Boston Public Radio Podcast

Medical ethicist Art Caplan, speaking on Friday's Boston Public Radio, said that while it isn’t uncommon for presidents to conceal critical information about their health and wellbeing, Donald Trump has an ethical responsibility to be fully transparent about his own physical standing, following Friday’s news of a COVID-19 diagnosis. “Look, it’s an election time. We wanna know who we’re voting for,” Caplan said. "Is he failing, is he doing okay?" "It’s also important to know who else they might’ve exposed, in terms of people like Joe Biden,” he added. “Are we gonna have another debate? And if so, how would that be arranged? A list of questions goes on and on and on.” Caplan said the president’s reputation for misrepresenting himself has meant some voters are hesitant to trust his word, leading to confusion and occasional conspiracy-theorizing. “We don’t have any independent mechanism to getting – if you will – trustworthy information, because it’s so politically filtered,” he explained. Caplan is the Drs.

Juliette Kayyem called into Friday’s Boston Public Radio to reflect on news that President Trump has contracted the coronavirus. “Trump needs an out,” she said while weighing in on whether the diagnosis might signal his political demise. “It can’t possibly be that America didn’t vote for him, so it’s that 'the voting was rigged’ or whatever.” “Maybe this is his out... maybe this is the way in which he says ‘but for the COVID, I would’ve been able to rally everyone and won.' Maybe this doesn’t end with a fire burst, but a sort of whimper under a virus.” Kayyem also offered insight into what President Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis could signal for the country's national security, and security elsewhere abroad. Juliette Kayyem is an analyst for CNN, former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and faculty chair of the homeland security program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Today on Boston Public Radio:  We opened lines to talk with listeners about President Trump’s sympathy for the Proud Boys, and how his open racism is impacting your relationships with friends and family on the other side of the political spectrum. Boston City Councilor and mayoral candidate Andrea Campbell discussed why she’s chosen to enter race for mayor of Boston, and weighed in on a series of local issues, from the so-called “digital divide,” to pushes for citywide police reform.  Former Suffolk County Sheriff and Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral discussed Suffolk County DA Rachael Rollins’ release of a list of of 136 Boston-area police officers with “questionable credibility,” new developments in the case around the killing of Breonna Taylor, and her take on Tuesday’s presidential debate. NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd discussed Tuesday’s chaotic debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, and how he thinks it could impact voters ahead of the election

Today on Boston Public Radio:  We started off by talking with listeners about your impressions from Tuesday night’s presidential debate.  Rep. Seth Moulton offered his impressions of Tuesday night’s debate, discussed the newly-published report from Congress' Future of Defense Task Force on shortcomings with U.S. national defense, and reflected on his initiative to establish a national three-digit suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline.  CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem weighed in on Tuesday’s debate, looming challenges in distributing an eventual COVID-19 vaccine, and deeper national security risks revealed in the New York Times report on President Trump's tax returns.  Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed whether doctors should have political conversations with their patients, as well as what he described as “reckless” development of coronavirus vaccines in China, and a rise in U.S. parents who say they won't have their kids get a flu shot this fall. Chasten Buttigieg, husband of former Democra

The Trump administration waged a pressure campaign against the C.D.C. to push messaging in line with President Trump’s agenda to reopen schools and downplay the risk of COVID-19 spread among younger populations, according to a report in the New York Times. Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House, was involved in the effort, a move medical ethicist Arthur Caplan told Boston Public Radio on Wednesday is inappropriate. “Birx should be advising if you’re going to reopen you’ve got to test, if you’re going to reopen here’s the cut off point where you’ve got to close,” he said, “and what we’re getting is more of the political message that we’ve got to reopen, and that’s politics not science.” Caplan is the Drs. William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty Chair, and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Tuesday night’s presidential debate contained a lot of crosstalk — overwhelmingly initiated by President Donald Trump interrupting Joe Biden — and not a lot of substance. CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem told Boston Public Radio on Wednesday that despite the lack of policy discussion, the choice presented to voters is very clear. “I don’t know what you were expecting, but we have two choices, there’s not a third choice like ‘I wish this would all go away’ on the ballot,” she said. “And on both substance and temperament, I think Biden did great actually and Trump did horribly.” During the debate, when asked to condemn white supremacy, Trump refused, instead telling the far-right militia group known as the Proud Boys to “stand back and standby.” “Everything from the overt racism, which I find liberating, rather than wondering what does he actually mean, to his inability to talk about any of his policy proposals beyond conservative judges and I have a healthcare plan read my twitter account.” Juliette Kayyem is

