The Common

Latest Episodes:

Summer is here, and so are cicadas May 29, 2025

Show notes

From mid-May to early June, a brood of periodical cicadas (Brood XIV) are emerging for the first time in 17 years.

Today on The Common, WBUR Digital News Producer Katie Cole tells us everything we need to know about these noisy summer insects, and what makes this particular brood special.

Also, we end with a note from Host Darryl C. Murphy about the conclusion of The Common.

Greater Boston’s weekly podcast where news and culture meet.

From the newsroom: Lupe Fiasco makes music out of sculpture May 15, 2025

Show notes

This week Team Common is bringing you a story from WBUR arts and culture reporter Amelia Mason. It's a story about one of hip-hop's greatest wordsmiths Lupe Fiasco.

Lupe, a visiting scholar at M.I.T., has been writing new music using the artwork on campus, and Amelia got the opportunity to talk to him about it.

Greater Boston’s weekly podcast where news and culture meet.

Talk a walk through Boston's LGBTQ+ history May 08, 2025

Show notes

In February, references to the words 'transgender' and 'queer' were quietly purged from various National Parks Service websites.

That includes pages dedicated to Boston’s many national parks.

Among the resources that were taken down from Boston’s National Parks was an audio tour of Downtown and Beacon Hill titled “Their Dreams, Their Rights, and Their Love.”

The tour was meant to show how Boston’s LGBTQ+ community has lived and thrived despite oppression and erasure. The tour still exists on the History Project's website, where it was posted after it was removed from the National Parks Service website.

To get a sense of what the "Their Dreams, Their Rights, and Their Love" tour has to offer, The Common met up with Theo Linger, History Project board member and former National Parks ranger; and Meaghan Michel, History Project volunteer and former National Parks ranger.

Greater Boston’s weekly podcast where news and culture meet.

Things to do in May to help you enjoy Boston's blossoming spring Apr 30, 2025

Show notes

WBUR's Candice Springer shares three awesome, local events that will get you outside in May. Check them out:

Big Queer Food Fest

Boston Public Art Triennial

WBUR Festival

Greater Boston’s weekly podcast where news and culture meet.

A march to mark MLK Jr.'s 1965 Freedom Rally in Boston Apr 23, 2025

Show notes

Local organizers plan to mark MLK Jr.'s historic 1965 Freedom Rally in Boston by holding a march of their own.

Journalist and Historian Dart Adams is the co-chair of Everyone250. The organization's mission is to highlight stories and histories that often get overlooked — especially during celebrations marking America's independence.

Greater Boston’s weekly podcast where news and culture meet.

Redux: Slow runner? Join the club! Apr 16, 2025

Show notes

Martinus Evans' doctor told him he either had to lose weight or risk early death. So he took up running - both out of necessity and perhaps a little spite. Evans has since run several marathons. He also founded the Slow AF Run Club, which is an organization meant to inspire and encourage runners of all shapes and abilities.

Greater Boston’s weekly podcast where news and culture meet.

Local libraries encourage readers to hop on a retro trend: zines Apr 10, 2025

Show notes

Little self-published booklets known as 'zines' have long been a staple of DIY and counter-culture movements. They have deep roots in underground music scenes like punk. Today, zines are having a renaissance, with more DIY-ers returning to the medium to spread information and stories - as well as to avoid increased censorship.

The Common recently visited the Boston Public Library's Jamaica Plain branch to check out the BPL's zine collection with children's librarian and local punk drummer, Chris Strunk.

Where to find zines in Boston

For the month of April, public libraries across the Boston Area are encouraging patrons to dive into zines with their 2025 Zine Library Crawl. Explore these Boston-area zine libraries to participate, or explore on your own any time.

- Boston Public Library Zine Collection
  - Participating branches include: Central, Codman Square, Connolly, Egleston Square, Grove Hall, Jamaica Plain, Parker Hill, Roslindale, Roxbury,
- Framingham Public Library
- Harvard University’s Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America

If you're looking for digital zines, you can also visit the online archive of Cambridge's Papercut Library, a free and volunteer-led collection featuring zines and other media from over 16,000 independent creators.

Greater Boston’s weekly podcast where news and culture meet.

Priests, nuns and cat burglars: The surprising history of Boston's anti-war movement Apr 03, 2025

Show notes

Catholic nuns and priests led Boston's anti-war movement during the Vietnam era. A new podcast tells the story of the lengths many Irish Catholics went through to protest the war — including breaking into official buildings to steal draft cards.

The Common spoke to Host and Producer Brendan Patrick Hughes about his new podcast "Divine Intervention."

Greater Boston’s weekly podcast where news and culture meet.

Repair shop offers trip down memory lane with decades-old tech Mar 27, 2025

Show notes

When Tim Colegrove decided to open a computer repair store in 2021, it was partially because he was interested in entrepreneurship. He also really needed a place to keep the vintage computers and gear that were piling up in his home. So, The BYTE Shop was born: A computer repair shop AND museum to the modern home computer in Jamaica Plain.

The Common visited Tim at The BYTE Shop to talk about the store's fully operational computer history exhibit (that is open for the public to come and try), as well as how community and sustainability play into its mission.

Greater Boston’s weekly podcast where news and culture meet.

Symphony strings for the season of spring Mar 20, 2025

Show notes

WBUR contributing arts critic Lloyd Schwartz joins The Common to discuss classical music.

The Somerville poet laureate and Fresh Air classical music critic also shares recommendations from his arts guide to Greater Boston classical events on offer this spring.

Greater Boston’s weekly podcast where news and culture meet.