Boston Public Radio

Burying bodies is risky during the spread of the coronavirus, says Andrea Cabral.

The Vice President of Blue Cross Blue Shield's Critical Programs and Strategies said Americans should be prepared to continue waiting out the virus for several weeks.

During an interview with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday, Noorani said a significant portion of the American healthcare workforce is foreign born while thousands of foreign doctors have been able to do residencies in American hospitals after acquiring J-1 visas.

The Trump administration has said that gun shops should remain open during the coronavirus crisis.

The short answer is, we're not collecting demographically disaggregated data on a national level.

Expanded unemployment insurance access and direct check to Americans is a "vital combination."

Washington state could soon become the first in the nation to mandate time and a half overtime pay for farmworkers. Food writer Corby Kummer spoke to Boston Public Radio on Friday about the state legislation that will likely be passed into law by the end of the month. “Washington state has finally agreed to pay farmworkers living wages by agreeing to overtime,” Kummer said. “The state is taking the lead in employment protection and acknowledging that farmworkers work much longer than 40 hour weeks, and so their employers are required to pay time and a half for anything over 40 hours.” The average farmworker works 60 hours a week, Kummer noted, and those hours have never included overtime pay. Kummer praised Washington for becoming the first state with such strong laws but noted his frustration over how long it has taken to secure such rights. 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: We begin the show by opening phone lines, asking listeners what they thought about universal basic income. Sue O’Connell shares her thoughts on America’s gun culture in the wake of a shooting at a FedEx warehouse in Indiana. She also talks about Bessemer Amazon employees’ vote not to unionize. 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. Dr. David Ludwig explains how the obesity epidemic in the U.S. exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic, and calls for people to be gentle with themselves with weight gain and loss. Dr. Ludwig is a physician specializing in obesity at Boston Children’s Hospital and professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His latest book, which he co-authored with Dawn Ludwig, is “Always Delicious.” Callie Crossley discusses the police-involved death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo, and a bill in Oklahoma that would give protections to drivers who run over protestors. She also previews this week’s edition of Under the Radar. Crossley hosts GBH’s Under the Radar and Basic Black. Shirley Leung talks about learning the history of anti-Asian hatred in the U.S., and Cambridge’s new program providing guaranteed basic income for single parent households. Leung is a business columnist for the Boston Globe. Corby Kummer discusses a proposal in Washington state that would grant increased overtime protections for farmworkers, and explained how school cafeteria lunches are becoming a major source of nutrition for kids. 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. We wrap up the show by talking with listeners about their experiences with work from home back pain.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Chuck Todd updates us on the latest political headlines, from attempts to grant D.C. statehood to the investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz. 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. Next, we talk with listeners about their post-vaccine reunions. Andrea Cabral discusses Derek Chauvin invoking the Fifth Amendment during his trial, and the white Milton Police officer facing backlash after she harassed teenagers attending a sleepover for liking Black Lives Matter social media posts. She also talks about the rise of the Boogaloo Boys. Cabral is the former Suffolk County sheriff and Massachusetts secretary of public safety. She’s currently the CEO of the cannabis company Ascend. Andy Ihnatko talks about Facebook whistleblower Sophie Zhang, who alleged that the tech company didn’t prioritize dealing with fake pages and likes if they were impacting politics in largely non-western, poorer countries. He also discusses the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Broadband Data Collection program. Ihnatko is a tech writer and blogger, posting at Ihnatko.com. Paul Reville explains why some kids would rather stick with online school than go in person, and shares his thoughts on the teacher shortage in the U.S. Reville is the former Massachusetts secretary of education and a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, where he also heads the Education Redesign Lab. His latest book, co-authored with Lynne Sacks, is “Collaborative Action for Equity and Opportunity: A Practical Guide for School and Community Leaders.” Andrew Ryan discusses the Boston Globe’s investigation into child sexual abuse allegations against ex-Boston police officer Patrick Rose. He also talked about the difficulty of accessing public records in Massachusetts. Ryan is an investigative reporter with the Boston Globe. We wrap up the show by asking listeners about eco-friendly commutes, following Google Map’s new promotion of eco-friendly driving routes.

Former state secretary of education Paul Reville spoke to Boston Public Radio on Thursday about how online virtual schooling could be here to stay even after the pandemic. “There’s an interesting phenomenon developing that some families and some students might prefer virtual schooling,” he said. “There are any number of reports from students and from families that their particular child learns more easily in this kind of a fashion due to special needs, their own personality, or anxieties about going out to school.” An increasing number of school districts are taking the initiative to launch virtual schools and to provide a virtual option to people, not just this year in the midst of this crisis, but in the long run, Reville noted. “They intend to set-up virtual schools to give parents the option, should they want, to have their children learn from home,” he said. “And this is more widespread than expected.” One of the multiple downsides of having a permanent virtual schooling option is that students would miss out on socialization, Reville added. “The social function of education is to help children learn to interact with one another, to disagree agreeably, to make common cause with their peers, to have fun, to make relationships, and if we make it highly individualized there are risks and downsides,” he said. “But there are also obviously position features that if were you a parent and had a child that really needed this, you could hardly blame that parent for wanting the school system to provide this, now that we know we can do it.” Reville is a professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education and co-author of the upcoming book Collaborative Action for Equity and Opportunity: A Practical Guide for School and Community Leaders.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Rep. Seth Moulton shares his thoughts on President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021. He also talks about potential cross-country high speed rail stemming from President Biden’s infrastructure plan. Congressman Moulton represents Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional district. Next, we open the phone lines, asking listeners whether they’d give up their cars if the U.S. invested in high speed rail infrastructure. Juliette Kayyem talks about the Capitol Police inspector general Michael A. Bolton’s findings in an investigation on how the Capitol Police handled the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. She also discusses the recent increase in gun violence across the U.S. 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. Patricia Wen discusses the Boston Globe’s Spotlight investigation, which found that multiple Boston hospital board CEOs have been moonlighting on corporate boards. She also speaks about the Globe’s reporting of the child sexual abuse allegations against ex-police officer and union leader Patrick Rose. Wen is the editor of the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team. Art Caplan weighs in on federal officials’ decision to pause the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and explains how it could increase vaccine hesitancy. Caplan is the Drs. William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty Chair, and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU School of Medicine. TJ and Hadley Douglas talk about how they kept their South End wine store, the Urban Grape, afloat during the pandemic. They also share their experiences over the past few months as the death of George Floyd prompted calls for racial justice and equity. TJ Douglas is the founder and CEO of the Urban Grape. Hadley Douglas is the founder and CMO of the Urban Grape. We end the show by asking listeners what hobbies they’ve picked up during the pandemic.