The WBUR Festival: Full Schedule

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11:00am EDT

Is Business Broken? Live Podcast Taping on the Innovation Economy

Saturday May 30, 2026 11:00am - 11:45am EDT

WBUR CitySpace @ 890 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215, USA

What transforms a scientific idea into a technology, a company, a job or even an entire economy? A century and a half after Boston University Professor Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, that question is more urgent than ever. Join us as we dig into the forces driving innovation today — and what's at stake if they falter.

Sponsored by:

Speakers

Kendalle Burlin O'Connell

CEO & President, MassBio

Kendalle Burlin O'Connell is CEO and President of MassBio, the world's largest and oldest biopharma membership organization, representing 1,700+ companies advancing breakthrough science. A leading voice on healthcare innovation and a champion for the biotech founders and emerging companies driving it, she adv... Read More →

Curt Nickisch

Host, Is Business Broken?

Curt Nickisch is the host of the Is Business Broken? podcast which features conversations with academics, industry leaders, and politicians that ask the thorny questions necessary for this moment, and help us navigate real world solutions.

Dr. Melissa Gilliam

President, Boston University

Dr. Melissa L. Gilliam became Boston University’s eleventh president on July 1, 2024. Dr. Gilliam is an esteemed and award-winning interdisciplinary researcher in medicine, public health, and the humanities. Dr. Gilliam joined Boston University from The Ohio State University, where she held the Engie-A... Read More →

Saturday May 30, 2026 11:00am - 11:45am EDT
WBUR CitySpace

Business, Live podcast taping

11:45am EDT

The New American Dream: Is Upward Mobility Still Possible?

Saturday May 30, 2026 11:45am - 12:30pm EDT

Marsh Chapel @ 735 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215, USA

Economists and social innovators examine why fewer Americans now earn more than their parents. The consequences are particularly devastating for lower-income households, but research has identified powerful ways to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty.

In partnership with:

Speakers

Raj Chetty

Director of Opportunity Insights & Professor of Economics, Harvard University

Raj Chetty is the William A. Ackman Professor of Economics at Harvard University and the Director of Opportunity Insights, which uses big data to study the science of economic opportunity: how we can give children from all backgrounds better chances of succeeding? Chetty’s work has been... Read More →

Michael Jonas

Executive Editor, CommonWealth Beacon

Michael Jonas is the executive editor of CommonWealth Beacon, a nonprofit publication covering Massachusetts politics and public policy. An award-winning journalist with a particular focus on education, criminal justice reform, and health care, he previously wrote a weekly column on politics f... Read More →

Saturday May 30, 2026 11:45am - 12:30pm EDT
Marsh Chapel

Business

The WBUR Festival