Featured Events in Cambridge in June 2025 (November Updated)

This event is all about building an atmosphere for 30 plus individuals that still like to go out and enjoy life. Bringing good energy, positive vibes, with a nostalgic musical touch. Come party with your day ones, and meet new people around your age, from all different cultures. Let's create memories that are truly D edicated To Us . See you there! Information Source: Dedicated To Us | eventbrite

Experience the mesmerizing musical journey of RINI at the "Somewhere In Time" event in Dallas. This exclusive performance will take place at The Cambridge Room at House Of Blues on June 1, 2025. Immerse yourself in RINI's soulful melodies and captivating lyrics at this intimate venue located at 2200 N Lamar St, TX, 75202. Don't miss this unforgettable evening filled with soul-stirring music and unforgettable moments.

Join us for a stimulating discussion celebrating Maria Balshaw’s recent book: ‘Gathering of Strangers: Why Museums Matter’ (Tate, 2024), followed by a drinks reception. Maria Balshaw will be in discussion with Andrew Nairne, Director, Kettle’s Yard. Praise for ‘Gathering of Strangers’: ‘Ambitious, generous and packed with ideas, this is a thrilling, thought – provoking invitation into the museum of the future, where both art and people are made welcome.’ Olivia Laing 'Gathering of Strangers: Why Museums Matter’ is based on The Slade Lectures in Fine Art (2022), convened by the Department of History of Art, University of Cambridge, and delivered in Murray Edwards College. Maria Balshaw is Director of Tate, a role she has held since 2017. Previously, she was Director of the Whitworth, University of Manchester; Director of Manchester City Galleries; and Director of Culture for Manchester City Council. Maria sits on the board of the National Museums Directors’ Council and is also a member of the Women Leaders in Museums Network as well as a member of the Bizot Group of leading global museums. In 2015, she was awarded a CBE for services to the arts. Andrew Nairne has been Director of Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge since 2011. He led the redevelopment of Kettle’s Yard which created new galleries and learning spaces, opening in 2018. Among previous roles, Andrew was Director, Arts Strategy, Arts Council England and Director, Modern Art Oxford. The event is organised by The Women’s Art Collection at Murray Edwards College and Kettle’s Yard, in association with the Department of History of Art. Accessibility This event will take place in Buckingham House Lecture Theatre, the entrance to which does not require steps. There is space at the front for wheelchair users if desired, which is accessible via a lift. The drinks reception will take place in the foyer of Buckingham House which is also step-free. Car Parking and Arrival Upon arrival at the College, please come to the main entrance, the Porters’ Lodge, which has vehicle access and a generous dropping-off space, located on Buckingham Road which is off Huntingdon Road. Wheelchair access is available from the dropping-off point to the Porters’ Lodge. If you are coming by car, parking for up to 70 guests is available in our car park located on Storey’s Way. The route from the car park to the Porters’ Lodge is paved in generally smooth stone, concrete or tiling. At one point there is a slight incline to the main College building. Alternatively, it is possible to be dropped off in front of the Porters’ Lodge. Information Source: The Women's Art Collection | eventbrite

Join Helen Carr, author of The Red Prince , for a discussio of her new book, Sceptred Isle , on Tuesday 3rd of June here at Heffers bookshop. Beginning with the death of Edward I in 1307 and ending with the deposition of Richard II in 1399, Sceptred Isle is the story of a century told through the lives of the last Plantagenets, uncovering lesser-known voices and untold stories along the way. Through the epic drama of regicide, war, the prolonged spectre of the Black Death, religious antagonism, revolt and the end of a royal dynasty, we encounter the human stories behind a fractured monarchy, the birth of the struggle between Europeanism and nationalism, social rebellion and a global pandemic. Sceptred Isle is a thrilling narrative account of a century of revolution, shifting power and great change – social, political and cultural – shedding new light on a pivotal period of English history and the people who lived it. Information Source: Heffers Bookshop | eventbrite

Bestselling author of psychological thrillers, Alison Stockham, introduces her latest novel The Man She Married. Find out about Alison’s writing journey and the inspirations behind her gripping, suspense-filled stories. Please note: Event requires one ticket per person. Free event, but donations gratefully received. This event is for people aged 18+. This event takes place in the events room at Milton Road library, which is wheelchair accessible, with a customer toilet on site. For full details of Milton Road's facilities, click here. Information Source: Cambridgeshire Libraries | eventbrite

