

Boston Public Radio Podcast
GBH News
Join hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan for a smart local conversation with leaders and thinkers shaping Boston and New England. We feature our favorite conversation from each show. To hear the full show, please visit wgbhnews.org/bpr To share your opinion, email bpr@wgbh.org or call or text 877-301-8970 during the live broadcast from 11AM-1PM Monday through Friday.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 21, 2025 • 35min
Best Of BPR 7/21: Trump Vs. Murdoch & Trump Vs. Harvard
Today: Andrea Cabral and Shirley Leung fill in for Jim and Margery.We talk with NBC10 commentator Sue O'Connell about President Trump's new lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over new reporting on his connections with Jeffrey Epstein.And, Princeton's Khalil Gibran Muhammad discusses the latest in higher education, as Harvard takes the Trump administration to court over federal funding.

Jul 21, 2025 • 2h 34min
BPR Full Show 7/21: The Only Prescription
Boston Globe's Shirley Leung and former public safety secretary Andrea Cabral sub in the host seats for Jim and Margery. Amherst College professor Ilan Stavans talks about how Hispanic and Latino communities are adapting to the Trump administration's immigration policies, and ICE’s latest push to build migrant tent camps. Local woman Sue O’Connell discusses inner-party GOP debate over the Epstein files, Stephen Colbert’s cancellation and the Astronomer CEO caught on the Coldplay concern 'kiss cam.'Boston Medical Center's Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett discusses local hits to Medicaid from Trump’s massive spending bill, plusnew evidence on the harms of vaping. Princeton University's Khalil Gibran Muhammad discusses how claims of anti-semitism are being used to undercut DEI in higher-ed, and why Black Americans are continuing to boycott big-box retailers.

Jul 18, 2025 • 2h 33min
BPR Full Show 7/18: We're Gonna Need a Diet Coke
NBC10 Boston's Sue O'Connell and former secretary of public safety Andrea Cabral guest host for Jim and Margery.GBH's Callie Crossley and The Bay State Banner's Yawu Miller join for our weekly "Press Play" media analysis segment to talk about the PBS/NPR clawback, the WSJ Jeffrey Epstein report and other media news of the day.Boston Landmarks Orchestra just launched their annual series of free summer concerts at the Hatch Shell and throughout Boston. We talk with music director Chris Wilkinson and principal clarinet Rane Moore, plus enjoy a live music performance. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans reacts to this year’s Emmy Nominations, Colbert's cancellation and The Bear season four. Jeffrey Thielman & Nazia Jamal join to discuss how Trump policies are impacting immigration here in New England. Jeff is the Executive Director of the International Institute of New England, Nazia is an educator and refugee who arrived from Afghanistan in 2024.

Jul 17, 2025 • 2h 41min
BPR Full Show 7/17: Where Are The Epstein Files?
Catherine D’Amato and Andrew Morehouse on food stability in the commonwealth. Catherine heads the Greater Boston Food Bank, Andrew is Executive Director of the Food Bank of Western MassachusettsAndrea Cabral on the Jeffrey Epstein files and federal officials charging a Karen Read grand juror with criminal contempt for allegedly leaking information about the trial.Shirley Leung on her reporting on an influx of chain restaurants in ChinatownMara Dolan and Jen O'Brien are two attorneys joining to discuss their role in an ongoing strike for higher pay that’s left thousands of defendants without representation.May Pang is the former partner of Beatle John Lennon, who dates the musician over an 18-month period that’s come to be known as his “lost weekend.” She’s touring the country with photos she captured during that era, and she’s appearing this weekend at Bridge Gallery in Cambridge.

Jul 17, 2025 • 38min
Best Of BPR 7/17: May Pang's 'Lost Weekend' With John Lennon & Bar Advocates On Strike
Today:May Pang dated John Lennon in her early 20s, and has the photos to prove it. She joins us to discuss her new pop-up art installation, featuring photos of their time together, in Cambridge, titled The Lost Weekend: The Photography of May Pang.And, public bar advocates in Massachusetts get paid less than in surrounding states to represent indigent clients. They’ve been on strike for better pay since late May, and some people charged with violent crimes are being released because their court proceedings can’t continue without representation. We talk with two of the striking lawyers: Mara Dolan and Jennifer O’Brien.

Jul 16, 2025 • 2h 33min
BPR Full Show 7/16: National Hot Dog Day
National security expert Juliette Kayyem discusses millions of undocumented immigrants no longer eligible for bond hearings, according to ICE. Plus, the misinformation/psychological warfare at play in the Israel-Iran war.Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Mass, discusses a federal court certifying a nationwide class action protecting babies from Trump's birthright citizenship order, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson speaking out.Ken Casey, Dropkick Murphys frontman, joins to discuss their new album "For the People," and his repeated warnings that the Trump administration is engaging in a class war.David Folkenflik, NPR media correspondent, on the rescission efforts in Washington to pull funding for foreign aid and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.Farmers Michael Montuori of Allandale Farm and Danielle Andrews of The Food Project join to discuss urban farming, connecting communities to their food sources, and impacts of federal funding cuts to food benefits.

Jul 16, 2025 • 29min
Best Of BPR 7/16: Dropkick Murphys Frontman Wants To Give Stephen Miller A Wedgie & A Rescission Update
Today:Ken Casey, co-founder of the Dropkick Murphys, zooms into the show to discuss their new album "For the People" and the band's decades-long history of showing up and speaking out.And, NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik joins for a quick update on the efforts to claw back millions from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Jul 16, 2025 • 2h 41min
BPR Full Show 7/15: Fall River Mayor & The Fire
BPR Full Show 7/15: Fall River Mayor & The Fire

Jul 15, 2025 • 17min
Best Of BPR 7/15: Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan & Firefighters' Union President Ed Kelly On Gabriel House Fire
Today:In Fall River, we’re still learning about all that went wrong in the assisted living-factility fire that left nine dead over the weekend. Dozens were injured. We begin the show with Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan on the latest.And, Ed Kelly, President of the International Association of Fire Fighters, calls in – as firefighters in Fall River say they didn’t have the resources to adequately respond.

Jul 14, 2025 • 38min
Best Of BPR 7/14: ACA Architect Jon Gruber On Medicaid Cuts & Michael Curry Live From The NAACP Convention
Today: Andrea Cabral and Shirley Leung fill in for Jim and Margery.MIT economist Jon Gruber discusses the impacts of Trump's spending bill: massive tax cuts for the wealthy, funded by kicking poor people off of health care.And, Michael Curry joins us remotely from the national NAACP Convention. Curry sits on the NAACP's national board of directors.


