Boston Public Radio

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech to Congress tomorrow, but not everyone will be welcoming him with open arms. That's because…

Charles Sennott, co-founder of GlobalPost and head of The GroundTruth Project, joined Boston Public Radio to discuss the international headlines of the…

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf raised eyebrows Monday when suggested that the best way for America to combat ISIS was through addressing its root…

Got an icicle the size of a Volkswagen hanging off your roof? Tom Silva and Norm Abram are here to help. The two This Old House experts joined Jim and…

David Axelrod is a grizzled veteran of American politics, first covering it as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune and then working campaigns for Richard…

Before you climb up onto your roof with a shovel* to clear off the forty feet of snow that's accumulated in the past few days, you may want to listen to…

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.

We're on tape today, replaying some of our favorite conversations: Ron Chernow joins Jim and Margery to talk about his biography, “Grant.” Harvard Business School's Michael Norton discusses his latest research, which looks at what is more valuable to people, saving money or saving time. Author Karl Ove Knaussgard discusses his book, “Autumn.” Patti Smith discusses why she considers herself a writer above all her other talents. It’s the subject of her memoir “Devotion (Why I Write).” Salman Rushdie discusses his novel, “The Golden House.” Sy Montgomery and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas discuss their book “Tamed and Untamed: Close Encounters of the Animal Kind.”