Forum Network Public Domain
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Party and Ideology
Anyone who has watched the bitter competition between the Democrats and Republicans in Congress in recent years, or the fight to win the Republican nomination for President this year, might be wondering how to explain the current political party system in the United States. It looks like a period of deep ideological cleavages between the parties, and strict enforcement of some form of ideological correctness at least in one of them. Yet for decades or even centuries, scholars of politics...
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Jodi Kantor: The Obamas
Jodi Kantor, New York Times correspondent, discusses The Obamas, her portrait of the first couple, and addresses the recent media attention and controversy around the book. In The Obamas, Jodi Kantor takes the reader inside the White House as the Obamas try to grapple with their new roles, change the country, raise children, maintain friendships, and figure out what it means to be the first black President and First Lady.
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Party and Ideology
Anyone who has watched the bitter competition between the Democrats and Republicans in Congress in recent years, or the fight to win the Republican nomination for President this year, might be wondering how to explain the current political party system in the United States. It looks like a period of deep ideological cleavages between the parties, and strict enforcement of some form of ideological correctness at least in one of them. Yet for decades or even centuries, scholars of politics...
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Paul Krugman: End This Depression Now!
Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize–winning economist and New York Times columnist discusses his latest book, "End This Depression Now!" The Great Recession is more than four years old—and counting. Yet, as Paul Krugman points out, "Nations rich in resources, talent, and knowledge—all the ingredients for prosperity and a decent standard of living for all—remain in a state of intense pain." How bad have things gotten? How did the U.S. get stuck in what Krugman argues can only be called a depression?...
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Globalization of Labor: Is a Race to the Bottom...
Out-sourcing. Off-shoring. Even before the Great Recession of 2008 pushed unemployment rates into double digits, Americans worried that traditional jobs were disappearing. Economist Robert Pollin addresses questions for American workers raised by the globalization of labor. How has globalization of the labor market affected American employment patterns? Is globalization responsible for the loss of domestic jobs that pay middle class wages? How can the United States respond to the challenges...
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Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and...
Daron Acemoglu discusses his book, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty at the Harvard Bookstore. Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine? Is it culture, the weather, geography? Perhaps ignorance of what the right policies are? Acemoglu argues that none of these factors is either definitive or destiny. Otherwise,...
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The Future of the Post Office
The American postal service has an impressive history, but an uncertain future. Older than the Constitution, it was a wellspring of American democracy and a catalyst for the creation of a nationwide market for information and goods. Today, however, its once indispensable role in fostering civic discourse and facilitating personal communications has been challenged by the Internet and mobile telephony. How is the post office coping? What are its prospects in the digital age? An MIT...
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Party and Ideology
Anyone who has watched the bitter competition between the Democrats and Republicans in Congress in recent years, or the fight to win the Republican nomination for President this year, might be wondering how to explain the current political party system in the United States. It looks like a period of deep ideological cleavages between the parties, and strict enforcement of some form of ideological correctness at least in one of them. Yet for decades or even centuries, scholars of politics...
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Civility and Culture
Are calls for civility a distraction that marginalizes the individual and inhibits an honest examination of absolutes? Does the practice of civility evolve differently in different cultural experiences? What happens to civil discourse when ordinary political conversation becomes shrouded in the sacred? Can civil discourse lead zealots to reconciliation and mutual respect? This panel examines fundamental questions about the value of civility across cultures. Featuring Diana Eck, Mark Lilla,...
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Evangelicals in the Electorate
How are Evangelical Christians impacting politics in the U.S.? Although some dismiss Evangelical Christians as zealots with uncommon social values and little regard for science, others argue that they are misunderstood. This panel explores this group that has become a powerful voting bloc in the U.S. John C. Green, senior research advisor at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, presents empirical data on what evangelicals actually believe based on surveys of clergy and parishioners....
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Democracy After Citizens United
Lawrence Lessig argues that the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission will lead to further corruption of Congress by making legislators more dependent on special interests rather than on voters. Panelists Allison R. Hayward, John Bonifaz, and Gabriel Lenz join the discussion. Stephen Ansolabehere moderates.
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Heather Rogers: Climate Change: Is Green Consumption a...
Heather Rogers, author of Green Gone Wrong, discusses whether or not the consumption of earth-friendly products presents a solution to climate change. Science tells us that our consumption, what we eat, and the products and services we buy, contribute to the problem. What can be done about the products that contribute most? What if the answer lies in not just consuming differently, but consuming less? Heather Rogers has investigated whether earth-friendly products actually present a solution.
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Bradley Smith: Saving Elections from Politics
Having the government pay for political campaigns in order to level the playing field has been unpopular among liberal, conservative, and independent voters alike. Bradley A. Smith, Professor of Law at Capital University argues it is dangerous to give government control over electoral speech, because the tendency to use such control for partisan purposes is a constant temptation. He recommends a doctrine of “separation of campaign and state” similar to the separation of church and state or...
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Globalization of Markets: Do Corporations Need American...
Harold Meyerson, editor-at-large of The American Prospect, explores the impact of "Globalization of Markets" on the American economy. When Henry Ford revolutionized American auto manufacturing a century ago, he not only introduced the assembly line; he also paid his workers enough to allow them to buy a Ford. This move was one of the first steps in creating an American economy that is driven by consumption. If globalization is keeping American incomes low, how can consumption rebound to fuel...
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Dani Rodrik: The Globalization Paradox
Harvard economist Dani Rodrik argues that we cannot simultaneously pursue democracy, national self-determination, and economic globalization. While the world economy is becoming an international system, the political systems of the world remain based in the construct of the nation-state. And while nations have organized some international political and economic governing authorities, such as the WTO, IMF, and World Bank, a comprehensive and widely accepted international system to regulate...
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Party and Ideology
Anyone who has watched the bitter competition between the Democrats and Republicans in Congress in recent years, or the fight to win the Republican nomination for President this year, might be wondering how to explain the current political party system in the United States. It looks like a period of deep ideological cleavages between the parties, and strict enforcement of some form of ideological correctness at least in one of them. Yet for decades or even centuries, scholars of politics...
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Paul Krugman: End This Depression Now!
Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize–winning economist and New York Times columnist discusses his latest book, "End This Depression Now!" The Great Recession is more than four years old—and counting. Yet, as Paul Krugman points out, "Nations rich in resources, talent, and knowledge—all the ingredients for prosperity and a decent standard of living for all—remain in a state of intense pain." How bad have things gotten? How did the U.S. get stuck in what Krugman argues can only be called a depression?...
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Globalization of Labor: Is a Race to the Bottom...
Out-sourcing. Off-shoring. Even before the Great Recession of 2008 pushed unemployment rates into double digits, Americans worried that traditional jobs were disappearing. Economist Robert Pollin addresses questions for American workers raised by the globalization of labor. How has globalization of the labor market affected American employment patterns? Is globalization responsible for the loss of domestic jobs that pay middle class wages? How can the United States respond to the challenges...
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The Future of the Post Office
The American postal service has an impressive history, but an uncertain future. Older than the Constitution, it was a wellspring of American democracy and a catalyst for the creation of a nationwide market for information and goods. Today, however, its once indispensable role in fostering civic discourse and facilitating personal communications has been challenged by the Internet and mobile telephony. How is the post office coping? What are its prospects in the digital age? An MIT...
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Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and...
Daron Acemoglu discusses his book, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty at the Harvard Bookstore. Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine? Is it culture, the weather, geography? Perhaps ignorance of what the right policies are? Acemoglu argues that none of these factors is either definitive or destiny. Otherwise,...
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The Future of Black Politics
Professors Michael Dawson and William Julius Wilson and the Reverend Eugene Rivers discuss The Future of Black Politics, the subject of Boston Review's current issue. How has the field of black politics changed in recent decades? Are the issues facing impoverished African American communities today best addressed by race-based or class-based initiatives? What has President Obama done to specifically help African American communities? Why does their seem to be a lack of African American...
