"Ask what you can do for your country" - words President John F. Kennedy made famous during his 1961 inaugural address. President Kennedy promised to make public service a centerpiece of his administration. He helped create both the Peace Corps and Americorps. And most recently, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg offered up his plans to quadruple service opportunities by 2026. Buttigieg says record numbers of young people want to give back to their communities through the military, civil service or government.

Some of them already are. Through a collaborative program between three Boston Universities, the UNC School of Government and the National League of cities, a diverse group of young leaders is in the first class of a new kind of service program. Lead For America is preparing this group for high-impact positions in their hometown governments. The inaugural class of Lead For America Hometown Fellows recently completed their pre-service training in Boston and are headed off to their assignments for the next two years.

Guests:

Trevaughn Latimer - Recent graduate of Loyola University Chicago from St. Louis, Missouri.

Shandiin Herrera - Recent graduate of Duke University from Monument Valley, Utah.

Joe Grochmal - Recent graduate of Harvard University from Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

Later in the show…

In the late 1800s, Boston was the bicycling hub of the country. But around the turn of the century, the sport’s popularity dropped off almost completely for about 70 years. Now local residents are enthusiastically riding for fun, and responding to numerous campaigns in Boston promoting bicycling as a way to protect the environment by getting more cars off the road. Is this a return to the time of Boston’s bicycle craze?

Guests:

Lorenz (Larry) Finison – Public health consultant and bicycle historian. His latest book is Boston’s Twentieth-Century Bicycling Renaissance.

Becca Wolfson - Executive Director of the Boston Cyclists Union.