BPR Full Show: Beamed and Probed Radio

Today on Boston Public Radio:

We began the show by taking calls about how listeners feel about President Joe Biden’s expected announcement on student loan debt forgiveness.

Art Caplan discussed COVID-19 protocols in schools ahead of back to school season, the myriad of factors weighing on teens’ mental health and the inadequacies of systems in place to provide help, and the calls for renaming monkeypox. Caplan is the Drs. William F. and Virginia Connolly Mitty Professor and founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU School of Medicine in New York City.

Judge Nancy Gertner joined us for a session of “On the Docket,” in which she analyzed news about recent comments from Suffolk District Attorney candidate and City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo about previous sexual assault allegations against him, the findings from the FBI’s raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, and a recent hack and leak of voter information in Georgia. Gertner is a retired federal judge and a senior lecturer at Harvard Law School.

Jeff Thielman and Farkhanda Ehssan discussed their work at the International Institute of New England resettling Afghan refugees, including how they try to help mitigate culture shock, how things are in Afghanistan for women now, and how the economy works for immigrants right now. Thielman is the President and CEO of the IINE, and Ehssan is a case specialist there.

Shirley Leung shared her thoughts about the Wu administration’s attempts to revive and take responsibility for the failures with the T, the Biden administration’s recent announcement about student loan relief, and the draw of fully automated coffee shops. Leung is a business columnist for the Boston Globe.

Dr. Nick Whitney discussed the uptick in shark activity on Cape Cod, including how climate change is having an impact on it, the importance of treating the ocean with respect, and the new “Sharktivity” app. Whitney is a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center, where he also chairs the Fisheries Science and Emerging Technologies program.

We ended the show by asking listeners if they’ve ever seen a UFO.