The Cambridge Public Library Presents 'America Unfinished'

Join editors Alexandra Natapoff and Guy-Uriel Charles, along with contributors to America Unfinished: 250 Years of Law and Governance, for a discussion of this new collection of essays marking America’s 250th anniversary. America Unfinished brings together more than 50 legal scholars from the Harvard Law School faculty to examine a pivotal moment in American law and governance. The collection’s 62 essays explore topics including the expansion of executive power, the relationship between workers, consumers, and markets, democratic accountability in a market-driven economy, and the future of knowledge and governance institutions amid rapid technological change. Contributors include Stephen Breyer, Tomiko Brown-Nagin, Noah Feldman, Annette Gordon-Reed, Randall Kennedy, Jill Lepore, Lawrence Lessig, Bruce H. Mann, Martha Minow, and Cass R. Sunstein. Sponsored by the Cambridge Public Library and the Cambridge Public Library Foundation.

Cambridge Public Library

Waiting to Inhale: Cannabis Legalization & the Fight for Racial Justice

a﻿uthors@MIT presents a conversation with the authors of <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262047685/waiting-to-inhale/">Waiting to Inhale</a>. This event is hosted by the <a href="http://mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/">MIT Press Bookstore</a> and the <a href="https://libraries.mit.edu/">MIT Libraries</a>. From the start, the War on Drugs targeted Black, Brown, and Indigenous Americans already disadvantaged by a system stacked against them. Even now, as white Americans who largely escaped the fire capitalize on the legalization movement and a booming cannabis industry, their less fortunate peers continue to suffer the consequences of the systemic racism in policing and failed drug policy that fueled the original crisis. In Waiting to Inhale, Akwasi Owusu-Bempah and Tahira Rehmatullah issue a powerful call for a racial reckoning and provide a roadmap to redress this deep and abiding injustice. Waiting to Inhale illuminates the stories of those on the front lines of the War on Drugs—the individuals and communities disproportionately harmed, sometimes seemingly beyond repair; the official and social forces ranged against them; and the victims, legal and political activists, and cannabis entrepreneurs who are fighting back. As attitudes toward cannabis are shifting, now is the opportune time, Owusu-Bempah and Rehmatullah submit, to expunge cannabis convictions and make a place in the burgeoning legal cannabis market for Black and other underrepresented groups who have borne the brunt of harsh cannabis laws. A powerful indictment of one of the worst social and political failures in the nation's history, Waiting to Inhale offers an equally powerful vision of the possibility of redemption. Communities can be rebuilt, and racist policies must be overturned in order to give way to a new era of justice. A﻿bout the speakers: Akwasi Owusu-Bempah is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto, an Affiliate Scientist at Canada's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and the Director of Research for the Campaign for Cannabis Amnesty. A partner at Highlands Venture Partners, Cofounder and CEO of Commons, and member of the board of directors for Akerna Corp. and the Last Prisoner Project, Tahira Rehmatullah is often referred to in the trade press as “the most powerful woman in cannabis.” N﻿ina N. Harris is an equity and violence prevention advocate, educator, and restorative justice practitioner and serves as the Restorative Resolution Coordinator in MIT's Institute Discrimination and Harassment Response Office. A﻿bout the event: Copies of Waiting to Inhale will be available for purchase on site. T﻿his will be a hybrid event; login information for Zoom participants will be available roughly a month in advance. The in-person event will be in The Nexus. The Nexus is situated on the first floor of <a href="http://whereis.mit.edu/?go=14">MIT's Hayden Library</a>, MIT's Building 14, located at 160 Memorial Drive. The room is on the river side of the library reading room, behind the Courtyard Cafe and across the room from the library service desk. If you have trouble finding it please ask at the service desk. Accessibility: Our events are enriched by your presence and we are committed to making them accessible. Assistive listening devices are available in The Nexus, but please email <a href="mailto:ce-lib@mit.edu">ce-lib@mit.edu</a> to request any other accommodations.

