Say More

Usually after a mass shooting, Ieva Jusionyte has a lot to say. Ieva is a scholar of gun violence at Brown University and is no stranger to the terrible power of firearms. But when a mass shooting took place at her place of work, in a building where she teaches, the words fell away. This week on Say More, Ieva talks to Opinion Editor Jim Dao about why solutions need to go beyond policy and address...

Globe business columnist Larry Edelman says if we do have a recession in 2026, it won’t be a crash - more like air leaking out of a big balloon. This week on Say More, host Shirley Leung gets a vibe check on the economy with the author of the Globe’s popular Trendlines newsletter. Larry says consumer spending is up, the numbers are not bad, but the vibes are not great. Email us at saymore@globe.co...

Writer Gish Jen recently had a revelation about her novels: her characters often talk to the dead. But in her most recent work, Bad Bad Girl, the dead talk back. In this book, Jen fictionalizes real details of her mother’s life, immigrating from China to the US in the 1940s and raising a big Chinese American family. The result is an exploration of a fraught mother-daughter relationship, and the el...

As Americans, we are at our best when we’re engaged with the world - confident and curious. So says Marco Werman, the long-time host of public radio program The World, based at GBH here in Boston. Recent cuts to public media funding mean programs like The World are in trouble, with fewer resources to tell deep stories about the complexities and diversity of our planet, and less awareness about Ame...

Recording LIVE from Globe Summit, Shirley Leung talks to Ben & Jerry’s cofounder Ben Cohen about what makes his company stand apart. Activism has been part of the ice cream company’s DNA since launching with Jerry Greenfield four decades ago. While it may turn some customers away, it’s a worthy price to pay staying true to your values, says Ben. Now, Ben is working to #FreeBenAndJerry’s from large...

Globe columnist Kevin Cullen has written countless stories about veterans, but one recent story was the most powerful he’s ever told. This week on Say More, Cullen talks to Globe’s Opinion Editor Jim Dao about one Boston veteran who spent decades finding peace after a devastating experience in Vietnam. Cullen talks about his own motivations for telling these types of stories, and his grief and ang...

When we think of middle class life, several things come to mind: owning a home, stable childcare, food in the pantry, a sense of security. But as the rich get richer in Massachusetts, the middle class is falling further behind, and making ends meet is no longer a given. People are angry, and politicians seem to be waking up to the crisis. Say More host Shirley Leung talks to the Boston Globe’s Mon...

When New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani was asked in a debate which democratic politician was most effective, he answered, “Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.” Wu and Mamdani are both young, progressive and unapologetically ambitious about their visions for their respective cities. They both captured vast coalitions and are being watched closely by the rest of the country, to see if progressive ideas can...

Today, we’re sharing the first episode from My Home Fronts , a podcast from journalist Romy Neumark. My Home Fronts is a four-parts documentary podcast series tracing the student founder of "Jews for Palestine" at Harvard during the Gaza war - and the generational gap it reveals within American Jewish families. Episode 1, "Meeting Violet": An unexpected encounter between Israeli journalist Romy Ne...

The Israel-Hamas war took place more than 5,000 miles away from here, but you wouldn’t know that from the intensity of protests happening on US college campuses. Israeli journalist Romy Neumark works at Harvard University, and was curious to understand her own blind spots about how Israel is perceived in Jewish American homes. In Neumark’s new podcast “My Home Fronts,” she attempts to detangle a c...

After years of lobbying, Massachusetts has convinced toy company Hasbro to move its global headquarters from Rhode Island to Boston. Massachusetts is the historic home of many iconic toy companies, like Milton Bradley and Parker Brothers, and now, Hasbro joins Lego for another era of toy making. The question is, should we really be celebrating stealing business from our little neighbor to the sout...

The exact causes of autism are unknown - but you wouldn’t know that from listening to President Trump and his health secretary RFK Jr., who recently announced Tylenol was to blame. The science behind the announcement is not solid - but more troublingly, it falls into an old pattern of blaming mothers for autism, which creates a culture of stigma, says Maura Sullivan, CEO of The Arc of Massachusett...

