Upcoming Author Events & Readings
17 upcoming author events and readings from WBUR CitySpace, with dates, venues and ticket links taken from the organization’s own pages and refreshed weekly. All readings in Greater Boston →
Tue Oct 6 · 6:30pm
Richard Kurin, a Smithsonian scholar, discusses History by a Hair: Thomas Jefferson, Sally Hemings & Solving of a 200-Year-Old Mystery, on the strand of hair found in Jefferson's Bible and what DNA analysis can settle about whether he fathered Sally Hemings's children. Annette Gordon-Reed, author of The Hemingses of Monticello, joins him.
Fri Oct 9 · 7:00pm
Kyle MacLachlan discusses his memoir Fictional Selves, reflecting on the roles that shaped him — Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Dune, Sex and the City — and the line between performance and identity, from his work with David Lynch to fatherhood and fame. Here & Now producer Emiko Tamagawa moderates.
Tue Oct 13 · 6:30pm
A Cognoscenti panel on Bad Bunny, fresh from a Grammy album of the year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos and a Super Bowl halftime, and his reckoning with race, LGBTQ rights and Puerto Rico. With Wellesley's Petra Rivera-Rideau, co-creator of the Bad Bunny Syllabus, and Berklee ethnomusicologist Wayne Marshall; music and video throughout.
Wed Oct 14 · 7:30pm
The Moth StorySLAM is an open-mic storytelling competition in which names are drawn from a hat and each storyteller has five minutes, without notes, to tell a true story on the night’s theme, scored by teams of judges from the audience. The theme is enchantment: an “abracadabra” in a life that “rebuffs logical explanation,” whether great beauty or wild coincidence. WBUR is The Moth’s media partner.
$17
Wed Oct 21 · 7:30am
Tiziana Dearing, host of WBUR's Morning Edition, talks with Hasbro's chief executive Chris Cocks about the more than 100-year-old games, toys and entertainment company in “the competitive and disruptive attention economy”, its “Playing to Win” strategy and the move of its headquarters to Boston from its longtime home in Rhode Island. Cocks ran Hasbro's Wizards of the Coast division before becoming chief executive in 2022.
Fri Oct 23 · 6:30pm
Eric Ripert, the James Beard-winning chef of Le Bernardin, discusses his cookbook Mindful Cooking: Simple Recipes for Nurturing Body and Soul, drawing on visits to Buddhist monasteries in Japan and Korea for more than seventy-five plant-based recipes. Morning Edition host Tiziana Dearing moderates.
Tue Nov 3 · 7:30pm
An open-mic storytelling competition from The Moth: names are drawn from a hat, and each storyteller gets five minutes, without notes, for a true story on the theme, judged by teams from the audience. The theme is the holiday season, from “the chaos of family gatherings” to “take-out for one,” and what belonging, or not belonging, looks like. Holiday stories from any season are welcome.
$17
Wed Nov 4 · 7:00pm
The countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo discusses Countertenor, on his life, his training and the history of his voice, tracing the countertenor from the Baroque to today with Jeremy Eichler, the former Globe classical critic. Costanzo also performs select arias during the evening.
Fri Nov 13 · 6:30pm
Mona Chalabi, the Pulitzer-winning data journalist, discusses Ten Lives: How What We Have Shapes Who We Are, for which she followed ten people over five years to ask how much wealth it takes to feel safe in America — a question sharpened by her own mother's sudden illness. A signing follows.
Mon Nov 16 · 6:30pm
Sean Sherman, the James Beard-winning Oglala Lakota chef known as the Sioux Chef, discusses Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America. He joins Tamika Francis of Food & Folklore on Indigenous foodways and food sovereignty; guests get a bite from the book afterward.
Wed Nov 18 · 7:30am
Noubar Afeyan, founder and chief executive of the venture firm Flagship Pioneering and co-founder and board chairman of Moderna, talks about his career and about entrepreneurship and invention. WBUR describes a career guided by the question "What if?" and a firm belief in the scientific method. A breakfast and networking reception comes first; the Ravi K. Mehrotra Institute for Business, Markets and Society is presenting sponsor.
Tue Dec 1
Joanne Chang, the James Beard-winning baker behind Flour Bakery and Myers+Chang, returns to CitySpace to talk about cookies — the subject of her new book. Her third Boston appearance for the same title this season, after the Brattle and Brookline Booksmith dates.
Wed Dec 2 · 7:30pm
The Moth StorySLAM is an open-mic storytelling competition: names are drawn from a hat, and each storyteller has five minutes, without notes, to tell a true story, scored by teams of judges from the audience. This one throws out the theme, so any story is fair game, including one that never fit a past Moth theme or comes from “the archived memories.” WBUR is The Moth’s media partner.
$17
Wed Dec 9 · 7:30am
Neil Blumenthal, co-founder and co-chief executive of Warby Parker, talks about building the company with his fellow co-founders to be both profitable and socially conscious. Before launching Warby Parker in 2010 he directed VisionSpring, a nonprofit social enterprise bringing affordable eyeglasses to people in developing countries, an experience that shaped the company's aim of designer eyewear at an accessible price. A breakfast reception precedes the programme.
Thu Dec 10 · 8:00am
The annual Massachusetts Conference for Women, a day of talks on leadership, career growth and wellbeing run by Conferences for Women, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organisation that has run for more than two decades. Speakers include the Olympic gold medallist Lindsey Vonn, the marketing executive Bozoma Saint John and Codie Sanchez, author of Main Street Millionaire. WBUR is a media partner.
Wed Dec 16 · 6:30pm
Robin Young, co-host of Here & Now, talks with Scott Simon — host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday and its morning podcast Up First — about a career in journalism and broadcasting and the books he has written alongside it. A WBUR member event.
Tue Jan 26 · 7:00pm
The World Cup games at Foxborough were among the largest tests the MBTA has faced. Tiziana Dearing sits down with general manager and chief executive Philip Eng on running the system through that, on serving as interim transportation secretary, and on what comes next.
