Right now the political focus is on the 2020 presidential election and the charismatic new members of the 116th Congress. Meanwhile, here at home the current class of newly elected state legislators is settling in and already making waves. This full hour we’re getting to know three of the Bay State’s newest lawmakers — a small sample of the first-time members of the Massachusetts' House of Representatives who say they are ready to make a difference in their communities and for their constituents.

Guests:

Liz Miranda - State Representative from Massachusetts' 5th Suffolk District.

Tram Nguyen - State Representative from the 18th Essex District.

Patrick Kearney - State Representative from the 4th Plymouth District.

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You can find our show, links to stories we discussed today and bonus content on the web

Connect with us on social media:

Twitter: @CallieCrossley

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UndertheRadarWGBH/

Our engineer is Doug Shugarts.

Franziska Monahan is our producer.

Under the Radar is a production of WGBH.

This week on Under the Radar with Callie Crossley – UMass Boston professors protest plans to develop the Bayside Expo Center. Everett officials say the city’s director of its gym and wellness center faked her credentials. And will a Vietnamese cultural district be designated in Dorchester? It’s our local news round table!

Guests:

Jennifer Smith - News editor of the Dorchester Reporter.

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.

Later in the show…

At a time when many students are not sure college is the best option, trade schools offer an alternative path to top careers. And, in a world where services are increasingly automated and things made disposable, there is a renewed appreciation for artisan and handmade goods. All of this is great news for Boston’s North Bennet Street School, which has been offering crafts and trades training to students for almost 140 years. The school is now entering its latest era under the leadership of a new president.

Guests:

Miguel Gomez Ibanez - Former architect, furniture maker and outgoing president of the North Bennet Street School. He oversaw the school from 2006 until December of 2018.

Sarah Turner - President of the North Bennet Street School. Her tenure began in December, 2018. Previously Sarah worked with a number of institutions including the Rhode Island School of Design and the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan.

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You can find our show, links to stories we discussed today and bonus content on the web

Connect with us on social media:

Twitter: @CallieCrossley

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UndertheRadarWGBH/

Our engineer is Doug Shugarts.

Franziska Monahan is our producer.

Under the Radar is a production of WGBH.

Valentine's Day is February 14th but GALENTINE’S Day is the day before. In honor of all the BFFs out there, this week on Under the Radar we’re diving into the under-examined realm of female friendships and the science behind them.

Guests:

Jacqueline Mroz – Journalist and science writer for the New York Times. She’s the author of Girl Talk: What Science Can Tell Us About Female Friendship.

Trisha Craig – UTR listener, professional flutist and best friend of Grace Moschetto.

Grace Moschetto - Owner of Grace Marie Beauty and BFFs with Trisha Craig for 41 years.

Marcy DeVeaux - Professor at California State University Northridge and Callie's own best friend of 37 years.

Later in the show…

On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress, was arrested after refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus. She was sitting in the so-called colored section of the bus, but according to the law was required to give up her seat if the white section was full. Her singular act of resistance inspired the Montgomery Bus Boycott, considered the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement, and ushered in Martin Luther King Jr.’s debut on the national stage. Rosa Parks’ protest earned her the title “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.”

Inspired by Rosa Parks’ resolve, a Braintree woman worked to pay homage to the civil rights icon with her own initiative – a new Massachusetts law requiring all MBTA buses to carry a decal honoring Parks.

Guests:

Natalie Ornell - who conceived the idea of the tribute. She is currently in a graduate teacher preparation program at Lesley University.

Tanisha Sullivan – President of the NAACP Boston Branch.

Russell Holmes - Massachusetts State Representative for the Sixth Suffolk District.

This week on Under the Radar with Callie Crossley – Will Chick-fil-A finally land in Boston? More than a third of transgender high school students attempt suicide and how do the Democratic primary candidates look from an LGBTQ standpoint? It’s those stories and more on our LGBTQ News Round Table.

Guests:

Grace Sterling Stowell - Executive director of the Boston Alliance of Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Youth, or BAGLY.

E.J. Graff – journalist, author and managing editor of the ‘The Monkey Cage’ at the Washington Post.

Janson Wu - Executive director of Boston GLAD, G-L-B-T-Q Legal Advocates & Defenders.

Later in the show…

Kim McLarin’s been thinking a lot about love and life lately. Now she’s sharing her stories and lessons learned in a volume of thirteen essays. McLarin puts her life on the page opening up about ill-fated online dating adventures, chronicling a journey to understand her depression and deconstructing the complications of interracial female friendships. Her book, Womanish: A Grown Black Woman Speaks on Love and Life is our February selection for “Bookmarked: The Under the Radar Book Club.”

Guest:

Kim McLarin - Emerson College professor and author of Womanish: A Grown Black Woman Speaks on Love and Life

This week on Under the Radar with Callie Crossley: A new poll reveals immigration has replaced healthcare as Americans’ top issue. Should Massachusetts adapt some of the House Democrats' anti-corruption bill, HR 1, at a state level? And the pool of presidential candidate hopefuls is only getting bigger - who's running, and who isn't?

We discuss these stories and more during our full hour conversation with three contributors to the Mass Politics Profs blog.

Guests:

Erin O’Brien - Associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Shannon Jenkins - Professor of political science at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

Luis Jimenez - Assistant Professor of Political Science at University of Massachusetts, Boston.

