Boston Public Radio

John King joins us from CNN's headquarters to discuss on immigration, Obama's call for federal oversight on militarization of police force, and Chuck…

Former Governor Michael Dukakis joined Boston Public Radio with Jim Braude and Margery Eagan to discuss Governor-elect Charlie Baker's record as Secretary…

Obama addressed the nation last night to explain new executive actions about immigration. We check in with you to sift through the fallout.Governor Mike…

Need some potent potables to mollify your family this Thanksgiving? Boston Wine School's Jonathon Alsop is on hand to help you properly pair wines with…

America has a complicated relationship with religious dogma. It inspires reverence and provokes revolt. The nation's oldest living president, 90 year old…

It's a story that, by now, is tragically familiar: an American hostage, alone with his captor in the desert, executed on camera by militants of the…

Today on Boston Public Radio: Sue O'Connell and Joanna Weiss discussed the weekend mass shootings in Ohio and Texas and other national headlines in a political round-table. O'Connell is co-publisher of Bay Windows and South End News, and in-depth politics reporter for NECN. Weiss is editor of Experience, a magazine published by Northeastern University. WGBH News analyst Charlie Sennott looked at how America compares to other nations when it comes to gun deaths, and why mass shooters who espouse white nationalism aren't charged with domestic terrorism in the country. We opened the phone lines to hear from our listeners about where they stand on gun control. Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett Price discussed what rural Christians heard during the Democrat presidential debates. Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist and the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Trail and a Visiting Researcher in the Religion and Conflict Transformation Program at Boston University School of Theology. Emmett is Professor of Worship, Church & Culture and Founding Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of the Black Christian Experience at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Together they host the All Rev’d Up podcast. TV guru Bob Thompson previewed the American Experiences documentary on Woodstock, and reviewed other media headlines. Thompson is founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture and a Trustee Professor of Television and Popular Culture at the Newhouse School of Public communications at Syracuse. We got an acoustic set from musician Will Dailey, who will perform a series of concerts at Fenway Park this summer.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Congresswoman Katherine Clark discussed what moved her to join other Democrats calling for impeachment against President Donald Trump. We opened the lines to ask our listeners how they feel about the near end of summer. WGBH's Callie Crossley joined us at the WGBH studio at the Boston Public Library to discuss how race was handled in the 2020 Democratic debates. Boston Globe travel writer Christopher Muther explained why some hotels are phasing out min-toiletries. Tech writer Andy Ihnatko spoke about how safe our next election will be from tampering. Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung spoke about the racially insensitive cover of yesterday's Boston Herald. Rhett Price and Josh Knowles, aka the Subway Violinists, took part in our weekly news quiz and played us some tunes.

Today on Boston Public Radio: NBC's Chuck Todd joined us on the line to recap the 2020 Democratic debates the past two nights. Did you watch the debate last night or did you decide to tune it out? We opened the lines to ask our listeners about their debate opinions. Criminal justice analyst Andrea Cabral discussed the 2020 Democratic candidates' criminal justice reform plans. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley joined us to discuss President Donald Trump's racist rhetoric and her take on the debates. We opened the lines again to continue the conversation with our listeners about the debates the past two nights. Medical ethicist Art Caplan explained the 2020 Democratic candidates' health care plans. Media maven Sue O'Connell spoke about Justin Trudeau making history by visiting a gay bar for Canada Pride. Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam discussed Herman Melville's writing habits.

The Trump administration is proposing a change to the rules that govern who is eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. Under the proposed rule changes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates 3 million people would lose benefits, which includes an estimated 90,000 people in Massachusetts, according to the state's Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA). The proposed changes would prohibit the states from expanding who is eligible for the program beyond the federal baseline, which is $33,475 for a family of four — or 130 percent of the federal poverty level. Right now, 39 states, including Massachusetts, offer federally-funded SNAP benefits to people who make more than that — up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level — but still qualify for benefits because they have other expenses that make it hard for them to pay for food. In a statement, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said the rule changes will “close a loophole” and will save the federal government an estimated $2.5 billion a year. The administration and some Republicans in Congress have highlighted a case that involves a wealthy Minnesota man who had extremely low income, but huge assets, and said he applied for and collected SNAP benefits. Corby Kummer, executive director of the food and society policy program at the Aspen Institute, told Boston Public Radio on Wednesday that the proposed change would also impact half a million children who currently get discounted school lunch. Kummer said that the administration's narrative harkens back to the derogatory trope of the welfare queen: that people rely on public services paid for by the rest of upstanding citizens, so they don't have to work themselves. "The whole premise of this welfare queen free-loader, people are gouging the government and taxpayers because they want free school lunches, is so absurd. It's so hateful that it's hard to believe the cynicism, Kummer said. "This whole idea that people would be deliberately trying to freeload off of the government for food stamps, as opposed to, for example, the multimillionaire large big-ag farmers who get huge subsidies for growing things like soybean ... that gets unstated because that's Trump's base." Corby Kummer is also a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened up the line to ask our listeners about their thoughts on last night's 2020 Democratic debate. Washington Post's National Politics reporter Annie Linskey spoke with Jim and Margery about last night's debate and previewed the subsequent debate tonight. Homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem discussed Dan Coats resignation as Director of National Intelligence. Food writer Corby Kummer talked about the 120th anniversary of the Hood ice cream sandwich. WGBH's executive arts editor Jared Bowen reviewed exhibits from the Clark Art Institute. Naturalist Sy Montgomery spoke about conservation efforts being made to help puffin populations in Maine and tiger populations in India. Former Central Intelligence Agency officer John Woodward Jr. joined to discuss the role of Director of National Intelligence and how it will change now that Coats is out.