Boston Public Radio

MIT economist Jonathan Gruber explains how the rose industry is a product of the U.S. trade deficit.

Meet the creator of “the conspiracy chart,” which showed the inverted pyramid of conspiracy, from true to detached from reality and antisemitic.

The community leader said the pandemic added fuel to his desire to serve the community.

If the U.S. Justice Department successfully restores the death penalty for the Boston marathon bomber, Rollins' office would support the move.

Housing plus additional services will be provided through Pine Street Inn and Father Bill's & MainSpring, a setup local shelter leaders say has a high success rate in keeping people housed.

Washington Post personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary explains the IRS' new reporting requirements for Venmo, PayPal.

This Sunday is Mother’s Day. We started the show by hearing from listeners about the state of motherhood in 2023. Mary Callahan and Leisie Kelly are two of the performers behind Speakeasy Stage Company’s The Prom, currently showing through June. It’s a musical about washed up actors who infiltrate small-town Indiana, and the chaos that unfolds when two girls decide they want to take one another to prom. They performed as part of Live Music Friday. Mitch Zuckoff is a Boston University professor and author whose latest book is “The Secret Gate: A True Story of Courage and Sacrifice During the Collapse of Afghanistan.” He joined to discuss his reporting on heroism and sacrifice during the fall of Afghanistan. Mayor Michelle Wu is back for “Ask the Mayor.” Jim and Margery asked about her performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and about her homelessness plan for Mass & Cass. They also discussed city districting, an influx of migrants to the city, Summertime open streets and BPD overtime fraud. Then, we opened the phone lines again to get people’s thoughts on shorts in the office. Was Jim’s decision to roll up to the studio in shorts today appropriate or a travesty?

We asked listeners to call in with their thoughts on last night’s CNN town hall with Donald Trump. Andy Ihnatko joined to debrief yesterday’s Google I/O conference, plus, gave updates on the White House’s efforts to reign in on AI. Andrea Cabral covered the George Santos indictment and how former Boston Police Union head Dana Pullman is getting 2.5 years in prison for kickback fraud. She also talked about Boston redistricting, and blowback to the New York Times’ profile of Elizabeth Holmes. Juliette Kayyem discussed criticisms of how Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s handled shootings in his state, most recently with the mall shooting in Allen. She’ll also weigh in on the E. Jean Carroll case, and a race between the U.S. and Russia over who can have the biggest naval presence in the Arctic. Nick Quah reviews podcasts for Vulture. This week, he shared his thoughts on Stiffed, Mallwalkin', Holy Week, You Didn't See Nothin, and She Wants More. A piece from The Wall Street Journal showed human brains are bad at multi-tasking. And yet, we can’t help ourselves. Why? What are your worst multi-tasking habitats? Listeners called in.

A Manhattan jury found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming the author E. Jean Carroll. What impact will this verdict have on his presidential run? Will these allegations of sexual abuse convince undecided voters to look elsewhere for a president, or is this ignorable “locker room talk”? We asked listeners for their opinion. Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed the new guidelines for breast cancer screening, how the FDA is looking at the first OTC birth control pill and the end of the WHO’s COVID-19 global health emergency designation. GBH’s Jared Bowen discussed “Beetlejuice” at Broadway in Boston, “The Prom” at SpeakEasy Stage and “Angels in America” at Central Square Theater. Environmentalist Bill McKibben shared the latest climate news. Naturalist Sy Montgomery discussed a new airline for cats and dogs. Amazon is preparing to add return fees. Will that change your online buying habits? Listeners weighed in.

New Hampshire will now mandate that all schools in the state must teach cursive and multiplication tables. We asked our listeners if they agree with the mandate and believe cursive is important. Trenni Casey, anchor/reporter for NBC Sports Boston, discussed the 7 horses dead at Churchill Downs leading up to the Kentucky Derby, a matchmaking experience, and the latest with the Celtics. Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Mass., discussed their involvement in North Brookfield to support the rights of the LGBTQ community there seeking to put a drag performance on during their Pride celebration, and the latest with silenced Montana lawmaker Zooey Zephyr. Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart discusses their 2023 spring season, starting May 12. Also, we get answers on how he keeps his luscious hair. We opened up the lines to ask listeners about how they feel about the beloved Christmas Tree Shops closing down their store locations. Chaos ensued. CNN’s John King joins remotely for the latest political headlines including the CNN Townhall tomorrow and how CNN came to the decision to have Trump on stage.

A new poll from ABC News/Washington Post finds 44% of respondents would "definitely" or "probably" vote for Donald Trump in 2024...yet 55% thinks he should be indicted. Is Biden in serious trouble for re-election? We asked listeners why they think Trump is currently the frontrunner. Shirley Leung joined to talk about the end of the road for the Christmas Tree Shop and Bed Bath & Beyond, plus, shutdowns on the Blue line and recent Globe reporting on liquor licenses in the Seaport. Bruce Marks is a long-time housing advocate in Boston and CEO of Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA). He discussed how racist practices and corporate investments have made it harder for people to own homes in Massachusetts. He added his thoughts on the rent control debate and talked about other housing issues in the Commonwealth. Vijay Gupta is a MacArthur Fellow and Music Worcester’s artist-in-residence for 2023. He joined Jim and Margery in Studio 3 to talk about what he’s doing in the Worcester community, making music with incarcerated people and bringing Bach to the masses. He’s got an introductory performance on Wednesday and he played us a couple of selections from the show. The Revs discussed a California Panel on reparations for Black residents. They also weighed in on the resignation of the Boston Archdiocese’s gender identity committee, and a study showing Americans pray more in their cars than in the church. Tom Brady compared himself to Secretariat this weekend. We asked listeners to vote on the real G.O.A.T: is it the 7x Super-Bowl-Winning Tom Brady? Or is it Margery’s favorite, the tremendous machine, Secretariat?