The Scrum: Recent Episodes
WGBH Educational Foundation
The Scrum is a weekly politics podcast that takes a behind-the-scenes look at the factors that influence who and what appears on your ballot. Hosted by WGBH News reporter Adam Reilly with WGBH political analyst David Bernstein and Peter Kadzis, senior editor of WGBHNews.org. Find more from The Scrum on our website: wgbhnews.org/scrum. Email The Scrum: scrum@wgbh.org.
Reporter Adam Reilly sat down with Pete Stidman, the outgoing leader of the Boston Cyclists Union, to talk about the politics of getting around on two wheels in the city.
Peter Kadzis and Adam Reilly sit down over doughnuts to debrief last night's GOP debate. Which candidate should get to graduate from the children's table? Which one revealed himself to have the intellectual heft of an empty pair of underpants?
Boston's bid for Olympic glory is officially dead (R.I.P.) So WGBH State House News reporter Mike Deehan gathered a mountain of nachos and a crack panel at the Banshee Pub in Dorchester to ask: where did it all go wrong? Kelley Gossett of No Boston Olympics, Shirley Leung of the Boston Globe, and Lauren Dezenski of the Dorchester Reporter break it down, with The Scrum's own Adam Reilly moderating.
The Scrum sits down with Massachusetts AFL-CIO president Steve Tolman to talk about the Pacheco Law and the MBTA, the Olympics, and how to meet the love of your life on the commuter rail.
This week, The Scrum has Olympics fatigue. So host Peter Kadzis turns his eye to the national scene, and asks David Bernstein and WGBH contributor Mara Dolan: how on Earth are Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump doing so well in the polls in New Hampshire right now?
The Scrum gets booted from the Boston Public Library when Adam Reilly, Peter Kadzis, and The Boston Globe's Joan Vennochi try to discuss the dysfunction plaguing the institution in the Central Branch's courtyard.
The Scrum marvels at the remarkable civility in the State House over the proposed MBTA fiscal control board, and chats with Congressman Seth Moulton about his first few months on the job.
How does a kid from Cambridge who went to good schools and had friends and teachers who loved him go on to commit the Boston Marathon bombings? Now that the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is over, reporter Adam Reilly sat down once again with WBZ's Jim Armstrong and Boston.com's Hilary Sargent to talk about their reflections on the case and the questions that remain unanswered.
Right now, the parameters of the 2016 presidential race seem pretty clear. Hillary Clinton will run the safest possible campaign en route to the Democratic nomination. Meanwhile, every Republican hopeful will argue that only he--or she--has what it takes to stop her. But not everyone sees 2016 in such stark, Hillary-centric terms. Erica Sagrans and her compatriots at Ready for Warren still think there's a chance they'll convince Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren to challenge Clinton--and that, whether she runs or not, Warren's ideas and beliefs are already shaping the race as a whole.
Three questions this week: How does a reporter's personal life shape his or her coverage? What's the best way to engage Tsarnaev conspiracy theorists? Was this trial necessary for bombing survivors-- and Boston as a whole? WBZ-TV reporter Jim Armstrong and Boston.com senior columnist Hilary Sargent joined The Scrum's Adam Reilly at the Lincoln Pub this week.
Are the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries too rural, too white, too unrepresentative? The Scrum's Peter Kadzis checked in with two reporters with boots on the ground in the primary states- Des Moines Register politics reporter Jennifer Jacobs and the Boston Globe's James Pindell.
This week we finally took our tag- "from Beacon Hill to the Beltway"- literally. David S. Bernstein gathered up a few of our favorite "Bostonians in exile"-- Boston Globe Washington correspondent Matt Viser; and USA Today reporter Donovan Slack-- and talked Elizabeth Warren, Ted Cruz's campaign roll out got right; and which "bozos" are messing up John Kerry's legacy. Plus, what it's like to be a Bostonian in Washington, and Matt and Donovan's time in a "small concrete box inside a large concrete box", aka Boston City Hall.
How do you fight a fight that seems... unwinnable? The Scrum headed to City Hall this week to talk with two fighting the Boston 2024 power: Chris Dempsey and Kelley Gossett of No Boston Olympics.
You could argue that Charlie Baker is Governor of Massachusetts today is because many people thought he would be a better manager for the state than Martha Coakley. Management skills have long been Baker's calling card and it's one of his percieved strengths, but what specifically does it mean to manage the way Charlie Baker does? Now that he's got a few months under his belt, The Scrum sat down with Gov. Baker at his new digs in the State House to find out.
