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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

Black history: On Rewind

Mon, Mar 21, 2022

To celebrate its newly digitized collection of eminent historical black orators, Cambridge Forum, a long-established non-profit devoted to free public discussion, is hosting a live recording of BLACK HISTORY: ON REWIND with in-person speakers at the Lincoln Institute on March 21 at 5 pm. Starting in 1967, at the height of the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement, Cambridge Forum has been producing live events for 55 years from First Parish Church in Harvard Square, with the aim of providing a safe platform from which to examine salient, social issues. This event, BLACK HISTORY: ON REWIND offers a timely opportunity for past speakers Professors Randall Kennedy, Danielle Allen and Cheryl Townsend-Gilkes to return to the Forum and evaluate what progress they believe has been made in social justice and equality, to consider the importance of “who” writes the history and to highlight what outstanding issues remain to be addressed by Americans, as a democratic nation. Councilor Denise Simmons will make an introductory address and public TV producer, Roberto Mighty, will act as moderator. The program will be recorded and edited for Cambridge Forum’s weekly show on NPR, a podcast will be posted to the CF website, and WGBH Forum Network will upload the video to YouTube. According to CF Director Mary Stack, “In light of the disturbing events in Ukraine, it is more important than ever that Americans safeguard their democracy by protecting their freedom of speech, and by allowing respectful, meaningful discussion of potentially divisive issues. As Edmund Burke said, those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.”

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Tick, Tick, and More Ticks

Tue, Feb 22, 2022

Many people know at least one person suffering from Lyme’s disease, a quietly expanding tick-borne epidemic that has now spread throughout the United States into Canada. It is more than 40 years since the disease was first identified yet there is still no human vaccine available, despite the multiple vaccine options that you can purchase for your dog. So what happened to the vaccine that was developed in 1990s, and why was it so abruptly withdrawn from the market? Brian Owens, an award-winning science journalist for Nature, New Scientist and The Lancet, was commissioned to investigate the causes, treatments, and controversy surrounding this insidious but often overlooked disease and recently published his book, “Lyme Disease in Canada”. In it, Owens cites hope in a new French vaccine that is being developed in partnership with Pfizer for use in 2024. Joining him in this important discussion is Kris Newby, Stanford-educated science writer and senior producer of the Lyme disease documentary “Under the Skin”, whose book “Bitten” has won three international book awards. Find out what you should know about Lyme’s disease in advance of being bitten! The two authors are joined by Nevena Zubcevik, Chief Medical Officer at Invisible International.

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The Curse Of The SmartPhone

Tue, Feb 8, 2022

In today’s globalized world which operates 24/7, it is hard to imagine life without the ubiquitous smartphone. But it wasn’t always so. The first iPhone was introduced in 2007, so even though there are 6 billion cell phone users today, millions of people were raised without cellphones or indeed any phone at all! This possibility is, of course, inconceivable to a Generation Z-er. There are undeniable benefits to owning a smart phone – navigating, contacting loved ones, organizing business, taking photos and recording music. A myriad of convenient functions all contained within one small digital rectangle! The smartphone did change the 20th Century, but it came at a cost. It brought with it, unique and perhaps unintended consequences into every sphere of our lives. Paul Greenberg quit his iPhone three years ago to research Goodbye Phone, Hello World after he realized that he had wasted one whole year of his life on the phone that could have been spent with his teenage son. Greenberg will talk about what he learned. Do you love or hate your phone? Could you live without it?

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The Soundtrack of the World

Tue, Jan 18, 2022

Bernie Krause, author, musician and naturalist has dedicated his life to recording the sounds of wild soundscapes on all seven continents, around the world. Krause captures sounds ranging from birdsong and the wind in the trees, to the tinier sounds of insects. Over the past 50 years, Krause has witnessed evidence of multiple environments being radically altered by human influence, and the resultant soundtracks or “biophonies” reflect chaotic alterations due to stress. Krause’s current installation, THE GREAT ANIMAL ORCHESTRA has crossed the Atlantic and is now on display at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, where it will remain till spring 2022. Krause discusses his animal narratives and explains why he has dedicated his life to this work.

