Boston Public Radio Podcast

Today on Boston Public Radio: Congresswoman Katherine Clark discussed what moved her to join other Democrats calling for impeachment against President Donald Trump. We opened the lines to ask our listeners how they feel about the near end of summer. WGBH's Callie Crossley joined us at the WGBH studio at the Boston Public Library to discuss how race was handled in the 2020 Democratic debates. Boston Globe travel writer Christopher Muther explained why some hotels are phasing out min-toiletries. Tech writer Andy Ihnatko spoke about how safe our next election will be from tampering. Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung spoke about the racially insensitive cover of yesterday's Boston Herald. Rhett Price and Josh Knowles, aka the Subway Violinists, took part in our weekly news quiz and played us some tunes.

Today on Boston Public Radio: NBC's Chuck Todd joined us on the line to recap the 2020 Democratic debates the past two nights. Did you watch the debate last night or did you decide to tune it out? We opened the lines to ask our listeners about their debate opinions. Criminal justice analyst Andrea Cabral discussed the 2020 Democratic candidates' criminal justice reform plans. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley joined us to discuss President Donald Trump's racist rhetoric and her take on the debates. We opened the lines again to continue the conversation with our listeners about the debates the past two nights. Medical ethicist Art Caplan explained the 2020 Democratic candidates' health care plans. Media maven Sue O'Connell spoke about Justin Trudeau making history by visiting a gay bar for Canada Pride. Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam discussed Herman Melville's writing habits.

The Trump administration is proposing a change to the rules that govern who is eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps. Under the proposed rule changes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates 3 million people would lose benefits, which includes an estimated 90,000 people in Massachusetts, according to the state's Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA). The proposed changes would prohibit the states from expanding who is eligible for the program beyond the federal baseline, which is $33,475 for a family of four — or 130 percent of the federal poverty level. Right now, 39 states, including Massachusetts, offer federally-funded SNAP benefits to people who make more than that — up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level — but still qualify for benefits because they have other expenses that make it hard for them to pay for food. In a statement, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said the rule changes will “close a loophole” and will save the federal government an estimated $2.5 billion a year. The administration and some Republicans in Congress have highlighted a case that involves a wealthy Minnesota man who had extremely low income, but huge assets, and said he applied for and collected SNAP benefits. Corby Kummer, executive director of the food and society policy program at the Aspen Institute, told Boston Public Radio on Wednesday that the proposed change would also impact half a million children who currently get discounted school lunch. Kummer said that the administration's narrative harkens back to the derogatory trope of the welfare queen: that people rely on public services paid for by the rest of upstanding citizens, so they don't have to work themselves. "The whole premise of this welfare queen free-loader, people are gouging the government and taxpayers because they want free school lunches, is so absurd. It's so hateful that it's hard to believe the cynicism, Kummer said. "This whole idea that people would be deliberately trying to freeload off of the government for food stamps, as opposed to, for example, the multimillionaire large big-ag farmers who get huge subsidies for growing things like soybean ... that gets unstated because that's Trump's base." Corby Kummer is also 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 opened up the line to ask our listeners about their thoughts on last night's 2020 Democratic debate. Washington Post's National Politics reporter Annie Linskey spoke with Jim and Margery about last night's debate and previewed the subsequent debate tonight. Homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem discussed Dan Coats resignation as Director of National Intelligence. Food writer Corby Kummer talked about the 120th anniversary of the Hood ice cream sandwich. WGBH's executive arts editor Jared Bowen reviewed exhibits from the Clark Art Institute. Naturalist Sy Montgomery spoke about conservation efforts being made to help puffin populations in Maine and tiger populations in India. Former Central Intelligence Agency officer John Woodward Jr. joined to discuss the role of Director of National Intelligence and how it will change now that Coats is out.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Have you taken vacation time yet this summer? We opened the lines to ask our listeners about their work-life balance. NBC Sports Boston anchor Trenni Kusnierek joined Jim and Margery to talk about David Ortiz's recovery. Former state secretary of education Paul Reville discussed his new book on improving schools for low-income communities. Boston Globe reporter Dan Adams gave us the latest updates on the state's cannabis industry. Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, discussed the latest immigration headlines. CNN's John King called in from Detroit to preview tonight's 2020 Democratic debate. We opened the lines again, this time to ask our listeners if they'll be watching the 2020 Democratic debates tonight and tomorrow.

