Boston Public Radio

Celebrities, murder, sex, drugs and one unusually slow car chase. The O.J. Simpson trial had all of the elements needed to make it one of the 1990s'…

Boston Public Radio will add a third hour in September, WGBH News has announced.BPR, hosted by Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, will air live on weekdays…

Update, Feb. 28, 2015: Leonard Nimoy has died at age 83, of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Actor Leonard Nimoy, who grew up in Boston's West End is…

Governor Deval Patrick joined Jim Braude and Margery Eagan for his monthly installment of "Ask the Gov" on Boston Public Radio, where he weighed in on…

If you're a consumer at Chipotle or Sweetgreen, you might feel virtuous that the bowls used there are considered compostable. Yet new findings show that these compostable bowls can still cause harm to both the environment and human health. Food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio on Tuesday to talk about what this new research means for the future of your food bowl. "A writer from The New Food Economy got 19 different samples of compostable bowls, from Chipotle to Sweetgreen. All of them had high content of fluorines, which is what these 'forever chemicals' contain," he said. Compostable bowls began to find increasing popularity when some cities like New York banned Styrofoam containers, Kummer said. "New York and others started banning single-use foam because it was so bad for the environment and it never biodegraded." These foam containers contained long chain PFAs, and switching to compostable materials seemed reasonable, Kummer said. Yet these compostable containers consist of the less researched short chain PFAs, he added. "What they didn't know is that all these short chain PFAs make compost toxic, because they never dissipate and they are long persistent in the human body and collect in your organs," Kummer said. The reason that PFAs are useful in food containers lies in their ability to resist liquid, preventing food from dripping through its holder, Kummer noted. "PFAs are used to resist water in cookware and carpets. The long forms [of PFAs] were ruled out for a lot human use, but there's no data on the shorter forms." A new law will go into effect in 2020 banning all PFA use in single-use serviceware in San Franciso. With this in mind, alternatives containers will be produced, Kummer said. "All sorts of manufacturers are racing to provide alternatives, since San Francisco will outlaw short form PFAs in January," he said. "Sweetgreen was the first to step up and say yes we're looking into alternatives and we're going to find a way around this." Kummer is a *senior editor at The Atlantic*, an award-winning food writer, and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy.

Today on* Boston Public Radio*: Shannon O'Brien, Former Massachusetts State Treasurer and Democratic nominee for Governor and Charlie Chieppo, principal of Chieppo Strategies, senior fellow at the Pioneer Institute and adjunct professor at Suffolk University, joined us for a political round-table. WGBH News Analyst Charlie Sennott discussed Trump's canceled secret Camp David meeting with the Taliban. Ronan Farrow joined us to break down his latest investigation for The New Yorker, in which he details MIT's broad effort to conceal its relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein Inaugural poet Richard Blanco shared poems about 9/11 for this installation of Village Voice. Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett G Price III joined us for another edition of All Rev'd Up, and discussed the ex-gay Christianity movement's quiet comeback. Former New York Times science writer Tatiana Schlossberg discussed her new book, "Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don't Know You Have." We opened the lines to hear from listeners about how they're adapting to and fighting against climate change.

Today on Boston Public Radio: President Donald Trump doubled down on his use of an outdated map that included Alabama in Hurricane Dorian's path, instead of just admitting he was wrong. We opened the lines to hear from listeners if they have people in their lives that are just incapable of apologizing for making mistakes, big or small. Shirley Leung discussed her latest column, on the sexism surrounding a male judge's decision to hold a female attorney in contempt of court. The attorney, Susan Church, was advocating on behalf of her client, an activist who was arrested while protesting the "Straight Pride" parade. Prosecutors from Rachael Rollins' office requested some cases not be prosecuted, and the judge refused. Emily Rooney, host of Beat The Press on WGBH, joined us for her famous list of fixations and fulminations. Dan Adams, Boston Globe marijuana reporter, updated us on a proposed state regulation that would mandate cannabis delivery people to be outfitted with police-style body cameras, and the latest reporting on hazards of vaping cartridges. Tech writer Andy Ihnatko discussed the latest tech headlines, from Elon Musk's starlink network to YouTube being fined $170 million for violating kids' privacy. Callie Crossley, host of Under The Radar on WGBH, discussed frustration among African-American entrepreneurs for not being able to break into the cannabis industry in Massachusetts. Aaron Cohen of Gracie’s Ice Cream and Jacqueline Dole of Parlor Ice Cream Company join us for a weekly news quiz.

Today on* Boston Public Radio:* Chuck Todd discussed Joe Biden's revisionist history on his support for the invasion of Iraq, a House panel's decision to subpoena documents linked to President Donald Trump's alleged pardons, and other politics headlines. Todd is moderator of Meet the Press, and the political director for NBC News. We opened the lines to hear from listeners about Walmart's decision to end ammunition sales. John Halpern, MD, discussed his new book on the history of opium, "Opium: How An Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned Our World." Halpern is a psychiatrist in private practice who formerly served as medical director of the Boston Center for Addiction Treatment, and former faculty member at Harvard Medical School, where he directed a research lab at McLean Hospital. Andrea Cabral caught us up to speed on the latest local controversy surrounding the so-called "Straight Pride Parade:" an attorney representing a protester who was arrested during Saturday's events was held in contempt of court after a judge refused to accept a prosecutor's decision not to prosecute the arrest. Cabral is former Suffolk County Sheriff, former secretary of Public Safety, and CEO of Ascend. Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed a new study that debunks the myth that a "gay gene" exists. Paul Reville, former Secretary of Education, previewed the start of the school year at Boston Public Schools under its new superintendent, Brenda Casselius. Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam joined us for his famous explainer, this week about the sleep gene. We opened the lines to hear from listeners about their sleep habits.

We're back from a week-long hiatus, and started the show by opening the lines to catch up with our listeners on a political potpourri. NBC Sports reporter Trenni Kusnierek gave an overview of NFL injuries, and focused on two recent retirees: Andrew Luck and Rob Gronkowski. ACLU Massachusetts Executive Director Carol Rose discussed allegations of police misconduct against counter-protesters during the so-called "straight pride" parade Saturday in Boston. Corby Kummer discussed the rise of virtual restaurants. Ali Noorani, Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, discussed the impact the public charge rule is having on immigrants trying to get state benefits. CNN's John King discussed Joe Biden's strength as a candidate, and Elizabeth Warren's steady rise in the polls. We closed the show by continuing the conversation around football injuries, and opened the lines to hear listeners thoughts on whether we should stop kids from playing tackle football.