Rhode Island Report

You might have heard of the Green Book, a guidebook that was widely circulated from the 1930s through the 1960s to help Black travelers find welcoming places across the country to stay, eat, and fill up their cars. But did you know that many of those locations were in New England? Emily Sweeney, a Boston Globe reporter, has documented and mapped more than 350 spots in this part of the country. Swe...

Since April, a small group of inmates in Rhode Island's medium security prison have been learning how to code. It's part of a program called  The Last Mile . The classes are designed to help inmates find jobs and stay out of prison. Globe RI’s Steph Machado just finished a story for Rhode Island PBS about The Last Mile. She joins host Ed Fitzpatrick to talk more about the program. Tips and id...

Indie pop singer-songwriter Lainey Dionne has gone from performing for classmates at Smithfield High School to becoming a voting member of the Grammy’s Recording Academy. She talks to our guest host, Boston Globe reporter Chris Gavin, about her journey and life as a working musician in Rhode Island. Dewey Raposo, RI PBS producer of Ocean State Sessions which showcases local musicians, also joins t...

Last week, during R.I. Governor Dan McKee’s State of the State address, a group of Rhode Islanders planned to protest in the State House rotunda. But the area was roped off and guarded by state and Capitol police, who said the space had been reserved by the governor’s administration. But no one used it during and after the address. Now, the ACLU is considering a First Amendment lawsuit, saying tha...

In July 2024, the Rhode Island Supreme Court upheld Mario’s Law ,  which gives juvenile offenders a chance at freedom after serving 20 years. A month after the ruling, Mario Monteiro – the man the law was named for – was released. He faced two life sentences as a 17-year-old, and served 23 years in prison. Monteiro joins host Ed Fitzpatrick to talk about life in prison as a young person, and...

Today marks the start of Rhode Island’s legislative session. What can we expect from lawmakers this year? The Globe's Steph Machado and Jim Hummel of “A Lively Experiment” on Rhode Island PBS join host Ed Fitzpatrick and make some predictions. Tips and ideas? Email us at  rinews@globe.com See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/p...

Tonight, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley will light the City Hall Menorah to celebrate the eight nights of Hannukah. And this year, the event will hit close to home. He recently converted to Judaism. Before the holidays, Steph Machado sat down with the mayor and Rabbi Sarah Mack, the senior rabbi at Temple Beth-El, to talk about the journey he’s been taking for the past year. Tips and ideas? Em...

More than 200 years ago, Jamestown, R.I., had the largest percentage of enslaved people in the state. What happened to the Black community there? A local historian has been working to bring that history to light. That’s just one segment in the most recent episode of the "Our Town" series on Rhode Island PBS. RI PBS Arts and Culture Producer Ross Lippman joins our host, Ed Fitzpatrick, to talk more...

Winter is here, thousands of Rhode Islanders are experiencing homelessness, and there are not enough shelter beds. The state's largest provider of housing for homeless individuals thinks building apartments, not just opening more shelters, is the answer. The Globe’s Steph Machado sat down with Michelle Wilcox, the president and CEO of Crossroads Rhode Island, to hear about the plans. Tip...

Globe Rhode Island columnist Dan McGowan moderated a Dec. 12 discussion about the future of the Rhode Island Foundation – the state’s largest funder of nonprofits. He started by talking to  Rhode Island Foundation president and CEO David Cicilline, and the foundation’s new board chair, Ann-Marie Harrington. He also spoke with nonprofit leaders Lamont Gordon of Co...

On Thanksgiving Day, the Boston Globe published an article about a Rhode Island man named Patrick Fealey. He’s a former journalist who wrote about his experiences with homelessness in Esquire magazine.  A Narragansett family tracked him down and found him a place to live. His story has gone viral, generating an overwhelming response and helping push his GoFundMe page to over $160,00...

One of the state's best sportswriters and radio hosts will be writing about Rhode Island sports as a freelancer for the Globe. Kevin McNamara's first story comes out today. McNamara joins Ed to look ahead to what he'll be writing about, including what he says is the biggest sporting event of the year in Rhode Island: the Providence College / University of Rhode Island men's basketball game on Satu...