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Obama and Iran: A Single Roll of the Dice
Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, assesses the high-stakes diplomatic sparring between Washington and Tehran. As the threat of hostilities hangs over the Middle East again, what should the United States policy toward Iran be? Parsi explores this question in his new book, A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran. To write it he interviewed 70 high-ranking officials from the U.S., Iran, Europe, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Brazil—including the...
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A Farwell to Geopolitics: American Grand Strategy for...
Stephen van Evera of MIT’s Security Studies Program looks at the ways the United States has responded to military, diplomatic, and economic challenges in the decade since 9/11 and asks “Have our actions made us more secure?” Arguing that, in fact, U.S. strategies have been ineffective, even counter-productive, he outlines an “American grand strategy” for the new globalized web of international relationships. What policies and actions does he see as effective in promoting American and global...
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The War on Terror and the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
Mark N. Katz examines the relationships between the conceptual “war on terror” and the military engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan. What purposes did the declaration of a “War on Terror” serve? As military personnel are withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan, what will become of the idea of the war on terror? How will these changes affect American’s sense of security and confidence?
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Israel and the Palestinians: Aftermath of the Arab...
Diana Buttu addresses the question of the role of diplomacy in an insecure world, as she discuses her research on the dynamics of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, "Negotiating in the Absence of the Law: Palestine's Refugees and the Palestinian-Israeli Negotiations, 1993-2007". How has the role the United States plays in the peace process changed over that period? What impact have the events of the Arab Spring had on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? What are the sources of the Palestinian...
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Civility and Culture
Are calls for civility a distraction that marginalizes the individual and inhibits an honest examination of absolutes? Does the practice of civility evolve differently in different cultural experiences? What happens to civil discourse when ordinary political conversation becomes shrouded in the sacred? Can civil discourse lead zealots to reconciliation and mutual respect? This panel examines fundamental questions about the value of civility across cultures. Featuring Diana Eck, Mark Lilla,...
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The European Debt Crisis: Lessons from Greece
The Great Recession of 2008 revealed a new threat to Americans’ sense of security: the global economy. The meltdown of domestic housing and financial markets shook the international economy to its core, exposing weaknesses in the Eurozone that now threaten not only a global recovery but also the U.S. economic recovery. What were the causes of the Greek debt crisis? Why don't the solutions proposed by the European Union seem to be working? How could the European crisis come back to weaken the...
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The European Debt Crisis: Lessons from Greece
The Great Recession of 2008 revealed a new threat to Americans’ sense of security: the global economy. The meltdown of domestic housing and financial markets shook the international economy to its core, exposing weaknesses in the Eurozone that now threaten not only a global recovery but also the U.S. economic recovery. What were the causes of the Greek debt crisis? Why don't the solutions proposed by the European Union seem to be working? How could the European crisis come back to weaken the...
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Economics of Good and Evil: The Quest for Economic...
Why pretend that economics is value free? Tomas Sedlacek, Chief Macroeconomic Strategist at CSOB, argues that it is a product of civilization and therefore riddled with moral judgements. He further declares that separating economics from ethics creates a zombie, a monster without a soul, and that the two must be reconnected. Presented by the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.
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Democracy After Citizens United
Lawrence Lessig argues that the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission will lead to further corruption of Congress by making legislators more dependent on special interests rather than on voters. Panelists Allison R. Hayward, John Bonifaz, and Gabriel Lenz join the discussion. Stephen Ansolabehere moderates.
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Jodi Kantor: The Obamas
Jodi Kantor, New York Times correspondent, discusses The Obamas, her portrait of the first couple, and addresses the recent media attention and controversy around the book. In The Obamas, Jodi Kantor takes the reader inside the White House as the Obamas try to grapple with their new roles, change the country, raise children, maintain friendships, and figure out what it means to be the first black President and First Lady.
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Popular Uprising and Parliamentary Elections in Egypt
Stanford University Middle East specialist Joel Beinin discusses the results of the Egyptian elections. What is their significance for the future of the Arab Spring movement in Eqypt? In the region? What impact will the election results have on Egypt’s relations with Israel and with the Palestinian people?
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From the Government and Here to Help
From the financial crisis to healthcare to the budget debates, the size and scope of government is being debated across the country. One side calls for more regulation to foster equitable prosperity, while the other side says government has grown too big and intrusive. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, and David Callahan, co-founder of Demos, join Ford Hall Forum president Dominick Ianno to debate the fundamental social, economic, and moral ideas that underlie...
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Evangelicals in the Electorate
How are Evangelical Christians impacting politics in the U.S.? Although some dismiss Evangelical Christians as zealots with uncommon social values and little regard for science, others argue that they are misunderstood. This panel explores this group that has become a powerful voting bloc in the U.S. John C. Green, senior research advisor at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, presents empirical data on what evangelicals actually believe based on surveys of clergy and parishioners....
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Anita Hill: Reimagining Gender, Race, and Finding Home
In her new memoir Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home, Anita Hill takes the image of “home” and explores how our family homes and our national home are linked to our understanding of achievement, opportunity, and equality. Hill takes us on a journey that begins with her own family story and ends with the current mortgage meltdown. Along the way we visit homes across America and meet some extraordinary African American women from playwright Lorraine Hansberry to...
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War Time: An Idea, History, and Its Consequences
Although the U.S. has been engaged in some form of ongoing overseas armed conflict for more than a century, policy makers and the public continue to view wars as exceptional events that eventually give way to normal peace times. Mary Dudziak, law professor at USC argues that if war is thought to be exceptional, “wartime” remains a shorthand argument justifying extreme actions like torture and detention without trial. As the public becomes more disconnected than ever from the wars their...
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Heather Rogers: Climate Change: Is Green Consumption a...
Heather Rogers, author of Green Gone Wrong, discusses whether or not the consumption of earth-friendly products presents a solution to climate change. Science tells us that our consumption, what we eat, and the products and services we buy, contribute to the problem. What can be done about the products that contribute most? What if the answer lies in not just consuming differently, but consuming less? Heather Rogers has investigated whether earth-friendly products actually present a solution.
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Joel Brenner: America the Vulnerable
The level of Internet crime is staggering, according to Joel Brenner. And he is not just thinking of personal identity theft or Wikileaks breaches. Instead, Brenner reports that United States businesses and government agencies are under relentless cyber-assaults 24 hours a day and they are bleeding military secrets, commercial secrets, and technology. Brenner admits that he can’t tell us everything he learned about cyber-insecurity during his years in government service, but his new book...
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Bradley Smith: Saving Elections from Politics
Having the government pay for political campaigns in order to level the playing field has been unpopular among liberal, conservative, and independent voters alike. Bradley A. Smith, Professor of Law at Capital University argues it is dangerous to give government control over electoral speech, because the tendency to use such control for partisan purposes is a constant temptation. He recommends a doctrine of “separation of campaign and state” similar to the separation of church and state or...
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Bradley Smith: Saving Elections from Politics
Having the government pay for political campaigns in order to level the playing field has been unpopular among liberal, conservative, and independent voters alike. Bradley A. Smith, Professor of Law at Capital University argues it is dangerous to give government control over electoral speech, because the tendency to use such control for partisan purposes is a constant temptation. He recommends a doctrine of “separation of campaign and state” similar to the separation of church and state or...
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Net Delusion: Dark Side of Internet Freedom
Amid the euphoria about the power of the Internet and social media, Morozov sounds a note of caution. He reminds us that these tools can also entrench dictators, threaten dissidents, and make it harder--not easier--to promote democracy.
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Fab Lab: How to Make (Almost) Anything
Fab Lab creator and MIT physicist Neil Gershenfeld offers a look at how personal fabrication is ushering in a revolution in do-it-yourself design and manufacturing. Give ordinary people the right tools, and they will design and build the most extraordinary things. That's the idea behind Fab Labs, which provide access to prototype tools for personal fabrication--helping citizen inventors turn their dreams into reality. Fab Labs have spread from their start in inner-city Boston to the bottom...
