Boston Public Radio Podcast

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BPR Full Show 10/11/19: The Cyborg Botanist Oct 11, 2019

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Today on Boston Public Radio:

We opened the lines to callers to ask: in light of the whistleblower news in Washington, have there ever been times when you’ve had to take a stand against authority? Was it the right choice?

Tech Writer Andy Inathko discussed big tech’s relationship to China, following Apple’s choice to pull an app that helped pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong track police whereabouts.

NBC Sports Boston Reporter Trenni Kusnierek discussed the NBA’s catering to Chinese interests, as well as basketball player Enes Kanter’s essay about refusing to be silent on Turkey President Erdogan’s authoritarian leadership.

Author Imani Perry joined Boston Public Radio to discuss her latest book: "BREATE: A Letter To My Sons.”

Harpreet Sareen, Assistant Professor at the Parson School of Design, discussed his research on cyborg botany, and the movement to make plant-robot hybrids.

Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung discussed her latest column on why local craft breweries are pushing for more diversity.

For our weekly news quiz, all-female Brazilian brass band Fanfarra Feminina Sagrada Profana joined to promote the upcoming HONK! Festival in Somerville.

BPR Full Show 10/10/19: Arsonists In Charge Oct 10, 2019

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Today on Boston Public Radio:

Washington Post national politics correspondent Annie Linskey discussed the latest news surrounding the 2020 Democratic presidential race.

Food writer Corby Kummer discussed pushback to a Trump administration move to end limits on slaughterhouse line speeds, and news that grocery chain Dean & Deluca has closed their flagship location.

Former Suffolk County Sheriff and Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral discussed the latest on the House impeachment inquiry, and updates regarding President Trump’s removal of troops from northeastern Syria.

Nancy Koehn, Harvard Business School historian, spoke about Silicon Valley's move away from big spending in favor of profit.

We opened the lines to callers to hear your thoughts on balancing motherhood and work life.

Journalist & author Naomi Klein discussed her new book: “On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal”

Jonathan Alsop, founder of the Boston Wine School, previewed WGBH’s upcoming Food & Wine Festival.

Unions Cry Foul On Trump Administration Move To Scrap Slaughterhouse Line Speed Limits Oct 10, 2019

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An effort backed by the Trump administration to speed up slaughter lines of pigs is facing legal challenges from food workers' unions that argue the new rules will put laborers in danger.
Food policy expert Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio Thursday to discuss the new rule, and the workers' safety complaint.
"This makes my blood boil. Already the line speeds, the industrial processing allowed in big meat slaughterhouses is hugely dangerous to workers," said Kummer. "They get mad cow brain disease if they're working on the line slicing open brains of pigs and beef and they do, and they have progressive neurological diseases, and meat companies just through them out the door and say, 'We don't owe you any disability.'"
The suit challenges the Department of Agriculture's move to eliminate maximum speed guidelines that the agency estimated would provide annual savings in the millions of dollars for large plants. Kummer said this rule expressly throws worker safety out the window in favor of industry benefits.
"These new laws friendly to industry increasing line speed, the USDA said we don't care about overload, burnout, physical toll and repetitive stress injury, we're not even going to weigh that in our final rules, we're going to leave that for OSHA," he said. "What they're doing is destroying the health of the workers and even saying flat out, 'We don't care we're going to leave it to OSHA to come in and try and mop up the mess.'"
Corby Kummer is executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic, and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrtition Science and Policy.

BPR Full Episode 10/9/19: Judging a Book By Its Cover Oct 09, 2019

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Today on Boston Public Radio:

We opened the lines to callers to hear their thoughts on Trump’s choice to not comply with House impeachment proceedings.

Media maven Sue O’Connell discussed three LGBT descrimination cases that the Supreme Court heard on Tuesday.

CNN analyst Juliette Kayyem discussed President Trump’s decision to pull troops out of northeast Syria, as well as the latest on the House impeachment inquiry.

WGBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen reviewed Trinity Rep’s production of “Prince of Providence,” as well as “Homer at the Beach,” a gallery of Winslow Homer paintings on display at the Cape Ann Museum.

Listeners phoned in to discuss whether cell phones have any place in theaters and schools.

Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam discussed his latest piece, which bemoans a new interior design trend: Judging books exclusively by their covers and using them as decorative objects.

Listeners phoned in to give their thoughts on reading in 2019.

BPR Full Show 10/08/19: A Dramatic Escalation Oct 08, 2019

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Today on Boston Public Radio:

We opened the lines to callers to ask: in light of accusations that he solicited sex workers at a Florida spa, is the NFL doing enough about New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft?

Author Holly Jackson discussed her new book, “American Radicals: How Nineteenth Century Protest Shaped the Nation.”

Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed Sen. Bernie Sanders’ recent heart attack, and the questions it’s raised about whether public officials have an obligation to disclose personal health issues.

Attorney General Maura Healey responded to questions from callers as part of her monthly “Ask the AG” series.

CNN chief national correspondent John King discussed the latest national headlines, including the House's subpoena of EU ambassador Gordon Sondland following Tuesday morning's canceled deposition.

