Boston Public Radio

On Tuesday, the 12 candidates for the Democratic nomination for president will meet for another debate in Westerville, Ohio.

Dr. John Winickoff, the former chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Tobacco Consortium and a pediatrician at Mass General, supports Baker’s vape ban, and said the science backs him up.

The Flixbus is promising better bus service for an affordable price.

Should young football players be allowed to tackle, when research shows repeated hits cause long-term brain damage?

A new law in California guarantees free meals to public school students.

Inaugural poet Richard Blanco gave Jim and Margery a crash course in poetry.

Food writer Corby Kummer spoke to Boston Public Radio on Friday about transitioning to indoor dining at restaurants, as the colder winter months emerge. Diners should be ‘moderately nervous,’ when it comes to indoor dining, Kummer said. “We should be paying a lot of attention to what the restaurants are doing. So ventilation is a really big deal, and fresh air is the key.” Kummer is a senior editor at The Atlantic, an award-winning food writer, and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy.

Today on Boston Public Radio: NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd offered his post-debate debrief, following Wednesday night’s vice-presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence. He also touched on other headlines around the November election, including President Trump’s threat that he'll opt out of a forthcoming virtual town hall debate. We opened lines to talk with you about your impressions of Wednesday night’s vice-presidential debate. Former Suffolk County Sheriff and Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral talked about the West Roxbury resident who was stopped by ICE officers while out jogging, and a recent decision by the Department of Justice to sidestep policy keeping prosecutors from taking steps that could interfere with elections. Republican Congressional candidate John Paul Moran discussed his views on climate change, LGBT rights, political partisanship, and more, in a conversation about his campaign for Mass.’ 6th Congressional District. We opened lines to talk about President Trump’s decision, announced Thursday, to opt out of a virtual presidential debate against Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Mass. AG Maura Healey offered her impressions on Wednesday night's vice-presidential debate, discussed the ways he office is addressing the threat of voter suppression in the November election, and responded to listener questions and comments as part of our monthly “Ask the AG” series.

MIT economist Jonthan Gruber discussed the stalled negotiations in Congress over further coronavirus relief spending, and how large-scale tax evasion among the nation’s richest dwarfs the budget shortfalls that are keeping everyday Americans from receiving additional financial aid. We opened lines to ask listeners: how is the federal government’s inability to pass another stimulus packaging affecting you? Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed new FDA rules that make an election-ready COVID-19 vaccine highly unlikely, and ethical concerns with the handling of coronavirus infections within President Trump’s administration. Boston Globe editor-in-chief Brian McGrory talked about his experience running the Boston Globe from what his colleagues describe as “the dreariest looking room in America,” why he expects the current whirlwind news cycle will only going to get crazier in the final months of 2020, and his thoughts on the Baker administration's limited transparency throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Former Mass. Education Secretary Paul Reville discussed criticisms surrounding Notre Dame President John Jenkins, who skirted social distancing guidelines and contracted COVID-19, as well as the stalled reopening at Boston Public Schools. Milk Street TV host Chris Kimball discussed his latest cookbook, “Cookish: Throw it Together,” along with the forthcoming season of Milk Street TV, and his favorite recipe from legendary TV cook Julia Child. Restauranteur Joanne Chang updated listeners on how her restaurants are doing, spoke on the opening of a new Flour Bakery in Beacon Hill, and talked about how she's planning to adapt operations through fall and winter of the coronavirus the pandemic.

Boston Public Schools put a pause to reopening plans on Wednesday, citing the city’s COVID-19 positive test rate climbing over 4%. Paul Reville, former Massachusetts education secretary, spoke with Boston Public Radio about the difficult situation. “I certainly sympathize with what Boston is doing - I mean it’s hit a certain point and is trying to be cautious at same time as there’s tremendous tension to want to provide in-person schooling especially to the neediest and youngest students,” he said. “They’re trying to bend over backwards to do that, and they’re being cautious, and you certainly can’t fault them for that.” Reville is a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, where he also runs the Education Redesign Lab. His latest book, co-authored with Elaine Weiss, is "Broader, Bolder, Better: How Schools and Communities Help Students Overcome the Disadvantages of Poverty."

Medical ethicist Art Caplan spoke with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new guidance on COVID-19 vaccine approval. On Tuesday, the agency required that pharmaceutical companies developing a COVID-19 vaccine must monitor subjects two months after vaccination, to look for side effects. This makes it unlikely that a vaccine will be approved before Election Day, something urged by President Donald Trump. “I was very pleased that the FDA issued some straight science guidelines about what they want to improve a vaccine,” Caplan said. “It pretty much ensures, in order to meet them, that there won’t be a vaccine approved before election day - but I think that’s appropriate, we’ve got to go prudently, we don’t want people to be fearful that they can’t trust the data.” Art Caplan is the Drs. William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty Chair, and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.