Boston Public Radio

Owens and Steil urged state legislators to ratify legislation extending the eviction moratorium and offering more aid to renters and homeowners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Higgins explained the fine line between social media being a platform for shared learning or performative posting.

The state Senate's police reform bill includes a statewide ban on government use of facial recognition software.

Listen to the full episode of Boston Public Radio from July 3, 2020.

The Pulitzer-prize winning author explained how Vietnamese people have repeatedly been short-changed in the way they’re depicted in Hollywood portrayals of the Vietnam War.

With more than half of American states seeing COVID-19 increases, will governors let the virus set the pace of reopening?

Today on Boston Public Radio: We started off the show by talking with listeners about your impressions of Thursday night’s presidential debate, the last before the November election. NBC Sports Boston anchor and reporter Trenni Kusnierek discussed the growing number of professional athletes taking part in get-out-the-vote campaigns, a recent article by Celtics point guard Marcus Smart titled "This Article is Not About Basketball," and low sports viewership numbers for 2020. Beat the Press host Emily Rooney talked about President Trump’s contentious “60 Minutes” interview, and weighed in on the rising number of coronavirus cases in Mass. Jill Shah spoke about the new stipend program for low-income families in Chelsea, Mass. Shah is president of the Shah Family Foundation, which is coordinating and supporting efforts between Chelsea and philanthropic partners to facilitate one of the largest universal basic income programs in the nation. Emerson Baker talked about the history of the Salem Witch Trials, and the elements at play in 1692 Salem that are relevant to America today. Baker is a professor of history and a General Education Faculty Fellow at Salem State University. He's also the author of multiple books, including “A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience." Food writer Corby Kummer compared the eating habits of former Vice President Joe Biden to those of President Donald Trump. He also discussed various ways restaurants and food brands are pivoting for the election, and reflected on rising food insecurity in the U.S., seven months into the coronavirus pandemic. Closing out the show, we talked to listeners about your strategies for staying outside and virus-free in the winter of coronavirus.

Food writer Corby Kummer spoke to Boston Public Radio on Friday about a new program in Cambridge aiming to help small local businesses during the upcoming winter season of the pandemic. The Patio Heater Reimbursement Program will reimburse restaurants up to $250.00 per portable patio heater. “I hope other cities will take it up, subsidizing these outdoor heaters is great,” he said. “Having the subsidy to give people indoor ventilators with proper MERV 13 filters I think would be a next step.” Kummer is a senior editor at The Atlantic, an award-winning food writer, and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy.

Today on Boston Public Radio: NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd discussed former President Barack Obama’s rebuke of President Trump in a Wednesday stump speech for former Vice President Joe Biden. He also talked about the stakes for Thursday’s presidential debate, moderated by his NBC colleague Kristen Welker. We opened our lines to hear your thoughts on former President Obama joining the campaign trail for Joe Biden, and to talk about your feelings heading into the final presidential debate. Former Suffolk County sheriff and secretary of public safety Andrea Cabral discussed voter suppression in the U.S., and why she’s not optimistic about the future of voting rights in the wake of Monday’s Supreme Court decision protecting late-arriving absentee ballots in Penn. She also touched on recent statements from an anonymous juror in the Breonna Taylor case, who said this week that the grand jury did not agree on whether Taylor's shooting was fully justified. Matthew Teitelbaum, the Ann and Graham Gund Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, discussed how the MFA is adapting to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as how they're working to confront issues of race in the art space. He also gave a debrief on the opening of the MFA's long-awaited exhibit showcasing the work of painter Jean-Michel Basquiat. Next, we turned to callers to hear your thoughts on the censorship of art, in a conversation about a series of postponed exhibits of artist Philip Guston. Tech writer Andy Ihnatko weighed in on the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit brought against Google, as well as Apple’s buyout of the Charlie Brown TV specials, and new AI-powered "neural filters” coming on the latest edition of Adobe Photoshop. Ihnatko is a tech writer and blogger, posting at Ihnatko.com. Former Mass. Education Secretary Paul Reville talked about Wednesday's decision by city officials to bring Boston Public Schools back to all-remote learning, and other headlines around the shaky return to classrooms during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Boston School Committee decided unanimously to ditch the exam schools admission test for one year due to the challenges presented by administering an exam during a pandemic. The new plan instead will rely on grades, MCAS scores, and ZIP codes to determine eligibility and acceptance. While the School Committee accepted the new plan 7-0, former Education Secretary Paul Reville told Boston Public Radio Thursday it is an imperfect solution to the problem. “It’s not going to go away as a controversy,” said Reville. “This is a flawed plan, but any plan would be flawed in these times. To get a fair calculation of merit in the absence of a tool that applies to all students … to do that in this environment of coronavirus is impossible to do, so they’re settling for the next best thing.” The newly-approved system reserves the first 20 percent of seats at Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy and the O'Bryant School of Mathematics for Boston students with the highest pre-COVID grades in BPS, charter, private and religious schools in the city. The remaining 80 percent would be offered in rounds based on grades in individual zip codes, starting with those zip codes with the lowest median incomes. Paul Reville is former Secretary of Education and a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education where he also runs the Education Redesign Lab. His latest book, co-authored with Elaine Weiss, is “Broader, Bolder, Better: How Schools and Communities Help Students Overcome the Disadvantages of Poverty.”

Today on Boston Public Radio: We kicked off the show by opening lines to talk with listeners about Coronavirus and the classroom, and Wednesday’s news that Boston Public Schools will be returning to fully remote learning. Tiffany Faison, chef and owner of Sweet Cheeks, Tiger Mama, Fool’s Errand, and Orfano, checked in to talk about how her restaurants are holding up, seven months into the coronavirus pandemic. CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem discussed the 545 migrant children who’ve yet to be reunited with their parents after getting separated by U.S. officials at the U.S. Mexico border. She also weighed in on President Trump’s refusal to tone down rhetoric around Mich. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, despite the recent attempt on her life by a right-wing militia. MassLive reporter Steph Solis broke down Mass. ballot Question 1, concerning the state’s "Right to Repair" law, and talked about the often confusing campaigns for and against it. Medical ethicist Art Caplan ran through the latest coronavirus headlines, including president Trump’s sustained attacks on his own COVID-19 task force advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and new polling showing Americans are increasingly skeptical about a fast-tracked vaccine from the Trump Administration. He also weighed in on a new law, proposed in the Netherlands, that would allow doctors to facilitate the deaths of terminally ill children. Closing out the show, we reopened lines to discuss schooling in the era of COVID with teachers, parents, and students.