Episodes
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Young Adult Fiction: The Expanding Genre Attracts More Than Just Teens To Its Pages
On Under The Radar, we're diving into the popular genre of young adult (YA) fiction in this special August edition of “Bookmarked: The Under the Radar Book Club.” YA fiction and nonfiction is targeted at older teens, positioned in the editorial space between books for children and adults. But half of the readers are adults drawn to the common themes of family dynamics, friendship, first love and coming of age. YA authors tell their stories through multiple literary genres, including science fiction, romance, memoir, horror, fantasy, graphic novel, mystery and historical fiction. Guests: Crystal Maldonado is a writer by night and a marketer and social media manager by day. Her debut novel, “Fat Chance Charlie Vega” is a coming of age story featuring a biracial teen. The book earned a featured review on the list, Best Fiction for Young Adults. Maldonado is the co-founder of the online website Positively Smitten. She has been published in Latina magazine, the Hartford Courant, and Dogster. The University of Connecticut graduate lives in Western Massachusetts with her husband and baby daughter. Brittney Morris is the author of the YA novel “Slay” and Marvel’s “Spider Man: Miles Morales-Wings of Fury.” Her latest YA book is “The Cost of Knowing,” a gripping family story featuring two Black male teens, which has received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. Morris, who graduated from Boston University with a degree in economics, is also the founder and former president of the Boston University Creative Writing Club. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and son. Malinda Lo is the author of six YA novels including her latest, “Last Night at the Telegraph Club,” set in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the 1950’s Red Scare. “Last Night at the Telegraph Club,” which has received eight starred reviews, was also named by Oprah Magazine, one of 50 LGBTQ Books That Will Heat Up the Literary Landscape in 2021. The three time finalist for the Lambda Literary Award also writes a biweekly newsletter, Lo & Behold. She graduated from Wellesley College and earned master’s degrees from both Harvard and Stanford. She lives in Massachusetts with her wife Amy Lovell. -
Environmental Roundtable: Climate Change Fuels Extreme Weather, Shutting Down Oil Pipelines, And The Country's First Black Chief Of US Forest Service
Climate deniers are on the hot seat, as temperatures soar and extreme weather blows through communities across the country. Plus, oil pipelines are on pause — or shut down completely — including the infamous Keystone XL pipeline. And a history-making appointment, as the first African American is named to lead the U.S. Forest Service. Those stories and more on our environmental roundtable. Guests: Dr. Aaron Bernstein, interim director of The Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Bernstein is a pediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Heather Goldstone, chief communications officer at Woodwell Climate Research Center and former host GBH’s weekly science-focused radio show, Living Lab Radio. Sam Payne, digital organizer and communications specialist at the Better Future Project. Editor's note: This segment was recorded one week ago. In the time since taping, floods swept Europe and China, the Bootleg Fire in Oregon expanded and another heat wave hit the American West. Smoke from wildfires on the West Coast reached the East Coast and British Columbia declared a state of emergency over wildfires. -
Local Blind And Visually Impaired Students Navigate Challenges Of Remote Learning
Students and teachers had their worlds flipped upside down last year when the pandemic forced most to swap chalkboards for Zoom screens. A large part of teaching online, for many, became visual. But what about the challenges of online learning for those who are visually impaired or blind? Our neighbors at Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, had to think quickly about ensuring their students still received a quality education and maintained community when they went remote. A sense of touch is fundamental to those without a sense of sight. So how did Perkins students, teachers and parents manage in a world that was suddenly socially distant? Guests: Rachel Antonino, lower school teacher at Perkins School for the Blind. Matteo Faso, a senior at Perkins. Michelle Contey, Matteo's mother. -
How Amelia Earhart's Boston Connection Helped Her Soar To Fame
You may know Amelia Earhart as the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. But it's likely you don't know that she lived and worked right here in Boston. Her time spent here was brief, yet critical: This was the place that kicked off her worldwide stardom when she became the first female passenger to fly across the Atlantic in 1928. To mark her birthday this Saturday, which is celebrated as National Amelia Earhart Day, we're taking a look at who she was before she became a famous pilot, and how her life in Boston helped her become a pioneering female aviator. Guests: Susan Ware, author of “Still Missing: Amelia Earhart and the Search for Modern Feminism,” and the Honorary Women’s Suffrage Centennial Historian for the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Keith O’Brein, author of “Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds And Made Aviation History,” and a former staff writer for the Boston Globe. -
Women In Comedy: How Local Comics Kept Up During COVID
What is the state of comedy like now in the state of Massachusetts as we emerge from the pandemic? In a year of such loss, increased violence against Asian Americans, and police brutality against Black lives, is it even okay to be funny? Well, if we ever needed a laugh it’s now, so we’re yukking it up with some local women comedians to kick off our summer fun series. Guests: Bethany Van Delft, founder of the “Artisanal Comedy” show, host of iHeart Radio’s “The Ten News” podcast, and co-host of NOVA and PBS’s Parentalogic digital series. She is a regular performer and producer at the Women in Comedy Festival in Boston and her debut comedy album “I’m Not a Llama” landed in 2019. She was named Boston Magazine’s “Best Comedian” in both 2019 and 2020. Kelly MacFarland, a featured headliner for the Women in Comedy Festival in Boston for over a decade, and first runner up in the Boston Comedy Festival. Kelly has appeared on The Today Show, The View, Comedy Central, and NBC’s Last Comic Standing, just to name a few. She has two comedy albums out, “Bombshell” and “You Woke up Today.” -
The Future Of Farming: From Crops You Can Control In A Container To Sustainable Kelp Farms That Fight Climate Change
Digging in the dirt and pulling up weeds is so last century. Whatever you thought about farming is being reimagined, with a new generation plowing the industry into the future. The tools and rural open spaces — which have so long defined traditional farming — are being left behind. More and more, today's farms are in urban areas — with vertical farming taking agriculture to new heights, while ocean farming expands the industry’s depths — all in a sustainable manner. Guests: Bren Smith — executive director and co-founder of GreenWave, a nonprofit that supports ocean farmers. Bren is also the owner of Thimble Island Ocean Farm and author of “Eat Like A Fish: My Adventures Farming the Ocean to Fight Climate Change." Jon Friedman — chief operating officer and co-founder of Freight Farms, a Boston-based AgTech company that has spearheaded "container farming." -
Book Club: Zakiya Dalila Harris’ 'The Other Black Girl'
At first it seems like a familiar story of office politics, but very soon “The Other Black Girl” unfolds into a tension-filled tale exploring performative diversity policies, unconscious bias, microaggressions and old-fashioned backstabbing. Author Zakiya Dalila Harris’ pitch perfect dialogue, pop culture witticisms, and sharp-edged satire frames the plot of one Black woman’s path to success disrupted by the hiring of another Black woman. This twisty thriller of office intrigue may offer some of the most biting social commentary of 2021. “The Other Black Girl” is Zakiya Dalila Harris’ debut novel and our July selection for “Bookmarked: The Under the Radar Book Club.” Guest: Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of "The Other Black Girl." -
Encore: Bicycling Boom - Keeping Up With Pandemic-Fueled Demand
This is an encore edition of Under the Radar with Callie Crossley. This segment originally aired June 19th, 2020. A bicycling boom that emerged during the height of pandemic is still going strong, as people search for a socially distanced outlet for recreation and a safer mode of transportation. Most bike stores are besieged by the demand from would-be bike buyers for just about anything on two wheels. Mechanics, too, are overwhelmed by massive waitlists of customers’ requests for a tune-up on their old bikes -- some of which have been dragged out from the basement for the first time in years. Three local cycling experts gave us the low-down on how a 19th century wheeled invention is leaving a lot of modern-day Teslas in the dust. Guests: Marty Miserandino, owner, manager, and buyer of Fit Werx, a top rated bicycle store and bike fitting studio in Peabody, Massachusetts. Tom Rodi, marketing director for Parlee Cycles, a bicycle manufacturer based in Beverly, Massachusetts. Becca Wolfson, executive director of the Boston Cyclists Union. -
Encore: Not Your Average Guidebook - 'A People's Guide' Sheds Light On Greater Boston's Untold Histories
This is an encore edition of Under the Radar with Callie Crossley. This segment originally aired November 20, 2020. Boston sure is known for its history – but the people most well known about the city are largely white and male - think Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and Henry David Thoreau. Some of that has changed during recent decades as Boston's all Black 54th regiment, for example, has helped highlight Boston's African American history. Still, most Boston guidebooks will lead you to the Freedom Trail, and past sites where events like the Boston Tea Party occurred. But is there more to know beyond the facts of these well-told narratives? Three local co-authors present a new guidebook, one that offers an expanded history to the region. ‘A People’s Guide to Greater Boston,’ features sites associated with oppression and resistance, focusing on the overlooked stories of underrepresented communities. Guests: Joseph Nevins is a professor of geography at Vassar College. Suren Moodliar is a coordinator of encuentro5, a movement-building space in downtown Boston, and managing editor of Socialism and Democracy, a journal of strategy. Eleni Macrakis is a project manager at Homeowners Rehab Inc. (HRI), a non-profit affordable housing developer in Cambridge, MA. -
Mass Politics Profs: Local Elections Teem With Candidates, Baker's Billions Of Stimulus Bucks, And Hope For A Boston Bullet Train
State lawmakers blocked Gov. Charlie Baker’s attempt to dole out billions in stimulus funds immediately, insisting the spending priorities should be determined jointly with legislative and community input. Sixteen candidates are eyeing one of four at-large seats for the Boston City Council — that's four candidates for each seat. And, state legislators are lobbying for a specific addition to the president's infrastructure bill: a high-speed bullet train from Boston to New York. We’re spending the full hour with the Massachusetts Politics Profs. Guests: Erin O’Brien, associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston Jerold Duquette, associate professor of political science at Central Connecticut State University Luis Jiménez, assistant professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston
