Boston Public Radio Podcast

Today on Boston Public Radio: It’s clear our government is becoming increasingly anti-majoritarian and we opened the lines for listeners to react. Betty Francisco, chief executive of the Boston Impact Initiative, a nonprofit fund manager, joined to discuss equity in capital investments/entrepreneurship. Scientists Titi Shodaya and Zakiya Whatley are co-hosts of the “Dope Labs” podcast, aimed to bring science to everybody. They joined the show to discuss what they do, their partnership with the Museum of Science and announced that season 5 is in the works. Poet Richard Blanco examined the “Ars Poetica” – art of poetry, through ars poetica poems, examining the role of poets themselves and the act of writing. The Revs discussed a push for the Catholic church to respond to the mental health crisis in teens; Muslim students at a college in NY calling for adequate prayer space; and a Texas bill that would require the Ten Commandments be posted in public school classrooms. We re-aired a conversation with singer and song-writer Arlo Guthrie. He was promoting an event at the Boch Schubert Center but you can still get tickets to the exhibit on his life and career at the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame. Our show wrapped up by asking listeners how far is too far when it comes to commuting. Some can handle two hours, some can’t handle forty minutes. So what did our listeners have to say?

Today on Boston Public Radio: Various headlines are circulating on the issue of affordable housing in Boston. From rent control to building housing on top of libraries, we asked listeners to share their thoughts. John Valverde is the CEO of YouthBuild USA, a nonprofit offering counseling and job training for young adults. He discussed the organization and how they’re addressing, among other thing, youth violence in schools. Segun Oduolowu hosts the Boston Globe Today on NESN, which debuted this week. He reflected on his first week and the importance of being the face of the show. Sue O’Connell talked about the racist policing incident that occurred on Marathon Monday in Newton, the mysterious disappearance of Twitter blue-checks, the expansion of don’t-say-gay in Florida, that exploding SpaceX rocket, and MTG getting silenced at a GOP-led committee hearing. Bonnie Heiple is commissioner of the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection, she talked about what she does and how it’s going ahead of Earth Day tomorrow. Live Music Friday this week is Jazz Boston president Ken Field, guitarist John Stein and GBH General Manager Anthony Rudel. They’ve got a concert on the Sunday after next honoring the life and legacy of Eric Jackson, they played some music in his honor. We ended the show with the comforting topics of rats. We asked listeners to text and call us to share experiences they’ve had with rats.

Five years ago, a Harvard doctoral student named Andres Ardisson Korat conducted a study that came to an unexpected conclusion. He found that eating half a cup of ice cream a day was associated with a lower risk of heart problems among diabetics. In other words — it showed eating ice cream as good for you. “If you have ice cream, you are at less risk of developing diabetes and researchers could not explain it away,” said food writer Corby Kummer on Boston Public Radio. Many researchers couldn’t give a rebuttal to the old wives’ tale on ice cream being healthy, even after throughly analyzing studies from over 20 years ago. The Atlantic story takes on the beloved treat of ice cream and while it is not typically considered a "healthy" food, it is evident that ice cream in moderation and as part of a balanced diet is unlikely to have a significant negative impact on a person’s health. Whether it actively increases the health of a person is a debate. “The story in our beloved Atlantic was really good and provocative. It was [examining] what researchers do when they see an obviously robust result they can’t filter out. They can’t change the controls to make it [the results] go away. And in this case, it was that eating ice cream, I think it was three times a week ... you’re welcome to do it,” Kummer said. Kummer himself could not give a direct answer on whether or not ice cream is healthy and quoted Dariush Mozaffarian, the dean of policy at Tufts' nutrition school, where he said that if ice cream had been a patented drug, “you can bet that the company would have done a $30 million randomized control trial to see if ice cream prevents diabetes.” He gives praise to the Atlantic story and said it’s a great example of “what it is like to try to produce meaningful nutritional research results when there are so few randomized controlled trials, and there’s so little money to do it.” At the moment, there isn’t a concrete answer. But regardless, Kummer plans to go to Toscanini’s in Cambridge and said you should too. “That’s the place to have it 3 times a week.” Corby Kummer is executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. He's a regular guest on Boston Public Radio.

