Boston Public Radio

When NSA contractor Edward Snowden first released thousand and thousands of documents about the agency's secret worldwide surveillance apparatus, the…

Congressman Stephen Lynch voiced strong support for legislation that would make it easier for the families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for…

The Biggest loser reality show has gotten a lot of attention lately off of a recent study that tracked 14 of the contestants who all lost massive amounts…

Just as the state voted to move ahead with a (scaled-down version of) the Green Line Extension, and it looks like the South Station Expansion project may…

Happy International Women's Day! To celebrate, I've put together a list of six women who rocked Boston this year. These women showed strength and…

CNN's John King called in to discuss the primaries and other political headlines of the day. A new tax that will tax millionaires an additional four…

Medical ethicist Art Caplan, speaking on Friday's Boston Public Radio, said that while it isn’t uncommon for presidents to conceal critical information about their health and wellbeing, Donald Trump has an ethical responsibility to be fully transparent about his own physical standing, following Friday’s news of a COVID-19 diagnosis. “Look, it’s an election time. We wanna know who we’re voting for,” Caplan said. "Is he failing, is he doing okay?" "It’s also important to know who else they might’ve exposed, in terms of people like Joe Biden,” he added. “Are we gonna have another debate? And if so, how would that be arranged? A list of questions goes on and on and on.” Caplan said the president’s reputation for misrepresenting himself has meant some voters are hesitant to trust his word, leading to confusion and occasional conspiracy-theorizing. “We don’t have any independent mechanism to getting – if you will – trustworthy information, because it’s so politically filtered,” he explained. Caplan is the Drs. William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty Chair, and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU School of Medicine.

Juliette Kayyem called into Friday’s Boston Public Radio to reflect on news that President Trump has contracted the coronavirus. “Trump needs an out,” she said while weighing in on whether the diagnosis might signal his political demise. “It can’t possibly be that America didn’t vote for him, so it’s that 'the voting was rigged’ or whatever.” “Maybe this is his out... maybe this is the way in which he says ‘but for the COVID, I would’ve been able to rally everyone and won.' Maybe this doesn’t end with a fire burst, but a sort of whimper under a virus.” Kayyem also offered insight into what President Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis could signal for the country's national security, and security elsewhere abroad. Juliette 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.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened lines to talk with listeners about President Trump’s sympathy for the Proud Boys, and how his open racism is impacting your relationships with friends and family on the other side of the political spectrum. Boston City Councilor and mayoral candidate Andrea Campbell discussed why she’s chosen to enter race for mayor of Boston, and weighed in on a series of local issues, from the so-called “digital divide,” to pushes for citywide police reform. Former Suffolk County Sheriff and Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral discussed Suffolk County DA Rachael Rollins’ release of a list of of 136 Boston-area police officers with “questionable credibility,” new developments in the case around the killing of Breonna Taylor, and her take on Tuesday’s presidential debate. NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd discussed Tuesday’s chaotic debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, and how he thinks it could impact voters ahead of the election. He also touched on why he doesn’t expect Biden or Trump to back away from future debates. Greater Boston Food Bank President and CEO Catherine D’Amato discussed need for further government assistance in order to help feed struggling communities through the COVID-19 pandemic, and reflected on what her organization is doing to serve the growing number of Mass. residents who are food-insecure. Brattle Book Shop proprietor and “Antiques Roadshow” appraiser Kenneth Gloss talked about his newest business venture: helping people curate their bookshelves for Zoom backgrounds. He also touched on the "Brattlecast" podcast, and how much he misses the regulars who’d visit his shop in Downtown Boston. Tech writer Andy Ihnatko discussed a new feature on Twitter that prompts users to read articles before re-tweeting them, a new Google smartphone feature that'll wait on hold for you, and advancements in internet privacy features. Closing the show, we opened lines to talk with listeners about your thoughts on robotic pets.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We started off by talking with listeners about your impressions from Tuesday night’s presidential debate. Rep. Seth Moulton offered his impressions of Tuesday night’s debate, discussed the newly-published report from Congress' Future of Defense Task Force on shortcomings with U.S. national defense, and reflected on his initiative to establish a national three-digit suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline. CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem weighed in on Tuesday’s debate, looming challenges in distributing an eventual COVID-19 vaccine, and deeper national security risks revealed in the New York Times report on President Trump's tax returns. Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed whether doctors should have political conversations with their patients, as well as what he described as “reckless” development of coronavirus vaccines in China, and a rise in U.S. parents who say they won't have their kids get a flu shot this fall. Chasten Buttigieg, husband of former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, gave his take on Tuesday’s chaotic presidential debate, and spoke in depth about his newly published memoir, “I Have Something to Tell You." Boston Globe travel writer Christopher Muther discussed Maine’s lift on restrictions for travelers coming from Mass., interstate traveler animosity, and his experience sharing a hotel with quarantined college students. Closing out the show, we returned to listeners to talk about Tuesday's presidential debate.

The Trump administration waged a pressure campaign against the C.D.C. to push messaging in line with President Trump’s agenda to reopen schools and downplay the risk of COVID-19 spread among younger populations, according to a report in the New York Times. Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House, was involved in the effort, a move medical ethicist Arthur Caplan told Boston Public Radio on Wednesday is inappropriate. “Birx should be advising if you’re going to reopen you’ve got to test, if you’re going to reopen here’s the cut off point where you’ve got to close,” he said, “and what we’re getting is more of the political message that we’ve got to reopen, and that’s politics not science.” 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.