Forum Network

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

Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad

Mon, Dec 5, 2005

Greil Marcus and Sean Wilentz, editors of the acclaimed anthology The Rose and the Briar: Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad, discuss the place that folk ballads hold in American culture. A panel featuring musician and Boston Globe folk critic Scott Alarik, folklorist Millie Rahn, and Rounder Records founder Bill Nowlin asks how these songs of jilted lovers and hanging judges still manage to speak to 21st century audiences. Scott Alarik performs a selection of ballads to illustrate points in the discussion.

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Assessing the Health of the Environment II

Mon, Nov 21, 2005

Robert Watson, chief scientist and director of the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Network of the World Bank, and chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, explores the implications of the 2005 report of the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. In part two of this forum, Watson asks what the future of the earth looks like if current climate trends continue, what we have we done to change the global climate, and how we can undo the negative changes we have made to our environment. Special thanks to Massachusetts Interfaith Power and Light.

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Creating Green Cities

Wed, Nov 16, 2005

Peter Smith of the Boston Society of Architects, Larissa Brown, chief planner for urban design firm Goody and Clancy, and Kristina Egan, director of the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance discuss transit oriented development and "smart growth" are new initiatives in urban design aimed at creating "green cities." How is it possible to design urban communities that are economically and environmentally sustainable? How do such communities work? Are they coming to your region soon?

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At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-1968

Mon, Mar 6, 2006

Pulitzer Prize winner **Taylor Branch** discusses the final years of Martin Luther King Jr's life, when King and America stood "at Canaan's edge." In the third and final volume of his three-part biography of Martin Luther King, Jr., _At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-1968_, Branch paints a vivid picture of American society in the mid-20th century. As the war in Viet Nam and social unrest at home began to fray the nation's optimism and faith in the future, King sought to expand the Civil Rights Movement into protests of the war and calls for broader social and economic justice. Within a few short years, his commanding and prophetic voice was silenced. (Photo: [Wikipedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Civil_Rights_March_on_Washington,_D.C._(Dr._Martin_Luther_King,_Jr._and_Mathew_Ahmann_in_a_crowd.)_-_NARA_-_542015.tif ""))

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Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Oil Shock

Mon, Jun 12, 2006

Oil industry analyst Matthew Simmons draws on his extensive experience in the global energy market to assess the future of Saudi Arabia's oil production capacity. In his new book, Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy, Simmons argues that Saudi reserves could soon face a serious and irreversible decline, and considers what the world will look like when Saudi petroleum reserves peak. How high will prices rise? What impact will shortages have on the growing, energy hungry economies of India and China? Rather than hope for the discovery of new oil resources, Simmons presents a blueprint for a new global economy as the age of cheap oil ends. How important is conservation? Which alternative energy sources are most promising?

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Iron Cage: The Palestinian Struggle for Statehood

Wed, Oct 4, 2006

Rhashid Khalidi, one of the foremost US historians of the Middle East, uses history to provide a clear-eyed view of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and assesses the alternatives for peace in the Middle East. His lecture is based on research for his newest book The Iron Cage: The Story of The Palestinian Struggle for Statehood. Cosponsored by Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East, the Harvard Book Store and Don and Jeannette McInnes.

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Elections: Fooled Again

Wed, Feb 7, 2007

Mark Crispin Miller discusses stealing elections. Why are the elections of 2002 and 2004 a harbinger of the future? What happened in 2006 and what can we learn from that experience? Think the 2006 elections are old news? Think the pendulum is swinging back toward the center and we don't have to worry about a repeat of Florida 2000 or Ohio 2004? Think again, says Mark Crispin Miller, author of the highly acclaimed study of the 2004 elections *Fooled Again*. Control of the House and the Senate did change last November, but the margins were slim enough to call the fairness of the election process into question. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.

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Is the Israel Lobby Governing US Foreign Policy?

Mon, Oct 29, 2007

John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt discuss their controversial book *The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy*. In March 2006, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt published an article entitled "The Israel Lobby" in the London Review of Books that ignited a storm of controversy. They argued that a group of pro-Israel activists was manipulating US foreign policy to benefit the state of Israel at the expense of the United States own national interests. What evidence do Mearsheimer and Walt point to in backing up their claim that the "Israel Lobby" is guiding policy decisions in Washington? What changes do they recommend to align US Middle Eastern policy with the nation's genuine interests abroad? These are questions that John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt address as they discuss their controversial book *The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy*.

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China and the West: Divergence and Convergence

Wed, Oct 10, 2007

Niall Ferguson examines the impact of China's economic strength on the international economy. Economic historian Niall Ferguson examines the impact of China's economic strength on the international economy. How has China made its presence felt through manufacturing, its trade surplus, monetary policy, and acquisition of Western corporations? Listen to a complementary [interview with Niall Ferguson](http://thoughtcast.org/casts/our-american-empire-with-niall-ferguson) on Thoughcast.org, a podcast and public radio interview program on authors, academics and intellectuals.

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In the West Bank with Palestinians and Israelis

Wed, Oct 17, 2007

Philip Winslow offers a rare firsthand account of people's lives in the West Bank, a dangerous and contested region.

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