Boston Public Radio

Four days ago, in response to the massacre in Charleston, South Carolina that left nine dead, President Obama stood at a podium at the White House and…

Do you have to be the richest kid on the block to enjoy the Happiest Place On Earth? That's the accusation made by a recent article in the Washington…

Pope Francis made headlines this week when the draft of his 192-page encyclical on climate change—due to be officially released this Thursday—leaked…

It's Polka Friday at Boston Public Radio! Master accordionists Marié Abe and Ralph Tufo faced off in honor of this weekend's Squeezebox Slam in Davis…

Eric Casebolt—a police officer in McKinney, Texas—was caught on video earlier this week chasing and waving his gun at a group of young African American…

Last week, a 3 year old colt named American Pharoah leapt across the finish line at Belmont, clinching the win and also, in the process, the elusive…

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened lines to hear your impressions from night two of the Republican National Convention. Former Trump Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski gave his take on nights one and two of the RNC, and defended his stance that President Trump deserves four more years in office. CNN analyst and national security expert Juliette Kayyem discussed the heightened challenges of navigating Hurricane Laura and other storms during the coronavirus pandemic, and the worrying rise in political influence from proponents of the QAnon conspiracy theory. MIT economist and Affordable Care Act architect Jonathan Gruber discussed why public services function better outside of the private sector, and weighed in on the economic and political factors that are creating issues at the U.S.P.S Nancy Koehn talked about the key components of crisis leadership, and reflected on how national and global leaders have handled the COVID-19 crisis. Koehn is a Harvard Business School historian and author of “Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times.” Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed problems with President Trump's Right to Try Act, which was touted at Tuesday night’s RNC, and talked about new research indicating around half of K-12 teachers in the US have definite or possible risk factors for contracting serious cases of COVID-19.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened our lines to hear your take on night one of the Republican National Convention. NBC Sports Boston reporter and anchor Trenni Kusnierek discussed institutional racism in New England's collegiate sports, 77 false positive COVID-19 tests in the NFL, and a recent statement from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who said he should have “listened earlier” to Colin Kaepernick. Mass. State Senator Becca Rausch talked about the successes and setbacks of mail-in voting in Mass., and responded to questions and comments from listeners. Ali Noorani, Executive Director for the National Immigration Forum, discussed unfair assumptions about foreign-born voters in the U.S., and concerns about the looming furlough of 70% of employees at the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services. Former New Hampshire GOP chair and Lincoln Party co-founder Jennifer Horn talked about her impressions from night one of the RNC, and her PAC’s latest anti-Trump ad, titled “Evil.” CNN Chief National Correspondent John King reflected on night one of the RNC, and news of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway’s exit from the Trump administration at the end of August. We opened our lines to talk with listeners about your experiences dealing with Monday's widespread Zoom outages.

Ali Noorani spoke with Boston Public Radio on Tuesday about the impact of naturalized immigrants on voting in 2020. “It’s in really important parts of the country where you see the share of eligible voters who are foreign-born really skyrocket,” he said. “48 percent of eligible voters in Miami-Dade, Florida are foreign-born, and 22 percent of eligible voters in Fort Bend, Texas are foreign-born; So Georgia, Texas, and South Florida are communities that are going to see a disproportionate impact of foreign-born voters this November.” Ali Noorani is Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, his latest book is There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened our lines to talk with listeners about recent protests and accusations of environmental racism over the proposed removal of 124 trees along Roxbury's Melnea Cass Boulevard. Robbie Goldstein, an MGH physician and candidate for Mass. 8th congressional district, talked about his views on expanding health care coverage in the state, abortion rights, and why he’s running for the seat of current Rep. Stephen Lynch. Politico's Stephanie Murray broke down the latest headlines around several Mass. congressional races, as well as the ongoing Senate primary race between Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III. DNC Chair Tom Perez talked about last week’s Democratic National Convention. Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett Price, hosts of WGBH’s All Rev’d Up, discussed the history of racist housing practices in liberal neighborhoods in and around Boston, and previewed season two of their podcast All Rev’d Up, which premiers this Wednesday. TV expert Bob Thompson lent his thoughts on the balance of politics and entertainment at last week’s Democratic National Convention, and reviewed both “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV Plus, and Netflix’s “Hoops.” Inaugural poet Richard Blanco talked about the joys and challenges of translating poems into different languages.

Tom Perez, Chair of the Democratic National Committee, spoke with Boston Public Radio on Monday about last week’s 2020 Democratic National Convention. “We were able to accomplish our plan, which was to demonstrate to the country that the Democratic party is both the party of diversity and inclusion and accomplishment,” he said. “Joe Biden, I thought, made the best political speech of his life.”