The Codcast

TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Stephanie Pollack is being likened by two of her predecessors to former governor Frank Sargent for her decision to replace the elevated section of the Massachusetts Turnpike between Boston University […]

Andrew Dreyfus, the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, is excited about a series of initiatives the state’s largest health insurer is pursuing to improve care while simultaneously […]

State leaders appear to be serious about finally passing new legislation this year that would update the state’s education funding formula for K-12 schools. But exactly what would a new funding bill […]

Two first-term legislators who tried unsuccessfully last week to change the way the speaker is selected say the fight for rules reform in the House is far from over. Rep. […]

Three leading transportation advocates – Jim Aloisi of TransitMatters, Chris Dempsey of Transportation for Massachusetts, and Stacy Thompson of the Livable Streets Alliance – ring in the new year on The Codcast with a […]

Jim Aloisi likes to write a holiday verse every year for CommonWealth, and this year he went all out. This year’s ditty is a clever take on linking the Red […]

Republican Jenn Nassour and Democrat Jesse Mermell tee up a year-end conversation for the final 2018 installment of “Disagreeing Agreeably” on the Codcast. To help them, they brought in guests […]

What’s it like to be in charge of nearly half the state budget? Extraordinarily humbling,” said Marylou Sudders. But don’t confuse humbling with cautious indecision or lack of tenacity. Gov. […]

Emily Rooney, who is celebrating her 20th year hosting Beat the Press on WGBH, says the biggest change she’s witnessed over that time period has been in the news-gathering business […]

The head of the MBTA’s oversight board says the hoped-for transformation of the transit agency has a long way to go yet. “We’re still at the very beginning,” says Joseph […]

Some people may have been taken aback by the overflow crowd of 350 people who showed up earlier this month for a Boston City Council hearing in Roxbury to hear […]

It feels like an odd time to be celebrating charter school success in Massachusetts, but that’s just what Cara Candal does in a new book that not only touts the […]

Massport is developing a number of initiatives to improve the experience of getting to and from Logan International Airport while simultaneously reducing congestion. The authority’s focus on congestion is understandable. […]

Republican Jennifer Nassour and Democrat Jesse Mermell call their version of the Codcast “disagreeing agreeably,” but there is no disagreement on this pre-election edition. They talk about the shortage of […]

Mark Twain once famously observed, “Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it.” The irony is, of course, there’s nothing much you can do about it but […]

The Massachusetts president of National Grid defends the nearly four-month lockout of 1,250 workers by saying the company is doing what it needs to do to bring its costs in […]

All the talk in Massachusetts about the referendums before voters next month focuses on Questions 1 and 3, with little acknowledgement that there’s a number missing in between. However, unlike […]

FRANK BELLOTTI IS 95, the kind of 95 you’d want to be if you live to be 95. Trim, tan, sharp of mind (but perhaps slower of gait), Bellotti joined […]

Even in a year when women are expected to make strong political gains, there are no guarantees. Beth Lindstrom, who came in third in the Republican primary for US Senate, […]

The “bro” culture of pot is a dominant image of marijuana. Cheech and Chong are the dudes who most represent the “stoner” generation while the legal industry is increasingly seeing […]

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Gonzalez filled in one big missing piece of his campaign platform last week, a plan for how to pay for the new investments in transportation and […]

Everett wanted to launch a dedicated bus lane, so Mayor Carlo DeMaria Jr. just did it in December 2016. No community meetings or endless analysis. DeMaria gave residents four days […]

“Politics, Ideas & Civic Life in Massachusetts” has been the tagline describing the focus of CommonWealth’s coverage since the magazine was launched 22 years ago. We didn’t say it explicitly, […]

Two Democrats — Quentin Palfrey and Jimmy Tingle — are vying for the September 4 nomination for lieutenant governor. The winner will be paired with the victor in the party’s […]