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Exorbitant Privilege: Rise, Fall and Future of the Dollar
Barry Eichengreen argues that while the dollar is bound to lose its singular status, the coming changes will be neither sudden nor dire. Barry Eichengreen is the George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Exorbitant Privilege: Rise, Fall and Future of the Dollar
Barry Eichengreen argues that while the dollar is bound to lose its singular status, the coming changes will be neither sudden nor dire. Barry Eichengreen is the George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.
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Understanding Porpoises Using Technology
Andrew J. Read traces the history of our understanding of porpoises over the last 25 years, with an emphasis on how technological advances have helped us understand the biology of these enigmatic animals. He also addresses how much we still do not know, as well as some of the challenges to current research and conservation.
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The Origins of Illicit Cocaine, 1945-1973
Paul Gootenberg, professor of history, State University of New York, Stony Brook, examines the early cocaine smuggling class, which came together across a vast expanse of shifting geographies, and, as they invented and shared new tools of the trade, represented a new form of pan-American "networking," as well as cocaine's new transnational geographies pertaining to the "cold-war" history of the Americas.
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Henry Louis Gates and Ilan Stavans: Culture Wars and the...
Two leading cultural thinkers, Ilan Stavans and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., discuss Latino and African American relationships in the U.S. Ilan Stavans is Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College, and general editor of the newly published Norton Anthology of Latino Literature. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University, and...
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Deadly Spin: How PR Is Killing Health Care and...
In his book Deadly Spin, Wendell Potter takes readers behind the scenes to show how a huge chunk of our healthcare spending actually bankrolls a propaganda campaign and lobbying effort focused on protecting one thing: profits. Whatever the fate of the current health care legislation, it makes no attempt to change that fundamental problem. Relentless PR assaults play an insidious role in our political process anywhere that corporate profits are at stake--from climate change to defense policy....
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David Edwards on The Lab: Creativity and Culture
David Edwards, Harvard engineering professor, looks at the future of scientific research and his new book, The Lab: Creativity and Culture. Six months before opening Le Laboratoire in Paris, David Edwards visited Hans Ulrich Obrist, who had co-curated the famous exhibition "Laboratorium" that explored connections between art and science. "Famous, yes," said Hans, "which I find ironic since almost nobody saw it. You have to be careful getting too near contemporary science." But this was...
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Masterpiece Theatre: Creating the Past Through Drama
Rebecca Eaton, executive producer of PBS Masterpiece, discusses how historical dramas have shaped popular perceptions of past eras. Since taking over the helm of the PBS series Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! in 1985, Rebecca Eaton has been responsible for such high-profile titles as Prime Suspect, Bleak House, The Lost Prince, Inspector Morse, Miss Marple, Tony Hillerman's Skinwalkers, Coyote Waits, and A Thief of Time as well as The Complete Jane Austen and Cranford. She has accrued a...
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The BP Oil Spill and the U.S. Navy's New Energy...
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus is working to chart a new course for the Navy and Marine Corps, that by 2020 will dramatically reduce the Navy's consumption of fossil fuels. He also prepared the long-term recovery plan for the Gulf of Mexico in the aftermath of the oil spill.
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Scott Simon: In Praise of Adoption
Scott Simon, NPR's award-winning host of Weekend Edition, speaks about his book Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other: In Praise of Adoption, which was inspired by his two daughters.
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The President's Photographer
John Bredar, executive producer of the National Geographic Television special, The President's Photographer: 50 Years in the Oval Office, leads a discussion with former White House photogaphers David Valdez (George H.W. Bush), Eric Draper (George W. Bush), Robert McNeely (Bill Clinton) and David Hume Kennerly (Gerald Ford), about the unique challenges and circumstances of photographing the most powerful person in the country.
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Aaron Lazare: On Apology
Aaron Lazare, the author of On Apology, discusses his exploration and analysis of the power of apology, not just for individuals but also for groups and nations. For example, Abraham Lincoln's apology for slavery and the US government's apology to Japanese-Americans interned during World War II. In its review, Publishers Weekly wrote, "Lazare succeeds in showing that a true apology is among the most graceful and profound of all human exchanges. When it is sincere, it is not an end but a new...
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Ted Leonsis: The Business of Happiness
David Rubenstein talks with Ted Leonsis, the Founder and CEO of Monumental Sports, about his new book, The Business of Happiness, and his approach to business. Through research studies, personal stories, and anecdotal evidence from celebrities, famous athletes, and influential businessmen, Leonsis reveals the six secrets to achieving true happiness--and how they make success almost inevitable.
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Oliver Sacks: The Mind's Eye
Oliver Sacks, neurologist and popularizer of the science of the mind, discusses his newest work, The Mind's Eye, in conversation with writer and editor Cullen Murphy. In The Mind's Eye, Oliver Sacks tells the stories of people who are able to navigate the world and communicate with others despite losing what many of us consider indispensable senses and abilities: the power of speech, the capacity to recognize faces, the sense of three-dimensional space, the ability to read, the sense of...
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Lawrence Lessig: Change Congress
Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig argues that American democracy is broken and that only a concerted effort to change the way that Congress operates can restore our system of government. What changes does he see as necessary? And how does he see those changes coming about?
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How to Starve Cancer: Angiogenesis and Anti-Angiogenic...
Giannoula Lakka Klement of Tufts University informs the public and inspires professionals to learn more about the changes in understanding about cancer biology. More specifically the goal is to speak to the present shift in paradigms in oncology. From the 1950's to the 1990's, cancer therapy has consisted of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. The lecture reviews: 1) the successes of those approaches, 2) the lessons learned, 3) the alternative targets for cancer therapy and how they...
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Matters of Faith
Radio host Christopher Lydon hosts a discussion on faith with Princeton professor Cornel West, Harvard Divinity professor Harvey Cox, and novelist Mary Gordon.
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Isabel Wilkerson: Epic Story of America's Great Migration
Pulitzer Prize--winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson discusses her first book, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration. In The Warmth of Other Suns, Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic...
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Baseball: The Tenth Inning Panel Discussion
Sports writer Howard Bryant joins Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, filmmakers of The Tenth Inning, and a live audience for a spirited discussion of the film and the current state of Major League Baseball.
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Amy McCoy: Poor Girl Gourmet
Learn a lesson in eating well, but frugally, from blogger and now cookbook writer Amy McCoy. When the economic recession cut into Amy McCoy's food budget, she was determined to continue eating well even though she was on a budget. As a result she started the blog Poor Girl Gourmet as a way to document and share her experiences. In her new cookbook, also called Poor Girl Gourmet, McCoy breaks down the costs for each dish while also offering money-saving strategies, including tips for growing...
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Mariella Crea: Bearing Witness
Mariella Crea discusses her mother's journey during the holocaust and her role as a rescuer.
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Rafe Esquith: Lighting Their Fires
Rafe Esquith is the only teacher to have been awarded the President's Medal of the Arts and is the author of the bestseller, Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire. Rafe Esquith teaches in Los Angeles, and his super-successful, inspirational teaching methods have helped thousands of children maximize their potential. His new book is Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children, a book that enlarges on his themes and shows us how to make our kids not just great students but thoughtful and...
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Modern Islam: Faith, Fanatics, Democracy, and Reform
Mona Eltahawy, award-winning New York-based journalist and international lecturer on Arab and Muslim isssues; Zuhdi Jasser, Founding Member, and President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD), an American Muslim organization advocating for the separation of mosque and state; and Bilal Kaleem, Executive Director of the Muslim American Society of Boston, join moderator James Carroll, Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at Suffolk University, recipient of the James Park Morton...
