Today on Boston Public Radio:
Rufus Gifford talked about Joe Biden’s weekend victory, and reflected on the president-elect's message of unity in the face of a concession refusal from President Donald Trump. He also talked about the upcoming runoff election in Georgia, and whether Democrats stand a chance to gain a Senate majority in 2021. Gifford is Biden’s deputy campaign manager, and formerly the U.S. ambassador to Denmark during President Barack Obama’s second term. He was also the national finance director for Obama’s reelection campaign.
Next, we opened our lines to hear your thoughts on Joe Biden’s presidential victory, after days of election uncertainty.
Charlie Chieppo and Shannon O’Brien returned to the show for a politics roundtable, discussing Joe Biden’s victory and President Donald Trump’s repeated allegations of wide-scale voter fraud. Chieppo is principal of Chieppo Strategies, a senior fellow at the Pioneer Institute, and Adjunct professor at Suffolk University. O’Brien is former state treasurer and Democratic nominee for governor of Massachusetts.
Jonathan Alter discussed the lasting impact of former President Jimmy Carter, who he argues is one of the most misunderstood presidents of the modern area. The conversation about the 39th president's life and legacy stemmed from his new biography, “His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life."
Reverends Irene Monroe and Emmett Price talked about the challenge for President-elect Joe Biden in unifying a deeply divided America, and discussed the racial breakdowns of the American electorate. Price is a Professor and Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of the Black Christian Experience at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist, the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Trail, and a visiting researcher in the Religion and Conflict Transformation Program at Boston University School of Theology. Together, they host GBH’s All Rev’d Up podcast.
Charlie Sennott talked about the impact of President-elect Joe Biden’s presidential win on America’s role on the world stage, and the hesitation from autocratic world leaders like Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in acknowledging his victory. He also offered his thoughts on who Biden might appoint as Secretary of State. Sennott is a GBH News analyst, and CEO of The GroundTruth Project.
Bob Thompson remembered the widely beloved “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek, who died on Sunday. Thompson is the founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture and a Trustee Professor of Television and Popular Culture at the Newhouse School of Public communications at Syracuse.
We closed our show by reopening lines to talk with listeners about the outcome of the 2020 election.
