Say More

The Big Dig took Boston apart and put it back together again. It buried a highway and redrew the map of downtown. The project was delayed for years and went billions of dollars over budget, making it a national laughingstock. But this week on Say More, guest Ian Coss tells host Shirley Leung that the Big Dig might not wholly deserve its reputation as a massive boondoggle. He says the Big Dig was also a revelation of city planning and should be an inspiration as the US modernizes its infrastructure to confront climate change. Ian Coss is host of the new podcast “The Big Dig” from GBH news and PRX. Email us at saymore@globe.com.Listen to “The Big Dig” podcast here: https://www.wgbh.org/podcasts/the-big-digSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

November is Hip-Hop History Month. Boston is not exactly famous for its contributions to Black music and culture. If anything, many people associate the city with rock — and racism. But music historian and writer Dart Adams says Boston has long had a flourishing Black music scene, producing icons like Donna Summer and game-changing groups like New Edition. This week on Say More, in honor of hip-hop’s 50th birthday, Dart shares the vibrant history of the Boston scene. Email us at saymore@globe.com.Tracks on today’s episode: The Message by Grandmaster Flash,Energy by Sampa the Great,California Love by 2Pac ft. Dr. Dre,Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z,Vamos by The Pixies,Believe Dat! by Gang Starr,Last Dance by Donna Summer,Candy Girl by New Edition,Good Vibrations by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch,Speak Upon It by Ed O.G. and Da Bulldogs,I Got to Have It by Ed O.G. and Da Bulldogs,Nayborhood Healer by Nay Speaks.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Globe’s Brian Bergstein will be joining Say More about once a month to host conversations  about artificial intelligence, with the aim of asking big questions and getting past the hype. This week, Brian speaks to computer scientist Joy Buolamwini about her new book, “Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines.” Buolamwini says technology that has a harder time recognizing Black faces should not be used by our government, and that the solution to AI bias is not “more AI.” She also talks about the organization she founded, the Algorithmic Justice League, and what she calls the “poetry of code.” Email us at saymore@globe.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has raged for decades, but this time it’s different. The brutal killing of more than 1,400 Israelis by Hamas has shocked the country, precipitating a relentless counterattack by the Israeli military, which has killed thousands and displaced a million people in Gaza. The US has always had a central role in the conflict, and many are asking how that role should evolve. To get past the daily headlines, Say More’s Shirley Leung speaks to two people with deep knowledge of the issue. First, Nadav Tamir, the former Israeli consul general to New England. He is now the director of J Street Israel, a nonprofit that organizes Americans to support peace and democracy in Israel. Then, Rashid Khalidi, a Middle East historian at Columbia University and author of the book “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine.” Email us at saymore@globe.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For generations, the car has been a powerful emblem of American freedom. Now, with self-driving cars, freedom means letting robots do the work. Relying on a web of sensors, radar, and artificial intelligence, driverless vehicles are currently navigating cities like San Francisco, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. But are they safe? Can they actually do a better job than us? Laura Major, chief technology officer of Motional, a Boston-based autonomous vehicle company, joins us to talk about the promise of driverless technology and why Boston’s gnarly streets (and drivers) make it the perfect testing ground. Email us at saymore@globe.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The messaging platform Slack has become an indelible part  of the modern workplace. Since the start of the pandemic, the company’s rise feels intertwined with the seismic changes in how we work and communicate — so much so that Slack, like Google, is now widely understood as a verb. This week, Say More’s Shirley Leung speaks to Slack CEO Lidiane Jones about how technology is reshaping the workplace and what it means for the future of work. Lidiane also talks about her childhood growing up in Brazil, meeting Steve Jobs in the Apple cafeteria, and getting hired for an executive position while seven months pregnant. Email us at saymore@globe.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One of the main tenets of journalism is this: Don’t become the story. But that’s been difficult for Marty Baron, who, as editor of The Washington Post during the Trump years, often found himself at the center of the storm. Following his tenure at The Boston Globe, where he helped uncover rampant clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, Marty led the Post through a tumultuous time in American politics. While newspapers everywhere faced ever-tightening budgets, the Post was bought by billionaire Jeff Bezos, and its journalists were being publicly attacked by President Trump. The Globe’s Shirley Leung talks with Marty about holding powerful people to account, what he regrets most about his Post tenure, and the future of journalism. Marty’s new book is “Collision of Power.” Email us at saymore@globe.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For a minute there, it really felt like cryptocurrency was going mainstream. Exchanges were thriving and generating billions of dollars for investors. Now, the industry is facing dozens of lawsuits and bankruptcies, and billions of investor dollars have been lost. The industry is struggling to scrape back legitimacy, while government regulators scramble to catch up. On this week’s episode of Say More, Shirley talks to Molly White, an expert critic of the crypto industry and a fellow at Harvard’s Library Innovation Lab. Email us at saymore@globe.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The 2024 election season is in full swing in New Hampshire and other key primary states. While a Trump-Biden standoff may feel inevitable, recent history has shown us anything is possible in politics. A gaggle of GOP candidates are running to beat Trump, who is fighting legal battles on multiple fronts. President Biden is flagging in the polls and facing constant questions about his age. On today’s episode, Shirley talks to Boston Globe Opinion writers Kimberly Atkins Stohr, Joan Vennochi, and Carine Hajjar about the state of the race. Email us at saymore@globe.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When it comes to the crush of the American daily news cycle, Heather Cox Richardson has always taken the long view. The New England-based historian gained wide popularity writing casual, history-informed summaries of the news — a perspective millions of readers were hungry for. Her new book is called “Democracy Awakening.” Shirley sits down with Heather to talk about the evolution of the GOP, the uncertain health of our democracy, and why Americans need to know history to understand the present. Email us at saymore@globe.com.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.