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President Obama: Year One
Jonathan Alter, Senior Editor and Columnist for Newsweek, discusses his new book, The Promise: President Obama, Year One with his Newsweek colleague, Eleanor Clift.
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Ambassador Haqqani on US-Pakistan Relations
Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to the US, discusses the role he is playing in strengthening bilateral ties between the two nations, as well as the role of the US in promoting democratic norms in Pakistan. Ambassador Haqqani addresses the significance of the Kerry-Lugar bill and argues that it needs more funding. This lecture is part of Harvard Extension International Relations Club's United States-Pakistan Foreign Relations Conference.
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Role of Citizen Action in Solving Global Warming
Graphic designer Ken Ward and community organizer Andree Zaleska discuss how ordinary citizens can contribute to finding solutions to global warming. While governments debate climate change policy and researchers investigate its causes and models its effects, Ward and Zaleska argue that this problem that is bigger than any one of us, but will affect all of our lives. This talk is part of Cambridge Forum's After Copenhagen: Global Climate Change Conference, recorded by Steve MacAusland.
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Alim and Fargana Qasimov: Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan
Alim Qasimov, Azerbaijan's most beloved traditional vocalist, merges his own consummate musicianship with that of his talented daughter Fargana, and the accompanying ensemble performing on tar, kamancha, balaban, and naghara. Their performances include a Mugham suite and songs from the repertoire of Azerbaijani ashiqs, oral-tradition singer-songwriters whose song texts portray, often with wry humor and searing irony, the power of love and the pain of separation. Mugham originated more than a...
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Life As Art
Filmmakers discuss capturing living-being art, from the Warhol Superstar, Candy Darling, to self-assigned garbage recyclers near Rio de Janeiro. Panelists include: D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, directors of Kings of Pastry, The War Room; Angus Aynsley, the producer of Waste Land; and Jeremiah Newton, producer of Beautiful Darling. Esther Robinson moderates.
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Drawing the Map of Life: Inside the Human Genome Project
Science writer and founder the Knight Science Journalism Fellowships at MIT, Victor McElheny, for a look into the workings of the Human Genome Project and his new book, Drawing the Map of Life. Drawing the Map of Life is the dramatic story of the Human Genome Project from its origins, through the race to order the three billion subunits of DNA, to the surprises emerging as scientists seek to exploit the molecule of heredity. It's the first account to deal in depth with the intellectual roots...
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Rafe Esquith: Teach Like Your Hair is On Fire
Rafe Esquith, the keynote speaker in Pasadena City College's Teacher Preparation Program's Fifth Annual Teach-A-Palooza Educator's Symposium, shares his unique perspective from his classroom at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School, the second largest elementary school in America. Through his vignettes and his passion for instilling a passion to learn in his students, Esquith encourages aspiring and veteran teachers alike, and argues why teaching is such a worthwhile profession.
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What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
Technology commentator Nicholas Carr explores the psychological impact of the Internet and his new book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. "Is Google making us stupid?" When Nicholas Carr posed that question in an Atlantic Monthly cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the bounties of the internet, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think...
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What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
Technology commentator Nicholas Carr explores the psychological impact of the Internet and his new book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. "Is Google making us stupid?" When Nicholas Carr posed that question in an Atlantic Monthly cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the bounties of the internet, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think...
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What Makes a Life Significant?
Philosopher Sissela Bok, Harvard professor Louis Menand, and Princeton professor Cornel West discuss what makes a life significant, in a panel discussion moderated by James Kloppenberg. A little over a century ago, the Harvard psychologist and philosopher William James gave a public lecture entitled "What Makes a Life Significant?" In honor of the 100th anniversary of his death and to celebrate his enduring influence, this panel of distinguished scholars revisits the question posed in that...
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Fredrik Stanton: Great Negotiations
Fredrik Stanton discusses his book, Great Negotiations: Agreements That Changed the Modern World. In this book, Stanton argues that diplomatic negotiations have provided pivotal moments on which U.S. foreign policy and its development have turned. He cites the Treaty of Paris, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the 1986 Reykjavik Summit among others.
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Thomas Ricks: General Petraeus and the American Military...
Washington Post correspondent Thomas E. Ricks discusses his newly in paperback exploration of the Iraq war, The Gamble: General Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq. Now updated to fully document the inside story of the Iraq war since late 2005, The Gamble is the definitive account of the insurgency within the US military that led to a radical shift in America's strategy. Based on unprecedented real-time access to the military's entire chain of command, Ricks examines the...
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Don Lattin: The Harvard Psychedelic Club
Journalist and religion writer Don Lattin gives an inside look into The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America. The Harvard Psychedelic Club is the story of how three brilliant scholars and one ambitious freshman crossed paths in Cambridge in the winter of 1960-61, and how their experiences in a psychedelic drug research project transformed their lives and much of American culture in the...
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The Onion: Comedy's Creative Power to Persuade
The Onion sends Sports Editor John Krewson and Features Editor Joe Garden talk about "Comedy's Creative Power to Persuade." The award-winning and trenchantly funny publication is the focus of the final program in Cambridge Forum's series of "Conversations on Creativity" led by Dr. Sasha Helper. Krewson and Garden examine the place of comedy in our public discourse in an era when Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are the news sources of choice for a generation of citizens. The Onion began in...
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Saturday Is for Funerals: AIDS in Botswana
Unity Dow, human rights activist and judge, and Max Essex, Harvard University's Lasker Professor of Health Sciences, discuss the AIDS crisis in Botswana and their new book, Saturday Is for Funerals. In the year 2000, the World Health Organization estimated that 85 percent of the 15-year-olds in Botswana would eventually die of AIDS. In Saturday Is for Funerals we learn why that won't happen. Unity Dow and Max Essex tell the true story of lives ravaged by AIDS--of orphans, bereaved parents,...
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How the Hippies Saved Physics
MIT Professor David Kaiser describes the field of physic's bumpy transition from New Age to cutting edge. In recent years, the field of quantum information science has catapulted to the cutting edge of physics. Long before the big budgets and dedicated teams, however, the field smoldered on the scientific sidelines within the hazy, bong-filled excesses of the 1970s New Age movement. Many of the ideas that now occupy the core of quantum information science once found their home amid an...
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Peacemaking and North Korea's Nuclear Ambitions
Marion Creekmore presents insight into President Carter's intervention in the 1994 North Korea nuclear crisis, which averted a war and produced lessons for dealing with rogue regimes today. Dr. Creekmore is joined by former President Carter and former US Ambassador to South Korea James Laney in a revealing conversation about North Korea.
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Vincent J. Cannato: The History of Ellis Island
Historian Vincent Cannato discusses the history of Ellis Island with political scientist Paul Watanabe. Watanabe's research focuses on contemporary immigration trends as a counterpoint to Cannato's historical research. How has the immigrant experience changed since Ellis Island was the key entry point to the United States?
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Robert Satcher on Being an Astronaut
Dr. Robert Satcher, NASA Mission Specialist, explains the process of becoming an astronaut, and discusses his time as the crew medical officer on the Space Shuttle Atlantis.
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William McDonough: Cradle to Cradle Design
Architect and designer William McDonough speaks about his Cradle to Cradle philosophy and design practice. This vision of the hopeful, positive, and inspiring possibilities of an environmentally and economically intelligent future by design draws inspiration from the astonishing effectiveness of natural systems. Cradle to Cradle design, as opposed to "cradle to grave", offers a new paradigm for human activity that creates a sustaining relationship with the natural world by emulating living...
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Marcia Bartusiak and Lisa Randall: Science and Creativity
Marcia Bartusiak and Lisa Randall explore the creative inspiration involved in scientific research and science writing. Marcia Bartusiak is an acclaimed science journalist, and has written a number of books on the history of science. Her most recent book, The Day We Found the Universe, describes the day in 1925 when 35-year-old Edwin Hubble announced the observation that ultimately established that our universe was a thousand trillion times larger than previously believed, filled with myriad...
