Boston Public Radio

The executive director of the National Immigration Forum questioned how officials in the Trump administration can ignore the president's rhetoric anymore.

Though Kennedy's challenge to Ed Markey mirrors other primaries that have toppled insiders, Miles Howard and Stephanie Murray say this race is a little different.

The NECN contributor said Tuesday’s ruling highlights weaknesses in Harvard’s admissions process.

On Wednesday, WGBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen said the film "Joker" was disturbing and fascinating.

A new FRONTLINE documentary takes viewers inside Saudi Arabia's power structure to find answers about the journalist's murder.

Juul's new CEO used to be a tobacco industry executive.

Today on Boston Public Radio: NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd discussed President Trump’s deluge of lawsuits attempting to delegitimize his election loss, and gave his take President-elect Biden’s leveled reaction. We opened lines to hear your takes on what exactly President Trump is planning, as he spreads false claims about voter fraud and refuses to concede his loss to Present-elect Biden. Former Suffolk County sheriff and secretary of public safety Andrea Cabral discussed members of the legal community who are actively distancing themselves from President Trump’s effort to litigate his way into a second term. She also reflected on why white American voters have so reliably swung Republican. Sen. Ed Markey talked about the surge of coronavirus throughout the U.S., and why he’s worried about it getting worse in the final months of the Trump administration. He also weighed in on Trump’s refusal to concede defeat, and the actions he hopes President-elect Biden will make to move the U.S. forward on the environment during in his first weeks in office. Former Mass. education secretary Paul Reville explained why he believes Mass. ought to be better prioritizing in-person learning, and discussed the moves President-elect Joe Biden can make to boost public education in a post-Betsy Devos era. Mike Astrue discussed President Trump’s unprecedented refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election, and reflected on some past presidential transitions that he helped facilitate. He also read a Vietnam War-era poem Richard Wilbur that's relevant for today, called "For the Student Strikers." Astrue served as counsel in both the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, and as commissioner of the Social Security Administration in both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. He also writes and translates poetry under the alias A.M. Juster, and his latest book of poetry is "Wonder and Wrath.” We closed out Thursday’s show by returning to listeners, to hear your thoughts and concerns about traveling college students and this year’s Thanksgiving.

Former Massachusetts education secretary Paul Reville returned to Boston Public Radio on Thursday, lamenting failures in the Commonwealth’s execution of pandemic-era public schooling. Amid news of high remote-learning rates and inefficient virtual classrooms, Reville warned that student learning losses are piling up, “literally day to day now,” and argued that the state needs to do more to prioritize education ahead of services like gyms, restaurants and movie theaters. “I think it needs to be a more urgent national and statewide priority, to put in place conditions in schools that’re going to give both teachers and parents that sense of security that they can send their children back to school safely,” he said. During the interview, Reville also discussed his hopes for the public education priorities of President-elect Joe Biden, and weighed in on the challenge of limiting the spread of COVID-19 as college students head home for Thanksgiving. Reville is a former Mass. Secretary of Education and a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, where he also runs the Education Redesign Lab. His latest book is "Broader, Bolder, Better: How Schools and Communities Help Students Overcome the Disadvantages of Poverty.”

Today on Boston Public Radio: M.I.T. economist Jonathan Gruber explained why he’s (mostly) optimistic about the prospect of a Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, and the Biden administration’s ability to distribute it. He also touched on his thoughts around a case involving the Affordable Care Act that’s currently before the Supreme Court. We opened our lines to hear your thoughts on the word of COVID-19 vaccine, and whether you’d feel confident enough to take it. CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem weighed in on President Trump’s refusal to concede defeat to President-elect Joe Biden, and the support he’s getting from his staff and GOP congressional leaders. Rep. Seth Moulton talked about the national security risks created by President Trump’s refusal to concede to President-elect Joe Biden, and his pride in helping to create recently-passed legislation to establish a three-digit mental health hotline. He also previewed a Veteran's Day virtual town hall that he'll be co-hosting Wednesday night. We opened lines to ask: with the Trump administration spreading misinformation about the election and refusing to accept the electoral math, are you worried about the possibility of a coup? Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed news around a potential coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer, weighing the impact of President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed on the company’s breakthrough, and talking about the logistics of distribution. GBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen discussed the latest news around the MFA’s delay of a controversial exhibit presenting the works of painter Philip Guston, as well as their new Claude Monet exhibit. He also talked about a new work from playwright Andrei Kureichik about the ongoing pro-democracy protests in Belarus, called “Insulted. Belarus(Sia)."

President Donald Trump has yet to concede to President-elect Joe Biden, stating baseless claims of voting fraud. The Trump administration, along with leading Republicans, have also refused to recognize Biden’s victory. Homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem spoke with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday about the damaging false narrative touted by Trump and his supporters. “Nothing is unexpected in the sense that Trump has built a lifetime into this being his exist; it is clear that this is a charade,” she said. “It’s damaging to our election process and [it shows] the patheticness of the Republican Party, which is in my mind now irredeemable.” 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.

Pfizer announced this week that their COVID-19 vaccine exceeds expectations for effectiveness. So when can Americans expect to see doses in their doctor’s office? Medical ethicist Arthur Caplan told Boston Public Radio some people could receive the vaccine “as early as the end of December.” The vaccine itself needs to pass another milestone before it’s authorized for emergency use: current test subjects need to be monitored for safety issues for a few more weeks. Then, the distribution may be limited by logistics within the supply chain due to refrigeration requirements. Higher risk populations like health care workers and older people will likely be prioritized, but Caplan said the broader population could see the vaccine by spring 2021. “It’s a two-dose vaccine … even if you start administering it in April, you’re probably not going to start seeing benefits until May and June, because it takes that long to work.” 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.