Today on Boston Public Radio: NBC’s Chuck Todd on the latest political headlines. There have been a string of tragic shootings that happened recently and we opened the lines for listeners to share their thoughts on cases like Ralph Yarl’s and Kaylin Gillis'. Medical ethicist Art Caplan discusses additional COVID boosters approved by the FDA; Black pregnant women being tested more frequently for drug use; and retaining access to abortion pills by off-label prescribing. Jared Bowen discusses comedian Alex Edelman’s stand-up special ‘Just For Us’; Wild Life film about Patagonia’s founders; and My Fair Lady at Broadway in Boston. Food policy analyst Corby Kummer discusses New Yorkers converting their food waste into home energy through curbside composting; and studies showing a mysterious health benefit to ice cream. Brian McCreath, Brian O’Donovan, and James Bennett II join for a local music events panel. Our show wrapped up by taking calls and texts on 4/20. We wanted to know how people’s relationship with marijuana has changed in the years since its legalization in Massachusetts.

Marichka Padalko is a Ukrainian journalist who just ran the Boston Marathon, fundraising for Sunflower of Peace, a local US non-profit that provides humanitarian aid and medical supplies to Ukrainians. Fox News settled with Dominion Voting Systems, giving the company $787 million. We opened the phone lines to ask listeners how they feel. Were they looking forward to a trial, or was monetary justice enough? National security expert Juliette Kayyem discussed Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, the shooting death of Ralph Yarl by an 84-year-old man and the leak of classified documents by Jack Teixeira. EPA regional administrators David Cash and Daniel Blackman discussed new EPA pollution limits aimed at promoting electric vehicle sales, dramatic rising sea levels along the Eastern seaboard, and money to help small communities protect their water systems. Stephen Hammond is a descendent of enslaved families who lived at Arlington House, now the site of the Robert E. Lee memorial. Susan Glisson is a historian and founder of The Glisson Group, a consulting firm focused on reconciliation around civil rights issues. Both will be at an April 22 event, where members of Robert E. Lee’s family and descendants of people enslaved by the Lee’s will join together in conversation at the Arlington House. Senator Ed Markey joined to discuss his renewed effort with Rep. Ayanna Pressley to end qualified immunity. We also asked him about his experience at Mel King’s funeral and how his staff navigated unionization, the first Senate staff to do so. Spring is here. We asked listeners to share their spring cleaning rituals and learned that Jim loves dumping stuff.

Today on Boston Public Radio: David Leonard, president of the Boston Public Library, joined briefly at the top of the show to discuss Boston’s plan for housing units attached to some public library branches. It’s Tax Day. So we asked naturally asked listeners if they cheat on their taxes. Not many admitted to it but there was enough discussion that someone shared that they already served time for it. Trenni Casey, anchor/reporter for NBC Sports Boston, recapped the Marathon results and the Bruins success in Game 1 of the playoffs. Lauren Cook is CEO of Ellis Early Learning, early childhood education provider in the South End. Amy O’Leary is executive director at Strategies for Children, a statewide advocacy group. They talked about the child care crisis, from labor shortages to funding. Lehrhaus Tavern is now open in Somerville, a tavern and learning space for Jewish culture. Co-founder Rabbi Charlie Schwartz and executive chef Noah Clickstein joined at the BPL (with snacks). Boston Globe’s Marcela Garcia discussed a new Spanish-language conservative media network; and her reporting on an undocumented worker case in Maine involving a Mass. company. CNN’s John King joins via zoom for the latest political headlines. We wrapped up the show by debating whether or not AI generated art is in fact art.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened the lines on the eventful day of Marathon Monday. We asked listeners to share what they’re doing to celebrate and watch. Not a huge fan of the marathon? We asked to hear about other big accomplishments people wanted to share. Michael Curry discussed the conservative campaign against transgender rights, the changing access to free COVID rapid test and more. Charlie Sennott of the Groundtruth Project discussed the Good Friday agreement, The McCartney sisters' campaign to demand justice for the killing of their brother Robert in 2005 and Biden’s trip to Ireland. A segment with Des Linden, 2018 Boston Marathon winner, taped earlier this month where she talked about her new book “Choosing to Run.” Andy Ihantko spoke about Montana being the first state to pass legislation banning TikTok on all personal devices, the Internet Archive and various tech headlines. Rick Steves discussed England’s lake district, travel as a spiritual act, and travel “post-pandemic.”

