The Scrum

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Why The 2020 Presidential Polls Aren't Like Their Ugly 2016 Cousins — Plus, Walsh Vs. Wu, Round 1 Jul 17, 2020

Show notes

How does President Trump explain away his bad poll numbers? Pretty much the same way he deals with anything else negative: he insists they’re not real. What happened in 2016 makes it harder to push back at this than it might be; after all, nearly everyone thought Hillary Clinton was a lock, but it turned out she wasn’t. Still, according to #mapoli pollster extraordinaire Steve Koczela, this year’s presidential-polling model is a significant upgrade from its recent predecessor. He gives Peter Kadzis and Adam Reilly a layperson’s guide, and also offers some thoughts on what it’s like to be a military veteran watching the nation struggle to meet the challenge of COVID.

First, though, Kadzis and Reilly size up a broadcast dust-up featuring Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and At-Large City Councilor Michelle Wu, who’s widely considered a likely mayoral challenger.

The Scrum Sizes Up The 2020 New England Muzzles Jul 02, 2020

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For more than two decades — first at the Boston Phoenix, and now at WGBH News — Dan Kennedy’s New England Muzzle Awards have chronicled threats to the First Amendment and freedom of expression in our fair region. But reading the 2020 Muzzles (as you should!) is one thing; hearing Dan talk about the worst of the worst with Peter Kadzis and Adam Reilly is something else entirely. In this episode of the Scrum, the trio talks through the past year’s lowlights, which involve the Milton Public Schools, the Baker Administration, and Harvard University.

“Systemic Cures For Systemic Problems”: Ricardo Arroyo's M.O. For Fighting Racism In Boston Jun 23, 2020

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Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s designation of racism as a Boston public-heath crisis this month garnered plenty of headlines. But three months ago, Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo offered a similar assessment — and proposed the creation of an independent racial-equity office he said could start working to alleviate the problem.

On the heels of Walsh’s announcement, Arroyo offers his take on what the mayor is getting right when it comes to race (and COVID) and what he’s getting wrong. Arroyo also weighs in on Boston Police Commissioner William Gross’s surprise visit with US Attorney General Bill Barr. First, though, Peter Kadzis and Adam Reilly talk about Gross’s confab, the Boston Police Department’s troubling penchant for stopping drivers of color, and Governor Charlie Baker’s push for a system that can license — and de-license — police officers across the state, which might include some new earning opportunities that strike critics as ill conceived.

Can Marty Walsh's Boston Lead The Fight Against Racism? Jun 12, 2020

Show notes

Like Governor Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has been consistently supportive of the recent protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd last month. While he’s condemned violence and destructive behavior, Walsh has also backed the protesters’ right to make their voices heard, even during the COVID pandemic, and he’s made it very clear he’s sympathetic to their cause. But recently he went further, pledging to make Boston a national leader when it comes to racial reconciliation and justice.

It is — to put it mildly — an ambitious goal. But what would pursuing and attaining it actually mean? And what are the political risks if Boston voters decide Walsh can’t deliver on his promise? Adam Reilly and Peter Kadzis talk it over with Yawu Miller, the senior editor of the Bay State Banner.

As Protests Spread, Pondering The Politics Of Policing Jun 05, 2020

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It’s an incredibly daunting moment: we’ve got an international pandemic, anti-police brutality protests sweeping the nation, and a president eager to use the US military against US citizens. Against that backdrop, Peter Kadzis has some thoughts about the problems plaguing law enforcement and how they could be addressed moving forward.

Jim Aloisi Talks Transit And Heirloom Italian Cuisine May 26, 2020

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Getting people to ride the T as the COVID crisis fades won’t be easy. A Suffolk U. / WGBH News / Boston Globe poll showed that 25 percent of Massachusetts residents won’t be comfortable taking public transit even if there’s an effective vaccine, and right now that’s a distant possibility at best.

So how can the T get back on track as we head back toward some semblance of ordinary life? And how could cities and towns tweak their streetscapes to respond to the virus? Peter Kadzis and Adam Reilly talk it over with Jim Aloisi, the former secretary of transportation and current board member of Transit Matters. First, though, Aloisi talks about how a treasure trove of his mother’s Italian recipes has sustained him through the pandemic — and at the end, he gives listeners one to try at home.

Did The South Win The Civil War? Plus, Sizing Up Charlie Baker's Reopening Plan May 19, 2020

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What if the central event of U.S. history has been fundamentally misunderstood? What if the ethos of the Confederacy didn’t just survive the Civil War, but actually came to dominate American politics and culture, right up to the present day? That’s the radical thesis proposed by Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson in her new book, How The South Won The Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, And The Continuing Fight For The Soul Of America. She joins Peter Kadzis and Adam Reilly to talk it over — but first, Kadzis and Reilly respond to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s plan to reopen the state in the coming weeks, as this round of the COVID crisis begins to ebb.

Brouhaha In Bristol County — Plus, #MAPoli Gets A Coronavirus Scorecard May 08, 2020

Show notes

In a time of general instability, it’s the most chaotic subplot in local politics. Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson claims he was attacked by immigrants who are in the US illegally on May 1, after they refused to get tested for COVID-19. The detainees and their advocates say Hodgson and his deputies were the aggressors. Meanwhile, state Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz was barred from entering the jail the day after the riot; multiple investigations are now underway; and a class-action lawsuit alleging dangerous conditions at the facility is working its way through court.

Adam Reilly talks with Chang-Diaz and Sarah Betancourt, who’s been covering the story for Commonwealth magazine, about the incident and its aftermath. But first, Peter Kadzis weighs in on a new Suffolk University / WGBH News / Boston Globe poll that shows Massachusetts residents committed to the ongoing fight against the coronavirus, even as economic pain mounts.

Why Well-Educated White People Are Getting Politics Wrong Apr 24, 2020

Show notes

The thesis of Tufts political scientist Eitan Hersh’s new book is provocative, to say the least. In Politics Is For Power: How To Move Beyond Political Hobbyism, Take Action, And Make Real Change, Hersh argues that a big chunk of society — looking at you, well-educated white people! — have come to treat politics as a sort of spectator sport. They spend time on it, and plenty of energy, but it’s a fundamentally passive sort of engagement — and it doesn’t really get things done. Hersh talks Peter Kadzis and Adam Reilly through his diagnosis; discusses some #mapoli figures who are actually doing politics *right*; and offers a suggestion or two for anyone who’d like to follow their lead.

COVID Campaigning, Signature Stubbornness, Eviction Obstruction Apr 17, 2020

Show notes

How do you campaign effectively — and tastefully — in the middle of a pandemic? Why are candidates still risking their health, and ours, to get signatures to make the ballot? And why in God’s name did State Rep. Shawn Dooley (R-Norfolk) grind a carefully crafted moratorium on coronavirus-era evictions and foreclosures to a halt? Adam Reilly, Peter Kadzis, and newspaper publisher / political commentator-about-town Sue O’Connell kick it around, virtually.

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