Madeleine Albright

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January 14, 2008
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright discusses her new book, Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America’s Reputation and Leadership with Harvard University Professor Joseph Nye.

American Idealist

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January 13, 2008
Maria Shriver will introduced American Idealist, a new documentary chronicling the accomplishments of her father, R. Sargent Shriver, who started several programs in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, including Peace Corps and Head Start. Following the screening, there was a conversation with the film director, Bruce Orenstein; Shriver’s biographer, Scott Stossel; and William Josephson and Edgar May, friends of Sargent Shriver’s. This forum was presented in partnership with Facing History and Ourselves.

Presidential Courage

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December 9, 2007
Against the backdrop of the 2008 presidential campaign, historian Michael Beschloss discusses his new book, Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989. Al Hunt of Bloomberg News moderates.

The Nixon Presidency

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December 4, 2007
David Eisenhower, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the son-in-law of President Nixon; David Greenberg, a historian at Rutgers University; and Ray Price, speechwriter to President Nixon, discuss President Nixon’s legacy with Ellen Fitzpatrick, a historian at the University of New Hampshire. This forum is part of the Library’s series examining 20th-century presidents.

Remembering Julia Child

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November 20, 2007
Julia Child’s long-time editor, Judith Jones, discusses French cooking, the joys of eating, and the indefatigable Julia Child with Sheryl Julian, Food Editor of The Boston Globe. Her new memoir is The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food. This forum is presented in conjunction with our current exhibit, Jacqueline Kennedy Entertains: The Art of the White House Dinner.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver

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November 16, 2007
Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s children — Robert, Maria, Mark, and Anthony — discuss their mother’s many accomplishments with Harvard Law School Professor Mary Ann Glendon. Eunice Kennedy Shriver is the founder and Honorary Chairperson of Special Olympics and sister of President John F. Kennedy.

Honoring Soldiers in Iraq

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November 11, 2007
Martha Raddatz, ABC’s chief White House correspondent, discusses her coverage of the war in Iraq and her new book “The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family.” Veteran journalist and NECN Anchor Chet Curtis moderates.

Richard N. Goodwin

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November 4, 2007
Richard N. Goodwin, an advisor and speechwriter to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, shares memories and reflects on the changes in the political landscape since the 1960s. His wife, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, will moderates.

South Africa

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October 30, 2007
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret Marshall and Justice Richard Goldstone, who served on The Constitutional Court of South Africa, examine the long road toward freedom and justice in South Africa. Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr . moderates.

Cuban Missile Crisis

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October 17, 2007
On 45th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Theodore C. Sorensen, Special Counsel and Adviser to President John F. Kennedy, shares his memories of some of the most harrowing days in U.S. history with Graham Allison, Professor of Government at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Jackie Robinson Tribute

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October 16, 2007
Jackie Robinson’s daughter, Sharon Robinson, Director of Educational Programming for Major League Baseball, and Scott Simon, author of Jackie Robinson and the Integration of Baseball, pay tribute to Robinson during this 60th anniversary year of his having broken the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Tom Oliphant, former Boston Globe columnist and author of Praying for Gil Hodges: A Memoir of the 1955 World Series and One Family’s Love of the Brooklyn Dodgers, moderates.

Ken Burns

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September 28, 2007
Filmmaker Ken Burns shows excerpts from and discussed his new documentary about World War II, The War, with veteran journalist and news commentator Mike Barnicle.

Exploring Space

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September 17, 2007
September 12th marks the 45 th anniversary of President Kennedy’s Rice University speech about the importance of space exploration. NASA Astronaut and Needham, Massachusetts native Sunita Williams shares her experiences about having been a crew member on the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle, and having set a new record for the longest spaceflight by a woman. Robin Young, host of WBUR’s Here & Now , moderates.

Alan Alda

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September 10, 2007
Alan Alda discusses his memoir “Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself” chronicling the turbulent 1960s to the aftermath of 9/11, with former Boston Globe columnist Tom Oliphant.

Charlayne Hunter-Gault

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September 4, 2007
Before launching her journalism career, Charlayne Hunter-Gault made civil rights history as the first African American woman to graduate from the University of Georgia in 1962. Ms. Hunter-Gault discusses her trailblazing career, changes in broadcast journalism, and her life in South Africa, with Gwen Ifill, host of the PBS program Washington Week.