Author and Harvard Law Professor Randall Kennedy joins us to talk about his new book, a collection of essays titled, "Say It Loud: On Race, Law, History and Culture."

We break down the latest data to get a sense of where all five major candidates stand with Steve Koczela, president of MassINC Polling Group.

By week's end, kids and teachers mostly will be back in classrooms. While big employers like Liberty Mutual and John Hancock have delayed return to work until January, many offices are welcoming workers back now, too, at least gradually.

This hour on Radio Boston, we bring you three recent conversations about food, particularly food we enjoyed during this pandemic. From firing up the grill one last time, to pickling the bounties of summer for the fall, and enjoying winter cookies.

Our guests are former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift, now the president and executive director of LearnLaunch, and Gary Daffin, the executive director of the Multicultural AIDS Coalition, and the co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus.

Plus we 'Check The Score' on COVID and sports.

Retired federal judge Nancy Gertner has been struggling with some legal demons herself, and she wound up turning to people she'd sentenced to help her sort them out.

Not one, but two Boston sports stories are making national news this week. From the Patriots surprise release of quarterback Cam Newton, to the COVID outbreak in the Red Sox clubhouse, we'll take listener calls with Radio Boston's Chris Citorik and Khari Thompson, sports writer for Boston.com.

All this week, we've checked in with educators from around the state about what it means to have kids back in the building in this most unusual of years.

We take calls with Dr. Benjamin Linas, an infectious disease physician at Boston Medical Center and Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Medicine, and Dr. Katherine Gergen Barnett the vice chair of Primary Care Innovation and Transformation in the Department of Family Medicine at Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine.