Boston Public Radio Podcast

Best of BPR: AAPI Representation In Local Politics & The Cost Of Love

The lost Titanic submarine has dominated the headlines this week. Why are we so obsessed? And what does it say about us that the story of a ship carrying 700 migrants that sank off the coast of Greece gets largely ignored? Medical ethicist Art Caplan shed light the Harvard Medical School Morgue incident. Nina Liang, Quincy city councilor, and Coco Alinsug, Lynn city councilor joined to share their respective achievements in local government as Asian Americans. Boston Globe advice columnist Meredith Goldstein dove into the pressures of summer wedding season and shared the latest from the Love Letters podcast. A performance by Renaissance Men vocal ensemble and Kairos Dance Theater in anticipation of their upcoming show, Folktales Fables and Feasts. Finally, we opened the phone lines to continue the discussion on the costs of dating. Are you going to dinner? Who picks up the check?

Headlines are flooded with news of the missing Titanic tourist submersible. We opened the lines to see if listeners would take a big risk into the depths of the ocean if they had the means to do so. Gerry Condon & Helen Jaccard of the Golden Rule sailboat joined to tell us more about the project of Veterans for Peace. They advocate for nuclear disarmament. Lee Pelton, president of The Boston Foundation, discussed the anticipated SCOTUS ruling on affirmative action as a former college leader and its impacts on nonprofits; and a new report that several cities in Mass have disregarded the state’s affordable housing requirement. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joined for Ask The Mayor where she answered questions from listeners. She addressed the car accident she was in, home rule petitions and more. Do you have a go-to toilet in Boston? Do we need more public restrooms in the city? We asked listeners to text or call to share their thoughts.

Best of BPR: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu Talks Education Equity

Best of BPR: Juneteenth & Health Equity

Michael Curry reflects on last week’s Health Equity Compact Trends Summit, and Juneteenth in Boston. We followed his segment by taking calls and texts about what it means to celebrate Juneteenth and support Black communities. Jenee Osterheldt of the Globe discusses season 3 of A Beautiful Resistance. The series is all about Black joy and Black lives. Rumman Chowdhury is a Responsible AI fellow at the Berkman Center at Harvard, and Will Knight is a senior writer at WIRED. They join for an AI/tech panel. Charlie Sennott joins to discuss the death of whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, a seeker of truth. Corby Kummer discusses the local seafood we should be getting ourselves familiar with; NYC setting minimum wage for food delivery workers. We wrapped up the shows by discussing how animals seem to be fighting back. One example are the Orcas off the coast of Spain are attacking sailboats in targeted strikes, sinking three boats in the last year alone.

Best Of BPR: Gov. Maura Healey Is Bracing For "Misguided" SCOTUS Affirmative Action Ruling

The Harvard Medical School morgue manager was arrested this week for stealing and selling human body parts. We opened up the phone lines to get general reactions and talk about donating bodies to science. Shirley Leung reflected on the state of hybrid and in-person workplaces in Boston and beyond. She’ll also touched on Scott Kirsner’s recent Mass. moonshot ideas published in the Globe, the decline of downtown convenience stores and the demise of the Instant Pot. Gov. Maura Healey joined for “Ask the Governor,” 12-1pm. She answered questions about rent control and affordable housing, recent pardons, climate goals, the new green bank, the MBTA, and more… Cambridge Symphony Orchestra is staging a performance of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet tomorrow, with live ballet from former Boston Ballet dancers and students from Tony Williams’ Boston City Youth Ballet. We heard from conductor Cynthia Woods & choreographer Gino Di Marco, plus husband and wife duo Ruth and Bill Whitney. Ruth plays Juliet, Bill plays tuba in the orchestra. They also treated us to some live ballet to accompany the music. Sunday is Father’s Day. We opened the phone lines for a potpourri discussion on dads.

Best Of BPR: 'In The Whale' & Expanding Local LGBT Business

MA has the third highest rental costs in the country. Is renting broken in greater Boston? How are you making it work, and have you resorted to rental bidding wars? Renters and brokers called into the show. Chuck Todd joined us to weigh-in on Trump's indictment, plus shared what's next after he steps away from Meet the Press in the fall. Andrea Cabral discussed the investigation into RI officials for their conduct on a trip to Philadelphia. Also, lottery drama on the South Shore, reflections on the Wu car crash situation and the creepy Harvard morgue manager scandal. David Abel is premiering his film "In The Whale" this Friday at the Provincetown Film Festival. It centers on the story of Michael Packard, the man scooped up by a humpback whale off the coast of Cape Cod in June of 2021. David and Michael joined Grace Moreno and Isa Wang joined for a conversation about capitalism and entrepreneurship in the LGBT space. Grace is Executive Director of the LGBT Chamber of Commerce and Isa is the founder of Gamut Pins, makers of cute pronoun pins. Nativity Preparatory School offers free tuition and support for low income boys in Boston. This graduation season, we talked with President Brian Maher, Principal Gadisa Goso and two newly-graduated 8th graders. People love their air fryers. Why? Air-fryer fans called in.