Boston Public Radio

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops lobbied against the bill because it included resources for the LGBTQ community.

Two mass shootings in one week have gun control advocates wondering whether legislation will ever be enacted.

"We have the capacity to force a vote, and I think it’s time we do that," the Massachusetts senator said.

The governor acknowledged criticism from lawmakers but insisted the current mix of state and local efforts is most effective.

Students and advocates are calling on Harvard University to acknowledge its role in slavery and offer reparations.

Healey tells Boston Public Radio she supports legislation to update the state's existing hate crime laws.

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, we started off by asking listeners how they plan to celebrate the holiday. And whether they are taking any special precautions to avoid wild animal encounters. Workman Song is a Martha’s Vineyard-based Americana band. They joined for Live Music Friday ahead of their performance at Boston Calling. Sue O’Connell dished on her headline-grabbing encounter with a wild coyote in Roxbury. Karen Tran runs the Tik Tok Tiny Felted Joy. She joined to teach Jim and Margery a thing or two about her craft. Andy Ihnatko discussed a handful of tech stories, including the Surgeon General’s warning about social media use, those fake Pentagon pictures, EU regulations on AI and other tech headlines. Maura Healey joined us for one hour of “Ask the Governor.” She talked about the Rachael Rollins investigation, offshore wind investments, getting banned in Russia, what’s going at the MBTA and more…

Ron DeSantis announced that he’s running for president in a conversation with Elon Musk that was filled with technical issues. We opened the lines to hear from listeners on their thoughts on the perfectly time glitches. EJ Dionne will discuss his latest columns in the Washington Post. He'll focus on what's going on in DC and Congress. Andrea Cabral will provide insights on the ongoing movement concerning Supreme Court ethics, the continuing aftermath of the Rachael Rollins scandal, and other noteworthy legal headlines. Sandra Bernhard, an actress, singer and star of the one-woman show "Spring Affair," will be joining us. She's been on Will and Grace and American Horror Story. Shirley Leung will share her latest report regarding Mayor Wu and Boston's business community. She will also discuss the news that Ayanna Pressley is working towards renaming the post office by South Station in honor of the late community activist Caroline Chang. Rick Steves, renowned and beloved travel personality, will talk about his recent journey through Madrid. Additionally, he'll provide details about his upcoming concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Our show concluded by honoring the legendary icon Tina Turner. We took calls and texts to see how people are remembering her.

Elon Musk and Florida governor Ron DeSantis are reportedly announcing DeSantis’ bid for president today…on twitter. We asked listeners whether Musk’s actions have changed their use of the social media platform. Peggy Shukur (New England ADL) and Idit Klein (Keshet) discussed the ADL’s new report on extremism in Massachusetts. Juliette Kayyem weighed in on fake AI images of a burning Pentagon that went viral this week, and the U-Haul truck that crashed into a White House security barrier. She also discussed headlines out of the G-7 summit, and the latest on the trial of Jack Teixeira. Amal Amon, Samia Komi, and Omnia Fadelelsaid, are all natives of Sudan who moved to Massachusetts in the early 2000’s. They joined us to discuss the war in Sudan and how it’s impacting the lives of their loved ones still in Sudan. Corby Kummer discussed an Atlantic piece on what we do and don’t know about the drawbacks of eating fast. He also talked about the state of COVID-era restaurant policies and some expanded SNAP benefits. Paul English and Marcelo Suárez-Orozco joined to discuss UMass Boston’s new AI Institute, which they are naming in English’s honor after his $5 million donation. English founded the travel company Kayak and is co-chairing Embrace Boston. Suárez-Orozco is the chancellor of UMass Boston. According to a new piece by Katherine Wu in The Atlantic, there’s no scientific evidence that eating fast is worse for you than eating slow. We asked listeners to call in to share their eating habits.

The U.S. Surgeon General has issued an advisory on a mental health crisis. We asked listeners how they believe social media is impacting children and teens. Trenni Casey discussed the passing of Rick Hoyt, an iconic figure in the Boston Marathon who passed away at the age of 61, as well as her experience at the Taylor Swift concert. Victor RosaTrio, who was wrongfully convicted and spent over 30 years behind bars, has just won a $13 million settlement. He joined alongside his lawyer, Mark Loevy-Reyes, to discuss his case and the implications of the settlement. Ross Mathews, known for his career as Jay Leno's intern, now co-hosts the Drew Barrymore Show and serves as a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race. He talked about his upcoming show at the Wilbur on June 9th. John Davidson, renowned for holding the record as the most frequent guest-host for the late Johnny Carson, now runs John Davidson's Club Sandwich in Sandwich, New Hampshire. He shared insights on how to make the most of your 80s and may even treat us to a song or two. CNN’s John King provided his perspective on the ongoing debt ceiling talks and other significant headlines from Washington. Style over comfort? Apparently not anymore since formal dress sneakers are now appearing on all types of professionals. We ended the show with thoughts from listeners.

It’s graduation season. We had listeners call in to share who their commencement speakers were. Michael Curry & Jennifer Nassour joined for a politics panel. They discussed the fallout from the Rachael Rollins scandal, budget talks in Washington, Dianne Feinstein & more… Former Federal Judge Nancy Gertner defended the advisory committee that recommended Rachael Rollins, plus, other court headlines. Jared Bowen returned for an arts roundup. He discussed a sound installation at MAAM and Women & Abstraction at the Addison Gallery of American Art and an auction of Donna Summer’s wardrobe. We also got his thoughts on the SCOTUS Andy Warhol/Prince prints ruling and the new Little Mermaid film. Reverends Emmet G. Price III and Irene Monroe offered their perspective on new data showing Americans are switching religions at a growing rate. They also talked scandal at the megachurch Hillsong, and a RNS piece asking whether faith makes a person more civic-minded. Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe’s film critic. He just published his 100th piece at the paper, and he joined to discuss that and the summer movie lineup. The New York Times reported that a man sat in first class while his family was in coach. We opened the phone lines to hear from listeners what they thought about this arrangement and first class in general.