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Boston Public Radio Podcast

WGBH

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-2PM Monday through Friday.

Location:

Boston, MA

Networks:

WGBH

PRX

Description:

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-2PM Monday through Friday.

Language:

English

Contact:

877-301-8970


Episodes
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BPR Full Show 11/6: How To Share Office Donuts

11/6/2025
BPR Full Show 11/6: How To Share Office Donuts

Duration:02:41:10

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BPR Full Show 11/5: Ask The Governor!

11/5/2025
Governor Maura Healey joins for Ask the Governor. Then we open the phone lines to hear listener reactions to yesterday's elections results. Faith Soloway, Bitch and Melissa Ferrick are all part of a musical comedy show "One Long Earring." They perform ahead of a show tomorrow night at the Crystal Ballroom. GBH's Jared Bowen discusses Kennedy Center ticket sales plummeting and Serj Tankian's exhibit at the Armenian Museum in Watertown. CNN chief national correspondent John King joins for a politics rundown and election day debrief. We end the show with a query about the exclamation mark. When should it be use, if ever? We take your calls!!

Duration:02:33:37

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BPR Full Show 11/4: Ask The Attorney General

11/4/2025
Massachusetts AG Andrea Campbell takes from audience members. Senator Ed Markey on the government shutdown, food access, and small businesses feeling the pressure amid tariffs. The Boston Foundation's Lee Pelton joins to discuss how the government shutdown is impacting nonprofit work Tiffani Faison and Zimu Chen are restaurateurs behind two of Boston Magazine's favorite new spots: Bubble Bath + Darling. They join to discuss

Duration:02:41:25

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Best Of BPR 11/03: Everyone Has A Role in Resistance & The YMCA's Food Programs

11/3/2025
Today: ACLU of Massachusetts executive director Carol Rose discusses the challenges to the rule of law under the current presidential administration, and the legal victories holding those in power accountable. And David Shapiro, head of the YMCA of Greater Boston, discusses how his organization is joining the effort to keep vulnerable Massachusetts residents fed through the government shutdown. Boston residents can visit Boston.gov/SNAP or call Boston 311 to learn more about the City resources that are available for support.

Duration:00:33:11

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BPR Full Show 11/3: Come Together...At The Table

11/3/2025
National security expert Juliette Kayyem on the investigation into an explosion at a Harvard Medical School building over the weekend, and President Trump’s continued attacks on Venezuelan boats, even as the UN cites human rights violations. Plus, why he's threatening U.S. military action in Nigeria. Carol Rose of the ACLU of Massachusetts discusses the ACLU-led class action suit on behalf of detained immigrants who have been denied bond hearings. Plus, whether the U.S. supreme court will hand Trump yet another major victory on tariffs. Michael Curry of the Mass League of Community Health Centers on the government shutdown, healthcare costs and remembering his friend, former Newton mayor Setti Warren. David Shapiro of the YMCA of Greater Boston on how the Y is meeting Boston’s food needs during the shutdown. Alexander Smalls is an award-winning opera singer turned James Beard Award-winning cookbook author and chef. He joins us ahead of an event at Suffolk University.

Duration:02:32:51

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BPR Full Show 10/31: Happy Halloween

10/31/2025
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island discusses the government shutdown and his latest efforts to limit the influence of special interest groups in elections. GBH's Callie Crossley weighs in on SNAP benefits drying up, a new debate around autonomous vehicles in Boston and Trump reinstalling a confederate statue in D.C. Nick Shea is a rapper/portrait artist who’s grown an online following since starting a $1 portrait project on Boston Common three years ago. He joins for Live Music Friday ahead of a new album release. Victoria Kichuk is the chocolate sommelier behind the local tasting tour group Cocoa Beantown. She guides Jim and Margery through an assortment of treats from local chocolatiers. Media maven Sue O’Connell discusses a Texas Supreme Court ruling that judges can refuse same-sex marriages, Harvard conservatives testing the boundaries of free speech, Karen Read’s attorney putting Michael Cox on blast and controversy around the Boston strip club Centerfolds trying to move a few blocks over into Chinatown.

Duration:02:32:05

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Best Of BPR 10/30: A Dispatch From Boston School Committee & Chuck Collins' 'Burned By Billionaires"

10/30/2025
Today: Brandon Cardet Hernandez, member of the Boston Public School Committee, discusses the literacy bill making its way through Beacon Hill, bell-to-bell phone bans in schools, and getting rid of the MCAS as a graduation requirement. Then economic scholar Chuck Collins discusses his latest book: Burned by Billionaires: How Concentrated Wealth and Power are Ruining Our Lives and Planet.

Duration:00:38:04

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BPR Full Show 10/30: Day 30 Of Shutdown

10/30/2025
BPR Full Show 10/30: Day 30 Of Shutdown

Duration:02:41:09

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BPR Full Show 10/29: I Talk, Then You Talk

10/29/2025
Boston Globe travel writer Christopher Muther talks about the impact of the government shutdown on air travel, why international tourists are skipping the U.S. and therapy dogs at Logan airport. Kelly Beatty from Sky & Telescope on a “Boston Henge” phenomenon in Back Bay, the Smithsonian's plans to get the Discovery shuttle to Texas and an asteroid that's maybe headed for the moon in 2032. Gabrielle Hamilton is the James Beard-winning chef behind the New York restaurant Prune, and author of “Blood, Bones & Butter.” She joins to talk about her latest, a memoir called “Next of Kin,” ahead of an appearance tonight at Harvard Book Store. Jody Adams and Aidan McGee are the chefs behind La Padrona and McGonagle’s Pub, two Boston restaurants recognized in the New York Times’ list of the 50 best restaurants across America. They talk about their food and what this good press means for their business.

