Boston Public Radio Podcast

Speaking on  Boston Public Radio  Wednesday, CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem took a moment to reflect on Tuesday’s Senate runoff victory for Democrat Raphael Warnock in Georgia. Warnock will join the Senate after serving 15 years as pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. presided as co-pastor throughout the 1960’s. "A man of faith entering politics is rare enough, bu...

Some primary care physicians are being left out of the first wave of COVID-19 vaccinations, even if they are treating patients with the illness. Medical ethicist Art Caplan told Boston Public Radio on Wednesday the issue is a “snafu” in the distribution plans that routed much of the initial doses to hospitals, and left out doctors with no hospital affiliation. “If you write rules for the states, l...

Today on  Boston Public Radio : Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett discusses news around the COVID-19 vaccines, from their slower-than-anticipated rollout in the U.S., to questions of whether vaccine skeptics are right to feel hesitant about getting their shot. She also responds to questions and comments from listeners. Gergen Barnett is the vice chair of Primary Care Innovation and Transformation and R...

Today on  Boston Public Radio : Georgia Public Broadcasting political reporter Stephen Fowler gives a primer on Tuesday's Senate runoff races in Ga., and discusses President Trump's controversial call to Ga. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger over the weekend, where he pressured Raffensperger to nullify his state's election tally. Next, we open our lines to talk with listeners about the latest...

Thursday's Boston Public Radio is entirely on tape and features the ultimate BPR book club — back to back conversations from over the years with some of our favorite writers. Some highlights of the show include: George Saunders discussed his novel , "Lincoln in the Bardo," his first foray into what he describes as serious prose. Writer Susan Orlean discusses her latest book, a tribute to the publi...

Wednesday's Boston Public Radio is entirely on tape, and features the ultimate BPR book club: back to back conversations from over the years with some of our favorite writers. Some highlights of the show include: Poet Kevin Young discusses his latest collection of poetry, BROWN. Kevin Young is poetry editor of the New Yorker and the incoming director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museu...

Today on Boston Public Radio , GBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen and NBC 10's Sue O'Connell filled in for Jim Braude and Margery Eagan. Former Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral discussed the latest with President Donald Trump's pardons. Then, Irish comedian Maeve Higgins talked about maintaining friendships through the pandemic. The rest of Tuesday’s show featured re-airs of some of our...

Today on Boston Public Radio : Jared Bowen and Sue O’Connell fill in for Jim and Margery. First, they get a politics roundup from Beacon Hill to Capitol Hill, with GBH reporter Adam Reilly. Then, Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett G Price III join us for this week’s edition of All Rev’d Up. The rest of Monday’s show features re-airs of some of our favorite segments: Author and journalist Naomi Klei...

Note: BPR is on tape for the holidays. For Thursday’s program, we brought you some of our favorite conversations from the not-too distant past. Today on Boston Public Radio: Bishop Michael Curry joins us to preach the power of love in dark times, in a conversation sparked by his new book "Love Is the Way: Holding Onto Hope In Troubling Times.” Michael Norton talks about the science behind why huma...

Today on  Boston Public Radio : MIT economist Jon Gruber breaks down the economics behind Congress’ latest COVID relief package, and discusses his research into March's CARES Act, where he found that unemployment insurance has had more of an impact on keeping jobs and stimulating the economy than Paycheck Protection Program loans. Next, we open lines to talk with listeners about Congress' latest $...

President Donald Trump granted pardons and commutations to 20 people on Tuesday. Among those pardoned were four Blackwater guards convicted in connection with a 2017 killing of Iraqi civilians -among those killed were two boys, 8 and 11. Homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem spoke with  Boston Public Radio  on Wednesday about the danger these pardons pose. “First of all, Trump’s failure to embr...

On Wednesday, medical ethicist Art Caplan returned to  Boston Public Radio , where he weighed in on the latest news around the COVID-19 pandemic. Among them, he discussed frustrations with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in hospitals throughout the U.S., and unanswered questions around who deserves vaccine priority. “There are these issues of priority and who’s really at risk that’ve started to r...

