2021-2022
June 2022
Much Ado About Mushrooms
Psilocybin mushrooms may be making a comeback within the medical community who have conducted clinical trials showing remarkable success in treating patients with severe depression, anxiety and PTSD.
May 2022
Legacies of Slavery
Historian David Hackett Fischer shines a light on the little-known history of how enslaved Africans and their descendants created new regional cultures and enlarged American ideas of freedom.
May 2022
Harnessing the Power of Seaweed
An increasing number of marine scientists, ecologists, entrepreneurs and foodies are beginning to appreciate seaweed’s remarkable properties.
May 2022
Can We Resist the Hijacking of Democracy in America and Beyond?
Russia’s terrible assault on Ukraine and the recent elections of pro-Putin regimes in Hungary and Serbia, coincide with a growing threat to American democracy from within its own borders.
April 2022
Can Having Good Friends Prolong Your Life?
Research is providing us with proof that having friends is beneficial, if not essential, to good health. But friendships are both a science and an art.
March 2022
Black History: On Rewind
To celebrate our newly digitized collection of eminent historical black orators, Cambridge Forum has teamed up with the Lincoln Institute to present a panel discussion.
February 2022
The Curse of the Smartphone
It is hard to imagine life without the ubiquitous smartphone. What negative effects is this dependency having on our behavior? What can we do about it? Paul Greenberg has some answers.
February 2022
Tick, Tick, and More Ticks
Brian Owens, an award-winning science journalist for Nature and the New Scientist, has investigated the causes, treatments, and controversy surrounding Lyme disease, an insidious but often overlooked disease.
January 2022
The Soundtrack of the World
For over 50 years, naturalist Bernie Krause has witnessed evidence of multiple environments being radically altered by human influence, and the resultant soundtracks or “biophonies” reflect chaotic alterations due to stress.
January 2022
Smell: An Olfactory Orgy
Research into olfaction, the science of what happens between the nose and the brain, has intensified due to the huge number of people who lost their sense of smell due to COVID.
December 2021
Art as a Prescription for Culture
Michael Bobbitt of the Mass. Cultural Council and Catherine Carr Kelly of Central Square Theater tackle the issue of whether or not the arts are a key asset? How much do they contribute to the economy?
December 2021
The Art of Possibility
Benjamin Zander, renowned conductor of the Boston Philharmonic orchestra and Boston Youth Philharmonic orchestra, will discuss the everyday miracles that can happen despite catastrophe.
November 2021
What I Learned in Prison
Journalist Chris Hedges has been teaching classes in drama, literature, philosophy and history in a program offered by Rutgers University to inmates in the New Jersey prison system.
December 2021
Eco-Anxiety
Does the future plight of the planet keep you up at night? You’re not alone. Journalist Arno Kopecky and Professor Theresa Marteau discuss some of the options we have available to us
October 2021
The Day the World Stops Shopping
What are we willing to give up in order to save the planet? And what would happen to our economies and our lives if we seriously committed to consuming fewer of the Earth’s resources?
October 2021
The Truth at The Heart of the Lie: How the Catholic Church Lost Its Soul
James Carroll explores what has broken the modern Catholic Church as chronicled in The Truth At The Heart Of The Lie.
September 2021
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation
Kristin Du Mez traces how a militant ideal of white Christian manhood has come to pervade evangelical popular culture in America.
September 2021
How God Works: The Science Behind the Benefits of Religion
Psychologist David DeSteno discusses some fascinating findings from his latest book How God Works.