Boston Public Radio

"Saving American Cities" tells the history of the man who brought a brutal City Hall to Boston, leveled an entire neighborhood, and sparked an economic revival.

The new law requires women seeking an abortion to have a medical procedure performed that serves no medical purpose.

The man behind the Ice Bucket Challenge, which raised close to a billion dollars for ALS research, has died.

An art installation of a banana taped to a wall sold for $120,000. Then, another artist ate it off the museum wall.

The "Sesame Street" actor and puppeteer died on Sunday.

The safety review found a culture of non-communication at the transportation agency.

We open the lines to ask about the latest attempt by corporations to boost worker productivity by banning personal phones on the job. Ian Coury is our guest for Live Music Friday. He’s a 22 year-old mandolin phenom carving his own path in the world of Brazilian Choro music. Boston Medical Center's Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett talks about the science behind gender affirming care, renewed conversation around medical debt in the U.S. and physician strikes in Boston.James Bennett II discusses a Village Person’s revisionist history of the ‘Y.M.C.A.' song, plus his reflections on 2024 music and movies.Then we asked folks to weigh-in on the news that 'Y.M.C.A.' is not a gay anthem.Roundhead Brewing Company is Massachusetts’ first Latino-owned brewery. We’ll talk with co-owners Luis Espinoza and Craig Panzer about the upcoming Latino beer festival and sample some brews.We end the show with a Christmas tree potpourri.

Today:In the 1980s, the height of the crack epidemic, Paul Joyce was a Boston police officer. He’s now out with a new book about how the department struggled during that era, and the rise in gun and gang violence. He joins to discuss his new book “It Started With the Hats” – the life experiences of Boston’s founding street gang members.And, MIT economist Jon Gruber breaks down Trump’s view on tariffs, and how changing policy would affect the global economy.

Chuck Todd on the Hunter Biden pardon & more news from the incoming Trump administration… Andrea Cabral on yesterday’s killing of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson.Jon Gruber explains Trump’s stance on tariffs & how varying approaches would affect the U.S. & global economies.Paul Joyce is a longtime Boston cop and author of the book “It Started With the Hats: The Life Experiences of Boston’s Founding Street Gang Members.” He joins to discuss.

Today: Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley frames President Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter a matter of legacy – and calls on him to pardon others in this country who have had their lives upended by war on crime prosecutions or wrongful convictions, beyond his own family members.And, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse tells us the “grotesqueness” of Trump’s cabinet picks is a feature – not a bug. We talk with him about Trump 2.0, and his experience at the COP29 climate summit.

We open the show to get your thoughts on all of Trump's cabinet picks. Will there be a trickle-down effect of loosened moral and ethical codes?Senator Sheldon Whitehouse zooms in to discuss Supreme Court ethics, his experience at COP29, how Democrats can respond to a second Trump term and his thoughts on the Hunter Biden pardon.Juliette Kayyem discusses Kash Patel at the FBI, martial law in South Korea, and the shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO in Manhattan.Chris Kimball of Milk Street Kitchen has a new baking book, "Milk Street Bakes."We ask listeners whether they -- like Jim -- have ever used the "Death Clock" app to learn the time of their demise. Rep. Ayanna Pressley discusses national pushback to DEI efforts and the Hunter Biden pardon.