Duration:02:32:48

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Best Of BPR 10/27: Bill de Blasio On Zohran Mamdani & Domestic Violence Is A Threat To Public Health

10/28/2025
Today: Former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio discusses the New York City mayor's race; he's endorsed Zohran Mamdani. We'll talk about his hope for the future of New York and Democrats across the country. And, Boston Medical Center’s Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett joins us with Dr. Lisa Fontes on the health impacts of domestic violence, and how to prevent it.

Duration:00:39:15

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BPR Full Show 10/28: The Zohran Impact

10/28/2025
Former NY mayor, one-time presidential candidate Bill DeBlasio calls in to discuss the NYC mayor's race; he's endorsed Mamdani Sports authority Trenni Casey discusses the NBA gambling indictments Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett and Dr. Lisa Fontes discuss domestic violence and prevention/awareness through the lens of public health Anthony Amore, current director of security at the Gardner Museum, discusses the Louvre heist. The Wagner Foundation's Abigail Satinsky joins with Street Theory artist Ayana Mack and director Rob 'ProBlak' Gibbs to discuss a new partnership exhibit "From the Page to the Stage" in service of the Street Theory Collective's upcoming community hub for BIPOC artists in Cambridge

Duration:02:40:37

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Best Of BPR 10/27: Biden Officials Who Resigned Over His Handling Of War In Gaza Seek New Middle East Policy

10/27/2025
Today: Josh Paul and Tariq Habash both resigned from the Biden administration over the president's handling of Israel's war in Gaza following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in 2023. They have since co-founded “A New Policy” – a group that aims to reform U.S. policy – and join to discuss what a true "American first" policy in the Middle East would look like.

Duration:00:23:39

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BPR Full Show 10/27: More Tricks, Fewer Treats

10/27/2025
Amherst College’s Ilan Stavans shares his latest book "Conversations on Dictionaries: The Universe in a Book" on the power of dictionaries in shaping culture. Plus we get his take on polling that shows Latinos in America might be turning away from Trump. Vulture podcast and TV critic Nick Quah shares the best podcasts he's heard this year. Josh Paul and Tariq Habash are co-founders of “A New Policy,” which aims to reform U.S. policy toward the Middle East. They join to discuss what they think multiple U.S. administrations have gotten wrong. The Reverends Irene Monroe & Emmett G. Price III join for “All Rev’d Up" on the pastors showing up at No Kings rallies, and a new survey that finds more U.S. adults are embracing organized religion – buying more bibles post-Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

Duration:02:32:43

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Best Of BPR 10/24: Doris Kearns Goodwin On Lincoln's 'Team Of Rivals' And Being President For All

10/24/2025
Today: Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin joins Jim and Margery at the Boston Public Library to reflect on lessons in leadership from her book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, released 20 years ago this week.

Duration:00:27:16

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BPR Full Show 10/24: Butt Naked In A Doggy-Dog World

10/24/2025
Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin celebrates 20 years since Team of Rivals was published, the one book Barack Obama said he’d want on a desert island. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joins for “Ask the Mayor.” We talk to her about Mass & Cass, whether she’ll insert herself into the Markey/Moulton Senate race, new pushback from Boston’s business community, and Trump’s suggestion this month about pulling the World Cup from Foxboro. Rasa Quartet performs for Live Music Friday. They’re on tour across New England with a Halloween-themed show called Soundtrack to a Nightmare.

Duration:02:33:04

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BPR Full Show 10/23: AITA For Tearing Down White House?

10/23/2025
BPR Full Show 10/23: AITA For Tearing Down White House?

Duration:02:40:21

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Best Of BPR 10/23: J Street's Jeremy Ben-Ami On A Fragile Ceasefire In Gaza

10/23/2025
Today: Jeremy Ben-Ami, founder and president of J-Street, discusses the cautious hope many are feeling in the days after a ceasefire took hold in Gaza, and how American Jews are responding to this political moment.

Duration:00:25:21

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BPR Full Show 10/22: Monument Or Mar-A-Lago?

10/22/2025
The Culture Show's Jared Bowen discusses the Louvre heist, and ballroom demolition at the White House and an Indigenous art at the ICA. NBC Sports Boston's Trenni Casey on the Shakespearean trajectory of Bill Belichicks career, Shohei Ohtani's run for GOAT of baseball, and a women's pro baseball league coming to Boston. Harvard national security expert Juliette Kayyem on the latest Trump effort to send national guard troops to Portland, Oregon. Plus, Virginia Giuffre's memoir. Naturalist and author Sy Montgomery zooms in to discuss how poison in dolphin brains near Miami might be a warning for Alzheimer's in humans. And, she'll reflect on the loss of one of her own idols through life, Jane Goodall.

Duration:02:09:16

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Best Of BPR 10/22: Beyond Broken, American Healthcare Is "Absolutely Shattered"

10/22/2025
Today: We hear from listeners about the sticking issue of the government shutdown: healthcare costs.

Duration:00:27:59

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BPR Full Show 10/21: Lovin' Your Pets

10/21/2025
CNN's John King on national politics Frontline's Michael Kirk discusses his new RFK Jr documentary airing tonight Chris Kimball of Milk Street is on to promote his latest cookbook "Milk Street Shorts" Animal Rescue League CEO Edward Schettino and VP of animal welfare Cheryl Traversi discuss the rise in vet costs and the increase in pets being surrendered. They discussed the resources they have to help

Duration:02:18:35