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Delve into one of the darkest chapters in human history as Holocaust scholar Michael Berenbaum provides historical facts and answers your questions about Auschwitz, the largest and most lethal Nazi concentration and death camp. More than 1,100,000 people were killed behind its barbed wire fences.

Michael Berenbaum is the Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust, and a Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the American Jewish University. The author and editor of 24 books, he was also the Executive Editor of the Second Edition of the Encyclopaedia Judaica. He was Project Director overseeing the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the first Director of its Research Institute, and later served as President and CEO of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, which took the testimony of 52,000 Holocaust survivors in 32 languages and 57 countries. His work in film has won Emmy Awards and Academy Awards. He has developed and curated museum exhibits in the United States, Mexico, North Macedonia, and Poland; and his award-winning exhibition Auschwitz. Not Long Ago. Not Far Away. has been seen in Madrid, Spain, Malmo, Sweden, New York, Kansas City, the Ronald Regan Library in California, and is now on view in Boston.


This event is presented in partnership with the Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. exhibit on view now at The Castle at Park Plaza in Boston.

Photos: (from top left clockwise to bottom left)
-A transport of Jews from Hungary arrives at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Poland, May 1944
-Main entrance to the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center. This photograph was taken some time after the liberation of the camp in January 1945. Poland, date uncertain.
-View of a section of the barbed-wire fence and barracks at Auschwitz at the time of the liberation of the camp. Auschwitz, Poland, January 1945.
-A transport of Hungarian Jews lines up on the ramp for selection at the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center in German-occupied Poland. May 1944.
Images provided by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Prepare yourself for an awe-inspiring celestial event as the moon moves between the Earth and Sun, casting its shadow on our planet in a rare solar eclipse on Monday, April 8. Join GBH and astrophysicist Grant Tremblay to discuss the best viewing techniques and talk about the history behind this phenomenon. Grant explains the physics of the sun and the science of the total and annular eclipses and outline some of the knowledge gleaned from recent analysis. This natural wonder promises a captivating display of cosmic alignment, offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to marvel at the wonders of the universe.

Grant Tremblay is an astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and Vice President of the American Astrophysical Society.

This event is hosted and moderated by the NOVA's Outreach Project Manager, Tara Ramsey.

This event is presented in partnership with PBS's NOVA.

Photo credit: Jordon Conner

Transform your yard into a lush paradise. Whether you live in a rural or urban area, learn the secrets of how to cultivate a vibrant oasis right outside your door. Join GBH and public gardening expert Karen Daubmann from Massachusetts Horticultural Society and immerse in the lavish wonders of your own backyard haven.

Karen Daubmann is committed to creating effective and longstanding change to public gardens throughout her 25-year career. She joined Massachusetts Horticultural Society (MHS) in March 2022, where she brings her experience in advancing the operational and planning scale of public gardens. In the development and execution of exhibitions that have welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors, Daubmann focuses her work on encouraging guests to connect and interact with gardens through art, nature and culture. Prior to joining MHS, she worked for 14 years at the New York Botanical Garden, culminating in her position as vice president for exhibitions and audience engagement. She has been featured in Jennifer Jewell’s The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants and has contributed essays for Kusama: Cosmic Nature, 2021 and Frida Kahlo's Garden, 2015.

Daubmann lives and gardens with her husband Matt and dog Klaus in coastal Rhode Island.

This event will be hosted and moderated by GBH News, David Epstein who provides daily weather updates on Morning Edition and founder of Growing Wisdom that provide video tips for home gardeners.

This event is presented is in partnership with Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

At Ask the Expert, get access to experts specializing in a wide variety of topics, learn something new about a subject you are passionate about or discover a new interest. GBH invites you to drive the conversation by asking questions during the live event directly with our expert. It’s always interesting, and it’s always free!

This event is presented in partnership with

Stacey Beuttell, Senior Director of Mass Audubon’s Nature in the City, discusses what greenspaces are, why they are important to our cities, and how we can create access to nature that is inclusive and equitable for all.

Mass Audubon's Nature in the City program pictures a city where all residents, regardless of race, income, ability, spoken language or lived experience, can enjoy green spaces and feel welcomed.

By growing the number of urban greenspaces and improving their quality, the Nature in the City program provides opportunities for nature-based programming and builds grassroots advocacy for policy changes that regard nature as a core community health asset. 

This event will be hosted and moderated by the NOVA's Director of Education, Ralph Bouquet.


This event is presented with support from Liberty Mutual Insurance.

The event is in partnership with:

What was love like in New England during Colonial America? The surviving letters between John and Abigail Adams reveal the unconditional love they had for each other, but they also divulge long periods of separation, scandals and personal tragedies during their 54-year old romance. This true story for the ages that proves that love conquers all.

GBH is joined by Sara Martin, the editor-in-chief of The Adams Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society to discuss this swoon-worthy love story.

