Boston Public Radio

Harvard Alpaca Ranch boasts certified therapy alpacas like Sir Erik, who brings calm and smiles to nursing homes, libraries and even radio studios.

The state auditor is starting a ballot initiative to let voters decide whether the office has the power to audit the Legislature.

Actors are left without work opportunities, as they demand better pay and AI regulation.

The Massachusetts senator supports expanding the number of justices.

Comedian Jay Leno discussed his oddly fond memories of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts' first Black governor says it's necessary for Democrats to play "the long game."

NBC Sports Boston's Trenni Casey discusses the Celtics out of the playoffs and breaking news about Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson.Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett discusses Biden's prostate cancer diagnosis and new COVID-19 vaccine guidelines from the FDA.Boston Globe film critic Odie Henderson joins for a summer movie preview and reflects on 50 years since Jaws premiered. CNN's John King joins remotely to discuss the opposition to Trump's big, beautiful tax bill.

BPR Full Show 5/19: Feeling Bleh

Carbon Leaf joins for Live Music Friday, head of a performance at the Spire in Plymouth.Dan Primack is the business editor for Axios. He joins to talk about Trump’s business deals in the Middle East, Walmart’s tariff price hikes and HBO’s big re-re-re-brand to HBO Max.Director Gene Tempest & American Experience EP Cameo George talk about their latest project, “Mr. Polaroid,” a new documentary about the invention of the Polaroid camera (which started in Cambridge). Armani Thomas is a local artist who makes mini-paintings of Boston scenes and leaves the canvases up around the city. He chronicles his work on TikTok as @armoneythomas. Retired federal judge Nancy Gertner discusses yesterday's SCOTUS arguments on the 14th Amendment, along with other contested Trump executive orders and the sense that "rule of law" is ending in America.

Political analyst Chuck Todd with his weekly D.C. rundown.Rep. Ayanna Pressley talks about the return of Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk. And, her new bill to stop the garnishment of wages for people with student loans in default. Dr. Sarah Fortune leads a tuberculosis research team at Harvard whose NIH funding was just cut by the Trump administration. She talks about the importance of scientific research and the future of her lab.MIT economist Jon Gruber explains how cuts to higher education will impact the biotech, medical and education economy in Massachusetts.

Today:Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley tells of her visit to constituent Rumeysa Ozturk in a Louisiana detention center, of the fight to get her released, and how Democrats are fighting back against the Trump administration.And, Dr. Sarah Fortune, chair of the department of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, discusses how a surprise philanthropic donation is keeping her scientific research alive – despite cuts from the Trump administration.