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Higher education is in crisis. Trust in universities is low, tuition prices are out of reach for many Americans, and there are accusations of ideological bias on campus. Harvard University’s democracy expert Danielle Allen says this crisis is not just an educational problem, it threatens our entire country. Allen said she was excited to hear Trump calling for a new compact between the government and higher ed - but she has notes. This week on Say More, opinion page editor Jim Dao asks Allen about the roots of her interest in democracy and her answer takes us from ancient Greece to Cornel West’s Princeton office. Email us at [email protected].

What does justice mean when a mentally ill person takes a life? Before Lindsay Clancy killed her three children in Duxbury, there was another case. In 2018, a mother in Brockton, Latarsha Sanders, killed her two young sons while in the midst of a psychotic episode. But the tragedy didn’t end with their deaths. A dubious interrogation and a jury trial portraying Sanders as “evil” resulted in a first degree murder verdict. Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham revisits the trial with an overflowing reporter’s notebook. She shares her findings with Say More’s Shirley Leung. Email us at [email protected].  To read Yvonne’s 7-part series from the Boston Globe, start here.

President Trump 2.0 hit its first anniversary this week, and true to form, the President is making a splash. With ICE raids domestically, and brash confrontations of world leaders on the global stage, Trump is throwing his weight around, and continuing to push the limits of executive power. This week on Say more, opinion editor Jim Dao talks to Globe politics reporter James Pindell and Ideas writer Abdallah Fayyad about what the fallout of Massachusetts ICE raids could be, and what Trump’s call to Senator Elizabeth Warren portends. Email us at [email protected]. 

Freddy Guevara has been in exile for more than 5 years. As a leader of a major opposition party in Venezuela, he was targeted and jailed by the Maduro government. Now, he and many other Venezuelans are watching as Maduro faces charges in a US court. This week on Say More, Guevara talks to opinion page editor Jim Dao about how Venezuelans are feeling about Trump’s moves in their country, and other thoughts about the so-called international order. An expert on authoritarianism, Guevara offers some wisdom on what Americans can do to avoid an autocratic backslide. Email us at [email protected].

Writer Dennis Lehane has written iconic books set in the working class Boston neighborhoods of his childhood. His latest book, Small Mercies, takes on the violence and racism he saw during busing. He says the things he witnessed turned him into the writer he is today. This week on Say More, Anna Kusmer talks to Lehane about his new Apple TV+ show Smoke, what makes good writing, and movies with the worst Boston accents. Email us at [email protected].

From whistleblowing corporate malfeasance to tackling a mass shooter, courage takes many forms. What do we need to be our boldest selves? Is courage innate or can it be learned? This week on Say More, host Shirley Leung digs into the research with Harvard Business School professor Ranjay Gulati. His new book is called, “How to Be Bold: The Surprising Science of Everyday Courage.” Email us at [email protected].

Usually after a mass shooting, Ieva Jusionyte has a lot to say. Ieva is a scholar of gun violence at Brown University and is no stranger to the terrible power of firearms. But when a mass shooting took place at her place of work, in a building where she teaches, the words fell away. This week on Say More, Ieva talks to Opinion Editor Jim Dao about why solutions need to go beyond policy and address the deeper culture. Email us at [email protected] Find Ieva’s recent piece for Globe Opinion here.

Globe business columnist Larry Edelman says if we do have a recession in 2026, it won’t be a crash - more like air leaking out of a big balloon. This week on Say More, host Shirley Leung gets a vibe check on the economy with the author of the Globe’s popular Trendlines newsletter. Larry says consumer spending is up, the numbers are not bad, but the vibes are not great. Email us at [email protected].  Sign up for Trendlines here.

Writer Gish Jen recently had a revelation about her novels: her characters often talk to the dead. But in her most recent work, Bad Bad Girl, the dead talk back. In this book, Jen fictionalizes real details of her mother’s life, immigrating from China to the US in the 1940s and raising a big Chinese American family. The result is an exploration of a fraught mother-daughter relationship, and the elusive grasp of the American Dream. Jen talks to Boston Globe editorial page editor Jim Dao about this personal book, and about how America has changed since she started writing about it. Email us at [email protected].

As Americans, we are at our best when we’re engaged with the world - confident and curious. So says Marco Werman, the long-time host of public radio program The World, based at GBH here in Boston. Recent cuts to public media funding mean programs like The World are in trouble, with fewer resources to tell deep stories about the complexities and diversity of our planet, and less awareness about America’s place in it. This week on Say More, Marco Werman sits down with podcast editor Anna Kusmer to talk about the importance of a global perspective, and why he loves The World. Email us at [email protected].

Recording LIVE from Globe Summit, Shirley Leung talks to Ben & Jerry’s cofounder Ben Cohen about what makes his company stand apart. Activism has been part of the ice cream company’s DNA since launching with Jerry Greenfield four decades ago. While it may turn some customers away, it’s a worthy price to pay staying true to your values, says Ben. Now, Ben is working to #FreeBenAndJerry’s from large corporate owners to try to return the company to its activist roots. He talks to Shirley about this battle and expresses his current feelings through an extended ice cream metaphor. Email us at [email protected].

Globe columnist Kevin Cullen has written countless stories about veterans, but one recent story was the most powerful he’s ever told. This week on Say More, Cullen talks to Globe’s Opinion Editor Jim Dao about one Boston veteran who spent decades finding peace after a devastating experience in Vietnam. Cullen talks about his own motivations for telling these types of stories, and his grief and anger about the treatment of veterans in this country.  Email us at [email protected] Read Kevin’s piece here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/06/metro/end-ed-kochanowskis-wars/

When we think of middle class life, several things come to mind: owning a home, stable childcare, food in the pantry, a sense of security. But as the rich get richer in Massachusetts, the middle class is falling further behind, and making ends meet is no longer a given. People are angry, and politicians seem to be waking up to the crisis. Say More host Shirley Leung talks to the Boston Globe’s Money, Power,Inequality team about their new reporting project “Squeezed” about MA’s disappearing middle class. The episode features project editor Kris Hooks and reporters Katie Johnston and Mara Kardas-Nelson.  To read SQUEEZED, click here: https://apps.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/money-power-inequality/squeezed/massachusetts-middle-class/unravel/

When New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani was asked in a debate which democratic politician was most effective, he answered, “Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.” Wu and Mamdani are both young, progressive and unapologetically ambitious about their visions for their respective cities. They both captured vast coalitions and are being watched closely by the rest of the country, to see if progressive ideas can really translate into policy. Wu has had some success… can Mamdani follow in her footsteps? Say More host Shirley Leung and Globe Ideas writer Abdallah Fayyad discuss. Email us at [email protected].

Today, we’re sharing the first episode from My Home Fronts , a podcast from journalist Romy Neumark. My Home Fronts is a four-parts documentary podcast series tracing the student founder of "Jews for Palestine" at Harvard during the Gaza war - and the generational gap it reveals within American Jewish families. Episode 1, "Meeting Violet": An unexpected encounter between Israeli journalist Romy Neumark and student activist Violet Barron sparks a candid conversation, tracing Violet’s journey from the shock of October 7 to the founding of Harvard Jews for Palestine. This sets the stage for a four-part exploration of Jewish identity, activism, and family in contemporary America. Romy Neumark: Creator & Host Noa Amiel Lavie: Co-Creator & Editor Tina Tobey Mack: Sound Designer https://myhomefronts.com/