Boston Public Radio

Inmates in Parchman, MS have used contraband cell phones to expose poor living conditions.

On Dec. 29, 2019 seventeen term congressman Rep. John Lewis announced that he is receiving treatment for stage four pancreatic cancer

A new report estimates more than a billion animals are 'dead or dying' from the fires.

In three weeks, voters in New Hampshire will cast their votes in the first presidential primary of the 2020 election.

On Sunday, the New York Times decided to select their endorsement for the candidate to beat former reality television star and President Donald Trump via their television show “The Weekly”.

The proposed legislation hopes to modernize state police hiring, promotions, accountability and discipline within the department.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We start the show by asking listeners what they think about the state of Boston’s public transit. Trenni Kusnierek discusses golfer Matthew Fitzpatrick’s dramatic win at the US Open. She also talks about Jayson Tatum’s role in the Celtics’ loss, and Amy Kaufman speaking out as the victim of domestic violence from her ex-husband, sports writer Jonah Keri. Kusnierek is a reporter and anchor for NBC Sports Boston, and a weekly Boston Public Radio contributor. Jared Bowen shares his thoughts on the American Repertory Theater’s revitalized run of “1776,” as well as “The Light” at the Lyric Stage Company, and the “wiild negro is love” exhibition at the Cultural Equity Incubator. Bowen is GBH’s executive arts editor and the host of Open Studio. Bill Burr talks about being the first comedian to perform at Fenway Park. Burr is a comedian, actor and Massachusetts-native, with standup specials including “Paper Tiger,” “Walk Your Way Out,” and “I’m Sorry You Feel That Way,” and roles in Netflix’s “F Is For Family,” Disney+'s “The Mandalorian,” and the film “The King of Staten Island.” He’ll be playing Fenway Park on August 21. We end the show by turning to live coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings.

Today on Boston Public Radio: EJ Dionne shares his thoughts on the latest news from the Jan. 6 committee hearing, and violent threats from the alt-right targeting Republicans in Congress. Dionne is a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. His latest book is “Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country.” We then open the phone lines, asking listeners if they’re holding back on their summer plans due to rising inflation. Michael Curry discusses the legacy of Juneteenth, and the CDC’s approval of COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5. Curry is chair of the NAACP Advocacy and Policy Committee, and is president and CEO of the Mass League of Community Health Centers. Sally Starr reflects on 50 years of Title IX. Starr is the head field hockey coach at Boston University. She has coached women’s collegiate sports for over 45 years. Next, we talk with listeners about their experiences in school sports in the 50 years since Title IX was enacted. Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III weigh in on the federal commemoration of Juneteenth, and potential corporatization of the holiday. Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist and the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Trail. Price is founding pastor of Community of Love Christian Fellowship in Allston, and the Inaugural Dean of Africana Studies at Berklee College of Music. Together they host the “All Rev’d Up” podcast. Richard Blanco shares his favorite poems for Pride Month. Blanco joins us regularly to lead Village Voice, a conversation about how poetry can help us better understand our lives. He’s the fifth presidential inaugural poet in US history. His latest book, “How to Love a Country,” deals with various socio-political issues that shadow America. We end the show by asking listeners for their most mortifying stories of falling down.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by talking with listeners about whether families are being priced out of Boston. Callie Crossley talks about the history and future of Juneteenth, and the Boston bar trolling Stephen and Ayesha Curry. Crossley hosts GBH’s Under the Radar and Basic Black. Patty Bouree and Allison McClaury join us for Drag Queen Story Hour, live at the Boston Public Library. They also talk about LGBTQ+ acceptance in the wake of politicians’ attacks on drag events across the country. Patty Bouree heads Boston’s Branch of Drag Queen Story Hour. MacLaury is the director of education for the Mosesian Center for the Arts. Together, they’re organizing “Let’s Say Gay! A Community Pride Event” at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown. David Hogg weighs in on the road ahead for gun legislation in Washington. Hogg is a Parkland shooting survivor and a co-founder of March For Our Lives. Sue O’Connell talks about Yellowstone National Park’s “unprecedented” flooding, and the visible ways climate change has impacted the U.S. National Park System. 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. Jessica Johnson Brock, Annie Rabbat, Patricia Au, and Vera Savage join us for a live performance at the Boston Public Library ahead of this weekend’s Boston Lyric Opera’s Street Stage shows. Johnson Brock is the Senior Director of Artistic Operations at the Boston Lyric Opera. Rabbat, Au, and Savage are members of the Boston Lyric Opera. We end the show by talking with listeners about France’s worker-friendly laws, from 30 days of paid vacation to restrictions on when bosses can text employees.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Judge Nancy Gertner shares her thoughts on the Jan. 6 hearings so far, including Ginni Thomas’ emails, and the possibility of former President Donald Trump being indicted. Gertner is a retired federal judge, and is now a senior lecturer at Harvard Law School. Then, we ask listeners if they’re struggling to give the Jan. 6 hearings adequate attention given the overwhelming state of the news. Andrea Cabral talks about the Jan. 6 hearings, a the thwarted white supremacist riot plot on a pride event in Idaho, and the ruling that a Bronx Zoo elephant named Happy is not a legal person. Cabral is the former Suffolk County sheriff and secretary of public safety, and former CEO of the cannabis company Ascend. Judd Legum discusses his reporting on the pledges corporations made about not funding politicians who voted to overturn the 2020 election. Legum writes the newsletter Popular Information. He was the founder and editor of ThinkProgress, Hillary Clinton’s Research Director for her 2008 presidential campaign and a Democratic nominee for State Delegate in Maryland in 2010. We then carry live coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings.

During a segment of Tuesday’s Boston Public Radio, award-winning food writer Corby Kummer chimed in on hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan’s debate over eating alone. “Eating alone at a bar is one of life's most satisfying occupations,” Kummer told Boston Public Radio. “I was in a lot of Boston restaurants over the weekend, and the number of people I saw either happily with a book or sitting at a bar alone and looking like there was nothing else they would rather be doing I found really striking.” “[There was a] level of contentment — not artificially looking up as if they have a friend coming — there was none of that,” Kummer added. “There was ‘I'm happy to be here by myself.’ This is a great thing.” Kummer is 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.