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American Experience: Earth Days
Robert Stone, writer, producer, and director of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival hit Earth Days, discusses the film with environmental journalist Stephanie Mills and Dr. Michael B. McElroy, Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies at Harvard University. Earth Days is an engaging history of the dawn and development of the modern environmental movement.
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Martha Nussbaum: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional...
Distinguished professor of law and philosophy Martha Nussbaum discusses the status of gay rights in the context of constitutional law and her new book, From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional Law. In From Disgust to Humanity, Martha Nussbaum argues that disgust has long been among the fundamental motivations of those who are fighting for legal discrimination against lesbian and gay citizens. When confronted with same-sex acts and relationships, she writes, they...
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Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy
Lidia Bastianich, host of the Lidia's Italy television series and best-selling author discusses her latest cookbook, Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy.
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Christopher Hitchens and Rabbi David Wolpe: The Great...
The polemic "anti-theist" writer Christopher Hitchens engages in "The Great God Debate" with Conservative Jewish leader Rabbi David J. Wolpe. Does God exist? Is religion a force for good or evil in the world? Can ancient texts be squared with modern science? Can morality be divorced from religion? How important is God to Jewish identity? Christopher Hitchens is one of the most prominent and controversial writers in the media today and the author of the best-selling book God is Not Great:...
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Intercultural Communication and Media
Lynn Gregory, a researcher on intercultural communication and education at the University of Vermont, discusses how perceptions affect the media and how the media affect perceptions.
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Using Soft Power in Pakistan (Part 2)
Foreign relations and health care experts discuss how increased US assistance to Pakistan could make a real difference in improving the lives of the people at the grass roots. The panel outlines the state of Pakistani health and education, and discusses Pakistan's major challenges in health care. This lecture is part of Harvard Extension International Relations Club's United States-Pakistan Foreign Relations Conference.
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Using Soft Power in Pakistan (Part 1)
Foreign relations and health care experts discuss how increased US assistance to Pakistan could make a real difference in improving the lives of the people at the grass roots. The panel outlines the state of Pakistani health and education, and discusses Pakistan's major challenges in health care. This lecture is part of Harvard Extension International Relations Club's United States-Pakistan Foreign Relations Conference.
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Using Soft Power in Pakistan (Part 1)
Foreign relations and health care experts discuss how increased US assistance to Pakistan could make a real difference in improving the lives of the people at the grass roots. The panel outlines the state of Pakistani health and education, and discusses Pakistan's major challenges in health care. This lecture is part of Harvard Extension International Relations Club's United States-Pakistan Foreign Relations Conference.
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Shankar Vedantam: The Hidden Brain
Washington Post columnist Shankar Vedantam discusses his book The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars, and Save Our Lives. The hidden brain is Vedantam's shorthand for a host of brain functions, emotional responses, and cognitive processes that happen outside of our conscious awareness, but that have a decisive effect on how we behave. The hidden brain has its finger on the scale when we make all of our most complex and important decisions—it...
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How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities
Journalist John Cassidy examines How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities, describing the rising influence of what he calls utopian economics—thinking that is blind to how real people act and that denies the many ways an unregulated free market can produce disastrous unintended consequences. He then looks to the leading edge of economic theory, including behavioral economics, to offer a new understanding of the economy—one that casts aside the old assumption that people and firms...
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The ABC's of Breast Cancer Prevention
Dekalb Medical breast disease specialist and surgeon April Speed focuses on how to be a good steward of breast health and make diet or lifestyle changes that will minimize the risk of developing breast cancer.
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Encarta Africana: From Du Bois to John Coltrane
Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. discusses the comprehensive project, Encarta Africana.
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E. Lynn Harris: Just Too Good To Be True
E. Lynn Harris talks about his latest novel, Just Too Good To Be True, a story about mothers and sons, football and beauty shops, secrets and lies. This event is hosted by Outwrite Books.
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Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Business and technology writer Daniel Pink explores what makes us most productive, and discusses his new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. In Drive, Pink explains that the secret to high performance and satisfaction in today's world is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world. Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what...
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Peter Sagal: Wait Wait...PLEASE Tell Me!
Host of NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Peter Sagal tells all about his life, his career, and the phenomenally popular radio show. His talk is with members of Public Broadcasting Atlanta's Cornerstone Society the morning after the show was taped before a live Atlanta audience.
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Why Good Leaders Make Bad Decisions
Sydney Finkelstein, bestselling author and the Steven Roth Professor of Management for the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, joins Sally Jackson, public relations consultant and founder of Jackson & Company, to discuss the ways our minds are lured into making misguided judgments, and why organizations' decision-making processes so often fail to correct those mistakes. Most importantly, he indentifies the way wise leaders sidestep these pitfalls, and how you can do the same.
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Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Undermines America
Journalist and activist Barbara Ehrenreich explains the perils of the Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America. Americans have a singular capacity for glossing over hardships with exhortations to "look on the bright side." The oft-prescribed power of positive thinking is certainly capable of altering our outlooks, but as Ehrenreich argues in her new book, this is not entirely for the better. In fact, it can lead to individual self-blame and...
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Lunch with a Luminary: John Ochsendorf
MacArthur Award-winning structural engineer John Ochsendorf talks about how his interests in environmental science, history, archeology, and engineering led him to his work with historic structures, and then to his work redesigning communities to make them carbon neutral. This lecture is part of the 2009 Cambridge Science Festival. John Ochsendorf is a structural engineer and an historian at MIT, whose work won him a 2008 MacArthur "Genius" Award.
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The Conversations of Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese
Frederick Ilchman discusses the largest exhibition of Italian Renaissance paintings in Boston in 50 years, which offers an ideal opportunity to bring to life the heated debates on art and the creative rivalry of the greatest Venetian painters of the 16th century: Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese. The exhibition's format, pointed juxtapositions of similar subject matter by the three artists, is different from a typical museum exhibition, which either focuses on a single artist, or instead...
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Can We Talk about Race?
Spelman College President Beverly Daniel Tatum sounds a warning call about the increasing but underreported resegregation of America, on the 53rd anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision. A self-described "integration baby," Tatum sees our growing isolation from one another as deeply problematic, and she believes that schools can be key institutions for forging connections across the racial division. In this book, Tatum examines some of the most resonant issues in American...
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Lightness of Being: Mass, Ether, and the Unification of...
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Frank Wilczek discusses his work and his life in science. This lecture is part of the 2009 Cambridge Science Festival. Frank Wilczek, Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at MIT and recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics, has been pushing the limits of what we know about particle physics and exploring what holds our universe together since he was 21, and contributing to the definition of gluons, which hold atomic nuclei together. Throughout a storied...
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Alan Bean: The Life of An Astronaut
Space pioneer Alan Bean talks about his life as an astronaut (and artist) in a lecture at the Museum of Science, Boston. Bean is the fourth of only twelve humans to have walked on the Moon. Find out what it was like as he describes the life of an astronaut. Learn about his role in the Apollo 12 mission in 1969, his experience as a spacecraft commander of the second Skylab mission in 1973 (when he spent 59 days in orbit!) and his 1,600+ hours in space prior to his 1981 NASA retirement. Bean...
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Alan Bean: The Life of An Astronaut
Space pioneer Alan Bean talks about his life as an astronaut (and artist) in a lecture at the Museum of Science, Boston. Bean is the fourth of only twelve humans to have walked on the Moon. Find out what it was like as he describes the life of an astronaut. Learn about his role in the Apollo 12 mission in 1969, his experience as a spacecraft commander of the second Skylab mission in 1973 (when he spent 59 days in orbit!) and his 1,600+ hours in space prior to his 1981 NASA retirement. Bean...
