Best Of BPR 7/11: Live Music With Debo Ray & Rick Steves On Seeking Culture Shock

GBH political reporter Adam Reilly and Wall Street Journal columnist Callum Borchers join for Press Play media analysis. They talk about blowback to a NYTimes report on Zohran Mamdani’s college application, CBS’ 60 Minutes settlement and more.Debo Ray is our guest for Live Music Friday. She’s a Grammy-nominated singer who released her debut self-titled album earlier this year. She joins alongside drummer, manager, and husband Jerry Velona ahead of a free show next week at Long Live Roxbury. PBS travel guru Rick Steves talks about summer travel to Europe and traveling abroad as an American under Trump 2.0.NBC10 Boston's Sue O’Connell discusses Trump openly criticizing Putin, 50 years of Live Aid and TSA lifting their rule about taking your shoes off during security checks.

Today:Grammy-nominated artist Debo Ray joins for Live Music Friday, ahead of her performance at this weekend's Charles River Jazz Fest, and a free show at Long Live Beerworks in Roxbury.And the face of PBS travel programming, Rick Steves, joins to discuss the benefits of stepping outside your cultural comfort zone.

Today: Juliette Kayyem fills in for Jim Braude.She and Margery speak with former public safety secretary Andrea Cabral about the screen adaptation deal Karen Read has signed with her attorney, weeks after her acquittal.

Chuck Todd, host of the Chuck Toddcast, on political headlines. Andrea Cabral on Epstein files and proposed legislation to ban ICE from wearing face masks in Mass.  Paul Reville  on this latest Harvard subpoena and ongoing animosity between Harvard and Trump. Paul will also cover how the GOP spending bill impacts education, and $100 million in federal funding withheld from Mass. schools.Odie Henderson talks summer movies. This week he’ll cover the new ‘Superman’ reboot, ‘Sorry, Baby,’ and this latest entry into the Jurassic World franchise. He’ll also talk 20 years of Brokeback Mountain. 

Attorney General Andrea Campbell joins 11-12 for Ask the AG.GBH executive arts editor Jared Bowen discusses a Ming Fay exhibit at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Moonwalkers experience narrated by Tom Hanks and F1 The Movie.Food policy analyst Corby Kummer discusses Zohran Mamdani's idea for municipal-owned grocery stores and the MAHA movement's battle against food dyes.Naturalist Sy Montgomery talks to us about orcas who take lessons from cats and sharing their prey with humans.

NBC Sports' Trenni Casey on Wimbledon 2025 and her recent 160 mile fundraising run for MS. Kelly Beatty, senior editor at Sky & Telescope discusses the towns in America working to protect their 'dark sky reserve' from light pollution; and battles in the federal government over NASA's budget.Brett Smiley, mayor of Providence RI, joins to discuss his city.Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joins for Ask The Mayor, from 1-2.

Today:Amherst College humanities professor Ilan Stavans discusses the Florida detention center dubbed Alligator Alcatraz by the right.And, CEO of the Mass League of Community Health Centers, Michael Curry, discusses impacts to local healthcare under the latest national budget.

NAACP & Mass League of Community Health Centers' Michael Curry discusses the national budget and its impact to healthcare in Massachusetts. Plus, the global impacts of cutting USAID.Boston University Journalism Chair Brian McGrory discusses the Boston Globe's fact-check of the Boston mayoral race the growing death toll in Texas from devastating floods, all while key weather service roles were vacant.Ilan Stavans of Amherst College discusses the so-called "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center in South Florida — the implications of the media adopting this name and the conditions at the facility. Nick Quah, podcast critic at Vulture, shares his best podcasts of 2025 so far.

Today:Economist Juliet Schor discusses her new book "Four Days a Week: The Life-Changing Solution for Reducing Employee Stress, Improving Well-Being, and Working Smarter."Paul Dama is the restaurant manager at Suya Joint, a Nigerian restaurant in Boston. He escaped Boko Haram's torture, sought asylum in the United States in 2019 and is authorized to work here legally. Earlier this month, Dama was taken into ICE custody, while on his way to church on Father's Day. Cecilia Lizotte, his sister, and the chef and owner at Suya Joint, discusses his situation.

Anand Giridharadas, political commentator behind The Ink newsletter, discusses Zohran Mamdani bringing democratic socialism back into the conversation.Economist Juliet Schor discusses her new book Four Days a Week: The Life-Changing Solution for Reducing Employee Stress, Improving Well-Being, and Working Smarter.Boston Globe travel writer Christopher Muther discusses the Godfrey Hotel making a top 10 list, and his picks for travel when he really wants to escape.Cecilia Lizotte, chef and owner of Suya Joint, joins to discuss the ICE detainment of her brother Paul, manager at the restaurant.Retired federal judge Nancy Gertner joins for a SCOTUS end-of-term roundup.