On a special nautical episode of the Codcast, CommonWealth editor Bruce Mohl visits the construction site of Vineyard Wind 1, the nation's first commercial-scale offshore wind farm.

A boat's-eye view of Vineyard Wind 1

Co-hosts John McDonough and Paul Hattis are joined by Robbie Goldstein, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, to discuss what he learned working at the CDC, his thoughts on public health issues facing the Commonwealth, and more.

The hard work of public health

CommonWealth's Jennifer Smith is joined by the head of the Boston Housing Authority, Kenzie Bok, to discuss housing justice, the role of public housing in the city and commonwealth, and what's on the horizon in the world of public housing.

"The city doesn't happen by accident"

This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith is joined by Chrissy Lynch, the new president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, to discuss the current pivotal moment for organized labor, the changes she's seen in the movement over the years, and her policy priorities.

The new face of labor

Ranked-choice voting and rent control will not be on the 2024 ballot in Massachusetts, but supporters are still pushing the policies in the legislature and locally. This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith is joined by Paul Craney and Jennifer Braceras of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance to discuss their opposition to both issues.

On ranked choice, Mass Fiscal looks back and gears up

This week, Paul Hattis and John McDonough of Health or Consequences are joined by Barbara Fain, executive director of the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety. They discuss the state of knowledge around medical care errors, as well as ongoing efforts to respond to and reduce it.

Building a safety culture in Massachusetts health care

CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith is joined by former Gov. Jane Swift to discuss political changes since her time in office, her current policy work, and the process of public grieving.

Former Gov. Jane Swift on grief and changing times

This week on Health or Consequences, hosts Paul Hattis and John McDonough are joined by David Seltz, founding executive director of the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission. They discuss what the HPC has learned about health care costs over the last decade, where Massachusetts stands relative to other states, and the HPC's current policy priorities.

A race to keep Mass. health care affordable

Journalists, like everyone else, are wrestling with the impact of AI on their work. Sarah Scire, deputy editor of Nieman Labs, joins CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith to discuss predictions about AI tools in journalism, their use and misuse, and how readers feel about the technology.

Will artificial intelligence make or break newsrooms?

Mayor Michelle Wu has had to negotiate a tremendous number of labor contracts, including most recently with the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association. Lou Mandarini, Wu's senior advisor for labor, joins CommonWealth's Jennifer Smith and Gin Dumcius to discuss the BPPA contract and the city's approach to collective bargaining.

The road to a new Boston police contract

After many years in which it was effectively illegal to build new triple-deckers in Somerville, any homeowner can now add a third unit to their property. Somerville city councilor Matt McLaughlin, and Jesse Kanson-Benanav of Abundant Housing, join CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith to discuss the past, present, and future of the triple-decker and its contribution to affordable housing in Massachusetts.

Long live the triple-decker

Few industries have faced more challenges in the past few years than restaurants. Devra First, the Boston Globe's restaurant critic and food writer, joins CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith to discuss how restaurants are adapting to those challenges, her approach to criticism, and what makes a great restaurant in 2024.

Pandemic food pressures with the Globe's restaurant critic

Last year, the Dirty Deeds Project brought to light hundreds of racially restrictive covenants in home deeds on the North Shore. North Shore NAACP branch president Kenann McKenzie-DeFranza and Harborlight Homes Advocacy and Education Manager Jean Michael Fana join CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith to discuss the project, and how telling this ugly history can empower Massachusetts communities to confront it together.

Pulling the thread on North Shore racial covenants

Gov. Maura Healey's State of the Commonwealth address included ambitious language about supporting transportation, but the details remain to be seen. This week on The Codcast, former Sec. of Transportation Jim Aloisi and Executive Director of the MBTA Advisory Board Brian Kane join CommonWealth Beacon's Bruce Mohl to discuss what kind of support Massachusetts's transportation system needs and is likely to get.

Note: Jim Aloisi kindly joined on short notice, and his audio has some construction noise. It's been cleaned up as much as possible.

Reading Healey's transportation tea leaves

This week on Health or Consequences, John McDonough and Paul Hattis are joined by Michael Levine, Assistant Secretary for MassHealth. They discuss the importance of MassHealth in the MA healthcare landscape, the agency's holistic approach to coverage and service provision, its response to the pandemic, and its relationship to the federal government.

MassHealth after Covid

This week on The Codcast, National Grid experts Owen Brady-Traczyk and Bill Foley join CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith to discuss two pilot programs bringing networked geothermal heating and cooling systems to Massachusetts.

National Grid digs into geothermal

In the past few years, Boston has been reshaping the institutions it uses to guide the city's growth. This week on the Codcast, Arthur Jemison, Boston's Chief of Planning and Director of the Boston Planning and Development Agency, talks to CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith about these changes, how they fit into a broader vision for Boston's development, and how they incorporate community involvement in that vision.

