Say More
Big ideas and big debates, explained through intimate conversations with the compelling personalities who shape them. AI and biotech. Higher education and health care. Climate and sustainability. Politics and the media. Culture and culture wars. Hosted by Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung.
Episodes
August 7, 2025 • 29 mins
It wasn’t long ago that finding an Asian American novelist in a local bookstore felt like finding a rare flower. Today, the options overflow.
Viet Thanh Nguyen was on the leading edge of that wave. His first novel, The Sympathizer, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2016. Since then he has written a sequel, a collection of short stories, books for children, and a book about the Vietnam War. He’s also become an important public intellectu...
Mark as Played
July 31, 2025 • 29 mins
In 2018, the Supreme Court struck down a law that banned sports betting, and ushered in a new era of gambling.
Sports betting has become a multi-billion dollar industry. It’s as ubiquitous as it is lucrative.
In his new book “Losing Big: America’s Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling” Jonathan Cohen argues that the rise of online sports betting, fueled by the convenience of mobile phones, is leading to an out-of-control industry th...
Mark as Played
July 24, 2025 • 27 mins
Democrats are at a crossroads. According to recent polling from CNN, just 28% of Americans view the party favorably. The lowest rating in the poll’s 30-plus year history.
Critics say the party lacks vision, and fails to connect with voters. Some say, the party is out of touch. Others believe it’s simply gone too far to the left. But there are new voices looking to dictate a path forward for Democrats, as they work to gain back tru...
Mark as Played
July 17, 2025 • 21 mins
The Michelin Guide is known for identifying the crème de la crème of dining in the nation’s hottest cities. And for the first time, it’s coming to Boston. Today on Say More, Shirley Leung is joined by Boston Globe Restaurant Critic Devra First to discuss what Michelin means for the city, and how the challenges facing Boston restaurants, including high rents and the steep cost of living, are impacting industry workers and diners a...
Mark as Played
July 10, 2025 • 22 mins
It's a uniquely challenging time for our nation's medical community. The Trump administration has set its sites on slashing federal funding for healthcare and research by tens of billions of dollars, which could be catastrophic for the NIH and CDC.
Funding is tenuous to say the least. Then there's mounting political pressure to restrict access to care for low income families on Medicaid plus care for at-risk health groups like tr...
Mark as Played
July 2, 2025 • 12 mins
The 4th of July. What does it mean to you?
This week it's America's birthday, a day that recognizes the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a blueprint for Democracy. It's a celebration that comes around every year, yet this time it feels different.
Globe Opinion asked readers and community members to reflect on what it means to be an American today. Tune into this special episode featuring a heartfelt collection of voice...
Mark as Played
June 26, 2025 • 26 mins
Kevin Sack is a longtime reporter who spent much of his career writing long-form pieces for the New York Time. Then in 2015, he helped cover one of the most horrific massacres in recent US history, the killing of nine parishioners who were attending Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
The story launched Sack on what would become a 10 year project to document the history of...
Mark as Played
June 19, 2025 • 33 mins
Today, we’re sharing a special episode from Endless Thread, a podcast from our friends at WBUR.
Brooke Eby was 33 when she was diagnosed with ALS. Since then, she’s gained a huge following for her honest and often hilarious videos about the realities of living with the disease. In this episode, Brooke speaks with Endless Thread hosts Ben Brock Johnson and Amory Sivertson about the long road to her diagnosis, how humor has helped ...
Mark as Played
June 12, 2025 • 23 mins
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement is making itself known in Massachusetts. Federal immigration officials say they’ve arrested nearly 1,500 people over the last month in what they're calling, “Operation Patriot.” ICE officers have taken people off the streets, on their way to school, and from courthouses. They’ve made it clear that the Commonwealth is a target. Today on Say More, Boston Globe Politics Reporter Samant...
Mark as Played
June 5, 2025 • 25 mins
With the moving of tassels and tossing of caps, the school year has come to a close at Harvard. And what a tumultuous year it has been. President Donald Trump has gone to war with the nation's most elite university. The White House has canceled a sweeping array of grants and contracts worth billions of dollars with no plans to let up. Then, in late May, Trump moved to prohibit international students from enrolling at Harvard. Harva...
