Boston Public Radio

Mass General Brigham program seeks to combat racial disparities in maternal mortality through free assistance from birth doulas.

For its 20th anniversary, the Boston Celtic Music Festival returns in-person for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

A GBH News reports highlights how the loss of a public park in 1960s laid the ground for today's battle for better air quality.

Gov.-elect Healey wants to bet big on climate technology.

More than 2,500 books were banned in different U.S. districts in the 2021-22 school year, a recent report found.

Missteps made in Gov. Baker's pardon request led to a hasty withdrawal.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Washington Post op-ed columnist E.J. Dionne responds to Wednesday’s chaos incited by Trump mob in Washington, D.C., and the impact it might have on the future of President Trump’s political influence post-presidency. He also weighs in on President-elect Biden's choice of Merrick Garland, his former college friend, to serve as A.G. Former Pentagon official Rosa Brooks reacts to the storming of the Capitol building by President Trump’s supporters, which she predicted in exercises laid out by her bipartisan Transition Integrity Project. She also offers her thoughts on the path forward for maintaining democratic stability in the U.S. Next, we open lines to talk with listeners about your thoughts on Wednesday’s chaos, and the future of the U.S. post-Trump. Former Suffolk County sheriff and secretary of public safety Andrea Cabral discusses the lawlessness of yesterday’s pro-Trump mob. She also offers her take on the lackluster response from authorities defending the U.S. Capitol building, and compares Wednesday’s police enforcement to what was seen at Black Lives Matter protests throughout 2020. Next, we return to listeners to talk about Wednesday’s storming of the U.S. Capitol building, and the response from political leaders and members of the media. Rep. Bill Keating talks about his experience being barricaded in his office at the Capitol on Wednesday, and the rising number of his colleagues looking to pursue invoking the 25th amendment to remove President Trump from office. We close out Thursday's show by returning to our callers, getting your final impressions (for now) of Wednesday's events.

Today on Boston Public Radio: M.I.T. economist Jonathan Gruber talks about what an expanded stimulus relief package might look like with Democrats in control of the Senate. He also responds to listener questions about what’s in the latest $900 billion package, passed in December. Next, we open lines to talk with callers about the Republicans challenging President-elect Biden’s win, and get your thought on the legacy of Trumpism in American politics. CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem discusses the state of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition to the White House, and the Trump supporters gathering in Washington to contest Congress’ certification of Biden's Electoral College win on Wednesday. Medical ethicist Art Caplan breaks down the latest news on the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S., and questions around who ought to have vaccine priority. Next, we open lines to callers, returning to the discussion about resistance to President-elect Joe Biden’s November win. Angell Animal Medical Center’s Dr. Virginia Sinnott-Stutzman joins us for an inaugural edition of “Ask the Vet,” talking about pet care during the pandemic and responding to listener questions.

Speaking on Boston Public Radio Wednesday, CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem took a moment to reflect on Tuesday’s Senate runoff victory for Democrat Raphael Warnock in Georgia. Warnock will join the Senate after serving 15 years as pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. presided as co-pastor throughout the 1960’s. "A man of faith entering politics is rare enough, but the extent to which he views his faith as requiring him to have entered politics at this moment is really something that is worth taking a pause for,” she said, adding “I’ve been really intrigued by that very un-threatening combination of faith and public service… I think a lot of us have grown weary of faith in public service, given what’s been done in the name of religion and religious leaders supporting some pretty bad behavior.” Juliette Kayyem is an analyst for CNN, former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and faculty chair of the homeland security program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Some primary care physicians are being left out of the first wave of COVID-19 vaccinations, even if they are treating patients with the illness. Medical ethicist Art Caplan told Boston Public Radio on Wednesday the issue is a “snafu” in the distribution plans that routed much of the initial doses to hospitals, and left out doctors with no hospital affiliation. “If you write rules for the states, like the CDC, or the states adopt rules that say give the vaccine first to nursing homes then to healthcare workers, then you’re giving them out at hospitals and nursing homes,” said Caplan. “The reason they’re getting missed even if they have patient populations that have a lot of COVID … it’s just not where they are.”

Today on Boston Public Radio: Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett discusses news around the COVID-19 vaccines, from their slower-than-anticipated rollout in the U.S., to questions of whether vaccine skeptics are right to feel hesitant about getting their shot. She also responds to questions and comments from listeners. Gergen Barnett is the vice chair of Primary Care Innovation and Transformation and Residency Director in the Department of Family Medicine at Boston Medical Center and Boston University Medical School. Next, we open lines to talk with listeners about Tuesday’s runoff elections in Ga., and the possibility of an end to divided government in 2021. Carol Rose, Executive Director of the ACLU of Mass., discusses upsides and drawbacks to Mass.' newly-signed police reform law. She also touches on the significance of the state's newly-passed ROE Act, which expands abortion protections in Mass, and talks about Gov. Charlie Baker's decision to veto it. Then, we return to listener lines to talk about your feeling on returning to office spaces in 2021. CNN’s John King breaks down the latest headlines on the national stage, from the dual Senate runoff elections taking place in Ga. Tuesday, to the dozens of congressional Republicans saying they’ll contest certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory. NBC Sports Boston reporter and anchor Trenni Kusnierek talks about Tuesday’s fully-masked basketball game between B.U. and Holy Cross, a first in college basketball, and reflects on the Patriots’ losing 2020 season without quarterback Tom Brady.