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 their decriminalization could mean for Massachusetts.

Today, we’ll delve into the past with Andrew Green Hannon, an adjunct lecturer at Emerson College who holds a Ph.d from Yale University’s American Studies Program. His research focuses on the American counterculture and the New Left, and he is a local expert on psychedelics.

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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 circumstances.

Tiana Woodard of The Boston Globe joins The Common to discuss.

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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.

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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...

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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.

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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 for engaging with local Caribbean communities.

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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 the nine-month stay limit and how the state plans to spend the additional money on the family shelter system. 

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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 financial struggles. He joins The Common to discuss what is behind the cuts, and what lies ahead for the station. Also, host Darryl C. Murphy makes an announcement about upcoming changes to the show.

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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 Senior Education Reporter Carrie Jung joins The Common to discuss the students' demands and how the city and campus communities are responding to this latest phase of protest.

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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 member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.

Greater Boston’s weekly podcast where news and culture meet.