This year 21 anti-transgender laws have passed nationwide with hundreds more under consideration. But Maine’s legislature has gone against the trend, instead approving a new “ shield law ” protecting health care workers who provide gender-affirming care. It is headed to the desk of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. It is incredibly important “to protect states where care is legal because providers are worried,” said Polly Crozier, director of family advocacy for GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders....
Apr 21, 2024•34 min
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion rights were pushed into a blazing spotlight. The intense fallout from the 2022 decision resulted in new state-sponsored legal limits to abortion access as well as the successful blocking of would-be abortion bans in states like Kansas. Despite the highly charged ongoing national debate about abortion, national surveys show Americans’ attitudes remain about the same. A new poll of Bay State residents by GBH and Commonwealth Beacon conducted ...
Apr 14, 2024•31 min
Rhode Island taxpayers are feeling sticker shock as they may shell out over $130 million in debt payments for a soccer stadium in Pawtucket. One reporter noted it was similar to the amount the government of Pakistan is charged to borrow money. Plus, the bids are in for major offshore wind projects that could bring energy and jobs to Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, where New Bedford and Salem stand to gain big shares of the money pie. And a surprise resignation by New Hampshire Congr...
Apr 14, 2024•27 min
"Relinquished" is an industry term used to describe the process where parents give up their children for adoption. The term is also the title of author Gretchen Sisson's new book, “Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and The Privilege of American Motherhood” which profiles the stories of birth mothers and breaks down the myths and misunderstandings about the American adoption process. For many birth mothers, the stigma prevents them from forming healthy relationships with their child and the ...
Apr 07, 2024•26 min
Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder and the Jonas Brothers have joined more than 200 U.S. musicians in an open letter demanding protections against artificial intelligence. The group argues the new tech could undermine or replace human artists. Plus, Beyonce’s record-breaking album, “Cowboy Carter” is pushing boundaries in country music highlighting the genre’s Black artists and Black history. And comedian Kevin Hart’s peers tap him for the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Under the Rad...
Apr 07, 2024•32 min
March Madness wraps up this week as top college basketball players compete for the coveted NCAA championship . Some of the most talented collegiate players will go on to join the pros in the NBA — and while it's likely they want to play like superstars LeBron James, Jason Tatum and Stephen Curry, to name a few, more and more it appears they also want to dress like them. "There was a lot of resistance at first," Mitchell S. Jackson, author of "Fly: The Big Book of Basketball Fashion" told Under t...
Mar 31, 2024•26 min
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the national hunger crisis across the country. In Massachusetts, the number of households struggling with food insecurity more than doubled, from about 8% pre-COVID to a record high of 19% during the pandemic. Emergency food access programs, food pantries and even targeted pandemic food subsidies did not eliminate the hunger emergency. That inspired some communities across the state to install community refrigerators, filled with food shared by neighbors and loc...
Mar 31, 2024•32 min
From immigration to reproductive rights, issues that ignited the country in the last presidential election will be re-litigated in the rematch between President Biden and former President Trump. As the contest heats up, former President Trump’s speeches are reaching new levels of violent rhetoric — at a recent rally he predicted a " blood bath " should he lose. And Gov. Maura Healey opposes a potential ballot question that would eliminate the MCAS test as a requirement for high school graduation...
Mar 24, 2024•58 min
How did Ella Fitzgerald become the legend she was? That’s the question author Judith Tick asks and answers in her new biography on the famed vocalist, “Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song," our March selection for Bookmarked: The Under the Radar Book Club. Jazz and history buffs know about the young Ella Fitzgerald’s first nervous performance at Harlem’s famed Apollo Theater . The new book marks that pivotal moment in the life of the would-be dancer and many n...
Mar 17, 2024•25 min
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have officially clinched the required delegates for their Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. With the unofficial general campaign underway, both parties are eager to win the Latino vote. Now, a Republican strategy to shore up Latino support is becoming clear as they are aligning with Latin American politicians — far-right populist President of Argentina, Javier Milei, was a featured speaker at the recent Conservative Politica...
Mar 17, 2024•33 min
Greater Boston is home to one of the largest populations of Puerto Ricans. It's a local community that expanded by the thousands after World War II, when about six million islanders from the US territory made their way to the mainland looking for better economic opportunities. They enriched the nation’s cultural melting pot with aspects of indigenous customs and traditions. Today, with an even greater appreciation for authentic representation and a ready audience to celebrate it, organizers have...
