The Codcast

Stephanie Jones and Nonie Lesaux of the Saul Zanentz Early Education Initiative at Harvard's Graduate School of Education discuss the lessons learned about childcare during COVID and how to rethink the industry in the diseases aftermath.

For Ben Downing, politics are personal by CommonWealth Beacon

An interview with Tom Croswell, the CEO of the still unnamed company combining Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan. He talks about the benefits of consolidation but also raises questions about its value in other areas of health care.

Michael Bobbitt, state's new arts leader by CommonWealth Beacon

Paul Biddinger, head of state vaccine advisory group by CommonWealth Beacon

Judd-Stein: Casinos haven't asked for COVID relief by CommonWealth Beacon

Baker under fire on climate bill by CommonWealth Beacon

Developer O'Brien: We need offices, cities by CommonWealth Beacon

Sens.-elect Adam Gomez of Springfield and John Cronin of Lunenburg pledge a focus on equity.

Sudders says she is hopeful for the first time by CommonWealth Beacon

Doug Bacon, the founder of the Red Paint Hospitality Group, and Greg Reibman, president of the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce, share how COVID-19 is decimating the restaurant industry.

Soon-to-be Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark by CommonWealth Beacon

Jim Hunt, who is preparing to stop down as president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, talks with Paul Hattis and John McDonough about the origins of the community health center movement and the current challenges.

Devin Alexander, the co-founder of Rolling Releaf, and Chris Fevry, co-founder of Your Green Package, talk about the nascent marijuana delivery industry, and some of the controversy surrounding the drafting of state regulations. They argue a courier model won't work and push for delivery companies that buy their own marijuana wholesale and sell direct to consumers. Challenges ahead include getting...

Retiring rep, rep-elect share insights on State House opacity by CommonWealth Beacon

With Gov. Charlie Baker pressuring schools to reopen in-person, no one is arguing that this is the best way for students to learn. Some union officials and parents are worried about sending their kids to school with community-based cases increasing, and have pushed back. But what metrics should districts be basing their reopening decisions off of, and how can communication improve between local de...

Mass. Democratic Party chair showdown by CommonWealth Beacon

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Massachusetts allowed no-excuse mail-in voting for the first time this year as well as expanded early voting – and millions of voters took advantage. By Saturday evening, 2.28 million voters had cast their ballots, either by mail or in person – a number equivalent to more than two-thirds of all ballots cast in the 2016 election. For Pam Wilmot, vice president o...

Biden's lead has supporters....nervous by CommonWealth Beacon

Evan Falchuk, in favor of Question 2 calling for ranked choice voting, squares off with Nick Murray, a policy analyst at the Maine Policy Institute.

We talk to David Seltz, the executive director of the state’s Health Policy Commission, about how the coronavirus is changing health care.

We talk with Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell about her candidacy for mayor.

Michelle Wu is, by conventional standards, an unlikely figure to be challenging a sitting Boston mayor (though incumbent Mayor Marty Walsh has yet to declare his candidacy, he is widely expected to seek a third term next year). She is shy by temperament, and when she entered Harvard as an undergraduate in 2004, politics was so removed from Wu’s upbringing that she considered herself neither a Demo...

Massachusetts voters will be asked in November whether to update the Right to Repair law -- but they may have a hard time wading through the complexities of a ballot question when supporters and opponents cannot even agree on the basics of what it will do. Tommy Hickey, director of the Right to Repair Coalition, and Conor Yunits, a spokesman for No on One, joined the Codcast to discuss the ballot...

I took a Red Line train last week that was crowded according to the MBTA’s COVID-19 crowding standards, but the consensus on this week’s Codcast was that I didn’t need to worry. Jim Aloisi, the former secretary of transportation and TransitMatters board member, called my story on the crowded train ride a mild over-reaction “Your article might have given people an impression that they should be fea...