McCormack Speaks
McCormack Speaks
McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies
A public and global affairs radio show and podcast, brought to you by The McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at UMass Boston; committed to student success in an equitable world, and broadcast exclusively on WUMB Radio. In depth public interest conversations include; inequality, urban issues, education in the 21st century, governance, foreign affairs, diversity, public service and policy careers, and more.
Part 1 of our conversation with Adam Hinds, CEO of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute of The US Senate, on governance and civil discourse.
Senator Adam G. Hinds is an American politician. He currently serves as the CEO of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. From 2017 to 2022 he represented the Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden district in the Massachusetts Senate. He attended Wesleyan University and then studied international law and negotiation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He is a Truman National Security fellow.
Feb 12, 2024
25 min
An engaging talk with journalist and Supreme Court legal scholar Dahlia Lithwick, on women, politics, and The Supreme Court.
Dahlia Lithwick is an award-winning journalist and author, and Senior Editor at Slate, having written their Supreme Court Dispatches and Jurisprudence columns since 1999.Lithwick also hosts Amicus, Slate’s award-winning biweekly podcast about the law and the Supreme Court. Lithwick earned her BA in English at Yale and her JD degree at Standford.  She has held visiting faculty positions at numerous Universities. My guest’s latest book, Lady Justice: Woemn, The Law, and the Battle to Save America offers a brilliant perspective on the intersection of feminism, law, and politics. Reviewers have described the book as a captivating  account of the ways in which women have fought the injustices, especially of the Trump administration.
Jan 29, 2024
30 min
Sumbul Siddiqui joins McCormack Speaks, the first Muslim mayor in Massachusetts history, talking about Policy and Cambridge City.
Sumbul Siddiqui is an American lawyer and politician, who served as the 77th mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Siddiqui was elected mayor in 2020 by the Cambridge City Council, after serving in the body for 3 years. She succeeded Marc C. McGovern in January 2020, becoming the first Muslim mayor in Massachusetts history.
Jan 15, 2024
30 min
Part 2 of our conversation with distinguished professor Barry Bluestone, founder of policy schools in Boston: UMB and Northeastern.
Barry Bluestone is the Russell B. and Andrée B. Stearns Trustee Professor Emeritus of Political Economy in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. He served as the founding director of the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy from 1999 to 2015, and the founding dean of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs from 2006 to 2012. Before assuming these posts, Bluestone spent twelve years at the University of Massachusetts at Boston as the Frank L. Boyden Professor of Political Economy and as a senior fellow at the university’s John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs. He was the founding director of UMass Boston’s Ph.D. program in public policy. Before coming to UMass in the fall of 1986, he taught economics at Boston College for fifteen years and was director of the college’s Social Welfare Research Institute. As part of his work, Bluestone spends a considerable amount of time consulting with trade unions, industry groups, and various federal and state government agencies. He was Executive Adviser to the Governor’s Commission on the Future of Mature Industries in Massachusetts and has worked with the economic development departments of various states. Bluestone is also a founding member of the Economic Policy Institute, along with Robert Reich, Lester Thurow, Robert Kuttner, Ray Marshall, and Jeff Faux. In 2006, he served on the transition team for Governor Deval Patrick. He has served as a member of many boards and public councils, including the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development as well as the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance, the Governor’s Economic Development Strategy Council and continues as a board member of the Governor’s Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative, the Community Affairs Research Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and many more. Professor Bluestone was raised in Detroit, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan, where he received his B.A., M.A. and finally his Ph.D. in economics in 1974. In his spare time, when he was younger, he competed in team triathlons as a bicycle racer — fortunately with a team otherwise comprised of orthopedic surgeons and an internist. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was married to Mary Ellen Colten for nearly thirty years until her passing in 2017. Their son Joshua works in Chicago and  | after teaching English and Spanish in the Chicago Public School system now works in public housing projects on the city’s North Side. Part 2 topics include founding the PhD in public safety at UMass Boston,  public policy doctoral education, public policy and urban affairs, and more.
