Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives. 

Insects are disappearing at a concerning rate — from 1% to 2% in many places, and up to 10% in others. Some of those insects are pollinators, which are key players in supporting 35% of our food supply. Today, those pollinators, like bees and butterflies, need our help.

WBUR Senior Climate and Environment Correspondent Barbara Moran joins The Common with more on the importance of pollinators, and a guide to what you can do to support pollinators in your own yard, garden or even from your apartment fire escape.

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

Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives. 

Public libraries have evolved over the decades to connect people with far more than books on shelves. Many libraries, including those within the Boston Public Library system, often fill gaps in social services.

Boston Public Libraries' Michael Colford, director of library services, joined The Common to discuss how the robust resources of the city's libraries can help you out in unexpected ways.

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

Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives. 

The Black population in Greater Boston continues to grow, especially in communities outside of the city, and it's becoming one of the most diverse Black populations of any metro area in the nation. This is according to a new report from Boston Indicators and Embrace Boston titled, Great Migration to Global Immigration: A Profile of Black Boston.

Report co-author James Jennings joins The Common for a deeper look at how the region's Black population continues to grow and change.

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

Today’s episode is another from the vault. It’s our conversation with WBUR’s José Massó, host of ¡Con Salsa!, which has been on the air for nearly 50 years.

Jose stopped by the studio last year after he made Amplify Latinx’s inaugural ALX100 list, which recognizes leaders from the Massachusetts Latinx community. We discussed the ALX100 honor and ¡Con Salsa's! impact on Greater Boston over the decades.

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

Team Common is hard at work preparing for our new weekly schedule starting soon. But in the meantime, we’re bringing you some episodes from our archives to help you get your local news fix.

In this episode, first published about a year ago, we talk to HEESU, the singer-songwriter behind our theme song, ME. HEESU, who originally hails from Seoul, was WBUR’s 2021 Tiny Desk Contest favorite and is a Berklee College of Music alum.

HEESU joined us to talk about her music, her influences and her experiences studying music in Boston.

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

It's another show from our archives, today with WBUR reporter Martha Bebinger.

You know that broken thing you have sitting in your closet that you just don't have the heart to throw away? It could be a broken lamp, a dead watch or a pair of scissors that's a little dull. Well, chances are there's a helpful neighbor nearby who would love to fix it up for you at one of the region's Repair Cafes. Martha joins The Common with more on the Repair Cafe movement and the folks behind it.

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

Today’s episode is another from our archives. Last year, we took a trip to Mei Mei Dumpling Factory and Cafe following the grand re-opening of its first brick-and-mortar location since the pandemic. We met up with Mei Mei co-founder and James Beard Leadership Award-winning chef Irene Li for a tour of the facility, a discussion on the changing restaurant landscape of Boston and of course, some delicious dumplings. 

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

The Common team is taking a beat to rest and recharge this Memorial Day weekend. But to keep your podcast feeds fresh, we’re getting a little help from our friends in the WBUR newsroom with a feature.

It’s by WBUR Arts and Culture correspondent Andrea Shea. Andrea recently visited the Huntington Theatre for a sneak peek at its newest production ‘Toni Stone,’ which tells the true story of the first female baseball player to ever join a professional men’s baseball team in the 1950s.

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

Team Common announced a few weeks back that the show will transition to a once-a-week podcast this summer as part of some larger changes happening at WBUR. We are hard at work on this transition now. So, for the next few weeks we will be featuring some episodes from The Common's archive, while we focus on bringing the newest iteration of the show into the world and your podcast feeds very soon.

With allergy season's vengful return, we take a look back at our discussion with Dr. Gaurab Basu, a primary care physician and director of education and policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment. We talked with Dr. Basu about the connection between climate change and allergies, and what you can do to mitigate your symptoms as the season continues.

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

The Instagram account Boston Urban Archive offers a look at the history of the city's communities of color. Ebony Gill created the page in December of 2023, while she was a student at University of Massachusetts Boston. Since then, the account has garnered more than 30,000 followers with images that take viewers down Boston's memory lane.

WBUR Reporter Arielle Gray visited UMass Boston's Healey Library to document Ebony at work for our Field Guide to Boston. She joins The Common to talk to us about the experience, and what is gained when we shine a light on these parts of the city's history.

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