BPR Full Show 1/18/21: Our Second Chance

Today on Boston Public Radio:

We kick things off by opening our lines, talking with listeners about honoring Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy with acts of public service.

King Boston Executive Director Imari Paris Jeffries talks about his organization’s forthcoming memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders on Boston Common, and why he’s hopeful about the city's capacity to evolve into an anti-racist beacon for the rest of the nation.

Joan Donovan, Research Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, discusses the impact of social media companies de-platforming President Trump on online discourse, and offers her thoughts on the future of far-right ideologies after the president leaves office.

TV expert Bob Thompson reviews Netflix’s “Pretend It’s A City,” “WandaVision" on Disney Plus, and NBC’s “Mr. Mayor.” He also talks about the NFL’s Nickelodeon broadcast, and the documentary “MLK/FBI,” about FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s investigations into Rev. King.

Reverend Irene Monroe and Emmett Price, host of GBH’s All Rev’d Up podcast, talk about their special Martin Luther King Day episode of All Rev’d Up, titled “This Is Who We Are,” about the racism and white supremacy baked into the American identity.

We reopen lines to talk with listeners about pandemic-induced senility, and whether you’re struggling to stay focused 10 months into quarantine.

Richard Blanco, the fifth-ever U.S. inaugural poet, talks about 23 year-old poet Amanda Gorman, who’s set to become President-elect Biden’s inaugural poet, and reflects on his own experience writing the poem “One Today” for Barack Obama's second presidential inauguration.