Boston Public Radio Podcast

Today on Boston Public Radio: NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd recapped this week’s Republican National Convention, and discussed whether the week’s speeches will have an impact on swing voters. We opened lines to hear your impressions from night three of the RNC. Media maven Sue O'Connell talked about the absence of LGBTQ issues at the year's RNC, and the impact a second Trump term might have on LGBTQ rights. Former Suffolk County Sheriff and Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral discussed peaceful protests in various sports leagues over police brutality, and debate around the ethics of cash bail systems and the Massachusetts Bail Fund. Former Mass. Education Secretary Paul Reville talked about the challenges of keeping college students socially distanced during the fall semester, and news about how charter schools are navigating their own return to classes. We opened lines to talk with listeners about the return of students to college campuses, and whether you think they’ll be willing to follow social distancing guidelines. Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung talked about the extra work that remote learning brings for parents, and discussed how local businesses are navigating workplace safety during the coronavirus pandemic. Tech writer Andy Ihnatko discussed a group that used Facebook to advocate for violent counterprotests in Kenosha, Wis., and debate around whether Elon Musk should be allowed to launch tens of thousands of satellites into the Earth’s orbit for his Starlink project.

As some schools and colleges opt for in-person learning this fall, Paul Reville told Boston Public Radio on Thursday that even with concerns about COVID-19 spread in classrooms and dorms, society has to accept some level of risk in order to deliver its mandate to provide an education to people. “We’re not sure what’s going to happen, but we’ve got to be vigilant and we’ve got to be able to react quickly if things start to get out of hand,” he said. “It’s all a matter of risk tolerance. The notion that we’re going to get to zero risk is just totally unrealistic, none of us have zero risk in our day to day lives.” Reville is former Secretary of Education and a professor at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education where he also runs the Education Redesign Lab. His latest book, co-authored with Elaine Weiss, is “Broader, Bolder, Better: How Schools and Communities Help Students Overcome the Disadvantages of Poverty.”

Homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem spoke with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday about Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm headed toward the Texas and Louisiana coasts. “You have to shelter differently because of COVID, so there’s a mandatory masking policy by all organizations who are running shelters,” she said. “It does not matter what a governor or local official says - no mask, no shelter, and I think that’s exactly right.” Kayyem is an analyst for CNN, former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and faculty chair of the homeland security program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened lines to hear your impressions from night two of the Republican National Convention.  Former Trump Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski gave his take on nights one and two of the RNC, and defended his stance that President Trump deserves four more years in office. CNN analyst and national security expert Juliette Kayyem discussed the heightened challenges of navigating Hurricane Laura and other storms during the coronavirus pandemic, and the worrying rise in political influence from proponents of the QAnon conspiracy theory.  MIT economist and Affordable Care Act architect Jonathan Gruber discussed why public services function better outside of the private sector, and weighed in on the economic and political factors that are creating issues at the U.S.P.S Nancy Koehn talked about the key components of crisis leadership, and reflected on how national and global leaders have handled the COVID-19 crisis. Koehn is a Harvard Business School historian and author of “Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times.” Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed problems with President Trump's Right to Try Act, which was touted at Tuesday night’s RNC, and talked about new research indicating around half of K-12 teachers in the US have definite or possible risk factors for contracting serious cases of COVID-19. 

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened our lines to hear your take on night one of the Republican National Convention.  NBC Sports Boston reporter and anchor Trenni Kusnierek discussed institutional racism in New England's collegiate sports, 77 false positive COVID-19 tests in the NFL, and a recent statement from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who said he should have “listened earlier” to Colin Kaepernick.   Mass. State Senator Becca Rausch talked about the successes and setbacks of mail-in voting in Mass., and responded to questions and comments from listeners.  Ali Noorani, Executive Director for the National Immigration Forum, discussed unfair assumptions about foreign-born voters in the U.S., and concerns about the looming furlough of 70% of employees at the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services.  Former New Hampshire GOP chair and Lincoln Party co-founder Jennifer Horn talked about her impressions from night one of the RNC, and her PAC’s latest anti-Trump ad, titled “Evil.” CNN Chief National Correspondent John King reflected on night one of the RNC, and news of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway’s exit from the Trump administration at the end of August.  We opened our lines to talk with listeners about your experiences dealing with Monday's widespread Zoom outages.

