Boston Public Radio

Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone and Aeronaut's Jason McCool joined us for our weekly news quiz.

The governor has faced criticism for imposing a four month ban on vaping devices, but the Boston Globe business columnist said she thinks Baker made the right call.

Richard Tretheway and Jeff Sweenor joined Boston Public Radio to take calls from listeners and discuss the show's upcoming season.

Steve Hoffman said that while he's not critical of a four-month ban on vaping products, he is concerned it will have negative consequences.

Santiago is an emergency room physician, South End resident, and state representative.

A new investigation by The Boston Globe shows that Rev. Barry Gamache knew about the history of abuse allegations against an employee of his church in Rhodes Island.

Zishi Liu is a Chinese-born saxophone player inspired by Western greats like John Coltrane and Kenny G. He’s performing a unique Chinese-infused jazz with his band on Saturday at the Charles Hotel Regattabar. He joins us first for Live Music Friday.Ian Coss is host and producer of the GBH podcast The Big Dig. He’s back with another podcast series about the wildly successful Mass. Lottery called "Scratch and Win." He joins alongside Dawn Hayes, longtime lottery presenter for WBZ.Boston Medical Center's Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett talks bird flu, a new framework for defining obesity and RFK Jr.'s confirmation hearing. The NAACP's Michael Curry talks about what the federal funding freeze means for local health centers, Trump blaming “DEI” for Wednesday’s deadly plane crash, and a new study showing Black men are being hit disproportionally hard by the opioid crisis.

The mob once controlled America's gambling empire. Until the government saw the money flowing and decided: they wanted a piece of the action. What happened next was more than a turf war. It was a battle between street corner bookies and bureaucrats in suits. And at the center of it all: one state lottery that would change gambling forever by inventing something we all know: the scratch ticket. Introducing “Scratch & Win” – the true story of how the government got into the gambling business. The new 8-part series is made by the Peabody Award-winning team behind “The Big Dig” and produced by GBH News.This is Part 1: The Instant Ticket. It’s 1974, illegal bookies are everywhere and the brand new state lottery is struggling to compete. But a simple piece of paper is about to change the game forever: the nation’s first scratch ticket. New episodes drop every Wednesday. ---------------------------Credits:Host and scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossStory Editor: Lacy RobertsEditorial Advisor: Jen McKimFact Checkers: Ryan Alderman and Isabel HibbardScoring and Music Supervision: Ian CossGraphic Design: Bill MillerProject Manager: Meiqian He

Today:U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley has strong words for RFK Jr., the Republicans supporting him, and Trump himself -- who just this morning blamed diversity and equity initiatives for a tragic plane crash that killed more than 60 people in D.C. last night.And, NOVA filmmaker Terri Randall joins us with former Naval pilot Ryan Graves -- the first active duty pilot to come forward about frequent UFO sightings -- to discuss NOVA's latest film, "What Are UFOs?"

Rep. Ayanna Pressley reacts to Trump-caused chaos, Democratic resistance and the deadly plane crash in Washington, DC. Former public safety secretary Andrea Cabral helps make sense of what’s going on behind the scenes with the Trump administration freezing (and unfreezing) federal funds. She also discusses a new case before SCOTUS that would allow the government to create publicly-funded religious schools.Boston Globe columnist Marcela Garcia discusses her reporting on local ICE raids, and offers thoughts on the future of TikTok, where her two dogs have over 100k followers.Filmmaker Terri Randall & Former Lt. U.S. Navy pilot Ryan Graves on the new PBS NOVA documentary “What Are UFO’s?”

Today:We reconvene our music panelists ahead of Sunday’s Grammy Awards. Almost everybody knows about Beyonce and Sabrina Carpenter, but with help from CRB’s Brian McCreath, Berklee’s Emmett G. Price III, and GBH’s James Bennett II, we hear about some nominees you may have missed.