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 spoke with Dr. Kiame Mahaniah, Massachusetts secretary of Health and Human Services, about looming Medicaid cuts, the primary care crisis, and how to make sure the vulnerable can still access health services.
Codcast
Posted inThe Codcast
Blocking and tackling with Massport CEO Rich Davey
This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Rich Davey, who just finished his first year as CEO of Massport. They talk about his long history of ground transportation work, plans to improve air travel, and whether Boston actually could have handled the 2024 Olympics.
Posted inThe Codcast
After ruling on consumer protection violations, BlueHub digs in its heels
This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Elyse Cherry, CEO of BlueHub Capital, to discuss the recent court decision that BlueHub violated consumer protection statutes around lending. Where does the case go next, and why did lawmakers push for new rules tailored to BlueHub’s controversial lending practices?
Posted inThe Codcast
Restoring blighted properties is easier said than done in Western Mass.
This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon editor Laura Colarusso sits down with Gateway Cities reporter Hallie Claflin to talk about her recent reporting in Holyoke – where city leaders and housing developers have struggled to restore vacant mills and blighted industrial buildings.
Posted inThe Codcast
Can Mass. turn the health care crisis around?
John McDonough and Paul Hattis welcome Eric Dickson, president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health, to discuss the primary care crisis and a troubling federal landscape. Dickson lays out a grim picture of health care in Massachusetts if the state and federal trajectory does not change.
Posted inThe Codcast
The good, the bad, and the uncertain in Trump’s tax bill
CommonWealth Beacon executive editor Michael Jonas talks with reporter Jennifer Smith about a series of stories parsing the sprawling Trump tax and spending bill. They discuss why it’s so hard to know if Opportunity Zones have been effective, and why affordable housing advocates are mixed on the administration’s approach to low-income renters.
Posted inThe Codcast
Massachusetts leans into artificial intelligence
This week on The Codcast, it’s the state angle on artificial intelligence. CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Sabrina Mansur, director of the Massachusetts Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hub. Mansur explains how she uses AI in her daily life and why keeping Massachusetts competitive means a $100 million taxpayer-funded effort to get into the AI race.
Posted inThe Codcast
Reconsidering school receivership
CommonWealth Beacon executive editor Michael Jonas joins reporter Jennifer Smith to trace the last decade in state takeovers of local school districts. The results, as Jonas has reported, are a far cry from a silver bullet to fix struggling schools.
Posted inThe Codcast
Keeping time with MBTA’s Phil Eng
More than 800,000 people ride the T everyday. This week on the Codcast, reporter Gin Dumcias is joined by Phil Eng, General Manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority or “the T” to talk about the state of the system and what lies down the track.
Posted inThe Codcast
The introvert’s guide to being mayor
CommonWealth Beacon reporter Gintautas Dumcius interviews Boston Mayor Michelle Wu about her start in politics and being both an introvert and a politician, why she’s a Democrat, the super PACs crowding this year’s election, and her media diet.
Posted inThe Codcast
Why a quasi-independent state agency needed a quick $240 million
John McDonough, Paul Hattis, and Matt Veno of the Group Insurance Commission discuss the GIC’s last-minute $240 million infusion from state coffers to cover claims for the rest of the 2025 fiscal year.
Posted inEnvironment, Media
Top Codcast: Three scrappy women from Somerset
COMMONWEALTH’S MOST POPULAR Codcast of 2022 was an interview with three women from Somerset who fought back against a scrap metal export operation at Brayton Point that was launched after […]
Posted inTransportation
Straus lays out rationale for transpo revenues
WITH THE HOUSE PREPARING to take up transportation funding legislation this week, Rep. William Straus explains the rationale behind many of the bill’s provisions. Straus, the House chair of the Legislature’s […]
Posted inThe Download
Straus lays out rationale for transpo revenues
With the House preparing to take up transportation funding legislation this week, Rep. William Straus explains the rationale behind many of the bill’s provisions. Straus, the House chair of the […]
Posted inThe Download
Advocates call for T control board extension
Some of the state’s leading transit advocates are calling for extending the life of the existing MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board for six months to a year and making […]
Posted inTransportation
Advocates call for T control board extension
SOME OF THE STATE’SÂ Â leading transit advocates are calling for extending the life of the existing MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board for six months to a year and making buses […]
Posted inTransportation
Campbell: Blue Hill Ave. conversation needed
ADD BOSTON CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT Andrea Campbell to the list of officials talking about creating a dedicated bus lane along busy Blue Hill Avenue. In a wide-ranging interview on the […]
Posted inThe Download
Baker increasingly isolated on transportation taxes
Gov. Charlie Baker finds himself increasingly isolated on Beacon Hill with his opposition to new revenues for transportation. House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Karen Spilka are both open […]