Today on  Boston Public Radio :  Maura Healey talks about the state’s [Police Reform bill](x-note://D757CE1A-EB87-42C4-BFAC-970FF042F9C1/EWSNote/wgbh.org/news/local-news/2020/12/22/ag-healey-police-reform-bill-as-amended-is-a-really-good-thing), responding to questions about the efficacy of facial recognition technology and no-knock warrants. She also discusses her office's plan to ask the federal...

Today on  Boston Public Radio : Michael Curry discusses the rollout of coronavirus vaccines throughout the U.S. and questions around skepticism in communities of color. Curry is the incoming president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, a member of Gov. Charlie Baker’s COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group, and a member of the National NAACP Board of Directors. Next, we open...

Today on  Boston Public Radio : Smith College associate professor Loretta Ross speaks on why it’s more productive to call people “in” rather than call them out, and the importance of have private – and occasionally uncomfortable – conversations with people we disagree with, in a discussion sparked by her forthcoming book, “Calling In the Calling Out Culture.” Next, we open lines and asked you abou...

Speaking on a Friday edition of Boston Public Radio , food writer Corby Kummer presented a plea to diners: if you’ve got to cancel your dinner reservation, do your best to give the restaurant 12 hours notice – at minimum. No-shows, for struggling restaurants operating at reduced occupancy, “are really damaging,” Kummer explained in a tease of his forthcoming Diner Code of Conduct. “Be considerate...

Today on  Boston Public Radio : Washington Post personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary discusses “Sincerely Michelle,” her ongoing series addressing misconceptions about racial equity in the world of personal finance, and reflects on her own experience coming up in media as a Black woman. NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd runs through the latest political headlines, touching on ant...

Michelle Singletary, nationally syndicated personal finance columnist at the Washington Post, said she faced a lot of questions about her credentials when she was first hired. So she pulled her editor aside and asked him point blank, was she hired because she’s Black? The answer her editor gave herShe was, but like all things, it’s more complicated. “I hired you because you’re Black, I hired you b...

Today on  Boston Public Radio : Adam Reilly discusses his reporting on scholastic sports during the era of COVID, and the pressure on local-level leaders around whether or not to postpone basketball and hockey seasons as Mass. returns to phase three, step one of Gov. Baker's reopening plan. We open lines to talk with listeners about your experiences with scholastic sports during the pandemic. Ali...

Today on  Boston Public Radio : We open lines to talk about the latest round of pandemic rollbacks in Mass., asking: is this the right thing to do?  NBC Sports Boston anchor and reporter Trenni Kusnierek talks about the economic consequences of the truncated, physically distanced year in professional and collegiate sports, Celtics player Jaylen Brown getting named a “Bostonian of the Year” by the...

Today on  Boston Public Radio : We start the week off by opening lines and asking listeners: after Monday’s electoral vote, should the media stop covering President Trump’s legal efforts to challenge November’s election results? Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart offers news on The Boston Pops’ virtual holiday concert for 2020, and discusses the complicated logistics of putting on a safe and fes...

Today on  Boston Public Radio : Rep. Ayanna Pressley discusses Gov. Charlie Baker’s decision to send the Mass. police reform bill back to legislators, racial disparities with facial recognition software, and what she’s doing to confront the country’s ongoing eviction crisis. We open our lines to talk with listeners about the recently-approved Pfizer vaccine and ask: are you eager to get one? Beat...

Note: Much of Thursday’s show was devoted to GBH’s one-day pledge drive. If you’d like to make a contribution to support the local journalism produced by GBH, you can visit the link here . Today on Boston Public Radio : NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd discusses President Trump’s refusal to concede his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden, stalled COVID stimulus talks out of Washing...

M.I.T. economist Jonathan Gruber discussed his forthcoming editorial on how the U.S. government might want to use a lottery system to incentivize tracking for Americans who get vaccinated from COVID-19, as a way to gain insight on vaccine effectiveness. We turned to listeners to talk about “pandemic stomach,” amid a spike in Americans buying antacids. Brenda Cassellius, Superintendent of Boston Pu...

The United Kingdom delivered the first shot in its COVID-19 vaccination program on Tuesday, becoming the first Western country to deliver a broadly tested vaccine to the general public. Two people who received the Pfizer and BioNTech shot developed allergic reactions, but recovered. Medical ethicist Art Caplan spoke with  Boston Public Radio  on Wednesday about what this latest development means f...