The WBUR Festival: Full Schedule

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10:00am EDT

America and the World: A Conversation with Nicholas Burns

Friday May 30, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am EDT

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

A former United States Ambassador to China and an NPR White House correspondent examine relations between the U.S., China, and the world.

Speakers

Asma Khalid

White House Correspondent, NPR

Asma Khalid is a White House correspondent for NPR. She also co-hosts The NPR Politics Podcast.Khalid is a bit of a campaign-trail addict, having reported on the 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020 elections. She joined NPR's Washington team in 2016 to focus on the intersection of demographics and politics. During the 2020 presidential campaign, she covered the crowded Democratic pri... Read More →

Nicholas Burns

Fmr. U.S. Ambassador to China

Nicholas Burns is an American diplomat and international relations scholar. He served as the United States ambassador to China from 2022 to 2025.Burns has had a 25-year career in the State Department and has served as under secretary of state for political affairs. Appointed by President... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Tsai Performance Center (685 Commonwealth Ave)

Politics

1:00pm EDT

Misinformation and Disinformation, Deconstructed

Friday May 30, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT

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

Tech leaders in the fight for truth online share what’s working, what’s not, and what needs to be done.

Speakers

David Rand

Erwin H. Schell Professor and Professor of Management Science and Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT

David Rand is the Erwin H. Schell Professor and Professor of Management Science and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT, an affiliate of the MIT Institute of Data, Systems, and Society, and the director of the Human Cooperation Laboratory and the Applied Cooperation Initiative. Applying... Read More →

Deb Roy

Professor, Media Arts and Sciences, MIT

Deb Roy is professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT, where he directs the MIT Center for Constructive Communication (CCC). He leads research in designing human-AI systems that foster dialogue, listening, and deliberation in ways that build civic muscle. Roy is also co-founder... Read More →

Jennifer Grygiel

Assistant Professor, Communications, Syracuse University

Jennifer Grygiel is a social media professional who most recently served as social business and emerging media manager and assistant vice president at State Street Corporation in Boston. There, they developed a social listening and marketing data and analytics program and was the... Read More →

Costanza Sciubba Caniglia

Global Strategy Lead, Anti-disinformation

Costanza Sciubba Caniglia is a public policy expert and a researcher working on disinformation studies. Her research focuses on state-sponsored coordinated information operations and propaganda.She is the founder and Director of Istituto di Geopolitica Digitale, a think tank working... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2025 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Tsai Performance Center (685 Commonwealth Ave)

Politics

2:00pm EDT

A Conversation with Mayor Wu

Friday May 30, 2025 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT

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

Boston’s mayor on governing in the age of Trump, what’s ahead for the Commonwealth, and her own leadership experience.

Speakers

Mayor Michelle Wu

Mayor, City of Boston

Mayor Michelle Wu is working to make Boston a home for everyone.Since taking office, she has invested more in making housing affordable than any other administration in Boston’s history. In her first full year as mayor, gun violence fell to the lowest level on record—and has continued... Read More →

Tiziana Dearing

Host, Morning Edition, WBUR

Tiziana Dearing is the host of WBUR’s Morning Edition. Prior to helping listeners start the morning with news from around the corner and around the world, Tiziana hosted Radio Boston, WBUR’s daily local magazine, for five years.Tiziana came to journalism after a career that... Read More →

Sharman Sacchetti

Political Reporter & Co-host, On The Record, WCVB

Emmy award-winning journalist Sharman Sacchetti is WCVB NewsCenter 5’s political reporter and co-host of WCVB’s “On The Record” since January 2023, along with Ed Harding. OTR is a weekly roundtable discussion of Massachusetts politics which airs on Sunday mornings at 11AM... Read More →

Friday May 30, 2025 2:00pm - 3:00pm EDT
CFA Concert Hall (855 Commonwealth Ave)

Politics