THE CODCAST
Tune into spirited debate, local stories, and insightful analyses with The Codcast. Hosted each week by a CommonWealth Beacon reporter, the half-hour policy podcast delves into the heart of Massachusettsās most pressing and intriguing topics.
Hear newsmakers, historians, and policy experts tackle statewide housing struggles, immigration policies, little-known histories, surprising political fights, and even take to the sea to visit rising offshore wind turbines.
Trump’s mail-in-ballot order puts Massachusetts voters in the crosshairs
What does the latest executive order aimed at changing how people cast their votes mean for Massachusetts? Two lawsuits are currently working their way through District Court in the state challenging a directive from President Trump that the US Postal Service only deliver mail ballots to voters on a federal citizenship list.
š Listen nowThe growing movement to keep kids off social media
This week on The Codcast, two experts dive into what’s behind the surge in momentum for government regulation of social media use by minors.
š Listen nowThe grassroots campaign that changed health care
On the latest episode of The Codcast’s Health or Consequences, Paul Hattis interviews his normal co-host John McDonough and Cheri Andes about their work 20 years ago to secure passage of a landmark health care reform law.
š Listen nowWhat it means that a state ‘AI assistant’ will handle your data
This week on The Codcast, we dig into the new partnership between Massachusetts and OpenAI to roll out an AI assistant to help with daily governmental tasks. CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith is joined by Technology Secretary Jason Snyder, who says his goals include ādemocratizing innovationā and helping streamline bureaucratic systems like the DMV. Snyder discusses the contract with OpenAI, concerns around data privacy and bias in AI systems, and explains why the state is leaning so hard into AI adoption.
š Listen nowTrying to measure primary careās downward spiral
On the monthly Health or Consequences episode of The Codcast, John McDonough of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute talk with Barbra Rabson, president and CEO of Massachusetts Health Quality Partners. They discuss the primary care crisis, how data transparency improves patient outcomes, and tease upcoming recommendations from the primary care task force.
š Listen nowThe Bay State angle into the US Senate housing bill
This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Matt Noyes, director of state and federal advocacy for the Citizensā Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA). They dig into the Bay State implications of the sprawling bipartisan āmeatballā of a housing bill that recently passed the US Senate, and take a look at how efforts at home might interact with federal policy.
š Listen nowImmigration enforcement and declines in public school enrollment
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporters Jennifer Smith and Hallie Claflin discuss Claflinās latest piece on how immigration enforcement step ups are impacting school enrollment. They zero in on the stateās Gateway Cities, which are home to a disproportionate share of Massachusettsās immigrant population and are sounding the alarm over the psychological and fiscal effects of federal enforcement actions on their school communities.
š Listen nowHow energy affordability in Massachusetts reached crisis mode
This week on The Codcast, we unpack how increasingly expensive utility bills are shaping the energy debate in Massachusetts and reaching a fever pitch on Beacon Hill. With energy costs now the top household concern in the Bay State, how should policymakers respond to the affordability crisis as power demand is expected to rise and with the due date on ambitious climate commitments creeping closer? Our guests, Kyle Murray, director of state program implementation in Massachusetts at the environmental nonprofit Acadia Center, and Dan Dolan, president of the New England Power Generators Association, hash it all out.
š Listen nowHow ‘universal’ is universal pre-K?
This week on The Codcast, we dive into Gov. Maura Healey’s “Gateway to Pre-K” agenda. By the end of 2026, her administration declared that every family of a 4-year-old in the stateās 26 Gateway Cities would have the opportunity ā at low or no cost ā to enroll their child in a preschool program that prepares them for kindergarten. But local providers say they wonāt get there.
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