Every week day between 11am and 2pm, Jim Braude and Margery Eagan speak with movers and shakers in Boston and beyond. They talk with everyone from government officials, to politicians, artists, academics, and business leaders about the news of the day and what that news means for our community. Here is a roundup of five of the best conversations on Boston Public Radio in 2017.

1. Juliette Kayyem: 'It Is Safe To Say That Before Thanksgiving ... Something Is Going To Drop With Mueller" 

National security expert Juliette Kayyem told Jim and Margery in October that news would come out of Robert Mueller's Russia investigation before Thanksgiving. Kayyem said that the pace of stories critical of Hillary Clinton — including the story that the Clinton campaign financed the now-famous "Trump-Russia Dossier" — shows that President Trump's team is concerned that Mueller's investigation is getting close to the Oval Office. “This is more than an obstruction charge," said Kayyem. "There is something big underlying the obstruction.”

2. John Waters Wants You To 'Make Trouble'

Filmmaker, writer, and director John Waters spoke with Jim and Margery about his new book, his spoken-word tours, and his life spent doing what he loves "without ever having to get a real job." His book sums up the commencement address he gave at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2015, in which he told graduates to embrace rejection.

3. Gold Star Father Khizr Khan To America: Be Like Boston

Gold Star father Khizr Khan joined Boston Public Radio in November to discuss his memoir, "An American Family: A Memoir of Hope and Sacrifice." He also spoke about the violence in Charlottesville, Va. in August, and the so-called free speech rally held in Boston a week later, which happened without violence. Khan tells Jim and Margery that as he has been touring the country, he tells America to "look towards Boston. Look how Bostonians showed up ... in support of each other."

4. What Marty Walsh Can Do To Raise The Grades On His NAACP Report Card

President and vice president of the Boston branch of the NAACP, Tanisha Sullivan and Segun Idowu, joined Jim and Margery to discuss a report card the group released in October grading Mayor Walsh on how well he has fulfilled his campaign promises to Boston's communities of color. Walsh received below average grades on several issues, including housing, education, economic development and public safety. Sullivan and Idowu said that affordable housing was one of the most prevalent problems for communities of color in Boston, and Sullivan said we must change "how we define affordable" to move the city in the right direction.

5. What Elizabeth Bishop's Poem 'The Fish' Has To Say About The Shrinking of Bears Ears National Monument

Poet Richard Blanco joined Boston Public Radio to discuss President Trump's reduction in the size of Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Esclante in Utah. Blanco says that this should make us think critically about humans' relationship with nature. He points to a poem by Elizabeth Bishop, "The Fish," which he says illustrates this theme. "Bishop's work teaches us or evokes for us a sense of reverence and awe in nature I think is parallel to how we should be treating these monuments," Blanco said.