The WBUR Festival: Full Schedule

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

10:00am EDT

A Conversation with Mayoral Candidate Josh Kraft

Saturday May 31, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am EDT

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

The mayoral candidate shares his vision for Boston and why he wants the city’s top job.

Speakers

Josh Kraft

President, New England Patriots Foundation

Josh Kraft has spent 35 years working in the communities of Boston. Most recently, Josh was President of the New England Patriots Foundation, and for three decades worked with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, including 12 years as its President and CEO.Josh’s commitment to service... Read More →

Tiziana Dearing

Host, Morning Edition, WBUR

Sharman Sacchetti

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

Saturday May 31, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
CFA Concert Hall (855 Commonwealth Ave)

Politics

10:00am EDT

Trans Lives, Human Rights

Saturday May 31, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am EDT

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

From the playing field to congressional bathrooms, transgender leaders talk about their rapidly-changing reality.

Speakers

Giselle Byrd

Executive Director, The Theater Offensive & State Commissioner, Mass Commission on The Status of Women

Giselle Byrd is the Executive Director of The Theater Offensive, located in Boston, MA, making her the first Black trans woman to lead a regional theatre company in the United States, where she is passionately continuing and amplifying the theater’s mission for uplifting and elevating... Read More →

Kate Sosin

LGBTQ+ Reporter, The 19th News

Kate Sosin is an LGBTQ+ reporter at The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom covering the intersection of gender, race, politics, and policy. They focus on transgender rights, national policy and incarceration. Kate has conducted deep-dive investigations into transgender prison abuse and homicides... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Booth Theatre (820 Commonwealth Ave)

Politics

12:30pm EDT

Our Racial Reckoning: Kimberlé Crenshaw and Jamelle Bouie in Conversation

Saturday May 31, 2025 12:30pm - 1:30pm EDT

FitRec Center (915 Commonwealth Ave) @ 905 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215, USA

The pioneering scholar and writer who coined the term “intersectionality” and a leading New York Times columnist try to make sense of race and politics today.

Speakers

Kimberlé Crenshaw

Civil Rights Advocate & Professor

Kimberlé Crenshaw is a pioneering scholar and writer on civil rights, critical race theory, Black feminist legal theory, and race, racism and the law. In addition to her position at Columbia Law School, she is a Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Los... Read More →

Jamelle Bouie

Opinion Columnist, The New York Times

Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, Jamelle Bouie is a columnist for the New York Times. He covers history and politics. In addition, he co-hosts the Unclear and Present Danger podcast on the political and military thrillers of the 1990s.Before the Times, Jamelle was chief political... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2025 12:30pm - 1:30pm EDT
FitRec Center (915 Commonwealth Ave)

Politics

1:30pm EDT

A New Era for Immigrants and Immigration

Saturday May 31, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT

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

In this new era for migrants, a national immigration advocate, a Latinx community leader, and a local immigration attorney tackle headline-making deportations and court battles.

Speakers

Andrea Flores

Vice President, Immigration Policy and Campaigns, FWD.us

Andrea R. Flores serves as Vice President of Immigration Policy & Campaigns at FWD.us. She grew up on the U.S.-Mexico border and experienced the failures of our nation’s approach firsthand. She is an attorney and policy expert who has spent her career advising lawmakers on meaningful... Read More →

Simón Rios

Reporter, WBUR

Born in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood, Simón Rios is an award-winning bilingual reporter in WBUR's newsroom. The son of an Uruguayan father and an American mother, he is a proud father and currently lives in Milton.Simón joined the station after two years at The Standard-Times... Read More →

Matt Cameron

Boston Immigration Attorney & Co-host, Opening Arguments

Matt Cameron has been practicing immigration law--especially deportation defense and "crimmigration" matters--since 2006 and now serves as the managing partner of Boston immigration law firm Cameron, Micheroni & Silvia. He is also the co-host of the legal podcast Opening Arguments... Read More →

Gladys Vega

President, La Colaborativa

Gladys Vega is a nationally recognized leader in immigrant rights, economic justice, and community-led transformation. For over 30 years, she has fought to dismantle systemic barriers and create sustainable pathways for historically excluded communities, growing La Colaborativa from... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
Tsai Performance Center (685 Commonwealth Ave)

Politics

2:30pm EDT

Ending Gun Violence: The Boston Blueprint

Saturday May 31, 2025 2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT

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

Could Boston be a national model for creating safe neighborhoods? Learn what’s working from the city’s senior advisor for community safety and gun violence reduction advocates in conversation with a leading journalist in the field.

In partnership with

Speakers

James Burnett

Managing Director, The Trace

James Burnett is the founding editor and managing director of The Trace (thetrace.org), a nonprofit media organization dedicated to reporting on gun violence, and a journalism fellow with the University of Virginia’s Gun Violence Solutions Project. His newsroom experience includes... Read More →

Isaac Yablo

Senior Advisor for Community Safety, Office of Mayor Wu

Isaac Yablo is the Senior Advisor for Community Safety for the Office of Mayor Wu, with many years of experience in Government. Skilled in providing assistance to local government, social service agencies, and law enforcement officials in the areas of gun violence reduction, CVI Ecosystem... Read More →

Michelle Caldeira

Co-founder & Co-CEO, Uncornered

Michelle Caldeira is the co-founder of Boston Uncornered, an organization that engages and supports active gang-involved individuals to end violence and generational urban poverty. Born in Guyana, Michelle was raised in Brooklyn, New York, earned her BA in Sociology from Binghamton... Read More →

Saturday May 31, 2025 2:30pm - 3:30pm EDT
Booth Theatre (820 Commonwealth Ave)

Politics