Harvard Book Store, the Harvard University Division of Science, the Harvard Library, and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Karen Hao —award-winning journalist and contributing writer for The Atlantic —for a discussion of her new book Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI . She will be joined in conversation by Amy Nordrum —an executive editor at MIT Technology Review . Ticketing RSVP for free to this event or choose the "Book-Included" ticket to reserve a copy of Empire of AI and pick it up at the event. Karen Hao will sign copies of her book after the presentation. Note: Books bundled with tickets may only be picked up at the venue the night of the event, and cannot be picked up in-store beforehand. Ticket holders who purchased a book-included ticket and are unable to attend the event will be able to pick up their book at Harvard Book Store up to 30 days following the event. This offer expires after 30 days. Please note we cannot guarantee signed copies will be available to ticket holders who do not attend the event. About Empire of AI From a brilliant longtime AI insider with intimate access to the world of Sam Altman's OpenAI from the beginning, an eye-opening account of arguably the most fateful tech arms race in history, reshaping the planet in real time, from the cockpit of the company that is driving the frenzy. When AI expert and investigative journalist Karen Hao first began covering OpenAI in 2019, she thought they were the good guys. Founded as a nonprofit with safety enshrined as its core mission, the organization was meant, its leader Sam Altman told us, to act as a check against more purely mercantile, and potentially dangerous, forces. What could go wrong? Over time, Hao began to wrestle ever more deeply with that question. Increasingly, she realized that the core truth of this massively disruptive sector is that its vision of success requires an almost unprecedented amount of resources: the “compute” power of high-end chips and the processing capacity to create massive large language models, the sheer volume of data that needs to be amassed at scale, the humans “cleaning up” that data for sweatshop wages throughout the Global South, and a truly alarming spike in the usage of energy and water underlying it all. The truth is that we have entered a new and ominous age of empire: only a small handful of globally scaled companies can even enter the field of play. At the head of the pack with its ChatGPT breakthrough, how would OpenAI resist such temptations? Spoiler alert: it didn’t. Armed with Microsoft’s billions, OpenAI is setting a breakneck pace, chased by a small group of the most valuable companies in human history—toward what end, not even they can define. All this time, Hao has maintained her deep sourcing within the company and the industry, and so she was in intimate contact with the story that shocked the entire tech industry—Altman’s sudden firing and triumphant return. The behind-the-scenes story of what happened, told here in full for the first time, is revelatory of who the people controlling this technology really are. But this isn’t just the story of a single company, however fascinating it is. The g forces pressing down on the people of OpenAI are deforming the judgment of everyone else too—as such forces do. Naked power finds the ideology to cloak itself; no one thinks they’re the bad guy. But in the meantime, as Hao shows through intrepid reporting on the ground around the world, the enormous wheels of extraction grind on. By drawing on the viewpoints of Silicon Valley engineers, Kenyan data laborers, and Chilean water activists, Hao presents the fullest picture of AI and its impact we’ve seen to date, alongside a trenchant analysis of where things are headed. An astonishing eyewitness view from both up in the command capsule of the new economy and down where the real suffering happens, Empire of AI pierces the veil of the industry defining our era. Bios Karen Hao is an award-winning journalist covering the impacts of artificial intelligence on society. She writes for publications including The Atlantic and leads the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight Series, a program training thousands of journalists around the world on how to cover AI. She was formerly a reporter for the Wall Street Journal , covering American and Chinese tech companies, and a senior editor for AI at MIT Technology Review . Her work is regularly taught in universities and cited by governments. She has received numerous accolades for her coverage, including an American Humanist Media Award and American National Magazine Award for Journalists Under 30. She received her Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from MIT. Amy Nordrum is an executive editor at MIT Technology Review . Amy oversees the publication’s annual lists of 10 Breakthrough Technologies , 35 Innovators Under 35 , and 15 Climate Tech Companies to Watch . Amy previously worked as news manager for IEEE Spectrum . For six years, she was a regular contributor to the popular radio show Science Friday . Amy has a master’s degree in Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting from New York University and an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. Masking Policy Masks are encouraged but not required for this event. Information Source: Harvard Book Store | eventbrite

