220 Episodes

  1. Adam Rothman, “Beyond Freedom's Reach: A Kidnapping in the Twilight of Slavery”

    Published: 2/17/2016

  2. Lawrence Hill, “The Illegal: A Novel”

    Published: 2/12/2016

  3. John T. Matthews, “To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman, and the ‘Discovery’ of Racism”

    Published: 2/8/2016

  4. Erica Hirshler, “Childe Hassam: At Dusk: Boston Common at Twilight”

    Published: 1/20/2016

  5. George Hovis, “Thomas Wolfe and the Lost Generation”

    Published: 12/14/2015

  6. Ilan Stavans, “Quixote: The Novel and the World”

    Published: 12/9/2015

  7. R. Nicholas Burns and John McKesson Camp II, “Conversations on Democracy”

    Published: 12/2/2015

  8. Christopher Morgan "Alice in Wonderland & Lewis Carroll's Games & Puzzles:The Surprising Connection"

    Published: 11/23/2015

  9. Jack Bishop-America's Test Kitchen "100 Recipes: The Absolute Best Ways to Make the True Essentials”

    Published: 11/18/2015

  10. David Lough, “No More Champagne – Churchill and His Money”

    Published: 11/16/2015

  11. Mary Beard, “S.P.Q.R.: A History of Ancient Rome”

    Published: 11/16/2015

  12. Michael Ferber, “Why Romanticism Was A Good Idea”

    Published: 11/9/2015

  13. Ted Stebbins, “The Art of the Gilded Age”

    Published: 11/6/2015

  14. John Matteson, “The Annotated Little Women & Exhibit of Louisa May Alcott's Book Selections”

    Published: 11/4/2015

  15. Simon Winchester, “Pacific"

    Published: 10/29/2015

  16. Dan Jones, “Magna Carta”

    Published: 10/23/2015

  17. Kitty Eisele, Talking in Pictures:Developing a Visual Vocabulary to Show-and Tell-American's Stories

    Published: 10/22/2015

  18. Henri Cole, "New Poems"

    Published: 10/7/2015

  19. Ken Botnick, “Diderot Project: Making the Book to Discover My Subject”

    Published: 10/1/2015

  20. Adam Van Doren and David McCullough, “The House Tells the Story: Homes of the American Presidents”

    Published: 9/29/2015

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The Boston Athenæum, a membership library, first opened its doors in 1807, and its rich history as a library and cultural institution has been well documented in the annals of Boston’s cultural life. Today, it remains a vibrant and active institution that serves a wide variety of members and scholars. With more than 600,000 titles in its book collection, the Boston Athenæum functions as a public library for many of its members, with a large and distinguished circulating collection, a newspaper and magazine reading room, quiet spaces and rooms for reading and researching, a children’s library, and wireless internet access throughout its building. The Art Department mounts three exhibitions per year in the institution's Norma Jean Calderwood Gallery, rotating selections in the Recent Acquisitions Gallery, and a number of less formal installations in places and cases around the building. The Special Collections resources are world-renowned, and include maps, manuscripts, rare books, and archival materials. Our Conservation Department works to preserve all our collections. Other activities for members and the public include lectures, panel discussions, poetry readings, musical performances, films, and special events, many of which are followed by receptions. Members are able to take advantage of our second- and fifth-floor terraces during fine weather, and to search electronic databases and our digital collections from their homes and offices.