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.

History yields many lessons globally, and those who study it critically can fuel progress and cooperation in their communities and nations. Legal scholar Martha Minow and Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden discuss the importance of historical records, the potential for setbacks when knowledge is restricted, and what the future of access to reliable information might look like in a world riddled with unprecedented information manipulation and suppression.

With a piano performance by Miki Sawada, CEO of Gather Hear
Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 30 in A Major, Op. 109 I: Vivace ma non troppo - Adagio espressivo

Introduction by:
Susan Goldberg, President & CEO, GBH
David Leonard, President, Boston Public Library

A few years ago, the American Public Health Association declared noise to be a public health hazard, which leads to more heart disease, hearing loss and other health impacts as well as lost productivity. Noise isn’t just about decibel level – although that’s important - it is about its constancy and intrusiveness. Who likes that high-pitched car alarm that goes off at 3 am or the cacophony of bleeping machines that overload your nervous system, when you are trying to heal in a hospital bed?

Chris Berdik, a science and education journalist, first became interested in noise when he wrote a feature for the Boston Globe on noise pollution. He was captivated by the idea that a pollutant could inflict such wide-ranging harms to mental and physical wellbeing, which were both pervasive and inscrutable. Some people regarded noise as lethal as secondhand smoke, while others saw noise complaints as a proxy for being anti-tech or disliking your neighbors.


Berdik’s research took him to European villages and cities where EU regulations require settlements of a certain size to identify noise-protected “quiet areas”. He concluded that in order to mitigate the harmful effects of noise, loudness needs to be controlled and quiet protected. How often do we find ourselves having to shout in restaurants or repeat our orders; why can’t we focus on a deadline at work instead of our concentration being hijacked by the chatter of coworkers? Berdik suggests that “soundscapes” in workplaces, schools, hospitals and restaurants need to be planned in advance, so they can support not undermine our larger endeavors.

Whether you're a city dweller, educator, healthcare worker, or just someone craving a little peace and quiet, this conversation will change the way you hear the world.

Chris Berdik has been a staff editor at the Atlantic Monthly and a research editor at the investigative magazine, Mother Jones. As a freelance journalist, his writing has appeared in Popular Science, Wired, New Scientist, the NYT, the WP, Salon, Politico, Slate, the Boston Globe, among other publications. His latest book is CLAMOR: How Noise Took Over and How We Can Take It Back.

Dive into new drama programs and celebrate Mother's Day with recipes, music, and more.

Photojournalist Ulrike Welsch, Chair of Health Studies at MassBay Community College Denise Garrow-Pruitt, and Photo Editor of The Boston Globe Bill Greene discuss Boston's desegregation efforts in the 1960s, through the lens of many photographs of the times, moderated by Melissa Taboada Editor of the Great Divide Education Team at The Boston Globe.

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.

Larry Finison is a social psychologist by training and public health practitioner by profession and then turned to the social history of bicycling. He is the author of Boston's Cycling Craze, 1880-1900, Boston's 20th Century Bicycling Renaissance, and Bicycling Inclusion and Equity (2023). His most recent work is Kittie Knox: Exclusion and Inclusion in Boston’s Black Athletes: Identity, Performance, and Activism.

Climate change, global disruption, and labor scarcity are forcing us to rethink the underlying principles of industrial society. How can a new generation reanimate the best ideas of our industrial forbearers and begin to build a realistic and human-centered future? Join us at the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation for a conversation with David Mindell who envisions a new form of industrialism that draws upon the first principles of the Industrial Revolution that date back to the 18th Century in his recent book 'The New Lunar Society'.

While discussing new industrialism, he will tell the story of the Lunar Society, a group of engineers, scientists, and industrialists who came together to apply the principles of the Enlightenment to industrial processes. The Lunar Society included pioneers like James Watt, Benjamin Franklin, and Josiah Wedgwood whose conversations both ignited the Industrial Revolution and shaped the founding of the United States.

Acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns visited the Concord Carlisle High School and introduced a film clip from his upcoming documentary, The American Revolution, highlighting the tense and pivotal battles of Lexington and Concord that ignited the war.