WGBH Forum Network
July 19, 2010 9:09 AM   Subscribe

You know about TED, but do you know about the WGBH Forum Network? A project of the venerable Boston public TV station, the Forum is a web platform which aggregates lectures from cultural institutions, museums, libraries, bookstores, and colleges across the US - everything from current research in social science and hard science to author and poet talks. Presentations vary in topic, length, format, and level of eggheadiness, but if you love ideas, you'll find some good stuff here. Streams on demand, downloads often available if you register.
posted by Miko (10 comments total) 77 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is awesome. I've always wondered if there was a good aggregator out there for this kind of stuff.
posted by roll truck roll at 9:14 AM on July 19, 2010


Thank you, this is really nice to have and also an alternative to TED.
posted by infini at 9:22 AM on July 19, 2010


There is nothing more than my household likes than to watch some "boring" author/lecture talk as we fall asleep. Downloading makes watching this on my bedroom TV possible. In other words --- yay!!!

If I look at this site too much, we might not get out of bed next weekend.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:26 AM on July 19, 2010


Holy cow. Thanks, Miko!
posted by carter at 9:26 AM on July 19, 2010


Oregon Public Broadcasting has done the same thing for at least the last three years.
posted by parmanparman at 9:34 AM on July 19, 2010


Thanks for this! Now if I can carve out another 4 hours a week for the podcasts...
posted by kidelo at 9:59 AM on July 19, 2010


I'm the kind of person who giddily turns the channel to C-SPAN when I get into a hotel room with cable. This is right up my alley, thanks!
posted by benzenedream at 10:36 AM on July 19, 2010


It's so refreshing to plug in my default keyword, "poet," into the search box, and get more than 100 results in lectures, and 20 more in series. Thanks, Miko! Lots of exploring to do...
posted by steef at 10:45 AM on July 19, 2010


Oregon Public Broadcasting has done the same thing for at least the last three years.

It's the same network. OPB is one of the Forum Partner Stations. Forum Network was started by WGBH and supported by the Lowell Institute, which has been supporting the dissemination of ideas via lecture since the 1830s. A few years ago (can't find when exactly, but it's under 5 years) they redeveloped the Forum Network as a collaboration with NPR and PBS, taking in a whole bunch of other public media partners in various regions. It's much improved as a result.
posted by Miko at 11:13 AM on July 19, 2010


Nice find! I like Ted too, but I actually prefer Fora.
posted by Hasai at 3:09 PM on July 19, 2010


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