In September, 1974 – two days after her 14th birthday – Leola Hampton boarded a school bus that would launch her into the heart of one of the most divisive and defining moments in Boston history: court-ordered school desegregation. She and her older sister, Linda Starks-Walker, were bused from their home in the predominantly Black neighborhood of Roxbury into the white, working-class neighborhood of South Boston. They navigated a violent and virulently racist high school experience so scarring that a half-century later, they are only now beginning to discuss it with each other.


Leola and Linda share their story in GBH News' short documentary, "'Never Cried': Boston's Busing Legacy". Join us for a screening of the film, along with a discussion with the film's producer and subjects about how the legacy of Boston's busing crisis lives on today.

Cambridge Forum is delighted to partner with Harvard Book Store to bring you a conversation with Nancy Pelosi about The Art of Power, which chronicles her life as America’s first female Speaker of the House and one of the most powerful women in American political history.

When Nancy Pelosi, aged 46 years and a mother of five, asked her youngest daughter if she should run for Congress, Alexandra Pelosi answered: “Mother, get a life!” And so Nancy did, and what a life it has been. In her book The Art of Power, Pelosi describes what it takes to make history—not only as the first woman to ascend to the most powerful legislative role in our nation, but to pass laws that would save lives and livelihoods, from the emergency rescue of the economy in 2008 to the transformation of health care. She describes the perseverance, persuasion, and respect required to succeed, but also the joy of seeing America change for the better. Renowned for her hard work and diligent preparation, Pelosi worked to find common ground, but also learned how to stand her ground with presidents from Bush to Biden.

In her memoir, she reveals how she went toe-to-toe with Trump, leading up to January 6, 2021, when he unleashed his post-election fury on the Congress. Pelosi provides a personal account of that day: the assault not only on democracy but on those who had come to serve the nation, never expecting to hide under desks or flee for their lives—and her determined efforts to get the National Guard to the Capitol. 

Nearly two years later, violence and fury erupted inside Pelosi’s own home when an intruder, demanding to see the Speaker, viciously attacked her husband, Paul. Pelosi shares details of that fateful day and the traumatic aftermath. However, Pelosi does not fear a good fight and “The Art of Power” is about the fighting spirit that has always animated her, and helped her create an historic legacy.

She is joined in conversation by Governor Maura Healey—the 73rd Governor of Massachusetts.

Suffolk University's Ford Hall Forum presents author Arlie Russell Hochschild, Ph.D., one of the most influential scholars of her generation upon the publication of her latest book, Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right in conversation with award-winning author James Carroll.

In her first book since the widely acclaimed Strangers in Their Own Land, National Book Award finalist and bestselling author Arlie Russell Hochschild now ventures to Appalachia, uncovering the “pride paradox” that has given the right’s appeals such resonance. For all the attempts to understand the state of American politics and the blue/red divide, we’ve ignored what economic and cultural loss can do to pride. What happens, Arlie Russell Hochschild asks, when a proud people in a hard-hit region suffer the deep loss of pride and are confronted with a powerful political appeal that makes it feel “stolen”?

Hochschild’s research drew her to Pikeville, Kentucky, in the heart of Appalachia, within the whitest and second-poorest congressional district in the nation, where the city was reeling: coal jobs had left, crushing poverty persisted, and a deadly drug crisis struck the region.

In Stolen Pride, Hochschild focuses on a group swept up in the shifting political landscape: blue-collar men. In small churches, hillside hollers, roadside diners, trailer parks, and Narcotics Anonymous meetings, Hochschild introduces us to unforgettable people, and offers an original lens through which to see them and the wider world. In Stolen Pride, Hochschild incisively explores our dangerous times, even as she also points a way forward.

Join The Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation for a Tech Talk about our new series of short animations on the history of the Boston Manufacturing Company, designed to educate and entertain audiences of all ages, with a particular focus on middle school students.

Waltham animator Macy Lawrence will discuss the research, design, and animation process, and the event will include a screening of the short films.

Macy Lawrence is an animator based in Waltham, Massachusetts. She is currently an Art Director for Cengage/National Geographic Learning. In 2024 she will complete a master’s degree in Digital Media Studies from Harvard University's Extension School.

Cambridge Forum is pleased to mark the 75^th anniversary of the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four in 1949, with an in-depth discussion about George Orwell’s life, work and legacy.

Written at a time when Orwell was seriously ill, 1984 had a dubious beginning with few interested in publishing it, yet it went on to become a classic literary example of political and dystopian fiction. Its themes struck a chord with readers worldwide due to its focus on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance and repression, which have remained timeless. The novel, which was Orwell’s final book, examines the role of truth and facts within society and the ways in which they can be manipulated, hence the creation of the term “Orwellian”.

To help us understand the complex but brilliant mind of this great writer, we have two wonderful writers who are specialists on Orwell, Dorian Lynskey, author of The Ministry of Truth: A Biography of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, and Nathan Waddell, Professor of Twentieth-Century Literature at the University of Birmingham.

Nathan Waddell is Professor of Twentieth-Century Literature at the University of Birmingham, UK where he has written widely on George Orwell and produces the Reading Orwell podcast. He edited the The Cambridge Companion to Nineteen Eighty-Four, and has two books coming out in 2025, The Oxford Handbook of George Orwell and A Bright Cold Day: The Wonder of George Orwell.

Dorian Lynskey writes about politics and culture for numerous publications. He is author of The Ministry of Truth: A Biography of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four which was longlisted for the Orwell and Baillie Gifford prizes. Lynskey’s latest book is Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About the End of the World; he also hosts the podcasts Origin Story and Oh God, What Now?

Gideon Lichfield has been the editor-in-chief of WIRED and MIT Technology Review, one of the founding editors at Quartz, and a science writer and foreign correspondent at The Economist. Currently he writes Futurepolis, a newsletter devoted to the question of how to reinvent democracy for the 21st century.

Join the Charles River Museum for an inspiring look at the life and times of Major Taylor, one of the most consequential athletes in American sports history.

Taylor was racing on the national and international stage at a time when the U.S. was deeply segregated. He combatted both racial prejudice and systemic barriers to triumph as the 'world's fastest man'. The legendary African American cyclist and the Charles Metz Company of Waltham, MA., were deeply intertwined through the golden age of bicycle racing and innovation. Taylor raced on Metz's "Orient" bicycles, and his sprinting ability and speed on the lightweight Orient bikes brought him national fame during the rise of cycling as a competitive sport in America.

However, as the 20th century progressed, the bicycle industry began to decline, largely due to the rise of automobiles. Charles Metz himself shifted his focus from bicycles to cars, founding the Metz Company in 1909, marking the end of an era for Waltham's bicycle production. Still, Taylor's triumphs in the face of racial diversity remain a lasting legacy of both his own perserverance, and the innovations of the Waltham-based Metz Company.