Boston Public Radio Podcast

Jim and Margery opened the show by taking your calls about a study from the University of Utah which found that 42 percent of Americans lied or misrepresented their adherence to Covid-19 protocols. Medical Ethicist Art Caplan discussed a new experiment out of Japan where researchers implanted transmitters into cockroaches, allowing them to be controlled remotely. Researchers say the technology can be used to assist in search and rescue missions. 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. Juliette Kayyem discussed the implications of President Joe Biden's comments that the world is facing the biggest threat of a nuclear Armageddon since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Juliette Kayyem is former assistant secretary for homeland security under President Barack Obama, and the faculty chair of the homeland-security program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. MIT Economist Jonathan Gruber discussed tactics on how to choose the best healthcare plan during open enrollment period at private companies and for Medicare. Gruber suggested paying close attention to the out of pocket spending limit within your plans. Jonathan Gruber is Ford Professor of Economics at MIT. He was instrumental in creating both the Massachusetts health-care reform and the Affordable Care Act. His latest book is Jump-Starting America How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream Michael Curry discussed ways to improve equity in healthcare services as well as the latest racist comments from Senator Tommy Tuberville during a Trump rally. President and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers. He’s also a Member of the National NAACP Board of Directors, where he chairs the board’s Advocacy & Policy Committee We closed the show with a listener call-in session about whether the expectations for tipping have gotten out of hand.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Five years ago, the New York Times and the New Yorker posted allegations against Harvey Weinstein regarding sexual assault. This week Weinstein is beginning another trial now in Los Angeles. With this in mind we wanted to open our lines to ask: in your day to day life, have your lives changed five years on after #MeToo? Is workplace harassment less tolerable or has it stayed the same? Trenni Casey discussed the NFL’s adjusted concussion protocol. She also talked about rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe’s start to NFL life and the Patriots Week 5 game against the Lions. Casey is a reporter and anchor for NBC Sports Boston, and a weekly Boston Public Radio contributor. Trenni Casey on BPR | Oct. 11, 2022 ACLU of Massachusetts executive director Carol Rose discussed the various SCOTUS cases the league is involved in, and the impact of the Biden Aaministration’s marijuana possession pardons and the risk doctors in blue states take by sending abortion pills to red states. Mayor Michelle Wu joined us for the monthly, hourlong segment ‘Ask the Mayor’ where she took questions from both audience members at the Boston Public Library and from listeners. Wu, a Democrat, has been Mayor of Boston since 2021. Biplaw Rai and Kwasi Kwaa of Dorchester’s Comfort Kitchen discussed their new cafe/restaurant located in Upham’s Corner slated to open this month.

Speak of the deviled. On Monday, food and policy writer Corby Kummer returned to Boston Public Radio to herald a resurgence in popularity for deviled eggs, per the staff writers over at Bon Appetit Magazine. It’s not your standard deviled eggs that are getting all this attention, though. “Fancy” eggs, with ingredients like Kewpie mayonnaise, miso, and caviar are apparently the hors d’oeuvre célèbre. “It’s kind of the ingredients of the moment and the seasonings of the moment that are making their way into deviled eggs,” Kummer explained, commenting on the article dubbing 2022 the “year of the fancy deviled egg.” “Fat is a wonderful carrier of flavor. Egg yolks are fat. You puree and mash in… you know, it used to be mustard and Worcestershire sauce, and paprika! Those were the flavoring components, that was as exotic as it got,” Kummer said. “Now it’s Kewpie mayonnaise and anchovies and fish sauce – and Sriracha if you can find it.” During his weekly conversation with hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, Kummer also touched on rising restaurant prices, poor taste jokes on “The Great British Baking Show,” and the late Sylvia Wu of Madame Wu’s Garden restaurant in Los Angeles. Corby Kummer is executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We began the show by opening phone lines, asking listeners about the large number of people in their 20s and 30s moving back in with their parents amid rising costs of living. Michelle Singletary shared her advice off of her latest personal finance columns, focusing on the looming deadline for public service loan forgiveness. Singletary is a personal finance columnist for the Washington Post. She writes the nationally syndicated column, "The Color of Money,"  which provides insight into the world of personal finance. Her latest book is: What To Do With Your Money When Crisis Hits: A Survival Guide. Mitra Kalita and Levi Rickert talked about covering politics and this year’s midterm elections, as well as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Kalita is co-founder/ CEO of URL Media, a network of Black and Brown community news outlets that share content. She was most recently Senior Vice President at CNN Digital, overseeing the national news, breaking news, programming, opinion and features teams. Rickert is founder, publisher, and editor of Native News Online. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. Retired Federal Judge Nancy Gertner discussed mounting criticism over the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, and previewed the Court’s 2022-2023 session. Gertner is a retired federal judge and a senior lecturer at Harvard Law School. Mayor Kim Driscoll shared this month’s Halloween happenings in Salem. Driscoll is the mayor of Salem, and is the 2022 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Mass. Corby Kummer talked about rising costs at restaurants, and the latest “hot girl food”: deviled eggs. Kummer is executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. We ended the show by asking listeners whether they’re still dining out amid rising food costs.