What’s it like to cruise around the Ocean State on a bicycle? Local author Robert Isenberg recently released a collection of essays about his experiences cycling here, and all over the world. He says his book, "Mile Markers," is designed for everyday people who like to explore on two wheels, and joins our host Ed Fitzpatrick to talk more about the book. Tips and ideas? Email us at   rinews@gl...

This week, families can start applying for spots in Rhode Island’s charter schools for next school year. The demand is high – far exceeding the number of available seats – as families seek alternatives to traditional public schools. And yet, some advocates say Rhode Island should limit the expansion of charter schools. Chiara Deltito-Sharrott from the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools joins S...

It’s been more than three years since the US pulled out of Afghanistan and the Taliban took over. Now, it’s the only country in the world that bans girls from going to school after sixth grade. Khadija Nazari escaped Afghanistan in 2021. Now she’s a Brown University student working to help the women who got left behind. She’s teamed up with a group of Rhode Islanders to run a secret school for gir...

Ed Fitzpatrick sits down with the Globe’s Steph Machado and Jim Hummel, the host of “A Lively Experiment” on Rhode Island PBS, to debrief the election results. Tips and ideas? Email us at rinews@globe.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Last week, the Rhode Island chapter of the American Federation of Teachers elected Maribeth Calabro as their new president. She now heads the largest teachers union in the state. It represents 12,000 members in districts such as Providence, Cranston, Warwick and Pawtucket. Steph Machado spoke with Calabro for an episode for RI PBS Weekly. This is an extended version of their conversation. Tip...

With the election less than a week away, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and deepfakes are raging online. University of Rhode Island Professor Sara Sweetman is working to help young people sort fact from fiction. She finds they are often better at reading and interpreting visual data than the generations who came before them. There's a lot that we can learn from them, Sweetman says. She joins...

Last week, Senate President Dominic Ruggerio issued a statement endorsing Democratic Majority Whip Valarie Lawson to replace the current majority leader, Ryan Pearson. How did this rift begin and what will happen next? Senator Ryan Pearson joins us to tell us his side of the story. Tips and ideas? Email us at  rinews@globe.com . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Ca...

In this presidential election, there’s a lot of concern about threats to democracy. But we’ve been here before. A new book by Brown University Professor Corey Brettschneider titled  The Presidents and the People  profiles five past presidents who expanded their power and tried to overturn democratic principles. Brettschneider tells host Ed Fitzpatrick that the hope for our future lies no...

Aquaculture. Pipe fitting. Firefighting. These are just a few of the careers high school students can learn in hands-on courses across the state. Our very own Steph Machado's most recent story in collaboration with "Rhode Island PBS Weekly" is about the growth of career and technical education programs - or CTE - which have more than doubled since 2017. She joins Ed to dig into how this approach i...

As president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, George Nee has been one of the main labor leaders in the state for decades. Now at age 75, he’s getting ready to retire. Nee joins Ed to talk about his long career in labor organizing - including a stint as Cesar Chavez’s bodyguard, and a brief brush with organized crime. Tips and ideas? Email us at  rinews@globe.com . See Privacy Policy at https://ar...

Who should have access to the shore in Rhode Island? It’s an escalating fight between property owners, towns, and the public, more than a year after the passage of the state's landmark shore access law. Isabella Jibilian, a producer at Rhode Island PBS Weekly, and Alex Nunes, the South County bureau chief at The Public’s Radio, recently collaborated on two episodes about this topic. They join...

The Economic Progress Institute prides itself on being the people’s lobbyist, among dozens of lobbyists representing corporations and powerful interests at the Rhode Island State House. EPI advocates for laws that improve the lives of low- and modest-income Rhode Islanders. Ed talks to EPI Executive Director Weayonnoh Nelson-Davies about their wins and losses in this year’s state budget, and their...

Rhode Islanders headed to the polls yesterday to vote in local primaries, and the night belonged to incumbents. Ed breaks down the results with Globe RI’s own Steph Machado and Jim Hummel, host of A Lively Experiment on Rhode Island PBS. Tips and ideas? Email us at  rinews@globe.com . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do...