As school years wind down at colleges and universities around the state, the last student encampments protesting the war in Gaza have been dismantled. At some schools, student protestors packed up the tents of their own free will. At others -- including Emerson, Northeastern and MIT -- they were forcibly disbanded by police. With summer fast approaching, questions remain about the tactics employed by universities to disperse student protesters. The Common's Darryl C. Murphy speaks with WBUR...

The state is hoping a new pilot program providing ESL classes to newly arrived immigrants staying in Massachusetts emergency shelters will help them achieve self sufficiency faster. The pilot is lead by the nonprofit English for New Bostonians, which has been teaching occupationally-focused language classes with the goal of providing students the skills and confidence to find employment, and continue improving their English in other settings. Claudia Green, English for New Bostonians...

Today is the 20th anniversary of gay marriage becoming legal in Massachusetts. The right for same sex couples to marry was brought about by the Goodridge Decision, which made Massachusetts the first state in the country to secure marriage equality. Back in 2004, Arline Isaacson, Co-Chair of the Massachusetts GLBTQ Political Caucus (formerly known as the Mass Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus), was one of the advocates who worked to secure marriage equality in the Commonwealth. Arline joins...

When the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission launched its Social Equity Program, it promised a pathway for groups disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs into the newly legalized cannabis market. But today, social equity operators are finding that getting into the cannabis business is a far cry from the lucrative opportunity it once was, sometimes leaving them worse off than when they started the process.  "CommonWealth Beacon" reporter Bhaamati Borkhetaria spoke with cannabis...

Colleges and universities across the country are gearing up for graduation, including here in Boston. Commencement comes at a very tense time on many campuses though, as student protest encampments in support of Palestinian people and school divestment from Israel have been dismantled by police at numerous schools, notably MIT and Emerson College. Tufts and Harvard Universities also had encampments that were recently disbanded by student protestors themselves. WBUR Senior Education Reporter...

Death of a loved one can bring with it a deep sense of loss. We miss that person's personality, their energy, and we honor that with our grief. But how do we as a society, respect their remains, the bodies they leave behind? That question is at the center of the latest season of WBUR’s podcast Last Seen - which came out this month:  “Postmortem: The Stolen Bodies of Harvard.”  The podcast follows a scandal at Harvard Medical School that made headlines last year, when a manager at the...

Several weeks ago, WBUR published an investigation examining how police in Massachusetts handle reports of sexual assault and rape. The piece, which focused on alleged serial rapist Alvin Campbell (brother of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell), has garnered the attention of state lawmakers who wish to make changes to the Commonwealth's systems and protocols around such cases. WBUR Statehouse Reporter Walter Wuthmann joins The Common once more to discuss reactions to the piece,...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder, which could become the first psychedelic-assisted therapy as early as August. Today, The Common presents the final episode of our three-part series looking at the past, present and future of psychedelics in Massachusetts as a potential ballot question that could lead to the decriminalization of natural psychedelic substances in Massachusetts. Rick Doblin, founder and president of the...

A proposed ballot measure to decriminalize certain plant-based psychedelics in Massachusetts is now in progress, with activists gathering another 12,429 signatures by July 3 to secure ballot placement in the November election. Today, The Common is continuing our three-part series looking at the past, present and future of psychedelics in Massachusetts and what decriminalization could mean for the state. In this episode, we’ll examine the current status with Sam Drysdale, a Statehouse News...

Advocates behind a proposed ballot question that could potentially decriminalize certain plant-based hallucinogens, a.k.a. psychedelics, are gathering signatures to put the question in front of voters on election day in November. If successful, people over 21 can use a limited amount of substances like magic mushrooms without worry of criminal penalties from the state. This week, The Common will present a three-part series that explores the past, present and future of psychedelics and what...

Black women and girls make up a disproportionate number of the nation’s missing people, almost one in five. Here in Massachusetts, there are few protocols on tracking these cases, and that number is harder to determine. Now, a new bill on Beacon Hill seeks to shine a light on how missing persons cases involving Black women and girls are handled, including instituting an "Ebony Alert" system, which would provide public alerts when Black women or girls are reported missing under suspicious...

Early last year, the Biden administration issued a policy to allow temporary entry for up to 30,000 people a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela — countries facing extreme unrest and violence. People in the program, called humanitarian parole, are allowed to live and work in the United States for two years. The Common speaks with WBUR reporter Simón Rios about what humanitarian parole has meant for Boston's Haitian community. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture...