Mar 10, 2024•24 min
From the 1500s through the Civil War, more than 10 million Black men, women and children were enslaved in America. Slavery deemed them property. They were listed on bills of sale; their family members were sold away and their names were changed. After emancipation and the Civil War, the formerly enslaved found many of the familial threads of connection buried or lost. It’s why their African-American descendants have difficulty tracing their lineage. Now, a local organization is leading a nationa...
Mar 10, 2024•34 min
In 1993, "The Joy Luck Club" was a surprise hit. The poignant story featuring an all-Asian cast broke barriers at the box office. Would "The Joy Luck Club" inspire more stories drawn from the Asian American experience? No, as it turned out — it took 25 years before 2018’s “Crazy Rich Asians,” another film featuring an all-Asian cast, became a breakout global hit. Last year, Asian representation got its biggest boost since “Crazy Rich Asians” when the movie “Everything Everywhere All At Once” rea...
Mar 03, 2024•58 min
In the 1950s, most single, white middle-class women were expected to marry and raise a family — much like their mothers before them. But becoming a flight attendant, or a "stewardess" as they were referred to then, offered another kind of life for young women — a life of adventure. From GBH’s "American Experience" program, the new documentary "Fly with Me" showcases the firsthand accounts of the pioneering women, who historians argue, transformed the workplace — both in the air and on the ground...
Feb 25, 2024•24 min
Forty acres and a mule. That’s what was promised to thousands of the formerly enslaved in a post-Civil War nation. Since then, America has grappled with the idea of reparations for Black Americans. But in recent years, some cities, towns, and states have begun to consider — and move forward — with reparations as atonement for America’s cruel history of slavery. A new 7-part podcast from GBH News called "What Is Owed?" explores what reparations might look like in Boston, one of the oldest cities ...
Feb 25, 2024•34 min
Editor's note: This episode originally broadcast November 24, 2023. When the MacArthur Foundation named its class of 2023 “genius grant" fellows last month, the recipients joined an exclusive group of previous fellows who have demonstrated outstanding talent and leadership in their fields. Interdisciplinary scholar and writer Imani Perry is one of this year's MacArthur fellows. “I describe my work in part as haunting the past,” Perry said. “I'm trying to train my attention on those who were disr...
Feb 18, 2024•25 min
Editor's note: This episode originally broadcast on November 24, 2023. In 1973, Americans triumphed in a fashion smackdown that earned the country respect and admiration among critics worldwide. On that day 50 years ago, American and French designers went head-to-head in a creative competition dubbed the “ Battle of Versailles ." The fashion show was held at the historic Palace of Versailles, the former residence of King Louis XIV. The Americans won with cutting-edge ready-to-wear and stunning B...
Feb 18, 2024•33 min
Almost thirty years ago, President Bill Clinton formally declared the “President's Initiative on Race” with the goal of jumpstarting a national discussion about race. Arguably, there ended up being more conversation about the initiative than the actual discussions he’d hoped it would inspire. In 2016, former Boston mayor Marty Walsh ushered in a similar citywide race conversation . Last month, GBH announced a multifaceted program to spark a new public conversation about the nation’s race history...
Feb 11, 2024•9 min
The blood-soaked heritage of America’s enslavement of an estimated 10 million Africans is a fact. Yet some Americans refuse to recognize or openly discuss the communal inherited pain, shame and anger linked to that history. But conversations about this fraught history are happening, according to author and journalist Michele Norris' latest book, “Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity.” Norris describes the real-life anecdotes from Americans in her book as ...
Feb 11, 2024•15 min
Florida bolsters its reputation as an anti-LGBTQ state with a new rule — trans residents can no longer update their driver’s license with their correct gender identity . Plus, a New Hampshire town manager stepped down after being harassed in an ongoing controversy about an LGBTQ art display. And the Massachusetts State Senate passed a bill to repeal several archaic sodomy and anti-trans laws. Those stories and more on Under the Radar 's LGBTQ News Roundtable. GUESTS Grace Sterling Stowell , exec...