Today on Boston Public Radio:  We started off by opening our lines to talk with listeners about your thoughts ahead of Tuesday’s debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.  NBC Sports Boston reporter and anchor Trenni Kusnierek weighed in on the Patriots' Sunday win against the Oakland Raiders, dropped prostitution charges against Patriots owner Robert Kraft, the lousy 2020 season for the Red Sox.  Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo discussed how she’s handling the COVID-19 pandemic in her state, from high capacity testing in schools to a robust state-funded jobs program. She also touched on President Trump’s efforts to dismantle the U.S.P.S, and why she’s anxious about Tuesday's night presidential debate.   TV guru Bob Thompson talked about his excitement around season four of FX’s “Fargo," and reviewed “Ratched” on Netflix and “The Comey Rule” on Showtime. Immigration authority Ali Noorani discussed how a Supreme Court with Judge Amy Coney Barrett might fall on future immigration issues, differences in po

Today on Boston Public Radio:  We opened lines to talk with listeners about Monday’s New York Times report revealing information about President Trump’s long-withheld tax returns.  Suffolk University law expert Renee Landers discussed what could happen to the Affordable Care Act if Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed to the Supreme Court, and other questions circling the Supreme Court nominee. Landers is a Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Health and Biomedical Law Concentration at Suffolk University School of Law. Charlie Sennott broke down the latest international headlines around coronavirus, a recent report from the CIA on continuing Russian interference in the 2020 election, and ongoing pro-democracy protests in Belarus. Sennott is a GBH News analyst and CEO of the GroundTruth Project. Republican Julie Hall, who’s currently running to represent Mass.' 4th Congressional District, called in to discuss her campaign and why she believes voters should pick her over Democratic candidate Jake Auchincl

The Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge to the Affordable Care Act a week after the election. Health law expert Renée Landers told Boston Public Radio on Monday Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court Amy Coney Barrett may undercut Obamacare if she’s on the bench. “The serious question is whether she will view the decision she criticized in (a court opinion upholding the Affordable Care Act) as a precedent that should be honored and respected,” said Landers, “or whether she thinks there are overriding principals like her different view of the text that should cause the court to revisit the case’s precedent and overturn the statute.” Landers is Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Health  and Biomedical Law Concentration at Suffolk University School of Law.

Last week, Bishop Michael Curry spoke on Boston Public Radio about the righteousness of love, and the value it can bring us in life’s more worrisome periods.  "'You know when you used to go to the cemetery, and you’d see the date [and] name of whoever died, and then you'd see the date of their birth… you’ll see that there’s a little dash between the date of their birth and the date of their death,” he said, recalling an old sermon he’d hear as a boy.  "Nobody has any control over when you were born, and most of us don’t have any control over when we die. What you have control over is the little dash.” Michael Curry is the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and author of “Love is the Way: Holding onto Hope in Troubling Times." 

Today on Boston Public Radio: Journalist Barton Gellman talked about the growing likelihood that President Trump will work to skew election results in his favor, in a conversation about his recent Atlantic piece, “The Election That Could Break America." We opened lines to talk with listeners about your thoughts on the possibility of a contested November election.  Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy discussed America’s longstanding relationship with guns and gun violence, in a conversation about his new book, “The Violence Inside Us.” Beat the Press host Emily Rooney weighed in on the possibility that President Trump will question November's election results, discussed news around Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s prostitution charges, and read her famous weekly list of fixations and fulminations.  Media maven Sue O’Connell discussed Friday charges brought by Mass. AG Maura Healey against officials at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, and the impact that a strongly conservative Supreme Court might have on the future of

Today on Boston Public Radio: Suffolk County DA Rachel Rollins weighed in on Wednesday's ruling on the Louisville, Ky. Police officers involved in the killing Breonna Taylor, and responded to a range of listener calls as part of our monthly “Ask the DA” series. NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd recapped the latest political headlines around the 2020 presidential race.  Former Suffolk County Sheriff and Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral discussed Wednesday’s ruling by a Louisville grand jury on the officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s death, and her frustrations with the U.S. justice system for failing to implement systems for police accountability. Former Mass. Education Secretary Paul Reville talked about the latest headlines around how Mass. schools and universities are navigating the pandemic school year, and weighed in on the education leadership of Gov. Charlie Baker.   We opened lines to talk with listeners about President Trump’s recent statements, pushing back on the notion of a

Paul Reville, former Massachusetts education secretary, spoke with Boston Public Radio on Thursday about how Massachusetts schools, both K-12 and higher ed, are handling reopening during the pandemic. “Many people are predicting we’re going to have a resurgence of this virus, and it’s going to push everybody back to being exclusively online, in due course,” he said. “We’ll see, I hope not, but we’re dealing with moving conditions here.” The Baker administration has been focusing on how to serve students who are disadvantaged with online learning, Reville noted. “They’re looking at remedying the real equity issue of certain categories of students who are not being well served online, because they don’t have the devices or support at home,” he said. “I think it’s quite possible for districts to begin moving in the direction of providing some services to some children - particularly those most at risk of greater gaps developing in this crisis - and then move over time and see how the numbers go.” Reville is