BPR Full Show 10/7/19: Jose, Can You See? Oct 07, 2019

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Today on Boston Public Radio:

Shannon O’Brien and Charlie Chieppio discussed the latest national and local headlines, including impeachment news and Ed Markey’s pursuit of an environmental debate against Senate seat rival Joe Kennedy.

Charlie Sennott discussed fallout from Hong Kong’s ban on face masks, Boris Johnson’s plan for Brexit, and the U.S.’ decision to pull troops from Northeast Syria.

We opened our lines to callers to hear their thoughts on impeachment proceedings.

TV guru Bob Thompson discussed CNN’s decision not to air an attack ad by President Trump. He also reviewed Masterpiece’s new series “PRESS", along with "El Camino", the new movie set in the Breaking Bad universe.

*All Rev’d Up *hosts Irene Monroe and Emmett G Price III discussed Brandt Jean forgiving his brother’s killer, as well as the passing of actress Diahann Carol.

With National Hispanic Heritage Month under way, inaugural poet Richard Blanco read a selection of self-penned poems dealing with Hispanic identity.

Boston City Councilor At-Large Michelle Wu discussed her latest report on the benefits of disbanding the Boston Planning and Development Agency.

BPR Full Show 10/4/19: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, Alive And Well Oct 04, 2019

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Today on Boston Public Radio:

We opened the lines to callers to hear their thoughts on the latest regarding House impeachment proceedings.

Tech writer Andy Ihnatko discussed Mark Zuckerberg’s leaked memo to Facebook employees, where he spoke on the threat of a potential Elizabeth Warren presidency. He also discussed Amazon’s foray into wearable tech.

Emily Rooney, host of WGBH News' Beat the Press, joined to give her weekly list of fixations and fulminations.

Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung discussed her recent column asking whether affirmative action will ever not be necessary in American schools.

NPR Correspondent and writer Aarti Shahani discussed her new memoir “Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares."

Callie Crossley, host of WGBH’s Under The Radar, discussed a Dallas judge’s sympathy for former Dallas police officer Amber Guyer following her murder conviction.

Actors Will Lebow and Jeremy Webb of “Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” joined us for our weekly news quiz.

BPR Full Show 10/3/19: Incessant Humanity Oct 03, 2019

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Today on Boston Public Radio:

MSNBC’s “Meet The Press" moderator Chuck Todd discussed the latest news regarding the House impeachment inquiry.

We opened the lines to hear from callers: in light Dallas police officer Amber Guyger's guilty murder verdict, what are your thoughts on forgiveness?

Former Suffolk County Sheriff and Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral discussed the guilty verdict for former Dallas police officer Amber Guyer, and the sympathy she received from both the judge and brother of her victim.

Husband and wife acting duo Chris Cooper and Marianna Leone, along with director Dan Habib, discussed their latest film, “Intelligent Lives,” which will air on GBH’s WORLD Channel later in October.

Paul Reville, Former Secretary of Education and head of Harvard’s Education Redesign Lab, discussed a federal judge’s ruling on Harvard admissions.

BPR Full Show 10/2/19: Dorian Recovery, Vape Uncertainty Oct 03, 2019

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Media maven and BPR contributor Sue O’Connell spoke on a federal judge’s Tuesday ruling in a case calling Harvard’s admission practices into question.

Homeland security expert Juliette Kayyem discussed the latest national headlines surrounding President Trump and Ukraine, as well as hurricane recovery effort in the Bahamas.

Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum forum, discussed a surge of immigration cases being processed as criminal cases under the Trump administration.

Medical ethicist Art Caplan discussed the future of the Affordable Care Act, along with vape manufacturer JUUL’s new CEO.

WGBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen talked about the films “Joker” and “Ad Astra,” as well as “Passengers,” a contemporary circus production currently playing at Boston’s Cutler Majestic Theater.

Progressive writer Miles Howard and Politico’s Stephanie Murray discussed challenges to Sen. Ed Markey’s campaign ahead of his upcoming Senate race against Rep. Joe Kennedy.

Corby Kummer: Texas Meat Manufacturers Sold Inferior Meat To Prisons Across The Country Oct 02, 2019

Show notes

Meat company West Texas Provisions, Inc sold over $1 million of degraded meat to 32 prison institutions in 18 states. The meat was marketed by West Texas Provisions as USDA approved, when in fact no such inspection was held. The meat packing plant also violated ground meat standards by adding whole cow hearts into their products.
Food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio on Tuesday to explain why this violates health and ethics standards.
"They paid no attention to food safety for meat that went into prisons and [West Texas Provisions] would send people in the night, when the inspectors weren't there, to cut up the heart valves and put them in," he said. "This kind of contempt treats people as second class citizens, as if they aren't really people."
This kind of health abuse only adds to the unjust treatment that prisoners face, Kummer said.
"It is part of the whole movement in this country to treat prisoners as animals, as refuse and as members of society who don't deserve any kind of humane treatment," he said. "This is defeating the whole purpose of the correctional system, which is trying to get people back into society, because how do they expect these people to want to be productive members of society when they've been abused in prison?"
Kummer is a *senior editor at The Atlantic*, an award-winning food writer, and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy.

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