Since it was established in 1954, The Adams Papers has published letterpress volumes of the diaries, letters and other writings of the Adams family of Massachusetts. Recently, they published two letterpress series, Adams Family Correspondence and the Papers of John Adams, and two digital editions, the Adams Papers Digital Edition and the John Quincy Adams Digital Diary.

Sara participates in a number of outreach activities at the MHS, including educational workshops and public lectures on the Adams family and the craft of historical editing.

Her previous experience in public history includes partnerships with archaeologists and cultural heritage managers and work with local historical societies and community groups on public engagement projects and in-house exhibit development.

This event is hosted and moderated by Associate Producer of GBH News' Art & Culture, Haley Lerner.

This event is presented in partnership with Massachusetts Historical Society.

photo credit: portraits by Benjamin Blyth, ca. 1766


In partnership with:

We think we know what happened in 1621 — why Thanksgiving was held, how the Wampanoag were invited, what the Pilgrims ate – but first Thanksgiving facts, as most Americans have been taught in the years since, are not exactly accurate.

Learn more about the real Thanksgiving story, as shared by Brad Musquantamôsq Lopes (Aquinnah Wampanoag), Director of Wampanoag and Indigenous Interpretation and Training at Plimoth Patuxet Museums and Tom Begley, Deputy Director of Collections, Research, & Public Engagement at Plimoth Patuxet Museums. Together, Brad and Tom will offer historical and cultural perspectives related to the first Thanksgiving story and gratitude as a way of life for Indigenous Peoples. Topics to be explored include:

- The historical events that led up to the “First Thanksgiving” feast
- Who sat at the table
- What food was served
- How long the feast lasted
- Traditions of gratitude that informed Thanksgiving
- How Thanksgiving has been observed from 1621 to today

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to separate fact from fiction with our experts, and gain a deeper understanding of the real Thanksgiving story.
 
More about our speakers
Brad Musquantamôsq Lopes is the Director of Wampanoag and Indigenous Interpretation and Training at Plimoth Patuxet Museums, located in the homelands of his people, the Wampanoag Nation. A proud citizen of the Aquinnah Wampanoag community with a degree in Secondary Education from the University of Maine at Farmington, Brad has worked as a classroom teacher, curriculum developer, and most recently as a Program Director for the Aquinnah Cultural Center on Noepe (Martha’s Vineyard). In this role, Brad oversees the Wampanoag and Indigenous training program and the implementation of interpretive content and techniques surrounding the understanding of Indigenous people both in the past and today.

Tom Begley is the Deputy Director of Collections, Research, & Public Engagement at Plimoth Patuxet Museums. He has been with the museum since 2014 and has a Bachelor's degree in U.S. History from Stonehill College and is completing his Master's degree in Public History at UMass Boston. In his current role, Tom directs the research facilities and the operations across the exhibit and living history spaces. He served as editor on the facsimile of William Bradford's Of Plimoth Plantation published in collaboration with the State Library of Massachusetts and guided Plimoth Patuxet's successful application to list Mayflower II on the National Register of Historic Places.

About Plimoth Patuxet
Plimoth Patuxet is one of the nation’s foremost living history museums. Founded in 1947, the museum creates engaging experiences of history built on thorough research about the Indigenous and European people who met along Massachusetts' historic shores in the 1600s. Immersive and educational encounters underscore the collaborations as well as the culture clash and conflicts of the 17th century people of this region. Major exhibits include the Historic Patuxet Homesite, the 17th-Century English Village, Mayflower II, and Plimoth Grist Mill.

More about Ask the Expert
At Ask the Expert, get access to experts specializing in a wide variety of topics, learn something new about a subject you are passionate about or discover a new interest. GBH invites you to drive the conversation by asking questions during the live event directly with our expert. It’s always interesting, and it’s always free!

This event is presented in partnership with Plimoth Patuxet Museums.

Photo credit: Kathy Tarantola/Plimoth Patuxet Museums

Do you know what triggers migration? How do birds find their way to warmer climates? David Allen Sibley, author and illustrator of the The Sibley Guide to Birds will be joining us for a fascinating conversation about birding migration and how our feathered friends heed nature’s call.

David Allen Sibley is the author and illustrator of the series of successful guides to nature that bear his name, including The Sibley Guide to Birds. He has contributed to Smithsonian, Science, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, Birding, BirdWatching and North American Birds and The New York Times. He is the recipient of the Roger Tory Peterson Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Birding Association and the Linnaean Society of New York's Eisenmann Medal. He lives and birds in Massachusetts.

GBH News reporter Craig LeMoult will be our host and moderator for this event.

Photo credit: David Allen Sibley

At Ask The Expert, get access to experts specializing in a wide variety of topics, learn something new about a subject you are passionate about or discover a new interest. GBH invites you to drive the conversation by asking questions during the live event directly with our expert. It’s always interesting, and it’s always free!