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This Is Your Brain on Love
Helen Fisher, one of the world's leading experts on romantic love, identifies four broad personality types, each governed by different chemical systems in the brain. Love is no longer blind, thanks to pioneering scientific research, based on her unique study of 40,000 men and women. More
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Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould: Afghanistan's...
Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, authors of Invisible History: Afghanistan's Untold Story address Afghan policy choices facing President Obama. More
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Frontline: The Age of AIDS
WGBH, Frontline, and CRI co-host a preview screening and panel discussion around Frontline's four-hour series "The Age of AIDS". Twenty-five years after the first diagnosed cases of AIDS appeared, Frontline has produced a four-hour series on the history of the AIDS epidemic. More
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Talking with Our Enemies
Han Park draws extensively on his negotiations with North Korea to describe his vision of a new approach to international relations. Dr. Park is regarded as an expert analyst and has appeared regularly on CNN International, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, ABC's World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, ABC's Nightline, the BBC and NPR. More
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Monitoring the Threat: The Center for Disease Control
Dr. Julie Gerberding discusses business at the nation's headquarters for monitoring disease threats, the Center for Disease Control (CDC). More
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France, Turkey, and the United States
Andre Teissier-duCros shares his insight on trilateral relations between the US, France and Turkey. Born of French and Scottish parents, a US citizen since 1988, Teissier-duCros obtained his degree in materials sciences from the Advanced Institute for Industrial & Mechanical Materials. More
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Passover: A Time to Crossover
Arye Gross hosts an entertaining Passover holiday special celebrating the journey from slavery to freedom. More
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Migration: Human Traffic
The movement of people across international borders can be initiated by conflict, economic reasons or the chance to achieve political freedoms. Migration issues have taken center-stage in the US and EU, as citizens increasingly worry about job security and terrorism. Dr. Sylvia Maier discusses the advantages and disadvantages for countries that are affected by migration.
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Insider's Briefing on the Pivotal Nation of Pakistan
The Southern Center for International Studies welcomes Durrani who, after graduating from the Pakistan Military Academy, served in various command, staff and instructional appointments during his army career. He attended a mid-career Armour course in the U.S. in 1973 and a basic airborne course at Fort Benning, GA in 1982. More
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Barney Frank, Paul Krugman: What is Government's Role?
Congressman Barney Frank and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discuss the federal government's role in addressing economic and social problems, particularly growing inequality in our society.
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Alan Meyers - Fast Food/Fat Nation: America's Growing...
Pediatrician Dr. Alan Meyers and a panel of experts discuss the link between the nation's eating habits and obesity. What impact will obesity-related diseases have on the quality of life of the next generation? What stresses will our fast food lifestyle place on our health care system and health care costs? Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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Ethan Gutman - Internet Censorship and the Great...
A panel of experts discusses internet censorship in China, exploring the collision between new technology and the national interests of the world's most populous country. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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Edward O. Wilson - The Superorganism
Coming eighteen years after the publication of The Ants, The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies expands our knowledge of the social insects (among them, ants, bees, wasps, and termites) and is based on remarkable research conducted mostly within the last two decades. These superorganisms - a tightly knit colony of individuals, formed by altruistic cooperation, complex communication, and division of labor - represent one of the basic stages of biological...
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Eric Foner - New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World
In 1876 the abolitionist Frederick Douglass observed, 'No man can say anything that is new of Abraham Lincoln.' Undeterred, the contributors to Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World believe it is possible even now, especially if the starting point is the interaction between the life and the times. Several of these original essays focus on Lincoln's leadership as president and commander in chief. James M. McPherson examines Lincoln's deft navigation of the crosscurrents of...
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Mulatu Astatke - Ethiopian Contributions to World Music...
Mulatu is one of Ethiopia's major musicians. A multi-instrumentalist, mastering vibraphone, keyboards, organ, and percussion, Mulatu is credited with adding instruments associated with Latin styles such as bongos and congas to Ethiopian music. In New York City he founded the Ethiopian Quintet (comprised mostly of Puerto Ricans), recorded his first album in 1966 before returning to Addis Adaba at the end of the decade, where he blended Ethiopian traditional music with Latin jazz to create a...
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Yaron Brook -'Apollo and Dionysus' Revisted
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...
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Amy Dockser Marcus - Arab-Israeli Conflict: Peace...
The Arab-Israeli conflict is a century old and still not resolved. The dispute between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs over the same land is bitter and deep, despite the fact that the disputed territory contains holy sites for the three major monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. What is the nature of current tensions? What are their implications for US policy? Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal reporter Amy Dockser Marcus and Dr. Daniel Pipes, director of the...
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Marian Wright Edelman - JFK, MLK and RFK: 1960-1968 Part...
This forum focuses on civil rights though the eyes of those on the front lines of the movement. The second session features Marian Wright Edelman, founder and chairman of the Children's Defense Fund and an organizer of Dr. King's Poor People's March; Peter Edelman, aide to Robert F. Kennedy; and Elaine Jones, former President of the NAACP's Legal Defense and Educational Fund. This session examines the period between 1963-1968 and the continuing relationship between Martin Luther King Jr. and...
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Barnaby Evans - WaterFire and the Public Art of Barnaby...
Combining science and art, natural elements and soundscapes, Barnaby Evans is renowned for his category-defying multimedia public art installations. He created WaterFire, a sculpture/performance/social phenomenon that comprises one hundred bonfires burning from sunset to midnight in the rivers of downtown Providence, RI. Hear Evans talk about the power of public art and its complex interaction with our inner selves and our broader community. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our...
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Douglas Feith - Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the...
The following warnings appeared in a 2002 Bush administration memorandum: "US could fail to find WMD on the ground in Iraq." "Post-Saddam stabilization and reconstruction efforts by the United States could take not two to four years, but eight to ten years." "Iraq could experience ethnic strife among Kurds, Sunnis, and Shia." The author of the memo was Donald Rumsfeld, former United States Secretary of Defense, and it included a powerful analysis of the downsides of going to war in Iraq. Why...
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Shubha Mudgal - Shubha Mudgal: Gender and Art in South...
Musician Shubha Mudgal explores how gender and art interact and intersect in South Asia. From a living tradition extending back thousands of years, Shubha Mudgal's richly textured voice takes the listener on a musical journey that draws inspiration from medieval Sufi poetry, romantic love, and the paradoxes of modern life. Esteemed for her singing in the North Indian Hindustani classical tradition, she also composes music for dance, film, television, and collaborates across cultural...
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Carol Rose - Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Dissent
Boston's battles in the 1920's over free speech were similarly waged nationally and ushered in new interpretations of freedom of expression. What are our modern battles in the post 9/11 era? What does dissent mean in the 21st century? Moderated by State Representative Byron Rushing, historian Jonathan Vogels and Carol Rose, Executive Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts look at the complex history and present state of the First Amendment. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire...
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Barbara Delorey - Mercy Otis Warren: Muse of the...
Mercy Otis Warren may not be as well known as her brother, James Otis, or her friends John and Abigail Adams, but she was just as much a patriot as her famous contemporaries. She was also a poet, playwright, scholar, and historian. Truly a woman ahead of her time, Warren is brought to life here by Barbara Delorey and Patrice Hatcher, who portray Warren at different points in time. In addition, Nancy Rubin Stewart, author of Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the...
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Lisa Miller - Science and Faith: Complementary or...
NOVA and the Interfaith Center of New York co-host a special advance preview and panel discussion of NOVA's landmark two-hour film, The Bible's Buried Secrets, an archeological detective story that explores the origins of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, and the birth of monotheism. Moderated by Newsweek Religion Editor, Lisa Miller, a panel of top scientists, theologians, and filmmakers preview selections of the film's groundbreaking scholarship and engage in a spirited discussion on how...
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Gary Glassman - NOVA: The Bible's Buried Secrets I
NOVA's The Bible's Buried Secrets is a landmark two-hour NOVA special taking viewers on a fascinating scientific journey that began 3,000 years ago and continues to this day. The film presents the latest archeological scholarship from the Holy Land to explore the beginnings of modern religion and the origins of the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament. This archeological detective story tackles some of the biggest questions in biblical studies. Where did the ancient Israelites come from? Who...
