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Ford Hall Forum

The Ford Hall Forum is the nation's oldest continuously operating free public lecture series. Its mission is to foster an informed and effective citizenry and to promote freedom of speech through the public presentation of lectures, debates, and discussions. Forum events illuminate the key issues facing our society by bringing to its podium knowledgeable and thought-provoking speakers. These speakers are presented in person, for free, and in settings, which facilitate frank and open debate.

http://www.fordhallforum.org/

Surveillance Capitalism and Democracy

Wed, Jan 23, 2019

Surveillance capitalism is the foundation of a new economic order. Firms compete on the manufacture of "prediction products" traded in lucrative new "behavioral futures markets." Surveillance capitalism's proprietary digital architectures -- what Shoshana Zuboff calls "Big Other" -- are designed to capture and control human behavior for competitive advantage in these new markets, as the production of goods and services is subordinated to a new "means of behavioral modification" that favors private market outcomes free of democratic oversight or control. Acclaimed scholar and author Shoshana Zuboff, Ph.D., Harvard Business School professor emerita speaks on the publication of her new book, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight For a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. The event is moderated by Christopher Lydon, radio host of WBUR's Open Source. Image: Book cover

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Gary Pomerantz: The Last Pass

Mon, Oct 29, 2018

Bob "Cooz" Cousy, the Hall of Fame Boston Celtics captain who led the team to its first six championships, has a lot to be proud of. But now, at age 90, he has one last piece of unfinished business. He seeks to make amends with his great partner on the Celtics, fellow Hall of Fame member Bill Russell, now 84. Cooz tells author Gary M. Pomerantz in the new book, [_The Last Pass_](http://www.garympomerantz.com/books/the-last-pass "The Last Pass book link"), that he should have been more publicly opposed to the prejudice Russell faced. **WATCH LIVE:** Join us for this important conversation about loyalty and bravery in the face of racism. Streaming here at 4 p.m. on October 29th.

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Daniel Ziblatt: How Democracies Die

Thu, Oct 11, 2018

Is American democracy at risk? Daniel Ziblatt, Harvard political scientist and coauthor of The New York Times bestseller, “How Democracies Die,” discusses how we can look to a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow to show how democracies die—and how ours can be saved. Professor Ziblatt’s talk is followed by a panel of Suffolk scholars –Brian Conley, Greg Fried, and Renee Landers – and is be moderated by Acting Provost Sebastian Royo. [http://www.lowellinstitute.org/](http://www.lowellinstitute.org/event/925/ "The Lowell Institute ")

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An Actor and A Gentleman

Mon, Nov 8, 2010

Lou Gossett, Jr. is one of the most respected African American stage and screen actors, rising to fame with his Emmy-winning role in the television miniseries Roots and Oscar-winning performance in An Officer and a Gentleman. From his early success on the New York stage appearing with Ruby Dee and Sidney Poitier in A Raisin in the Sun and through most of his long career in Hollywood, he has struggled to get leading roles and fair pay as a black actor. Gossett speaks frankly of his problem with drugs and alcohol that took years to overcome and his current work to eradicate racism and violence and give our children a better future. He is joined by his writer, Phyllis Karas, biographer and professor of journalism.

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Yaron Brook on Ayn Rand: 'Apollo and Dionysus' Revisted

Thu, May 8, 2008

In 1969, Ayn Rand's Ford Hall Forum talk, 'Apollo and Dionysus,' addressed the near simultaneous events of Woodstock and the first lunar landing. Employing Greek mythology's god of the sun and god of wine, she compared the awe-inspiring accomplishments of NASA's Apollo space program to the famous three-day concert that has come to exemplify the counterculture of the 1960s and the "hippie era." Almost four decades later, Dr. Yaron Brook, President and Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute, reflects on her words and takes a new look at our society's drives toward individualism versus wholeness, light versus darkness, and civilization versus primal nature.

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First Amendment Award: Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

Thu, Mar 18, 2010

The Ford Hall Forum presents the 2010 Louis P. and Evelyn Smith First Amendment Award to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which is dedicated to defending and sustaining individual rights at America's colleges and universities. Greg Lukianoff, President of FIRE; Steven Pinker, bestselling author and FIRE Advisory Board member; and Harvey Silverglate, Civil liberties lawyer and FIRE Co-Founder, join moderator Judge Nancy Gertner of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts to discuss their organization's work and what freedom of speech means today.

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Reforming Boston Schools: Race, History, and the Future

Thu, Apr 15, 2010

Joseph Cronin, former Massachusetts Secretary of Education; George Greenidge, Executive Director of National Black College Alliance; Claudio Martinez, Executive Director of Hyde Square Task Force; and Jean McGuire, Executive Director of METCO, join moderator Tessil Collins, senior coordinator of the Boston Public Schools, to reflect on Boston Public Schools' challenges of previous decades, as well as the hurdles ahead in developing a stronger education system for our city.

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Fifth Estate: Can Twitter and YouTube Solve Real Government Problems?

Thu, May 6, 2010

Chris Csilkszentmihalti, Director of the MIT Center for Future Civic Media; Nigel Jacob, Senior Advisor for Emerging Technology for the City of Boston's Mayor's Office; and Joseph Porcelli, founder of Neighbors for Neighbors, Inc., join moderator Callie Crossley, host of WGBH's *The Callie Crossley Show*, to address the promise--and challenges--of building more transparent, participatory, and effective institutions through the evolving technological tools at our fingertips.

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Lessons from the Financial Crisis: More Government or Less?

Thu, May 20, 2010

Yaron Brook, President and Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute, and Peter Kadzis, Editor of the *Boston Phoenix* and former contributor to *Money*, *Forbes*, and the *Boston Business Journal* debate the lessons learned during the financial crisis--from bailouts to reforms to our efforts to prevent another economic disaster.

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A Presidency in Peril

Thu, Jun 3, 2010

Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of *The American Prospect*, Demos Distinguished Senior Fellow, and columnist for *The Boston Globe*, joins Wendy Ballinger, founder of Ballinger Consulting, to discuss the dilemmas facing the Obama administration from trade to efficiency to the challenge of regulating global capitalism.

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