Originally broadcast December 7, 2012.

If no measures are taken, in less than a month the United States will "fall off the fiscal cliff." Among other things, this means that the Bush tax cuts and the payroll tax cut will expire, extended unemployment benefits will end, and Medicare would lose nearly $11 billion from its budget. Many experts believe that going over the cliff would lead to another recession. What does this mean for people of color? The middle class? The poor?


Our panel:
- Latoyia Edwards, anchor, New England Cable News
- Peniel Joseph, professor of history, Tufts University
- Phillip Martin, senior reporter, 89.7 WGBH Radio
- Kim McLarin, assistant professor of writing, literature and publishing, Emerson College
- Jeffrey Taliaferro, associate professor of political science, Tufts University

(Originally broadcast January 4, 2013.)

The Emancipation Proclamation is 150 years old this week. Historian Eric Foner called this document one of the most important documents in American history. Does the Emancipation Proclamation have any meaning for contemporary times?

Also, our panelists look ahead with predictions for 2013.

Panelists:
• Callie Crossley, host and moderator, Boston Public Radio, 89.7 WGBH Radio
• Kim McLarin, assistant professor or writing, literature, and publishing, Emerson College
• Phillip Martin, senior reporter, 89.7 WGBH Radio
• Peniel Joseph, professor of history, Tufts University, WEB Du Bois fellow, Harvard University

(Image source: Library of Congress.)

Shakespeare in Clark Park celebrates its 20th season with a light-hearted and musically-inclined As You Like It. Set in...

Clouds will be thickening Saturday night, with rain showers developing late. Expect rainy conditions on Sunday, with temperatures hovering above the seasonal average of 50 degrees.

Rain showers will begin moving in from southern Minnesota early Tuesday, marking the arrival of the last low pressure system before a drier pattern sets in from Wednesday through Friday. Expect highs in the mid-40s on Tuesday, with temperatures gradually warming to the low 50s by Friday.

Asst. Prof. Koichiro Ito explains research on regulations increasing average size of vehicles

Asst. Prof. Koichiro Ito explains research on regulations increasing average size of vehicles

Asst. Clinical Prof. Claudia Flores discusses report on abuse of immigrant children

Prof. M. Todd Henderson discusses liabilities for hosting criminal content

Prof. Raghuram Rajan discusses outcomes for emerging markets in Asia

The Gershwin estate stipulates that "Porgy and Bess" should be performed by an all-black cast. The Hungarian State Opera in Budapest reportedly asked its mostly white cast to say that they are black.

Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, nicknamed "The Mother Church of Country Music," has never hosted a hip-hop show. After 125 years, Wu-Tang Clan will be the first rap act to headline at the venue.

The Wiser Way explained the overarching concept of cognitive distortion, an "all or nothing" way of thinking and how to break its cycle.

Natalie Darwitz and Krissy Wendell of Minnesota are now both members of the Hockey Hall of Fame, as part of the 2024 inductees in the player category on Monday night.

A Minnesota man who served nearly 20 years in prison before his murder conviction was vacated last year has filed a claim for nearly $2 million from the state.

Denzel Washington is retiring after his next few projects, he said in a recent interview.

This episode of Something Wild was produced by Andrew Parrella: The number of acorns a tree produces in a given year has to do with masting. Not mast like on tall ships, but mast as in masticate, or to chew and it refers to the fruit, seeds or nuts that trees produce and are in turn fodder for animals. Especially in New Hampshire, oak mast follows a boom or bust cycle, which means the amount of acorns varies from year to year. Over time, evolution has favored the oak trees that demonstrate this boom or bust cycle. This keeps seed consumers off balance and that's actually a good thing. If there were the same amount of acorns every year, there would be just enough mice and turkey and deer and others to consume every single acorn. However, by producing very few acorns a couple of years running, they starve the animals and the populations of seed predators crash. Then, the oak has a boom year and there aren't enough animals to eat them all, which allows some of those acorn to become trees.

