Massachusetts has been busing students between neighborhoods and school districts for 60 years, but segregation within the school system persists – and in some places it’s actually gotten worse over recent decades. This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Dan O’Brien, professor of public policy and urban affairs and director of the Boston Area Research Initiative at Northeastern University, about a new lawsuit brought against the state. Students and civil rights organizations want the state to step in to address segregation across school districts, and Boston’s long and fraught history of attempted desegregation may offer some lessons.
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Health care coverage for immigrants remains in limbo
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 Vicki Pulos, a senior health law attorney at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. They discuss the massive 2025 federal tax-and-spend law and its consequences for MassHealth and the Connector, what the state can do to limit coverage losses, and immigrant insurance eligibility cuts.
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CommonWealth Beacon turns 30
Dave Denison was the first editor of CommonWealth magazine and oversaw the publication of its first issue 30 years ago, in the spring of 1996. Although much has changed about the country, the state, and the organization since the 1990s, Denison and current editor Laura Colarusso discuss the enduring mission of creating a more transparent political system for the common good.
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The historic tightrope of middle-class life
Defining the middle class is harder than it might seem – it might mean owning a home, having steady work, keeping a pot of savings, or the kids and white picket fence vision of the “American Dream.” Historian Andrew Seal, whose research and writings focus on how the middle class thinks of itself, joins CommonWealth Beacon senior reporter Jennifer Smith on The Codcast to interpret recent Bay State polling and dive into how a middle-class identity intersects with race, media portrayals, and American individualism.
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Without employee housing, fears the Cape will crumble
Massachusetts’s extreme housing crunch is no secret, but who is actually in charge of fixing it? This week on The Codcast, state Sen. Julian Cyr and Local Journalism Project executive director Janet Lesniak join CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith to talk about the role of employee housing on the Cape and Islands – how sustainable is it to expect small businesses to become landlords for their workers, what happens when there’s nowhere for workers to live, and what should the state be doing to help seasonal communities help themselves with new housing tools?
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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.
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Trying to measure primary care’s 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.
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Big tech is watching
This week on the Codcast – what does online surveillance look like in 2026? CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Kade Crockford, director of technology and justice programs at the ACLU of Massachusetts. They discuss the biggest misconceptions about data privacy online, why your information is valuable and vulnerable, and legislation proposed at the state level to limit who can see and sell user data.
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Regulating insurance as health care costs surge
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 Michael Caljouw, the state commissioner of insurance. They discuss new regulations for insurers, concerns about the stability and solvency of the Massachusetts health insurance system, and insurer consolidation.
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Unpacking the governor’s state budget proposal
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon senior reporter Chris Lisinski hosts Viviana Abreu-Hernandez of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and Jim Stergios of the Pioneer Institute for a discussion about Gov. Maura Healey’s fiscal year 2027 state budget proposal.
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‘No doubt it may get worse before it gets better’ — Breaking down the 2026 State of the Commonwealth.
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporters Jennifer Smith and Chris Lisinski talk about Gov. Maura Healey’s 2026 State of the Commonwealth speech. They compare her tone and policy position to earlier years, review reactions to the speech, and look ahead at what this says about Healey’s run for reelection.
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Filling the health care funding gaps
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith unravels the latests state health coverage moves with Audrey Morse Gasteier, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Connector, and Alex Sheff, senior director of policy and government affairs at Health Care For All.
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What do cities and advocates want from the Legislature in 2026?
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson; Jennie Williamson, the state director of The Education Trust in Massachusetts; and Clark Ziegler, executive director of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership. They break down what has and hasn’t been a lawmaking priority; dive into the current relationships between cities, the state, and the federal government; and discuss their legislative wish list for the second half of the two-year cycle.
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What’s ahead in 2026 for CommonWealth Beacon. And, a lookback at our biggest stories from last year
On this end-of-year episode of The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon editor Laura Colarusso sits down with reporters Jennifer Smith, Chris Lisinski, Jordan Wolman, and Hallie Claflin to discuss their 2025 storylines and what they each plan to cover in the new year.
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‘The exits are growing, the entries are slowing’ in primary care
John McDonough and Paul Hattis talk with Zirui Song, associate professor of health care policy and medicine at Harvard Medical School and a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. They discuss Song’s research and thoughts about the primary care crisis nationally and in Massachusetts, and dive into the promise and issues with private equity in health care.
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‘In every difficulty, there’s an opportunity,’ Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler says about developing a post-MCAS high school graduation requirement
On this week’s episode of The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon executive editor Michael Jonas sits down with Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler to discuss the work of a state commission tasked with proposing a new graduation requirement to replace MCAS.
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A showdown over Boston property tax rates
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Greg Maynard, executive director of the Boston Policy Institute, as Boston the city council prepares for a Wednesday vote expected to raise taxes on single-family homes. Maynard says the administration is not moving quickly enough to inform the public about dire revenue forecasts or adopt new measures which could make up the difference.
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The Legislature breaks for the holidays and ballot season heats up
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporters Jennifer Smith and Chris Lisinski check in as Beacon Hill heads into its winter break. Chris looks back at the end of year lawmaking hustle, and what was left for 2026, then turns to a possibly record-smashing number of ballot questions that could land before voters next November.
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Restoring civic discourse in an age of polarization
On this week’s episode of The Codcast, Jim Peyser, who served as secretary of education under Gov. Charlie Baker, talks with CommonWealth Beacon executive editor Michael Jonas about the yearlong series of essays he wrote for CommonWealth Beacon on the need for civil discussion of often controversial issues in an era of polarized debate.
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When health care access is a legal puzzle
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 Matt Selig, the executive director of Health Law Advocates. They discuss the blur between medical and legal access issues, the group’s history and capacity, and their current litigation focuses.
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Municipal budgets at the breaking point
Massachusetts Municipal Association Executive Director Adam Chapdelaine, Amesbury Mayor Kassandra Gove, and Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance Executive Director Paul Craney join The Codcast to dive deep on the world of municipal finances in a panel discussion moderated by CommonWealth Beacon reporter Chris Lisinski. Guests unpack the various dynamics putting pressure on city and town budgets, consider the value of the tax-cap law known as Proposition 2½, and ponder who might be best equipped to provide relief.
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A year of strained systems and trust after Carney closures
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporters Jennifer Smith and Hallie Claflin talk about Claflin’s deep dive into the fallout from Steward Health Care’s bankruptcy. Two communities – the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester and the rural Nashoba Valley – lost their community health centers. Just over a year later, the local emergency health systems are strained and residents say they still feel confused about why the state allowed their centers to close while others were saved.
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Mass. Health Connector chief: State must ‘deal with the reality in front of us’ as critical health care deadline looms
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 Audrey Gasteier, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Connector. Gasteier about the current crisis facing residents of the Commonwealth should the federal government fail to renew premium tax credits.
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The profit and price of October in Salem
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Hallie Claflin talks with Dominick Pangallo, Mayor of Salem. Every year in October, Salem experiences a massive tourism boom as more than a million visitors flock to the site of the Salem Witch Trials for the spooky season. How does a small city of 45,000 manage the influx of tourists? How do Salem residents feel about the influx? And how lucrative is the tourism industry? Pangallo addresses these and encourages all to explore the great things Salem has to offer all year round.
