The Common

A recent survey commissioned by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce finds that, while almost 90% of surveyed residents between the ages of 20 and 30 in Greater Boston say they're satisfied with their daily lives, one in four plan to leave the region in the next five years. Those surveyed cited the high cost of housing, concerns with public transportation and the availability of quality jobs amo...

More than half of the over 8,000 childcare providers in the state will see significant cuts to monthly grant payments they receive from the state for the months of May and June. These funds are part of the Commonwealth Cares for Children grant program, which is experience a budget shortfall as the 2024 fiscal year comes to a close. Today WBUR Senior Education Reporter Carrie Jung joins The Common...

Today, we're taking you to Quincy, Massachusetts. In the last several decades, the number of people in Quincy who identify as Asian has grown considerably. The latest census shows nearly 30% of the city's residents identify as Asian. Part of this growth can be attributed to the city remaining an affordable, but accessible, alternative to Boston. Meanwhile, Boston's Chinatown has seen a decrease in...

This week Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey made headlines when she announced that she would be pardoning all minor cannabis possession offenses in Massachusetts. The pardons apply to all convictions before March 13, 2024, and are thought to apply to hundreds of thousands of people. It’s a precedent-setting move as no other Governor has issued such a sweeping pardon on this issue to date. WBUR S...

The city has long been working towards a revamp of Blue Hill Avenue, a major corridor in Dorchester and Mattapan. But due to a history of underinvestment and concerns about gentrification, many residents there are skeptical about the city's plan. Despite this, the city has decided to move ahead on certain parts of the plan anyway, including a center lane bus that will operate between Grove Hall an...

Spring is upon us, and with it comes a whole new slate of recommendations from WBUR's Arts and Culture team as a part of their seasonal arts guides. From new albums, to visual arts, to movies, there's something for everyone in Boston's art scene this spring. WBUR Senior Arts and Culture Editor Dianna Bell joins The Common with some of her favorite recommendations from this season's guides. Greater...

Last fall WBUR Investigations Correspondent Todd Wallack joined The Common after he published an investigation into Massachusetts’ public housing waitlist system. In the investigation, he found that despite the state being in a record housing shortage, almost 2,300 state-funded units were sitting vacant across the Commonwealth, sometimes for years. In the aftermath of the investigation, the state...

Almost a year after affirmative action was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, Massachusetts lawmakers are working to institute a ban on legacy preferences at colleges in the state. Legacy preference, or legacy admissions, is the practice of favoring college applicants who have familial connections to the school, and it often disproportionately benefits white and wealthier students. Today on  T...

Introducing the trailer for ‘Beyond All Repair,’ a brand new WBUR podcast about an unsolved murder and a woman who wasn’t believed. Note: This is the trailer for Beyond All Repair from WBUR and ZSP Media. Episodes 1 & 2 are already waiting for you: Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Greater Boston’s weekly podcast where news and culture meet.

We're back with our second installment of Sound On : The series where WBUR Senior Arts and Culture Reporter and Critic Amelia Mason joins The Common to share a new album from a rising artist or band in Massachusetts. Today, we're discussing "i know i know i know," an expansive new album from Western Massachusetts-based band, Cloudbelly . Check out Amelia's full write-up on Cloudbelly here. Greater...

Last year, Governor Maura Healey set a cap on the number of families served by the state family shelter system at 7500. Families beyond that number are put on a waitlist. Some have found temporary shelter in overflow sites set up by the state. The thing is, those shelters are not all open during the day, leaving day-side support options limited. Enter La Colaborativa , a Chelsea-based immigrant se...

Yesterday was Super Tuesday - the day voters in Massachusetts and 14 other states, plus one territory, cast their votes for the candidates they’d like to see face off in the general presidential election in November. By the time you hear this episode, some results from Super Tuesday may already be known, but what we want to focus on in this episode is not who got the most votes, but how voters are...

Our region is experiencing its first El Niño in five years, and, bolstered by climate change,  we have an unusually warm winter to prove it. Today, Tom Di Liberto, climate scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, joins The Common to discuss how El Niño impacts weather patterns in the region, and what other factors are contributing to our unseasonably warm winter. Greater B...