America’s proverbial melting pot is real. The story of who we are as Americans is one of multiple histories. But in the nation’s archives, where much of that history is preserved, African-Americans are not well represented. Now there is a two pronged campaign to get more families to donate personal papers and to get the nation’s archives to make their collections more inclusive.

Later in the show…

You may not know the details of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s life, but it’s likely you are familiar with his words and famous speeches. Reverend King was a talented orator, so good that some of his speeches are now considered to be among the best, ever. What exactly makes his speeches memorable, moving, and resonant? We go line by line with a rhetoric expert.

This week on Under the Radar with Callie Crossley – Local helpers give practical support to immigrants, New York has guaranteed affordable healthcare for all residents, regardless of immigration status; and Hawaii’s Latino population is up 80 percent.

Guests:

Marcela Garcia - Editorial writer for the Boston Globe.

Adriana Maestas – Southern California-based freelance writer covering Latino politics.

Later in the show…

It was a New England blizzard in the winter of 1891 which birthed the game of basketball in Springfield Massachusetts. Springfield College physical instructor James Naismith was desperate to keep his male students occupied indoors. In an inspired desperate move, he nailed two peach baskets to the walls of the gymnasium and handed the students a soccer ball - creating the game of basketball.

Just shy of a century later, Springfield also became the birthplace of Muslim womens’ basketball player, Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir. During her unstoppable high school and collegiate basketball career, Bilqis broke records and shattered boundaries, with her head covered in an hijab. She was on her way to an international professional basketball career until she was stopped by a little-known rule by FIBA, the international basketball federation. The rule banned headgear on the court, including hijabs.

A new documentary, Life Without Basketball, chronicling Bilqis’s fight against FIBA’s ban on hijabs premiered late last year and is now making the rounds in the festival circuit.

The next screening of Life Without Basketball will be at the Athena Film Festival in New York City Saturday, March 2nd at 2pm.

Guests:

Tim O’Donnell –The co-producer and co-director of Life without Basket Ball. Tim is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker and the founder of Boston-based production company, Pixela Pictura.

Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir – Basketball player, motivational speaker and the subject of Life without Basketball. Bilqis holds the Massachusetts all-time scoring record for women’s high school basketball and was the first Muslim woman to play NCAA collegiate basketball. 

This week on Under the Radar with Callie Crossley we discussed the mixed reactions to an East Falmouth syringe exchange program. We also talked about how new mothers are getting support from New Hampshire businesses. And Rhode Island revisits a plan to pay people to move there. It’s our regional news round table!

Guests:

Arnie Arnesen — host of WNHN's “The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen”

Philip Eil — freelance journalist in Providence, Rhode Island

Paul Pronovost — executive editor of the Cape Cod Times

Later in the show:

Former First Lady Michelle Obama’s book "Becoming" has been at the top of the New York Times bestseller list since it debuted in November. Her candid personal recounting of her story has impressed millions of fans who have read the book and flocked to 30,000-seat stadiums to hear her speak. Why has her story resonated with so many?

We asked two avid readers to help us explore that question in a discussion of her bestselling memoir.

Guests:

Janet Axelrod is on the board of the Cambridge Public Library Foundation. When she’s not reading, you might find her practicing with her drumming group called SheBoom.

Bettye Freeman, the former assistant dean for Academic and Student Affairs at Northeastern Law School, is now happily retired and able to indulge her reading habit. She is a member of the 30-year-old Literary Sisters Book Club, the second oldest black woman’s book club in greater Boston.

When you hear the word “incubator,” it may not bring to mind images of innovative food businesses developing tasty treats in a Dorchester warehouse. But that’s exactly what CommonWealth Kitchen is – headquarters for local culinary start-ups.

Since we first aired this segment in August of 2017, CommonWealth Kitchen opened The Dining Car, a brick and mortar takeout window in Kendall Square. The Dining Car features members of the incubation community on a rotating basis to give aspiring food business professionals a chance to test their menus and experience running a physical business.

Guests:

Jen Faigel - Executive director of CommonWealth Kitchen in Dorchester

Cassandria Campbell - Owner of Fresh Food Generation

Celeste Croxton-Tate - Owner of Lyndigo Spice

Later in the show…

This month state public safety officials launched an informational campaign focused on the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol, weed or other drugs. It’s the first driving safety campaign since recreational marijuana became legal in Massachusetts. It’s accompanied by an increased police effort to enforce impaired driving rules on the road this holiday season.

But substance abuse isn’t the only danger to keep in mind while traveling to and from home during the holidays. About 1 in 4 car accidents in the US is caused by texting and driving. And currently there is no law in Massachusetts requiring the use of hands-free cell phone technology while driving.

In July we spoke with Alyson Lowell, who lost her 20-year-old daughter Gabriella in June when a driver took his eyes off the road to glance at his phone. But in the midst of her grief she chose to speak before the state’s lawmakers, in favor of legislation which would require drivers to use hands free technology for their cell phones. Similar laws are already in place in 16 other states. But as it stands, a bill requiring hands-free devices while driving is stuck in the House Ways and Means committee.

Guests:

Emily Stein - President of Safe Roads Alliance

Alyson Lowell - Mother of Gabriella Lowell, who was killed by a driver looking at his cell phone

All this hour Mike Wilkins shares his latest compilation 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 “This Christmas.” Nope, for his 29th annual collection of songs you never heard of Mike has once again rescued vinyl one hit wonders from the dusty bins of holiday music recordings. This is Mike’s Wayward Wassailing, a Yuletopia recording.

Guest:

Mike Wilkins - Radio engineer for The World and experienced Christmas music collector.