Radio Boston

Plus, we take listener calls and talk all things apples!

In an executive order, Acting Boston Mayor Kim Janey has declared a public health crisis, and that the city will use existing laws to remove people from their tents.

We take listener calls on apples, loaded with flavor and meaning from at least biblical times, and perennial American classics. They're quintessentially fall (move over pumpkins), peak New England and right in season. 

A new exhibit at Salem's Peabody Essex Museum aims to introduce us to today's witches, sans broomsticks, while also confronting the dungeons and hanging trees of our our own storied past.

Plus, we take listener calls on COVID-19 in Ask The Doctors.

We talk with Mayor Driscoll about how challenging it was to go without a celebration last year, and what folks can expect if they are headed to Salem over the next couple of weeks.

It was the first of two candidate town halls hosted by WBUR at CitySpace. The second will be with Boston City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George this Thursday night at 7 p.m.

We take listener calls with Dr. Davidson Hamer, infectious diseases physician at Boston Medical Center, and Dr. Gabriela Andujar Vazquez, associate hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center.

The deadline for state employees to submit proof of vaccination was Sunday. WBUR's Callum Borchers brings us the latest on how many state workers could be affected, and what the impact could be if hundreds of public employees are suspended for failing to comply.

Plus, we breakdown the push for universal free school lunches in Massachusetts.

Plus Governor Charlie Baker recently signed a bill outlawing school 'lunch-shaming,' helping Massachusetts schools better feed all students regardless of a family's income level.

In "Designing Motherhood: Things That Make And Break Our Births" design historians Michelle Millar Fisher and Amber Winick examine dozens of objects, people, and actions connected with birth and motherhood.

The incident raises more questions about accountability within the Boston Police Department. WBUR's Ally Jarmanning first uncovered this incident last week, and joins us to bring us the latest.

We debrief the week's headlines, and take your calls, on everything from the Boston mayoral race to COVID and vaccine mandates to offshore wind.

Plus, we check-in with WBUR's Chris Citorik ahead of the Red Sox v. Astros match-up tonight.

The Red Sox are preparing to take on the Houston Astros tonight in Game 1 of the American League Champion Series. Do the Sox have what it takes to make it to the World Series? We talk with WBUR's Chris Citorik about their chances.

We find out what voters think about the state of Boston Pubic Schools with WBUR's Max Larkin.

About 800 employees — including a small number of physicians and nurses — still aren't vaccinated as of Thursday afternoon and are at risk of suspension or losing their jobs.

Historian Nathaniel Philbrick's new book, "Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy," chronicles two parallel journeys, more than two centuries apart. We talk with Philbrick about Washington's journey across the region, and what he learned on his own journey, following in Washington's footsteps.

Plus we talk to local historian Nathaniel Philbrick about his new book, "Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy."

The Supreme Court held oral arguments today involving the death sentence for convicted Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. We speak with Kimberly Atkins-Stohr, senior opinion writer for the Boston Globe, who has s covered the Supreme Court throughout her career, and followed today's arguments.

Grocery stores, restaurants - sometimes even street corners - remain full of masked faces. Gloucester's Cape Ann Museum to send out art supplies to residents of the region to make their own self-portraits.

Plus, we hear from the owner of Boston's first permitted in-home bakery.

We break down the latest numbers from a poll by WBUR, the Dorchester Reporter, The Boston Foundation, and MassINC Polling Group.

Lisa Mackin is the very first person with a permit to operate a residential kitchen in Boston, thanks to a new law approved by the city council earlier this year.

Retired Army four-star Gen. Stanley McChrystal, now at Yale, joins us to talk about his new book, on lessons from Boston's early pandemic response, Afghanistan and 9/11 to better understand how we mitigate risk.

In a new series called "Power Shift, the Promise of Offshore Wind," WBUR and E&E News look deeply at wind and what it means for us and the world.

Plus, we take listener COVID-19 questions in our Ask The Doctors. And we hear from a retired four-star general on how to understand and mitigate risk.

Infectious disease experts Dr. Sabrina Assoumou with Boston Medical Center and Dr. Helen Boucher at Tufts Center join us to dig into the latest on the pandemic.

We check-in with WBUR Reporter Yasmin Amer from Heartbreak Hill, on how spectators are experiencing the marathon differently this year.

This week, we're debriefing everything from the Boston mayoral race to social media woes to state spending.

While each running of the marathon is special in its own way, will this year's have a particular place in history? And will there be lessons learned for the next marathon in just a few months' time?

We speak with Paula Peters, or Sonk Waban, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe and an independent scholar of Wampanoag history.

Conversations with our reporters from along the course, but a lesson in the shared history of today with a scholar in indigenous history.

We check in with reporter Alex Ashlock, who's been out on the course all day covering the race for WBUR.

We hear from Anna Brown-Jackson, Tarzan Brown's granddaughter. Anna tells us her grandfather ran his whole life, and though she was only seven or eight when he died and therefore never saw him run, she knew his legend, and to her, he was always both grandfather and Tarzan.

We speak to Norman Khumalo, the town manger of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, about what it was like to prepare for today's historic race.

We dive into the latest endorsements for mayor, social spending in Boston and in Washington, D.C. and how city officials are preparing for the Boston Marathon.

After last year's historic postponement, we check-in with reporter Alex Ashlock about how runners and city officials are preparing for the big day.

Plus, Brandeis Professor Anita Hill joins us to talk about her new book, "Believing: Our Thirty Year Journey To End Gender Violence."

We speak Emma Tobin, the Chief Programming Officer at the International Institute of New England, to hear how they're helping welcome Afghan families.

Brenda Cassellius, Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools, joins us to talk about how the district is dealing with a host of challenges, including learning loss, food distribution challenges and getting students to school on time, one month into the new school year.

Professor Anita Hill on her new book, "Believing: Our 30-Year Journey to End Gender-Based Violence."

When you think of pandemic prevention, I'm sure things like vaccination, healthcare system readiness, and acquiring adequate PPE come to mind. But what if pandemic prevention also means monitoring how and where trees get cut down to make room for housing - or ways to safely handle products at exotic animal markets throughout the world.

We unpack the latest news in the Boston mayoral race with Gin Dumcius, Managing Editor of the Dorchester Reporter, and Lisa Kashinsjy, author of the Massachusetts Playbook and reporter for Politico.

There's a proposal at the State House to use COVID relief money to right long-time systemic inequities laid bare by the pandemic. We speak with Massachusetts State Senator Adam Hinds, who's leading the charge, and WBUR Senior State House reporter Steve Brown.

Back in 1692, Johnson Jr. was one of hundreds accused of witchcraft. She was sentenced to death, but a day before she was set to be hanged, her death was stayed. She may have survived, but some 300 years later her conviction is still on the books in Massachusetts.

Plus, the Supreme Court is back in session, so we break down the docket with our legal expert, retired federal judge Nancy Gertner. And, we speak to State Senator Diana DiZoglio and Carrie LaPierre, a civics teacher at North Andover Middle School, about their quest to clear the name of a woman convicted of being a witch in 1693.

We take listener calls and talk with MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak about what it will take to get riders back, and the latest updates on a handful of recent incidents that may have shaken some potential riders' confidence in the system.

The court is set to take up cases related to abortion, gun rights, and affirmative action.

We speak with Dr. Shira Doron, infectious disease physician and hospital epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center.