Episodes
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The Electoral College: What Is It Good For?
You already know that the Electoral College lets candidates win the presidency while losing the popular vote (Donald Trump in 2016 springs to mind). But you might *not* know about the long history of failed attempts to reform or eliminate the institution — or how little guidance the Electoral College actually would actually provide in a close, hotly contested election like the one we’re currently having. Spend a half hour with this Scrum, though — in which Peter Kadzis chats with Harvard’s Alex Keyssar, author of the new book “Why Do We Still Have The Electoral College?” — and you’ll gain that knowledge and more. (Warning: you may also be significantly more anxious about what the coming weeks may bring.) -
Kevin O'Connor's Pitch To Non-Republicans
If you haven’t paid close attention to the US Senate race between Ed Markey, the Democratic incumbent, and Kevin O’Connor, the Republican challenger, you might assume O’Connor is coming from the same place as the Massachusetts GOP: staunchly pro-Trump, and steadfastly opposed to all things Democratic. And if you have assumed that, O’Connor’s own messaging could be one reason why. As it turns out, though, O’Connor’s political identity and philosophy are more nuanced than you might expect. In this episode of the Scrum, O’Connor makes his case to the unenrolled and Democratic voters whose support he’ll need to beat Markey in November — offering, in the process, some unexpected biographical details and assessments of Elizabeth Warren and Donald Trump. After Adam and O’Connor talk, Peter Kadzis weighs in with his assessment of O’Connor’s pitch. -
Lessons From Lincoln For The Age Of Trump — Plus, What The Mass. Senate Debate Says About The Mass. GOP
In the wake of the first and only debate between Democratic US Senator Ed Markey and Republican challenger Kevin O’Connor, Peter Kadzis flashes back to the Kennedy-Romney race and sizes up the trajectory of the Mass. Republican Party in the quarter century hence. (He and Adam Reilly also take stock of O’Connor’s candidacy and political future.) Then it’s on to a Kadzis convo with presidential historian Ted Widmer, whose new book — Lincoln On The Verge: Thirteen Days To Washington — offers an instructive portrait of the nation in another moment of crisis. -
Storm Clouds: Aleksandar Hemon On Yugoslavia Then And The US Now
When war broke out in his hometown of Sarajevo, Aleksandar Hemon turned what was supposed to be a brief stay in Chicago into an entirely new life — and went on to become a National Book Award finalist, a regular contributor to the New Yorker, and a professor at Princeton University. Now, though, Hemon has also become a political Cassandra, warning in stark terms that he sees the US sliding toward an outbreak of political violence akin to the eruptions that destroyed Yugoslavia. In this episode, Adam Reilly talks with Hemon about the parallels he sees between Yugoslavia then and the US today. First, though, Peter Kadzis ponders Andrea Campbell’s newly announced candidacy for mayor of Boston, and how the politics of racial and ethnic identity will play out as Campell and Michelle Wu vie to become Boston’s first mayor of color. -
Wu For 2021: A GBH-MassINC Poll Sets The Stage For The Mayoral Race
Right now, the 2021 Boston mayor’s race has one (1) official candidate: at-large city councilor Michelle Wu, who made things official last week after months of speculation — and after the incumbent, Marty Walsh, gave her campaign an unconventional “soft launch” of his own. So how does Wu stack up against Walsh (if he runs) — and her fellow city councilor Andrea Campbell (ditto)? And what are the big takeaways from a new GBH News / MassINC poll on the state of the race and the issues on Boston voters’ minds? Peter Kadzis, Adam Reilly, and Saraya Wintersmith talk it through. -
#MAPrimary 2020: The Exit Interview
What to make of this week’s primary election? On the one hand, a slew of incumbent Democrats had credible challengers — which suggests an era of intra-party stasis and timidity has finally come to a close. Then again…those challengers all lost. So maybe incumbency still has some advantages? In this, the first Scrum of the GBH era, Peter Kadzis and Adam Reilly kick it around with Boston Globe columnist Joan Vennochi — along with Joe Kennedy’s future and whether the drama in #mapoli is done for the year (spoiler: it isn’t). -
Dr. Robbie Goldstein Makes His Case For MA8, Plus - Kadzis On The Surreal, Socially Distant DNC
After a brief hiatus, the Scrum returns with a pre-election conversation with Dr. Robbie Goldstein, the MGH physician who's challenging Congressman Stephen Lynch in the Eighth District Democratic primary. First, though, Peter Kadzis offers some instant reaction to the strange, socially distant event that was the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Can't get enough of local and national politics? Subscribe to The Scrum, WGBH News' politics podcast, with Adam Reilly, Peter Kadzis, and an ever-expanding roster of guests. SUBSCRIBE: Apple Podcasts Stitcher Spotify Castbox Overcast -
Things Are Getting Competitive In Western Massachusetts -- Plus, Kadzis On The State Legislature's Looming Extension
What’s going on in Western Mass? In the past few weeks, the Massachusetts 1st Congressional District race between longtime incumbent Rep. Richard Neal and Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse has started to get competitive. Carrie Saldo, recent host of Connecting Points on WGBY in Springfield, and Matt Szafranski of Western Mass Politics and Insight, talk Adam Reilly through just how interesting the race has become, despite -- or maybe because of -- the challenges presented by campaigning in the middle of a pandemic. But first, Peter Kadzis and Reilly give a status update on the state legislature, where it's looking like lawmakers may not get that summer off during an election year after all. -
Why The 2020 Presidential Polls Aren't Like Their Ugly 2016 Cousins — Plus, Walsh Vs. Wu, Round 1
How does President Trump explain away his bad poll numbers? Pretty much the same way he deals with anything else negative: he insists they’re not real. What happened in 2016 makes it harder to push back at this than it might be; after all, nearly everyone thought Hillary Clinton was a lock, but it turned out she wasn’t. Still, according to #mapoli pollster extraordinaire Steve Koczela, this year’s presidential-polling model is a significant upgrade from its recent predecessor. He gives Peter Kadzis and Adam Reilly a layperson’s guide, and also offers some thoughts on what it’s like to be a military veteran watching the nation struggle to meet the challenge of COVID. First, though, Kadzis and Reilly size up a broadcast dust-up featuring Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and At-Large City Councilor Michelle Wu, who’s widely considered a likely mayoral challenger. -
The Scrum Sizes Up The 2020 New England Muzzles
For more than two decades — first at the Boston Phoenix, and now at WGBH News — Dan Kennedy’s New England Muzzle Awards have chronicled threats to the First Amendment and freedom of expression in our fair region. But reading the 2020 Muzzles (as you should!) is one thing; hearing Dan talk about the worst of the worst with Peter Kadzis and Adam Reilly is something else entirely. In this episode of the Scrum, the trio talks through the past year’s lowlights, which involve the Milton Public Schools, the Baker Administration, and Harvard University.
