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Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

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Cambridge Forum

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Cambridge Forum hosts free, public discussions that inform and engage, so that people can better explore the varied issues and ideas that shape our changing world. CF broadcasts its live events via podcasts, weekly NPR shows and online presentations via GBH Forum Network on YouTube.

http://www.cambridgeforum.org

Locked-Down Americans: Isolation & Loneliness in 21st Century

Fri, May 15, 2020

Social distancing has been especially hard on humans, as social animals we are wired for connection. But the coronavirus pandemic didn’t cause the isolation issue it just exacerbated it. In 2018, 28% of adult households in the U.S. were single person households and 63% of the adult population remained unmarried. But we are not happier, over 35% of adult Americans report themselves to be chronically lonely, up from 20% in 1990. J. W. Freiberg’s latest book _Surrounded by Others and Yet So Alone_ looks at the problem of chronic loneliness through his unique lens as a social psychologist (PhD, UCLA) turned lawyer (JD, Harvard). His case studies are infused with the latest brain science which reveals that loneliness is actually a sensation, like hunger or thirst, not an emotion like anger, which we can talk ourselves out of. So how do we surmount this current crisis and help to create healthy connections going forward, in our own lives and in the lives of our children? Image: Book Cover

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Ainissa Ramirez: The Alchemy Of Us

Fri, May 1, 2020

In _The Alchemy of Us_, scientist and science writer Ainissa Ramirez examines eight inventions—clocks, steel rails, copper communication cables, photographic film, light bulbs, hard disks, scientific labware, and silicon chips—and reveals how they shaped the human experience. Ramirez tells the stories of the woman who sold time, the inventor who inspired Edison, and the hotheaded undertaker whose invention pointed the way to the computer. She describes, among other things, how our pursuit of precision in timepieces changed how we sleep; how the railroad helped commercialize Christmas; how the necessary brevity of the telegram influenced Hemingway’s writing style; and how a young chemist exposed the use of Polaroid’s cameras to create passbooks to track black citizens in apartheid South Africa.

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A Look At Sustainable Agriculture

Thu, Apr 16, 2020

To mark Earth Day, John Marzluff, author of _In Search of Meadowlarks_, outlines a personal approach to sustainable agriculture. Through an ornithologist’s lens, he observes current farming practices to see if we can broker a more harmonious relationship between our birds, farms, food and land. Joining the conversation is Ronnie Cummings, author of _Grassroots Rising_ and International Director of OCA, Organic Consumers Association, and Michael Chuisano, owner and farmer of The Naked Farm in New York.

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Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy

Tue, Apr 7, 2020

Joseph Nye, leading scholar of international relations considers presidents and their foreign policy from FDR to Trump, who come up short in the morality polls. In _Do Morals Matter?_, Nye provides a concise yet penetrating analysis of the role of ethics in U.S. foreign policy during the post-1945 era. Working through each presidency from Truman to Trump, Nye scores their foreign policy on three ethical dimensions: their intentions, the means they used, and the consequences of their decisions. Alongside this, he evaluates their leadership qualities, elaborating on which approaches work and which ones do not.

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Nature Underfoot: Learning to Live With Tiny Life

Thu, Mar 19, 2020

Are creepy crawlers and unwanted plants deserving of empathy as partners dwelling with us on earth? Fruit flies, dandelions, and crabgrass are the bane of many people and the target of numerous eradication efforts. In his compelling reassessment of the relationship between humans and the natural world, Hainze considers the fascinating and bizarre history of how these so-called invasive or unwanted pests and weeds have coevolved with humanity and highlights the benefits of a greater respect and moral consideration toward these organisms.

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César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández: Migrating to Prison

Wed, Feb 19, 2020

Author and immigration lawyer Professor César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández in discussion about his book "Migrating to Prison: America's Obsession with Locking Up Immigrants," which levels an attack on America's immigration detention policy. His talk is followed by a panel discussion with psycotherapist Greta Bro, immigration lawyer Leslie Ditrani, and researcher for Refugee and Migrant Rights, Denise Bell. Image: Book Cover

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Andrew Bacevich: The Age Of Illusions

Tue, Jan 14, 2020

Andrew Bacevich, Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at the Boston University, discusses his new book about the post-Cold war follies and delusions that culminated in the age of Donald Trump. The forum is moderated by journalist Christopher Lydon, host of Open Source radio. How, within a quarter of a century, did the United States end up with gaping inequality, permanent war, moral confusion, and an increasingly angry and alienated population, as well as the strangest president in American history? Image: Book Cover

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Appalachia: A Cultural Crossroads

Wed, Nov 6, 2019

Cambridge Forum and the [Revels](https://www.revels.org/) present musicians Jake Blount and Libby Weitnauer, who perform and explore the history and roots of traditional music of Appalachia. The Appalachian Mountains south of the Mason-Dixon Line, is one of the birthplaces of American music: the mountains of southern Appalachia, where Native American, African American, and European traditions combined to foster an astonishing wealth of artistic expression. The forum celebrates the quiet of the mountains in the songs passed on by Appalachian musicians from generation to generation, and examines the ideas that resonate in this music that speaks of the natural world, the hardship, the dark and light in human relationships. Image: [Cambridge Forum Event Image](http://www.cambridgeforum.org/?tag=appalachia)

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How To Start A Revolution

Wed, Dec 4, 2019

Journalists Lauren Duca, known for her article “Donald Trump is Gaslighting America” in Teen Vogue, and Martin Lukacs, author of "The Trudeau Formula", discuss collective action and non-violent protest. They are joined by members of the climate action group Extinction Rebellion . Image: Pexels.com

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Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries

Wed, Oct 9, 2019

The annual revenue of Koch Industries is bigger than that of Goldman Sachs, Facebook, and U.S. Steel combined. Koch is everywhere: from the fertilizers that make our food, to the chemicals that make our pipes, to the synthetics that make our carpets and diapers, to the Wall Street trading in all these commodities. But few people know much about Koch Industries and that’s because the billionaire Koch brothers want it that way. Christopher Leonard, author of _Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America_, discusses the hidden role of Koch Industries in American life. Image: Book Cover

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