Boston Public Radio

Governor Charlie Baker's administration is hoping to target the state's opioid crisis with a new bill unveiled Thursday. The bill would limit doctors to…

Senator Ed Markey believes that Congress is past due for a historic showdown on gun control."I think we're close to a tipping point," Markey said on…

Late last week, Congressman Kevin McCarthy abruptly withdrew his name from the running to be the next Speaker of the House. The California Republican was…

This weekend, an army of activist brass bands descends on Somerville to celebrate the tenth annual HONK! Fest. To celebrate, Jim Braude and Margery Eagan…

In the wake of the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, Democrats in Congress have launched a renewed push for gun control legislation like…

Doctors Without Borders, the international organization in charge of a hospital in Afghanistan bombed by an American airstrike this weekend, has called…

Food writer Corby Kummer spoke with Boston Public Radio, *on Wednesday, about the way the food industry will be different, post-coronavirus crisis. "What we're looking at is maybe as few as 30 percent of independent restaurants coming back, it all depends on how long the current closings last," he said. "So one to two months closed has 70 percent coming back, than at 3 months it's 50 percent, and then if it's 6 months it's 30 percent - these are all just wild projections, but it's bad." Small independent restaurants could also fail during slow re-openings, since regulations will likely not allow full capacity, he said. "These restaurants might be gone forever, and everyday along with the obits, we're seeing constant obits of restaurants that won't be coming back." *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 our lines to ask listeners: does the federal stimulus rollout, which is proving to benefit a few large companies over smaller businesses, have you feeling cynical about the government’s handling of the pandemic? Matt Segal, legal director for the Massachusetts ACLU, discussed his role in litigating the drug-testing scandal documented in the Netflix series “How to Fix a Drug Scandal.” We aired live audio from Gov. Charlie Baker’s Tuesday press conference. Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius spoke about what her administration is doing to accommodate students working remotely, and took questions from listeners.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Seed Global Health CEO Dr. Vanessa Kerry discussed the surge of COVID-19 patients in Massachusetts, the role of The WHO in fighting the global pandemic, and took questions from callers. We opened our lines to talk with callers about how you’re handling coronavirus anxiety. WGBH news analyst and GroundTruth Project CEO Charlie Sennott discussed the positive strides being taken by female world leaders in the fight against COVID-19, as well as the dangerous opportunities presented by the pandemic for authoritarians. Science reporter and FRONTLINE correspondent Miles O’Brien discussed his upcoming FRONTLINE documentary, "Coronavirus Pandemic," on the U.S. COVID crisis response. TV expert Bob Thompson reviewed Saturday's “One World: Together At Home” concert, and Netflix’s new show “BlackAF.” We opened our lines to ask callers: if coronavirus acceptance was ranked like the stages of grief, which stage would you be at? Poet Richard Blanco celebrated National Poetry Month by reading some “ars poetica” pieces, or poems about poetry.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Rep. Ayanna Pressley discussed her recent appeal to Gov. Baker to rescind COVID-19 crisis guidelines in order to address racial disparities in communities impacted by the coronavirus. CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem recapped her latest writing for The Atlantic on the “strange purgatory” awaiting Americans post-quarantine, and criticized President Trump’s calls to pull funding for the World Health Organization. Beat the Press host Emily Rooney recounted her bizarre experience walking down an empty Newbury Street in Boston, and read a Covid-themed list of fixations and fulminations. Media maven Sue O’Connell discussed the sexual assault allegation against former Vice President Joe Biden, and criticized the still-standing FDA restrictions on gay men donating blood. Tech writer Andy Ihnatko discussed a new contract-tracing app from Google and Apple, and local privacy concerns over Chinese regulations on the video game Animal Crossing. Under the Radar host Callie Crossley discussed polling on who Americans trust during the coronavirus pandemic, and whether recent comments from Surgeon General Jerome Adams were offensive to Americans of color. We opened our lines to ask listers: are you enjoying be anti-social while you social distance?

Today on Boston Public Radio: NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd discussed the president’s authority the re-open the country, and talked about Joe Biden’s limited public presence during the pandemic. Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung talked about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on small businesses, and how it could shape the identity of U.S. cities for years to come. We opened our lines to talk with callers about how you think Massachusetts ought to go about reopening its economy. Former Massachusetts Democratic chair Steve Grossman discussed his views on what needs to be done to protect small businesses and under-resourced communities. We reopened or lines to continue the conversation about how the state’s economy and the coronavirus pandemic. We aired live audio from Gov. Charlie Baker’s Thursday press conference. Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam previewed an upcoming edition of the “Boston Public Radio” book club, and dissected the #pantsdrunk internet trend.