Past Events

GBH Music welcomes the Rasa String Quartet to the Boston Public Library for a free holiday program, hosted by CRB Classical 99.5 midday host Edyn-Mae Stevenson! Let it Snow! features heartwarming folk tunes, holiday traditionals, and classic hits from the most wonderful time of the year. Take shelter at the BPL and warm up with an hour of festive, live music.

Formed in 2019, the Rasa String Quartet brings together violinists Emma Powell and Maura Shawn Scanlin, violist Kiyoshi Hayashi, and cellist Mina Kim. The Rasa String Quartet is dedicated to exploring the musical space where classical and folk traditions intersect and influence one another. In Sanskrit, the term ‘rasa’ refers to the indescribable power of art to move, inspire, and connect us—a quality Rasa String Quartet strives to embody in every performance. The Rasa String Quartet will perform four free concerts at the BPL throughout the 2025-2026 GBH Music Season.

Join Jimmy for an in-depth conversation with Joseph Bennett, Executive Director of YardTime, Inc., and Anthony Davis, Jr., CEO of The Davis System and Democratic Strategist.

This episode explores the experiences, observations, and civic engagement of Black men in local and national politics, from representation and voting behavior to leadership and community influence. Bennett and Davis will also discuss the work each is doing to engage, support, and mobilize their peers, and why this moment requires a renewed commitment to political participation.

A timely and necessary conversation you won’t want to miss.

Guests:

Anthony Davis Jr. - CEO, The Davis System and Democratic Strategist
Joseph Bennett - Executive Director, YardTime, Inc.

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.

GBH Amplifies is also being supported by the Barr Foundation.

This event is free and open to the public. 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.

This event is sold out. Thank you for your interest!

Celebrate the season with Illuminate Bach: A Holiday Celebration! Filmed live in GBH’s Fraser Performance Studio, this festive concert program showcases the radiant spirit of J.S. Bach’s music — from sacred works that evoke the wonder and reverence of the holidays, including Part Five of his Christmas Oratorio, to the lyrical charm of his Oboe Concerto in D minor. The evening also features “Winter Breviary,” a set of three carols by Reena Esmail that draw on cultural traditions of Indian and Western themes and music. The performance will be led by Emmanuel Music Artistic Director Ryan Turner and hosted by Brian McCreath, host of The Bach Hour on CRB Classical 99.5. Illuminate Bach offers audiences a moment to reflect, rejoice, and join an annual tradition shared with viewers and listeners across Massachusetts through upcoming broadcasts on GBH 2, NEPM, and CRB Classical 99.5.


7:00pm: Doors open to GBH's Yawkey Atrium
7:15pm: Reception in Yawkey Atrium
8:00pm: Illuminate Bach: A Holiday Celebration! begins in Fraser Performance Studio. Seating is general admission.

This program is made possible by the Mattina R. Proctor Foundation.
This event is presented with support from our sponsor, Xfinity.

Back in the 1950s, NASA set lofty and noble ambitions for humanity: to “explore the unknown in air and space, to innovate for the benefit of humanity, and to inspire the world through discovery.” And for the past 75 years, it is true that NASA has made the seemingly impossible, possible. However, the agency’s agenda has shifted dramatically over the ensuing years with the advent of Star Wars and the creation of commercial enterprises that carried research payloads into space on board the shuttle, for profit.

This forum will provide a reality check on our current role in space, to consider what is really motivating our actions, driving our expensive excursions to Mars, and shaping our international satellite placement industry. Have we really considered our role, responsibility, and stewardship in space alongside the potential profits to be made?

The conversation will be moderated by Curt Jaimungal, a Toronto-based mathematical physicist and host of the acclaimed podcast, "Theories of Everything," which fuses rigorous scientific analysis with profound philosophical inquiry.

Delight your taste buds during this one-hour On Demand interactive, liquid chocolate tasting class that was previously recorded. Bonnie Bennett, co-owner of Kakawa Chocolate House, will lead you on a journey, walking through a brief history of chocolate as we time travel through time, sampling and experiencing the drinking chocolates representative of various regions, including ancient Mayan, old European, Colonial American and contemporary locales.

Your ticket includes a drinking chocolate kit that can be shared with another friend or family member, shipped directly to your door, containing five premium chocolate granule flavors. Plus, you’ll enjoy a sample of roasted cacao nibs and a piece of two signature chocolates, Kakawa’s Classic Dark Chocolate and Kakawa’s Milk Chocolate blends.

Click the video recording link that will be sent to you when you purchase your ticket and sip along as the video demonstration plays and Bonnie Bennett shares her wealth of knowledge about chocolate elixirs with you.

** The video recording link does not expire, so you can watch the video recording at any time after you receive your chocolate kit in the postal mail and follow along with the demonstration at your leisure.