New tools for development in Boston

This Valentine's week, on a special joint recording of The Horse Race and The Codcast, co-hosts Steve Koczela and Jennifer Smith ask the burning question: is #mapoli breaking up? They're joined by a crew of #mapoli veterans to discuss how social media has impacted political communications over the past decade and a half, and what the declining political twittersphere means for the future.

Is #mapoli breaking up? (Live)

This week on the Codcast, Embrace Boston president Imari Jeffries talks to CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith about the story of the Embrace statue, the organization's upcoming projects, and its approach to memorializing Boston history while embodying values of diversity and equity.

Monuments to equity with Embrace Boston

This week on The Codcast, John McDonough of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute talk to CommonWealth Beacon's Bruce Mohl about what went wrong with Steward Health Care, and the different paths out of the current situation.

Steward: A cautionary tale complete with a Snidely Whiplash

This week on The Codcast, MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng talks to CommonWealth Beacon's Bruce Mohl about his first year running the T, why he's optimistic about bringing riders back, and where things stand with train car manufacturer CRRC.

Eng predicts MBTA ridership will bounce back after service improves

This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith sits down with Billie J. Farrell, the first woman commander of the historic USS Constitution. They discuss her path to the post, the ship's role in naval history, and how she keeps that history alive for the public.

At the helm of Old Ironsides

This week on The Codcast, longtime Massachusetts Nurses Association executive director Julie Pinkham talks to John McDonough and Paul Hattis about the MNA's relationship to Steward Health Care over the years, the consequences of healthcare deregulation, and how the state can facilitate a positive outcome in the present situation.

A labor perspective on the Steward crisis

This week on The Codcast, Jennifer Smith of CommonWealth Beacon talks to Enid Eckstein of the Raise Up Massachusetts coalition about their effort to increase the Massachusetts minimum wage to $20 an hour and index it to inflation. Along the way, they discuss the cost of living, inequality, business competitiveness, and political strategy.

Pitching a $20 minimum wage

This week on The Codcast, Jonathan Wynn of UMass Amherst and Dan Skinner of Ohio University join CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith to discuss their book, The City and the Hospital, about the mixed effects nonprofit hospitals have on the neighborhoods they operate in, and how they do and don't fulfill their community obligations.

What hospitals owe their neighborhoods

This week on the Codcast, we're bringing you a recording of a recent discussion on the MBTA Communities Act, moderated by CommonWealth Beacon's Gin Dumcius. The panelists are Andrea Harris-Long of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, State Rep. Russell Holmes, and Quincy City Council President Ian Cain. 

[Note: the recording has been condensed for clarity]

MBTA Communities panel splits over state vs. local control

This week on The Codcast, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell joins CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith to discuss several office priorities, from enforcing the MBTA Communities Act, to gun control, to regulating the state's gambling systems.

AG Andrea Campbell talks local power and gambling boom

This week on The Codcast, Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute and John McDonough of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health are joined by Charlie Donahue, executive director of the Health Planning Council of Greater Boston from 1981-88. They discuss the successes and failures of that organization, and whether a similar model could work today.

The legacy of health care planning in Massachusetts

This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith is joined by Paul S. Grogan, former president of The Boston Foundation, to discuss his new memoir, "Prepared to be Lucky: Reflections on Fifty Years of Public and Community Service." Together with coauthor Kathryn E. Merchant, they discuss Paul's long career in Boston politics and philanthropy, and the model of nonprofit civic leadership that he pioneered.

Paul Grogan reflects on 50 years of civic leadership

This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith is joined by Juliette Kayyem, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and former Assistant Secretary in the Department of Homeland Security, to discuss the ongoing student protests around Israel and Gaza. They touch on the character of the protests, different university responses, what an effective response to protest looks like, and how to balance free speech and safety concerns.

Safety and free speech at campus protests

Transportation guru Fred Salvucci said on the Codcast that the proposed West Station is needed now to deal with congestion in Kenmore Square and the Seaport District, not future congestion caused by Harvard University's creation of a new neighborhood in the Allston Landing area.

Salvucci’s position is sharply at odds with the views of the Baker administration, which believes current ridership projections for the station are too low to justify building West Station in the near future. Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack has said it would be wise to hold off on West Station until around 2040 when Harvard's development plans for the area are more fully formulated. 

But Salvucci, who served 12 years as state transportation secretary under former governor Michael Dukakis and now teaches at MIT, said the transit connections offered by West Station are needed now to relieve existing congestion on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Llyr's Album

Salvucci takes new tack on West Station

Tune into spirited debate, local stories, and insightful analyses with The Codcast. Hosted each week by a CommonWealth Beacon reporter, the half-hour policy podcast delves into the heart of Massachusetts’s most pressing and intriguing topics. Hear newsmakers, historians, and policy experts tackle statewide housing struggles, immigration policies, little-known histories, surprising political fights, and even take to the sea to visit rising offshore wind turbines.

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