The Codcast

CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith is joined by Nicole Obi, president and CEO of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, and Imari K. Paris Jeffries, executive director of Embrace Boston. They discuss how organizations dedicated to racial justice and equity are responding to the challenges of this political era.

Commonwealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith chats with Greg Reibman, president of the Charles River Regional Chamber, and Luc Schuster, executive director of Boston Indicators at the Boston Foundation. They discuss how the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's ruling on the MBTA Communities Act impacts the state's power to mandate zoning reform in cities and towns. Listen to past Codcasts on this topic:...

Commonwealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith sits down with Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo, Brad Campbell, president of the Conservation Law Foundation, and Jessica Collins, executive director of the Public Health Institute of Western MA to discuss key statehouse priorities. They reflect on past achievements and look ahead to future efforts in education, climate, transportation, and housing.

John McDonough of the T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute sit down with Amy Rosenthal, executive director of Health Care for All, to discuss the potential impacts of a second Trump term on Medicaid and Medicare in Massachusetts.

CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith interviews Rep. Bill Straus of the 10th Bristol district on past, present, and future transportation issues in Massachusetts.

This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith chats with Somerville City Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen on Somerville’s zoning amendment to eliminate parking minimums for new development. 

This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith is joined by Bruce Schneier, fellow and lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Nathan Sanders, fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. They discuss how AI has the power to strengthen civic engagement in elections and policymaking, the importance of transparency it its use, and how it can be deve...

This week on The Codcast, John McDonough of the T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute chat with Christina Severin, president of Community Care Cooperative (C3). They discuss the role of accountable care organizations in coordinating high quality care for MassHealth patients, the transformation of Neighborhood Health Plan, and looking ahead at healthcare challenges...

This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith sits down with Rebecca Hart Holder, president of Reproductive Equity Now, to discuss how abortion advocates are gearing up for a second Trump term. They dig into Project 2025 plans to dismantle reproductive rights, the need for state action, and strategic messaging for the next four years.

This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith introduces CWB's new editor, Laura Colarusso. They discuss her background in journalism, motivation for public service, and the challenges and opportunities in the ever-changing field.

This week on the Codcast, Commonwealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith is joined by Mayor of Holyoke Joshua Garcia to reflect on the rightward trend of Latino voters in the 2024 presidential election. They discuss potential mechanisms behind the shift, and lessons learned for both political parties.

This week on the Codcast, Commonwealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith sits down with attorney general of Massachusetts Andrea Campbell to discuss the hurdles and opportunities that lay ahead under a second Trump term.

This week on the Codcast, Commonwealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith and Gintautas Dumcius sit down with CWB editor Bruce Mohl, executive editor Michael Jonas, and reporter Bhaamati Borkhetaria, to discuss how the five questions on the Massachusetts ballot may impact the workforce. They also summarize arguments for and against the questions and reveal key financers of both sides.

This week on The Codcast, John McDonough of the T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute sit down with Sen. Cindy Friedman of Middlesex to discuss how the state Legislature is tackling health care reform. They unpack the fragility of Massachusetts' health care following Steward hospital closures, holding insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and private equity accounta...

This week on the Codcast, Commonwealth Beacon's editor Bruce Mohl sits down with Phineas Baxandall, Policy Director for the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, and Pete Wilson, Senior Policy Director for Transportation for Massachusetts. They discuss the recent controversy between the Healey-Driscoll administration and state Legislature over distributing surplus revenue collected by the millio...

This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith is joined by state Sen. Brendan Crighton of Lynn, along with zoning expert and consultant Amy Dain. They discuss the MBTA Communities Act in light of recent arguments before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Milton's failure to comply. This episode examines the necessity of multi-family zoning to tackle the growing housing cr...

This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith sits down with Katherine Antos, Undersecretary of Decarbonization and Resilience, to share how the state plans to tackle sea level rise, coastal storms, and flooding exacerbated by climate change. They discuss long vs. short-term mitigation, financing climate resiliency, and the ResilientMass Plan.

This week on The Codcast, John McDonough of the T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute are joined by Dr. Abha Agrawal, CEO of Lawrence General Hospital. They discuss her vision for a community-based health system, barriers to advancing equity in Merrimack Valley health care, and the hospital 'safety net' amidst a transition to 3 hospitals.

In a special live edition of the Codcast, Gintautas Dumcius chats about the Massachusetts ballot question wars with political consultants Lynda Tocci of Dewey Square Group and Conor Yunits of Issues Management Group. They discuss what makes a successful ballot campaign, the past and present challenges of galvanizing votes, and compare pre- and post-pandemic ballot campaigns.

This week on the Codcast, Commonwealth Beacon's Gintautas Dumcius interviews John Deaton, the GOP nominee running against US Senator Elizabeth Warren. They discuss his campaign, crypto currency, who he plans to caucus with if he makes it down to Washington, and who may get his vote for president in November.

This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith speaks with Andy Koziol, Director of West-East Rail, and Meredith Slesinger, MassDOT's Rail and Transit Division Administrator. They delve into the challenges and opportunities of expanding intercity passenger rail between Boston, New York, and western Massachusetts.

This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith is joined by Meredith Goldstein, love advice columnist for the Boston Globe. They discuss the meaning of relationships, gender roles, and marriage in the context of upcoming arguments before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on what happens to engagement rings after a broken engagement.

This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith catches up with Jessica Tang, president of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts and recently a DNC delegate, after her return from the convention. They discuss the place of education unions in national and state politics, the MCAS ballot measure here in Massachusetts, and what's ahead for education and health care prioriti...

This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks to Nadine Gary and Kasyo Perrier of Go Topless about the case for changing the law to allow women to be topless anywhere a man can be. She also visits a topless equality rally on Beacon Hill.

This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith is joined by Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute and John McDonough of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to discuss the current state of the Steward Health Care bankruptcy, as well as what healthcare policy measures did and didn't make it through the end of the legislative session.