Boston Public Radio

Last week, Dan Price—CEO of a credit card payments company called Gravity Payments—decided to raise the minimum wage for all his employees to $70,000,…

For many Bostonians, Patriots' Day marks the unofficial beginning of spring. But of course, as Charles Sennott, head of The GroundTruth Project, points…

Peter Slevin—journalist, author, and professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University— joined Jim Braude and Margery Eagan on…

Governor Charlie Baker would vote yes on a 2024 Olympics ballot question that included taxpayer funding for infrastructure investments, he told Jim Braude…

On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln was in an exceptionally good mood. Only five days before, General Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox, ending…

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty today of all 30 charges in the Boston Marathon bombing trial, including 17 that qualify for the death penalty. Jim…

Today on Boston Public Radio: Michael Curry and Lylah Alphonse discussed Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s statements about Mitch McConnell’s role in the Senate impeachment trial, a Trump-themed festival in Arizona, and the passing of Boston City Counselor Chuck Turner. Curry is senior vice president and general counsel at Mass League of Community Health Centers, and a member of the National NAACP Board of Directors. Alphonse is the Managing News Editor at the U.S. News & World Report. Evan Falchuck and Lou DiNatale discussed their new report on the center-leaning politics of Massachusetts voters. Falchuck is a former gubernatorial candidate and CEO of the health care tech company VillagePlan, and DiNatale is a veteran Massachusetts pollster. Food writer Corby Kummer discussed an investigation into the safety of airline food, and the surging popularity of so-called “ghost kitchens." Journalist and author Sy Montgomery discussed the growing crisis of ocean trash on marine life, the hard-to-decipher facial expressions of cats, and Sy’s favorite animals stories of 2019. Comedian Chris Fleming discussed his decade in comedy on YouTube, and his forthcoming show at the Wilbur.

As online food ordering becomes more popular, a new restaurant trend is popping up to deal with the demand: ghost kitchens, or production centers to handle delivery orders only, with no store front at all. Food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio on Monday to discuss the trend, first adopted by restaurants, which is now expanding into the food delivery apps themselves. "The idea is, you save a lot of money if you don’t have to rent a store front location and you don’t have to have your own staff doing delivery. So Seamless and Doordash are starting their own ghost kitchens. What are these? They're windowless production kitchens ... you can't order takeout, you can't go in, they're only to fulfill online orders." For example, Doordash has partnered with various restaurant chains to open a shared kitchen, to be a one-stop production kitchen for multiple brands that deliver through the app. "You order something, it has a separate brand identity online, that's the only brand identity it has, because it's online only. It's the same staff reaching for a different set of spice bottles, often they share the same raw ingredients," said Kummer. "It's kind of as soulless and mechanical as it sounds." Corby Kummer is executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy

We’re on tape today, replaying some of our favorite conversations, which include: Harvard Business School's Michael Norton discussed his research into why we fall for marketing gimmicks that give us a false sense of exclusivity. Margot Lee Shatterly discussed her book, "Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race." Former UN Ambassador Susan Rice discusses her memoir, "Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For." Salman Rushdie discussed his latest novel "Quichotte." Imani Perry talked about her new memoir, "Breathe: A Letter to My Sons.” Writer Lindy West discussed her latest book, "The Witches are Coming."

A new poll finds that new Millennials, the generation that loves to dine out, tip less frequently than the two previous generations. Food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio on Tuesday to explain the “confusing, messy” world of restaurant tipping. The poll, published by YouGov, found that 63 percent of Millennials tip regularly, compared to 89 percent of Baby Boomers, and 81 percent of Generation Xers. But, according to the poll, Millennials feel guiltier about their habits. “The only good thing about this is that they feel guilty,” said Kummer. “They think they should be doing more, and they’re not sure how to handle it.” Waiters and waitresses in most states in America rely on tips to cover a substantial part of their income, as employers can pay servers about $2 an hour as long as tips cover the remainder of the minimum wage. If tips don’t get employees to minimum wage, employers are required to pay the difference, although Kummer said this system often leads to wage theft and isn’t often enforced. Even so, attempted solutions didn’t end up changing consumer behavior. “The solution was to incorporate tips right into the check … but restaurant customers don’t like it, they feel their control is being taken away from them, they have no autonomy, and they wish to be able to punish the people who didn’t come to the table or give them good enough service. What they’re not thinking in that moment of wanting to withhold tips is that signal will not be sent to the server, they’re almost always pooled.” Kummer said there’s one surefire way to absolve any guilt you have of your counterparts who may not tip: “You need to personally make up for it.” Kummer is executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

We're on tape today, replaying some of our favorite conversations: Mark Leibovich, chief national correspondent for The New York Times Magazine, discussed his book "Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times." Anand Giridharadas joined BPR to talk about his book "Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World." Comedian and podcaster Hari Kondabolu talked about his documentary, The Problem With Apu. Journalist, author and animal behaviorist Sy Montgomery joined Jim and Margery for another edition of the Afternoon Zoo. Comedian, actor and screenwriter Ike Barinholtz discussed his film, The Oath.