IMPORTANT NOTES: 


We can not deliver these kits to PO Boxes or Canada. Only physical street addresses are allowed.



Supplies are limited. Purchase your chocolate tasting kit and companion video in time for the holiday season.



You must purchase your kit by Monday, December 1, 2025 at 5pm ET. We will ship the chocolate kit to your preferred shipping address in early December. The companion video with instructions to this chocolate class will be sent to the contact email address provided when you registered.


(*Please note, we are unable to ship the chocolate kits to Canada or other foreign countries).

Celebrate Jacques Pépin and mark his milestone 90th Birthday by purchasing A Conversation with Jacques Pépin bundle (Event On Demand).

Jacques recently sat down for a wide-ranging discussion with Francis Lam, host of The Splendid Table, and shared reflections on his career, decades-long connection to public media, the important work he does with his foundation, and his enduring role as a culinary icon.

Our virtual event was recorded a few weeks in advance of Jacques’ s 90th birthday on Dec. 18, 2025.

More about Jacques Pépin: The winner of sixteen James Beard Awards and author of over thirty cookbooks, including The Apprentice, Essential Pépin, and Jacques Pépin Quick & Simple, Jacques Pépin is a chef, author, television personality, educator, and artist. He has starred in thirteen acclaimed PBS cooking series. His dedication to culinary education led to the creation of the Jacques Pépin Foundation in 2016.

More about event host Francis Lam: Francis Lam is the host of The Splendid Table, produced by American Public Media. Lam is the former Eat columnist for The New York Times Magazine and is Vice President and Editor in-Chief at Clarkson Potter, a division within Penguin Random House. For two seasons, Lam was a regular judge on Bravo’s hit show, Top Chef Masters. An award-winning writer, Lam has written for numerous publications, including Gourmet, Bon Appetít, Food & Wine, Men’s Journal, and Financial Times.

Ticket price: $120 (includes a link to the 90-minute previously recorded interview with Jacques Pépin, which is available to view at your leisure). A hard cover copy of Jacques’s newest book, The Art of Jacques Pépin, will be mailed to the ticket purchaser’s address.

This On Demand event is a great gift idea for the holiday season. The Art of Jacques Pépin books will arrive in the postal mail before December 24, 2025.

The video recording link does not expire, so you can watch the video recording at any time. Ticket sales for A Conversation with Jacques Pépin (Event on Demand) end Monday, December 1, 2025 at 5pm ET.

An expert panel will shed light on how presidential authority has evolved over time, the constitutional debates surrounding executive power, and how a historical lens is illuminating and relevant today.

Join us at the GBH Studios at the Boston Public Library for a night of NOVA science trivia! Get ready for creative categories that test your knowledge of science, from the depths of the universe to the history of science.

This month, we will be quizzing you on space travel, the science of food, indigenous history and more — and we are excited to announce that we will be giving away tickets to the Museum of Science as prizes!

Registration is encouraged for this free event.

This NOVA Science Trivia event is brought to you by the Museum of Science.

Join El Mundo Boston's Alberto Vasallo III and community leaders for a conversation about the pivotal moments shaping Boston's Latino community. We will explore the outrage over the recent exclusion of all Latino City Council candidates from major newspaper endorsements and how the community channels that resilience into celebration. We will also discuss the TAG Association's 36th Annual El Jolgorio Navideño, New England's largest Latino holiday celebration that pays tribute to community leaders and supports the program's essential, culturally-sustaining mentorship and leadership development, ensuring the community strengthens its future from within.

Guests:

Grace Moreno
Unidos in Power

Celina Barrios - Millner
Unidos in Power

Doug Chavez
Political Strategist - Chavez Group

Ilyitch N. Tabora
El Jolgorio Navideño

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.

GBH Amplifies is also being supported by the Barr Foundation.

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.

This event is SOLD OUT and the waitlist is closed. Thank you for your interest in attending. If you would like to be kept informed of opportunities to receive the book only, you may join the waitlist.

Join acclaimed historian Heather Cox Richardson in conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis for a powerful discussion about their explosive new book, INJUSTICE: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America’s Justice Department (releasing November 4).

The behind-the-scenes story of a decade-long subversion of one of America’s most vital institutions to the unprecedented political challenges presented during the Trump administration, INJUSTICE exposes how the nation’s Justice Department was transformed into a battleground for democracy itself. Leonnig and Davis take readers deep into the heart of this struggle, revealing the extraordinary pressures, covert battles, and efforts within the department as it grappled with threats to the rule of law.

Hear from these three thought leaders as they dive in, sharing the stories behind the headlines and engaging in a vital conversation to illuminate the ongoing crisis and its profound implications for the future of justice, accountability, and democracy in the United States.

This event offers two ticket options:

• Attend the event: $0 
• Attend the event + receive a SIGNED copy of INJUSTICE + GBH Membership (includes PBS Passport): $60