This forum is a co-production with the Revels organization and will feature performances by musicians Jake Blount and Libby Weitnauer and interviews with the Revel’s creative team who will explore the history and roots of traditional music of Appalachia.
The Appalachian Mountains south of the Mason-Dixon Line, is one of the birthplaces of American music: the mountains of southern Appalachia, where Native American, African American, and European traditions combined to foster an astonishing wealth of artistic expression.
The forum will celebrate the quiet of the mountains in the songs passed on by Appalachian musicians from generation to generation, and examine the ideas that resonate in this music that speaks of the natural world, the hardship, the dark and light in human relationships.
Recorded November 6, 2019
Support our mission to provide free and open discussions about the pertinent issues and ideas confronting us, in the world today.
Cows are big methane machines and not very efficient ones, and everyone agrees that we need to reduce our carbon footprint. As people are becoming better informed about choices and what they’re putting into their bodies, they are looking at the “costs” from a health perspective, for animals and for the environment. Changes are afoot.
Who knew that Burger King would be offering the Impossible Whopper made from plant-based protein instead of meat? And veganism, which used to be a fringe-movement, has now morphed into a hip lifestyle. Scientists are already working on cell-based meat products which will be on sale to the public next year.
To help us understand the issues, we have scientists, philosophers and businessmen. Dr. Walter Willett, Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard will be joined by Nina Gheihman, a sociologist at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and two entrepreneurs, Truman French and Tucker Pforzheimer, who are running a business, growing shiitake mushrooms on Martha’s Vineyard.
Are we living in a post-truth world where “alternative facts” replace actual facts and feelings have more weight than evidence? How did we get here?
Lee McIntrye from the Center for Philosophy and History of Science, at Boston University discusses our modern dilemma: FAKE NEWS vs FACTS: Living in a Post-Truth World.
Recorded June 12, 2019
McIntyre traces the development of the post-truth phenomenon from science denial through the rise of “fake news,” from our psychological blind spots to the public’s retreat into “information silos.”
Lee McIntyre is a Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University and an Instructor in Ethics at Harvard Extension School.
So says author John Leland who reflects on the timeless subject in his new book Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons From a Year Among the Oldest Old. It’s based on his interviews with some of New York City’s oldest residents in order to understand the experience of aging during the twilight years . Read an excerpt here.
John Leland is a reporter for The New York Times. Since joining The Times in 2000, he has covered topics ranging from the poetry of rock lyrics to the housing crisis. Leland is the author of two books: Hip: The History (HarperCollins, 2004), a cultural history of hipness, and Why Kerouac Matters: The Lessons of ‘On the Road’ (They’re Not What You Think) (Viking, 2007).
Rebecca Traister, author and NY magazine journalist, examines the history of feminism and the #Metoo movement in the light of recent political events in Washington and beyond.
Recorded October 16, 2018
Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger is an exploration into the transformative power of female anger and its ability to transcend into a political movement.
The provocative and controversial ex-Greek finance minister of Greece and Professor of Economics at the University of Athens, Yanis Varoufakis, considers the need for a radically new way of thinking about the economy, and capitalism.
Recorded May 9, 2018
[audio: https://www.cambridgeforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/CAMFORUM-ECONOMICS-CAPITALISM.mp3|titles=Cambridge Forum ECONOMICS OF CAPITALISM]
Danielle Allen, Director of the Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard, discusses her new memoir “CUZ”.
The book documents the events which conspired to cause the untimely death of her young cousin, Michael, on the streets of Los Angeles in 2009. A “deadly double helix” of narcotics and street gangs ultimately entrapped her cousin, as with countless others, leading to his incarceration and death.
Does our system of justice perpetuate the injustices it is meant to address?
Danielle Allen, professor of government and education, director of the Safra Center for Ethics.
Recorded 9/20/17
[audio:https://www.cambridgeforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/CF-CUZ1.mp3|titles=Cambridge Forum DEADLY DOUBLE HELIX, PART 1]
Swanee Hunt speaks about her experiences in Rwanda from her new book Rwandan Women Rising which follows the story of the women who worked for peace after the genocide in 1994. Today 64% of the seats in the Rwandan parliament are held by elected women, a number unrivaled by any other nation.
Swanee Hunt chairs the Washington-based Institute for Inclusive Security. She is the Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and CEO of Hunt Alternatives. Recorded June 13, 2017
Listen to Rwandan Women Rising, 1 & 2
[audio:https://www.cambridgeforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CAMFORUM-Rwandan-Women-1.mp3|titles=Cambridge Forum RWANDAN WOMEN RISING – Part 1]
[audio:https://www.cambridgeforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CAMFORUM-Rwandan-Women-2.mp3|titles=Cambridge Forum RWANDAN WOMEN RISING – Part 2]
Cambridge Forum celebrates the legacy and future of folk music as it marks its 50th anniversary.
