Boston Public Radio

Afghanistan is rebuilding, slowly, after more than a decade of war. But is the progress being made fleeting, or built-to-last?That's a question Charles…

Does any snack sing "spring" quite like the pastel-colored culinary marvel that is the Peep?*Let me answer that for you: no. Jim Braude and Margery Eagan…

Mere hours after Germanwings pilot Andreas Lubitz crashed a passenger airplane into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board, airlines in Europe…

Coffee giant Starbucks was skewered earlier this month when it introduced a campaign trying to get customers to talk about race (not surprisingly, it…

World leaders have been gathered in Lausanne, Switzerland for weeks trying to hammer out a deal on the future of Iran's nuclear program. Today, their…

Charter schools in Boston have made extraordinary gains, according to a new report from Stanford University. New Massachusetts Secretary of Education…

Today on Boston Public Radio: Charlie Chieppo and Michael Curry joined us for our political round-table to speak about the latest in national and local politics. Charlie Chieppo is principal of Chieppo Strategies, Senior Fellow at the Pioneer Institute and Adjunct Professor at Suffolk University. 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. Television expert Bob Thompson reviewed the latest in TV and movies, including the upcoming Netflix show 'Living with Yourself,' featuring Paul Rudd. Boston Globe columnist Nestor Ramos spoke about his reporting on climate change is hitting Cape Cod. We opened the lines to talk with our listeners about the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, called in to give the latest developments with Trump's immigration policies. Poet Richard Blanco spoke about the creative process and inspiration behind writing poetry. We opened the lines again, this time to ask our listeners what they thought about Ellen Degeneres' selfie with George W. Bush.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened the lines to callers to ask: in light of the whistleblower news in Washington, have there ever been times when you’ve had to take a stand against authority? Was it the right choice? Tech Writer Andy Inathko discussed big tech’s relationship to China, following Apple’s choice to pull an app that helped pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong track police whereabouts. NBC Sports Boston Reporter Trenni Kusnierek discussed the NBA’s catering to Chinese interests, as well as basketball player Enes Kanter’s essay about refusing to be silent on Turkey President Erdogan’s authoritarian leadership. Author Imani Perry joined Boston Public Radio to discuss her latest book: "BREATE: A Letter To My Sons.” Harpreet Sareen, Assistant Professor at the Parson School of Design, discussed his research on cyborg botany, and the movement to make plant-robot hybrids. Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung discussed her latest column on why local craft breweries are pushing for more diversity. For our weekly news quiz, all-female Brazilian brass band Fanfarra Feminina Sagrada Profana joined to promote the upcoming HONK! Festival in Somerville.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Washington Post national politics correspondent Annie Linskey discussed the latest news surrounding the 2020 Democratic presidential race. Food writer Corby Kummer discussed pushback to a Trump administration move to end limits on slaughterhouse line speeds, and news that grocery chain Dean & Deluca has closed their flagship location. Former Suffolk County Sheriff and Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral discussed the latest on the House impeachment inquiry, and updates regarding President Trump’s removal of troops from northeastern Syria. Nancy Koehn, Harvard Business School historian, spoke about Silicon Valley's move away from big spending in favor of profit. We opened the lines to callers to hear your thoughts on balancing motherhood and work life. Journalist & author Naomi Klein discussed her new book: “On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal” Jonathan Alsop, founder of the Boston Wine School, previewed WGBH’s upcoming Food & Wine Festival.

An effort backed by the Trump administration to speed up slaughter lines of pigs is facing legal challenges from food workers' unions that argue the new rules will put laborers in danger. Food policy expert Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio Thursday to discuss the new rule, and the workers' safety complaint. "This makes my blood boil. Already the line speeds, the industrial processing allowed in big meat slaughterhouses is hugely dangerous to workers," said Kummer. "They get mad cow brain disease if they're working on the line slicing open brains of pigs and beef and they do, and they have progressive neurological diseases, and meat companies just through them out the door and say, 'We don't owe you any disability.'" The suit challenges the Department of Agriculture's move to eliminate maximum speed guidelines that the agency estimated would provide annual savings in the millions of dollars for large plants. Kummer said this rule expressly throws worker safety out the window in favor of industry benefits. "These new laws friendly to industry increasing line speed, the USDA said we don't care about overload, burnout, physical toll and repetitive stress injury, we're not even going to weigh that in our final rules, we're going to leave that for OSHA," he said. "What they're doing is destroying the health of the workers and even saying flat out, 'We don't care we're going to leave it to OSHA to come in and try and mop up the mess.'" 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 Nutrtition Science and Policy.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened the lines to callers to hear their thoughts on Trump’s choice to not comply with House impeachment proceedings. Media maven Sue O’Connell discussed three LGBT descrimination cases that the Supreme Court heard on Tuesday. CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem discussed President Trump’s decision to pull troops out of northeast Syria, as well as the latest on the House impeachment inquiry. WGBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen reviewed Trinity Rep’s production of “Prince of Providence,” as well as “Homer at the Beach,” a gallery of Winslow Homer paintings on display at the Cape Ann Museum. Listeners phoned in to discuss whether cell phones have any place in theaters and schools. Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam discussed his latest piece, which bemoans a new interior design trend: Judging books exclusively by their covers and using them as decorative objects. Listeners phoned in to give their thoughts on reading in 2019.