Boston Public Radio Podcast

This week, Burger King announced that it will offer a vegetarian version of its most famous product, the Whopper, made primarily from soybeans. Corby Kummer, a senior editor at The Atlantic, an award-winning food writer and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy, weighed in on Boston Public Radio.

Listen to the full episode of Boston Public Radio from Wednesday, April 3, 2019.

Claims of “no collusion” on Russia is one thing — but is cheating in golf a whole other game? A new book entitled “Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump” by Rick Reilly chronicles all the ways President Donald Trump plays loose on the links, even allegedly cheating against Tiger Woods. We opened the lines to ask our listeners: Could this cheater’s spirit damage Trump’s 2020 chances? Then: Brexit for dummies with Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam. His latest book is “The Feud: Vladimir Nabakov, Edmund Wilson and the End of a Beautiful Friendship.” The Red Sox are off to a rough start; Tom Brady has joined Twitter; and the Celtics are coping with racist taunts from a “fan” in the crowd. Trenni Kusnierek, an anchor and reporter with NBC Sports Boston, joined us for that and more. Many people in America are grappling with a retirement crisis — one third of retirees have no savings at all. Katherine Newman, the interim chancellor at UMass Boston, joined us to discuss her latest book, “Downhill From Here: Retirement Insecurity in the Age of Inequality.” Lunch is the new breakfast, with lunch bells going off as early as 9 a.m. in school cafeterias across America. Food writer Corby Kummer joined us for this and more. Kummer is a senior editor at The Atlantic and an award-winning food writer and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy. We discussed Frank Bruni’s latest piece about being a culinary curmudgeon: Instead of looking for the latest trendy spot, Bruni is now looking for comfort and familiarity, safety in the known. We then opened up the lines to ask our listeners where they land. CNN’s John King joined us to go over the latest political headlines. King is CNN’s chief National Correspondent and host of “Inside Politics,” which you can catch Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. and weekdays at noon. And finally, media maven Sue O’Connell joined us for her take on Fortnite — a force of evil? O’Connell is the co-publisher of “Bay Windows” and the “South End News,” and the host of NECN’s “The Take with Sue O’Connell.”

Today on Boston Public Radio: We went over the latest political headlines with Frank Phillips and Peter Gelzinis. Phillips is the State House Bureau Chief for The Boston Globe* *and Gelzinis is a columnist emeritus for The Boston Herald. Deal or no deal? Charles Sennott, WGBH news analyst and founder of The GroundTruth Project, talked about the latest on Brexit and what it means for Prime Minister Theresa May. In a recent piece for New York magazine, former Nevada state politician Lucy Flores alleged that Joe Biden inappropriately touched her at a political rally. We asked our listeners: Does Biden's history disqualify him from running for president? Television expert Bob Thompson weighed in on the final season of "Veep" and shared his picks for the best and worst TV of the week. Thompson is the founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture and a Trustee Professor of Television and Popular Culture at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse. For seven weeks, Carolyn Beeler — the environmental reporter for The World — was on an Antarctic expedition living and working among a group of scientists who were studying Thwaites Glacier. She shared her takeaways from the trip. Richard Blanco helped us ring in National Poetry Month by teaching Jim and Margery how to pen their own acrostic poems. Blanco is the fifth inaugural poet in U.S. history and author of, most recently, "How To Love A Country." Joe Mathieu, host of WGBH's Morning Edition*, *shared his reflections on a recent reporting trip to Cuba with Congressman Jim McGovern.

Attorney General Maura Healey took our questions and yours on “Ask the AG.” Emily Rooney, host of “Beat the Press,” discussed Betsy DeVos’s attempt to cut Special Olympics funding and shared her famous List. Tech writer Andy Ihnatko looked at Facebook’s push to ban white nationalism from its platform. “Under the Radar” host Callie Crossley weighed in on the rumors about Joe Biden picking Stacey Abrams as his VP candidate. We opened up the lines and asked you: When you are witness to acts of racism, how do you deal with it?  Two stars of the new ‘Hamilton’ parody, Dominic Pecikonis and Marissa Hecker, ‘Spamilton' faced off on our Friday News Quiz.

We kicked off the show by asking our listeners about the recent barrage of high-profile legal cases involving the rich and famous. Does the justice system only work for the wealthy and well-connected? If you’re just a regular Joe Lunchbox in East Overshoe, is the system inherently designed against you? Now that we know the Mueller report was at least 300 pages, what are we to make of William Barr's four-page memo? We discussed this with Michael Zeldin, a former colleague of Mueller, a legal analyst for CNN and a resident fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School. Then we opened the lines so our listeners could ask him about Barr's interpretation of the Mueller report. Why did prosecutors dismiss charges against actor Jussie Smollett? Former Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral joins us for that and more on this week’s edition of Law and Order. Cabral is the former secretary of public safety and current chief executive officer of Ascend. The Pentagon is cannibalizing its military budget to fund Trump’s border wall — will this compromise security elsewhere? Ali Noorani, the executive director of the National Immigration Forum, joined us to discuss this and more. The Midwest is seeing historic floods. What does this mean, and whas is the cause? WGBH science correspondent Heather Goldstone joined us to discuss this and more. Goldstone is an expert in ocean science and host of Living Lab Radio. Then we got uncorked with Jonathan Alsop, the founder of the Boston Wine School and the new Boston Wine School Wine Club. And finally, Elizabeth McGovern is known for her role as Lady Grantham on Masterpiece’s "Downton Abbey." Now McGovern is taking on a new role: film producer. In her new film, "The Chaperone," McGovern stars both behind the camera and in front of it. She joined us to talk about the experience.

Homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem gave us her take on the Mueller report. We opened up the lines and asked you about Bob Kraft’s apology. Sports reporter Trenni Kusnierek called in from Seattle ahead of Opening Day. Medical ethicist Arthur Caplan looked at a new challenge from the Trump Administration to the Affordable Care Act. WGBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen shared his picks for the best arts and cultural events around town this week. Are jumbo serving sizes a recipe for disaster when it comes to food waste? We opened up the lines and asked you about giant serving sizes at restaurants.

Food writer Corby Kummer says you should assume portion sizes at restaurant are twice as big as what you should be eating in one meal.

On today’s episode of Boston Public Radio: Is rent control due for a comeback? A group of lawmakers in the Massachusetts House are putting a proposal on the table. We opened up the lines and got your take. Shirley Leung, interim editorial page editor at the Boston Globe, discussed problem pets and equity in the marijuana industry. Congressman Stephen Lynch called in and told us how he thinks House Democrats should respond to the Mueller report. Forget the eyes — is the *handshake *really the window to a person’s soul? Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton looked at the social psychology around this common greeting. Food writer Corby Kummer analyzed flooding in the Midwest and how the agricultural industry will be impacted. We opened up the lines and asked you: How do you think Democrats should respond to the Mueller report?

The Mueller report has been submitted. We go over what we know with our political roundtable, featuring former Massachusetts treasurer Shannon O’Brien and political analyst Charlie Chieppo. Legal analyst and former Mueller colleague Michael Zeldin brought us his take on the report. Representative Katherine Clark shared how the report’s findings could impact Congressional investigations into the president. We opened up the lines and asked you about the Mueller report (and we later revisited this topic at the end of the program.) Reverend Irene Monroe and Reverend Emmett Price discussed a TD Bank ad in Boston that came under fire for its coded racial language. Charles Sennott, executive director of The GroundTruth Project, discussed Russian influence campaigns on both American elections and on Brexit.