Ali Noorani spoke with Boston Public Radio on Tuesday about the impact of naturalized immigrants on voting in 2020. “It’s in really important parts of the country where you see the share of eligible voters who are foreign-born really skyrocket,” he said. “48 percent of eligible voters in Miami-Dade, Florida are foreign-born, and 22 percent of eligible voters in Fort Bend, Texas are foreign-born; So Georgia, Texas, and South Florida are communities that are going to see a disproportionate impact of foreign-born voters this November.” Ali Noorani is Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum, his latest book is There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened our lines to talk with listeners about recent protests and accusations of environmental racism over the proposed removal of 124 trees along Roxbury's Melnea Cass Boulevard.  Robbie Goldstein, an MGH physician and candidate for Mass. 8th congressional district, talked about his views on expanding health care coverage in the state, abortion rights, and why he’s running for the seat of current Rep. Stephen Lynch.   Politico's Stephanie Murray broke down the latest headlines around several Mass. congressional races, as well as the ongoing Senate primary race between Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III.  DNC Chair Tom Perez talked about last week’s Democratic National Convention.  Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett Price, hosts of WGBH’s All Rev’d Up, discussed the history of racist housing practices in liberal neighborhoods in and around Boston, and previewed season two of their podcast All Rev’d Up, which premiers this Wednesday.  TV expert Bob Thompson lent his thoughts on the balance of politics and entertainment at last week’s Democratic National Convention, and reviewed both “Ted Lasso” on Apple TV Plus, and Netflix’s “Hoops.” Inaugural poet Richard Blanco talked about the joys and challenges of translating poems into different languages.

Tom Perez, Chair of the Democratic National Committee, spoke with Boston Public Radio on Monday about last week’s 2020 Democratic National Convention. “We were able to accomplish our plan, which was to demonstrate to the country that the Democratic party is both the party of diversity and inclusion and accomplishment,” he said. “Joe Biden, I thought, made the best political speech of his life.”

Today on Boston Public Radio: Following Joe Biden’s nomination Thursday night, we opened lines to hear your takes on the former vice president and now-official 2020 Democratic presidential nominee. Media maven Sue O’Connell talked about her impressions of this week's Democratic National Convention, and why some are calling it “the gayest convention ever." Under the Radar and Basic Black host Callie Crossley offered her impressions of the Democratic National Convention, and explained what it was about Kamala Harris that led her to write a prescient open letter to the newly-elected senator in 2016. Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung discussed her reporting on the handful of businesses stepping up to support employees with child care, and a partial return of in-person business conferences to Boston. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius called in to discuss their strategy for schooling in the fall, and responded to questions and comments from listeners.

Today on Boston Public Radio: NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd discussed Thursday morning's news of the arrest of former Trump advisor Steve Bannon. He also recapped everything that’s going on with the Democratic National Convention.  We opened lines to talk with listeners about your thoughts on the first three nights of the DNC. Former Suffolk County Sheriff and Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral discussed Thursday's arrest of Steve Bannon, and a Florida appeals court’s decision to throw out video evidence in the prostitution case against Patriots owner Robert Kraft.  Sen. Elizabeth Warren discussed why she’s all in for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, her thoughts on the looming eviction crisis, and why she feels it’s important for the federal government to support the arts during the coronavirus pandemic.  Former Mass. Education Secretary Paul Reville broke down the latest headlines from the education sector, with K-12 schools and colleges scrambling to sort out how they’ll operate this school year.  Tech writer Andy Ihnatko talked about a recent lawsuit from Fortnite developer Epic Games against Apple over alleged antitrust violations, and gave his pitch for Google’s new Pixel 4a smartphone. We returned to listeners to talk about anxieties around the return of college students to cities and campuses.