Boston Public Radio Podcast

Today on Boston Public Radio: We started the show by hearing from listeners about how they're preparing for the extreme cold weather expected this weekend. Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett discussed the Biden administration decision to lift the public health emergency for COVID-19 in May. She is the vice chair of Primary Care Innovation and Transformation in the Department of Family Medicine at Boston Medical Center. Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung discussed a legislative...

Food policy writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio to discuss the ethical considerations behind lab-grown meat for people who consider themselves vegetarians — whether for animal welfare or environmental reasons — off of an article in Mother Jones: “My Vegetarian Dilemma: Tasting Lab-Grown Meat From Live Animals” “This cultured meat is taken from a live animal … and then grown out in a medium,” said Kummer. “Here’s a dirty little secret, almost invariably the medium is fetal bovine...

Today on Boston Public Radio: NBC political director Chuck Todd discussed House speaker and Republican representative Kevin McCarthy's recent meeting with President Joe Biden over the debt ceiling, and other national political news. We opened the lines to hear from listeners about a trend away from so-called helicopter parenting, due to parental burnout and a change in ideology. Andrea Cabral discussed 20-year-old Sayed Faisal's death at the hands of Cambridge police. Cabral is...

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened the lines to get listener reactions to Tom Brady announcing his retirement from football. Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed a new report in JAMA about greed in the US healthcare system, our worsening health outcomes, and new FDA guidelines on who can give blood. National security expert Juliette Kayyem discussed the police killing of Tyre Nichols, and the progression of Trump's legal case in Manhattan. Michael Kirk, director of...

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened the show with a call-in session to ask our listeners how they feel about the official launch of legal sports betting in Massachusetts. On Tuesday morning the state’s three casinos — Plainridge Park, MGM Springfield, and Encore Boston — began accepting bets on a wide range of competitive sports. The law doesn’t allow betting on high school sports, local college teams and e-sports. Trenni Casey joined to talk about the upcoming Super Bowl showdown...

Today on Boston Public Radio: We started the show by taking our listeners’ calls to ask how they felt about the widespread broadcast of the video depicting Memphis police officers violently beating Tyre Nichols. We also asked listeners about whether the police reforms implemented following George Floyd have had any meaningful impact. Then GBH news analyst Charlie Sennott came on to discuss the political brinkmanship between the U.S. and Germany that led to both countries giving tanks to...

Today on Boston Public Radio: Sen. Elizabeth Warren spoke about a looming political battle in Congress over whether to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, the state of child care in the Commonwealth, and what she made of the recent Ticketmaster antitrust Congressional hearing. We opened phone and text lines to talk with listeners about their experiences with child care in Massachusetts. Hon. Nancy Gertner discussed the Memphis police killing of Tyre Nichols, reports of discord among the...

Today on Boston Public Radio: NBC political director Chuck Todd joined to discuss the latest national politics. Then we opened the lines to discuss new guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending immediate intervention as early as two years old to combat childhood obesity. Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung discussed Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s first state-of-the-city address, and the mayor’s pledge to overhaul the Boston Planning and Development...

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened the show with a call-in segment to ask our listeners about their experience with Ticketmaster and price-gouging related to live concerts. This comes after the Senate Judiciary Committee interviewed the CEO of Ticketmaster about the company’s failure to handle the demand for Taylor Swift tickets in November and the rise of exorbitant prices on secondary markets. Then medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed the integration of AI systems like chatGPT into...

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened the show by asking our listeners about the two recent mass shootings in California and why they think this country still hasn’t addressed this epidemic of gun violence. Then Trenni Casey of NBC Sports Boston discussed how Red Sox fans booed the team’s ownership at their Winter Weekend event, marking the unofficial start of the 20-23 seasons. Fans booed owner John Henry because of frustration over ticket prices and how the team let its star shortstop...

Today on Boston Public Radio: We started the show with a call-in segment to hear from listeners about reproductive rights activism on what would have been the 50th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade this Sunday. Michael Curry discussed criticisms of the Embrace statue; the deadly mass shooting on Lunar New Year near Los Angeles; and the legislative push to boost nurse to patient ratios in Massachusetts. Michael Curry is president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers....

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened the show by taking our listener’s calls to ask if they miss a traditional New England winter as we experience another season with lower-than-average snow totals. Dr. Robert Waldinger, a psychiatrist and researcher at Harvard University, came on to discuss the findings from the longest-ever study on happiness. The study found that investment in relationships with friends, partners and coworkers paid dividends for long-term health and happiness. GBH...

Today on Boston Public Radio: NBC's Chuck Todd called in to discuss how Republicans are threatening to let the country default on its loan as means to bargain for spending cuts to social programs. He also discussed the details revealed from Donald Trump’s deposition in civil suit filed by E Caroll Jean accusing Trump of sexual assault. Chuck Todd is the moderator of "Meet the Press", host of Meet the Press Daily on MSNBC, and the Political Director for NBC news. Then we took our listener’s...

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened the show by taking our listener’s calls to ask how they felt about The Embrace sculpture installed on Boston Common last week. The statue highlights the connections Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King had to the city of Boston and honors their love and legacy of civil rights activism. Michael Curry, the CEO of the community health centers of Massachusetts, called in from the annual MLK Day memorial breakfast in Boston. He discussed the...

Today on Boston Public Radio: We began the show by talking with listeners about the murder of Ana Walshe, and what our obsession with true crime says about us. Art Caplan talked about AI’s increasing role in medicine. Caplan is the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor and founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU School of Medicine in New York City. Liz Neisloss and Prof. Judith Gonyea discussed GBH’s latest reporting from “Priced Out,” focusing on older...

Today on Boston Public Radio: We began the show by talking with listeners about making the switch to more environmentally-conscious household items, from induction stovetops to heat pumps for heating and A/C. Trenni Casey talked about a possible rift forming between Bill Belichick and the Krafts. Casey is an anchor and reporter for NBC Sports Boston, and a BPR contributor. Bill McKibben discussed the release of a study claiming that ExxonMobil accurately predicted future global warming in...

Today on Boston Public Radio, the show broadcast live from the unveiling of the Embrace sculpture in downtown Boston. Hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan spoke with GBH Morning Edition co-host Paris Alston, who offered reporting from the field; and GBH's Callie Crossley, who provided analysis before and after the unveiling. They also spoke with: Embrace executive director Imari Paris Jeffries; artist Hank Willis Thomas and architect Jonathan Evans; former Governor Deval Patrick and...

Today on Boston Public Radio: NBC political director Chuck Todd discussed the latest disclosure by President Biden's legal team of another batch of classified documents from his time as Vice President, and calls from his own Republican colleagues for Rep. George Santos to resign. We opened the lines to listeners to discuss the impact of rising housing costs, worsening traffic congestion, and other aspects of Boston life that are prompting people to move elsewhere. Andrea Cabral,...

Today on Boston Public Radio: We began the show by talking with listeners about a Stoughton High School student who was suspended for protesting the school district's ban on pride flags and Black Lives Matter flags. Juliette Kayyem discussed massive flight delays and cancellations after the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) reported an outage of its Notice to Air Missions System. Kayyem is former assistant secretary for Homeland Security under President Barack Obama, and the faculty...

Today on Boston Public Radio: We began the show by talking with listeners about confidential documents found at President Joe Biden’s former office he used as Vice President. Trenni Casey talked about Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin’s recovery after collapsing during a Bills-Bengals game in early January, and a disappointing season for the Patriots. Casey is an anchor and reporter for NBC Sports Boston. Carol Rose shared her analysis of Gov. Maura Healey’s promise to not claim exemption...