The WGBH Forum Network is an audio and video streaming Website dedicated to curating and serving live and on-demand lectures given by some of the world's foremost scholars, authors, artists, scientists, policy makers and community leaders. These events are hosted by world-class cultural and educational organizations in Boston and beyond. Through this online service hundreds of thousands of people worldwide listen to these talks wherever and whenever they choose. We are proud of the role we serve in our community, of protecting and projecting the public voice; and of informing and inspiring that public voice toward greater civic engagement in the important issues of our time.
There are various options for streaming these lectures on the site. People can listen to an "audio only" lecture with enhanced sound quality. Those with a DSL or cable modem Internet connection can view "broadband video," which delivers the highest quality audio and visual presentation. You must have RealPlayer 8 or higher (a free version can be downloaded from Real.com, accessible from our homepage) in order to play the videos.
With the advent of podcasting and video distribution sites on the Web, we offer three weekly lecture podcasts, listed below, which you can subscribe to through iTunes or the NPR podcast directory. We also offer full-screen videos through Google Video as well as Open Media Network, which you can download to your computer (search on WGBH Forum Network).
Podcasts:
WGBH Forum Network | Public Domain [experts on the issues] WGBH Forum Network | Book Tour [authors on their latest books] WGBH Forum Network | Soapbox [those with a cause or concern]
Because we license this content expressly for webcasting, the WGBH Forum Network does not offer transcripts, audio, or video cassettes of these events. However, many of the organizations which host the events do, so we encourage you to click on a partner's logo to link to their website if you are interested in obtaining other materials or information.
Major support for the WGBH Forum Network comes from the Lowell Institute, an organization created to carry out the 1836 bequest of John Lowell Jr., to make free public lectures available to the citizens of Boston, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Forum Facts:
You've streamed 1.1 million lectures so far
You've downloaded 1.7 million lectures so far
We have about 69,000 unique visitors every month
Saturdays are your most popular streaming time
Fridays are your favorite time to download
40% of you are from lands outside of the United States
49% of you listen to than rather view the lectures
88% of streams are via broadband
43% of our traffic is MP3 downloads
70% of you listen to the entire lecture
Your recent favorite lecture was the "Science of Happinessl"
Your favorite topics are history, politics, and education
Your favorite series is the Top Twenty series
You also like the Podcasts, and African American series
More than 1,500 academic institutions access our content
Our content is mentioned or linked to in hundreds of blogs
Join our groups in Facebook, Eons, Zaads, or Google
Our podcasts are in iTunes and the NPR directory
Our full-screen videos are in iTunes U
We have over 2,000 lectures and 200 curated series in our library
