Right this moment on Boston Public Radio:

We started the present by speaking about our fascination with scandal within the British royal household — and the way it distracts us from the fraying of democracy.

EJ Dionne weighed in on Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s contentious election for Home speaker final week, and pro-Bolsonaro riots in Brazil’s capital with claims of election fraud. Dionne is a columnist for the Washington Publish. He’s additionally a senior fellow at The Brookings Establishment. His newest e book is “100% Democracy: The Case For Common Voting.”

Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson shared their hopes on what Gov. Maura Healey ought to prioritize in Massachusetts transit, from security on the MBTA to strengthening the state’s roads and bridges. Aloisi is a former transportation secretary, a member of the Transit Issues Board, and a contributor to Commonwealth Journal. Thompson is the manager director of the Livable Streets Alliance.

Drs. Allison Bryant and Nicole Smith defined how an area doula program is making an attempt to handle maternal mortality disparities. Dr. Bryant is a maternal fetal medication specialist at Massachusetts Common Hospital and is senior medical director for well being fairness high quality and affected person expertise. Dr. Smith is a maternal fetal medication specialist at Brigham and Ladies’s Hospital.

The Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Value III shared their ideas on how congressmembers’ religions don’t mirror the various religions in trendy America, and a controversial firing of a professor who confirmed artwork of the Prophet Muhammad in a university course. Monroe is a syndicated faith columnist and the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Path. Value is founding pastor of Group of Love Christian Fellowship in Allston, and the inaugural dean of Africana Research at Berklee School of Music. Collectively they host GBH’s “All Rev’d Up” podcast.

Richard Blanco shared just a few poems from “Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology,” and mentioned Dolly Parton’s avid fanbase. Blanco is the fifth presidential inaugural poet in U.S. historical past and the primary poet laureate of Miami-Dade County. His newest assortment is “How To Love A Nation.”

We ended the present by speaking with listeners in regards to the newest COVID-19 surge.