The Massachusetts State Senate recently unveiled a new bust in their renovated chambers in the statehouse. It honors Frederick Douglass – a Black civil rights leader who worked to abolish slavery in the United States. The sculpture puts Douglass in the company of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Ben Franklin, and other historical figures. It's the first permanent bust added to the chamber i...

March is the month that brings us spring, at last! But it's also a long month, with no observed holidays to give us a break. To help motivate us all to get out and explore this March, WBUR Assistant Director of CitySpace Candice Springer joins The Common with three DIY craft classes that offer an opportunity to learn a new creative skill. Candice recommends... Bonsai Bar – multiple dates and locat...

The Emerald Necklace Conservancy and 16 area residents recently filed a lawsuit to stop a proposal to renovate White Stadium in Franklin Park. They say the plan is “unconstitutional,” fearing that this public facility will be privatized and made inaccessible to the public. The city said the claims are without merit and the renovation will expand the number of usable hours for student-athletes and...

Earlier this month, four members of the Brockton School Committee called on Governor Healey to bring in the National Guard to calm campus violence amid understaffing at Brockton High School. The idea has split the school community, with many expressing the desire to not militarize the school, while others say the response is appropriate to help manage a situation, which includes fighting and open...

The Massachusetts child welfare system is looking at a huge leadership change across its ranks with several key leaders stepping down this year. Advocates and former foster kids in the state see it as an opportunity to overhaul the overburdened system that impacts the lives of more than 86,000 children and adults across the state. Boston Globe Reporter Jason Laughlin joins The Common to break down...

Governor Maura Healey’s pick to fill the vacant seat on the state's Supreme Judicial Court could be confirmed as soon as Wednesday. Judge Gabrielle Wolohojian has an impressive judicial record, having served as an appeals court justice for 16 years. However, one piece of her background has been a sticking point through the confirmation process – the fact that she was at one point a long-term roman...

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends offering buprenorphine, a medication that can help curb opioid cravings, to teens addicted to opioids. However, only 6% of pediatricians currently offer the drug, in part because some believe that they do not have the right training or staffing to provide this care. Today, WBUR reporter Martha Bebinger brings The Common to a pediatrician's office in Ux...

There are the Patriots, the Red Sox, the Celtics... and the stone walls. That's right. Many New Englanders are absolutely enamored by the approximately 100,000 miles of stone walls , relics of early settlement, that dot the woods and roadsides of our region. Today, Hanna Ali , WBUR associate producer for newsletters, joins The Common to tell us more about how these historic stone walls came to be,...

Update : Ed Augustus, the state's housing secretary, sent a letter to Milton town officials Wednesday morning saying the town  failed to comply with the MBTA Communities Act , and as a result, the Healey administration will immediately stop sending "significant grant funding" to the town.  Read the full letter here . Last week , residents of Milton voted down a plan that would have allowed for the...

Immigration and border security have long been hot-button issues in national politics. Now, with concerns mounting over the state's overstretched family shelter system, where nearly half of the people housed are migrants, asylum-seekers or refugees, immigration is becoming a firey point of conversation in state and local politics, too. WBUR Senior Political Reporter Anthony Brooks joins The Common...

Team Common is off today, so we’re bringing you a story from our friends in the WBUR newsroom. We'll be back with our regular show tomorrow.  Today’s story comes from Arts Reporting Fellow, Solon Kelleher. It’s about a jukebox in Cambridge, redesigned by artist Elisa Hamilton to play stories from people in the community instead of music.  Greater Boston’s weekly podcast where news and culture meet...

Chinatown's streets will come to life on Sunday with thunderous drums and the piercing clang of cymbals as nine lion dance troupes celebrate the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese New Year Parade. WBUR Podcast Fellow Cici Yu joins The Common to preview this year's parade, and give us a window into the vibrant history and community surrounding lion dance in Boston. Greater Boston’s weekly podcast wh...