Boston Public Radio

Chris Dempsey says the system is at 'maximum constriction.'

It's taken seaweed a while to become mainstream, but Sweetgreen is trying to popularize the plant.

The duo behind Myers + Chang and Flour Bakery spoke about their newest bakery opening.

Rooney wonders how the company is sustainable.

The Boston Globe columnist expressed sympathy for pianist Angela Hewitt.

Ever since a 2015 audio recording of presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg defending the controversial tactic known as stop-and-frisk resurfaced on Tuesday, Bloomberg has been playing defense.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Jonathan Gruber explains how the passage of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package could lower the cost of the Affordable Care Act. Gruber is the Ford Professor of Economics at MIT. He was instrumental in creating both the Massachusetts health-care 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." Next, we ask listeners what their thoughts were on Gov. Charlie Baker’s vaccine eligibility timeline. Juliette Kayyem discusses Tuesday’s spa and massage parlor killings in Atlanta, updating us on what Georgia officials are learning as they investigate the case. She also talks about a recently declassified report stating that the Russian government interfered with the 2020 U.S. election. 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. Art Caplan weighs in on Europe’s suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and whether it’s safe to send kids back to school with new COVID-19 variants on the rise. 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. Bina Venkataraman talks about the resurrection of the abolitionist newspaper The Emancipator by The Boston Globe, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research. She also discusses her editorials on statewide police reform and Boston police overtime. Venkataraman is the editorial page editor at The Boston Globe. Her latest book is “The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age.” We end the show by talking with listeners about reentering society, post-pandemic.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We start the show by asking listeners whether their relationship with Amazon would change if an Amazon warehouse moved into their neighborhood. Trenni Kusnierek weigh in on Sen. Mitt Romney’s New York Times op-ed calling for an economic and diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. She also discusses Cam Newton’s deal with the Patriots, and the return of the Boston Marathon. Kusnierek is a reporter and anchor for NBC Sports Boston, and a weekly Boston Public Radio contributor. Lyndia Downie talks about the challenges of keeping the homeless community safe during the pandemic. She also explains how shelters across the country are converting old hotels and motels into supportive housing. Downie is president and executive director of the Pine Street Inn. Chris Dempsey and Jim Aloisi discuss service cuts to the MBTA, as more people receive vaccinations and return to work in-person. Dempsey is the Massachusetts Director of Transportation and former assistant secretary of transportation. Aloisi is the former Massachusetts transportation secretary, a member of the Transit Matters board, and contributor to Commonwealth Magazine. Rick Steves shares his thoughts on what travel may look like once more people get vaccinated. He also talks about the difference between how Ireland and the U.S. celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. 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 latest political headlines, from moves to repeal the filibuster to the 2022 midterm elections. King is CNN's Chief National Correspondent and anchor of "Inside Politics,” which airs weekdays and Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. We wrap up the show by talking with listeners about what TV shows got them through the pandemic.

Today on Boston Public Radio: E.J. Dionne weighs in on the Biden administration’s cross-country “Help is Here” tour after the passage of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. Dionne is a columnist for The Washington Post and a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. His latest book is "Code Red: How Progressives And Moderates Can Unite To Save Our Country.” Next, we open the phone lines to hear what listeners had to say about Massachusetts’ Education Secretary James Peyser’s plan to address learning loss by expanding in-person summer school programs. Charlie Sennott discusses President Joe Biden’s charge to end the forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, touching on the current state of Al Qaeda in the Middle East. He also discussed Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq. Sennott is a GBH News analyst and the founder and CEO of The GroundTruth Project. Bob Thompson recaps Sunday night’s Grammys. He also shares his thoughts on how soon is too soon when it comes to joking about a tragedy. 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. Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett Price discusses the Vatican’s decree to not bless same-sex unions, and famous evangelist Beth Moore’s decision to leave the Southern Baptists. 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. Robert Lewis, Jr. talks about his near-death experience with COVID-19, and what the past year has been like while working with kids. Robert Lewis, Jr. is the founder of the nonprofit The BASE. We wraps up the show by asking listeners if they’re ready to return to working in-person.

Food writer Corby Kummer spoke to Boston Public Radio on Friday about how major fast food chains are bolstering infrastructure for mobile drive-through orders. Chipotle, for example, has created ‘Chipotlanes’ at many of its franchise stores for customers who have preordered meals online. “QR codes are big in drive-throughs now,” Kummer said. “If you go onto the app and you order your food, you can go into a special lane that various places are installing, it will read your QR code order, and your food will be delivered, some of it virtually contact-free.” Companies that previously had no drive-through lanes at all are creating them for the first time, like Shake Shack and Applebees, Kummer noted. Those with established fast food drive-through lanes are amping up the use of technology to improve customers’ experiences. Burger King is exploring the use of Bluetooth technology to calculate and predict a customer’s order based on everything from prior orders to the weather that particular day. “There’s more and more use of apps and more and more use of these drive-through lanes,” Kummer said. “Everybody’s jumping on this, the big clunky chains have caught on.”

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by talking with listeners about President Joe Biden’s first prime-time address on Thursday. Sue O’Connell weighs in on Gov. Charlie Baker’s statement on teachers unions, and the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance’s decision to allow politicians to purchase body armor with campaign funds. 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. Emily Rooney talks about the sexual harassment and assault allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo. She also shares her thoughts on Oprah’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Rooney is host of Beat the Press, which you can watch Friday nights at 7 p.m. Corby Kummer explains how apps are changing the way fast food drive-thrus operate, and discusses a provision within President Biden’s COVID-19 stimulus package that allocates $4 billion in debt relief to farmers of color. 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. Callie Crossley discusses the anniversary of Breonna Taylor’s murder. She also talks about Piers Morgan’s reaction to Oprah’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Crossley hosts GBH’s Under the Radar and Basic Black. Shirley Leung talks about Amazon’s proposal to turn Widett Circle into a major distribution hub, and how the catering start-up Alchemista pivoted to apartment vending machines during the pandemic. Leung is a business columnist for the Boston Globe. We wrap up the show by asking listeners whether they’re ready to make daylight saving time permanent.