It’s hard to say the exact mix of mystery and intrigue that causes a true crime story to blow up. But one thing is true: the viral stories tell us something important about ourselves. Right now in Massachusetts, many people are fervently following the trial over whether Karen Read murdered her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. Some say she’s simply guilty, and some say she’s being elaborately framed by the police. Shirley Leung talks to Boston Globe reporter Sean Cotter and true...

Daniela Rus’s dream is to imbue the power of robotics with the wisdom of humanity. She runs MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. As part of his ongoing series on the promise and perils of AI, Globe Ideas Editor Brian Bergstein talks to Rus about her new book “The Heart and the Chip.” She says robots won’t just do our chores and work in our factories; they can teach us how to hit tennis balls like Serena Williams and defy gravity like Iron Man. She says your car won’t...

Author Amy Tan doesn’t just watch birds, she “feels the life within them.” Amy’s new book, “The Backyard Bird Chronicles” takes us into her daily journal, drawing and musing on the lives of birds in her backyard in California. Shirley Leung talks to Amy about her breakthrough novel, “The Joy Luck Club,” the agony of fiction writing, and whether she considers herself an Asian-American writer or just a writer. Throughout her career, Amy has written extensively about mother-daughter...

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Climate change isn’t just one thing, it’s a million things. It’s “everything everywhere all at once,” according to acclaimed author and New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert. In her new book “H is for Hope,” Elizabeth goes through the letters of the alphabet explaining the complexities of climate change and musing on weather, power, hope, despair and everything in between. She joins Shirley this Earth Week to discuss her approach to climate journalism and her agnostic feelings about hope.

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a historian who is best known for writing about America's presidents, from Abraham Lincoln to Lyndon B. Johnson. She has a new book out, and this time it’s personal. In "An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s," Doris tells the story of her late husband Dick Goodwin, who was a speechwriter for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. Dick was supposed to write the book, but when he passed away in 2018, Doris promised to finish it. This week on Say More, Doris...

Khan Academy has taught millions of students the fundamentals of math and science, as well as topics ranging from economics to art history. As part of his ongoing series on the promise and perils of AI, Globe Ideas Editor Brian Bergstein talks to Khan Academy founder Sal Khan about the ways that artificial intelligence can (and will) revolutionize education. Sal introduces Brian to “Khanmigo,” an AI tutor that can personalize education for students and teachers. They discuss the benefits of...

If you liked our last episode with Frontline executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath, you might like this bonus episode. It’s from a new podcast called “Pulitzer on the Road” from our friends at the Pulitzer Prizes. The Boston Globe’s executive editor Nancy Barnes talks to Associated Press journalist Mstyslav Chernov about his Oscar-winning documentary “20 Days in Mariupol.'' The film is a stunning first hand account of the first days of war in Ukraine in the winter of 2022, produced by the AP...

Boston-based Frontline has been making documentaries for 40 years, and this year, they took home their first Academy Award for their documentary “20 Days in Mariupol”. The documentary is a first-hand account of the first days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the winter of 2022. The documentary contains gripping and heartbreaking stories of war. It also is a work of journalism, documenting the facts of war. Shirley talks to Frontline’s Executive Producer Raney Aronson-Rath about this film...

In courts across the country, a war is being waged on federal agencies that ensure clean air, safe drugs and fair banking. These agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration, are sometimes referred to as the “administrative state.” Conservative groups are increasingly using legal action to undermine the powers of these regulators. Today on Say More, guest host Kimberly Atkins Stohr, a Boston Globe senior opinion writer, discusses the trend with...

Bob Rivers, the CEO and chair of Eastern Bank, sits down with Shira Center, the general manager for editorial revenue and strategy at the Boston Globe Media, to talk about the bank’s history, its work on diversity and inclusion, and its approach to community investment. Globe Opinion was not involved in the creation or execution of this episode, which was produced by Studio/B, Boston Globe Media’s sponsored content studio.

Everyone’s afraid to fail, but today’s guest says we shouldn’t be. In fact, we should welcome it. Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson says that “failure isn’t final” and that it’s often the first step toward great ideas and innovation. She tells Shirley that the most successful people fail more, not less, than the rest of us. Amy also shares the concept of “psychological safety,:— an essential feature of successful teams — which is created by a culture of sharing and accepting...

