Past Events

At the turn of the last century, Waltham was a hub of canoeing and canoe manufacturing at the intersection of athletics, recreation, and craftmanship. A new industrial working class developed in Waltham and surrounding areas as companies like Boston Manufacturing and Waltham Watch employed thousands of line workers. Along with industrialization, leisure activities gained popularity as these same workers looked to the river to relax, socialize, and have fun on the weekends. The weekend itself is a consequence of industrialization and the factory work week.

In Waltham, builders like HB Arnold, Waltham Canoe, and others were at work crafting, renting, and selling their canoes. Large boathouses, dancehalls, and canoe launches popped up all along the stretch of the Charles from Moody Street back up to Newton Upper Falls. Come, hear about the innovative canoe builders on the Charles and the new leisure working class they served.

Join us on set for stories honoring the quiet, yet powerful, moments of heroism that shape our world. Heroes walk among us—often unnoticed, yet their actions leave an undeniable impact. Whether it’s a nurse going the extra mile for a patient, a stranger stepping in to help at the right moment, or a neighbor who quietly makes a difference, their courageous tales deserve to be told. These stories are a tribute to the unsung heroes in our lives.

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 snacks are available for purchase
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.

This event is presented with support from our sponsor the Museum of Science.



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

Dr. Famiglietti is an internationally recognized expert on hydrology, the Earth’s water system. His focus is the freshwater crisis resulting from climate change and agricultural practices, and how the crisis is already affecting global populations and food production. His research team uses satellites and develops advanced computer models to track how freshwater availability is changing around the world.

In this program, Dr. Famiglietti explains the causes and development of the freshwater crisis and the urgent necessity of governmental policies to address the rapidly diminishing supply of water. Public understanding of the problem is essential.

Kittie Knox was a young biracial cyclist in the 1890s who fought against race-based limitations in America’s post-Reconstruction reaction against Black advancement. During her cycling career (1893 – 1899), she became a well-known century (100-mile) rider, protested the League of American Wheelmen’s color bar in 1895, and refused to conform to conventions about fast riding and wearing a long skirt while cycling. For decades after her untimely death, Knox’s groundbreaking story was virtually unknown outside of the world of cycling.

Scholar and writer Larry Finison has worked to bring her remarkable life back to a wider audience and speaks about Kittie Knox in the context of the late 19th century cycling craze.

Hear author Peter B. Kaufman discuss why video has become the dominant medium of human communication in his new book, The Moving Image: A User’s Manual. Kaufman explains how the moving image—not social media, not A.I., but TV networks and online video—has played such an outsized role in bringing personalities like Trump, Putin, Modi, and Netanyahu to the front of the world stage. These observations should raise public concerns about power across all communication industries. “If freedom involves participation in power, we are losing our grip on both. And that grip will disappear entirely if we let go of our control over the moving image,” says Kaufman.

He will be joined in conversation by Robert S. Boynton, Director of the Literary Reportage program at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.

Hear Meg Stone—Executive Director of IMPACT Boston, an abuse prevention and empowerment self-defense organization—for a discussion of her new book 'The Cost of Fear: Why Most Safety Advice Is Sexist and How We Can Stop Gender-Based Violence.' Stone shows us how we can make safety choices that expand our worlds and contribute to the fight for social justice. She will be joined in conversation by Shameka Gregory—licensed independent clinical social worker (LICSW) and the Coordinator of the Domestic and Gender Based Violence Prevention Initiative for the city of Cambridge.

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 Music and JazzBoston kick off the 2025 JazzNOW series with a celebration of Hermeto Pascoal, one of Brazil's most iconic and genre-defying composers. This mesmerizing Latin jazz performance features TRIAD, a powerhouse trio that brings together three world-class musicians: multi-Grammy award-winning Peruvian bassist Oscar Stagnaro, acclaimed pianist Maxim Lubarsky, and multi-Grammy and Latin Grammy award-winning drummer Mark Walker. Renowned for their mastery of Latin jazz and improvisational brilliance, the trio will explore Pascoal's rich repertoire and adventurous spirit, blending his lush harmonies, dazzling rhythms, and intricate melodies with fresh interpretations. For this special performance, TRIAD is joined by renowned Puerto Rican saxophonist Edmar Colón.

Event timeline:

7:15-7:50pm Pre-event reception (in-person only)
7:50-7:58pm Guest are seated in Fraser (in-person only)
8-9pm Live performance in Fraser Performance Studio (Hybrid audience)


Photo credit of Oscar Stagnaro: Provided by the artist

Hear a fascinating discussion on the past, present, and future of a ubiquitous fabric – denim. The Charles River Museum is at the site of Francis Cabot Lowell’s first cotton textile mill, and it was cotton manufacturing that powered the Industrial Revolution. Now, jeans are the iconic American fashion staple that almost all of us own. Fashion history professor, curator, and author Emma McClendon will engage in an interactive discussion about where she sees the future of jeans as a fashion item, utilitarian garment, and manufactured product. She has a special interest in the sustainability of denim production, and the ways in which jeans have become not just clothing, but a way of expressing individuality and identity. This is sure to be a thought-provoking conversation around an article of clothing that, at any given moment, literally half of the planet’s population is wearing.

Join us at the GBH Studios at the Boston Public Library for a nerdy night of NOVA science trivia! Get ready for creative categories and exciting prizes as we test your knowledge of the natural world, space, the history of science, and more!