Mark as Played
May 29, 2025 • 33 mins
When we think about being young, we picture a time of exploration and discovering who we are. What we don't picture? Cancer. But there's a worrying trend in the cancer world with young adults getting cancer at higher rates, and scientists don't know why.
Kelly Spill was 28 years old when she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. She was pregnant when she first noticed symptoms. Doctor after doctor told her not to worry. When she...
Mark as Played
May 22, 2025 • 31 mins
For years, journalist Larry Ingrassia thought his family was tragically unlucky. His mother, two sisters, and brother all died of cancer. Later in life, he understood it was no coincidence: threaded throughout his family’s DNA was a hereditary cancer gene, vastly increasing their risk of the deadly disease. In this episode, Shirley talks to Larry about the moment he discovered the cause, the difficult choice of getting himself test...
Mark as Played
May 15, 2025 • 30 mins
Cancer doctor Barrett Rollins only discovered the extent of his wife’s advanced cancer when she collapsed at work, revealing a football sized breast tumor. Barrett’s wife Jane, also a world-class cancer researcher, confounded her entire community when it was revealed that she had hidden her own cancer diagnosis for years, only sharing the truth when it was too late. On this episode of The C-Word: Stories of Cancer, Shirley and Barr...
Mark as Played
May 8, 2025 • 29 mins
Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee became famous with his epic nonfiction book about cancer, “The Emperor of All Maladies.” The book shows that if there’s one constant in cancer research, it’s that it’s always changing. On this episode of “The C-Word: Stories of Cancer,” Shirley talks to Dr. Mukherjee about how his time living and working in Boston changed him as a doctor. They discuss the hopeful progress we’ve made in curing cancer - and t...
Mark as Played
May 1, 2025 • 29 mins
Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung is generally open about her personal life. But this is the first time she is talking publicly about her own experience with breast cancer. She was treated in Boston hospitals and underwent a mastectomy. Like so many others, she will spend the rest of her life getting tested to make sure she stays cancer-free. In this first episode of The C-Word: Stories of Cancer, Shirley talks about the things ...
Mark as Played
April 24, 2025 • 27 mins
If it's an important slice of American history, you can bet Ken Burns has made a documentary about it. The list is nearly endless. From baseball to jazz, Mark Twain to Ernest Hemingway, the Civil War to the Dust Bowl. Now, he's going back to the beginning. Burns’s upcoming documentary series, out later this year, will explore the Revolutionary War with a focus on the lesser-known characters of the revolution. Burns tells the Globe’...
Mark as Played
April 17, 2025 • 53 mins
Today, we’re sharing the first episode of the brand new podcast Spotlight: Snitch City, produced by The Boston Globe's award-winning Spotlight team.
In this specific episode, you’ll find yourself on the docks of New Bedford, Massachusetts, hearing whispers about a rogue police officer harassing fishermen and stealing drugs, all of which come to a head one late night aboard a scalloping boat. The officer forces his way on board, sa...
Mark as Played
April 10, 2025 • 31 mins
When it comes to the war on drugs, you could say the police are addicted to confidential informants. That’s the conclusion of a new Boston Globe Spotlight investigation into the pervasive and shadowy world of this police practice that is widely used and barely regulated. The story starts in New Bedford Massachusetts, where use of informants has had dramatic consequences. This week on Say More, podcast host Jazmin Aguilera speaks to...
Mark as Played
March 30, 2025 • 31 mins
Being a working parent can be a rewarding joy, but it’s also an endless challenge. This week, Say More is happy to share its first LIVE show, recorded from the Boston Globe’s inaugural Working Mothers Summit in Boston. In the episode, Shirley talks to Mayor Michelle Wu about her decision to parent in public, even bringing baby Mira on stage. Then, Shirley sits down with state Attorney General Andrea Campbell about her office’s effo...
Mark as Played
March 27, 2025 • 27 mins
Canadian Journalist Stephen Marche says he’s experiencing the most powerful moment of Canadian politics in his lifetime. The trigger has been Donald Trump’s presidency and his antagonistic stance towards Canada, one of the US’s closest historic allies and trading partners. On this episode of Say More, Shirley talks to Marche about the ways Canadians are reacting to Trump’s aggression, their fear and heartbreak, and what the future ...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.