Boston Public Radio

Mayor Marty Walsh said the city hopes to test 180,000 people before reopening the economy.

The president suggested earlier this week that disinfectants could be injected in human bodies to fight the coronavirus.

The "Beat the Press" host said coronavirus anxiety has her panic-running her dishwasher and drinking more coffee than ever.

The former state education secretary cautioned that weak implementation could further widen the state’s achievement gap.

With many of the region's popular summer season arts offerings cancelled, the economy will take a hit.

According to a recent poll conducted by Suffolk University and the Boston Globe between March 24-27, less than a fifth of respondents said they owned a gun, but one in seven responded “yes” when asked if they wished they did.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Michelle Singletary gives financial advice for the new year, including navigating the buy now pay later trend, the state of inflation and overdraft fees. 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. Then, we ask listeners their thoughts on the buy now pay later trend and other financial plans. Juliette Kayyem discusses the chaos on I-95 which closed this week due to snow in Virginia, and the latest on the Jan. 6 investigation one year after the insurrection. 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. Lauren Kennedy talks about Omicron’s strain on child care and early education workers during the latest surge, and the work her group does to provide access to testing. Lauren Kennedy is co-founder of Neighborhood Villages, a non-profit that works to improve access to affordable child care and early education. Art Caplan updates listeners on the latest with Omicron, and how he thinks the country should navigate the next couple weeks as cases surge. Caplan is director of the division of medical ethics at the New York University School of Medicine. Jared Bowen previews the newest arts events in the region, including an exhibit about love at the Worcester Art Museum, Immersive Van Gogh shows and “WITNESS,” a show about Jewish immigration during times of antisemitism. Bowen is GBH’s executive arts editor and the host of Open Studio. We end the show by asking listeners if they have returned to movie theaters at this point in the pandemic.

On Tuesday’s Boston Public Radio, food writer Corby Kummer said he’s hoping more companies follow in the heels of coffee behemoth Starbucks, which is now requiring proof-of-vaccination for its hundreds of thousands of U.S. employees. Workers who opt out of vaccines will have to submit weekly tests, conducted at the employee’s expense. “This is an example of a big company saying ‘we’ve had it, we just have to get vaccinated, this is the wave of the future – no more pussyfooting around,’ and I think it’s great,” Kummer told hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan. He did, however, raise concerns that public perception of Starbucks as a “liberal” corporation might dissuade business leaders on the conservative side of the political spectrum to shirk responsibility for getting employees vaccinated against COVID-19. “I think that we all wish that it wasn’t a seeming political litmus test,” he lamented. “‘Oh, Starbucks must be Democratic, they must be liberal!’” Kummer went on to list Tyson Foods as an instance of a corporation with a perceived conservative bent taking steps to protect workers from infection. “If there were more and more right wing-perceived companies mandating this, it would really help,” he said. “But Starbucks is big [and] publicly influential, and I hope this will have the effect of causing many others to impose mandates.” 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.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by asking listeners how they’re faring as students, teachers and parents figure out back to school plans amid Omicron spread. Trenni Kusnierek talks about Antonio Brown walking off the field mid-game and getting fired from the Buccaneers, and a hockey fan saving an NHL staffer from cancer by spotting a mole from the stands. Kusnierek is a reporter and anchor for NBC Sports Boston, and a weekly Boston Public Radio contributor. Carol Rose discusses the ACLU’s national and local priorities in 2022, including work on voting rights, police reform and facial recognition software. Rose is the Executive Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. A.C. Thompson previews his documentary on the Jan. 6 insurrection, and weighs in on the state of far-right extremism in the U.S. Thompson is a senior reporter at ProPublica and a FRONTLINE correspondent. His documentary, “American Insurrection,” airs at 10 p.m. eastern on PBS and will be available to stream on Frontline’s website, YouTube, and the PBS video app. Corby Kummer talks about the Biden Administration’s push to aid small meat producers, Starbucks requiring all U.S. employees to get vaccinated and a pastry program in an Italian prison. 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. John King weighs in on the status of Build Back Better and the state of media and democracy in the U.S. King is CNN's Chief National Correspondent and anchor of "Inside Politics,” which airs weekdays and Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. We end the show by asking listeners what phrases they would like to get rid of in 2022.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by checking in with listeners about how they’re doing as Omicron spreads in the new year. Mike Deehan updates listeners on the state of the governor’s race, including potential Democratic and Republican candidates, after Governor Charlie Baker announced he will not be running for reelection. Deehan covers the statehouse for GBH News. Charlie Sennott discusses the latest international news, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s funeral and the state of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Sennott is a GBH News analyst and the founder and CEO of The GroundTruth Project. Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson talk about Mayor Michelle Wu’s transit agenda, including free fare pilot programs, and the problems with parking in the city. Aloisi is the former Massachusetts transportation secretary, a member of the Transit Matters board and contributor to Commonwealth Magazine. Thompson is executive director of Livable Streets. The Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III discuss Tutu’s legacy in helping end South African apartheid following the Archbishop’s funeral Saturday. Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist, the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Trail and co-host of the All Rev’d Up podcast. Price is the founding pastor of Community of Love Christian Fellowship in Allston, the inaugural dean of Africana studies at Berklee College of Music and co-host of the All Rev’d Up podcast. Sara Jensen Carr tells stories of how epidemics throughout history have shaped geographic landscapes, including in the Boston area. Carr is an assistant professor of architecture, urbanism and landscape at Northeastern University. Her new book is “The Topography of Wellness: How Health and Disease Shaped the American Landscape.” We end the show by asking listeners about their new years resolutions, if they’re setting them at all.

