She’s uncovered unexpected connections between her field of algebraic combinatorics and other areas in math and physics, making significant contributions to numerous mathematical fields and forging groundbreaking, cross-disciplinary collaborations. Theoretical mathematician Lauren K. Williams is one of four local 2025 MacArthur “Genius” Fellows. We talk with Lauren K. Williams for our annual series, “The Genius Next Door.” 

District 7, one of Boston’s 9 city districts, was the most competitive race in September’s preliminary election. Eleven candidates fought to represent the district and to replace former District 7 City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson, who resigned after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges. One of the two candidates hoping to win the job will address the district’s top ongoing concerns: affordable housing, economic development and public safety. With just days to go before the November election, we’re taking a closer look at District 7’s political past and present history with people who know it well.

Thousands of Cabo Verdeans Americans have made their home in Greater Boston bringing with them the indigenous language of their ancestral homeland. Now through the efforts of a local retired teacher and writer, Cabo Verdean Creole has been captured in a dictionary – the formalization of a language that has been passed down primarily orally. In honor of the dictionary’s official publishing, we’re looking back on the conversation we had in January 2024 about the making of this dictionary and why it’s so important to Cabo Verdeans in the United States and abroad.

For the generation that weathered the AIDS epidemic and fought for same-sex marriage, finding community still poses a challenge. But in Boston, LGBTQ+ seniors have the Pryde — New England’s first affordable senior living community geared toward LGBTQ+ elders. A new GBH News documentary follows some of the Pryde’s first residents through the facility’s inaugural year. We proudly present an audio-only version of the documentary this week!

• Watch "Living In Pryde": https://www.youtube.com/@GBHNews

Ramon Lopez grew up on the U.S. border between Texas and Mexico, in a family of tireless working immigrants scraping to get by. Could young Ramon’s talents help change the future for himself and his family? In his new coming-of-age novel, “The Border Between Us,” author Rudy Ruiz chronicles Ramon’s story of heart and hope. It’s our October selection for Bookmarked: The “Under the Radar “Book Club” and part of our tribute to Hispanic Heritage Month. 

Sunday, October 5, marks the start of this year's Banned Books Week – an annual commemoration in support of free and open access to information. It’s a week celebrated 
by authors, publishers, teachers and book lovers across the country, including librarians, many of whom are under attack as they fight for the freedom to read. That fight is the subject of a new documentary coming to Boston later this month. We speak with award-winning and Oscar-nominated director Kim Snyder and librarian Audrey Wilson-Youngblood to learn more.

• Listen to all the stories that are part of our year-long series on the anti-book-banning movement in America -- Unbound Pages: gbhnews.org/unboundpages

Festivals around the country are holding off on annual celebrations for Hispanic Heritage Month due to the looming threat of ICE. Plus, a new poll shows President Donald Trump’s favorability is slipping with Latino voters. And Bad Bunny wraps up his epic Puerto Rico residency -- it's our Latinx news roundtable!

Few traditions are more sacred than marriage, but when complicated legacies are involved, few traditions are more stressful. “The Ceremony,” celebrated playwright Mfoniso Udofia’s sixth entry in the generation-spanning Ufot Family Cycle of nine plays, finds that complicated connection in the engagement between Nigerian-American Ekong Ufot and Nepali-American Lumanthi Rathi, simultaneously examining Ekong’s fractured relationship with his immigrant father Disciple. We speak with the playwright and the CHUANG Stage production's two leading actors.

Recent findings show that one-third of American high school seniors lack basic reading skills -- the lowest numbers in more than three decades. Could a shift to a more linguistics-centered educational approach help turn those numbers around? Plus, it’s Hispanic Heritage Month, which means it’s time again for the annual CineFest Latino Boston Film Festival. We speak with its founder and director along with two filmmakers whose documentary, "Comparsa," is kicking off the festival.

We’re exploring the latest headlines from Western, Central, and Eastern Massachusetts in our first Massachusetts news roundtable, including the latest in the off-shore-wind saga, consolidated high school football teams in the Berkshires and Holyoke as a non-sanctuary city. Then, Callie heads to Portland, Maine, to check out the Portland Museum of Art's new exhibit, “David C. Driskell: Collector," juxtaposing Driskell's work with some of his collected works, including pieces by celebrated artists like Lois Mailou Jones, Edward Mitchell Bannister and Romare Bearden.

• RSVP to our FREE Bookmarked LIVE! event at Parkside Bookshop happening Wednesday, September 17, at 6:30 p.m.: bit.ly/UTRParkside