Today on Boston Public Radio: With the pardon given by the Biden Administration regarding federal marijuana charges, we opened our lines to ask: Are you happy by this move? Did it go far enough or did it go too far? Tech author Andy Ihnatko joined us on the show and discussed the most recent technological developments, from the “Made by Google” keynote event to an AI James Earl Jones’ voice as Darth Vader. Ihnatko is a tech writer and a co-host on the Material Podcast. Callie Crossley discussed the Biden Administration’s recent marijuana pardon, a campaign to get the Cherokee Nation a seat in Congress and a recent fancy butter trenk on TikTok. Crossley is the host of GBH’s Under the Radar. Cider Donuteur Alex Schwartz has amassed thousands of Instagram followers with his reviews of apple cider donuts. He joined us on the show and discussed this and taught Jim and Margery the subtleties of this treat. Sue O’Connell talked about former president Trump’s new defamation suit against CNN, the 299 GOP midterm nominees continuing to deny the 2020 election results and more. O’Connell is the co-publisher of Bay Windows and South End News, and contributor to Current on NBC-LX and NECN. Organizers of Somerville’s HONK! Fest, Ken Field and Cecily Miller discussed their upcoming festival and were treated to the music of Chilean band Banda Rim Bam Bum. We closed the show with a call-in segment, and heard from listeners if they prefer to have their sandwiches cut in half or diagonally.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Kristen Welker discusses the impact of Hurricane Ian on Floridians, and the Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker allegedly paying his girlfriend to get an abortion despite his pro-life stance. Welker is the Chief White House Correspondent for NBC News and Co-Anchor of Weekend Today. She also co-hosts Meet the Press Now alongside Chuck Todd on NBC Now. We then ask listeners about the more than one hundred days since the Supreme Court overturned precedent set by Roe v. Wade. Andrea Cabral talks about The Onion’s amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of a man who faced criminal charges after making a Facebook page parodying his local police department, and shares her thoughts on the former Northeastern employee arrested in an apparent bomb hoax. Cabral is the former Suffolk County sheriff and secretary of public safety, and former CEO of the cannabis company Ascend. Dr. Kimberly Parker shares how kids are handling the return to school after hybrid learning, and the controversy surrounding an NYU professor who was fired after his students said his class was too hard. Parker is a Boston-based educator and authority on education issues. She’s currently Director of the Crimson Summer Academy at Harvard, and the former president of the Black Educators’ Alliance of Massachusetts. Her latest book is Literacy is Liberation: Working Towards Justice Through Culturally Relevant Teaching.” Jay MacMahon discusses his run for attorney general of Massachusetts. McMahon is the Republican candidate for Attorney General. He’s a Cape Cod attorney, small business owner in Buzzards Bay, and was the 2018 GOP nominee for AG against Maura Healey. Nick Quah shares some of his favorite podcasts of late, focusing on the New York Times’ “The Run-Up,” Pushkin and Somethin’ Else’s “Death of an Artist,” and a selection of podcasts for children. Quah is Vulture’s podcast critic. We end the show by talking with listeners about this year’s numerous cheating scandals – from fishing tournament contestants allegedly stuffing weights in fish to win a cash prize, to competition fixing in the world of Irish dancing.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Art Caplan weighs in on the health benefits of coffee versus tea, and discusses the ethics of using data from experiments that cause suffering. 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. We then continue our conversation on coffee versus tea with listeners. Trenni Casey discuss a new report that found systemic abuse in the U.S. women's pro soccer league. She also talks about speculation over Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen deciding to divorce. Casey is a reporter and anchor for NBC Sports Boston, and a weekly Boston Public Radio contributor. Evan Horowitz walks us through the Mass. ballot questions ahead of November's election. Horowitz is the Executive Director of the Tufts University Center for State Policy Analysis. Matt Gilbert shares some of his current must-watch TV shows, from Apple TV+'s "Bad Sisters" to Hulu's "Wedding Season." Gilbert is the TV critic for The Boston Globe. Sy Montgomery joins us for another edition of "The Afternoon Zoo," sharing the latest news on potential evidence of animal sentience and the contestants of this year's Fat Bear Week. We end the show by returning to Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen's potential divorce.