Boston Public Radio

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick joined WGBH's Boston Public Radio for his monthly "Ask the Governor" segment with hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan. He fielded questions from callers on state issues ranging from the state's slow moving casino plans, to immigration reform, to soda bans.

When Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation in Latin in February, he thrust the long dead language into the spotlight. In the United States, few Catholics still celebrate Mass in Latin, and we're far from the days of mandatory Latin in schools (you'd be hard pressed to find a person under the age of 20 who knows the Latin phrase "semper ubi sub ubi").

Linguist Ben Zimmer  joined Boston Public Radio to talk with Jim Braude and Margery Eagan about Latin's comeback.

Segment 1: It's our Monday politics roundup, with Michael Goldman, President of Goldman and Associates, and former Massachusetts Republican Party Chair, Jennifer Nassour.

Segment 2: Talking about the imminent big-gulp ban in New York City. 

Segment 3: A new lead may have opened in the Isabella Stewart Gardener art heist. Boston Globe reporter Steve Kurkjian joined Jim and Margery to talk about the development.

Segment 1: NStar and Northeast Utilities merged in 2010. Although the companies tendered sheaves of documentation to get federal approval, neither disclosed the pay of CEO Thomas J. May. Does it matter what the CEO of a public utility earns? Should we place a ceiling on compensation? Jim and Margery discussed.

Segment 1: Congressman Michael Capuano talks about gun safety and the likelihood of gun legislation being passed in Congress.

Segment 2: The federal Transportation Security Administration recently declared that small pocketknives and certain sporting equipment would be fine to carry on planes. Jim Braude and Margery Eagan talked with Patrick Smith — pilot, author, and proprietor of Ask The Pilot — about the changes.

Segment 1: Should US politicians reach out to voters by speaking to them in languages other than English? Jim and Margery reviewed some of the famous of bilingual moments from well-known politicians.

Segment 1: CNN's John King stops by to talk politics and give his two cents on the Massachusetts state rock song.

Segment 2: Massachusetts Gaming Commissioner Stephen Crosby stops by Studio 3 to talk about the casino licensing process.

Segment 3:  What about holding the 2024 Olympics right here in Boston? State Sen. Eileen Donaghue talked about the likelihood of bringing the greatest athletic spectacle to New England.

Segment 1: Jennifer Braceras — author of the blog Red Mom - Blue State — and State Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry talked politics with Jim Braude and Margery Eagan. On the docket: the Boston mayoral race, Gov. Mitt Romney's interview with Fox News, and the race for John Kerry's Senate seat.

Segment 2: State Rep. Dan Winslow is one of three Republican candidates vying for John Kerry's Senate seat. He joined Jim and Margery to talk about the race.

Segment 1: Jim and Margery talked about the 2013 National Day of Unplugging. Are you willing to go without your smartphone, laptop or tablet? Would you go through withdrawals?

Segment 2: When does food go bad? Most of us eat it or throw it away by the date stamped on the container. Former Trader Joe's President Doug Rauch said for most cases, this is far too early. Rauch is the founder of The Urban Food Initiative and CEO of Conscious Capitalism. He joined Jim and Margery to talk about making better use of our food.

Segment 1: Former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation James Aloisi stopped by to talk about the new "open toll" system on Bay State roads.

Segment 2: Former Olympic biker Nicole Freedman stopped by for an "Ask the Bike Czar" segment.

Earlier this week, Yahoo! CEO and former Innovation Hub guest Marissa Mayer debuted a bold new company policy: no more working from home. Instead of telecommuting, sending emails, or participating in conference calls, Mayer ordered employees back into the office, citing the importance of face to face communication. 

Segment 1: Fans of cheap bus tickets from Boston to New York City will have to search for a new bus line. The feds suspended service on the infamous Fung Wah bus line on Tuesday over safety concerns. Jim and Margery kicked off Wednesday's show with Boston Globe transportation reporter Katie Johnston and horror stories from listeners. 

Jim Braude and Margery Eagan kicked off Tuesday's show with a conversation with Boston-bred CNN host John King. Fresh off of his announcement, Boston City Councilor John Connolly also stopped by the studio to talk about his run for Mayor of Boston.

The Boston mayoral race kicked off today when Boston City Councilor John Connolly announced that he is running for mayor, challenging long-serving Mayor Tom Menino.

