Boston Public Radio

Two mass shootings in one week have gun control advocates wondering whether legislation will ever be enacted.

"We have the capacity to force a vote, and I think it’s time we do that," the Massachusetts senator said.

The governor acknowledged criticism from lawmakers but insisted the current mix of state and local efforts is most effective.

Students and advocates are calling on Harvard University to acknowledge its role in slavery and offer reparations.

Healey tells Boston Public Radio she supports legislation to update the state's existing hate crime laws.

If reparations to slavery were enacted before the pandemic, COVID-19 transmission and deaths could have been mitigated dramatically, according to Dr. Michelle Morse.

Today:Josh Paul and Tariq Habash both resigned from the Biden administration over the president's handling of Israel's war in Gaza following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in 2023. They have since co-founded “A New Policy” – a group that aims to reform U.S. policy – and join to discuss what a true "American first" policy in the Middle East would look like.

Amherst College’s Ilan Stavans shares his latest book "Conversations on Dictionaries: The Universe in a Book" on the power of dictionaries in shaping culture. Plus we get his take on polling that shows Latinos in America might be turning away from Trump.Vulture podcast and TV critic Nick Quah shares the best podcasts he's heard this year. Josh Paul and Tariq Habash are co-founders of “A New Policy,” which aims to reform U.S. policy toward the Middle East. They join to discuss what they think multiple U.S. administrations have gotten wrong.The Reverends Irene Monroe & Emmett G. Price III join for “All Rev’d Up" on the pastors showing up at No Kings rallies, and a new survey that finds more U.S. adults are embracing organized religion – buying more bibles post-Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

Today:Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin joins Jim and Margery at the Boston Public Library to reflect on lessons in leadership from her book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, released 20 years ago this week.

Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin celebrates 20 years since Team of Rivals was published, the one book Barack Obama said he’d want on a desert island. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joins for “Ask the Mayor.” We talk to her about Mass & Cass, whether she’ll insert herself into the Markey/Moulton Senate race, new pushback from Boston’s business community, and Trump’s suggestion this month about pulling the World Cup from Foxboro. Rasa Quartet performs for Live Music Friday. They’re on tour across New England with a Halloween-themed show called Soundtrack to a Nightmare.

Today: Jeremy Ben-Ami, founder and president of J-Street, discusses the cautious hope many are feeling in the days after a ceasefire took hold in Gaza, and how American Jews are responding to this political moment.