The Horse Race

Latest Episodes:

Mass Reboot Episode 1: Art Jun 23, 2021

Show notes

6/23/21--Welcome to the first episode of Mass Reboot, a summer podcast series about restarting Massachusetts after COVID-19 and what we lost along the way. Each week, we’ll dive into a sector of life in the Commonwealth, exploring how the pandemic hit it, how it adapted, and how the people inside it envision a new normal. This week: Art. Hosts Libby Gormley, Steve Koczela, and Jennifer Smith of The Horse Race are spending time in Boston’s Theater District and Dorchester, then taking a wide view of the Massachusetts arts world over the past year. Joe Spaulding, CEO and President of the Boch Center, describes the shock of a silent Wang Theatre and the long and unsteady road back to a vibrant performance space. Emma Leavitt, of the Dorchester Art Project and Brain Arts, recounts the struggles of the local arts program to continue supporting and reaching its diverse arts community. As for impacts across the state, and the long-term inequities that still exist in the arts space, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Michael Bobbitt breaks down the scale of creative losses and the need to rethink arts sector power structures. Next week: Home. -- Mass Reboot is a production of The MassINC Polling Group, in association with CommonWealth Magazine. Our music is from Blue Dot Sessions. To help us make more episodes, donate at patreon.com/mass_reboot. A big thank you to our sponsor this week, Rasky Partners. They’re a long-time supporter of ours and a nationally recognized government affairs and communication firm. For over 30 years the team at Rasky has worked with all types of organizations, large and small, helping each one reach their business objectives through advocacy and storytelling. Find out more about Rasky Partners at rasky.com.

The Horse Race presents: Mass Reboot Jun 16, 2021

Show notes

What happens when you reboot a whole state? Yesterday, after one year, three months, and five days, the COVID-19 state of emergency ended in Massachusetts. With millions vaccinated across the state and with summer on its way, the gears are beginning to turn again. Things that stopped are starting. Things that were closed are re-opening. That leaves a big question. What does a post-pandemic Massachusetts look like? The team behind The Horse Race, Massachusetts’ favorite political podcast is back with a new summer podcast. Mass Reboot is a 10-episode series on restarting Massachusetts after COVID-19 and what we’ve lost along the way. Steve Koczela, Jennifer Smith, and longtime Horse Race producer Libby Gormley will share hosting duties, telling the stories of Massachusetts residents as we emerge from the pandemic. Each week, they will explore a new area of Massachusetts society - from housing and government to sports and food. The first episode, “Art” will post June 23rd. New episodes of Mass Reboot will post weekly on Wednesdays and will be available wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribers to The Horse Race and The Codcast will find the podcast in their feed. Mass Reboot is a production of The MassINC Polling Group and CommonWealth Magazine and is sponsored by Rasky Partners.

Episode 181: A Trot Down Memory Lane May 12, 2021

Show notes

5/12/21--Listeners, The Horse Race is taking a step back for a few weeks as we prepare to bring you a brand-new series this summer! So be sure to stay on the lookout for that, and in the meantime, we leave you with this last episode where Steve and Jenn are joined by the founding members of The Horse Race -- original cohost Lauren Dezenski and original producer Hannah Chanatry. The four reminisce on the nearly four years since the podcast began and the many guests, segments, live shows, and horse puns that came along with it. Enjoy, and we'll be back in your ears soon!

Episode 180: Thanks for the Mem-Murrays May 05, 2021

Show notes

5/5/21-- It's a bittersweet day here in the virtual bunker because it is Stephanie Murray's last appearance as co-host of The Horse Race! She is taking a new role at Politico as author of The Morning Score, a national weekly newsletter. Stick around to the end of the episode to hear how Stephanie has scene the political landscape change in her years on the #mapoli beat. But to begin, we're talking about a persistent debate among Massachusetts officials about whether to make vaccines mandatory for public workers. Many Democratic officials and public figures say yes. Governor Baker's stance is a hard no. Later in the show we're joined by Miles Howard, a freelance journalist who recently published a column in the Boston Globe posing the idea of turning empty office space into desperately needed affordable housing in Boston. He explains how it might work, what's standing in the way, and whether we can predict a return to offices or the continuation of widespread remote work. Finally, Jenn and Steve grill Stephanie on her time covering Massachusetts politics and engage in a #mapoli lightning round digging up her favorite moments as a reporter and, more importantly, a proud Bay Stater.

Episode 179: The GIF That Keeps on Giving Apr 28, 2021

Show notes

4/28/21--This week on The Horse Race, we bring you some bittersweet news. Our very own, extremely talented, reporter and co-host extraordinaire, Stephanie Murray, will be joining us for just one more episode of The Horse Race! She has been promoted to a national position for Politico, so keep an eye out for her as the new author of The Morning Score. In other big #mapoli news, Massachusetts is making big reopening moves. New reopening guidelines include, effective May 29th,(dependent on public health and vaccination data) gathering limits will increase to 200 people indoors and 250 people outdoors; May 10th will bring the opening of amusement parks and water parks at 50% capacity; and on August 1st other industries will be permitted to open such as nightclubs, saunas, and ball pits (?). Jenn has been closely following the Boston mayoral race and analyzes the newest development, or lack thereof. State senator Nick Collins announced he will not be running for mayor of Boston. Many had speculated he might jump into the race, but his official decision not to run means in all likelihood, the race for Boston mayor will for the first time in history not include a white man. Steve sounds off on Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin's deflection on the question of whether he'll run for re-election. Galvin has been in office since 1995, and his response to the State House News Service that he "enjoy[s]" his job indicates he might run for an eighth term. -- New data from the 2020 Census is out this week. Some states’ Congressional seats will change as a result, but Massachusetts will keep its same nine. Stephanie Murray explains what the data tells us about our districts and provides national context as well. -- In the wake of devastating mass shootings this year, a Massachusetts reporter looked into why the commonwealth's rates of gun deaths are the lowest in the country. Sarah Betancourt's Guardian article details the work of John Rosenthal, co-founder of Stop Handgun Violence, an organization that is in part responsible for the low gun death rates. She stopped by The Horse Race to tell us what gun restrictions contribute to our state's performance and explains in what other ways Massachusetts is in fact contributing to the gun violence epidemic.