Hayden Library - The Nexus

Meredith Broussard | More than a Glitch with Kate Darling

P﻿resented by the MIT Press Bookstore and the MIT Media Lab The word “glitch” implies an incidental error, as easy to patch up as it is to identify. But what if racism, sexism, and ableism aren't just bugs in mostly functional machinery—what if they're coded into the system itself? In the vein of heavy hitters such as Safiya Umoja Noble, Cathy O'Neil, and Ruha Benjamin, Meredith Broussard demonstrates in <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262047654/more-than-a-glitch/">More Than a Glitch </a>how neutrality in tech is a myth and why algorithms need to be held accountable. Broussard, a data scientist and one of the few Black female researchers in artificial intelligence, masterfully synthesizes concepts from computer science and sociology. She explores a range of examples: from facial recognition technology trained only to recognize lighter skin tones, to mortgage-approval algorithms that encourage discriminatory lending, to the dangerous feedback loops that arise when medical diagnostic algorithms are trained on insufficiently diverse data. Even when such technologies are designed with good intentions, Broussard shows, fallible humans develop programs that can result in devastating consequences. Broussard argues that the solution isn't to make omnipresent tech more inclusive, but to root out the algorithms that target certain demographics as “other” to begin with. With sweeping implications for fields ranging from jurisprudence to medicine, the ground-breaking insights of More Than a Glitch are essential reading for anyone invested in building a more equitable future. S﻿peakers: Meredith Broussard is Associate Professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University and Research Director at the NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology. She is the author of Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World (MIT Press). Her work has been featured in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Atlantic, BBC, Wired, the Economist, and more. She appears in the 2020 documentary Coded Bias and serves on the advisory board for the Center for Critical Race &amp; Digital Studies. More information at @merbroussard or meredithbroussard.com. K﻿ate Darling is a leading expert in technology ethics and policy. Her passion is investigating social robotics, exploring the emotional connection between people and lifelike machines, and seeking to influence technology design and policy direction. Her writing and research anticipate difficult questions that lawmakers, engineers, and the wider public will need to address as human-robot relationships evolve in the coming decades. Copies of More than a Glitch will be available for purchase on site. Accessibility: Our events are enriched by your presence and we are committed to making them accessible. Please email us at <a href="mailto:mitp-events@mit.edu">mitp-events@mit.edu</a> to request accommodations.

MIT Welcome Center

Write Science: Why Do Doctors Write Books?

Science writers join us for an evening of reading and discussion around their latest publications. Curated to spark thought-provoking ideas and engaging conversations, this program offers the opportunity to meet leading writers in science, technology and art. Presented in collaboration with the MIT Press Bookstore, and curated to spark thought-provoking ideas and engaging conversations, this program series offers the opportunity to meet leading writers in science, technology and art. Why Do Doctors Write Books? Join authors/doctors Jay Baruch and Mikkael Sekeres as they ponder whether they are doctors who write or writers who doctor. Moderated by Deborah Blum, science journalist and the director of the Knight Science Journalism program at MIT. Following the conversation, you’ll have the chance to purchase their books and have them signed. Why do physicians choose to write books? Join us for a conversation between <a href="https://www.jaybaruch.com/">Jay Baruch</a>, author of Tornado of Life and <a href="https://doctors.umiamihealth.org/provider/Mikkael+A.+Sekeres/1692745">Mikkael Sekeres</a>, author of Drugs and the FDA, both recently published by the MIT Press, as they explore whether they are doctors who write or writers who doctor, and the storytelling inherent in medicine. The program will be moderated by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Blum">Deborah Blum</a>, science journalist and the director of the Knight Science Journalism program at MIT. Following the conversation, you’ll have the chance to purchase the books and have them signed. About the Books Drugs and the FDA: Safety, Efficacy, and the Public's Trust, by Mikkael Sekeres: How the FDA was shaped by public health crises and patient advocacy, told against a background of the contentious hearings on the breast cancer drug Avastin. Food and Drug Administration approval for COVID-19 vaccines and the controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm made headlines, but few of us know much about how the agency does its work. Why is the FDA the ultimate US authority on a drug's safety and efficacy? In Drugs and the FDA, Mikkael Sekeres—a leading oncologist and former chair of the FDA's cancer drug advisory committee—tells the story of how the FDA became the most trusted regulatory agency in the world. It took a series of tragedies and health crises, as well as patient advocacy, for the government to take responsibility for ensuring the efficacy and safety of drugs and medical devices. Tornado of Life: A Doctor's Journey through Constraints and Creativity in the ER, by Jay Baruch: Stories from the ER: a doctor shows how empathy, creativity, and imagination are the cornerstones of clinical care. To be an emergency room doctor is to be a professional listener to stories. Each patient presents a story; finding the heart of that story is the doctor's most critical task. More technology, more tests, and more data won't work if doctors get the story wrong. When caring for others can feel like venturing into unchartered territory without a map, empathy, creativity, imagination, and thinking like a writer become the cornerstones of clinical care. In Tornado of Life, ER physician Jay Baruch shares these struggles in a series of short, powerful, and affecting essays that invite the reader into stories rich with complexity and messiness.

