The Common

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Rewind: America's gun industry has roots in Massachusetts Jul 04, 2024

Show notes

Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives.

America was, and continues to be, forged by the gun industry. The Gun Machine, a new podcast from WBUR and The Trace looks at this intertwined history — from the founding of the nation, to the gun industry's roots here in Massachusetts, to the country's very present gun violence crisis in an eight-part series.

Producer for The Gun Machine Grace Tatter joins The Common with a preview of this new project.

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

Rewind: A different approach to supporting loved ones with addiction Jul 03, 2024

Show notes

Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives.

Almost one-third of adults in the U.S. say they, or someone in their family, have been addicted to opioids. Often, families have been encouraged to use a "tough love" approach with their loved ones, but a growing number of health care professionals are starting to rethink this. Instead, they want to more intentionally include families and friends in the recovery process.

WBUR's Deborah Becker joins The Common to share the story of Ken Feldstein, an addiction councilor who said he "landed on love" in supporting his own son, Brendan, through his addiction recovery. Also, a look at training programs run through Boston Medical Center, which teach clinicians and families how to support people struggling with addiction.

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

Rewind: What's up with Mass.'s liquor laws? Jul 02, 2024

Show notes

Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives.

New Englanders are known for having a buttoned up rule or two, including around alcohol (we're looking at you, happy hour ban). And it's not uncommon to hear some of our region’ s founding colonizers, the Puritans, getting blame for that. But how involved were the Puritans in shaping our current rules around liquor, really?

WBUR reporter Simón Rios looked into this as part of WBUR's Field Guide to Boston series. He joins The Common with more on Massachusetts liquor laws, and how the traditions of the Puritans may or may not inform how they exist today.

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

Rewind: Plant care pro tips with Emerald City Plant Shop Jul 01, 2024

Show notes

Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives.

Boston's moving season on the horizon, and settling into a new space isn't always a walk in the park. But one great way to make any house (or apartment, or studio... we know how it is) feel like home, is to add plants.

Today on The Common, we visit Emerald City Plant Shop, New England's first Black-owned specialty plant store, to learn how best to care for green life indoors, and to learn more about owner Quontay Turner's journey opening this Norwood-based business.

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

Rewind: Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter on growing up Springfield Jun 28, 2024

Show notes

Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives.

Ruth E. Carter is a two-time Oscar-winning costume designer who has dressed characters in hit movies and TV series for more than three decades. Her designs can be seen in works such as Do The Right Thing, The Five Heartbeats, both Marvel Black Panther movies, Yellowstone and Seinfeld. She's also a native of Springfield, Mass. In 2023, she was honored with the Coolidge Award at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, an honor that celebrates one outstanding film artist whose body of work is recognized as consistently original and challenging.

On today's episode, Ruth E. Carter joins The Common to talk about how her upbringing in Springfield continues to inspire her work today.

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

Rewind: It's hard out here for a beech Jun 27, 2024

Show notes

Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives.

Beech trees are native to the Northeast and make up about 10% of forests in Massachusetts.

The tree, which is identifiable by its smooth trunk and wide canopy, is a crucial habitat and food source for many animal species in the region. But in recent years, a microscopic worm-caused disease has been targeting beech leaves, causing many trees to starve to death over time. The disease is spreading, and fast.

WBUR climate and environment reporter Paula Moura joins The Common to tell us more about this disease, how to identify it and the race to find a cure to save Massachusetts' beech trees.

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

Rewind: A taste of Mattapan Jun 26, 2024

Show notes

Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives.

Today, we're heading to Mattapan, looking for food. This culinary quest is part of WBUR's Field Guide to Boston — a station-wide effort to help you connect with the city's communities.

WBUR arts reporter and Mattapan native Arielle Gray joins us as a local guide on this episode of The Common, and takes us to three of her can't-miss spots for top-tier food in the neighborhood.

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

Rewind: Boston's expensive, and Gen Z is feeling the heat Jun 25, 2024

Show notes

Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives.

People in their twenties make up one-fifth of Boston's population, but some of these young people are struggling to make it in the city as the cost of living soars.

Boston Globe Reporter Diti Kohli talked to more than two dozen Gen Z residents living in Boston to learn what financial concerns are making them question their future in the city. Today, she joins The Common to walk through the impact of debt, economic uncertainty and other money woes that are top of mind for Boston's under-25 crowd.

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

Rewind: Running while Black in Boston Jun 24, 2024

Show notes

Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives.

Black Men Run Boston is the local chapter of the national Black Men Run organization, which aims to create a safe and health-centered space for Black men to run and walk in community. Today, founder Jeff Davis shares his experience running while Black in Boston, and discusses what he believes can be done to make running more inclusive in the city.

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

Rewind: Boston emcee Edo.G on 50 years of hip-hop Jun 21, 2024

Show notes

Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives.

August 11, 2023 marked 50 years of hip-hop, one of the most impactful cultural contributions of the last century. And while hip-hop was born in New York City, Boston's scene has been around since the early days, and continues strong today.

Edo.G has been part of the Boston hip-hop scene since the '80s, when he came on first as a dancer, and then as an emcee. He popped in the early '90s with an album he did with Da Bulldogs called “Life of a Kid in the Ghetto," and has released more than a dozen albums and collaborations in the years since.

In this episode, Boston hip-hop legend Edo.G joins the show for a look back at 50 years of Boston hip-hop, and a look ahead to what's next for the scene.

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

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