Boston Public Radio Podcast

Margery and Jim have the day off. BPR regulars Andrea Cabral and Shirley Leung take over the mics.It's Live Music Friday with Grammy-nominated violinist Christina Day Martinson and filmmaker Nathaniel Hansen. Martinson is a Grammy-nominated violinist with Handel and Hyden and Boston Baroque, and the focus of Hansen's documentary A Second Movement.Molly Baldwin leads the community violence reduction nonprofit Roca and Jenna Leschuk is Senior Director of Development at 826 Boston. They join to discuss resisting federal pressure even as they continue to embrace DEI.Boston Medical Center's Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett discusses HHS secretary RFK Jr. rolling back vaccine recommendations and the primary care physician shortage in Massachusetts.  It's "Press Play" with GBH's Callie Crossley and The Bay State Banner's Ron Mitchell, who discuss a rise in local news nonprofits, NPR’s lawsuit against the Trump administration, and more.

Today:Ambassador Nicholas Burns was the United States’ top diplomat in China under the Biden administration. He discusses Trump’s tariffs, and international diplomacy writ large.Then we get listener reaction to news that another family feud is brewing at Market Basket, more than a decade after CEO Arthur T DeMoulas garnered massive community support in the last brouhaha over his business model and shareholder profit.

BPR Full Show 5/29: Market Basket Drama

Harvard national security expert Juliette Kayyem discusses the State Department ordering a pause on all student visas, the Heritage Foundation's plan to stifle pro-Palestinian speech, and updates on the killing of two Israeli Embassy aides in Washington, DC.Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joins for Ask The Mayor.Naturalist and author Sy Montgomery discusses a Florida woman who rescued a tangled shark and how one Chicago building made a simple change to stop birds from crashing into its windows. Massachusetts Governor's Council member Mara Dolan calls in to discuss the public defender work stoppage. 

 Today:Greg Weiner, President of Assumption University, argues Trump has a point about liberal campus ideology. And Rick Steves joins for a conversation about the importance of immersing yourself in other cultures.

BPR Full Show 5/27: Trump Vs. Massachusetts

Abdullah Shahid Sial and Leo Gerdén are two international students from Harvard University. They react to the Trump administration's move yesterday to revoke the school's ability to enroll international students. Then it's Live Music Friday with Jessye DeSilva, ahead of an appearance at Club Passim’s Campfire Festival. Passim Managing Director Matt Smith also joins. NBC Boston's Sue O’Connell gives us the latest on the Karen Read trial. Plus, thoughts on the Sean Combs trial and the Boston City Hall staffer love triangle.Katie Theoharides is President & CEO of the Trustees of Reservations. She discusses concerns about federal cuts to conservation and the environment. Lylah Alphonse (Boston Globe) and Adam Reilly (GBH News) join for this week's edition of Press Play.

Today:We start the show with two Harvard international students, with reaction to President Trump revoking their school’s ability to enroll international students just like them.Then it’s Live Music Friday ahead of the Campfire Festival at Club Passim this weekend in Harvard Square. Jessye DeSilva performs for us here at the library … And we hear from her and Passim managing director Matt Smith.

Today: A music panel highlighting some great local events and artists, from the Newport Folk Festival to the jazz offerings around town. We talk with Brian McCreath of CRB, James Bennett II of GBH News, and Berklee’s Emmett Price. 

BPR Full Show 5/22: I Forgot The Butter!

GBH executive arts editor Jared Bowen discusses "The Light in the Piazza" at the Huntington, penguins getting a retirement home at the New England Aquarium and the Kennedy Center's MAGA makeover.Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin discusses her new 8-part documentary series on the American West, with Kevin Costner, premiering on Memorial Day.Chris Dempsey and Rep. Bill Straus join for a transportation panel, discussing former T chief Brian Shortsleeve joining the GOP race for governor, a turbulent start for South Coast Rail and how to spend the $1.3 billion from the millionaire's tax.Attorney General Andrea Campbell joins for Ask The AG. We ask her about ICE raids and local law enforcement, Question 1, consumer protections and more.

Today:Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett of Boston Medical Center discusses Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis.And, Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart calls in with July 4 news.

NBC Sports Boston's Trenni Casey discusses the Celtics out of the playoffs and breaking news about Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson.Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett discusses Biden's prostate cancer diagnosis and new COVID-19 vaccine guidelines from the FDA.Boston Globe film critic Odie Henderson joins for a summer movie preview and reflects on 50 years since Jaws premiered. CNN's John King joins remotely to discuss the opposition to Trump's big, beautiful tax bill.

BPR Full Show 5/19: Feeling Bleh

Carbon Leaf joins for Live Music Friday, head of a performance at the Spire in Plymouth.Dan Primack is the business editor for Axios. He joins to talk about Trump’s business deals in the Middle East, Walmart’s tariff price hikes and HBO’s big re-re-re-brand to HBO Max.Director Gene Tempest & American Experience EP Cameo George talk about their latest project, “Mr. Polaroid,” a new documentary about the invention of the Polaroid camera (which started in Cambridge). Armani Thomas is a local artist who makes mini-paintings of Boston scenes and leaves the canvases up around the city. He chronicles his work on TikTok as @armoneythomas. Retired federal judge Nancy Gertner discusses yesterday's SCOTUS arguments on the 14th Amendment, along with other contested Trump executive orders and the sense that "rule of law" is ending in America.

Political analyst Chuck Todd with his weekly D.C. rundown.Rep. Ayanna Pressley talks about the return of Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk. And, her new bill to stop the garnishment of wages for people with student loans in default. Dr. Sarah Fortune leads a tuberculosis research team at Harvard whose NIH funding was just cut by the Trump administration. She talks about the importance of scientific research and the future of her lab.MIT economist Jon Gruber explains how cuts to higher education will impact the biotech, medical and education economy in Massachusetts.

Today:Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley tells of her visit to constituent Rumeysa Ozturk in a Louisiana detention center, of the fight to get her released, and how Democrats are fighting back against the Trump administration.And, Dr. Sarah Fortune, chair of the department of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, discusses how a surprise philanthropic donation is keeping her scientific research alive – despite cuts from the Trump administration. 

GBH executive arts editor Jared Bowen discusses the no-nudity dress code at Cannes and 'Kimberly Akimbo' at the Emerson Colonial Theatre.Harvard national security expert Juliette Kayyem explains why the Qatari plane gifted to President Donald Trump poses security problems. Food policy analyst Corby Kummer discusses new FDA-approved 'natural' food colorings, the golden age of the fried-chicken sandwich and Michelin stars coming to Boston restaurants.Naturalist and author Sy Montgomery on this season's tick problem and new research on the rhythmic capabilities of sea lions.

Today:National security expert Juliette Kayyem discusses the amount of work that will have to go into retro-fitting the Qatari airplane to suit Trump's presidential needs.And, naturalist Sy Montgomery discusses warming climate's impact on ticks and the humans who get bit by them.

Today:Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft joins Jim and Margery at the Boston Public Library to discuss his mayoral challenge to Michelle Wu.And, Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart discusses the current spring Pops season, his 30th with the orchestra.