MIT Museum

S22: conversations

Wondering what to do in Boston? Places to eat? Free activities? Good for a group? Date night spot? Girls night out? The best things to do? Ask Joyraft!

Best places to go in Boston? Things to do? Places to eat?

Questions & answers about things to do in Boston

Recs 💬

Community recs 💬

S4: top picks

The most fun, cool and unique things to do in Boston. Can’t miss events, shows and experiences. Concerts, restaurants, bars, free things in Boston and beyond.

The most fun and cool events happening around Boston

Hot and new things to do in Boston

Hot & new

Hot & new 🔥

S11: happening this weekend

What to do in Boston this weekend? From festivals, concerts, performances, free events, screenings and more, Joyraft has the best things to do in Boston.

25+ things to do in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville this weekend

Things to do in Boston this weekend

This wknd

This weekend for you

S17: interest based

Your guide to everything to do around Boston.

Things to do in Boston and beyond

Things to do in Boston

New at Museum of Science, Boston 💫 

S21: roundups

Our top picks: outdoor dining, free events, spring festivals, best bars, upcoming concerts, museum parties - the latest in and around Boston.  Slug: joyraft-top-picks-best-things-to-do-boston-ma

Top picks of the best things to do in and around Boston

Joyraft picks: Boston’s best things to do

Roundups ⭐️

Curated by Joyraft ⭐️

S28: calendar experiences

This week in Boston

This week in Boston 📆

This week 📆

S20: c+d experiences

Discover new, unique events and experiences happening in and around Boston. Perfect for date night, good for a group or with a friend. Be the first to know.

The newest events happening in and around Boston

The newest events on Joyraft

Just added

Just added to Joyraft

S16: editor picks

The most unique and can’t miss things coming up in Boston / Cambridge / Somerville and beyond. Festivals, food, drinks, fairs, concerts, art and free activities.

Unique and Can’t Miss Things to Do in Boston

Can’t-miss things to do in Boston 🚨

Can't-miss things to do 🚨

S2 (A): top experiences

The most popular things to do on Joyraft. Concerts, restaurants, bars, events, parties, openings, kid friendly, date ideas, free things in Boston and beyond.

Top 20 things to do in Boston

Top 20: Joyraft’s most popular

Top 20

Top 20 on Joyraft

S3 (A): trending experiences

Discover can’t miss events and things to do in Boston. The most fun, unique and cool events coming to the Boston area this spring and summer.

The hottest events happening in Boston

Trending events on Joyraft

Trending 📈

S19: interest based

Kid-friendly events in Boston

S18: interest based

Where to eat and drink in Boston? Joyraft has Boston’s newest bars, restaurants and specials. Drinks and pre fixe dinner menus. Cambridge & Somerville too.

Boston Bars and Restaurants: Events and Openings

Food & drink experiences in Boston

Food & drink experiences 

Nicholas DiSabatino

Where

joyraft.host64089

Experiences

The Cambridge Public Library Presents 'America Unfinished'

Waiting to Inhale: Cannabis Legalization & the Fight for Racial Justice

Meredith Broussard | More than a Glitch with Kate Darling

Write Science: Why Do Doctors Write Books?