Past Events

GBH Amplifies is a community conversation series focused on expanding the reach of local voices from Greater Boston and beyond. The series features community leaders hosting public conversations in the GBH Studio at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, providing a platform for inclusive perspectives on the issues that matter most to New England communities. GBH Amplifies happens weekly on Thursdays from 12:30-1:30pm at the GBH BPL Studio. This event is free and open to the public.

The monthly schedule is:
First Thursday of the Month: James ‘Jimmy’ Hills, Host of Java with Jimmy
Second Thursday of the Month: Ron Mitchell, Publisher and Editor of The Bay State Banner
Third Thursday of the Month: Alberto Vasallo III, President and CEO of El Mundo Boston
GBH Amplifies is also being supported by the Barr Foundation.

Historically, America’s cultural identity has become inextricably linked to the automobile. However, what began as a convenient, and often essential, mode of transportation has morphed into an unhealthy tyrannical obsession, which symbolizes success and power. Some would say we have a national addiction with cars – and big ones especially.

In the past twenty years, cars have grown larger, heavier and more intimidating. Mimicking the appearance of military vehicles with names to match, massive SUVs dominate the landscape and the statistics are not pretty. Globally, cars directly take the lives of more than a million people annually they also kill others through air pollution and environmental hazards, including their use as attack weapons.

Our increasing dependency on cars is draining earth’s natural resources, their carbon emissions drive climate change and they create unsafe streets and congestion which make the planet unlivable. We know much of this, yet we continue to ignore the negative consequences of our indulgent behavior and worship at the altar of the auto. Cars dominate our lives and we just love the personal comfort and distraction afforded by the gadgets behind the wheel. But for how long can we ignore the true costs of our driving habits on others and the planet, without paying the price?

Join the discussion on BIG CARS - at what cost? Register on Zoom, and meet our panel and new moderator, Daniel Berger-Jones on October 14 at 5 pm.

If you are interested in the livestream, it will begin at 7pm on GBH Forum Network's YouTube here.

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, inspiring in each of us a life of service for the common good.

Harvard University scholar and political philosopher Michael Sandel will deliver the inaugural Ralph Lowell Lecture. Extending his 1996 work "Democracy's Discontent," celebrated by Alan Brinkley when first published as “a remarkable fusion of philosophical and historical scholarship,” Sandel will offer a long view of America’s civic struggles, from the 1990s to the present, recalling moments in the American past when the country found ways to hold economic power to democratic account.

From a 2025 vantage point, he will discuss how Democrats and Republicans alike embraced a version of finance-driven globalization that created a society of winners and losers and fueled the toxic politics of our time—and why the American people must reconfigure the economy and empower our citizens as participants in a shared public life.

This program will be presented in partnership with the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Get the Book

Michael Sandel will sign copies of his updated book, "Democracy's Discontent," available for purchase at the event.

Visit the Ralph Lowell exhibit in our Atrium

To celebrate the launch of the new GBH Ralph Lowell Annual Lecture and the ongoing support for GBH from the Lowell family and the Lowell Institute, GBH Archives has curated a special exhibit looking back at the 20th century developments spearheaded by Ralph Lowell that established a coalition of support for educational broadcasting in the U.S. and ultimately led to the founding of WGBH in 1951. From support for public lectures, to radio and television programming and digital streaming, the Lowells have continued Ralph’s original mission to support the free dissemination of knowledge as an important foundation for an informed and free democratic citizenry.

About our Event Partner

The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is the non-profit partner to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, providing financial support, staffing, and creative resources. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is a presidential library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. The Library and the Foundation seek to promote, through educational and community programs, a greater appreciation and understanding of American politics, history, culture, the process of governing and the importance of public service.

For our second GBH Jazz Night of the season, enjoy the musical storytelling of Brazilian saxophonist and composer Felipe Salles.

GBH Jazz Nights showcase the incredible range of jazz talent in the Greater Boston area. The series is co-hosted by JazzBoston and GBH Music, taking place on the second Thursday of every month from September through May. Tickets are free, but registration is encouraged. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis, so arrive early! By registering, you agree to receive email communications from GBH Music.

GBH Jazz Nights are made possible by the Goldstein Family Fund.

GBH Amplifies is a community conversation series focused on expanding the reach of local voices from Greater Boston and beyond. The series features community leaders hosting public conversations in the GBH Studio at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, providing a platform for inclusive perspectives on the issues that matter most to New England communities. GBH Amplifies happens weekly on Thursdays from 12:30-1:30pm at the GBH BPL Studio. This event is free and open to the public.


The monthly schedule is:

First Thursday of the Month: James ‘Jimmy’ Hills, Host of Java with Jimmy

Second Thursday of the Month: Ron Mitchell, Publisher and Editor of The Bay State Banner

Third Thursday of the Month: Alberto Vasallo III, President and CEO of El Mundo Boston

Registration is encouraged for this free event.

Limited seating is available on a first come, first serve basis. If you require a seat, we encourage you to arrive before the start time of this event.

Tiya Miles is the author of eight books, including four prize-winning histories about race and slavery in the American past. Her latest work is the biography Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People. Her 2021 National Book Award winner All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake, was a New York Times bestseller that won eleven historical and literary prizes, including the Cundill History Prize and the Frederick Douglass Prize. All That She Carried was named a best book of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, NPR, Publisher’s Weekly, The Atlantic, Time, and more. Her other nonfiction works include Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation, The Dawn of Detroit, Tales from the Haunted South, The House on Diamond Hill, and Ties That Bind. Miles has published essays and reviews in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, The New York Review of Books, and other publications, and she is the author of the time-bridge novel The Cherokee Rose, a ghost story set in the plantation South. She has consulted with colleagues at historic sites and museums on representations of slavery,

African American material culture, and the Black-Indigenous intertwined past, including, most recently, the “Fabric of a Nation” quilt exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Her work has been supported by a MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Award, the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Guggenheim Foundation. Miles was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and she is currently the Michael Garvey Professor of History and Radcliffe Alumnae Professor at Harvard University.

Cosponsored by Boston College History Department, American Studies, African and African Diaspora Studies, Women’s Studies, Environmental Studies, the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, and the Forum for Racial Justice in America.

The Lowell Humanities Series is sponsored by the Lowell Institute, Boston College's Institute for the Liberal Arts, and the Provost's Office.

Join American Ancestors’ American Inspiration series and Boston Public Library for an enlightening presentation featuring 2025 Pulitzer Prize–winning author Kathleen DuVal and her book NATIVE NATIONS, a comprehensive review of Native American history, from the rise of ancient cities around 1000 CE to fights for sovereignty that continue well into the 2020s. DuVal and fellow Pulitzer Prize winner Nicole Eustace will bring to life the history of these lands and Native peoples, offering a powerful and deeply informed conversation you won’t want to miss in the days leading up to Indigenous People’s Day.

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.

GBH Amplifies is a community conversation series focused on expanding the reach of local voices from Greater Boston and beyond. The series features community leaders hosting public conversations in the GBH Studio at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, providing a platform for inclusive perspectives on the issues that matter most to New England communities. GBH Amplifies happens weekly on Thursdays from 12:30-1:30pm at the GBH BPL Studio. This event is free and open to the public. The monthly schedule is:
First Thursday of the Month: James ‘Jimmy’ Hills, Host of Java with Jimmy
Second Thursday of the Month: Ron Mitchell, Publisher and Editor of The Bay State Banner
Third Thursday of the Month: Alberto Vasallo III, President and CEO of El Mundo Boston
GBH Amplifies is also being supported by the Barr Foundation.

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 

Please note that books will be shipped out following the event.