GBH offers a wide variety of in-person and virtual events. From live music recordings, lectures and screenings to our virtual Book Club, tasting events and more, stay connected to our community. Whatever you’re interested in—news, history, the arts or music, we’ve got you covered. Fill your calendar with this rich diversity of events and be inspired, informed and entertained.
If you have questions about any of our events please reach out to Audience Member Services by phone 617-300-3300 or email info@wgbh.org
Featured Events
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In PersonNOVA Science Trivia
Join us at the GBH Studios at the Boston Public Library for a night of NOVA science trivia! -
In Person
Democracy's Discontent: Why are we so polarized, and what can we do about it?
GBH invites you to attend the inaugural Ralph Lowell Annual Lecture, honoring the legacy of GBH founder Ralph Lowell, whose life’s work was devoted to educate and inform the public.Partner:GBH Forum Network John F. Kennedy Library Foundation
More GBH Events
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In PersonAmerican Archive of Public Broadcasting Transcript-A-Thon Volunteer Event
Join the American Archive of Public Broadcasting for a Transcript-A-Thon at the Boston Public Library! Bring your laptop and explore archival public media from the past 70+ years to help make historic programs more accessible and discoverable for all.
Refreshments will be provided by the Boston Public Library Café with a volunteer wristband. -
In Person
Melissa Lane: "Plato’s Republic on Motivating Ecological Guardianship"
Melissa Lane is the Class of 1943 Professor of Politics at Princeton University, where she is also Associated Faculty in Classics and in Philosophy, and has received the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Prize, the Stanley J. Kelley Teaching Award of the Department of Politics, and the Faculty Community Engagement Award of the Pace Center for Civic Engagement.
She currently also holds a three-year appointment dedicated to delivering periodic public lectures in London as the fiftieth Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College. She has held a Guggenheim Fellowship in the field of Classics, as well as fellowships and visiting professorships at a number of institutions including the ANU, Auckland, Harvard, Oxford, Stanford, the American Academy in Rome, and the École Normale Supérieure. Lane was educated in Californian public schools, then at Harvard University and the University of Cambridge, where she received an MPhil and PhD in Philosophy and then taught for fifteen years before moving to Princeton in 2009.
Her most recent monograph, titled Of Rule and Office: Plato's Ideas of the Political and published in 2023 by Princeton University Press, was awarded the 2024 Book Prize of the Journal of the History of Philosophy; her 2012 book Eco-Republic continues to be widely discussed. Lane has appeared multiple times on ‘In Our Time’ on BBC Radio Four, and been published in periodicals in the US, UK, Italy and Germany.
This lecture is supported by an ILA Major Grant.
The Lowell Humanities Series is sponsored by the Lowell Institute, Boston College's Institute for the Liberal Arts, and the Provost's Office.Partner:Boston College -
In Person
2025 Fluff Festival
Come say "hi!" to GBH at this year's 20th anniversary Fluff Festival. This family-friendly festival celebrates years of Somerville innovation, namely, Marshmallow Fluff! It is sure to be a flufftastic day of live music, delicious food, fun games and so much more. You won't want to miss it! -
In Person
Critical Condition & When Machines Prescribe: Screening & Panel Discussion
Join NOVA at Harvard University's Science Center for a screening of selected clips from Critical Condition and When Machines Prescribe paired with a panel discussion featuring filmmakers and experts from the film. The program will begin at 4PM and the event will be followed by a catered reception.
In Critical Condition: Health in Black America, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Stanley Nelson investigates the dramatic health disparities in the US, even as scientists confirm that there are no meaningful genetic differences between races. From the deep history of pseudoscientific beliefs about race that still permeate modern medicine, to the latest research on how experiencing discrimination can directly damage the body’s DNA and biology, Critical Condition reveals the factors behind the health crisis facing Black Americans.
The accompanying short documentary, When Machines Prescribe, produced by Llew Smith and Kelly Thomson, investigates the use of race in clinical algorithms. Designed to weigh factors like symptoms, medical history, and test results to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients, some medical algorithms were built using data based on old pseudoscience about racial differences and their continued use has harmed the health of Black patients. -
Virtual
A.I. AND THE DEATH OF CRITICAL THINKING
Schools and colleges are open for business – it’s the fall semester – but the statistics are depressing. Nationally, high school seniors have scored the worst on reading results since 1992. The data, from the respected National Assessment of Education Progress, showed that a third of 12th-graders who were tested last year, did not meet basic reading skills. Forbes magazine recently reported on the “dark side of AI: tracking the decline of human cognitive skills” and the National Endowment for the Arts noted that federal data showed a slump in reading for pleasure. So, is any or all of this attributable to the invasion of AI into our kids’ classrooms?