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Sharon Robinson - Tribute to Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson's daughter, Sharon Robinson, Director of Educational Programming for Major League Baseball, and Scott Simon, author of Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball, pay tribute to Robinson during this 60th anniversary year of his having broken the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Tom Oliphant, former Boston Globe columnist and author of Praying for Gil Hodges: A Memoir of the 1955 World Series and One Family's Love of the Brooklyn Dodgers, moderates. Visit us at...
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Benny Golson - Conversation with Benny Golson
For more than fifty years, Benny Golson has made scores of recordings and composed and arranged for such artists as Count Basie, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dizzy Gillespie. A prolific and renowned composer, he has written such widely-known standards for the jazz repertoire as "Killer Joe" (popularized in a hit recording by Quincy Jones), "I Remember Clifford" (set to choreography in 1995 by Twyla Tharp and performed by her company), "Stablemates," "Whisper Not," "Blues...
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Madeleine Kunin - Electing a President
Madeleine Kunin, the first woman Governor of Vermont and the author of Pearls, Politics, and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead; David Yepsen, Political Columnist for The Des Moines Register; and former Boston Globe columnist Tom Oliphant share their insights about this unprecedented 2008 presidential campaign. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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Anthony Lewis - Freedom for the Thoughts We Hate
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anthony Lewis discusses his new book, Freedom for the Thoughts We Hate, with Harvard Law Professor Martha Minow. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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Calvin C. Johnson Jr. - DNA and the Exit to Freedom
In 1983, Calvin C. Johnson, Jr. stood in a courtroom and was sentenced to life in prison for a rape and burglary he said he did not commit. "With God as my witness, I have been falsely accused," Johnson told the judge, "I'm an innocent man." After 16 years in prison, Johnson was exonerated with the help of the Innocence Project and state-of-the-art science. He was the 61st person in the US, and the first in Georgia, to be proved innocent by DNA testing. Hear firsthand about Johnson's wrongful...
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Kwaku Ohene-Frempong - Chasing the Crescent Moon: Sickle...
A genetic disease mostly affecting those of African descent, sickle cell produces debilitating pain and a life sometimes cut short, especially for the undiagnosed. And as a burden largely borne by the underprivileged, sickle cell is not just a medical problem, but a social one. Chasing the Crescent Moon explores the challenges posed by sickle cell through the story of one physician and the lives he has touched. Dr. Kwaku Ohene-Frempong grew from a child of Ghanaian cocoa farmers to become a...
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Sergey Kovalev - Heralding Freedom: The Gulag and Human...
The Jimmy Carter Library presents Heralding Freedom, a discussion of the gulag, the American civil rights movement, and human rights. The Soviet gulag prison system imprisoned millions of innocent people during its infamous history. A panel of human rights leaders discuss its impact on Russia and the world today, as well as offering comparisons to the American civil rights movement. Former US President Jimmy Carter and Ambassador Andrew Young discuss the suppression of political and religious...
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Swanee Hunt - Journey to Political Activism
Daughter of legendary oil magnate H.L. Hunt, Swanee Hunt grew up in a household dominated by an arch-conservative patriarch who spawned a brood of colorful offspring. Her family was nothing if not zealous, and that zeal, albeit for more compassionate cause, propelled her into a mission that reaches around the world. Get up close and personal with Hunt as she shares her journey from her Texas-sized childhood to her current life as the founding director of Harvard's Women and Public Policy...
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Michael E. Shapiro - Diego Velasquez' The Infanta...
Michael E. Shapiro, the High's Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr. Director, discusses The Infanta Margarita by Diego Velasquez. This 30-minute presentation features slides and provides an in-depth look at this treasured work of art from the Louvre. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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Kate Carney - In Her Own Words: Annie Sullivan
In a first-person performance, Kate Carney brings to life the acclaimed Miracle Worker Annie Sullivan, who taught Helen Keller to communicate. Nearly blind in her youth, Sullivan overcame adversity and pioneered education techniques to reach deaf and blind students with innovative sensory experiences. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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Gretchen Gerzina Holbrook - Mr. and Mrs. Prince: Out of...
Dr. Gretchen Gerzina Holbrook, author of Mr. and Mrs. Prince How an Extraordinary Eighteenth-Century Family Moved Out of Slavery and Into Legend, tells the remarkable true story of a pre-Civil War African-American family in New England. Mr. and Mrs. Prince uncovers the lives of those who could have been forgotten and brings to light a history that's intrigued but eluded many until now. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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George William James - On The Mound: A Conversation with...
Whether you're passionate about baseball statistics or simply get a thrill from the sound of a ball leaving the park, don't miss this chance to hear from two of baseball's premier historians and analysts. By pioneering sabermetrics ("the search for objective knowledge about baseball"), legendary statistician and Red Sox executive Bill James has changed the way many of us watch and understand America's pastime. Rob Neyer, baseball columnist for ESPN.com and a James protege has championed...
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Basil Tsiokos - The New Queer Cinema
Independent filmmakers Tom Gustafson (director of Were The World Mine);Stewart Wade (director of Tru Loved); Antonio Brown (producer of and actor in Tru Loved); and Charlie David (producer of and actor in Mulligans) discuss their work with panel moderator Basil Tsiokos. The discussion focuses on what has changed recently in the distribution and reception of queer-themed films and what has changed in terms of how queer filmmakers approach their themes. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore...
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Fred Krupp - Impact of Global Warming on the US Economy
Smart policies, American ingenuity and technologies available today can make the United States a leader in addressing global warming. The key is for Congress to pass national legislation that puts a strict cap on emissions and uses a flexible market-based system to reduce emissions at lowest cost. Fred Krupp, a leading expert on the environment and on market solutions, discusses how to win the battle against global warming, and do so in a way that launches a booming new industry in clean...
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Katie Fawcett - Gorilla Conservation and the Karisoke...
Katie Fawcett speaks about the current conservation status of gorillas and the Karisoke Center, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year and is one of the longest running field research programs in the world. Dr. Fawcett received her PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where she studied the behavior and ecology of chimpanzees living in the Budongo Forest, Uganda. Dr. Fawcett oversees various activities, including daily monitoring of and research on the three "Karisoke groups" of...
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Miri Navasky - FRONTLINE: Living Old
The Boston Center for Adult Education hosts a preview screening and panel discussion of FRONTLINE: Living Old a new PBS documentary examining America's looming health care crisis. Produced by Miri Navasky and Karen O'Connor, Living Old explores how the nation's already overburdened geriatric health-care system is facing a possible meltdown, as Americans age 85 and over now represent the fastest-growing segment of the population at a time when there are fewer and fewer workers to care for...
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Harvey Green - Fit for America: Health and Exercise in...
Certain that physical fitness produced citizens better prepared for the managerial revolution in America business, the Victorians promoted revitalization through sports. Harvey Green explains how this focus on social and individual health led to the now familiar emphasis on physical fitness in sports and games. Harvey Green investigates the cultural history of the United States. He teaches courses on that general subject as well as courses in the history of sport, the material culture of the...
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Fernanda Rossi - Documentary Story Structure: From Great...
If you feel that your documentary project is almost there but don't know what would make it great, watch documentary story consultant Fernanda Rossi analyze Gino Del Guercio's work in progress Abandoned in the Attic. With this real life "before and after" example, Fernanda Rossi (known as "the Doc Doctor") will explain story structure models and what to look for to make your film excellent. This event is part of the 2008 Making Media Now conference, presented by the Filmmaker's Collaborative....
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Emmett Price III - From Jazz to Hip Hop and Beyond
Musician and educator Emmett Price III examines the connections between jazz, hip hop and other music forms. Price discusses the importance of music as a means of communication and its capacity to bridge generational and other interpersonal gaps. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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John Ferling - Almost a Miracle: America's War of...