In the first segment, Jim Braude and Margery Eagan speak with Rep. Stephen Lynch. Afterward, Boston Phoenix editor Peter Kadzis and Republican strategist Todd Domke talked politics.

Harvard Prof. Daniel Schrag talks about global warming, and whether an increasing number of storms like Tropical Storm Sandy may become the new normal.

Did you know Gov. Deval Patrick traveled to Colombia this week on state business? Or, that some corporate partners are backing out of their deal with Boston to create jobs for teens? Callie Crossley looked at the news that may have missed your radar this week with WGBH reporter Phillip Martin,  journalist Marcela Garcia, and Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson.  

In hundreds of years, when people read the history of the 21st century, they may well call it the century of urbanization. The century in which hundreds of millions of people — billions, ultimately — left their homes in rural areas and crowded into cities, looking for new and better lives.

But how will that migration affect the planet?

Karen Seto, Associate Professor of the Urban Environment at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, argues that the impact may be profound.

Boston city Councilor Ayanna Pressley joined Callie Crossley to talk about two proposals for the city of Boston. Councilor Pressley first wants to loosen liquor license restrictions for bars and restaurants.  Then, Pressley suggested turning parking meters — which have been rendered obsolete by new ticketing systems — into donation centers for the homeless and destitute.

GUEST

• Ayanna Pressley, Boston city councilor-at-large.

The gateway city of Lawrence, Mass. has gotten a lot of negative attention over the years.

As one of the state’s poorest cities with high unemployment and an even higher dropout rate, it's image has been further tarnished by a mayor who seems to have been embroiled in controversy since day one.

T.S. Eliot famously anointed  April the cruelest month. In  New England, however, it's fair to argue that February and March are equally cruel. 

So how can we interject some summer relief into the heart of darkness that is the end of winter? Our friend Jonathon Alsop, founder of The Boston Wine School, dropped by today for some suggestions.

Today we continue our ongoing conversation about  gun control and gun reform with a focus on gun buyback programs. 

Programs across the state--and country--offer gun owners cash, gift certificates, among other things,  in exchange for their firearms. So would tickets to high profile sporting events, like a Celtics or Red Sox game, be enough of an incentive for people to hand in their guns?

What's the number one criterion Americans use to buy a camera?

It's not price, it's not megapixels, or zoom capacity, or battery life. It's the color of the camera, says New York Times technology columnist David Pogue.

Forget about price wars, gadget companies are taking design wars to the mattresses. Pogue dropped by Boston Public Radio to give us his take on the gadget wars, who's winning them, and what we'll buy next.

Listen to the interview here:

Here's an idea, film buffs. 

Saturday, February 23 at the Somerville theater in Davis Square, they are screening three early short films starring Buster Keaton. And that's not even the cool part.

On Tuesday, former Chelsea Housing Authority chief Michael McLaughlin plead guilty to federal charges for padding his salary and attempting to hide the fact. McLaughlin is cooperating with federal investigators but could face further charges at the state level.

Federal investigators and Attorney General Martha Coakley may have their sights set on a bigger fish — namely, Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray. McLaughlin allegedly ran illegal fundraisers for Murray.

Since it's Friday we looked at stories from community papers and online outlets that didn't get big press.

Julio Varela and Marcela Garcia joined Callie Crossley in Studio 3.

Guests:

• Marcela Garcia, journalist and regular WGBH contributor.
• Julio Varela, founder of Latino Rebels.

Where do we draw the line between utopias and dystopias?  The blurring of those boundaries made national news this week when a vacation cruise for 4200 people turned into a fetid, sweltering nightmare. It’s this paradox of the utopian ideal that the controversial monologist Mike Daisey takes on in his performance American Utopias.

It's been a wild week for news. We started with the expected: snowstorm cleanup and Pres. Obama's State of the Union Address. Then came the historic: the resignation of a living Pope for the first time in six decades. Mix in a manhunt for an ex-LAPD officer, a Whitey Bulger court date, a waylaid Carnival cruise ship, and a Russian meteor strike and it's enough to keep the media hive buzzing.

You can't have Valentine's Day without having a conversation about love songs. So today on BPR, we did just that.  WGBH's Ron Della Chiesa  and the Boston Globe's Sarah Rodman joined us to share some personal favorites and explain what makes sets the great love song apart. 

Ron's Picks: