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Forum Network

Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

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GBH Forum Network

The Forum Network is a public media service of the GBH Educational Foundation that offers thousands of video lectures by the world's foremost scholars, authors, artists, scientists, policymakers, and community leaders, made available to the public for free.

Lectures hosted on The Forum Network are presented by community organizations and educational institutions from the Boston area and beyond.

From science to the humanities, from local to global topics, The Forum Network is committed to providing outstanding educational content for lifelong learners, and to encouraging deeper understanding and civic engagement around the vital issues of our time.

Explore lectures by Topics, Series, Partners, and Speakers. To provide viewers with more information, lectures are further augmented with speaker biographies, related lectures and books, captions and transcripts, and downloadable audio.

In the past, GBH has collaborated with other public media partners—WETA in Washington, DC; Public Broadcasting Atlanta; and WNET New York—to record public speaking events. While the structure of the Forum Network changed in 2014 to focus specifically on the Boston region, previously recorded lectures remain archived in this website.

Major support for the GBH Forum Network comes from the Lowell Institute, an organization created to carry out the 1836 bequest of John Lowell Jr., to make free public lectures available to the citizens of Boston

Stay in touch with Forum Network. » Facebook Find us on Facebook and Twitter. Become a partner by joining our network as a local community content contributor. Email forumnetwork@wgbh.org with the subject line "New Partner".

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About GBH Educational Foundation

GBH enriches people's lives through programs and services that educate, inspire, and entertain, fostering citizenship and culture, the joy of learning, and the power of diverse perspectives. GBH serves New England, the nation, and the world with programs that inform, inspire, and entertain. GBH is PBS's single largest producer of content for television (prime-time and children's programs) and the Web. Some of your favorite series and websites -- Nova, Masterpiece, Frontline, Antiques Roadshow, Curious George, Arthur, and The Victory Garden, to name a few -- are produced here in our Boston studios. GBH also is a major supplier of programs heard nationally on public radio, including The World. And we're a pioneer in educational multimedia and in media access technologies for people with hearing or vision loss. Our community ties run deep. We're a local public broadcaster serving southern New England, with 11 public television services and three public radio services -- and productions (from Greater Boston to Jazz with Eric in the Evening) that reflect the issues and cultural riches of our region. We're a member station of PBS and an affiliate of both NPR and PRI. In today's fast-changing media landscape, we're making sure you can find our content when and where you choose -- on TV, radio, the Web, podcasts, vodcasts, streaming audio and video, iPhone applications, groundbreaking teaching tools, and more. Our reach and impact keep growing. GBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors -- Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards -- even two Academy Awards. In 2002, a special institutional Peabody Award cited GBH's 50 years of service to the "community, the nation, and the world with outstanding productions and collaborations."

GBH is devoted to bringing you new experiences, taking you to new worlds, and giving you the very best in educational content. We're here for you -- and it all happens thanks to your interest and generous support!

https://forum-network.org/

  • Robert Hass Reads "Selected Haiku" by Issa

    Wed, Apr 1, 2009
    Hass reads "Selected Haiku" by Kobayashi Issa from his book of translations *The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa*. Issa, who was born in 1763 to a farming family in rural Japan, is considered one of four great masters of Haiku. This 17 syllable poetic form is known for its ability to squeeze astonishing beauty and depth of feeling out of plain language and direct observation. Issa's poems are remarkable for their "pathos and humor," especially in light of the string of tragedies that marked each stage of his life.
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  • Edward Hirsch Reads "A Partial History of My Stupidity"

    Wed, Apr 1, 2009
    Hirsch often finds inspiration in the work of other writers and artists, as is the case with this poem, "A Partial History of My Stupidity." In response to a poem by Polish writer Czeslaw Milosz, in which the author wrote that the history of his stupidity would fill many volumes, Hirsch said he thought, "I could relate to that. But it seemed impossible to write all of [it]. I wrote like volume three, chapter five."
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  • Yusef Komunyakaa Reads "Facing It"

    Wed, Apr 1, 2009
    Yusef Komunyakaa reads his poem "Facing It" about seeing the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial wall in Washington, D.C. through his eyes as a war veteran and contemporary poet.
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  • Ted Kooser Reads "Daddy Long Legs"

    Wed, Apr 1, 2009
    American poet Ted Kooser reads his poem, "Daddy Long Legs".
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  • Jane Hirshfield Reads "For What Binds Us"

    Wed, Apr 1, 2009
    American poet Jane Hirshfield reads her poem, "For What Binds Us".
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  • Linda Pastan Reads "Why Are Your Poems So Dark?"

    Wed, Apr 1, 2009
    Linda Pastan reads her poem, "Why Are Your Poems So Dark?".
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  • Lucille Clifton Reads "won't you celebrate with me"

    Wed, Apr 1, 2009
    Contemporary poet Lucille Clifton explores themes of identity, race, and gender as she reads her poem, “won’t you celebrate with me.”
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  • Coleman Barks Reads Rumi in Translation

    Wed, Apr 1, 2009
    American poet Coleman Barks reads from the work of Jalal Al-Din Rumi, the 13th century Persian poet, theologian, and philosopher.
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  • Billy Collins Reads "The Lanyard"

    Wed, Apr 1, 2009
    Billy Collins reads his poem "The Lanyard", which explores how contrasting images can create meaning as, he remembers a gift he made for his mother.
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  • This Land is My Land / Consenting Adults

    Sun, Oct 4, 2009
    Lecture Seven: "This Land is My Land" John Locke is both a supporter and detractor from the theory of Libertarianism. Locke argues that in the "state of nature," before any political structure has been established, every human has certain natural rights to life, liberty -- and property. However, once we agree to enter into society, we are consenting to being governed by a system of laws. And so, Locke argues, even though government is charged with looking after one's individual rights, it is the majority that defines those rights. Lecture Eight: "Consenting Adults" John Locke on the issue of taxation and consent. How does John Locke square away the conflict between 1) his belief that individuals have an unalienable right to life, liberty, and property and 2) that government -- through majority rule -- can tax individuals without their consent? Doesn't that amount to taking an individual's property without his/her consent? Locke's answer to that is that we are giving our "implied consent" to taxation laws, by living in society, therefore taxation is legitimate. And, as long as government doesn't target a particular group for taxation -- if it isn't arbitrary -- then taxation isn't a violation of the fundamental rights of individuals.
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