Recorded 11/16/2016
Music and memories from the early days of the Harvard Square folk scene to the current state of the Americana genre.
Betsy Siggins, raconteur extraordinaire, recalls her early days at the legendary Club 47 in Cambridge when Joan Baez performed. Folklorist Millie Rahn joins the conversation, along with live music from multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Jake Armerding.
Back in the late ’60s, Club 47 was the place to play for folk musicians in the Boston area and all the greats performed there, including Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, and Muddy Waters. The space eventually morphed into today’s Club Passim, which has given rise to some of the top musicians in the folk world, like Shawn Colvin and Suzanne Vega.
The music scene has changed greatly over the past 50 years, when Cambridge Forum first captured the spirit of the times. But Harvard Square and Club Passim continue to turn out fresh and exciting talent, that reflect many influential trends in today’s music industry. In the tradition of the Club 47 legends, musician Jake Armerding embodies the consummate, hard-working troubadour. He hails from a Massachusetts family of musicians, in which he honed his songwriting skills, while also becoming an accomplished fiddle, mandolin, and guitar player.
Joan Baez and Bob Dylan on stage at Club Passim, when it was known as Club 47.
Courtesy of Passim.
Forever Young 1Forever Young 2
For those interested in brushing up on the what’s been happening on the folk scene over the last few decades, here’s a *short* bibliography courtesy of folklorist Millie Rahn.
Baby, Let Me Follow You Down: The Illustrated Story of the Cambridge Folk Years, by Eric von Schmidt and Jim Rooney. Originally published 1979; updated and republished by the University of Massachusetts Press, 1994.
Between Midnight and Day: The Last Unpublished Blues Archive by Dick Waterman; preface by Bonnie Raitt; introduction by Peter Guralnick. Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2003. Bluegrass: A History by Neil Rosenberg. University of Illinois Press,1985.
“Cambridge, Club 47, and the 1960s Folk Revival,” chapter by Millie Rahn in A City’s Life and Times: Cambridge in the Twentieth Century. Published by the Cambridge Historical Society, 2007.
Country Music, U.S.A. by Bill C. Malone and Jocelyn R. Neal. Originally published 1968; University of Texas Press, 1985.
In It for the Long Run: A Musial Odyssey by Jim Rooney. University of Illinois Press, 2014.
The Face of Folk Music: Essential Portraits from America’s Folk Music Revival. Photographs by David Gahr; text by Robert Shelton. The Citadel Press, 1968.
“The Folk Revival: Beyond Child’s Canon and Sharp’s Song Catching,” chapter by Millie Rahn in American Popular Music: New Approaches to the Twentieth Century. University of Massachusetts Press, 2001.
Films
Festival!, by Murray Lerner. The Newport Folk Festivals 1963-1966. Produced by the Newport Festival Foundation, 1967.
For the Love of the Music: The Club 47 Folk Revival by Ezzie Films & Blue Star Media, 2012.
Cambridge Forum examines the plight of honey bees with the help of Noah Wilson-Rich from Best Bees and apiarist David Hackenberg of Buffy Bees from Lewisburg, PA. If you care about the future of food and want to learn more about how to ensure the survival of our precious honey bees, please plan to attend.
Bees don’t just make honey, they pollinate a third of our food supply. But bee colonies are disappearing at an alarming rate in the US. In addition to being ecologically essential, bees are highly social and complex creatures that are vulnerable to a barrage of attacks ranging from parasitic mites to pesticides and herbicides.
Recorded April 27, 2016 Coming soon on the WGBH Forum Network
Listen to All About Bees – Part 1
[audio:https://www.cambridgeforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/CAMFORUM-ABOUT-BEES-1.mp3|titles=Cambridge Forum ALL ABOUT BEES – Part 1]
Listen to All About Bees – Part 2
[audio:https://www.cambridgeforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/CAMFORUM-ABOUT-BEES-2.mp3|titles=Cambridge Forum ALL ABOUT BEES – Part 2]
RECORDED 3/5/19
The provocative and controversial ex-Greek finance minister of Greece and Professor of Economics at the University of Athens, Yanis Varoufakis, considers the need for a radically new way of thinking about the economy, and capitalism.
Swanee Hunt speaks about her experiences in Rwanda from her new book Rwandan Women Rising which follows the story of the women who worked for peace after the genocide in 1994. Today 64% of the seats in the Rwandan parliament are held by elected women, a number unrivaled by any other nation.