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Smell - An Olfactory Orgy

Tue, Jan 11, 2022

Smell is one of the primal ways that we humans, first navigate the world. Yet smell largely remains a sensorial mystery because of the intricate way that scent, emotion and memory are intertwined in the brain. Research into olfaction, the science of what happens between the nose and the brain, has intensified in the past couple of years due to the huge number of people who lost their sense of smell due to COVID. Luckily, this condition, anosmia, is usually temporary. To help us understand this important but often overlooked sense, we talk to Sandeep Robert Datta, Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and Venkatesh Murty, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard’s Center for Brain Science. They will be joined by Dr. Eric Holbrook, Director of Rhinology at Mass Eye and Ear. But if you are not a sommelier or a parfumer, how much do our noses really matter in making sense of the world. Please join the discussion and don’t forget your coffee – just one sniff contains 800 separate volatile chemicals!

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The Arts as a Prescription for Culture

Tue, Dec 21, 2021

Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive Director of the Mass. Cultural Council will be joined in conversation with Catherine Carr Kelly, Executive Director of Central Square Theater and collaborator on the Starlight Square project. We investigate why the arts are a key asset to the Commonwealth and the third largest contributor to its GDP. Cambridge Forum provides free and open discussions about the pertinent issues and ideas confronting us, in the world today. ### RESOURCES [Actions for the Arts Graphics](https://www.artsactionfund.org/sites/artsactionfund.org/files/2021-04/MASS%202021.pdf) Trailer from the Arlekin players Theatre performance of [“Witness”](https://vimeo.com/655499436?mc_cid=9e2d2a7ad3&mc_eid=UNIQID) Learn more about [The Walk](https://www.walkwithamal.org,) produced by Good Chance Theatre

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Lessons from the Pandemic in the Art of Possibility

Tue, Dec 14, 2021

Benjamin Zander is the renowned conductor of the Boston Philharmonic orchestra and Boston Youth Philharmonic orchestra, and co-author of The Art of Possibility.” Zander will discuss the everyday miracles that can happen despite catastrophe. Cambridge Forum provides free and open discussions about the pertinent issues and ideas confronting us, in the world today.

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What I Learned in Prison

Tue, Nov 16, 2021

Since 2013, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges has been teaching classes in drama, literature, philosophy and history in the college-degree program offered by Rutgers University to inmates in the New Jersey prison system. He joins us to discuss his new book, “OUR CLASS: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison," in which he chronicles his students' grief and suffering, as well as their personal transformation. Stephon Whitley, a former student and a successful graduate of Rutgers, was locked up in multiple New Jersey prisons and is now engaged in criminal justice reform work. Stephan will take part in the live discussion. Cambridge Forum provides free and open discussions about the pertinent issues and ideas confronting us, in the world today. RESOURCES Read this article by Stephon Whitley: ["The stink, the mice, the yelling. My time in solitary was the 'most savage moment of my life,’ Rutgers grad recalls."](https://www.nj.com/opinion/2019/07/the-stink-the-mice-the-yelling-it-was-the-most-savage-moment-of-my-life-rutgers-grad-recalls.html)

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Eco-Anxiety

Tue, Nov 2, 2021

Does the future plight of the planet keep you up at night? Are you filled with a sense of doom regarding your future or the uncertain future of your children? You’re not alone. Young people are particularly susceptible to this mental anguish and Greta Thunberg was one of the first of her generation to speak publicly of her eco-depression. Following the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow, this discussion tackles both the pessimism and hope attached to its outcomes. Canadian journalist Arno Kopecky, author of The Environmentalist's Dilemma, asks if hope is naïve or indispensable. Professor Theresa Marteau, Director of the Behavior and Health Research Unit at the University of Cambridge, examines what is necessary in terms of our individual and collective behavior that will make change possible. Cambridge Forum provides free and open discussions about the pertinent issues and ideas confronting us, in the world today.

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The Day the World Stops Shopping

Wed, Oct 20, 2021

Journalist and author J.B. MacKinnon imagines what would happen—to our economies, our products, our planet, our selves—if we committed to consuming far fewer of the Earth’s resources. Cambridge Forum provides free and open discussions about the pertinent issues and ideas confronting us, in the world today.

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