Today on Boston Public Radio: Charlie Chieppo of Chieppo Strategies and Michael Curry of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, discussed Trump's racially charged tweets against Rep. Elijah Cummings, previewed Tuesday's presidential debates, and discussed the latest local political news. Bob Thompson discussed the completion of Orange is the New Black, Netflix's most popular show. We opened the phone lines to hear from listeners about the efficacy of political apologies. Bruce Marks, CEO of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, joined us to discuss how to make home ownership possible for low to moderate income families. Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III discussed President Donald Trump's outreach to black voters by embracing rapper A$AP Rocky. We heard from listeners again, this time about escapism in TV-watching habits. Inaugural poet Richard Blanco gave us a lesson in evocative writing.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened up the lines to hear from listeners about the unaffordably of housing in the Boston area. Callie Crossley joined to discuss the protests in Puerto Rico that forced Governor Rossello to resign. Vikki Spruill, the president of the New England Aquarium discussed the organization’s role in the fight against climate change. Emily Rooney joined us with her weekly list of fulminations and fixations. Tech writer Andy Ihnatko discussed a $5 billion fine levied by the FTC against Facebook. We spoke with Dr. Leah Zallman, who has been researching how Trump's immigration policies are impacting immigrant communities’ access to healthcare. Does Massachusetts’ craft beer industry have a diversity problem? Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung joined us to discuss her latest column. The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company cast of Cymbeline joined us for our weekly news quiz.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We heard from Congressman Joe Kennedy III on his thoughts about former special counsel Robert Mueller's testimony yesterday. We opened the lines to hear listeners' reactions from Mueller's testimony. Criminal justice analyst Andrea Cabral parsed through former Vice President and Democratic candidate for president Joe Biden's new criminal justice reform plan. Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed the ousting of Planned Parenthood's president, Leana Wen, over "philosophical differences." Former Massachusetts Secretary of Education Paul Reville discussed Rhode Island's decision to take over Providence Public Schools. WGBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen shared his thoughts on Quentin Tarantino's new film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." We heard from listeners about their most daring feats.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened up the lines and hear listeners' thoughts on the licenses suspension scandal at the Registry of Motor Vehicles. On Monday, lawmakers abruptly recessed an oversight hearing on failures at the Registry of Motor Vehicles after the Baker administration witnesses the committee hoped to hear from did not show up. Attorney General Maura Healey joined us for another edition of Ask the AG. Legal analyst Michael Zeldin joined us for a preview of special counsel Robert Mueller's testimony tomorrow. We spoke with Atlantic Senior Editor Corby Kummer about a new program by the National Restaurant Association to train former inmates to work in restaurants. CNN's John King joined us to go over the latest headlines from the 2020 presidential race. We discussed an ESPN radio host's break from normal content to condemn President Trump's racist comments with NBC sports reporter Trenni Kusnierek.

You've just eyed up a pizza on your food delivery app, and boy does it look good. But do you ever think about what goes on after you hit the 'Order' button? The New York Times' Metro reporter Andy Newman spent six days delivering food as a freelance deliverer for food apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats, and he discovered what the other side of food delivery is like. Food writer Corby Kummer joined *Boston Public Radio *on Tuesday to describe what full-time deliverers experience. "The larger truth is delivery people are not treated as people. These apps may be your friend when you want a rose oolong tea delivered to your door in ten minutes, but they are not the food service providers friends and they are definitely not the workers friends," he said. Kummer related a particularly worrying account from Newman's NYT's article about a DoorDash worker who was injured. "One of the great quotes in the main story was a DoorDash worker who fell and broke both arms. All DoorDash did was send him or her a 'Get Well Soon' card. Nothing about insurance, nothing about workers compensation, the whole thing was like this nightmarish dehumanizing experience." Customers tend to negatively target workers in the food business and rude behavior isn't getting any better with technology playing as a middleman, Kummer said. "Social isolation is considered the main health problem in society right now. It is happening all over society and it is a kind of dehumanizing that comes of only communicating with people on your cellphone via apps and not voice. People aren't being treated as people," he said. "Make sure the tip goes to the worker, open the door, look the person in the eye, say thank you." Some delivery food apps don't pass on customers' tips to the deliverer, Kummer added. "Another nefarious, terrible, dehumanizing thing about this is the apps greedily steal your tip. So the customer might think they're tipping well, but the companies apply that tip toward the cost of their delivery and they don't pass it on to the deliverer. They just give the deliverer the guaranteed minimum. Try to figure out or insist that the companies actually say whether the tips go to the workers, because often they don't," he said. Kummer also pointed out that the delivery service Grubhub steals business from restaurants. "Think about where you order from and the way the restaurants are being treated. Grubhub is stealing people's restaurant names to create phony websites to take away business from them and steal their commissions."