Today on Boston Public Radio: MIT economist and Affordable Care Act architect Jon Gruber weighed the possibility that a Supreme Court without Ruth Bader Ginsburg might overturn the ACA, and the widespread ramifications that would play out if that were to happen.  We opened lines to hear your thoughts and concerns about the future of the Affordable Care Act.  CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem discussed the U.S. passing 200,000 COVID-19 deaths, and the media’s shortcomings in covering the tragedy of the ongoing pandemic.  EJ Dionne, Washington Post columnist and senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, talked about his new book, “Code Red: How Progressives and Moderates Can Unite to Save Our Country.” Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett Price, hosts of WGBH’s All Rev’d Up, discussed the legacy of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and controversy within the Catholic community over an award presented to AG Bill Barr.  We opened lines to talk with listeners about how the coronavirus pandemic has cha

Medical ethicist Art Caplan joined Boston Public Radio on Thursday, where he lambasted the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which he called “the single most important issue of his presidency."  Caplan noted that while the U.S. makes up only four percent of the world’s population, it accounts for a fifth of all global COVID-19 deaths.  “That’s inexcusable,” he said, placing responsibility on the president and his administration for "not managing to keep our death rate down.” "We have no federal policy – he left it up to the states, which allowed the virus to find a home in certain parts of the country, and kick back. So it really has been abysmal leadership.” Caplan is the Drs. William F and Virginia Connolly Mitty Chair, and director of the Division of Medical Ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Over 200,000 Americans have now died from COVID-19, homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem told Boston Public Radio on Wednesday. “And we suspect that this is an undercount, because maybe some people are not being counted for dying of COVID, or they had an underlying condition which catches them first,” she said. “There’s excess deaths everywhere we look, so the 200,000 number, I think, at the minimum is shocking, outrageous, inexcusable enough, but it’s probably not the right number.” Kayyem is an analyst for CNN, former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security and faculty chair of the homeland security program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Today on Boston Public Radio: We opened lines to talk with listeners about your experiences around school reopening. NBC Sports Boston reporter and anchor Trenni Kusnierek recapped the latest sports headlines, from losses by the Patriots and Celtics, to debate over whether college athletes should have more access to coronavirus testing than their collegiate peers. Filmmaker Michael Kirk discussed his latest documentary for FRONTLINE, “The Choice 2020: Trump vs. Biden.” Food writer Corby Kummer talked about guidelines for safe indoor dining, restaurants that're imposing COVID-19 surcharges, and why sales of tofu are through the roof. Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung discussed debate around who Gov. Charlie Baker ought to choose to replace the late SJC Chief Justice Ralph Gants, and spoke on how her kids are handling hybrid learning. CNN’s John King discussed Tuesday's news that the U.S. has passed 200,000 COVID-19 deaths, and increasing certainty that Senate Republicans will elect a Suprem

A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study found that adults who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 were twice as likely to have eaten at restaurants. But the study is facing criticism for its lack of distinction between diners who ate at indoor versus outdoor establishments, food writer Corby Kummer said. “I do trust the CDC, but the study they released did not differentiate between bars or restaurants or between indoor and outdoor dining,” he said. It’s a challenge for restaurants to successfully and safely have indoor dining, Kummer said, but possible if everyone, specifically diners, follow health guidelines. “There are going to be big problems for restaurants trying to open indoors, but there’s a path forward if they follow the rules and insist that their diners follow the rules,” he said. “As for bars, they’re probably not go to reopen until there’s a vaccine that’s well established, and that’s a good year.” Kummer is a senior editor at The Atlantic, an award-winning food writer, a

Today on Boston Public Radio: Dahlia Lithwick, a legal correspondent and senior editor at Slate, discussed the legacy of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a feminist icon, and reflected on her experience interviewing her in January. Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy discussed his views on the danger of politicizing the Supreme Court, and why he believes most Senate Republicans will fall in line behind Sen. McConnell’s efforts to fill the vacancy left by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg before the November election.  We opened lines to hear your impressions on the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and efforts by Senate leaders and President Trump to replace her before the November election.   Martha Minow spoke on late Justice Bader-Ginsburg, and the legal legacy left in her wake. Minow is the 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University, and a former Dean of Harvard Law School. Her latest book is "When Should Law Forgive?" We reopened lines to talk with listeners about the death of Justic

Today on Boston Public Radio: Former FBI agent Peter Strzok weighed in on corruption and within the Trump administration and its impact on U.S. national security, in a conversation about his new book, “Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump."  Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell offered her thoughts on Mayor Walsh's police task force, the rocky transition to hybrid learning for Boston Public Schools students, and discussed whether she intends to enter the 2021 Boston mayoral race.  Beat the Press host Emily Rooney reflected on Thursday night’s town hall with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, critiques of the media from writer James Fallows, and read a rank choice voting-themed list of fixations and fulminations.  CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem discussed news that a former homeland security advisor to Vice President Mike Pence is publicly backing Joe Biden for president, and explained why she believes the Trump administration is directly responsible for the bulk of the n