée Loth, opinion columnist for The Boston Globe * Charles St. Amand, Vice-President of the New England Society of News Editors’ Board of Governors * Dan Kennedy, Professor in the School of Journalism at Northeastern University (moderator) ### About the Masterman Speaker Series Some of the most polarizing and provocative issues of our time involve matters rooted in the First Amendment. Edward I. Masterman, JD ‘50, LLD ‘90 and his wife Sydell, established the Masterman Speaker Series on the First Amendment and the Fourth Estate to provide a forum for robust debate and exchange of ideas on freedom of the press and its attendant responsibilities. The Speaker Series brings together representatives from government, the legal profession, and the press for the purposes of informing, educating, and engaging those who care deeply about these issues.

Revolutionary Spaces, GBH News, GBH Forum Network, and Suffolk University are coming together to present an exciting panel discussion on what it takes to motivate young people to vote in contemporary America. Moderated by GBH News correspondent Peter Kadzis, this special afternoon program will feature a subject matter policy expert, a voting rights advocate, a political campaign strategist, and a minority youth activist group representative. With audience participation, the panel will take on issues relating to political persuasion, mobilization, and the power of generational change. Among the enduring questions to be addressed are: how is my voice heard; who speaks for me; and what is my recourse if I am silenced or marginalized. The program will thus aim to explore the who, what, where, when, how, and why of voting among young people in America today.

The Leventhal Map and Education Center hosts a panel of invited guests for a roundtable discussion on narratives of environmental justice. The roundtable will discuss how investigating historical and present-day patterns of urban inequality, and documenting these patterns through narrative and visual works, bring an important perspective to bear on efforts for climate justice organizing.

Thomas Paine’s call to revolution reverberated throughout the Atlantic world in 1776. Intended to rally more than America’s founding fathers, the entreaty was carried to the Netherlands where Patriot militias rose up in 1787 to reclaim their rights, was echoed in the French Declaration of the Rights of Man, ignited insurrections against slavery throughout the Caribbean, and emboldened Black Loyalist settlers in Sierra Leone to claim their right to property and self-government. This lecture will explore how these reverberations of American claims to their revolutionary rights influence our understanding of liberty and equality from the eighteenth century to the present. Watch live [on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/events/842536866924047/) or return here for the published archival video.

The Jonathan Samen Hot Buttons, Cool Conversations Discussion Series gets off to an exciting start. Michael Twitty is the James Beard award-winning author and culinary historian of The Cooking Gene and the recently released Koshersoul: The Faith & Food Identity of an African American Jew. He has baked challah with Jewish cooking maestro Joan Nathan and guided Padma Lakshmi of "Top Chef" fame on southern cooking. As a Black, Jewish, gay man, Twitty embodies many identities. Food is where he brings his whole self. Michael Twitty is in conversation with Robin Washington, an acclaimed veteran journalist and The Forward's Editor-at-Large.

Buoyed by the potential for women to win key statewide offices, leaders of a diverse group of women’s organizations will gather in person for a Town Hall event to continue the conversation about political culture and public policy — and to answer this important question: What do we need our state government to do to create a more equitable Commonwealth? GBH host Callie Crossley will lead what is sure to be a riveting conversation. Featuring: * Celia Johnston Blue, President and CEO, MA Women of Color Coalition * Sasha Goodfriend, Executive Director of MassNOW * Diana Hwang, Founder and Executive Director of the Asian American Women’s Political Initiative * Melissa Ferretti, Chair, Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe * Dr. Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson, Director of the UMass-Boston Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy * Eneida M. Roman, Esq., Chair, Amplify Latinx This event is the second of a two-part conversation started on June 27 with moderator and GBH News reporter, Saraya Wintersmith. The video of Momentum Part 1 is available to watch on https://forum-network.org/ This in-person event starts at 6PM. Door open at 5:30PM. Parking: 15 Guest Street - bring your ticket with you to get it validated at the front desk Masks and registration are required for this in-person event. Sponsored by 

Despite the hype, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is not a solution to the CO2 problem that has caused global warming. Taxpayers continue to pay for the federal investment of billions of dollars that are subsidizing fossil-fuel industry’s CCS projects. And those projects have consistently failed to reduce CO2. Dr. Harvey discusses how these ineffective CCS projects continue to be promoted and he explains the necessity of shifting to renewable energy, which can be done now and with much less expense.