Men and boys are less likely to excel in high school or go to college. They are more likely to get hooked on drugs or die of suicide. More broadly, boys and men are at a crossroads. While the #MeToo movement has provided a needed global reckoning for women and girls, it left boys with a long list of “don’ts” without enough “dos.” This week on Say More, author and scholar Richard Reeves talks to Shirley Leung about how this cultural vacuum leaves boys vulnerable to reactionary figures, such as...

Stovetop mac-and-cheese is a simple dish, but there are many ways to get there. Deb Perelman, founder of the Smitten Kitchen blog, and New York Times food columnist J. Kenji López-Alt could spend hours discussing the art of perfecting a recipe—in fact they often do. They are the hosts of the new podcast The Recipe with Kenji and Deb. This week on Say More, they join Shirley to talk about what they would make for their favorite celebrities, cooking for picky kids, and the wisdom of online...

It’s not just you. Many Americans feel disempowered and unmotivated to participate in the political process. This week’s guests, Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers of the “Pantsuit Politics” podcast, have been called “America’s political therapists.” They talk with Shirley about this year’s “deeply weird” presidential race, voter malaise, the trickiness of talking about a candidate’s age and how to have “grace-filled”’ conversations about politics. Email us at [email protected].

Throughout the last half-century more of our stuff has been made somewhere else. Much of the manufacturing that formed the economic backbone of US regional economies has relocated to distant countries. Today on Say More, Shirley talks to Boston author and journalist Rachel Slade, who says it’s not only possible to bring manufacturing back to the US, but necessary. Her new book is called “Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (And How It Got That Way).”...

Imagine it’s the eve of the 2024 presidential election, and you get a call that sounds like it’s coming from a family member or a friend — or even the president — telling you the polls will be closed and you should stay home. The call could sound real but be totally fake, generated by easily available AI technology. That type of ruse is hugely concerning to national security expert and author Miles Taylor. As part of his ongoing series on the promise and perils of AI, Globe Ideas Editor Brian...

This week Shirley ventures outside the studio and visits local restaurant owner Irene Li to make dumplings together for Lunar New Year. Irene is co-founder of Mei Mei Dumplings in South Boston. Shirley and Irene share their memories of celebrating Lunar New Year as children and their relationship with Chinese-American culture. Irene talks about the state of the restaurant industry and how she wants to make it better. Email us as [email protected].

Blaxploitation films are known for their Black stars, gritty material, and funk music. When they caught on in the early 1970s, these movies had a ton of style and iconic characters. At the time of their release, they were celebrated for their depictions of Black empowerment but also criticized for perpetuating stereotypes and caricatures of Black culture. The Boston Globe’s chief film critic, Odie Henderson, has a new book about the history of the genre called “Black Caesars and Foxy...

The ideological battles on college campuses have reached a new pitch in recent months, leading to high-profile presidential resignations and calls for more. This week’s guest on Say More says this is all part of a long-standing campaign to destabilize and overhaul higher education, funded by billionaires on the right. Nancy MacLean is a historian at Duke University. Nancy tells host Shirley Leung about the money behind these campaigns, the playbook, and what lies ahead in the battle over...

The New Hampshire primaries will take place on January 23. The choices voters in the small state make could have a major impact on the presidential election. The Democratic primary in New Hampshire isn't competitive this year, but the Republican one could be interesting. On today’s episode, Boston Globe politics reporter Emma Platoff introduces us to three New Hampshire GOP voters as they decide how to cast their ballots. Their views are nuanced, idiosyncratic, and molded by unique life...

The Globe’s Brian Bergstein will be joining Say More about once a month to host conversations about artificial intelligence, with the aim of asking big questions and getting past the hype. Artificial Intelligence is hard to define. It’s even harder to regulate. But without good regulation, the technology could do a lot of harm to innocent people. This week, Brian speaks to Columbia Professor Tim Wu, the father of “net neutrality,” about the best way to regulate AI and how to avoid the...

The New Hampshire primary is around the corner for Republicans. Former President Trump has a massive lead in the polls, but Nikki Haley has been gaining on him. Can the former South Carolina governor do enough to shake things up? On today’s episode, guest host Kimberly Atkins Stohr, a Boston Globe senior opinion writer, talks to the Globe’s James Pindell, Carine Hajjar, and Scot Lehigh about what to look for in this month’s New Hampshire primary. Email us at [email protected].

Unhappiness is on the rise in America, according to a recent survey. What can we do about it? A lot, says Arthur Brooks, who teaches a class on the science of happiness at Harvard Business School. He joins Shirley on Say More to talk about his own journey to become happier, his partnership with Oprah, and the special gift he received from the Dalai Lama. Email us at [email protected].