

Boston Public Radio Podcast
WGBH Educational Foundation
Join hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan for a smart local conversation with leaders and thinkers shaping Boston and New England. We feature our favorite conversation from each show. To hear the full show, please visit wgbhnews.org/bpr To share your opinion, email bpr@wgbh.org or call or text 877-301-8970 during the live broadcast from 11AM-2PM Monday through Friday.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 19, 2025 • 38min
Best Of BPR 6/19: On Karen Read's Acquittal & Sowing Juneteenth Seeds For A Bountiful Harvest
Today:NBC10 commentator Sue O'Connell and former public safety secretary Andrea Cabral discuss the Karen Read trial, and her acquittal.And, a Juneteenth panel with Boston’s first black mayor, Kim Janey, educator and lawyer Ted Landsmark, and Michael Curry of the NAACP and Mass League of Community Health Centers.

Jun 17, 2025 • 2h 41min
BPR Full Show 6/17: Copley Square Will Be Greener
A call-in segment asking listeners: If Democrats need the working class to win big, do they need to drop the purity tests and some hardlines on social issues?Ken Burns zooms in on the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill to talk about the American Revolution, 250 years, and speak out in defense of public media.Ken Rapoport, CEO of Azuluna Foods & Christopher Grallert CEO of Green City Growers, join for a panel on urban farming.Trenni Casey discusses the Sox trading Raphael DeversGBH's Susan Goldberg on the funding threats to public media.Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joins for the final hour of the show for Ask The Mayor.

Jun 16, 2025 • 39min
Best Of BPR 6/13: 'My Life As Boston's Most Famous Stripper' & Massachusetts Is Backsliding On Youth Justice Reform
Today:Lucy Wightman joins Jim and Margery ahead of this week's release of her memoir, "Princess Cheyenne: My Life as Boston's Most Famous Stripper."And, a new report shows Massachusetts is backsliding on some aspects of juvenile justice reform. We speak with Lisa Thurau and Kristen Wheeler of Cambridge-based nonprofit Strategies for Youth.

Jun 16, 2025 • 2h 33min
BPR Full Show 6/16: No Kings, Just Princesses
We start the show by asking listeners about a weekend of demonstrations, including 'No King' rallies and the military parade. Anand Giridharadas, political commentator, discusses the shut-down of protests Saturday in LA, Trump's military parade and the political violence in Minnesota.Lucy Wightman discusses her new memoir "Princess Cheyenne: My Life as Boston's Most Famous Stripper."Lisa Thurau and Kristen Wheeler of Strategies for Youth, a Cambridge-based nonprofit, discuss the increase in pretrial detention for youths last year that are the result of law enforcement's decision to arrest young people for misdemeanors. The Revs Irene Monroe and Emmett Price join for All Rev'd Up x BPR, discussing the clergy who played a pivotal role 250 years ago in the American Revolution and how they are navigating us through political turbulence today.

Jun 13, 2025 • 2h 40min
BPR Full Show 6/13: Papa's Time To Shine
Joan Donovan on misinformation in the digital age, she’ll talk about media coverage of the LA protests and discerning real news accounts from AI slop. BAMS Fest returns to Franklin park on June 28th, with a whole slate of sister events during June. We’ll talk with founder Catherine T. Morris, with a Live Music Friday performance from Boston reggae band Roots Alley Collective.Boston Pride for the People holds their annual Pride parade tomorrow, we’ll talk about goings-on and the state of the world for queer folks with BP4TP president Adrianna Boulin & Gary Daffin – who sits on the event leadership committee in addition to leading Boston’s Multicultural AIDS Coalition.

Jun 13, 2025 • 39min
Best Of BPR 6/13: Joan Donovan On Combating AI Misinformation & Boston Pride For The People
Today:Joan Donovan, founder of the Critical Internet Studies Institute & Boston University Assistant Professor of Journalism and emerging media studies, joins for a discussion on artificial intelligence, media manipulation, and telling truth from fiction.Boston Pride For The People President Adrianna Bolin and development & parade co-chair, Gary Daffin – he’s also President of the Multicultural AIDS Coalition -- join ahead of Saturday's parade in Boston.

Jun 12, 2025 • 2h 41min
BPR Full Show 6/12: Put Out That Cigarette!
Chuck Todd on the premiere of his new show “Sunday Night with Chuck Todd,” where he interviewed Steve Bannon.Andrea Cabral on Weinstein verdict.Michael Curry on RFK/vaccine misinformation. Corby Kummer on pricy Boston dining

Jun 12, 2025 • 39min
Best Of BPR 6/12: Topo Gigio vs Topo Chico & The Future Of Carney Hospital
Today:Food policy analyst Corby Kummer discusses the new "dirty dozen" list of grocery store items laden with pesticides.And, Michael Curry, head of the Mass League of Community Health Centers, discusses a new proposal for the shuttered Carney Hospital in Dorchester to be repurposed as a training facility for nurses.

Jun 12, 2025 • 2h 41min
BPR Full Show 6/11: Protesting Feels Different
National security expert Juliette Kayyem discusses the situation in L.A.GBH's Meghan Smith and Alex Green, vice-chair of the Mass Special Commission on State Institutions, both join to discuss the conditions for disabled people in state institutions, and in the state generallyBoston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung discusses the Boston City Hall scandal involving one of Wu's Cabinet chiefs Segun Idowu and a domestic dispute between two staffers who have since been fireNaturalist and author Sy Montgomery on new science on axolotls that may unlock the secret to human limb regeneration.

Jun 11, 2025 • 36min
Best Of BPR 6/11: A Spotlight On Massachusetts' History Of Mistreating Disabled People
Today: A new report shows how, throughout its history, Massachusetts failed thousands of disabled residents living in institutions, and then tried to cover their tracks with bureaucratic stonewalling decades later.GBH’s Megan Smith joins alongside Alex Green, vice-chair of the commission behind this report. And, naturalist Sy Montgomery is back to talk about axolotls, as researchers at Northeastern look into whether humans could ever tap into their secrets around limb regeneration.