The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has announced a major reshuffle of its American Revolutionary War galleries. The goal, it says, is to tell an ‘inclusive’ story of America’s founding. Meanwhile, in Washington, President Trump has threatened the Smithsonian over similar moves. Globe editorial page editor Jim Dao talks to Ethan Lasser, curator of American Art at the MFA, about the museum’s plans and t...

This is a re-run of the first episode of our series "The C-Word" which originally aired May 1, 2025. Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung is generally open about her personal life. But this is the first time she is talking publicly about her own experience with breast cancer. She was treated in Boston hospitals and underwent a mastectomy. Like so many others, she will spend the rest of her life ge...

President Donald Trump wants Harvard to cough up at least $500 million. Longtime Harvard professor Steven Pinker says it's extortion. And Harvard should do it anyway. Globe columnist Carine Hajjar, filling in for host Shirley Leung, talks to Steven Pinker about caving to the Trump administration and where to draw the line. Email us at saymore@globe.com.

The Market Basket board of directors fired its CEO, 'Artie T.' Demoulas, on September 9th after a very public - and very nasty - succession battle. Host Shirley Leung and Globe Business Reporter Jon Chesto get into the messy family dynamics and how other New England business dynasties manage to make it work. Email us at saymore@globe.com. Check out more about the detailed family history of Market...

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu trounced challenger Josh Kraft in Tuesday’s preliminary election for Boston mayor. What makes Wu so successful? And can she be a model for Democrats nationally? Say More host Shirley Leung talks to Boston Globe politics reporter Emma Platoff and columnist Joan Vennochi about the ‘Trump effect’ on the mayoral election. Email us at saymore@globe.com.

It's perhaps never been more exhausting to be a mom. In her book, "Repair with Self-Care: Your Guide to the Mom's Hierarchy of Needs" author Leslie Forde calls on moms to find to put themselves first and prioritize their own health and well being, even when things are busy. Leslie Forde joins host Shirley Leung on today's episode of Say More.

Today, we’re bringing you the third and final installment of The Outlaw Ocean podcast’s investigation into the shadowy work of the Libyan Coast Guard. The podcast looks into efforts to capture and detain migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea in the hopes of a new life in Europe.  This week’s episode describes how members of the Outlaw Ocean team were arrested and detained in Libya while they wer...

More than 50 million people make their living working offshore on the two-thirds of our planet covered by water.  Today, we’re bringing you episode two from the second season of “The Outlaw Ocean,” a podcast from the Outlaw Ocean Project, a journalism non-profit that investigates human rights, forced labor, and environmental concerns on our planet's seas. Today’s episode picks up where last week’s...

More than 50 million people make their living working offshore on two-thirds of our planet covered by water.  The non-profit Outlaw Ocean Project is dedicated to exploring human rights violations, forced labor, and environmental problems that plague the world’s oceans. Over the next few weeks, we’re bringing you a three-part story from the second season of The Outlaw Ocean podcast.  Today, in part...

It wasn’t long ago that finding an Asian American novelist in a local bookstore felt like finding a rare flower. Today, the options overflow. Viet Thanh Nguyen was on the leading edge of that wave. His first novel, The Sympathizer, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2016. Since then he has written a sequel, a collection of short stories, books for children,  and a book about the Vietnam War. He’s also beco...

In 2018, the Supreme Court struck down a law that banned sports betting, and ushered in a new era of gambling. Sports betting has become a multi-billion dollar industry. It’s as ubiquitous as it is lucrative.  In his new book “Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling” Jonathan Cohen argues that the rise of online sports betting, fueled by the convenience of mobile phones, is leading t...

Democrats are at a crossroads. According to recent polling from CNN, just 28% of Americans view the party favorably. The lowest rating in the poll’s 30-plus year history. Critics say the party lacks vision, and fails to connect with voters. Some say, the party is out of touch. Others believe it’s simply gone too far to the left. But there are new voices looking to dictate a path forward for Democr...

The  Michelin Guide is known for identifying the crème de la crème of dining in the nation’s hottest cities. And for the first time, it’s coming to Boston. Today on Say More, Shirley Leung is joined by Boston Globe Restaurant Critic Devra First to discuss what Michelin means for the city, and how the challenges facing  Boston restaurants, including high rents and the steep cost of living, are impa...