The WBUR Festival: Full Schedule

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9:30am EDT

The Age of Anxiety

Friday May 30, 2025 9:30am - 10:30am EDT

Booth Theatre (820 Commonwealth Ave) @ 820 Commonwealth Ave, Brookline, MA 02446, USA

Learn why we’re all so anxious these days, how anxiety actually works, and what you can do about it.

Sponsored by

Speakers

Isabelle Rosso

Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Isabelle Rosso, PhD is a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist who runs a research laboratory and serves as co-director of the Center for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Disorders at McLean Hospital - Harvard Medical School.

Lisa Smith

Director, Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders Clinical Professor, Boston University

Dr. Lisa Smith is the Director of the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CARD) at Boston University and the Founding Director of the Boston University Psychological Services Center (PSC).

Scott Tong

CO-Host, Here & Now, WBUR

Scott Tong joined Here & Now as a co-host in July 2021.Before that, he spent 16 years at Marketplace as Shanghai bureau chief and senior correspondent. Scott has reported from more than a dozen countries, including Venezuela, Ethiopia, Burma and Japan.During COVID-19, he reported... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2025 9:30am - 10:30am EDT
Booth Theatre (820 Commonwealth Ave)

Health

11:00am EDT

How to Be a Better Parent: A Conversation with Emily Oster

Friday May 30, 2025 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT

CFA Concert Hall (855 Commonwealth Ave) @ 855B Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215, USA

A leading parenting researcher and an award-winning journalist on what really matters for children (and what doesn’t).

Sponsored by:

Speakers

Emily Oster

CEO & Founder, ParentData

Emily Oster is on a mission to empower parents by providing the data and tools they need to make confident decisions. Emily is a Professor of Economics at Brown University, and the founder and CEO of ParentData, a data-driven guide to pregnancy, parenting, and beyond. ParentData’s... Read More →

Alyssa Rosenberg

Letters & Community Editor, The Washington Post

Alyssa Rosenberg is the Letters and Community Editor at The Washington Post. Previously, she spent ten years at The Post as a columnist and op-ed editor, and she won the 2023 Gerald Loeb Award for Commentary for her coverage of the 2022 infant formula shortage. She lives in Washington... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2025 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
CFA Concert Hall (855 Commonwealth Ave)

Health

12:30pm EDT

Frontiers of Medicine

Friday May 30, 2025 12:30pm - 1:30pm EDT

Booth Theatre (820 Commonwealth Ave) @ 820 Commonwealth Ave, Brookline, MA 02446, USA

Scientists and members of the sickle cell community share how new gene therapies developed in Massachusetts are transforming lives — and what these breakthroughs could mean for other diseases.

Sponsored by

Speakers

Dr. Maureen M. Achebe

Associate Professor, Hematology, Harvard Medical School

Maureen Okam Achebe, MD, MPH is Clinical Director of Hematology Services at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and an Associate Professor of Medicine and Global Health Equity at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Her area of excellence is Clinical Expertise... Read More →

Jonathan Gruber

Ford Professor of Economics; Department Head, MIT

Dr. Jonathan Gruber is the Ford Professor of Economics and the Chairman of the Economics Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has taught since 1992. He is also the former Director of the Health Care Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research... Read More →

Ravi Singh

VP, Market Access, Advocacy & Policy, bluebird bio.

Ravi Singh is the VP, Market Access, Advocacy & Policy for bluebird bio.

Deborah Becker

Host/Reporter, WBUR

Deborah Becker is a senior correspondent and host at WBUR. Her reporting focuses on mental health, criminal justice and education.Deb is also a substitute host on several WBUR programs and helps produce and report for various WBUR special projects. Deb also worked on the launch of... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2025 12:30pm - 1:30pm EDT
Booth Theatre (820 Commonwealth Ave)

Health

3:30pm EDT

Dying Well

Friday May 30, 2025 3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT

Booth Theatre (820 Commonwealth Ave) @ 820 Commonwealth Ave, Brookline, MA 02446, USA

A bestselling author and a death educator talk about how we reckon with the end of life and what happens when we die.

Sponsored by

Speakers

Robin Young

Co-Host, Here & Now, WBUR

Robin Young brings more than 25 years of broadcast experience to her role as host of Here & Now. She is a Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker who has also reported for NBC, CBS and ABC television and for several years was substitute host and correspondent for "The Today S... Read More →

Sebastian Junger

Author

Sebastian Junger is the New York Times bestselling author of Tribe, War, Freedom, A Death in Belmont, Fire, and The Perfect Storm, and codirector of the documentary film Restrepo, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He is also the winner of a Peabody Award and the National... Read More →

Suzanne O'Brien

Founder & CEO, DoulaGivers Institute

Suzanne B. O’Brien, RN is considered a pioneer in the global Death Doula movement and is the author of the international bestselling book The Good Death. She is the founder of Doulagivers Institute, has over two decades of end-of-life experience, and has personally served at the... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2025 3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT
Booth Theatre (820 Commonwealth Ave)

Health

5:00pm EDT

Our Homeless Neighbors

Friday May 30, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT

CFA Concert Hall (855 Commonwealth Ave) @ 855B Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215, USA

A devoted street doctor and the subject of Tracy Kidder’s “Rough Sleepers” shares his experience with a journalist who publishes the work of homeless writers.

In partnership with

Speakers

The Avatar

Poet

Avi Manning (The Avatar) is a Boston poet with huge ambitions and an interest in social justice.

Dr. Jim O'Connell

President, Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program

Dr. O’Connell graduated summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 1970 and received his master’s degree in theology from Cambridge University in 1972. After graduating from Harvard Medical School in 1982, he completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts... Read More →

James Parker

Staff Writer, The Atlantic

James Parker is a staff writer at The Atlantic. Turned On, his 1998 biography of the punk-rock performer Henry Rollins, has been described as “breathlessly brilliant” (New Musical Express) and “a modern-day Pilgrim’s Progress” (Feed.com). He was previously a staff writer for the Boston Phoenix, where he won New England Newspap... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm EDT
CFA Concert Hall (855 Commonwealth Ave)

Health

5:30pm EDT

The Future of Reproductive Rights

Friday May 30, 2025 5:30pm - 6:30pm EDT

Tsai Performance Center (685 Commonwealth Ave) @ 685 US-20, Boston, MA 02215, USA

An actress (Freaks and Geeks, Dawson’s Creek, Girls5eva) who testified to Congress about her abortion and a pro-choice advocate get personal about the state of reproductive rights in this country.

Sponsored by:

Speakers

Amory Sivertson

Host & Senior Producer, WBUR Podcasts

Amory Sivertson is the host/reporter of Beyond All Repair and the co-host and senior producer of Endless Thread. She's one of the founding producers of Modern Love: The Podcast and the former producer of Dear Sugar Radio (now called Dear Sugars).Previously, Amory was the studio... Read More →

Busy Philipps

Actress & ACLU Ambassador

Busy Philipps is a New York Times Best-Selling author, actor, activist, writer and previous late-night talk show host of Busy Tonight. Philipps served as executive producer on the show, alongside Tina Fey. In 2018, Philipps released a collection of humorous autobiographical essays... Read More →

Jessica Weitz

Nationwide Director of Artist & Entertainment Engagement, ACLU

Jessica Herman Weitz is the Director of Artist & Entertainment Engagement at the ACLU. Jessica educates, inspires, and activates artists + entertainment companies to speak up for the ACLU and the issues we fight for - which means working across the country with artists to fight for... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2025 5:30pm - 6:30pm EDT
Tsai Performance Center (685 Commonwealth Ave)

Health