The human heart is a miraculous organ, a marvel of construction unsurpassed by any man-made creation with its resilience and precision. It beats 100,000 times a day so that if you live 100 years, that would be more than 3 billion beats in a lifetime. In “The Exquisite Machine: the new science of the heart”, Professor Sian Harding explores the latest scientific developments and mysteries of the heart. Harding, a world leader in cardiac research at Imperial College in London, reveals the latest cardiac discoveries as well as the relationship between the emotions and heart function. In addition to being a powerful pump, the heart is super-sensitive – not just in responding to emotions but in creating them. And yes, you can die of “broken heart syndrome” – although there are profound differences between men and women. There is also a much deeper connection between the heart and the brain than we previously realized. Since the heart is at the nexus of feeling we use the word in everyday conversation – heartfelt, heartache, the heart of the matter, a good heart. E E Cummings, the poet, famously wrote “I carry your heart with me” but writers have obsessed with this organ for centuries. Dr Fady Joudah practices Internal Medicine at St Luke’s Baylor Medical Center in Houston, TX. When not administering to his patients, Joudah is an award-winning poet who first starting writing when working for Doctors Without Frontiers in Africa and published “Earth in the Attic”. He has now published five collections of poems and will read from his work and discuss how poetry informs his mission as a physician. ### Resources **The heart’s mini-brain: Intrinsic cardiac ganglionated plexus ** “Neurocardiology: Structure-Based Function,” J. L. Ardell and J. A. Armour, Comprehensive Physiology 6 (2016): 1635–1653. **Stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte patches for the heart** “Large Cardiac Muscle Patches Engineered from Human Induced-Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiac Cells Improve Recovery from Myocardial Infarction in Swine,” L. Gao, Z. R. Gregorich, W. Zhu, S. Mattapally, Y. Oduk, X. Lou, R. Kannappan, A. V. Borovjagin, G. P. Walcott, and A. E. Pollard et al., Circulation 137 (2018): 1712–1730. **Men vs. women in responses to emotional stress** “A Missed Penalty Kick Triggered Coronary Death in the Husband and Broken Heart Syndrome in the Wife,” Y. H. Shams, K. Feldt, and M. Stålberg American Journal of Cardiology 116 (2015): 1639–1642. **Even happy stress can cause Takotsubo syndrome** “Happy Heart Syndrome: Role of Positive Emotional Stress in Takotsubo Syndrome,” J. R. Ghadri, A. Sarcon, J. Diekmann, D. R. Bataiosu, V. L. Cammann, S. Jurisic, L. C. Napp, M. Jaguszewski, F. Scherff, and P. Brugger et al., European Heart Journal 37 (2016): 2823–2829. **Pollution and heart disease – the Oxford Street Study** Respiratory and cardiovascular responses to walking down a traffic-polluted road compared with walking in a traffic-free area in participants aged 60 years and older with chronic lung or heart disease and age-matched healthy controls: a randomised, crossover study. Sinharay R, Gong J, Barratt B, Ohman-Strickland P, Ernst S, Kelly FJ, Zhang JJ, Collins P, Cullinan P, Chung KF. Lancet. 2018 Jan 27;391(10118):339-349.

Dr. Susan B. Roberts is a leader in the science of metabolism. She has concentrated a great deal of her research on the rise of obesity, especially in Western nations. In this program, she discusses how metabolism works under normal conditions, the relationship between metabolism and obesity, and the impact of certain diets on the metabolic system.

In this fascinating history of our national anthem, you’ll learn how and why one everyday “broadside ballad” that captured the events and emotions of early American life rose to become America’s one and only anthem. Most Americans learn the tale in elementary school: how Francis Scott Key was inspired to pen his famous lyric as he saw the Stars and Stripes flying proudly over Baltimore’s Fort McHenry following the daylong bombardment of British navy ships during the War of 1812. The anthem’s use in sports, at times of war, and for political protest, have imbued it with further meaning, says historian Mark Clague. The anthem reflects—and is reflected by—the nation’s quest to become a more perfect union. From victory song to hymn of sacrifice and vehicle for protest, the story of Key’s song is the story of America itself. Don’t miss this enlightening presentation and discussion about our beloved anthem, and about America from 1814 to the present. ### Resources [Mark Clague's Anthem History Website](https://starspangledmusic.org/) [Link to more about Kristina Gaddy's __Well of Souls__](https://www.kristinagaddy.com/wellofsouls)