Boston Public Radio

Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam joined Boston Public Radio to lament that not enough people are reading.

Richard Blanco shared poems to commemorate Hispanic Heritage Month.

Questions arise about whether ISIS will regain power with the removal of combined U.S. and Kurdish forces from the Syrian border.

Should a lesbian celebrity be kind to a politician who fought against gay rights?

Bowen said Providence audiences “remember the legacy” of infamous Mayor Buddy Cianci.

On Monday, President Trump blocked ambassador Gordon Sondland from speaking with congressional investigators about the House impeachment inquiry.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by asking listeners how they feel about President Joe Biden’s spending bill shrinking as it nears finalization. Trenni Kusnierek updates listeners on all things sports, including anti-vaccine protesters storming barricades at Barclays Center to support Kyrie Irving, and Tom Brady’s 600th touchdown ball. Kusnierek is an anchor and reporter for NBC Sports Boston, as well as a Boston Public Radio contributor. Ali Noorani talks about why despite the United States’ declaration of China’s policies against its Uyghur community as a genocide, the government has not provided anyone refugee status. Noorani is the President & Chief Executive Officer of the National Immigration Forum. His forthcoming book is “Crossing Borders: The Reconciliation of a Nation of Immigrants.” Gov. Charlie Baker talks about how he thinks the state is doing on vaccinations following his mandates, and how he plans to approach housing issues. Baker is the governor of Massachusetts. Corby Kummer discusses the growing issue of wage theft in the restaurant industry, when waitstaff fail to make minimum wage off tips and their employer fails to pay the difference. 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. John King weighs in on Virginia's mayoral race and the state of the Democrats’ spending plan. King is CNN’s Chief National Correspondent and anchor of “Inside Politics,” which airs weekdays and Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. We end the show by asking listeners if bad photos are dead in the age of iPhones.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Michael Curry discusses the importance of community partnerships in increasing vaccination levels, and weighs in on opinions on the mayor’s race in Boston’s Black community. Curry is the president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers and a member of Gov. Charlie Baker’s COVID Vaccine Advisory Group. He’s also a member of the National NAACP Board of Directors and chair of the board’s advocacy and policy committee. Then, we ask listeners about whether they think a recent rise in union actions symbolizes genuine change, or if the current push for better labor practices will fizzle out. Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett takes questions from listeners about all things vaccine related, as authorization for children aged 5-11 nears and people begin to mix and match booster shots. Gergen Barnett teaches in the Department of Family Medicine at Boston Medical Center and Boston University Medical School. Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III talk about how Evangelical Christians are looking for a new label for their community. 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. Susan Orlean previews her latest book about animals, including the history of the movie “Free Willy,” her relationship with turkeys and her Valentine’s Day spent with a lion. Orlean is a staff writer for the New Yorker, and an author; her latest book is “On Animals.” We end the show by talking with listeners about their experiences with “Buy Nothing” Facebook groups and efforts for sustainable buying and selling.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Stacey Abrams talks about what voters and politicians need to do to safeguard democracy, after Republicans blocked the Democrats’ voting rights bill in Congress. She also weighs in on the status of Democratic negotiations over President Joe Biden’s spending bill. Abrams is a voting rights activist, former Georgia State Representative and author. Then, we ask listeners how they approach compromise and negotiation following Stacey Abrams’ conversation about political compromise. Shirley Leung pushes for ending tent encampments and providing housing for those at Mass. and Cass and weighs in on rent control, in her latest column on the Mass. and Cass crisis. Leung is a business columnist for The Boston Globe and a Boston Public Radio contributor. Sue O’Connell discusses one of the first rural health clinics by and for transgender people located in Northampton, and weighs in on when celebrities who commit harm can return to the public eye. 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. Then, we ask listeners their thoughts on marriage, following a New York Times article about how the married may soon become the minority. Andy Ihnatko updates listeners on the latest tech headlines, including Facebook’s upcoming rebranding, Donald Trump’s new social media platform, Google’s new signature phone and issues with Tesla’s self-driving cars. Ihnatko is a tech writer and blogger, posting at Ihnatko.com.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Chuck Todd begins the show by talking about what he thinks will get cut from the Democrats’ spending bill, and what “reconciliation” actually means. Todd is the moderator of “Meet the Press,” host of “Meet the Press Daily” on MSNBC and the political director for NBC News. Then, we asked listeners if they plan to get their kids vaccinated, as FDA authorization is expected to go through for children aged five to 11 in the coming weeks. Andrea Cabral discusses jury selection in the trial of Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael and William Bryan, who shot Ahmaud Arbery in February of 2020. She also talks about today’s House vote on whether or not to hold Steve Bannon in contempt for defying a subpoena from a committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. Cabral is the former Suffolk County sheriff and the former Massachusetts secretary of public safety. She is currently the CEO of the cannabis company Ascend. Paul Reville unpacks the boom in enrollment at Christian schools, and an elite Concord school cancelling its invitation to Nikole Hannah-Jones to speak about The New York Times’ 1619 Project. Reville is the former Massachusetts secretary of education and a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, where he also heads the Education Redesign Lab. His latest book, co-authored with Lynne Sacks, is “Collaborative Action for Equity and Opportunity: A Practical Guide for School and Community Leaders.” Folu Akinkoutu talks all things snacks, including her recollections of helping her parents run vending machines, her favorite food fusions across cultures and snack containers that dredge up childhood memories. Folu Akinkuotu is the Boston-based creator of the Unsnackable newsletter. Jon Gruber highlights the legacy and importance of the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics, and how Joshua Angrist’s win for “natural experiments” in the field contributed to the rise in prominence of empirical economic research. 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 their celebrity encounters, after John Legend tipped a street performer playing “All of Me” outside Faneuil Hall.

When diners visit Seattle steakhouse Bateau, they’ll find steakhouse staples such as prime rib and filet alongside more obscure cuts like ranch and coulotte. Award-winning food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio on Wednesday to share his thoughts on Bateau’s efforts to become an environmentally sustainable steakhouse, following New York Times contributor Brett Anderson’s profile on the restaurant. “[Bateau is] only offering the cuts of meat that their farmers, who use pasture-raised cattle and practices they approve of, have available,” Kummer said. “So if it’s out for the night, you have to have something else at the restaurant.” “This restaurant is also experimenting with different ways of cooking meat, so it’s tender and palatable,” Kummer added. Kummer noted that the chefs and owners of Craigie on Main in Central Square and Alden & Harlow in Harvard Square are just two examples of the “many local chefs who’ve been into this method.” “The whole idea for them is, ‘we want to support local farmers — local farmers aren’t corn finishing on huge meat lots in Texas. It’s grass-fed — often that needs a sharp knife — and we’re going to show you, the diner, how delicious it can be,’” Kummer said. “It’s just not what you’d get at a national steakhouse chain that subscribes to environment-destroying animal raising.” 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.