Today on Boston Public Radio: We asked listeners if they’ve ever ran the Boston Marathon. And if they’re in the group of people who keep telling themselves they’ll just run it the next year, when is it time to admit the truth to yourself? An earlier-than-usual Live Music Friday with Zili Misik, an Afro-Latin band. The founder and front-woman of the band Kera Washington shared music from the African diaspora that is bound to get you in the groove. GBH’s senior investigative reporter Phillip Martin is featured in the three-part Netflix documentary “American Manhunt: The Boston Bombing.” He discussed his reporting on the tragedy and subsequent trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The artist behind the Boylston Street memorial to victims of the bombing, Pablo Eduardo, reflected on the years-long effort to bring the project to fruition. He also touches on the role of public art in our experience dealing with tragedy and grief. Dave Fortier is a bombing survivor and president of the One World Boston Foundation, which helps connect survivors of terrorist attacks with community and resources. He shared what the foundation’s all about, and how he’s feeling just days before running his 11th Boston marathon. Sue O’Connell shifted things up and talked NPR’s Twitter exit, an Instagram account dedicated to AI depictions of Republicans as drag queens, Bud Light’s ad campaign clashing with far-right ghouls and Kid Rock, and Trump’s chaotic interview with Tucker Carlson. Maura Healey joined for “Ask the Governor.” She reflected on her first 100 days in office, the FBI’s arrest of Jack Teixeira, the House’s $1.1 Billion tax package, Phillip Eng at the MBTA, and more.

Today on Boston Public Radio: CAI's Patrick Flanary, NEPM's Nancy Cohen and GBH's Katie Lannan discussed what listeners had had to say about Gov. Healey's first 100 days in office. We opened the lines to ask listeners if they are beginning to boycott Florida in solidarity with Equality Florida – that’s the largest LGBT advocacy group in the state – that issued an advisory for queer visitors and potential queer-intentifying residents. Andrea Cabral weighs in on the latest law & order headlines... this week that's Trump's attempts to postpone the E. Jean Carroll trial, Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg suing Rep. Jim Jordan to stop interference in his case against the former present. Michelle Wu is on for "Ask the Mayor". She'll discuss her newly unveiled $4.28 billion spending plan for 2024, what the city's got planned for marathon Monday, as well as new steps to make housing greener in Boston, a federal embezzlement trial for four BPD officers and more. We ended the show by asking listeners how they feel about dogs in restaurants, bars, and even a library. Considering that over in Everett, Park-9 Dog Bar opened up.

Jim and Margery started the show with a reflection on Boston political leader and civil rights activist, Mel King, whose funeral they attended yesterday. Former mayor Kim Janey and former governor Deval Patrick also joined to remember King’s life and legacy. Next we heard from listeners about outdoor dining. Now the weather is warm, should more downtown streets be closed to cars and opened to the people? Mary Louise Kelly discussed her new book, It.Goes.So.Fast. Former Boston Police Department commissioner and prolific marathoner Bill Evans discussed what will be his 24th time running the Boston Marathon and reflected on the 10 years since the bombings. Tillie Walden is Vermont’s youngest cartoonist laureate. Her first graphic memoir, Spinning, was published in 2017 and draws from her experience growing up as a competitive ice skater. Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung discussed her latest reporting on board members at the Alliance for Business Leadership, who quit over how a sexual harassment and discrimination case was handled. And, she talked about the Massachusetts housing crisis. We know it’s hard to work and parent. We opened the phone lines to hear from listeners about how they walk the tightrope that is being a working parent. What would make it easier?