ChatGPT was initially pitched as a useful technological “tool”, yet more educational analysts are expressing concerns that tests show we are losing fundamental critical thinking skills in the process. As Sarah O’Connor commented in a Financial Times opinion piece, “without solid skills of your own, it is only a few short steps from being supported by the machine, to finding yourself dependent on it, or subject to it.”
MIT’s recent media study published unsettling results on cognitive performance using ChatGPT and the only people who seem unconcerned are Sam Altman and other tech leaders. CF has put together a panel of AI observers, including a neuroscientist, a professor of humanities and a student to discuss some of the challenges and concerns associated with generative AI and learning. Until we know more about the cognitive effects of technology like ChatGPT, should we be inserting it into the classroom? And if, as recent studies indicate, it homogenizes thinking and creativity, are we content to let our kids’ education go into experimental free fall? Join this timely discussion.Partner:Cambridge Forum -
In Person
NOVA Science Trivia
Join us at the GBH Studios at the Boston Public Library for a night of NOVA science trivia! Get ready for creative categories and exciting prizes as we test your knowledge, from the depths of the universe to the history of science.
This month, we will be going back to school to revisit your favorite school subject... science, of course!
Registration is encouraged for this free event. -
In Person
FORGOTTEN HERO: WALTER WHITE AND THE NAACP Screening & Discussion
You’re invited to a screening and discussion of the AMERICAN EXPERIENCE film Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP. The event features an extended clip from the film and a panel discussion with the filmmakers and special guests. This event is presented by the Black Film Project at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University, American Experience and GBH. Admission is free, and seating is limited.
Panelists:
Rob Rapley – Writer/Producer
Kenneth Mack – Historian and Film Participant
Ellis Monk – Sociologist and Film Participant
Moderator – Cameo George, American Experience Executive Producer
About the film:
The civil rights movement was set in motion by activists of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. While some of its leaders are familiar, Walter White — NAACP head from 1929 to 1955 and one of America’s most influential Black men — has been all but forgotten. Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP traces the fascinating and complex life of this neglected civil rights hero.
Major funding for American Experience provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance, Carlisle Companies and by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Funding for Forgotten Hero: Walter White and the NAACP provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Additional funding for American Experience provided by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, The American Experience Trust, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television viewers. #ForgottenHeroPBS
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In Person
Stories from the Stage: No Place Like Home
Stories from the Stage warmly invites you to our home (studio) for a night of storytelling related to the concept of “home.” It can be a safe haven — or something you had to escape; a person, a location, or a dream; a place you swore you'd never return to; or a sanctuary you created. Come listen to true stories of home in all its beauty, heartbreak, complexity, and contradiction 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. 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
7:00pm Doors open to GBH's Calderwood Studio for seating
This event is presented with support from our sponsor Liberty Mutual Insurance.
Reese, Joshua -
In PersonVirtual
Great Decisions: International Cooperation on Climate Change
Over the past 30 years, climate change has become one of the central global challenges of the modern era, one that has hugely important consequences for the livability of the planet.
Join WorldBoston for a timely discussion of this topic with Dr. Kelly Sims Gallagher, Dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy. This program will feature an expert presentation, live audience Q&A, and time for networking and discussion with other globally-oriented participants.Partner:WorldBoston -
In PersonVirtual
William Dawes’ Midnight Ride
With William Dawes Schulz, journalist
While Longfellow cast Paul Revere as a lone hero in his 1860 poem “Paul Revere’s Ride,” history lovers have stood up for the other rider who carried news from Boston that night, William Dawes, since at least the 1890s. This talk will explore the life and the Midnight Ride of William Dawes.Partner:Paul Revere Memorial Association -
Virtual
Beyond the Page with Hank Phillippi Ryan
Join USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan for an unforgettable evening as she takes us beyond the page of her brand-new psychological thriller, All This Could Be Yours, releasing September 9, 2025.
Known for her pulse-pounding plots and powerhouse prose, Hank is the award-winning author of 16 thrillers, an Emmy-winning investigative reporter, and a true master of suspense. Her latest novel delivers a chilling and captivating look at the dark side of success, when a glamorous book tour becomes a deadly game of cat-and-mouse.
Be among the first to hear the inside scoop behind this highly anticipated release that the Library Journal called Hank’s “best book to date.” Plus, enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at her career and writing process in an evening that promises twists and turns.
This event offers two ticket options:- Attend the event: $0
- Attend the event + receive a SIGNED copy of All This Could be Yours + GBH Membership: $60
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In Person
Outspoken Saturdays (October 2025)
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.
