What is the state of comedy like now in the state of Massachusetts as we emerge from the pandemic? In a year of such loss, increased violence against Asian Americans, and police brutality against Black lives, is it even okay to be funny? Well, if we ever needed a laugh it’s now, so we’re yukking it up with some local women comedians to kick off our summer fun series.

Guests:

Bethany Van Delft, founder of the “Artisanal Comedy” show, host of iHeart Radio’s “The Ten News” podcast, and co-host of NOVA and PBS’s Parentalogic digital series. She is a regular performer and producer at the Women in Comedy Festival in Boston and her debut comedy album “I’m Not a Llama” landed in 2019. She was named Boston Magazine’s “Best Comedian” in both 2019 and 2020.

Kelly MacFarland, a featured headliner for the Women in Comedy Festival in Boston for over a decade, and first runner up in the Boston Comedy Festival. Kelly has appeared on The Today Show, The View, Comedy Central, and NBC’s Last Comic Standing,  just to name a few. She has two comedy albums out, “Bombshell” and “You Woke up Today.”

Digging in the dirt and pulling up weeds is so last century. Whatever you thought about farming is being reimagined, with a new generation plowing the industry into the future. The tools and rural open spaces — which have so long defined traditional farming — are being left behind. More and more, today's farms are in urban areas — with vertical farming taking agriculture to new heights, while ocean farming expands the industry’s depths — all in a sustainable manner.

Guests:

Bren Smith — executive director and co-founder of GreenWave, a nonprofit that supports ocean farmers. Bren is also the owner of Thimble Island Ocean Farm and author of “Eat Like A Fish: My Adventures Farming the Ocean to Fight Climate Change."

Jon Friedman — chief operating officer and co-founder of Freight Farms, a Boston-based AgTech company that has spearheaded "container farming."

At first it seems like a familiar story of office politics, but very soon “The Other Black Girl” unfolds into a tension-filled tale exploring performative diversity policies, unconscious bias, microaggressions and old-fashioned backstabbing. Author Zakiya Dalila Harris’ pitch perfect dialogue, pop culture witticisms, and sharp-edged satire frames the plot of one Black woman’s path to success disrupted by the hiring of another Black woman. This twisty thriller of office intrigue may offer some of the most biting social commentary of 2021. “The Other Black Girl” is Zakiya Dalila Harris’ debut novel and our July selection for “Bookmarked: The Under the Radar Book Club.”

Guest:

Zakiya Dalila Harris, author of "The Other Black Girl."

This is an encore edition of Under the Radar with Callie Crossley. This segment originally aired June 19th, 2020.

A bicycling boom that emerged during the height of pandemic is still going strong, as people search for a socially distanced outlet for recreation and a safer mode of transportation. Most bike stores are besieged by the demand from would-be bike buyers for just about anything on two wheels. Mechanics, too, are overwhelmed by massive waitlists of customers’ requests for a tune-up on their old bikes -- some of which have been dragged out from the basement for the first time in years.

Three local cycling experts gave us the low-down on how a 19th century wheeled invention is leaving a lot of modern-day Teslas in the dust.

Guests:

Marty Miserandino, owner, manager, and buyer of Fit Werx, a top rated bicycle store and bike fitting studio in Peabody, Massachusetts.

Tom Rodi, marketing director for Parlee Cycles, a bicycle manufacturer based in Beverly, Massachusetts.

Becca Wolfson, executive director of the Boston Cyclists Union.

This is an encore edition of Under the Radar with Callie Crossley. This segment originally aired November 20, 2020.

Boston sure is known for its history – but the people most well known about the city 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 Boston'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 the facts of 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.

State lawmakers blocked Gov. Charlie Baker’s attempt to dole out billions in stimulus funds immediately, insisting the spending priorities should be determined jointly with legislative and community input. Sixteen candidates are eyeing one of four at-large seats for the Boston City Council — that's four candidates for each seat. And, state legislators are lobbying for a specific addition to the president's infrastructure bill: a high-speed bullet train from Boston to New York.

We’re spending the full hour with the Massachusetts Politics Profs.

Guests:

Erin O’Brien, associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Boston

Have you heard the buzz? It’s the start of Massachusetts Pollinator Week – a time when advocates seek to raise awareness about the vital role that bees and other pollinators play in our lives. Yet we're all feeling the sting as pollinators — and bees in particular — continue to rapidly decline. In Massachusetts alone, colonies of bees dropped by 47% last winter, according to Bee Informed Partnership.

But earlier this year, Massachusetts took steps to protect pollinators, becoming the first state in the country to regulate a specific harmful pesticide. Meanwhile, local beekeepers have become a political force in the state, teaming up with scientists, policymakers and everyday people to save the bees. They say if their effort fails, we just might be the ones who need saving.

Guests:

Rep. Carolyn Dykema - state representative of the 8thMiddlesex District in Massachusetts. She has been working on pollinator protection legislative for years.

Mary Duane - president of the Massachusetts Beekeepers Association, who has been beekeeping for over 20 years.

Noah Wilson-Rich – CEO and co-founder of The Best Bees Company, a Boston-based company that installs and maintains honeybee hives in urban centers across the country.

The Boston-based Roxbury International Film Festival, or RoxFilm, is back for its 23rd annual event. After last year's fully virtual festival, organizers are offering both outside and online screenings to make the films accessible to all attendees. The Roxbury Film Festival, New England’s biggest film fest dedicated to films by, for and about people of color, kicked off Thursday with a roster of 80 films — along with panel discussions and live Q&As. And this year, more than ever, the festival is aiming to take a celebratory look at Black folks in film.

Guests:

Corporate logos turned rainbow during this year's Pride Month, even as some of those same companies made hefty donations to anti-LQBTQ politicians. Instagram and LinkedIn now offer a profile section displaying users’ pronouns — will other platforms soon follow? Those stories and more on today's LGBTQ Roundtable.

Guests:

On Saturday, millions of people across America, including right here in Boston, will celebrate Juneteenth, first celebrated on June 19th, 1865. 156 years ago, the enslaved people in Texas found out they were free — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The event, which first had the most meaning for the people of Texas, has now become an observance that recognizes the history but also embraces the broader issue of the meaning of freedom today. Nearly every state in the country now recognizes the holiday, and this year, many employers gave staffers the day off.