The Common

Noche Buena means “Good Night” in Spanish. In Latino communities, Noche Buena is a celebration that takes place between Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, with friends, family, food, presents and dancing. Festivities usually go late into the night, or even all night long.

Today for The Common, WBUR Fellow Jacob Garcia took a trip to East Boston to ask folks about their favorite Noche Buena traditions.

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

It was a big year for food in Boston. In 2023 the city saw major restaurant openings, some cool innovations and some heartbreaking closures.

Today, we're grabbing lunch with Erika Adams, editor for Eater Boston, to look back at a year of dining in the region.

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

Last week, Mayor Michelle Wu offered a first look at her housing production goal for the city of Boston during her first term. Her administration aims to produce about 13,000 new housing units, including 4,700 income-restricted units, between 2021 and 2025.

CommonWealth Beacon's Jennifer Smith joins The Common to further break down Mayor Wu's housing production goals, and what they could mean for the city's ongoing housing shortage.

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

Sound On is WBUR's series highlighting rising local musicians. In its latest installment, WBUR Senior Arts Reporter Amelia Mason profiles Boston-based indie rapper Pink Navel, who fuses hip-hop, video games and the creative power of play in their latest album "How To Capture Playful."

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

Last week, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health released its twice-annual overdose report, which indicates that overdose deaths for 2023 are set to be on par with the record-setting numbers the state saw in 2022. The DPH also endorsed controversial overdose prevention centers, where staff are present to supervise and, if needed, reverse overdoses as the first step towards reducing overdose deaths.

WBUR's Martha Bebinger has been reporting on addiction for over a decade. She joins The Common with a story on how one mother has taken overdose prevention into her own hands, supervising drug use in her own home to save lives.

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

The Harvard Corporation has announced it will stand by the school's president, Claudine Gay. Some U.S. lawmakers and alumni made calls for her resignation in response to Gay's recent testimony on Harvard's handling of anti-semitism on campus in the wake of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

WBUR Education Reporter Max Larkin joins The Common to discuss the university's decision and the road forward for Gay and the Harvard community.

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

Cognoscenti is WBUR’s ideas and opinion section where local experts, writers and thinkers of all kinds share their perspectives on a range of topics, from Taylor Swift to climate change. This year gave us plenty of things to ponder. So, as the year winds down, we reached out to Cognoscenti senior editor Cloe Axelson to talk to us about three themes from the year that resonated within the Cognoscenti community.

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

Seniors are healthier, better educated and living longer than in generations past. In his series "The Third Act," WBUR Senior Political Reporter Anthony Brooks tells the stories of people who have embraced these years of late and mid-life to improve and re-invented themselves.

Today, Anthony joins The Common with more on these stories, and what we can all take away from watching others age with purpose, regardless of our own life stage.

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

Last week, the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association approved a new contract with the City of Boston after 18 months of negotiations. The new contract makes it harder for officers involved in certain crimes to keep their jobs, provides some reforms to overtime pay and increases the base salary for officers over a five year period, among other measures.

WBUR State Politics Reporter Walter Wuthmann joins The Common with more on what's in the contract and what it means for policing in the city.

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

Boston is known for its host of historic landmarks, such as the Boston Tea Party and the USS Constitution, but there are also many historical stories and sites in the city that too often go unheard and unseen. Researcher and educator Joel Mackall seeks to change this through his Hidden History of Black Boston tours -- a series of driving and walking tours that highlight the city's often untold Black history.

WBUR reporter Arielle Gray joins The Common to discuss Mackall's Hidden History of Black Boston tour in the North End, which took her from the Rose Kennedy Greenway to the Copp's Hill Burying Ground.

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