cambridgeforum

We know that food can be either medicine or toxin; so how do we recognize “junk” food and make better eating choices? 

Consider the state of singlehood:  Lots of health research indicates that people who live alone, have higher health risks and are generally unhappier. Well, not so, according to Bella DePaulo, author of a new book, “Single At Heart”. 

This forum accompanies two men, Mark Erelli, a musician and Andrew Leland, a writer, on their separate journeys from the world of sightedness to one of blindness.

In 1980, Biologist and physician, Dr.LewisThomas spoke at the Harvard College commencement in Cambridge, MA on The Uncertainty Of Science.

Simone Stolzoff, journalist and author of The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work considers the changing nature of work.

Jeff Goodell's latest book, The Heat will Kill You First looks at the impact that rising temperatures will have on our lives and on our planet. Flannigan has been studying fire and weather/climate interactions including the potential impact of climatic change and lightning-ignited forest fires for over 40 years.

Suicide rates are rising at an alarming rate in America and the populations most at risk are no longer white middle-aged men, they are increasingly young people and minorities.  What societal ills might be fueling this tragic trend?

What can be done to break our toxic addiction to plastic, and to terminate its lethal global legacy?

What was Cambridge like back when it was called Newtowne and even before that?   A new history book, ostensibly for kids, aims to paint a more multi-dimensional view of the area charting its cultural influences and history starting back 10,000 years ago, when indigenous people farmed, fished and built communities there.

Recent concerns about the long-term implications of artificial intelligence apps like Chat GPT have prompted journalists, academics and now entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, to seek a halt to the training of AIs saying "AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity." What do you think?

At a time when interest and investment in the humanities is plummeting, and enrolment in STEM subjects is flourishing, we consider the human consequences of such a shift in direction. 

More than 300 new independent bookstores have sprouted up across the country and as the number of stores has grown, another interesting development has accompanied this trend – the bookselling business has become much more diverse. 

This forum challenges the notion that happiness should be life’s primary pursuit – arguing we might be better served by living well within our means, acknowledging some difficult truths and concentrating on leading a meaningful life instead.  Embracing the “good-enough” life might be preferable to hankering for the perfect one, and we might just stumble across happiness in the process. 

Art provides a powerful expression for resistance both in word and image, and Peter Sacks uses both to great effect in his latest works. Sacks, an expatriate of South Africa is currently presenting his first solo museum exhibition at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University.

Cardiologist Sian Harding explores the latest scientific developments and mysteries of the heart including the latest cardiac health discoveries as well as the relationship between the emotions and heart function.