In the last episode of Boston Public Radio in 2021, we're bringing you some of our favorite chefs from recent months. Joanne Chang talks about her latest book inspired by her baking journals, “Pastry Love: A Baker’s Journal of Favorite Recipes.” Chang is a James Beard Award–winning pastry chef. Bren Smith shares different ways to eat kelp in his book “Eat Like a Fish: My Adventures Farming the Ocean to Fight Climate Change.” Smith is a former commercial fisherman and executive director of the non-profit GreenWave, focused on regenerative farming in water ecosystems. Jacques Pépin and Shorey Wesen discuss cooking together as grandfather and granddaughter as part of their latest collaboration, the cookbook “A Grandfather’s Lessons: In the Kitchen with Shorey.” Pépin is a chef, author and PBS contributor. Wesen is his granddaughter and cookbook collaborator. Dolores Huerta talks about why her work as a labor leader for farm workers’ rights remains as relevant today as it was in the 1960s, and about coining the phrase “Sí, se puede.” Huerta is an activist and co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association alongside Cesar Chaves. Nathan Myhrvold dives into the world of bread baking with his latest cookbook, a 50 pound, six-volume series titled “Modernist Bread, The Art and Science.” Myhrvold is a Microsoft executive turned experimental chef and founder of The Cooking Lab. Marcus Samuelsson highlights Ethiopian, Swedish and other international cuisines in talking about his PBS show “No Passport Required.” Samuelsson is a global restaurateur, chef and TV host. Andrew Li and Irene Li share food and tips from their latest cookbook, which they wrote with their sister Margaret Li: “Double Awesome Chinese Food: Irresistible and Totally Achievable Recipes from Our Chinese-American Kitchen.” Andrew Li and Irene Li are co-founders of the restaurant Mei Mei, along with their sister Margaret Li. Christopher Kimball previews his latest Milk Street cookbook, “Tuesday Nights Mediterranean: 125 Simple Weeknight Recipes from the World's Healthiest Cuisine.” Kimball is the founder of Milk Street, a food media company which produces Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Magazine. He’s also the host of Milk Street Radio and Milk Street TV.