Say More

Boston-based Frontline has been making documentaries for 40 years, and this year, they took home their first Academy Award for their documentary “20 Days in Mariupol”. The documentary is a first-hand account of the first days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the winter of 2022. The documentary contains gripping and heartbreaking stories of war. It also is a work of journalism, documenting the fa...

In courts across the country, a war is being waged on federal agencies that ensure clean air, safe drugs and fair banking. These agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration, are sometimes referred to as the “administrative state.” Conservative groups are increasingly using legal action to undermine the powers of these regulators. Today on Say More, gu...

Bob Rivers, the CEO and chair of Eastern Bank, sits down with Shira Center, the general manager for editorial revenue and strategy at Boston Globe Media, to talk about the bank’s history, its work on diversity and inclusion, and its approach to community investment. Globe Opinion was not involved in the creation or execution of this episode, which was produced by Studio/B, Boston Globe Media’s spo...

Everyone’s afraid to fail, but today’s guest says we shouldn’t be. In fact, we should welcome it. Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson says that “failure isn’t final” and that it’s often the first step toward great ideas and innovation. She tells Shirley that the most successful people fail more, not less, than the rest of us. Amy also shares the concept of “psychological safety,:— an e...

Men and boys are less likely to excel in high school or go to college. They are more likely to get hooked on drugs or die of suicide. More broadly, boys and men are at a crossroads. While the #MeToo movement has provided a needed global reckoning for women and girls, it left boys with a long list of “don’ts” without enough “dos.” This week on Say More, author and scholar Richard Reeves talks to Sh...

Stovetop mac-and-cheese is a simple dish, but there are many ways to get there.  Deb Perelman, founder of the Smitten Kitchen blog, and New York Times food columnist J. Kenji López-Alt could spend hours discussing the art of perfecting a recipe—in fact they often do. They are the hosts of the new podcast The Recipe with Kenji and Deb. This week on Say More, they join Shirley to talk about what the...

It’s not just you. Many Americans feel disempowered and unmotivated to participate in the political process. This week’s guests, Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers of the “Pantsuit Politics” podcast, have been called “America’s political therapists.” They talk with Shirley about this year’s “deeply weird” presidential race, voter malaise, the trickiness of talking about a candidate’s age and h...

Throughout the last half-century more of our stuff has been made somewhere else. Much of the manufacturing that formed the economic backbone of US regional economies has relocated to distant countries. Today on Say More, Shirley talks to Boston author and journalist Rachel Slade, who says it’s not only possible to bring manufacturing back to the US, but necessary. Her new book is called “Making It...

Imagine it’s the eve of the 2024 presidential election, and you get a call that sounds like it’s coming from a family member or a friend — or even the president — telling you the polls will be closed and you should stay home. The call could sound real but be totally fake, generated by easily available AI technology. That type of ruse is hugely concerning to national security expert and author Mile...

This week Shirley ventures outside the studio and visits local restaurant owner Irene Li to make dumplings together for Lunar New Year. Irene is co-founder of Mei Mei Dumplings in South Boston. Shirley and Irene share their memories of celebrating Lunar New Year as children and their relationship with Chinese-American culture. Irene talks about the state of the restaurant industry and how she want...

Blaxploitation films are known for their Black stars, gritty material, and funk music. When they caught on in the early 1970s, these movies had a ton of style and iconic characters. At the time of their release, they were celebrated for their depictions of Black empowerment but also criticized for perpetuating stereotypes and caricatures of Black culture. The Boston Globe’s chief film critic, Odie...

The ideological battles on college campuses have reached a new pitch in recent months, leading to high-profile presidential resignations and calls for more. This week’s guest on Say More says this is all part of a long-standing campaign to destabilize and overhaul higher education, funded by billionaires on the right. Nancy MacLean is a historian at Duke University. Nancy tells host Shirley Leung...

The New Hampshire primaries will take place on January 23. The choices voters in the small state make could have a major impact on the presidential election. The Democratic primary in New Hampshire isn't competitive this year, but the Republican one could be interesting. On today’s episode, Boston Globe politics reporter Emma Platoff introduces us to three New Hampshire GOP voters as they decide h...

