Boston Public Radio

What will life after social distancing look like?

"The most powerful human being on the entire planet" wants more attention, says O'Connell.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley said Gov. Charlie Baker is open to rescinding state-issued voluntary guidelines for hospitals regarding rationing medical equipment.

Grossman said he's concerned a majority of the $350 billion in small business loans will not go to minority owned businesses.

The audio memoir is currently available through Audible.com and free for new members.

Joe Biden needs to stay on the sidelines until society begins to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic, says Todd.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by asking listeners their experiences with recycling, and seeing if they can guess whether an item is recyclable or not. David Cash weighs in on the Biden Administration’s approach to climate, including on electric vehicles, limiting emissions and more. Cash is the EPA's Regional Administrator for Region 1, leading the implementation of the Biden-Harris environmental agenda in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and in 10 Tribal Nations. Callie Crossley discusses Syracuse police detaining an 8-year-old Black boy for stealing a bag of chips, and Former President Donald Trump’s campaign being ordered to pay around $1.3 million in legal fees to Omarosa Manigault Newman, former White House aide, following Trump’s legal complaint surrounding criticism of him in her book. Crossley hosts GBH’s Under the Radar and Basic Black. Shirley Leung talks about the current biotech bubble, Arthur Jemison, Mayor Michelle Wu’s new pick for chief of planning, and flight attendant crashpads in the city. Leung is a business columnist for the Boston Globe. David Abel explains his piece about special mice on Nantucket curbing the tick population, attitudes around the urgency of climate change and state climate action. David Abel is a climate reporter for the Boston Globe. Sue O’Connell discusses Ludlow parents suing a school over its affirmation of their trans child, and the right wing Twitter account Libs of TikTok, feeding anti-LGBTQ hate. O’Connell is the co-publisher of Bay Windows and South End News, and contributor to Current, on NBC LX and NECN. Sue O'Connell on BPR | April 22, 2022 We end the show by discussing a lottery winner in Methuen who decided to split the winnings with a shop owner who had done him a good deed.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by asking listeners whether they think American kids are too coddled, in light of the new Netflix show “Old Enough!” in which Japanese toddlers run errands independently. Susan Yanow discusses the state of abortion rights in the U.S., stories of women arrested for at-home abortions and how people across the country can find abortion resources. Yanow a co-founder of the international nonprofit Women Help Women, which supports women across the world in accessing abortion medication. She’s the spokesperson for their U.S. based program SASS, or Self-Managed Abortion, Safe and Suppored. Andrea Cabral talks about the problems with no-knock police raids, and former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia II soon heading to prison after multiple delays. Cabral is the former Suffolk County sheriff and Massachusetts secretary of public safety, and former CEO of the cannabis company Ascend. Andy Ihnatko updates listeners on the world of tech, including AI technology that can generate original images based on user descriptions, and a Russian soldier who stole AirPods, allowing the former Ukrainian owner to track his location. Ihnatko is a tech writer and blogger, posting at Ihnatko.com. Karla Hoyos and Henry Patterson share their experiences cooking for refugees at the Polish-Ukrainian border with World Central Kitchen. Hoyos is a Miami-based chef who ran the World Central Kitchen in Poland, as well as in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Patterson is the founder of Bel Canto, the consulting group ReThink Restaurants and Somerville restaurant incubator CWC, Inc. Jon Gruber made a case for why the U.S. needs to ramp up pandemic funding for both COVID-19 and future outbreaks. Gruber was instrumental in creating both the Massachusetts healthcare 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 asking listeners their opinions on tipping.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by asking listeners whether it’s time for the U.S. to increase military aid to Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion. Art Caplan shares his thoughts on the Florida judge who overturned federal COVID-19 mask mandates on transit. Caplan is the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor and founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU School of Medicine in New York City. Nathaniel Stinnett talks about efforts to increase voting numbers among environmentalists. Stinnett is founder and executive director of the Environmental Voter Project. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld discusses his research into the companies that have left Russia in the wake of the country’s invasion of Ukraine – and the ones that have stayed behind. Sonnenfeld is the Lester Crown professor of management practice at the Yale School of Management and director of the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute. Ali Noorani updates us on the latest immigration headlines, focusing on Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis controversial moves to bus undocumented migrants to D.C. and Delaware. Noorani is President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Immigration Forum. Sy Montgomery joins us for this month’s edition of “The Afternoon Zoo,” talking about Attorney General Maura Healey’s announcement that a financial services company illegally leased dogs, and the resurgence of wildlife in New England. Montgomery is a journalist, naturalist and a BPR contributor. Her latest book is an illustrated story, “The Seagull and the Sea Captain.” We end the show by talking with listeners about their encounters with what Boston Globe reporter Billy Baker is calling “the new golden age of wildlife in New England.”

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by asking listeners their reactions to the news that masks are no longer required on planes and trains following a ruling yesterday from a Florida federal judge. Trenni Kusnierek discusses Henry Richard crossing the Boston Marathon finish line nine years after his brother Martin was killed in the bombing, and the Celtics winning their first game of NBA playoffs. Kusnierek is a reporter and anchor for NBC Sports Boston, as well as a weekly Boston Public Radio contributor. BenDeLaCreme previews her upcoming show in Boston tonight and shares memories from her dramatic self-elimination from season three of RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars. BenDeLaCreme is the star of Season 6 of Drag Race, as well as All Stars 3. She is in town for her comedy tour “Ready to Be Committed” at Big Night Live. Juliette Kayyem talks about gun violence becoming the leading cause of death for American children and the latest from the January 6 Commission. Kayyem is former assistant secretary for homeland security under President Barack Obama, and the faculty chair of the homeland-security program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Jared Bowen explains NFTs and what they mean for the art world, and talks about newest shows including “Don’t Eat the Mangoes” by Teatro Chelsea and Apollinaire Theatre Company, and “20 Artists: Global Positioning,” replacing bus shelter ads with public art. Bowen is GBH’s executive arts editor and the host of Open Studio. John King updates listeners on the latest political headlines, including what’s at stake in the upcoming midterm elections and how President Joe Biden’s presidency will affect voting. King is CNN's Chief National Correspondent and anchor of "Inside Politics,” which airs weekdays and Sunday mornings at 8 a.m.

Following Bridget Huber’s reporting for the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN) on the end of emergency SNAP benefits, food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio to discuss an impending “hunger cliff” that could dramatically increase food insecurity in the U.S. In the early days of the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) temporarily strengthened SNAP, with households under the program receiving at least $95 extra per month. But 12 Republican-led states that have ended their pandemic emergency declarations without placing “a narrower public health emergency declaration in place,” thereby ending additional SNAP benefits provided by the USDA. The Biden administration recently extended the National Public Health Emergency, which was originally declared in March 2020, to mid-July — continuing emergency SNAP benefits for states that still have public health emergency declarations in place. “People who have gotten used to the increased pandemic benefits on SNAP for food assistance are suddenly seeing the monthly bump in their SNAP benefits go — in the case of a woman in Des Moines, Iowa — from $250 a month to $20 a month,” Kummer said. “The USDA, which runs SNAP, issued 4.1 billion in emergency allotments to more than 19 million households. This February, the most recent data available was $2.8 billion as opposed to $4.1 billion in emergency allotments. [That’s] 15 million households, not 19 million,” Kummer continued. “So you're already looking at billions cut: at least 4 million fewer households [are] getting it, and we can only imagine what that's going to be in the months to come.” 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.