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Shirley Leung talks about her recent experience biking 8.5 miles through Boston to work, and the sentencing of former eBay executive Jim Baugh to nearly five years in prison for running a scheme to harass a Natick couple. Leung is a business columnist for the Boston Globe. We then ask listeners about their experiences biking through the city. Lee Pelton explains the racial inequities are exacerbated by natural disasters like hurricanes. He also discusses President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. Pelton is the president and CEO of The Boston Foundation. Juliette Kayyem discusses the criticism over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and FEMA’s evacuation of Lee County just a day before Hurricane Ian hit. She also talks about a rise in threats against lawmakers. Kayyem is former assistant secretary for homeland security under President Barack Obama, and the faculty chair of the homeland-security program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Her new book is “The Devil Never Sleeps: Learning to Live in an Age of Disasters.” Jared Bowen dissects the cast drama behind “Don’t Worry Darling,” and shares whether the movie lives up to its tabloid frenzy. He also talks about artist Rose B. Simpson’s “Legacies” exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA). Bowen is GBH’s executive arts editor and the host of "Open Studio." John King updates us on the latest political headlines, focusing on pro-life Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker allegedly paying his girlfriend to get an abortion. King is CNN's Chief National Correspondent and anchor of "Inside Politics,” which airs weekdays and Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. We end the show by talking about moral hypocrisy among politicians.

Award-winning food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio on Monday to share the story of food scientist Maria Orosa, the Filipino inventor of banana ketchup. Orosa was born in Taal, Philippines, in 1893, and became a U.S. government-sponsored scholar at 23, traveling to the U.S. to earn her bachelor’s and master’s in chemistry and pharmaceutical science at the University of Washington at Seattle. Though she was offered a job by the State of Washington, Orosa returned to her native Philippines to join the government’s Bureau of Science to create a variety of new local foods and tools: flour from bananas and cassava, earthenware palayok ovens, soybean drink Soyalac, and more. Perhaps Orosa’s most beloved creation was banana ketchup. After the U.S. colonized the Philippines in 1898, imports like ketchup became expensive — and tomatoes proved hard to grow in the tropical climate. Orosa developed banana ketchup using local saba bananas, sugar, vinegar, a variety of spices, and red food coloring. “She was like the Booker T. Washington of the Philippines, finding ways of using native-grown products in the Philippines to help feed people on a much broader scale,” Kummer said. In the wide-ranging discussion, Kummer also discussed the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, and McDonald’s new Happy Meal for adults. Corby Kummer is executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Today on Boston Public Radio: The midterms are now 36 days away. We opened the lines and asked our listeners: What does an increase in political violence in America say about us? We opened our lines again for another installment of Ask the Doctor with Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett of Boston Medical Center. She joined us on the show to answer listeners' questions from COVID to the upcoming flu season. Charlie Sennott discussed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s staged annexation of Ukrainian territories. Far-right surges in recent elections in Italy and Sweden, as well as the upcoming runoff election in Brazil. Sennott is the founder and editor of The GroundTruth Project and award-winning correspondent. Co-founder and editor of The American Prospect, Robert Kuttner joined us and discussed his new book: ‘Going Big: FDR’s Legacy, Biden’s New Deal, and the Struggle to Save Democracy.’ Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett Price discussed nonreligious women of color gathering to talk about Christian nationalism, and Jewish tweens singing Orthodox pop songs on TikTok. Corby Kummer discussed the policy proposals coming out of the recent White House Conference on Hunger Nutrition and Health, the growth of the Boston Veg Food Fest and more. Kummer is the executive director of Food & Society at the Aspen Institute and a senior editor of The Atlantic. We closed the show with a call-in segment, and asked listeners: After knowing everything we know about McDonalds and other fast food restaurants, do you still enjoy going to these restaurants?