Boston Public Radio

When it comes to health care, fewer choices may lead to better decisions.

Education reformers praised the bill for promising to inject $1.5 billion into the state’s schools, but the funding for the bill is expected to come from future tax revenues and the hope that the legislature continues to allocate funding for schools in future budgets.

The upside down OK hand sign, known as a white power symbol, was flashed by men in uniform during the football game television coverage.

On Dec. 12, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party won 326 seats in the United Kingdom’s Parliament and secured an absolute majority.

The reverends discuss the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, which investigators think could have influenced the attackers in last week's anti-Semitic domestic terror attack in Jersey City.

The Hallmark Channel has reinstated ads featuring two brides kissing, after initially pulling them at the outcry of a conservative group.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Adam Reilly and Saraya Wintersmith give final insights from the Boston mayoral race before tomorrow’s election. Reilly is a reporter for GBH News and co-host of the Scrum politics podcast. Wintersmith covers Boston City Hall for GBH News. They co-host “Election 2021: Boston’s Race Into History” on GBH 2. Then, we ask listeners their thoughts on tomorrow’s mayoral election. Charlie Sennott updates listeners on the state of climate change and statements from leaders at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP62. Sennott is a GBH News analyst and the founder and CEO of The GroundTruth Project. Michelle Singletary talks about the importance of the child tax credit and paid child leave, sharing her experiences facing racism and caring for her brother as a young adult. She also gives tips on how to avoid internet scams. Singletary is a nationally syndicated columnist for The Washington Post, whose award-winning column "The Color of Money" provides insight into the world of personal finance. Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III weigh in on a Boston Globe report showing how Black and white people travel to different areas of the city, and persisting reactions to Dave Chappelle Netflix special. Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist, the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Trail and co-host of the All Rev’d Up podcast. Price is the founding pastor of Community of Love Christian Fellowship in Allston, the Inaugural Dean of Africana Studies at Berklee College of Music and co-host of the All Rev’d Up podcast. Richard Blanco reads fall-themed poetry, including “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost, “The Blower of Leaves” by January Gill O’Neil, “November 2: Día de los muertos” by Alberto Ríos and “Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio” by James Wright. Blanco is the fifth inaugural poet in U.S. history. His latest book, "How To Love A Country," deals with various socio-political issues that shadow America. We end the show by talking with listeners about how they’re adapting their gift-giving plans amid supply chain issues and shortages.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Attorney General Maura Healey answers questions from listeners in this month’s Ask the AG, including queries about fraudulent contractors, electric vehicle rebates, Facebook and more. Maura Healey is the Massachusetts Attorney General. Callie Crossley weighs in on Facebook’s new branding and Republican politicians’ mocking actor Alec Baldwin, after his discharging of a prop gun killed director of photography Halyna Hutchins. Crossley hosts GBH’s Under the Radar and Basic Black. Michael Norton answers questions from listeners about his latest research on friendship and human behavior, which showed that people feel more content when connecting with a wide variety of people, as opposed to a small number of close friends. Norton is a behavioral economist, the Harold M. Brierly Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and a member of Harvard’s Behavioral Insights Group. His latest book is “Happy Money, the Science of Happier Spending.” Ryan Landry calls in as “Helen the Witch” ahead of Halloween, to talk about how Provincetown avoided a COVID-19 disaster and give updates on his life as a canned-tomato influencer. Ryan Landry is a playwright, lyricist, actor and founder of the Gold Dust Orphans theatrical company. His new album is “The Vamps.” Then, we talk to listeners about all things Halloween, including experiences with haunting and opinions on candy corn.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Shirley Leung weighs in on clashes between activists and the government over clearing tents at Mass. and Cass, and debates over sports betting and a proposed footbridge between Somerville and the Encore Casino in Everett. Leung is a business columnist for The Boston Globe and a Boston Public Radio contributor. Then, we ask listeners about whether President Joe Biden should compromise or call Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema’s bluffs in negotiations over the spending bill. Dr. Trisha Pasricha tells stories of the sexism she has faced in the field of medicine, and emphasizes the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant people. Pasricha is a gastroenterologist at Mass General Hospital, a physician at Harvard Medical School and a health contributor at the Washington Post. Andy Ihnatko talks about how to protect technology from storms, in the wake of this week’s nor’easter. Ihnatko is a tech writer and blogger, posting at Ihnatko.com. Arthur Brooks discusses the key to happiness, drawing from his social science work and latest podcast, “How to Build a Happy Life.” He’s the William Henry Bloomberg professor of the practice of public leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, a professor of management practice at the Harvard Business School, the happiness correspondent at The Atlantic and host of the podcast series How to Build a Happy Life. Jon Gruber talks through proposals to tax billionaires and corporations, and the likelihood that they would pass in Congress. Gruber teaches 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. We end the show by asking listeners about times they have dropped the ball at crucial moments, after a Massachusetts doctor was fined for falling asleep in his car and missing a surgery.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Art Caplan weighs in on Deborah Birx, who helped run the pandemic response under the Trump Administration, testifying to Congress about how many lives could have been saved from COVID-19 had Donald Trump taken preventative measures. 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. Then, we ask listeners about their experiences with the ongoing nor’easter, and worsening extreme weather across the world. Juliette Kayyem gives an overview of the recently released Facebook files, and talks about what might happen if the Democrats cannot push through their spending bill. 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. Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu talks about her plan to improve housing, address the crisis at Mass. and Cass, support the cannabis industry and require proof of vaccination for restaurants and other indoor venues. Wu is a Boston City Councilor At-Large running for mayor of Boston. Boston City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George discussing her approach to housing, solving Mass. and Cass and improving the MBTA, as well as her identity as Arab American. She also talked about her thoughts on cannabis and her husband’s work as a developer. Essaibi George is Boston City Councilor At Large and a candidate for Boston mayor. Sy Montgomery gives the latest updates from the animal kingdom, including how squirrels store nuts, shark sightings along Cape Cod and why lemurs have rhythm. Montgomery is a journalist, naturalist and a BPR contributor. We end the show by talking with listeners whether or not they think jaywalking should be enforced and how, following propositions to raise fines for jaywalking.

Award-winning food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio on Tuesday to discuss a pandemic-era increase of wage theft in the restaurant industry, following a recent report by the nonprofit restaurant advocacy group One Fair Wage. “[Forty-three] states still allow a tipped minimum wage, which means as low as $2.13 an hour,” Kummer said. “Employees who are waitstaff have the liberty to take home all their tips based on that. The catch is that it’s on the restaurant manager to look to see, ‘what’s the average hourly earning of those tipped minimum wage staff members of mine,’ and ‘did it equal or better the state’s minimum wage.’ And if it didn’t, they — the managers — have to make up for it by paying them enough money to make them whole.” “There’s never been much enforcement of this, and there’s less than ever enforcement now,” Kummer added. “There’s evidence that there’s more of this failure to make up for any of these losses than there was before the pandemic.” 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.