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 whether they prefer to return to the office or work from home at this point in the pandemic. Charlie Sennott gives an update on top international news. He critiques the U.S. government’s response to Haitian migrants at the border and the U.S. drone strike in Kabul that killed 10 civilians. Sennott is a GBH News analyst and the founder and CEO of The GroundTruth Project. Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett takes questions from callers about all things vaccines. She discusses the ethics and uses of booster shots and the status of vaccine trials for children. 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 critique some Christian leaders’ hypocrisy in discouraging COVID-19 vaccines. They also talk about what it means for Boston that none of the three Black mayoral candidates made it through the preliminary election. 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 the founding pastor of Community of Love Christian Fellowship in Allston. Together, they host GBH’s All Rev’d Up podcast. Christopher Muther share memories from his recent trip to Quebec’s Eastern Townships, and discuss the decision by the European Union to remove the U.S. from its safe travel list. Muther is a travel writer and columnist for the Boston Globe. We end the show by asking listeners about their thoughts on the ethics of booster shots in the United States.

Award-winning food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio on Friday, explaining the controversy surrounding President Joe Biden’s pick of almond-industry lobbyist Elaine Trevino for chief agricultural negotiator at the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. Trevino is the president of the Almond Alliance of California. “Why do we care and why are we angry about this in particular?” Kummer said. “Because there’s no effective limits on how irrigation controls and who shares water and who parcels out how much water various agriculture industries within California are able to use.” Kummer noted that up to 70% of California almond production is exported to Europe and China, and that the industry depends on these exports to maintain price supports. “This is kind of a sign that the Biden administration wants to help out industries that rely enormously on foreign purchases to keep up their price supports, how they manage U.S. trade pacts with different countries, so that the enormous amount of exports, in this case to almonds, can go,” Kummer explained. “But until there’s effective and concurrent regulation of methane for the [National] Cattlemen’s Beef Association, allotted resources for the almond industry, it’s not going to sit well with any kind of environmental activist.” Other topics discussed in this wide-ranging interview include the legal groups looking into the companies fraudulently using “natural” and “sustainable” labels, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s research on food insecurity levels during 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.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by asking listeners for their wildest rat stories, after a report showed that Boston’s rat population is on the rise. Trenni Kusnierek discusses the Senate testimonies of four elite gymnasts, who said they blamed the FBI for failing to protect them against former USA team doctor and convicted sex offender Larry Nassar. She also talks about the pay gap in men and women’s soccer. Kusnierek is an anchor and reporter for NBC Sports Boston, as well as a Boston Public Radio contributor. Rep. Ayanna Pressley talks about what it means for Boston to have two women in its mayoral election, following the historic win of Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu and Boston City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George in the preliminary election. She also makes an urgent call for supporting Haitian refugees in Texas. Pressley is the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts 7th District. Corby Kummer critiques how buzzwords like “healthy,” “all natural” and “sustainable” have no clear definitions in the food industry, and the ties between the “Big Almond” industry and the U.S. government with President Joe Biden’s chief agricultural negotiator appointment at the United States Trade Representative’s office. 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. Shirley Leung updates listeners on all-things business, including how Republican New Balance Chairman Jim Davis’ $495,000 contribution to a pro-Essaibi George SuperPAC paid off in the mayoral preliminary election. Leung is a business columnist for The Boston Globe and a BPR contributor. Andy Ihnatko discusses the latest Wall Street Journal report that revealed Facebook’s internal probe of Instagram’s detrimental effects on teenage girl’s mental health and self-image. He also weighs in on Epic Games, the company that makes Fortnite, and its lawsuit against Apple. Ihnatko is a tech writer and blogger, posting at Ihnatko.com. Ryan Landry ends the show by sharing memories from his all-expenses paid trip through Italy 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.”

Today on Boston Public Radio: We begin the show by opening phone lines, asking listeners whether our nation is becoming less civic-minded following low voter turnout in Boston’s mayoral preliminary election. Andrea Cabral shares her thoughts on low voter turnout in Boston’s mayoral preliminary election, and explains where the mayoral candidates stand on police reform. Cabral is the former Suffolk County sheriff and Massachusetts secretary of public safety. She’s currently the CEO of the cannabis company Ascend. Gov. Charlie Baker discusses the possibility of a statewide vaccination ID program, and support for refugee resettlement in Massachusetts after the Biden administration designated 900 Afghan evacuees to arrive in the state. Rick Steves shares his experience hiking for 10 days through France, and what it was like to travel abroad for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 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. Jenifer McKim discusses the case of Tyrone Clark, whose decades-long rape conviction is being scrutinized by District Attorney Rachael Rollins after the victim claimed she may have misidentified her attacker. McKim is an investigative reporter with the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting. Jared Bowen updates us on the latest local arts and cultural events, from the Huntington Theatre’s showing of “Hurricane Diane” to comedian Jaqueline Novak and the Emerson Colonial Theatre’s “Get On Your Knees.” Bowen is GBH’s executive arts editor and the host of Open Studio. We wrap up the show by talking with listeners about how pandemic anxiety has changed their relationships to sleep.

Today on Boston Public Radio: First, we talk with listeners about their reactions to yesterday’s mayoral primary, which saw Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu and Boston City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George take the lead for the runoff. Joseph Allen critiques what he sees as a failure to define the country’s goals for COVID-19 reduction as a major obstacle facing the country. He also discusses how to prevent the spread of the virus indoors in buildings with poor filtration. Allen is the director of the Healthy Buildings program at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Juliette Kayyem talks about George W. Bush’s comparison between extremists in the United States and the 9/11 terrorists, and worries about an upcoming far-right rally protesting the prosecution of people charged after the Jan. 6 riot. 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. Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson update listeners on all things transportation. They weigh in on mayoral primary winners Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George’s platforms on transportation, and what role the mayor’s office should have in governing the city’s transport. Aloisi is the former Massachusetts transportation secretary, a member of the Transit Matters board and a contributor to Commonwealth Magazine. Thompson is executive director of Livable Streets. Bina Venkataraman talks about her reactions to the mayoral primary and why The Boston Globe endorsed Andrea Campbell for mayor. She also discusses the possibilities presented by safe injection sites and other ideas for improving the city. Venkataraman is the editorial page editor at The Boston Globe. Her latest book is “The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age.” Art Caplan weighs in on efforts to game the system to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, and urges people to start getting their annual flu shot now. He also discusses the ethics of talks of attempts to bring back the now-extinct woolly mammoth. 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. We end the show by asking listeners their thoughts on a $370,000 parking spot listed in Boston’s South End.