Best Of BPR 12/11: 'Status: Venezuelan'

Andrea Cabral and Shirley Leung are in the host seats. They talk with: NPR critic-at-large Eric Deggans on journalism ethics in the wake of Olivia Nuzzi, AI taking over podcast jobs at the Washington Post, and more media news.GBH's Callie Crossley on why Greater Boston’s gender wage gap is shrinking…while the racial wage gap is growing. And on DEI in Boston business, and about a student from her alma mater who’s bringing Black dolls to local kids.It's a holiday edition of Live Music Friday with students from the Boston Latin School Concert Choir, ahead of their annual Family Holiday Concert this Sunday.NBC10 Boston media maven Sue O’Connell is fresh back from covering the trial of Brian Walshe, accused of murdering his wife. She gives us the latest in the case and tries to explain to us why everyone is obsessed with these grisly murder trials. 

Today: Andrea Cabral and Shirley Leung fill in for Jim and Margery.“Status: Venezuelan" is a new documentary co-produced by FRONTLINE and ProPublica, following a family trying to hold on to their legal status in the U.S., as the second Trump administration targets Venezuelans. ProPublica filmmakers Mauricio Rodríguez Pons and Almudena Toral join us on zoom to discuss.

The Culture Show's Jared Bowen discusses ABC signing Kimmel to a one-year contract a social media ban for kids in Australia and his interview with Patti Smith.Harvard national security expert Juliette Kayyem on cracks showing in the Trump Cabinet — namely, Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem.Franchie Viaud of JustBookish in Dorchester and Cathy and Bruce Jacobs of Turtle Books in Brookline join for an indie bookstore panel.Musician Will Dailey performs ahead a show at the Paradise Rock Club this weekend.Naturalist Sy Montgomery joins via zoom for the Afternoon Zoo to talk piano-playing octopuses and falcons protecting cherry crops in Michigan.

Today:Franchie Viaud, bookstore manager at Just Book-ish in Dorchester, and Cathy and Bruce Jacobs, co-owners of Turtle Books in Brookline, discuss the importance of independent bookstores.And, musician Will Dailey joins ahead of a show at the Paradise Rock Club.

Today: We get your thoughts on the nativity scene put up by St. Susanna Parish, featuring a sign reading "ICE was here" in the spot where Jesus, Mary and Joseph are usually centered in the manger.

CNN's John King zooms in for a politics roundupACLU of MA executive director Carol Rose discusses some of their high profile cases this year; the ACLU birthright citizenship case picked by SCOTUS to debate the merits, their work monitoring Flock's surveillance network, and moreAuthor Jeff Pearlman discusses his book "Only God Can Judge Me" about Tupac ShakurState Rep. David Muradian and David Nangle, Executive Director of SIGMA (Stop iGaming) discuss the state's new proposed gambling rules

Today: We speak with GBH News reporter Sarah Betancourt and Project Citizenship executive director Gail Breslow about an incident at a Faneuil Hall naturalization ceremony last week, where people were pulled out of line based on their country of origin and prohibited from finishing the years-long process, based on new guidance from the Trump administration.And, award-winning cookbook author Dorie Greenspan discusses her latest book, "Dorie's Anytime Cakes."

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt isn’t supporting her nephew’s mother, a Brazilian woman detained by ICE. We talk to BU journalism’s Brian McGrory about that, and why CNN has become the unwanted stepchild in the new Netflix-Warner Brothers deal. If a new state proposal takes hold it would allow sewage to be dumped into the Charles and Mystic Rivers indefinitely, backsliding on decades of progress to end the practice. We talk to Emily Norton and Patrick Herron from the Charles and Mystic River watershed associations. James Beard award-winning cookbook author Dorie Greenspan joins us to talk about her latest book: “Dorie's Anytime Cakes" and why everyone should always have a cake on the kitchen counter.We check in with GBH reporter Sarah Betancourt and Project Citizenship’s Gail Breslow on ICE’s latest cruelty: targeting immigrants on the cusp of citizenship at their swearing-in ceremony at Faneuil Hall. Tufts’ food policy analyst Corby Kummer on the latest threats to SNAP: withholding benefits from blue states like Massachusetts over immigration data. Plus, why it might be the wrong (or right) week to quit caffeine.And we take your calls and texts on whether you believe in astrology. 

Today: Live music with the Black Hole Symphony, performing “Mars Symphony,” ahead of a December 14th show with the New England Philharmonic.And two co-founders of 404 Media, Jason Koebler and Emanuel Maiberg, discuss their independent journalism outlet, and reporting at the intersection of surveillance, artificial intelligence, and immigration policy.

Former public safety secretary Andrea Cabral joins Margery at the library. Jason Koebler and Emanuel Maiberg are co-founders of 404 Media. They join for Press Play media analysis to talk about their reporting on Flock, an automatic license plate reader company used by police departments and federal immigration agencies.Boston Globe business columnist Shirley Leung recaps her latest columns on Mayor Wu and Boston's economy, liquor stores near Boston College and Boston's worsening traffic. Black Hole Symphony returns for Live Music Friday. They perform at the New England Philharmonic on Dec. 14. We talk with founder David Ibbett and Shep Doeleman.Edgar B. Herwick III joins to answer a few recent questions submitted to the Curiosity Desk. NBC Boston's Sue O’Connell discusses her coverage of the Brian Walshe trial, rats in Camberville, and that Dedham church putting up an "ICE was here" sign in their nativity scene.