Jan 2, 2024
30 min
Part 1 of a conversation with distinguished professor Barry Bluestone, founder of policy schools in Boston: UMB and Northeastern.
Barry Bluestone is the Russell B. and Andrée B. Stearns Trustee Professor Emeritus of Political Economy in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. He served as the founding director of the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy from 1999 to 2015, and the founding dean of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs from 2006 to 2012. Before assuming these posts, Bluestone spent twelve years at the University of Massachusetts at Boston as the Frank L. Boyden Professor of Political Economy and as a senior fellow at the university’s John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs. He was the founding director of UMass Boston’s Ph.D. program in public policy. Before coming to UMass in the fall of 1986, he taught economics at Boston College for fifteen years and was director of the college’s Social Welfare Research Institute. As part of his work, Bluestone spends a considerable amount of time consulting with trade unions, industry groups, and various federal and state government agencies. He was Executive Adviser to the Governor’s Commission on the Future of Mature Industries in Massachusetts and has worked with the economic development departments of various states. Bluestone is also a founding member of the Economic Policy Institute, along with Robert Reich, Lester Thurow, Robert Kuttner, Ray Marshall, and Jeff Faux. In 2006, he served on the transition team for Governor Deval Patrick. He has served as a member of many boards and public councils, including the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development as well as the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance, the Governor’s Economic Development Strategy Council and continues as a board member of the Governor’s Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative, the Community Affairs Research Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and many more. Professor Bluestone was raised in Detroit, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan, where he received his B.A., M.A. and finally his Ph.D. in economics in 1974. In his spare time, when he was younger, he competed in team triathlons as a bicycle racer — fortunately with a team otherwise comprised of orthopedic surgeons and an internist. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was married to Mary Ellen Colten for nearly thirty years until her passing in 2017. Their son Joshua works in Chicago and  | after teaching English and Spanish in the Chicago Public School system now works in public housing projects on the city’s North Side. Topics include housing and local economic development, local public finance, The Dukakis Center, the future of Boston housing and beyond, the paradox of urban life, and more.
Dec 18, 2023
30 min
Part 2 of an in depth conversation with Tania Fernandes Anderson, including Boston City Council's Apologizing for Slavery Bill.
Tania Fernandes Anderson was born in Cape Verde and age 10 she immigrated to Roxbury, MA., two places she says formed the foundation of her unwavering commitment to community. Councilor Anderson was elected to the Boston City Council in November 2021, becoming the first African immigrant and Muslim-American elected to the Boston City Council. She proudly represents District 7, which includes Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway, and part of The South End of Boston.Before serving  as Councilor, Tania was the Executive Director of Bowdoin Geneva Main Streets, a parent advocate with The Boston Public Schools, program manager for a woman's homeless shelter, a business owner, and a child social worker.Part 2 topics include Resolution 0770, condemning and apologizing for slavery, the transatlantic slave trade and its legacy, policies and efforts to repair past and present harm done to black Americans, and more.
Dec 4, 2023
27 min
Part 1 of an in depth conversation with Tania Fernandes Anderson, including Boston City Council's Apologizing for Slavery Bill.
Tania Fernandes Anderson was born in Cape Verde and age 10 she immigrated to Roxbury, MA., two places she says formed the foundation of her unwavering commitment to community. Councilor Anderson was elected to the Boston City Council in November 2021, becoming the first African immigrant and Muslim-American elected to the Boston City Council. She proudly represents District 7, which includes Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway, and part of The South End of Boston.Before serving  as Councilor, Tania was the Executive Director of Bowdoin Geneva Main Streets, a parent advocate with The Boston Public Schools, program manager for a woman's homeless shelter, a business owner, and a child social worker.Topics include experiencing political racism, Ilhan Omar, Hijab Day, Mahsa Amini, economic development, the racial wealth gap, the District 7 action plan,  and more.
Nov 20, 2023
28 min