The Common

Last year, minimum wage earners in Massachusetts gained a new $15 hourly pay floor -- the final increase in a five-year plan that aimed to increase pay for some of the states lowest earning workers. While Massachusetts' minimum wage is among the highest in the country, advocates say a $15 wage falls short of providing a livable income for workers in the state, considering the cost of living. Today, WBUR Senior Business Reporter Zeninjor Enwemeka joins The Common to discuss a new push for a $20 minimum wage. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

If your New Year's Resolution is to see more live music, movies filmed in Massachusetts, or life-sized puppets acting out 19th century literary classics on stage – then boy, do we have the episode for you. WBUR Assistant Director of CitySpace Candice Springer is back with her top picks for events and happenings around Boston this January. Candice recommends... Curated Cuisine: Cultivating a curious palate for kids with Cooking For Levi's Jack Zhang - Jan. 8, WBUR CitySpace Candlelight Concerts in Boston - Multiple dates and locations Made in Massachusetts: 100 Years of Filmmaking in the Bay State - Jan. 14, The Brattle Theatre Moby Dick - Jan. 23 - 28, Emerson Paramount Center Field Trip: Boxing Night - Jan. 29, WBUR CitySpace Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Claudine Gay, Harvard’s first Black president, has resigned. Gay's six month tenure was the shortest in Harvard history. In the past months, she has endured controversy around the school’s handling of discourse over the war in Gaza, as well as alleged plagiarism in her own research. Gay’s decision to step down from her position also comes just three weeks after Harvard’s governing body cemented its support for her to remain in the role, as outside political pressures pushed for her resignation. WBUR's Max Larkin joins The Common to discuss what this moment means for Harvard, and the precedent it sets for higher education more broadly. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

A 2023 report from the Boston Women's Workforce Council shows that the gender wage gap in Greater Boston decreased by nine cents over the previous two years, while the racial wage gap increased by three cents since 2021. Today, Boston Globe Workforce and Income Inequality Reporter Katie Johnston joins The Common to break down this report, and what it can tell us about pay equity in our community. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Team Common has been off this week, so in place of our regular show, we’re bringing you a special re-drop of our Earth Week series: Climate Now. Today’s episode published on April 20th, and brings us to Boston’s South End, where residents have already been feeling the intensifying effects of urban heat for years. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Team Common is off today, but we’ve still got a great show in store for you. It’s the third episode of our Climate Now series from Earth Week 2023. It published on April 19th, and takes us to Hyde Park, where community members are fighting to protect a parcel of land called Crane Ledge Woods. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Team Common is off again today, so we’re bringing you the second episode of our Climate Now series from Earth Week 2023. Today’s episode originally published on April 18th and brings us to the Boston Harbor Islands, where rising sea levels and storms threaten to wash away the irreplaceable history and nature the islands hold. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Team Common is off this week so we’re re-sharing our Climate Now series from earlier in the year. Today’s episode originally published on April 17th and takes us to Boston’s Chinatown, where residents are taking climate resilience into their own hands. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Team Common is taking the day to rest and recharge with friends and family, we hope you are too. We’ll be in your feeds tomorrow with a special re-drop of our Climate Now series from Earth Week this year, which highlights the very real ways climate change is already impacting our communities here in Greater Boston. In the meantime, have a very happy holiday. We’ll talk to you soon. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Noche Buena means “Good Night” in Spanish. In Latino communities, Noche Buena is a celebration that takes place between Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, with friends, family, food, presents and dancing. Festivities usually go late into the night, or even all night long. Today for The Common, WBUR Fellow Jacob Garcia took a trip to East Boston to ask folks about their favorite Noche Buena traditions. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

It was a big year for food in Boston. In 2023 the city saw major restaurant openings, some cool innovations and some heartbreaking closures. Today, we're grabbing lunch with Erika Adams, editor for Eater Boston, to look back at a year of dining in the region. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Last week, Mayor Michelle Wu offered a first look at her housing production goal for the city of Boston during her first term. Her administration aims to produce about 13,000 new housing units, including 4,700 income-restricted units, between 2021 and 2025. CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith joins The Common to further break down Mayor Wu's housing production goals, and what they could mean for the city's ongoing housing shortage. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Sound On is WBUR's series highlighting rising local musicians. In its latest installment, WBUR Senior Arts Reporter Amelia Mason profiles Boston-based indie rapper Pink Navel, who fuses hip-hop, video games and the creative power of play in their latest album "How To Capture Playful." Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Last week, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health released its twice-annual overdose report, which indicates that overdose deaths for 2023 are set to be on par with the record-setting numbers the state saw in 2022. The DPH also endorsed controversial overdose prevention centers, where staff are present to supervise and, if needed, reverse overdoses as the first step towards reducing overdose deaths. WBUR's Martha Bebinger has been reporting on addiction for over a decade. She joins The Common with a story on how one mother has taken overdose prevention into her own hands, supervising drug use in her own home to save lives. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

The Harvard Corporation has announced it will stand by the school's president, Claudine Gay. Some U.S. lawmakers and alumni made calls for her resignation in response to Gay's recent testimony on Harvard's handling of anti-semitism on campus in the wake of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. WBUR Education Reporter Max Larkin joins The Common to discuss the university's decision and the road forward for Gay and the Harvard community. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Cognoscenti is WBUR’s ideas and opinion section where local experts, writers and thinkers of all kinds share their perspectives on a range of topics, from Taylor Swift to climate change. This year gave us plenty of things to ponder. So, as the year winds down, we reached out to Cognoscenti senior editor Cloe Axelson to talk to us about three themes from the year that resonated within the Cognoscenti community. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Seniors are healthier, better educated and living longer than in generations past. In his series "The Third Act," WBUR Senior Political Reporter Anthony Brooks tells the stories of people who have embraced these years of late and mid-life to improve and re-invented themselves. Today, Anthony joins The Common with more on these stories, and what we can all take away from watching others age with purpose, regardless of our own life stage. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Last week, the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association approved a new contract with the City of Boston after 18 months of negotiations. The new contract makes it harder for officers involved in certain crimes to keep their jobs, provides some reforms to overtime pay and increases the base salary for officers over a five year period, among other measures. WBUR State Politics Reporter Walter Wuthmann joins The Common with more on what's in the contract and what it means for policing in the city. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Boston is known for its host of historic landmarks, such as the Boston Tea Party and the USS Constitution, but there are also many historical stories and sites in the city that too often go unheard and unseen. Researcher and educator Joel Mackall seeks to change this through his Hidden History of Black Boston tours -- a series of driving and walking tours that highlight the city's often untold Black history. WBUR reporter Arielle Gray joins The Common to discuss Mackall's Hidden History of Black Boston tour in the North End, which took her from the Rose Kennedy Greenway to the Copp's Hill Burying Ground. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Procrastinators, beware! The holidays are around the corner but luckily, Boston has a wide selection of holiday markets to find unique and local-made gifts for everyone on your list. WBUR Associate Producer for Newsletters Hanna Ali joins The Common to recommend four Boston-area holiday markets to visit this season. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.