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Ford Hall Forum

The Ford Hall Forum is the nation's oldest continuously operating free public lecture series. Its mission is to foster an informed and effective citizenry and to promote freedom of speech through the public presentation of lectures, debates, and discussions. Forum events illuminate the key issues facing our society by bringing to its podium knowledgeable and thought-provoking speakers. These speakers are presented in person, for free, and in settings, which facilitate frank and open debate.

http://www.fordhallforum.org/

Surveillance Capitalism and Democracy

Wed, Jan 23, 2019

Surveillance capitalism is the foundation of a new economic order. Firms compete on the manufacture of "prediction products" traded in lucrative new "behavioral futures markets." Surveillance capitalism's proprietary digital architectures -- what Shoshana Zuboff calls "Big Other" -- are designed to capture and control human behavior for competitive advantage in these new markets, as the production of goods and services is subordinated to a new "means of behavioral modification" that favors private market outcomes free of democratic oversight or control. Acclaimed scholar and author Shoshana Zuboff, Ph.D., Harvard Business School professor emerita speaks on the publication of her new book, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight For a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. The event is moderated by Christopher Lydon, radio host of WBUR's Open Source. Image: Book cover

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Gary Pomerantz: The Last Pass

Mon, Oct 29, 2018

Bob "Cooz" Cousy, the Hall of Fame Boston Celtics captain who led the team to its first six championships, has a lot to be proud of. But now, at age 90, he has one last piece of unfinished business. He seeks to make amends with his great partner on the Celtics, fellow Hall of Fame member Bill Russell, now 84. Cooz tells author Gary M. Pomerantz in the new book, [_The Last Pass_](http://www.garympomerantz.com/books/the-last-pass "The Last Pass book link"), that he should have been more publicly opposed to the prejudice Russell faced. **WATCH LIVE:** Join us for this important conversation about loyalty and bravery in the face of racism. Streaming here at 4 p.m. on October 29th.

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Daniel Ziblatt: How Democracies Die

Thu, Oct 11, 2018

Is American democracy at risk? Daniel Ziblatt, Harvard political scientist and coauthor of The New York Times bestseller, “How Democracies Die,” discusses how we can look to a wide range of historical and global examples, from 1930s Europe to contemporary Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela, to the American South during Jim Crow to show how democracies die—and how ours can be saved. Professor Ziblatt’s talk is followed by a panel of Suffolk scholars –Brian Conley, Greg Fried, and Renee Landers – and is be moderated by Acting Provost Sebastian Royo. [http://www.lowellinstitute.org/](http://www.lowellinstitute.org/event/925/ "The Lowell Institute ")

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An Actor and A Gentleman

Mon, Nov 8, 2010

Lou Gossett, Jr. is one of the most respected African American stage and screen actors, rising to fame with his Emmy-winning role in the television miniseries Roots and Oscar-winning performance in An Officer and a Gentleman. From his early success on the New York stage appearing with Ruby Dee and Sidney Poitier in A Raisin in the Sun and through most of his long career in Hollywood, he has struggled to get leading roles and fair pay as a black actor. Gossett speaks frankly of his problem with drugs and alcohol that took years to overcome and his current work to eradicate racism and violence and give our children a better future. He is joined by his writer, Phyllis Karas, biographer and professor of journalism.

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Yaron Brook on Ayn Rand: 'Apollo and Dionysus' Revisted

Thu, May 8, 2008

In 1969, Ayn Rand's Ford Hall Forum talk, 'Apollo and Dionysus,' addressed the near simultaneous events of Woodstock and the first lunar landing. Employing Greek mythology's god of the sun and god of wine, she compared the awe-inspiring accomplishments of NASA's Apollo space program to the famous three-day concert that has come to exemplify the counterculture of the 1960s and the "hippie era." Almost four decades later, Dr. Yaron Brook, President and Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute, reflects on her words and takes a new look at our society's drives toward individualism versus wholeness, light versus darkness, and civilization versus primal nature.

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AIDS, Social Justice, and the Politics of Transformation

Thu, Sep 30, 2010

Kevin Cranston, Director of the Massachusetts Bureau of Infectious Disease; Dazon Dixon Diallo, President of SisterLove; Julie Davids, Founder and Co-Director of CHAMP (Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project); and Guillermo Chacón, President and CEO of the Latino AIDS Commission converse with moderator Rebecca Haag, President and CEO of AIDS Action Committee about the ongoing problem of HIV transmission. As death from AIDS becomes less common, AIDS service organizations must transform their services and prevention programs to follow a more radical approach. Why are there 56,000 new infections in the U.S. every year when we know what causes HIV, how it’s transmitted, and how to treat it? Join us to discuss how to stop the spread of HIV by addressing the underlying social injustices of racism, sexism, homophobia, violence, substance abuse, and poverty. (Presented in collaboration with Old South Meeting House, a museum and National Historic Landmark dedicated to the free exchange of ideas, as part of the Partners in Public Dialogue series.)

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Extreme Dog: What Right Do Our Pets Have to Be Saved?

Thu, Sep 16, 2010

Dr. Nick Trout, staff surgeon at Angell Animal Medical Center and author of *Tell Me Where It Hurts*; attorney John Ensminger, dog advocate and creator of the doglawreporter.blog spot.com; and Dr. Joann Lindenmayer, Associate Professor at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, join moderator Monica Collins, syndicated columnist of *Ask Dog Lady*, to discuss heart wrenching questions relating to our beloved pets. Have we as a society gone too far in treating dogs with extensive medical problems? Is there such a thing as doing too much to save a dog’s life? Should we base our decisions on medical cost, time, or effort for recovery? And who makes these decisions–-the state, the legal system, the doctors, or the owners?

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Election 2010 and Communities of Color

Thu, Nov 4, 2010

Dr. Maria Idali Torres, director of the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy; Dr. Paul Watanabe of the Institute of Asian American Studies at UMass Boston; and Marvin Venay, executive director of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, join State Representative Linda Dorcena Forry to explore how the newly elected and reelected officials are likely to address upcoming legislation affecting Latino, Black, and Asian American populations on education, immigration and language, affordable housing, economic development, and health and safety. Hear what the panel thinks we can do to ensure better representation for our communities.

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Who Is Winning the Childhood Obesity Battle?

Thu, Oct 7, 2010

Panelist discuss gains and losses in the battle against childhood obesity, and address which policies on childhood obesity are effective, as well as whether calorie counting, food labeling, and junk food taxes are fair to those who are not at risk for obesity. At the heart of the discussion lie the questions: what is causing obesity, who is responsible for policing it, and what are the unintended consequences of the methods we’ve tried thus far? Dr. Dong-Chul Seo, Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Heath Science at Indiana University; Dr. Marlene Schwartz of the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University; Karen Voci, Executive Director of Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Foundation; and Dr. Frank Robinson, Executive Director of Partners for a Healthier Community, join Dr. Chris Economos, the New Balance Chair of Childhood Nutrition at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition for this talk.

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First Amendment Award: Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

Thu, Mar 18, 2010

The Ford Hall Forum presents the 2010 Louis P. and Evelyn Smith First Amendment Award to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which is dedicated to defending and sustaining individual rights at America's colleges and universities. Greg Lukianoff, President of FIRE; Steven Pinker, bestselling author and FIRE Advisory Board member; and Harvey Silverglate, Civil liberties lawyer and FIRE Co-Founder, join moderator Judge Nancy Gertner of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts to discuss their organization's work and what freedom of speech means today.

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