Boston Public Radio

In the wake of allegations that President Donald Trump coordinated with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to gain political dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, it’s still unclear how Congressional Democrats will respond.

TV guru Bob Thompson breaks down the latest popular culture headlines.

WGBH's science correspondent gave live updates from Climate Week New York City.

Inaugural poet Richard Blanco highlights an anthology of poems that embody or express empathy or outrage in the age of President Donald Trump.

Two local chefs joined us for our news quiz.

A new report connects increased access to contraception with decreased abortion rates.

Today on Boston Public Radio: MSNBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd discussed the latest political headlines around impeachment and 2020. We opened lines to hear your thoughts on Kamala Harris dropping out of the 2020 presidential race. Former Suffolk County Sheriff and Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral discussed impeachment, the Department of Justice’s campaign to reinstate the federal death penalty, and the flaws in ankle bracelet technology. Paul Reville, former Massachusetts Secretary of Education, weighed in on the Massachusetts education funding reform bill, and discussed how 2020 candidates are distancing themselves from charter schools. Food writer Corby Kummer discussed the legacy of jello molds, the Orwellian nature of food delivery bots, and a campaign by the meat industry to take down imitation meat. Tech writer Andy Ihnatko discussed privacy concerns over Apple’s new iPhone 11 Pro and Amazon’s Ring doorbell, and the question of whether we ought to transition to electronic voting. 2020 presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg phoned in to discuss his stance on medicare, the diverse candidate pool, and why he ought to be president. We opened our lines to hear your thoughts on our interview with Mayor Buttigieg, and whether you plan to vote for him in the 2020 primaries.

The Trump administration is changing the requirements of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), impacting 688,000 people previously eligible to receive food stamps. Food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio *on Thursday to discuss this new rule and its consequences. "They will now require able-bodied adults between the ages of 18 and 49 with no dependents - 7 percent of SNAP recipients - to essentially work 20 hours a week, or they can't get SNAP benefits after three months," Kummer said. "On Wednesday, the Trump administration finalized the rule, and what they aim to do is just throw people off the rolls and make them hungry." Kummer said that the new 20 hour working week requirement doesn't take into consideration the hardship that stands in the way of people getting work. "It's one of the worst outrages this administration has foisted on us in a long time, because there's very high unemployment, it's hard to get jobs for these people, it's even harder to check out and verify 20 hours." *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: We opened lines to callers to hear your thoughts on the ongoing turmoil in Washington regarding the House impeachment inquiry. Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed religious exemptions from vaccines, in light of a bill before the Massachusetts lawmakers that would remove them from current legislation. Homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem discussed tensions between world leaders at this year’s NATO summit, and Wednesday’s Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing. Boston Globe Spotlight reporter Andrew Ryan discussed the Spotlight team’s report on Boston’s traffic, and the debate over whether to bring congestion pricing to Massachusetts. Harvard Business School historian Nancy Koehn discussed a recent New York Times article detailing Amazon's infiltration of the city of Baltimore. Brian O'Donovan, host of WGBH's A Celtic Sojourn, WCRB's Brian McCreath, and Berklee College of Music's Rob Hochschild stopped by Boston Public Radio to share some music and previews for upcoming local concerts.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened lines to callers: with all this snow, are you happy to have something other than Trump to talk about? NBC Sports Boston Reporter Trenni Kusnierek discussed a possible fall from grace for the Patriots, equal pay for Canada’s curling teams, and the resignation of NHL coach Bill Peters over allegations of racism. City council president Andrea Campbell discussed her year-long term as Boston City Council President, and her ongoing mission to establish a Boston City Inspector General. WGBH Arts Editor Jared Bowen reviewed the Netflix film “The Irishman,” and a new exhibit at the MFA highlighting the art of ancient Nubia. Environmental journalist Bill McKibben discussed the dire state of climate action in light of last week’s U.N. climate report, and the U.N. Climate Conference currently under way in Madrid. CNN’s John King discussed the latest political headlines regarding the 2020 presidential race and the House impeachment inquiry. Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU, discussed the use of SPOT the robot dog by Massachusetts State Police.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Shannon O’Brien and Charlie Chieppo discussed the latest national and state political headlines, including news around the House impeachment inquiry and developments in the Grant Thornton R.M.V. controversy. Charlie Chieppo is principal of Chieppo Strategies, Senior Fellow at the Pioneer Institute and Adjunct Professor at Suffolk University. Shannon O'Brien is former State Treasurer and Democratic nominee for governor. TV writer Bob Thompson reviewed the PBS documentary “College Behind Bars” and Netflix’s “The Irishman.” Charlie Sennott discussed President Donald Trump's support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, and his claims of having re-opened talks with the Taliban. Sennott is a WGBH News Analyst and C.E.O. of the GroundTruth Project. MIT economist Jon Gruber discussed the feasibility and long-term impact of a wealth tax like the ones being proposed by Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. We opened lines to callers to ask: If you had to choose, would you rather watch movies at home or in a theater? Boston Pops Orchestra conductor Keith Lockhart previewed upcoming holiday programming from the Pops.