Say More

Deep sea explorer Edie Widder will never forget her first dive into the deep ocean. The second she turned off the lights on her submersible, she was met with a light show, “like the Fourth of July.” She couldn’t believe her eyes as blue sparks, swirls, and flashes filled her vision. The lesson was one she would bring through years of her career: the deep ocean is not a barren wasteland; it’s a vibrant world teeming with life and light. This week on Say More, Widder talks to co-host Anna Kusmer about the inner-explorer within each of us, and the ways curiosity can trump fear. Email us at [email protected].

Janice Page thinks of life like water. It flows, and you find yourself in situations you never could have imagined. In her new memoir, The Year of the Water Horse, Janice draws a complex love story across cultures, biology, and oceans. The story starts in whitebread Massachusetts and ends in rural China for the adoption of her baby girl. This week on Say More, Janice rings in the Lunar New Year with host Shirley Leung. They talk about falling in love, mothers-in-law, and cosmic twinning. Email us at [email protected].

Liz Walker made her mark in Boston as the first Black woman to co-anchor a TV newscast. But now, her impact is much deeper. After leaving the TV host chair, Walker became the pastor of Roxbury Presbyterian Church, a historic church in Boston. While working at this church, Reverend Walker realized the true power of talking. She launched a group project called, “Can We Talk…” which mixes the community power of church with the power of talking. On this episode of Say More Rev. Walker talks to host Anna Kusmer about how she ended up back at church, her childhood in Little Rock, and what music is inspiring her right now. Email us at [email protected].

Higher education is in crisis. Trust in universities is low, tuition prices are out of reach for many Americans, and there are accusations of ideological bias on campus. Harvard University’s democracy expert Danielle Allen says this crisis is not just an educational problem, it threatens our entire country. Allen said she was excited to hear Trump calling for a new compact between the government and higher ed - but she has notes. This week on Say More, opinion page editor Jim Dao asks Allen about the roots of her interest in democracy and her answer takes us from ancient Greece to Cornel West’s Princeton office. Email us at [email protected].

What does justice mean when a mentally ill person takes a life? Before Lindsay Clancy killed her three children in Duxbury, there was another case. In 2018, a mother in Brockton, Latarsha Sanders, killed her two young sons while in the midst of a psychotic episode. But the tragedy didn’t end with their deaths. A dubious interrogation and a jury trial portraying Sanders as “evil” resulted in a first degree murder verdict. Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham revisits the trial with an overflowing reporter’s notebook. She shares her findings with Say More’s Shirley Leung. Email us at [email protected]. 

To read Yvonne’s 7-part series from the Boston Globe, start here.

President Trump 2.0 hit its first anniversary this week, and true to form, the President is making a splash. With ICE raids domestically, and brash confrontations of world leaders on the global stage, Trump is throwing his weight around, and continuing to push the limits of executive power. This week on Say more, opinion editor Jim Dao talks to Globe politics reporter James Pindell and Ideas writer Abdallah Fayyad about what the fallout of Massachusetts ICE raids could be, and what Trump’s call to Senator Elizabeth Warren portends. Email us at [email protected]. 

Freddy Guevara has been in exile for more than 5 years. As a leader of a major opposition party in Venezuela, he was targeted and jailed by the Maduro government. Now, he and many other Venezuelans are watching as Maduro faces charges in a US court. This week on Say More, Guevara talks to opinion page editor Jim Dao about how Venezuelans are feeling about Trump’s moves in their country, and other thoughts about the so-called international order. An expert on authoritarianism, Guevara offers some wisdom on what Americans can do to avoid an autocratic backslide. Email us at [email protected].

Writer Dennis Lehane has written iconic books set in the working class Boston neighborhoods of his childhood. His latest book, Small Mercies, takes on the violence and racism he saw during busing. He says the things he witnessed turned him into the writer he is today. This week on Say More, Anna Kusmer talks to Lehane about his new Apple TV+ show Smoke, what makes good writing, and movies with the worst Boston accents. Email us at [email protected].

From whistleblowing corporate malfeasance to tackling a mass shooter, courage takes many forms. What do we need to be our boldest selves? Is courage innate or can it be learned? This week on Say More, host Shirley Leung digs into the research with Harvard Business School professor Ranjay Gulati. His new book is called, “How to Be Bold: The Surprising Science of Everyday Courage.” Email us at [email protected].

Usually after a mass shooting, Ieva Jusionyte has a lot to say. Ieva is a scholar of gun violence at Brown University and is no stranger to the terrible power of firearms. But when a mass shooting took place at her place of work, in a building where she teaches, the words fell away. This week on Say More, Ieva talks to Opinion Editor Jim Dao about why solutions need to go beyond policy and address the deeper culture. Email us at [email protected]

Find Ieva’s recent piece for Globe Opinion here.