The Atlanta History Center presents John Ferling as he discusses this chronicle of America's struggle for independence, an eight-year conflict filled with heroism, suffering, cowardice, betrayal, and fierce dedication. As Ferling demonstrates, it was a war that America came much closer to losing than is now usually remembered. General George Washington put it best when he said that the American victory was "little short of a standing miracle." John Ferling has appeared in four television...
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China Galland - Love Cemetery: Unburying the Secret...
China Galland author of Love Cemetery: Unburying the Secret History of Slaves, reads from her work, the story of a Texas town's reconciliation with its slave-owning past. China Galland is a professor in residence at the Center for Arts, Religion and Education at the Graduate Theological Union in California. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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Martin Wood - John Fowler and the English Country House...
The English country house style was largely created and promulgated by interior decorator John Fowler and his later partner Nancy Lancaster. During the course of his career, Fowler was responsible for transforming some of Britain's important historic interiors, including more than 20 National Trust properties such as Sudbury Hall, as well as private residences such as Chequers and Buckingham Palace. In 1938 he founded Colefax and Fowler with the designer Lady Sibyl Colefax. Fowler sought to...
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Desmond Tutu - Struggle for Freedom and Justice in South...
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret Marshall who served as President of the National Union of South African Students from 1966-1968 and Justice Richard Goldstone, who served on The Constitutional Court of South Africa, examine the long road toward freedom and justice in South Africa. Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. moderates. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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Todd Gitlin - Election 2008: The Bulldozer and the Big...
Todd Gitlin, professor of sociology and journalism at Columbia University and one-time president of Student for a Democratic Party (SDS), brings his political insights to the 2008 presidential campaign on the eve of the February 5th super-primary. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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John Garver - China and Iran: Ancient Partners in a...
John Garver breaks new ground on the relationship between the People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran. In today's political climate, where China is recognized as a rising and increasingly influential global power and Iran as one of the most powerful nations in the Middle East, this book presents a crucial analysis of a topic of utmost importance to scholars and the general public today. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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Howard Koh - Smokeout: How Society Can Quit Smoking
As a former commissioner of public health for the commonwealth of Massachusetts, Dr. Howard Koh describes smoking as "an international public health catastrophe", and suggests many ways that society and individuals could take those first steps to quitting tobacco use. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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Quil Lawrence - PRI's The World: Invisible Nation
At an informal WGBH lunch, Quil Lawrence discusses the Iraq War's seldom-told success story, the rise of the Kurds of northern Iraq. Quil has recently released a new book Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood Is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East, based on his experiences as a reporter in Iraq. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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Amy Bower - Commotion in the Ocean
The oceans, which cover three-quarters of the Earth's surface, appear quiet and benign when viewed from space. In fact, they contain behemoth currents and swirling eddies that strongly impact Earth's climate. Physical oceanographer Dr. Amy Bower and her team of technicians and engineers are helping to put together the complex puzzle that is our Earth's climate system, and are having some amazing adventures along the way, even battling pirates on the high seas! Legally blind since 1993, Dr....
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Jack B. Copleland - Alan Turing's Contribution to World...
A Celebration of the 70th Anniversary of Alan Turing's Seminal Paper "On Computable Numbers" featuring a debate on the limits of intelligent machines and a lecture on Turing's contributions. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection of lectures.
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Susan Lindquist - Unexpected Interface: Proteins and...
All proteins start out as long strings of amino acids. Before a protein can function, it must fold into an extremely precise, highly complex structure a difficult feat in the highly concentrated environment of the cell. Protein folding is facilitated by helper proteins called molecular chaperones. Lindquist's recent work suggests that the forces that govern protein folding exert a profound effect in determining how the genes encoded by an organism's DNA are translated into phenotypic traits....
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Owen Gingerich - Planetary Perils in Prague
Around 150 AD, a Greek mathematician and sky watcher imagined that Earth was the center of the Universe and that the five visible planets traveled about our world. Thirteen hundred years later, a Polish astronomer revised our understanding of the cosmos and created the notion of a solar system, where Earth and the other planets traveled about the Sun. By the end of the twentieth century it was common knowledge that there were nine planets in our solar system. Last year, a group of...
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David Carroll - Two Palestines: Risk of a West Bank...
The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library presents a discussion on the collapse of the Palestinian National Unity Government (NUG), following the takeover of Gaza by Hamas, which left the Palestinian territories in crisis. The United States and larger international community are contemplating a "West Bank First" strategy to bolster the position of President Abbas' Fatah party and the emergency government he assembled in the West Bank, which does not include any Hamas members. While some view this...
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Dana Gioia - Public Poet: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Director of the National Endowment for the Arts and Longfellow scholar Dana Gioia revisits the work of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow with a group of poets, writers, political leaders and educators. What does Longfellow's work say to the 21st century reader? Is there a place in our technological age for public poetry? Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection lectures.
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Dan Reiter - Iraq: An Endgame
Dr. Reiter spells out the challenges and options in Iraq and places them in a broad framework to help others evaluate alternatives and arrive at their own answers. Reiter is a professor and chair of the Political Science Department at Emory University. His scholarly interests include US foreign policy, the causes of war, war termination and non-proliferation policy. He has appeared on CNN and has authored a number of editorials in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has published dozens of...
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Charlayne Hunter Gault - A Conversation with Charlayne...
In 1962, Charlayne Hunter Gault became the first African American woman to graduate from the University of Georgia. After receiving her degree from the University of Georgia, Gault went on to become one of our country's leading journalists. Gault discusses her trailblazing career, the challenges facing African American journalists, and her life in South Africa. Gwen Ifill, host of the PBS program Week in Review, moderates. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection lectures.
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Paula Johnson - Improving Women's Healthcare
Nationally recognized for her leadership in women's health, Johnson discusses policy, research and clinical care and how that tripartite mission can offer better access and quality of care for all women. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection lectures.
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Mende Nazer - An Agenda for 21st Century Women
Five distinguished women bring the theme Stand Up, Speak Up: an Agenda for 21st Century Women to life through dialogue rooted in their areas of expertise: the persistence of slavery, ensuring clean water, empowerment through the vote, women's roles in postcolonial societies and the challenge of enduring discrimination. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection lectures.
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Franklin Sirmans - Driskell Prize Lecture
The High Museum presents Franklin Sirmans, the 2007 recipient of the David C. Driskell Prize. Named after the renowned African American artist and art scholar, the Driskell Prize recognizes a scholar or artist in the beginning or middle of his or her career whose work makes an original and important contribution to the field of African American art or art history. Prior to taking his position at the Menil Collection, Sirmans mounted exhibitions as an independent curator at museums in Europe,...
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Sam Taylor-Wood - New Media Art: Modern Photography and...
The High Museum of Art presents Sam Taylor-Wood who was nominated for the prestigious Turner prize in England in 1998 and has gained acclaim across the globe through solo exhibitions at the Venice Biennale, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the State Russian Museum. Her work in photography and film examine collective social and psychological conditions within thought-provoking scenarios, displaying the discord between the internal and external identity of her subjects. Visit us at...
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Lynn Gregory - Intercultural Communication and Media
Georgia Perimeter College presents Lynn Gregory who is a national expert on communication and media from the University of Vermont. She discusses how perceptions affect the media and how the media affect perceptions. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection lectures.
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Anthony Sammarcora - Molasses: From the Slave Trade to...
While the holidays evoke the warm scent of gingerbread, the role of molasses in the eighteenth century world economy had a much larger impact than the kitchen. Historian Anthony Sammarco traces molasses from the slave trade to the abolitionist movement to the great molasses flood in Boston's North End. Visit us at www.wgbh.org/forum to explore our entire collection lectures.
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- English
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