Boston Public Radio

Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse criticized Biden’s reasoning for pardoning his son, while Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley defended Biden's right to pardon his son but urged the president to use his executive powers to address sentencing disparities.

Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung noted that Black Friday's excitement has changed, as fewer people lined up for early-morning sales. Instead, online shopping saw record sales.

The senator believes Trump will act in a revengeful way "towards individuals who he believes harmed him.”

Andrea Campbell said the attorney general's office can only get involved if the dispute between the auditor and Massachusetts Legislature goes to litigation.

RFK Jr's vaccine skepticism is concerning to doctors, but his calls for improving nutrition are appealing — if he can execute his plan.

The former Massachusetts governor says his party could learn from Donald Trump.

Headlines are flooded with news of the missing Titanic tourist submersible. We opened the lines to see if listeners would take a big risk into the depths of the ocean if they had the means to do so. Gerry Condon & Helen Jaccard of the Golden Rule sailboat joined to tell us more about the project of Veterans for Peace. They advocate for nuclear disarmament. Lee Pelton, president of The Boston Foundation, discussed the anticipated SCOTUS ruling on affirmative action as a former college leader and its impacts on nonprofits; and a new report that several cities in Mass have disregarded the state’s affordable housing requirement. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joined for Ask The Mayor where she answered questions from listeners. She addressed the car accident she was in, home rule petitions and more. Do you have a go-to toilet in Boston? Do we need more public restrooms in the city? We asked listeners to text or call to share their thoughts.

Best of BPR: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu Talks Education Equity

Best of BPR: Juneteenth & Health Equity

Michael Curry reflects on last week’s Health Equity Compact Trends Summit, and Juneteenth in Boston. We followed his segment by taking calls and texts about what it means to celebrate Juneteenth and support Black communities. Jenee Osterheldt of the Globe discusses season 3 of A Beautiful Resistance. The series is all about Black joy and Black lives. Rumman Chowdhury is a Responsible AI fellow at the Berkman Center at Harvard, and Will Knight is a senior writer at WIRED. They join for an AI/tech panel. Charlie Sennott joins to discuss the death of whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, a seeker of truth. Corby Kummer discusses the local seafood we should be getting ourselves familiar with; NYC setting minimum wage for food delivery workers. We wrapped up the shows by discussing how animals seem to be fighting back. One example are the Orcas off the coast of Spain are attacking sailboats in targeted strikes, sinking three boats in the last year alone.

Best Of BPR: Gov. Maura Healey Is Bracing For "Misguided" SCOTUS Affirmative Action Ruling