Boston Public Radio

Economist Emily Oster says communities need to shift their priorities to open schools for in-classroom learning.

Rollins allowed that Harris, who she admires, may have been a more conservative prosecutor.

False allegations affect the country's respect for the legal system, Cabral says.

Markey says Biden has signaled climate change will be a top priority in his administration.

The congressman said he also has real worries about the damage an ex-President Trump could wield on U.S. national security.

The congressman will serve his 12th term in Congress for the Massachusetts 2nd District.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by talking with listeners about the Republican National Committee labeling the Jan. 6 Capitol attacks as “legitimate political discourse.” U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins discusses the decision to dismiss criminal charges against MIT professor Gang Chen, who was accused of hiding ties to China. She also talks about her priority of combatting human trafficking. Rollins is the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, and the former Suffolk County District Attorney. Katie Murphy and Tami Hale talk about the burnout and staffing shortages facing nurses across the state. Murphy is president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association and a nurse at Brigham and Womens. Hale is a school nurse at Gates Lane Elementary School in Worcester. Emily Channell-Justice explains the foreign policy implications behind Russia’s threat to invade Ukraine, and what Ukrainian sovereignty means in the 21st century. Channell-Justice is the director of the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program at the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard. Their annual conference on Ukraine begins today, examining 30 years of Ukrainian sovereignty. Her study of the Ukrainian people, “Without the State: Self-Organization and Political Activism in Ukraine” is forthcoming. Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III share their thoughts on Joe Rogan’s apology for using the N-word in multiple podcast episodes, and racism in the NFL. Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist and the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Trail. Price is founding pastor of Community of Love Christian Fellowship in Allston, the Inaugural Dean of Africana Studies at Berklee College of Music. Together, they host GBH’s All Rev’d Up podcast. Kara Baskin talks about her recent column on how and when to have the “talk” with kids about sex. Baskin is a Food & Parenting writer for the Boston Globe, and a humor writer for McSweeney's. We end the show by opening the lines, asking listeners how they’ve had the “talk” with their kids.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by asking listeners their thoughts on whether it’s time for workers to return to the office. Shirley Leung argues that businesses need to bring workers back in person, and discusses self-driving cars doing poorly in Southie. Leung is a business columnist for the Boston Globe. Billy Costa quizzes Jim and Margery on trivia questions, until they turn the tables and quiz Costa himself. Costa co-hosts Kiss 108’s Matty in the Morning, Dining Playbook on NESN and the host of GBH’s High School Quiz Show – season 13 of which will premiere on GBH 2 tomorrow at 6 PM. Andy Ihnatko weighs in on the Spotify controversy with Joe Rogan and Neil Young and other streaming options, and worries about the growing threat of deepfakes. Ihnatko is a tech writer and blogger, posting at Ihnatko.com. Melinda Lopez and Maurice Emmanuel Parent preview their one-man show about an actor who begins working as a teacher. Emmanuel Parent is an actor and the star of the fabulous one-man show Mr. Parent and a teacher at Tufts. Lopez is a playwright, actress and the writer of Mr. Parent. She also teaches theater and playwriting at Boston University and Northeastern University, in addition to being the inaugural Mellon Foundation playwright-in-residence at the Huntington Theatre Company. Sue O'Connell talks about former CNN president Jeff Zucker’s ousting over a secret office relationship, and Whoopi Goldberg’s misinformed comments on the Holocaust that led to her suspension from the View. O’Connell is the co-publisher of Bay Windows and the South End News, as well as NECN's political commentator and explainer-in-chief. We end the show by asking listeners their thoughts on office relationships following Zucker’s resignation from CNN.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Chuck Todd talks about former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL, arguing that the league has unfair hiring practices far removed from current corporate standards. Todd is the moderator of “Meet The Press” on NBC, host of “Meet The Press Daily” on MSNBC and the political director for NBC News. Then, we ask listeners about the state of sports following Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL and controversy surrounding the Beijing Olympics. Andrea Cabral discusses the neo-Nazi group that protested outside of Brigham and Women’s Hospital against doctors’ focus on anti-racist medical practices. Cabral is the former Suffolk County sheriff and Massachusetts secretary of public safety. She’s currently the CEO of the cannabis company Ascend. Jared Bowen talks about the Boston Lyric Opera’s “Svadba,” and the Lyric Stage Company’s “Mr. Parent.” He also previews this week’s edition of “Open Studio.” Bowen is GBH’s executive arts editor and the host of Open Studio. Lyndia Downie and John Yazwinski discuss the need for supportive housing to combat homelessness in the Greater Boston Area, and Mayor Michelle Wu’s announcement of $40 million in funding to create and preserve more than 700 units of income-restricted housing. Downey is the President and Executive Director of the Pine Street Inn, one of the largest agencies serving homeless people and developing affordable housing targeted at homeless individuals in New England. Yazwinski is the President and CEO of Father Bill’s and Mainspring, which provides shelter, housing, and homelessness prevention services to individuals and families in Southern Massachusetts. Jon Gruber talks about his recent travels through South America, and how the U.S. compares to South American countries in their responses to COVID-19. Gruber was instrumental in creating both the Massachusetts health care reform and the Affordable Care Act, and his latest book is “Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth And The American Dream.” We end the show by talking with listeners about Wordle, and the other games they’ve played to keep them from doomscrolling.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Art Caplan weighs in on Denmark getting rid of all COVID restrictions, desires for the U.S. to do the same, and ethical approaches to the metaverse following reports of sexual assault online. Caplan is director of the Division of Medical Ethics at the New York University School of Medicine. Then, we ask listeners their thoughts on whether the U.S. should follow the path of Denmark and ramp down COVID restrictions, or continue fighting the spread. Juliette Kayyem discusses the latest in the Jan. 6 committee news, tensions at the Russia-Ukraine border and a report into Miami’s dangerous condo development history following Surfside. Kayyem is an analyst for CNN, former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and faculty chair of the homeland security program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Michelle Singletary prepares listeners for tax season, including tips on how to deal with income through Venmo and Paypal and a racially biased IRS facial recognition software, and her advice when it comes to financial infidelity. Singletary is a nationally syndicated columnist for The Washington Post, whose award-winning column “The Color of Money” provides insight into the world of personal finance. Dr. Julia Brody and Dr. Mary Beth Terry talk about their series, “Cancer and the Environment,” about the link between chemicals and cancer. Brody is the executive director and senior scientist at Silent Spring Institute, a scientific research organization dedicated to uncovering the environmental causes of breast cancer. Terry is a cancer epidemiologist at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center. Joanne Chang updates listeners on the challenging state of the restaurant industry amid Omicron and uneven federal aid, and shares her Lunar New Year traditions. Joanne Chang is a James Beard Award-Winning baker and owner of Flour Bakery, as well as the fantastic Myers + Chang with her husband Christopher Myers. We end the show by asking listeners whether they’re early birds or night owls, and why people enjoy the early hours of the morning.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren sat down with Mass Restaurants United and local restaurateurs in Cambridge for a roundtable discussion on Jan. 25 to hear the struggles they’ve faced throughout the pandemic. Chief among them is a call to replenish the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) as restaurateurs enter a third year of uncertainty during the pandemic. Award-winning food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio to share his thoughts on the major takeaways from the roundtable, as well as replenishing the RRF. “It was a lot of restaurant people saying, ‘Hey, what is it with this administration? They promised us something,’” Kummer told Boston Public Radio. “But more than just complaining, they're advocating for [an additional] $60 billion in federal aid to the depleted Restaurant Revitalization Fund.” Some participants at the Jan. 25 roundtable shared that their restaurants would not have survived if it weren’t for money received from the RRF; others expressed frustration, either finding out that their restaurants were ineligible or that they had been approved for money and had yet to receive it. Kummer said that while the Small Business Administration had good intentions with the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, a messy rollout led to the fund operating more like a lottery. “The Biden administration wanted to prioritize restaurants owned by women, people of color, [and] veterans. They were supposed to be at the head of the line, and then a bunch of white, non-minority, non-women, males, [had] affirmative action challenges and said, ‘How dare you, I'm a struggling business man too. Give me the money,’” Kummer said. “Unfortunately, the challenges were upheld, but it put the whole thing into disarray and chaos.” “Many of the restaurants that were supposed to be at the end of the line, for some quirk, got put at the head of the line. Suddenly they were in, and the money went out, whereas a lot of restaurants that had been approved were held in limbo, and then the fund ran out of money.” During the wide-ranging interview, Kummer also discussed the Aspen Institute’s Food Is Medicine Initiative, as well as the growing number of restaurants getting rid of their landline phones for orders. Kummer is the executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.