Boston Public Radio

"I hope the Justice Department takes advantage of" a massive document dump negotiated in the Purdue Pharma family settlement, says Healey.

Former State Senator Ben Downing criticized Democrats and Republicans alike and called for a more thorough investigation into the COVID-19 outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home.

Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III weighed in on the emergence of the Boston-based parent action group Parents United.

Cabral agrees with cynics but also speaks to challenge of sustaining prison reforms across governors’ tenures.

"Families have been asked to wait too many times by Beacon Hill," she said on Greater Boston.

The group has ties to organizations that date back to the early 1900s.

Today former President Donald Trump was arraigned in Manhattan. No video cameras were allowed in the courtroom. We asked listeners whether they thought the public should be able to view the proceedings. NBC Sports Boston’s Trenni Casey gave a rundown of the NCAA basketball title games, plus insights on the new Major League Baseball rules. ACLU of Massachusetts executive director Carol Rose discussed the Trump arraignment and a SCOTUS immigration case that centers on free speech. Martin Smith of Frontline discussed the new three-part series titled "America and the Taliban". Part one airs tonight on PBS. Lee Pelton, president and CEO of the Boston Foundation discussed the upcoming report that examines Black wealth in Boston. As Trump entered the courthouse, we broadcasted live to hear from Michael Curry, former federal judge Nancy Gertner and Ron Sullivan, the faculty director of the Harvard Criminal Justice Institute and the Harvard Trial Advocacy Workshop.

Today on Boston Public Radio: There’s history in the making with former president Trump being indicted. But is the media going overboard with too much Trump coverage? We opened the lines for listeners to let us know how they’re keeping afloat. Harvard labor lawyer Terri Gerstein discussed child labor laws being rolled back throughout the country. Charlie Sennott joined from Belfast to fill us in on the Good Friday Agreement, the WSJ journalist arrested for espionage in Russia, and the consequences of a "Trump revival" for foreign leaders. E.J. Dionne discussed some of his latest columns on Biden's presidential legacy, being stuck in a "Trump world", and the departure of the chair of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. The Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III on to discuss Pope Francis' illness (and announcement that he's "Still Alive"), Mel King's influence on Boston leadership and whether DeSantis can break Trump's hold on the religious right. Film critic Odie Henderson will discuss Affleck and Damon's new movie "Air", the dungeons & dragons movie, "John Wick: Chapter 4" and the new Reggie Jackson documentary, "Reggie". We ended the show on a peculiar note — Turkeys. April is mating season for the creatures and we wanted to know about the encounters people have had with turkeys.

Jared Bowen filled in for Jim Braude at the Boston Public Library. Turns out Jim was too busy taking photos of Trump supporters outside of Mar-A-Lago. Last night the news broke about Trump’s indictment by a Manhattan grand jury. We started the show by hearing from former federal judge Nancy Gertner with her reactions and legal analysis. Then we opened the phone lines to hear from listeners. What were their reactions to the news, and what does the indictment mean for next year’s presidential election? Sue O’Connell discussed the transphobia surrounding the Tennessee mass shooting. On the lighter side, she celebrated the one-year anniversary of Wordle, and ancient artifacts that may or may not be sex toys. Corby Kummer joined to discuss the James Beard Award nominees, a meatball made from mammoth DNA and the state of food insecurity in Massachusetts. Journalist Andrea Bernstein from WNYC and co-host of the Peabody winning podcast Trump, Inc. joined to discuss Trump’s indictment. Will Dailey, a local singer/songwriter, joined for Live Music Friday. He performed two songs and spoke to Margery and Jared about his new podcast called Sound of Our Town.

Chuck Todd on the latest out of D.C., and his contentious interview last Sunday with Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina. Then we opened the phone and text lines to get listener’s take on Red Sox Opening Day. Does this mean it’s officially spring? Turns out, we have many nature-loving listeners who depend on the sound of spring peepers to signal the new season, not the ump’s call. Andrea Cabral on Chat-GPT making its way to Indian courtroom. She also discussed an indictment charge for the man who drove his car into a Hingham Apple store, the skiing trial of Gwyneth Paltrow and Adnan Syed (of “Serial” fame) getting his murder conviction reinstated. Michael Curry on accusations of racism in Wayland after a Black superintendent was placed on leave, and how some members of the NAACP are looking to get a travel advisory for Florida. He also touched on a few medical stories, including over the counter Narcan and a nursing home COVID outbreak. Elie Honig is a former federal prosecutor turned podcaster. The latest season of his show Up Against the Mob focuses on organized crime in Springfield. He joined to discuss. Kara Baskin is on to discuss some of her latest parenting/advice columns. This week it’s how to talk to your kids about gun violence, navigating perimenopause, bracing for college admissions season as a parent, and navigating a breakup/divorce during March (the month to do it, apparently). We continued the college admissions discussion by hearing from listeners. What advice would they give to parents or young kids about college?

Today on Boston Public Radio: Several schools throughout the state of Massachusetts went into lockdown after receiving swatting calls. Even though the threats are false, the impact is real. We asked listeners to share their thoughts. Michael Curry, President and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, joined to reflect on longtime Boston political activist Mel King and his legacy. Senator Elizabeth Warren joined to discuss her senate re-election bid and her demands for more oversight of the Federal Reserve. National security expert Juliette Kayyem on the Washington Post piece detailing damage done by AR-15s to young bodies and the significance of Trump at Waco. Medical ethicist Art Caplan discusses Sen. Sanders grilling Moderna for quadrupling COVID vaccine price and Cigna’s penny-pinching practice of having doctors reject claims without reading them. Boston Globe travel writer Christopher Muther talks about his latest column on a Rockport man retracing his grandfather’s path through WWI France and a new cat café in Peabody from an internet cafe in Bogotá. Naturalist Sy Montgomery discusses the battle for your garage space -- Black vs Brown widow spiders; a new study confirming neuroscience research is lacking female mice; and a wiring map of an insect’s brain hinting at vast complexity. We ended our show by going down the rabbit hole of electric cars. They seem great but does the difficulty of charging them turn people off? Listeners texted and called in to let us know.