Boston Public Radio

Amid scandals concerning overtime fraud and domestic abuse allegations against the city's now-former police commissioner, Andrea Cabral called any hopes of quick-fix reform to Boston's police department "a pipe dream."

Brian Moskwetah Weeden is the youngest person to hold the position of tribal council chair.

Douglass Williams speaks about his restaurant, MIDA, coming out of the pandemic.

Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett Price III said more needs to be done to compensate victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre and their families.

“It stands in the way of anything getting done,” Andrea Cabral said about weaknesses within the Democratic Party.

Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, said the Boston Police Department needs sustained internal pressure, along with increased funding, to become the force that the city deserves.

Today on Boston Public Radio, live from the Boston Public Library: South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh was found for guilty of the murder of his wife and son. We opened the phone lines to hear from listeners about their thoughts on the verdict. Shirley Leung discusses Healey’s tax proposal, Wu’s plan to revitalize downtown Boston, and the new leadership at MassBio and John Hancock. Callie Crossley discusses Melvin B. Miller passing the torch over at the Bay State Banner, Brian Flores’ discrimination case against the NFL, diverse casting in Disney’s Peter Pan remake, and her excitement for the return of McDonald’s Shamrock Shake and her love for Breakfast all day. James Bennett II talks Cocaine Bear, Academy Award categories that deserve more recognition, A.R.T’s “The Wife of Willesden,” a women in cartography exhibit on the BPL, and the Celebrity Series of Boston Jazz Festival. Vincent Pastore who played “Big Pussy” on the Sopranos joins to reflect on the show before his Sopranos Q&A with a few other cast members at the Boch Shubert Theater. St. Patrick’s Celtic Sojourn peformed live for Live Music Friday this week. This included Brian and Lindsay O’Donovan, guitarist Keith Murphy and fiddle player Katie McNally. We ended the show by asking listeners if they would consider living on Life at Sea Cruises for just $30,000 a year with all expenses included. That's around the average price of living in a studio apartment in Boston but the difference is you'd be sailing all around the world.

Today on Boston Public Radio, live from the Boston Public Library: We opened the phone lines to hear from listeners about the future of automation and what it means for their careers and livelihoods. Nancy Gertner gave us the rundown on the latest legal headlines, including the Supreme Court’s opinion on student loans, and a case on whether the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is constitutional. Judge Gertner also reflected on a recent Texas judge’s ruling on abortion pills. Gov. Maura Healey joined live from the Boston Public Library for “Ask the Governor.” She answered questions on her new tax plan & budget, housing, Massachusetts State Police reform, transparency, the new Black Empowerment Council, plus climate & MBTA dysfunction. Alison King & Shira Stoll from NBC News talked about their series “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of New Hampshire.” President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden recently dined at The Red Hen in DC and ordered the same meal. Is this weird to order the exact same meal at a restaurant as your dining partner? We had listeners weigh in.

It’s official! Jim and Margery have been on the GBH airwaves for 10 years. To celebrate their tin anniversary, we’re publishing their first-ever show as hosts of Boston Public Radio. Take a listen to see how much has changed – and how much hasn’t – with guests Rep. Stephen Lynch, political analysts Peter Kadzis and Todd Domke, Harvard’s Daniel Shrag, GBH’s Jared Bowen and culture reporter Joyce Kulhawik. An enormous thank-you to all you listeners who’ve with us over the last decade! Looking at you, John in Gardner.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Reuters recently documented 220 instances of death threats and harassment against school board members. We opened the lines to hear thoughts from teachers, students, and everyone in between. Juliette Kayyem discuss her latest column on how Musk destroyed “disaster response Twitter” and clears up the facts surrounding the COVID lab leak theory. She also touched on Murdoch's acknowledgement on Fox News hosts endorsing election fraud lies. Kayyem was former assistant secretary for homeland security under President Barack Obama, and is faculty chair of the homeland-security program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. For the remainder of the show, we were on tape replaying some of our favorite recent conversations with Satirist Andy Borowitz; Drag queen Nina West – also known as Andrew Levitt; Elle Simone Scott from America’s Test Kitchen and Ray Angry, keyboardist for the legendary Roots.

Today on Boston Public Radio, live from the Boston Public Library: The Supreme Court heard arguments this week from a handful of Republican states wishing to invalidate President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. We opened the lines to get listeners’ thoughts on the plan. NBC Sports’ Trenni Casey discussed baseball’s new pitch clock rules, Tom Brady’s news gig at Fox Sports, an unbelievable ‘ice mile’ swim in Boston’s Pleasure Bay and the Fur Rendezvous winter festival in Alaska. Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers’ Michael Curry joined us — fresh off a red-eye flight — to discuss the 2023 NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles, Gov. Maura Healey’s new advisory council on Black empowerment and the nursing home crisis in Massachusetts. GBH News’ Worcester reporter Sam Turken and Worcester resident Dave Vespucci joined Jim and Margery at the Boston Public Library to discuss Sam’s latest piece for GBH News’ Priced Out series, a story that detailed Vespucci’s long search for a new home in Worcester. GBH News Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen shared stories from his recent trip to the South, where he visited the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, sites associated with Emmett Till’s murder and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. CNN’s John King discussed the latest national political headlines, including actions by Fox News executives during the Jan. 6 insurrection, the state attorneys general leading the student loan forgiveness lawsuits and the future of the Republican Party. We opened the lines to hear from listeners about pickleball. Do they have a loved one with symptoms of the made-up “Pickleball Derangement Syndrome,” or are they the ones spending all their time playing the noisy sport?