It's a great time to hit the theater. Today on The Common,  Assistant Director of WBUR CitySpace Candice Springer is back with some top musical happenings to get you out and about this month. Candice recommends... The Drowsy Chaperone: Now - May 12, Lyric Stage Company,  Boston A Strange Loop: Now - May 25, Speakeasy Stage at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion, Boston “Song Exploder” Live featuring Fenne Lily: May 20, WBUR CitySpace Field Trip: Plant Night with Emerald City Plant...

When the city removed a tent encampment in the area known as Mass. and Cass back in November, officials offered to help people find housing as part of a plan to help keep them off the streets. Now, two state run housing programs that were part of the effort are slated to close. WBUR reporter Deborah Becker joins The Common to talk about why these programs are closing, and how the closures will affect the people they serve. Greater Boston’s daily podcast where news and culture meet.

Boston is a cultural hub for Caribbean communities, with people originally from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Trinidad, and other Caribbean countries, comprising nearly 9% of the city's population. The new Boston Caribbean American Association in Dorchester aims to unite these communities and promote year-round political and civic engagement. Kwame Elias of the Boston Caribbean American Association joins The Common to discuss the coalition's goals and mission, and their strategies...

Last Thursday, the Massachusetts House and Senate voted to pass a supplementary budget that will provide an additional $251 million to the family shelter system. It also imposed a maximum of nine months stay limit for current families living in the state's emergency shelters, with certain people eligible for an extension waiver. Now, the bill awaits Governor Maura Healey’s signature. Today, The Boston Globe's political reporter Samantha J. Gross joins The Common to discuss the reasons behind...

We're going to be upfront with you. Last week was a hard one at WBUR. On Wednesday it was announced that the station would be cutting up to 14% of its staff through buyouts and layoffs in an attempt to reduce the station’s expenses by $4 million. This comes after a significant drop in underwriting revenue in recent years, adding to the trend of personnel cuts at public radio stations across the country in recent months. WBUR Investigative Correspondent Todd Wallack has been covering WBUR's...

Late Wednesday night, a protest encampment created by students at Emerson College was forcibly removed by police. Over 100 protesters were arrested in the clearing, and multiple injuries have been reported. Meanwhile, other encampments have been erected on campuses across the city as students call for, among other things, a ceasefire in Gaza, that schools cut ties with Israeli funding and support of pro-Palestinian student groups that have been suspended from campuses like Harvard. WBUR...

April is Earth Month, which is a time to reflect on the one planet we have and for a lot of us that’s an opportunity to discuss climate change, and how it’s affecting our communities. Throughout the month we featured weekly conversations with some of the people in Greater Boston working to build our region’s resilience in the face of a changing climate. Our final guest for these Earth Month discussions is Leslie Jonas, an Indigenous land and water conservationist and an elder eel clan...

More electric vehicles are hitting the streets in Boston, making it one of the biggest EV markets in the country. However, adoption still lags behind similar metro areas across the country and experts worry that the growing number of EVs is still not enough to help the state reach its emission goals. WBUR Senior Business Reporter Zeninjor Enwemeka joins The Common to explain the barriers to more EV ownership in Massachusetts, and what the state is doing about it. Greater Boston’s daily...

In late March, the MBTA announced it would be paying an additional $148 million to the Chinese locomotive manufacturer CRRC, in hopes of pushing the company to complete its order for desperately needed T cars by 2027. The order, which was made in 2014, was for 404 new T cars to be delivered by September 2023. To date, the MBTA has only received around 130 of those cars and with this latest payout, the total deal between the agency and CRRC is now valued at over $1 billion. Just last week,...

Alvin Campbell, an alleged serial rapist, was arrested in 2020 on sexual assault charges. A new investigation by WBUR finds that at the time of his arrest, Campbell had already been reported for multiple allegations of rape and sexual assault dating back to 2016. He is the brother of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell. Her office said the attorney general recused herself from any involvement in the case. In a statement, Andrea Campbell said the prosecution has her “unreserved...

Massachusetts legalized recreational cannabis in 2016. According to the state, the industry here has grossed nearly $6 billion from hundreds of dispensaries across the state. As part of WBUR's Field Guide to Boston, a series aimed at helping folks better connect with the region, and in honor of the unofficial cannabis holiday on 4/20, we want to offer a quick guide for those who are curious about cannabis in Massachusetts. So The Common team took a trip to Heritage Club in Charlestown,...

April is Earth Month, so all month long we are featuring weekly conversations with people in Greater Boston working to build our region’s resilience in the face of a changing climate. Arianna Perdomo is a 17-year-old high school senior living in Chelsea. She's a member of Gov. Maura Healey and Massachusetts Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer's Youth Climate Council and part of the Environmental Chelsea Organizers youth crew through GreenRoots. Today, Arianna joins The Common to discuss her work...