TRINITY GLOBAL HUMANITIES LECTURE SERIES 2025 Our Unborn World: Global Political Thought in the Twentieth Century These lecture series will offer reflections on the enterprise of global political thought. Do the different frameworks we bring to thinking about global political theory – national, comparative, interconnected, decolonial – adequately describe the nature of our predicament? In engaging with this question, the lecture hopes to shed light on the nature of the legitimation crisis that different parts of the world are experiencing. ~ Pratab Bhanu Mehta ~ Lecture IV: "Party and Representation" Join us on ** Wed Jun 04 2025 ** at ** 17:30 ** in the vibrant atmosphere of the Winstanley Lecture Theatre at Trinity College. Our Speaker Pratap Bhanu Mehta is the Laurence S. Rockefeller Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton University. He was previously Vice-Chancellor of Ashoka University, and President, Centre for Policy Research, Delhi. He has previously taught at Harvard, Ashoka University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and has been Global Faculty at NYU Law School. He has published widely in political theory, history of ideas, Indian constitutional law and politics in India. He is the author of The Burden of Democracy (Penguin 2003) and has produced several edited volumes. He is (most recently) co-editor with Madhav Khosla and Sujit Choudhary of The Oxford Handbook to the Indian Constitution. His forthcoming work looks at philosophical ideas about religion in 20th-century India. He is also a Fellow of the British Academy and SSRC Fellow for 2020. His policy experience includes being Convenor of the Prime Minister of India's Knowledge Commission (2005-2007) and member of India’s National Security Advisory Board. He is also an editorial consultant to the Indian Express. He is a prolific contributor to public debates. He has also published in the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, and numerous other dailies. He is a winner of the Infosys Prize 2011. His citation for the Infosys Prize, written by a Jury Chaired by Amartya Sen read, "Dr. Pratap Bhanu Mehta has established himself as one of India’s finest scholars and public minds, who has inspired a new generation of intellectual enquiry. He has contributed not only to political philosophy and social theory in general but has also addressed urgent issues of Indian politics and public policy. Mehta has shown an exemplary willingness to broaden the sphere of public reason and to challenge reigning orthodoxies, while remaining committed to institution building." Mehta studied PPE at Oxford and has a Ph.D in Politics from Princeton. He was the first cohort of graduate student fellows at the Center for Human Values. Information Source: 'Global Humanities Initiative' | eventbrite

Information Source: Centre for Geopolitics | eventbrite

The Integrated Photonic System Roadmap (IPSR-International) promotes synchronous, self-consistent solutions for the electronic-photonic manufacturing value chain. The semiconductor industry has been on a path of exponential growth for the past 40 years that has been the foundation for Economic Prosperity. However, the path of growth continually confronts boundaries of cost, materials availability and effluent in the production and operation stages. A Roadmap for solutions to these boundaries provides early warnings for coordinated research and development of solutions across the manufacturing value chain from critical materials to wafers to communications, compute, and learning systems. The urgency to align microchip system performance scaling with a commercially viable manufacturing value chain dominates business and technology decisions today. Speakers, Students and Members of the Microphotonics Center may request a promo code for discounted pricing. (Please email crawfjen@mit.edu for details.) *** List of hotel options here . List of Airbnb Boston here List of Airbnb Cambridge here Parking Option: here Photonics Manufacturing Information Source: MIT | eventbrite

Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Richard Russo —Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Somebody's Foo l and The Destiny Thief —for a discussion of his new essay collection Life and Art . He will be joined in conversation by Andre Dubus III —author of Such Kindness and eight other books, including the bestsellers Townie and House of Sand and Fog. Ticketing RSVP for free to this event or choose the "Book-Included" ticket to reserve a copy of Life and Art and pick it up at the event. Richard Russo will sign copies of his book after the presentation. Note: Books bundled with tickets may only be picked up at the venue the night of the event, and cannot be picked up in-store beforehand. Ticket holders who purchased a book-included ticket and are unable to attend the event will be able to pick up their book at Harvard Book Store up to 30 days following the event. This offer expires after 30 days. Please note we cannot guarantee signed copies will be available to ticket holders who do not attend the event. About Life and Art Life and Art —these are the twin subjects considered in Richard Russo’s twelve masterful new essays—how they inform each other and how the stories we tell ourselves about both shape our understanding of the world around us. In “The Lives of Others,” he reflects on the implacable fact that writers use people, insisting that what matters, in the end, is how and for what purpose. How do you bridge the gap between what you know and what you don’t, and sometimes can’t, know? Why tell a story in the first place? What we don’t understand, Russo opines, is in fact the very thing that beckons to us. In “Stiff Neck,” he writes of the exasperating fault lines exposed within his own family as his wife’s sister and her husband—proudly unvaccinated—develop COVID. In “Triage,” he details with heartbreaking vividness the terror of seeing his seven-year-old grandson in critical condition. And in “Ghosts,” he revisits Gloversville, the town that gave rise to the now-legendary fictional town of North Bath, and confronts the specter of its richly populated past and its ghostly present. Sharp, tender, extraordinarily intimate reflections on work, culture, love, and family from one of the great writers of our time. Bios Richard Russo is the author of nine novels, most recently Somebody's Fool , Chances Are . . . , Everybody’s Fool, and That Old Cape Magic; two collections of stories; and the memoir Elsewhere. In 2002 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls, which, like Nobody’s Fool, won multiple awards for its screen adaptation, and in 2023 his novel Straight Man was adapted into the television series Lucky Hank. In 2017 he received France’s Grand Prix de Littérature Américaine. He lives in Port­land, ME. Andre Dubus III is the author of Such Kindness and eight other books, including the bestsellers Townie , a memoir; and House of Sand and Fog , a National Book Award Finalist in Fiction and an Oprah’s Book Club selection. He lives in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Masking Policy Masks are encouraged but not required for this event. Information Source: Harvard Book Store | eventbrite