Episode 178: Recounting the Days Apr 21, 2021

Show notes

4/21/21--This week, there's good news surrounding the vaccine in Massachusetts. Saturday marked a happy milestone in that the state surpassed 2 million residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In national news, all eyes were on Minneapolis Tuesday night when a verdict came down on the Derek Chauvin trial. Chauvin was convicted on all charges in the death of George Floyd. Massachusetts political figures have since been responding to the decision, including the six Boston mayoral candidates during a forum Tuesday night. Jenn and Stephanie parse the candidates' responses during the forum to issues including racism, police accountability, the Boston Planning and Development Agency, affordable housing, and education. Later, the hosts are joined by Boston Globe reporter Matt Stout, who wrote about a puzzling development upon an election that occurred more than a year ago. He explains why a former write-in candidate for the Republican state committeewoman is suing the Secretary of State's office.

Episode 177: Mayorals? For Spring? Groundbreaking. Apr 14, 2021

Show notes

4/14/21-- This week, there is a lot of #bospoli news to discuss, and it begins with the Boston Police Department. Acting Mayor Kim Janey on Tuesday named the executive director of Boston’s first Office of Police Accountability and Transparency. This comes as the department is reeling from two major scandals. Jenn and Stephanie discuss where things stand now, and what the future may hold the BPD. Next, Steve Koczela has new data from a poll conducted by The MassINC Polling Group and sponsored by WBUR and The Dorchester Reporter. The poll asked Boston residents who they're voting for in the mayoral election, what issues are most important to them, and what they'd like to be done about the lack of affordable housing in the city. Finally, we are joined by Nicole Calabrese, the leader of a ballot committee urging Wakefield residents to vote "no" on the question of whether to keep Wakefield Public Schools' current logo. The logo, which depicts an Indigenous person, has drawn debate for years. And recently, the rhetoric surrounding it has gotten so vitriolic as to polarize the town. Calabrese explains how things got so bad and what will happen next. Full transcript here: https://www.massincpolling.com/the-topline/episode-177-mayorals-for-spring-groundbreaking

Episode 176: Born to be Dialed Apr 07, 2021

Show notes

4/7/21-- This week, Steve, Jennifer, and Stephanie discuss the #bospoli news that Acting Mayor of Boston Kim Janey is in fact running for full-term mayor. She made the announcement Tuesday morning, alongside the release of a campaign ad that speaks to Boston's long history of white male leaders as well as her promises to address issues such as housing and income inequality. She will have been mayor for eight months by the time the election rolls around, giving her a significant incumbency advantage over her peers also running for the office. -- And speaking of running for office, former state senator and once-co-host of The Horse Race Ben Downing stopped by the virtual bunker to discuss his officially campaign for Governor. The Democrat also recently released his climate plan that he says goes further than the recently passed legislation under the Baker administration. -- Finally, Stephanie asks pollster Steve and law scholar Jennifer about the recent Supreme Court decision that allows the use of auto-dialers to cell phones. The move significantly shifts the polling landscape and is a resolution that has come after a decade of litigation and millions of dollars spent. Full transcript here: https://www.massincpolling.com/the-topline/episode-176-born-to-be-dialed

Episode 175: Clearing the Air Mar 31, 2021

Show notes

3/31/21--After weeks of COVID cases on the decline in Massachusetts, data show that they are on the uptick. Not just here in the Bay State, but in states across the nation. This week CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said she felt a sense of "impending doom" and stressed the necessity for people to "hold on a little while longer." In #mapoli news, state Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz has said she's "seriously considering" a run for governor in 2022, which brings Steve to take a look at the most recent approval ratings for Governor Baker out from Suffolk University and the Boston Globe. He explains the context behind the governor's high ratings. -- We're joined this week by two guests. Ally Jarmanning, senior reporter for WBUR, covered the recently published report out of Suffolk County that found not prosecuting low-level crimes led to less crime overall. Then, State Director at Climate XChange for Massachusetts Tim Cronin stops by to break down the landmark climate bill that was just passed into law late last week.

Episode 174: Mayor May Not Mar 24, 2021

Show notes

3/24/21-- It's a momentous day in Boston as the city swore in its first non-white non-male mayor in Kim Janey. Stephanie Murray says it's "hard to overstate" just how historic the moment is, as Janey takes on the new role in a ceremony including Ayanna Pressley and Kimberly Budd who are Massachusetts history-makers as well. Later, Stephanie and Steve are joined by outgoing mayor of Lynn, Tom McGee. McGee is one of eight Massachusetts mayors who won't be seeking re-election this year. The news comes as we enter the second year of the pandemic. McGee says the past three years have felt like 25. While he has no plans for the future, he's certain that stepping away from the mayor's office will not mean discontinuing his passion -- working to make change for the better of his community. Full transcript here: https://www.massincpolling.com/the-topline/episode-174-mayor-may-not

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected