Boston Public Radio

In 2019, several states have passed laws restricting access to abortions, leaving some wondering if it means the end of Roe v. Wade.

Emily Bazelon is the author of "Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration," a new book that examines prosecutorial power, and how that has affected the justice system for decades.

Another hate crime rattled a synagogue this weekend, leaving one woman dead and others injured. Reverend Irene Monroe and Reverend Emmett Price say this shooting fits into a pattern of white nationalist violence.

The secretary of state touted his success in keeping the state safe in 2016, and is confident he'll be able to do it again in the next election.

In response to the release of the redacted Mueller report, Rep. Ayanna Pressley has renewed her call to impeach President Donald Trump.

Following the release of the redacted Mueller report Thursday, Rep. Jim McGovern told WGBH News he “doesn’t trust” U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s assessment that there was “no collusion” between Russia and the Trump campaign in the lead up to the 2016 election.

Today on Boston Public Radio: ESPN’s Howard Bryant discussed his new book, "The Heritage: Black Athletes, a Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism." Michael Eric Dyson discussed his new book, “What Truth Sounds Like: RFK, James Baldwin, And Our Unfinished Conversation About Race In America." Harvard’s Stephen Greenblatt discussed his book, "Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics." Sy Montgomery, journalist and naturalist joined the show to talk about her book "The Hyena Scientist." John Hodgman talked about his book, "Vacationland: True Stories From Painful Beaches." Actor and activist George Takei discussed the musical Allegiance, which is based on his real life experience of living in** **a Japanese-American internment camp. This episode of *Boston Public Radio was previously taped.*

Today on Boston Public Radio: Jim and Margery talked to New York Times Magazine staff writer and lecturer at Yale Law School Emily Bazelon, whose latest book, Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration, looks at the causes of mass incarceration. Environmentalist and journalist Bill McKibben, the founder of 350.org discussed his latest book, Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? MIT economists Jonathon Gruber and Simon Johnson discussed their latest book, Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream. TC Boyle joined Jim and Margery to talk about his latest novel Outside Looking In. Poet Richard Blanco gave a crash course on the literary tools that can make your poetry more poetic. This episode of Boston Public Radio was previously taped.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened the lines to hear what listeners think of presidential candidates' playlists. Tech writer Andy Ihnatko joined us to discuss Apple's new credit card, and other tech headlines. Harvard Business School historian Nancy Koehn discussed a recent pledge from nearly 200 CEO's to put workers before shareholders. Boston Globe business correspondent Shirley Leung discussed how trade wars are affecting manufacturing in western Massachusetts. Boston Globe travel writer Christopher Muther examined Boston's latest big little trend: micro hotels. Novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux discussed his forthcoming book,* On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey*. Zachary Robinson and Matt Kurtzman, two of the founders of Short Path Distillery in Everett, joined us for a weekly news quiz.

Meat, dairy and eggs have been challenged by alternative plant-based products that mimic the taste and texture of animal products. Now, a company called Atomo Molecular Coffee is trying to create the perfect cup of joe without using the coffee bean. Why would brewing a cup of coffee without the beans be a good idea? Coffee bean production largely contributes to deforestation, food writer Corby Kummer said on Boston Public Radio Thursday. "It is to prevent the environmental destruction that clear-cutting forests to grow coffee causes," Kummer said. "Farmers all across Central and South America, and even Africa and Vietnam, take these great rainforests and clear-cut everything. They're creating all sort of environmental destruction that lasts for decades. The land dries out, it becomes unproductive, but they're just producing coffee as a cash-crop in the meantime," he said. Atomo hasn't yet made it completely clear how they're producing coffee bean-less coffee, Kummer said. "What's unclear is how they are copying coffee's molecular makeup to create this substance that they say baristas can't tell the difference in blind taste tests," he said.

Chuck Todd discussed President Donald Trump's recent accusations against Jewish Americans and other political headlines. Todd is Moderator of Meet the Press, host of Meet the Press Daily on MSNBC, and the Political Director for NBC News. We opened the lines to get listener opinions on the prospect of a Rep. Joe Kennedy III run against Sen. Edward Markey for his seat. Andrea Cabral discussed criminal justice reform plans of presidential candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders. Cabral is a former Suffolk County Sheriff, former secretary of Public safety, CEO of Ascend. Ali Noorani discussed a sweeping lawsuit against the Trump administration over poor medical care in immigration centers. Noorani is Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum. Food writer Corby Kummer discussed the rise and fall of seafood kingpin, the Codfather. Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam discovered ASMR and shared its wonders with Margery Eagan and Jared Bowen. Jonathan Alsop of the Boston Wine School tasted us on some Croatian wines, and discussed how climate change is affecting wineries.