GBH Daily: A closer look at Macklemore’s ouster and the First Amendment

☀️More sun is on deck for today, reaching the upper 70s, and a chance of rain 🌧️ later in the day. Sunset is at 6:50 p.m.

The only professor in the history of Harvard University to lose her tenure is speaking out as she fights to clear her name. And GBH News has the exclusive interview below.

But first: If you live in Massachusetts, there’s a good chance you know or engage with people of Haitian descent on a daily basis. Around 80,000 Haitians live in the state — around 1% of the population — and cities including Boston, Brockton, Malden and Somerville have among the highest concentrations of Haitian residents in the nation. You may have also heard about turmoil in that community due to the end of temporary protected status under the Trump administration.

Tonight, GBH is teaming up with WNYC in New York and WLRN in Miami, public media stations serving three of the U.S. cities with the largest Haitian populations, to present Haiti on the Line. The one-hour special, beginning at 7 p.m., will focus on the aftermath of the end of TPS for Haitians, including the challenges facing people and businesses directly impacted by this policy change. Hosted by GBH’s own Paris Alston and WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, listeners will be invited to call in during the broadcast to share their stories at 1-844-745-TALK (8255).

To watch a livestream of the special via YouTube, go here.

Four Things to Know

1. Was Macklemore’s ouster a First Amendment issue? A national organization that advocates for free speech is warning that the push to remove Macklemore from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour could violate the First Amendment. Aaron Terr of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said that while the First Amendment applies only to government censorship, two of the stadiums where Macklemore had been scheduled to perform with Sheeran — Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa — are publicly owned and operated.

“They’re government entities, so that means they have to comply with the First Amendment, which means they can’t cancel a performance just because they disagree with the artist’s views or because some members of the public are offended by those views,” Terr said.

2. Salem mayor tries to bar data center: The Salem Zoning Board of Appeals was expected to vote Wednesday night on an appeal by a real estate company seeking permission to build a 12,000-square-foot data center in the city’s office complex, known as Shetland Park.

The vote comes two months after Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo proposed an overall ban on data center construction in the city. The ban has not yet been passed by the city council.

“This zoning ordinance that I filed was not a direct response to this particular situation that’s before the Zoning Board of Appeals in this particular project,” Pangallo told GBH News. “But I think it’s a really good illustration of why we need to put this kind of protection in place.”

3. Boston’s reparations report canceled: The City of Boston has nixed its report examining the city’s ties to slavery after concerns arose around the lead researcher’s academic practices. Kerri Greenidge, a former Tufts University professor, was the lead researcher on the reparations report. But after criticism regarding the accuracy of her 2022 book, she lost her professorship at Tufts.

Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, who leads the research subcommittee for the Reparations Task Force, said she hopes that this setback doesn’t provide “fodder to those who believe the best path is to ignore, to overlook [and] to tell people to get over the deep, deep harm that is at the foundation of our country’s history.”

4. Brockton mayor arraignment scheduled: After months of maintaining that he doesn’t even remember the interaction at issue, Brockton Mayor Moises Rodrigues will be arraigned on Sept. 28 on a charge of assault and battery against a then-high school student.

A clerk-magistrate with Wrentham District Court foundlast month that probable cause exists to believe Rodrigues committed the crime in question. Here’s the latest on the charge faced by the mayor.

Harvard professor who lost tenure fights for her job

Last year, Francesca Gino became the first professor in Harvard’s long history to lose tenure. The former Harvard Business School professor, who studied honesty and dishonesty, decision-making, ethics and other topics, had become one of the most prominent researchers in her field.

But following a years-long investigation implemented after behavioral scientists behind the blog Data Colada accused Gino of research misconduct, Harvard revoked her tenure in May 2025.

Gino is now suing Harvard, alleging discrimination and breach of contract. Harvard has countersued, alleging that Gino defamed the university and sent investigators a falsified dataset. The case raises broader questions about trust in academic research and universities at a time when Harvard and higher education are facing intense scrutiny.

Gino recently visited GBH’s studio in Boston for her first major media interview since losing her job. She spoke with GBH’s Kirk Carapezza about the original allegations against her, the research that sparked the controversy and why she’s accepted funding from Bill Ackman, an alum and prominent critic of Harvard. See the full video here.

Across GBH:

📻 LISTEN: Boston Public Radio, 11 a.m., on GBH 89.7 FM: We’ll hear from political analyst Chuck Todd and former Massachusetts Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral.

🧐LISTEN: The Curiosity Desk, 1 p.m., on GBH 89.7 FM: It’s the latest edition of “The Glitch Report” with Joan Donovan, featuring a discussion with Astra Taylor, who co-authored the new book “End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World” with Naomi Klein.

🎨 LISTEN: The Culture Show, 2 p.m., on GBH 89.7 FM: An interview with Mary Grant, president of MassArt, about her monthly segment “AI: Actual Intelligence.”

LISTEN: “Haiti on the Line,” a live call-in special, 7 p.m., on GBH 89.7 and gbhnews.org: GBH News, WNYC in New York City and WLRN in Miami will take a deep dive into the end of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians in the United States. Join GBH News’ Paris Alston and WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, along with special guests, for this live broadcast. Click here for more info and a live videostream.

📺WATCH: Recovery City, 9 p.m. on GBH 2: This film, presented by Local Lens, is an unflinching look at addiction and recovery through the eyes of four women in Worcester.https://video.wgbh.org/video/recovery-city-yycquf/

📺WATCH: Velvet, 10 p.m. on GBH 44: In Season Three, the drama continues at Madrid’s high-fashion emporium, Galerías Velvet. From Walter Presents, in Spanish with English subtitles.

READ: The Deep Dive: All the World’s a Stage: Explore theater, opera and dance-related performance clips, interviews and more in this special newsletter edition.https://www.wgbh.org/newsletters/2026-08-25/the-deep-dive-all-the-worlds-a-stage

🧑‍🍳COOK: Chocolate Ricotta Brick Cake from Lidia’s Kitchen

🎯PLAY: Can you guess how much Antiques Roadshow finds are worth? Test your skills with our daily game.