Feb 11, 2024•34 min
Grace Elizabeth Hale grew up hearing that the real-life heroism of her grandfather mirrored the fictional courageous confrontation of Atticus Finch, the hero of " To Kill A Mockingbird." While she had been told her grandfather, a county sheriff in Mississippi had protected a Black man from a lynch mob, who then died in his custody the following day trying to escape — the facts showed a different story. "I knew the story that I had been told... but it just made it clear that none of it was true, ...
Feb 04, 2024•27 min
New Hampshire is not generally considered a beacon of Black culture, where the last census documented people of color to be just a fraction of the general population. But the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire is working to prove how generations of Black Americans have informed both the Granite state’s — and the nation’s — history. Under the Radar explores the trials and triumphs of Harriet Wilson, Amos Fortune and Ona Judge, among other lesser known figures that are all foundational to New H...
Feb 04, 2024•31 min
From the Oxford English to the Merriam-Webster, English language dictionaries are well established in the U.S. But the effort to create dictionaries of indigenous languages is growing, including a new one capturing Cape Verdean Creole. A local publisher is documenting the common tongue of the West African nation — and of many Greater Boston immigrants — in an English to Cape Verdean dictionary to be published later this year. GUESTS Manuel Da Luz Goncalves , founder and owner of Mili Mila Inc. A...
Jan 28, 2024•23 min
Climate change has sparked a sharp rise in fires, floods and other natural calamities. Now, the Biden administration has directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to speed up victims' ability to get immediate monetary support through benefits including “ displacement assistance .” In Massachusetts, Gov. Maura Healey has released the first round of funding for cities impacted by flooding last year. Plus, new research reveals plastic water bottles have up to 100 times more tiny plast...
Jan 28, 2024•35 min
Whether you measure it by its politics, pubs or people, Boston's Irish heritage is unavoidable — but Ireland's northeastern neighbor is beginning to step out of its shadow. From bagpipes to the savory meat pudding known as haggis, local Scottish groups are making a push for more recognition of their distinct culture and history throughout New England. Under the Radar discusses the inaugural "Not Your Usual Burns Night," which will honor Scotland's national poet with traditional poetry, song, dan...
Jan 21, 2024•26 min
As goes New Hampshire, so goes the nation? A Granite State mantra will likely be put to the test in this Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. Former President Donald Trump trounced his competitors in last week’s Iowa caucus with the biggest margin of victory in the history of the state’s Republican caucuses. But has his momentum been slowed in the days leading up to the New Hampshire primary? Meanwhile, after the Granite State refused to accept second place to South Carolina in the Democratic Nation...
Jan 21, 2024•32 min
Last year, a new memorial was unveiled in Boston Common to honor the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King. Embrace Boston, the organization behind the memorial, also announced the names of civil rights leaders whose names were embedded in the Boston Common plaza where the sculpture sits. Now Embrace Boston is adding to the roster by recognizing the 2024 Embrace Honorees who have, in the organization’s words, worked to build “a more equitable Boston.” GUESTS L. Duane J...
Jan 14, 2024•26 min
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is the only federal holiday that is also designated a National Day of Service . Reverend King spent his life in service leading the campaign for social justice during the civil rights movement — and a new documentary looks at a new generation following in his footsteps. "Brief Tender Light" follows four Black African students from Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Nigeria, as they embark on their education at MIT. They pledge to return to their home countries after gradua...
Jan 14, 2024•32 min
Barbra Streisand's life and career has long been the stuff of legend and mystery — until now. The singer, actress, director and activist spent 10 years writing her new memoir, and at nearly 1,000 pages it fills in the behind-the-scenes details fans have long craved. From lifelong insecurities and singular triumphs, to devastating losses and her ongoing fight against the industry sexism which sought to limit how she used her artistic gifts, Under the Radar reviews " My Name is Barbra " with two e...
Jan 07, 2024•28 min
Local shoppers at the California-based grocery store chain Trader Joe's and Massachusetts’ own Market Basket know there is no self-checkout in either store. Even as self-service checkouts gained floor space in other American grocery and retail stores, those two bet that their customers preferred the efficiency of trained human staff. And recently, some large retailers — Walmart, Costco and Dollar General — have announced they are rethinking self-checkout by adding more staff, or in some cases, r...
Jan 07, 2024•30 min
