Past Events

SOLD OUT

Parking for ticket holders to this SOLD OUT event can be found at the nearby Westland garage  and Church garage .


Join Ken Burns, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and GBH at Symphony Hall to preview his new film, THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. The event will feature musical performances, selections from the documentary, and a behind-the-scenes conversation with Burns, his co-director Sarah Botstein, and three historians featured in the film: Vincent Brown, Philip Deloria and Maya Jasanoff.  The music, curated by Grammy Award-winning violinist and producer Johnny Gandelsman, will be performed by Gandelsman and Grammy Award-winning musician Rhiannon Giddens along with other instrumentalists, drawing on the soundtrack for THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION and the historical backdrop of key moments and themes depicted in the series. The six-part, 12-hour documentary series, directed by Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, premieres on November 16, 2025 on GBH and explores the country’s founding struggle and its eight-year War for Independence.

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION examines how thirteen British colonies on the Atlantic Coast rose in rebellion, won their independence, and established a new form of government that radically reshaped the continent and inspired centuries of democratic movements around the globe. An expansive look at the virtues and contradictions of the fight for independence and the birth of the United States of America, the film follows dozens of characters from a wide variety of backgrounds. Viewers will experience the war through the memories of the men and women who experienced it: rank-and-file Continental soldiers and American militiamen, Patriot political and military leaders, British Army officers, American Loyalists, Native soldiers and civilians, enslaved and free African Americans and more. 

The six-part, 12-hour documentary series, directed by Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, premieres on November 16, 2025 on GBH and explores the country’s founding struggle and its eight-year War for Independence.

Join Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University, Brandeis University Press, and  Revolutionary Spaces for a conversation about Boston’s historical architecture—an essential part of the city’s enduring beauty and character. 'Boston’s Oldest Buildings and Where to Find Them' (Brandeis University Press) is the first book to dive into the city’s fifty oldest buildings.

City Archaeologist Joseph Bagley’s narrative introduces readers to Boston’s early history through maps, photographs, and an overview of the city’s historic preservation movement. As Boston approaches its four-hundredth anniversary, don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about our historic city.

Moderated by Robert J. Allison, Professor of History at Suffolk University.

President Trump has spent years demonizing the press, popularizing the concept of “fake news” and branding journalists the “enemy of the people”. But targeting the free press is only one of the democratic institutions that Trump has gone after since taking office for his second term.

The Trump administration’s flagrant disregard for civil rights has manifest itself in the deportation, arrest and imprisonment of immigrants, foreign students and random tourists in detainment facilities “illegally”, according to Kenneth Roth, former head of Human Rights Watch. Those who oppose Trump are liable to become the next subject of attack, and this includes the lawyers who have challenged his actions in court. Trump also views academic centers of learning as a threat because they encourage independent and critical thinking; he has already punished Ivy league universities like Columbia and Harvard under the guise of anti-semitism, and now has turned his sights on institutions like the Smithsonian, the world’s largest museum network, with plans to reshape it, and eliminate “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology”.

Cambridge Forum considers how far ordinary Americans are willing to go, to acquiesce or protest these developments in Demonizing the Truth. The guest speakers are David Enrich, business investigations editor for NYT and author of a new book 'MURDERING THE TRUTH: Fear, the First Amendment, & A Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful.'

Berna Leon, a Spanish teaching assistant at Harvard's School of Government wrote an op-ed for The Guardian entitled “This Op-Ed could lead me to being deported from the U.S.”

Jesse Hagopian is a Seattle educator, the director of the Zinn Education Project’s Teaching for Black Lives Campaign, and the author of the book TEACH TRUTH: THE ATTACK ON CRITICAL RACE THEORY AND THE STRUGGLE FOR ANTIRACIST EDUCATION.

Farayi Malek has traveled the world through music as a Grammy-nominated vocalist with Danilo Perez’ Global Messengers; and now musically, she’s going back to her own roots. From the American folk music and hymns of her childhood, to the blues and jazz she studied, Farayi brings all of the diverse sounds and experiences of her life into resonant songs that allow her effortless vocals to shine. The Salt Lick Incubator award-winner released her debut EP on March 27th, 2025. This concert will feature music from her EP as well as Americana arrangements of her favorite spirituals and jazz standards, which as she says, are all rooted in the blues.

Preeminent scholars Serena Zabin, Carleton College, and Robert A. Gross, University of Connecticut Emeritus convene in Concord where 250 years ago, the "shot heard round the world" ignited the American Revolution. Joined in conversation by Katherine Grandjean, Wellesley College, the scholars discuss New England society's challenges and the epochal day of April 19, 1775, when an outbreak of fighting led to the formation of a republic.

1775: A Society on the Brink of War and Revolution is co-hosted by The Concord Museum, the David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society, and the Massachusetts Historical Society.

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Join a dynamic panel of top journalists as they dive into a spirited discussion on the impact of Donald Trump’s policies on the Jewish community. From Israel and antisemitism to core American Jewish values, this thought-provoking conversation will examine the shifting political landscape and how Trump’s presidency has shaped, challenged, or reinforced Jewish interests.

Are his policies ultimately beneficial, harmful, or somewhere in between? Expect candid insights, compelling arguments, and a lively exchange of perspectives.

Professor Gerald Denis, a molecular oncologist at Boston Medical Center, investigates a range of cancers and their causes. Some of his important studies include prostate cancer and breast cancer, which are increasing today. He focuses on relationships between specific factors such as metabolic conditions (e.g., obesity and diabetes) and certain types of cancer.

In this presentation, Dr. Denis explains how cancer research works, the international influence of American cancer research, and how the recent federal (NIH) defunding sets back the progress in cancer treatment at a time when cancers are increasing. 

The GBH BPL studio will host Outspoken Saturdays, a spoken word poetry event for emerging artists. Every first Saturday of the month, the series will be created in collaboration with spoken word artist Amanda Shea . Join us!

Registration is encouraged for this free event.

Join us for an evening of true stories about adventure, mishaps, and self-discovery—where the road traveled, both literal and emotional, takes center stage. Every journey has a story—some thrilling, some disastrous, and some life-changing. Maybe it was a dream vacation, a dreaded work trip, or a long-awaited family reunion. Or perhaps the real journey wasn’t just about miles traveled, but the transformation within. Enjoy these stories as you sit on set at Stories from the Stage.

At Stories from the Stage, produced by GBH WORLD, ordinary people share extraordinary experiences that you will not soon forget. You’ll hear stories of love and loss, amazing adventures, incredible surprises, and unexpected triumphs. In each taping, we get up-close and personal with storytellers about what inspires them and the craft of storytelling. Join us!

6:30pm Doors open to GBH's Atrium where the bar is open and samosas from SamosaMan are available starting at just $3
7:00pm Doors open to GBH's Calderwood Studio for seating

Note all onsite purchases will be credit card only.
Event registration is required. Seating is general admission.
The maximum capacity of this event is 120.
Event registration is required. Seating is general admission.
By RSVPing for this event, you agree to receive timely news and updates on events, films, and special offers from GBH.

This event is presented with support from our sponsor Liberty Mutual Insurance .



This event is presented with support from Gordon's Fine Wines.

When Francis Cabot Lowell revolutionized industrial manufacturing, he could never have imagined that industrialization at scale would change everything about the way we work, live, and even eat. Join us for an eye-opening talk from NYU Professor Amy Bentley as she traces the development of the modern American diet as it became another sector of the mass manufacturing commercial economy. Food could be processed, packaged, and sold faster, more efficiently, and in huge quantities – but there were serious unintended consequences. Her case study – baby food.

By the 1950s, commercial baby food had become emblematic of all things modern in postwar America. Little jars of baby food were thought to resolve a multitude of problems in the domestic sphere, but these baby food products laden with sugar, salt, and starch also became a gateway to the industrialized diet that blossomed during this period.

Today, baby food continues to be shaped by medical, commercial, and parenting trends. Baby food producers now contend with health and nutrition problems as well as the rise of alternative food movements. All of this matters because it’s during infancy that palates become acclimated to tastes and textures, including those of highly processed, minimally nutritious, and calorie-dense industrial food products.