President Biden makes good on a campaign promise, issuing an executive order banning discrimination of sexual orientation and gender identity. Correcting the record on the historic importance of newly confirmed and openly gay Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Plus, the Human Rights Campaign highlights recent dramatic strides towards workplace equality.

Those stories and more on our LGBTQ News Round Table.

Guests:

Later in the show:

At first glance, Mama, Ella and Kevin seem to live in a here and now achingly familiar to a number of Black families. But very quickly, "Riot Baby" reveals itself to be a time-traversing tale of the future infused with the frustration and rage linked to incidents of the recent past. Author Tochi Onybuchi takes readers on the journey of siblings navigating their past, current and future worlds. "Riot Baby" is our February selection for “Bookmarked: The Under the Radar Book Club."

Guest:

Latinas shared the spotlight at last week's presidential inauguration - with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor swearing in Vice President Kamala Harris followed by Jennifer Lopez’s bilingual medley of patriotic songs.

Here in Massachusetts, demands for Governor Charlie Baker to prioritize COVID-19 vaccinations for Latino communities, where the virus is widespread.

And local Latinx leaders see opportunities in open positions for state rep and Boston mayor.

That and more on our Latinx roundtable.

Guests:

Julio Ricardo Varela, digital editor for the Futuro Media Group, co-host of the “In The Thick” podcast, and founder of Latino Rebels.

And Marcela Garcia, editorial writer, columnist, and board member at the Boston Globe.

Later in the show:

Glory, a word that radiates magnificence, is exactly what photographers Kahran and Regis Bethencourt wanted to depict in their new book, "GLORY: Magical Visions of Black Beauty."

The book, a collection of more than 100 photos of Black children from around the world, shatters traditional standards of beauty and showcases multiple expressions of Black hair and Black beauty. It comes at a time when the nation is grappling with issues of race and racism.

The husband and wife duo behind "GLORY" say they hope the images and essays in the book will help Black children to celebrate themselves and other non-Black readers to see the versatility and power of Black beauty.

Guests:

Kahran and Regis Bethencourt, photographers and the owners of CreativeSoul Photography, in Atlanta, Georgia, and authors of "GLORY: Magical Visions of Black Beauty."

Shanna Thomasson, owner and hairstylist at Red Mystique Art in Atlanta, who styled the cover and other work in “GLORY.”

SHOW OUTRO

Under the Radar with Callie Crossley is a production of GBH, produced by Hannah Uebele and engineered by Dave Goodman.

They were just two of the thousands of students who each year arrive in Boston for college. He, the heir to a historic ministry, she the poor small-town girl with big music dreams. In 1950s Boston, Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott met and fell in love in what became the early stages of a lifelong commitment to each other and to the civil rights movement. Their Boston story is captured in the documentary film, "Legacy of Love.”

Guests:

Roberto Mighty, writer, producer, and director of "Legacy of Love."

Reverend Walter Fluker, the Martin Luther King Jr. Professor Emeritus at Boston University.

"Legacy of Love" will re-broadcast on Thursday, January 21st at 10:30pm on GBH 2.

LATER IN THE SHOW:

The Montgomery Bus Boycott catapulted the young Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to leadership in the civil rights movement. History and fate linked him to Rosa Parks and to local civil rights advocates the Gray brothers — attorney Fred Gray and activist Thomas Gray.

Now, niece and daughter Karen Gray Houston profiles her family’s involvement in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the movement that changed America.

“Daughter of the Boycott: Carrying on a Montgomery Family's Civil Rights Legacy” is our January selection for “Bookmarked: The Under the Radar Book Club.”

This was a labor of love for author Karen Gray Houston, a retired Washington, D.C. WTTG-TV reporter, who got her start in Boston working for United Press International.

SHOW OUTRO

Under the Radar with Callie Crossley is a production of GBH, produced by Hannah Uebele and engineered by Dave Goodman.

A note to our listeners:

There are just days to go before President-elect Joe Biden takes the oath of office, as the country continues to navigate political upheavals from Georgia to Washington, D.C. What's the fallout from a historic Senate election and a sitting president's overt campaign to overthrow certified election results?

And locally, state lawmakers are calling a Massachusetts climate bill the strongest measure of its kind in the country.

We discuss these stories and more in our politics roundtable.

Guests:

Erin O’Brien is an associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Luis Jiménez is an assistant professor of political science at University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Shannon Jenkins is the interim assistant dean of the college of arts and sciences at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and professor of political science.

SHOW CREDITS:

Under the Radar with Callie Crossley is a production of GBH, produced by Hannah Uebele and engineered by Dave Goodman.

This is a special encore edition of Under the Radar with Callie Crossley. This segment originally aired on October 15, 2017.

Intersectionality may be a buzz word in the news, personal essays and protest marches now, but it wasn’t a well-known concept until scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw developed and presented the theory in the 1980s. Crenshaw is a leading scholar in the fields of critical race theory and women’s studies, and a law professor at UCLA and Columbia University.

As a result of the excellence of her work, Crenshaw was awarded the 2017 Gittler Prize from Brandeis University, which is granted to scholars whose work makes a lasting contribution to racial, ethnic or religious relations. This is the latest of Crenshaw's awards and honors which include a fellowship at Stanford, two professor of the year awards at UCLA, a spot on Ebony's Power 100 and the number one spot on Ms. magazine's feminist heroes of 2015.

In our conversation 3 years ago Crenshaw explained her theory of intersectionality, and how has it evolved and grown outside of the scholastic world.

Later in the show:

This is a special encore edition of Under the Radar with Callie Crossley. This segment originally aired on June 19, 2020.

In Black families, it’s known as “The Talk” — the discussion Black parents have with their kids about what to do should they end up in an interaction with a police officer. "The Talk" took on a new poignancy in 2020 on Father’s Day as the nation mourned George Floyd, killed at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, and demonstrators protested the police killings of unarmed black men.

Guests:

Emmett G. Price III, professor of worship, church and culture, and founding executive director of the Institute for the Study of the Black Christian Experience at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Matt Prestbury, founder of the Black Fathers Foundation, creator of the Black Fathers Facebook group, and educator in the Howard County public school system.

Show Credits:

Under the Radar with Callie Crossley is a production of GBH, produced by Hannah Uebele and engineered by Dave Goodman.

It's our annual spinning of holiday tunes with our own Mike Wilkins, radio engineer for PRX's and GBH's "The World."

All this hour, GBH’s intrepid holiday music collector shares his new finds of old songs that are quirky, weird, and just a little bit extra. These are not the traditional carols from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, or even new traditional favorites like Mariah Carey’s "All I Want For Christmas Is You." Nope, for his annual collection of songs you never heard of, Wilkins has once again rescued vinyl one-hit-wonders from the forgotten bins of overlooked B-sides, and highlighted a few new tunes that might become classics. And this season — his 31st year of Jinglebell melodies — Wilkins' collection gives a nod to 2020’s overwhelming impact.

Show Credits:

Under the Radar with Callie Crossley is a production of GBH, produced by Hannah Uebele and engineered by Dave Goodman.

Thirty years ago, East and West Germany reunited after the fall of the Soviet Union. It was 1990, the same year The World Wide Web debuted, plus singer Mariah Carey’s blockbuster hit, "Vision of Love," kicked off her career. And President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) banning discrimination against millions of Americans in education, transportation, and public accommodations. Three decades later, the 1 in 4 adult Americans with disabilities have benefitted from the ADA’s protections. But the benefits are being threatened by the wide-ranging impact of COVID-19, and by the ever-widening inequities in health care and employment. In this 30th anniversary year of the passage of the ADA, the disability rights movement looks back to the bill’s legacy and ahead to new challenges.

Guests:

Kristen McCosh, commissioner of the Disabilities Commission for the City of Boston.

Michael Stein, executive director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability and visiting professor at Harvard Law School.

Jeffrey Yasuo Mansfield, design director at MASS Design Group and a Disability Futures Fellow.

Plus, American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, Aaron Wegehaupt, joined to facilitate communication between everyone.

This is the time of good cheer and goodwill towards all — the season of giving. 75 percent of Americans say they give to charities during December, but more of them are choosing to give directly to individuals. And the pandemic has disrupted the way charities connect with donors. Blame COVID-19 for this year’s smaller number of Salvation Army red kettle bell ringers. Now, at a time when the need is at historic levels, charities are at risk of losing the nearly one third of their annual donations, traditionally collected this month. What’s more, 2020 has changed how giving happens, who donors give to, and reshaped the reasons why they give.

Guests:

Bobby Whithorne, director of North America Communications for GoFundMe, an American for-profit crowdfunding platform.

Laura Gee, behavioral economist and associate professor of economics at Tufts University.

Show Credits:

Under the Radar with Callie Crossley is a production of GBH, produced by Hannah Uebele and engineered by Dave Goodman.

A special one-hour edition of Bookmarked: The Under the Radar Book Club. Today, 'Saving Bookstores.'

When COVID-19 forced shutdowns in March, independent bookstores saw an immediate 8 percent overall drop in book sales from last year. But soon Americans returned to reading and buying books. However, some bookstores were forced to close before they could benefit from the uptick in sales. Others are still struggling to recover - scrambling to adapt so they can live to fight another day. Hundreds of independent bookstores have closed their doors for good - one a week according to a recent survey by the American Booksellers Association. But some local bookstores are making it work. We talk to three local independent bookstore owners, during Part One of the show.

Guests:

Christina Ciampa, owner of the All She Wrote Books in Somerville, Mass.

Kate Layte, owner of Papercuts Bookshop in Boston, Mass.

Matt Tannenbaum, owner of The Bookstore in Lenox, Mass.

And featuring Leonard and Clarrissa Egerton, the husband and wife owners of Roxbury’s Frugal Bookstore, the only Black-owned bookstore in Boston, Mass.

Maybe you’ve seen the national ad campaign called “Don’t Box Out Bookstores.” It’s an effort by the American Booksellers Association to encourage book lovers and bookstore supporters to buy independent, especially this holiday season. Earlier in the show, we heard from three local bookstore owners about how they are managing to survive. Now two guests who are working toward the long-term existence of independent bookstores.

Guests:

Alex Meriweather, general manager of the Harvard Book Store in Cambridge, Mass.

Sarah High, partnerships manager of Bookshop.org, a new national organization a bringing together bookstores across the country.

Show Credits:

Under the Radar with Callie Crossley is a production of GBH, produced by Hannah Uebele and engineered by Dave Goodman.

Boston’s Chinatown lost a pillar of its community this summer. MIT professor emeritus Tunney Lee, an urban planner, architect, and historian died in July of complications from cancer.

Lee immigrated from China in 1938 at the age of seven. He spent his life shaping the growth of his Boston neighborhood, always working to preserve its history with an eye toward the future. Tunney Lee's research focused on community-based design and engagement. His Boston Chinatown Atlas, an interactive online platform, documents the history of Boston's Chinatown. Urban planners and historians say the Atlas is a one-of-a-kind project which will teach new generations about their city’s history.

Guests:

Angie Liou, executive director of the Asian Community Development Corporation.

Brent D. Ryan, head of the City Design and Development Group, and associate professor of Urban Design and Public Policy in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

Stephanie Fan, founding board member of the Chinese Historical Society of New England.

Later in the show:

As the cold weather sets in, we’re welcoming a winter wonderland of wines. But the wine world has also turned sour, as master sommeliers face their own "Me Too" movement. Plus, fall food trends are abundant for foodies this season, everything from avocado milk to a recent spice boom.

Our food and wine experts weigh in on these stories and more.

Guests:

Jonathon Alsop, founder and executive director of the Boston Wine School and author of “The Wine Lover’s Devotional.”

Amy Traverso, food editor at Yankee Magazine, co-host of GBH’s “Weekends With Yankee” and author of “The Apple Lover’s Cookbook.”

Show Credits:

Under the Radar with Callie Crossley is a production of GBH, produced by Hannah Uebele and engineered by Dave Goodman.

Schools shift back to fully-remote learning in Boston, while parents and teachers seek innovative solutions. Plus, COVID-19 cases continue to spike in the state, further straining healthcare staffing levels. And for the first time ever, three jurists of color will soon serve on the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.

These stories and more in our Local News Roundtable.

Guests:

Gin Dumcius, digital editor for the Boston Business Journal.

Seth Daniel, senior reporter with the Independent News Group, which includes the Chelsea Record and Revere Journal.

Sue O’Connell, political commentator for NECN and co-publisher of Bay Windows and South End News.

Later in the show:

Boston is known for its history, but the people most well-known froim that history are largely white and male — think Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and Henry David Thoreau. Some of that has changed during recent decades as Boston's all Black 54th regiment, for example, has helped highlight the area's African American history. Still, most Boston guidebooks will lead you to the Freedom Trail, and past sites where events like the Boston Tea Party occurred. But is there more to know beyond these well-told narratives? Three local co-authors present a new guidebook, one that offers an expanded history to the region. ‘A People’s Guide to Greater Boston,’ features sites associated with oppression and resistance, focusing on the overlooked stories of underrepresented communities.

Guests:

Joseph Nevins is a professor of geography at Vassar College.

Suren Moodliar is a coordinator of encuentro5, a movement-building space in downtown Boston, and managing editor of Socialism and Democracy, a journal of strategy.

Eleni Macrakis is a project manager at Homeowners Rehab Inc. (HRI), a non-profit affordable housing developer in Cambridge, MA.

Show Credits:

Under the Radar with Callie Crossley is a production of GBH, produced by Hannah Uebele and engineered by Dave Goodman.