The Globe’s Brian Bergstein will be joining Say More about once a month to host conversations about artificial intelligence, with the aim of asking big questions and getting past the hype. Artificial Intelligence is hard to define. It’s even harder to regulate. But without good regulation, the technology could do a lot of harm to innocent people. This week, Brian speaks to Columbia Professor Tim W...

The New Hampshire primary is around the corner for Republicans. Former President Trump has a massive lead in the polls, but Nikki Haley has been gaining on him. Can the former South Carolina governor do enough to shake things up? On today’s episode, guest host Kimberly Atkins Stohr, a Boston Globe senior opinion writer, talks to the Globe’s James Pindell, Carine Hajjar, and Scot Lehigh about what...

Unhappiness is on the rise in America, according to a recent survey. What can we do about it? A lot, says Arthur Brooks, who teaches a class on the science of happiness at Harvard Business School. He joins Shirley on Say More to talk about his own journey to become happier, his partnership with Oprah, and the special gift he received from the Dalai Lama. Email us at saymore@globe.com. See Privacy...

On this week’s episode, we turn the mic around and Shirley answers questions from co-workers, friends, and listeners. What guest changed Shirley’s perspective? Who are her podcast host inspirations? What advice does she have for her younger self? Plus, a special guest! Email us at saymore@globe.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/...

While sports betting used to require a trip to Las Vegas, a 2018 Supreme Court decision lifted a ban, and now residents of more than 30 states are allowed to place wagers on a vast array of game statistics and outcomes. The largest share of the US online sports betting market belongs to the company DraftKings, based in Massachusetts. The young industry has grown rapidly, and already has its share...

The Globe’s Brian Bergstein will be joining Say More about once a month to host conversations about artificial intelligence, with the aim of asking big questions and getting past the hype. This week, Brian speaks to MIT professor Manolis Kellis about the ways AI is decoding DNA and transforming medical research. They discuss the exponential pace of technological progress, the true nature of intell...

While many Nobel Prize winners specialize in abstract corners of science, this year’s winners of the medicine award innovated something we can all appreciate. Dr. Drew Weissman and Dr. Katalin Karikó developed the RNA science behind vaccines that saved countless lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Poorly funded and ignored for decades, their work is now spurring a revolution in medicine. Shirley L...

Author Ben Mezrich has made a career of writing books that become movies. He’s drawn to characters with big bank accounts and messy lives. His latest book, “Breaking Twitter: Elon Musk and the Most Controversial Corporate Takeover in History,” was ripped right from the headlines. Ben talks to host Shirley Leung about Musk’s dramatic demise after buying Twitter, and how Musk’s behavior on the socia...

The holiday season is upon us, which means the social pressure to shop is relentless — especially for clothes. But this week’s guest on Say More says we should think before we buy, for the sake of the planet. Globe Opinion Columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr has published a new series on the unsustainability of the fashion industry and what consumers can do about it. Kimberly is a clothing designer he...

The Big Dig took Boston apart and put it back together again. It buried a highway and redrew the map of downtown. The project was delayed for years and went billions of dollars over budget, making it a national laughingstock. But this week on Say More, guest Ian Coss tells host Shirley Leung that the Big Dig might not wholly deserve its reputation as a massive boondoggle. He says the Big Dig was a...

November is Hip-Hop History Month. Boston is not exactly famous for its contributions to Black music and culture. If anything, many people associate the city with rock — and racism. But music historian and writer Dart Adams says Boston has long had a flourishing Black music scene, producing icons like Donna Summer and game-changing groups like New Edition. This week on Say More, in honor of hip-ho...

The Globe’s Brian Bergstein will be joining Say More about once a month to host conversations  about artificial intelligence, with the aim of asking big questions and getting past the hype. This week, Brian speaks to computer scientist Joy Buolamwini about her new book, “Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines.” Buolamwini says technology that has a harder time rec...