Boston Public Radio

The “Open Studio” host offered several recommendations for ways listeners can support artists and theater workers.

The federal government will need to provide a safety net to protect people and businesses who are struggling during the spread of COVID-19.

Todd predicts that we have until the end of April before people start getting cabin fever.

The National Immigrant Forum's executive director accused the Trump administration of 'trying to create a narrative that blames the foreigner’ for the coronavirus.

The senator liked the impact of COVID-19 to World War II and the Great Depression.

Ordering food delivery is fine if you follow a protocol to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Throughout the show, we took listeners’ calls on the Derek Chauvin trial verdict. Michael Curry shares his thoughts on the Derek Chauvin trial verdict, urging that the fight for racial justice is not over. Curry is the president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and a member of Governor Charlie Baker’s COVID Vaccine Advisory Group. He’s also a Member of the National NAACP Board of Directors, and the Chair of the Board’s Advocacy & Policy Committee. Jamarhl Crawford talks about his work with Blackstonian and the Boston Police Reform Task Force, and weighs in on how racial justice activists should continue their work. Crawford is a community activist, the publisher of Blackstonian and a member of the Boston Police Reform Task Force. Rahsaan Hall explains how people may feel more emboldened to film police encounters due to the video evidence used in the trial of Derek Chauvin. He also talks about Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ decision to not prosecute low level offenses. Hall is the director of the Racial Justice Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts. Juliette Kayyem argues for the elimination of elected law enforcement officials and a decrease in the number of police departments 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. Andrea Cabral gives her legal analysis of the Derek Chauvin trial and verdict, and discusses potential strategies the defense teams representing the three other officers charged in George Floyd’s death might use in court. Cabral is the former Suffolk County sheriff and Massachusetts secretary of public safety. She’s currently the CEO of the cannabis company Ascend. Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III share their thoughts on whether Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict amounts to justice for George Floyd. They also talk about the generational trauma of police brutality and anti-Black violence. Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist, the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Trail, and a visiting researcher in the Religion and Conflict Transformation Program at the Boston University School of Theology. Price is an executive director of the Institute for the Study of the Black Christian Experience at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Together, they host GBH’s All Rev’d Up podcast.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by opening phone lines, asking listeners whether Massachusetts should lift rules on wearing masks outside. Trenni Kusnierek talks about the backlash against the European Super League, and her plans for the Tokyo Olympics. She also discusses the debate over bills seeking to ban transgender athletes from school sports. Kusnierek is an anchor and reporter for NBC Sports Boston, and a weekly Boston Public Radio contributor. Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui discusses Cambridge’s new universal basic income pilot program, which is set to launch in August. Chris Dempsey and Jim Aloisi share their thoughts on President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, and clean energy in transportation. Dempsey is the director of the nonprofit Transportation for Massachusetts, and the former assistant secretary of transportation of Massachusetts. Aloisi is the former Massachusetts transportation secretary, a member of the Transit Matters board, and contributor to Commonwealth Magazine. Rick Steves argues for the decriminalization of marijuana as a way of mitigating mass incarceration and advancing civil liberties. He also talks about his self-imposed carbon tax. Steves is an author, television and radio host and the owner of the Rick Steves' Europe tour group. You can catch his television show, "Rick Steves’ Europe," weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on GBH 2 and his radio show, “Travel With Rick Steves,” Sundays at 4 p.m. on GBH. John King updates us on the trial of Derek Chauvin. King is CNN's Chief National Correspondent and anchor of "Inside Politics,” which airs weekdays and Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. To end the show, we talk with listeners about all things cannabis.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We start off the show by talking with listeners about a Twitter free of former President Donald Trump. Ali Noorani discusses President Joe Biden’s initial decision to keep former President Trump’s historically low refugee cap, and his reversal after outcry from Democrats and activists. He also talks about refugee resettlement initiatives throughout U.S. history. Noorani is President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Immigration Forum. His latest book is "There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration.” Michael Curry shares his thoughts on police brutality in America, and the state of vaccine equity in Massachusetts following the suspension of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Curry is the president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and a member of Governor Charlie Baker’s COVID Vaccine Advisory Group. He’s also a Member of the National NAACP Board of Directors, and the Chair of the Board’s Advocacy & Policy Committee. Senator Chris Murphy talks about his book, “The Violence Inside Us: A Brief History of an Ongoing American Tragedy,” and weighs in on the difference in media coverage of white and Black victims of gun violence. Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price weigh in on televangelist Pat Robertson’s statement on police brutality in America, and whether his condemnation of police violence could change the minds of Evangelical Christians and conservatives. Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist, the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Trail, and a visiting researcher in the Religion and Conflict Transformation Program at the Boston University School of Theology. Price is an executive director of the Institute for the Study of the Black Christian Experience at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Together, they host GBH’s All Rev’d Up podcast. Bob Thompson shares his thoughts on Fox News’ new late night comedy show “Gutfeld!” and TBS’ show “Chad” starring Nasim Pedrad. He also talks about the upcoming Academy Awards. Thompson is the founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture and a professor of television and popular culture at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. We end the show by asking listeners if they were inspired to pick up running in the spirit of Marathon Monday.

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.