County officials say a damaged or uncleared memory card did not fully collect and transmit results from some mail-in ballots to the Minnesota Secretary of State's office on election night. That led to the state website displaying inaccurate unofficial results for Sherburne County.

The new Louisiana requirement that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 was temporarily blocked Tuesday. The judge said the law is "unconstitutional on its face."

Schools will remain closed; a new coronavirus testing plan

The mayoral race is highlighting some of St. Cloud’s most pressing challenges, including a housing crunch, a struggle to revive its downtown and a perception that the city is less safe. Both candidates talk about addressing those problems, but they differ — sometimes subtly — on how to do so.

Many middle-income families are frustrated by the cost of higher education, feeling they earn too much for financial aid, but not enough to pay for it themselves.

Boeing overcharged the Air Force nearly $1 million for spare parts on C-17 cargo planes, including an 8,000 percent markup for simple lavatory soap dispensers, according to the Pentagon’s inspector general.

Molson Coors says move will consolidate operations at company’s main Milwaukee Brewery in early 2025.

Rolf Nordstrom, president and CEO of the nonpartisan nonprofit Great Plains Institute, and Gregg Mast, executive director of Clean Energy Economy Minnesota, weigh in on what the election results will mean for the energy transition already underway.

A U.K.-based Christian group has called on the Mexican government to protect clergy after a priest was assassinated in Chiapas State. Fr. Marcelo Pérez Pérez, who was shot to death after officiating Mass, had been a prominent advocate for peace and human rights in the region.

Buffer zones around abortion facilities went into effect in England and Wales, a development that pro-life advocates contend criminalizes silent prayer and offering pregnancy help information to women and families in need of resources. 

Fulani herdsmen killed six Christians on Friday and Saturday in Benue state, Nigeria, after slaughtering 15 Christians in a nearby village two days earlier, sources said.

Christian leaders in Pakistan have condemned Islamic preacher Zakir Naik’s objectionable remarks about Christianity during his various public sermons in Pakistan when touring the country on a month-long state-sponsored visit in October.

Angola’s Criminal Investigation Service claims that the murder of an American missionary was orchestrated by his wife in a plot involving an alleged illicit romance and financial promises. Authorities say that Jackie Shroyer, 44, enlisted the help of three Angolan men to kill her husband, Beau Shroyer, in a remote part of the country.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese is embarking on a spiritual journey through the lives of revered saints, from Joan of Arc to John the Baptist, with his latest docudrama series, “The Saints,” premiering next month.

Grammy Award-winning artist Lauren Daigle has written and recorded a powerful end-title track for the new film “Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin” declaring obedience to God’s calling, even in the face of death. 

The documentarian who recently went viral when Tucker Carlson told him he was "physically mauled" by a demon last year pushed back against those who would dismiss the former Fox News host's claims about spiritual warfare.

To kick off NHPR's new reporting project By Degrees , we're unpacking the basics of how climate change is already affecting life in New Hampshire, and how the state is contributing to and responding to the problem. Rachel Cleetus is the policy director for the Union of Concerned Scientists' Climate and Energy Program, based in Massachusetts.

By Degrees is a multi-year reporting project from NHPR that will tell stories about climate change in New Hampshire - its challenges, solutions and connections to other forces shaping our lives today. The project begins today. Morning Edition Host Rick Ganley spoke with lead reporter Annie Ropeik, who covers energy, the environment and the Seacoast for NHPR, to learn more about the project's goals, what to expect this week and how listeners can contribute. We want to know your questions and the kinds of stories you'd like to hear about climate change. You can share those ideas by filling out our quick survey . Rick Ganley: On the website for the project, you describe it as beginning in kind of a historic moment. What do you mean by that? Annie Ropeik: Well, I mean that we are in the middle of many more than one crisis right now. We are in the middle of a global pandemic, a generational reckoning on racial justice. It's a presidential election year, which can be hard to remember

Our new climate change reporting initiative, By Degrees , begins in an unprecedented time – one where people are making seismic shifts in their lifestyles and attitudes in response to COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement. Many of our listeners have wondered: why haven’t people reacted the same way to the climate emergency, and could that be about to change?

By Degrees is a new reporting project by NHPR shedding new light on climate change in New Hampshire. That project launches this week. Air pollution is known to cause health problems like premature deaths, hospitalizations, heart attacks, and childhood asthma. It's also closely connected to climate change. Syracuse University Professor Charles Driscoll joined NHPR’s All Things Considered host Peter Biello to talk about what air quality in New Hampshire can tell us about the extent of the problem. So walk us through the basics, if you could. What are the main sources of air pollution in New Hampshire? There are different air pollutants that come from primarily fossil fuel combustion. So that could be through electric utilities, could be industrial processes, could be transportation. And there are a number of air pollutants, but the ones that are most prominent are very fine particulate matter released directly from these processes. But it also can be produced in the atmosphere from

New Hampshire is seeing more heat waves due to climate change. And staying cool is even harder this year because of COVID-19. Our new climate change reporting project, By Degrees , has this look at how New Hampshire's cities are coping.

COVID-19 has been hard on just about every industry in New Hampshire, and renewable energy is no exception. People worried about money are putting off investing in solar panels, and health concerns have made home energy efficiency visits more complicated. But scientists say investments like these can lower energy costs, and remain a critical way to combat the other big crisis we’re facing – climate change. As part of NHPR’s new climate change reporting project, By Degrees , NHPR’s Annie Ropeik has been trying to find out what might be ahead for the renewable energy industry in the state. Morning Edition Host Rick Ganley spoke with her about what’s next.

Microsoft's Word program now recommends replacing the term "maternity leave" with more “inclusive” language.

Christian author and pro-life activist Ryan Bomberger has announced that his cancer is in remission three months after surgery.

Once an outpost on the early frontier and later a port for steamers carrying tobacco and cotton, this town in northern Tennessee is today a hidden gem.

Gateway Church in Texas has removed multiple elders as the result of a four-month investigation into allegations the church's founder, Robert Morris, sexually abused a minor female for years beginning when she was 12 during the 1980s. 

The group GAFCON has demanded that Archbishop Justin Welby publicly repent for comments that contradict the “doctrine of Christ.”

Despite being rebuked by Pastor Donnie Swaggart for endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to become the next president of the United States, Bishop John Drew Sheard, presiding bishop and chief apostle of the Church of God in Christ, defiantly anointed her with prayer before his congregation Sunday after declaring, “I believe we have the victory.”

Leaders of pro-life advocacy groups are celebrating former President Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, citing his win as evidence that the American people do not support the unfettered abortion access endorsed by the Democrats.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked a recently passed Louisiana law that would require public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments.

Suzannah Clark (Harvard University) Title and description TBA A reception will follow.

Piano students from the studio class, Music 168CS, perform a variety of solo works Admission to all Noon Concerts is free. Registration is recommended at music.berkeley.edu/register.Safety The UC Berkeley Department of Music is committed to the health and safety of our students, staff, and patrons. Measures to protect concertgoers and musicians will be informed by state, local, and UC Berkeley Public Health policies and are subject to change. Social distancing, masks, and proof of COVID 19 vaccination may be required. UC Berkeley does not promise or guarantee that all patrons or employees on site are vaccinated. Unvaccinated individuals may be present as a result of exemptions, exceptions, fraudulent verification, or checker error. None of these precautions eliminate the risk of exposure to COVID-19. Registration is strongly encouraged for noon concerts at music.berkeley.edu/register.Accessibility If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media formats, etc.) or information about campus mobility access features in order to fully participate in this event, please contact the Hertz Hall Manager at 510.642.4864 or hertzhallmgr@berkeley.edu. with as much advance notice as possible and at least 7-10 days in advance of the event. Facebook: @ucbmusicdept Instagram: @ucberkeleymusic  Twitter @ucbmusicdept Youtube: Berkeley Music YouTube channel

The UDHR articulates in its 30 articles every human being’s basic, fundamental rights and freedoms and affirms those rights as universal and unalienable. The UDHR directly led to the development of the concept of international human rights law.