This week, The Scrum podcast took a closer look at Governor Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh's governing during one of the biggest snow weeks in Massachusetts history. Plus, how long will "Dear Leader" (aka House Speaker Robert DeLeo) stay on as Speaker? And are DeLeo and Baker simpatico when it comes to end goals?
Media, politics & the ties that bind Bill and Linda Dorcena Forry. Each week on The Scrum we talk about media and politics, and this week we're talking with a Boston couple who have their feet in both worlds.
On the day Deval Patrick takes the "lone walk" out of the State House, The Scrum podcast gives Patrick his final report card and reflects on new Governor Charlie Baker's taste in music.
We turned The Scrum over to the musically-inclined reporter/producer/composer Edgar B Herwick III this week for a Scrum remix we call 'Scrum-Pa-Pum-Pum'. Happy holidays!
Will the Mass. Democrats who backed Republican Charlie Baker in the recent governor's race pay a price? Also in this episode: Charlie Baker's resolutions for 2015; David Bernstein surfaces; Democratic analyst Mara Dolan joins us.
As he wraps up his first year in office, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh sat down with The Scrum to size up his first year in office. From race, to recovery, to the possibility of a Boston Olympics, to pressure from the press.
For a while it seemed like Democratic political strategist Doug Rubin had the political Midas touch. The Scrum spoke with the Mass. Democrats' go-to guy about reversals of political fortune.
Boston Globe reporters Jim O'Sullivan and Frank Phillips on how gatekeepers decide who and what to keep behind the gates, how they manage spin from the campaigns, and what the media hit and missed during the hotly contested 2014 campaigns.
Former Mass. Senator Mo Cowan dishes on Mitch McConnell's M.O., what Charlie Baker learned from Deval Patrick, and why he's not ruling out a return to public life.
People said the 2014 Massachusetts governor's race was boring, but man, what a finish! The Scrum takes a closer look at what the heck happened. WBZ reporter Jon Keller, and Mike Deehan of Massterlist drop in. Recorded live at the Banshee in Dorchester.
If you turn on the TV between now and November 4th, be prepared to see lots of political ads. This week, The Scrum podcast bring you the good, the bad, and the unfair in the world of Massachusetts and Boston campaign ads.
Why do some candidates for higher office get a certain amount of respect and attention and some don't? The Scrum took a closer look at the struggle that some candidates face trying to get media coverage and the public to see them as contenders. Featuring interviews with gubernatorial candidates Evan Falchuk and Jeff McCormick.
The Scrum spoke with former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift about a possible Romney run for president in 2016, why ladies seem to love (or at least like) Charlie Baker; whether the national GOP has drifted too far to the right; inoculating against the three H's (hair, hemlines and husbands); and the legacy of the late Governor Paul Cellucci.
Former Mass. gubernatorial candidate Shannon O'Brien dishes to the Scrum about just how taxing running for governor is; what Baker has that Romney lacked; and what Coakley has to do (and shouldn't do) to become the first female governor of Massachusetts.
Boston Mayor Tom Meninio's casts himself as quite the prophet for American politics in his new book, Mayor for a New America.
The Scrum team heads to historic Faneuil Hall for a gubernatorial forum featuring all the candidate and finds itself impressed by the performance of Evan Falchuck, who's running as an independent. Also discussed: Will "Sweetheartgate" complicate Charlie Baker's courtship of women voters?
A closer look at the strategy to get more pro-choice Democratic women in office with Emily's List executive director Stephanie Schriock and we meet Scrum Primary Challenge top-prognosticator Heather Foley.
The Scrum goes to the Democrats' post-primary "unity breakfast". Our first impromptu political guest Juliette Kayyem stops by and drops some "goddamn" knowledge.
The Scrum gazed into the crystal ball this week with blogger Rob Eno, publisher of Red Mass Group.
Frank sized up Boston's political and racial evolution since the 1970s, offered his predictions for what'll happen in D.C. if the Republicans retake the U.S. Senate, and defended Obama's foreign policy.
Is banning the video of James Foley's execution on Twitter a mistake? Has President Obama's response to unrest in Ferguson been effective?
The Scrum raps with Democratic attorney general Warren Tolman about his bid to become the state's top law-enforcement officer.
Why aren't more politicians aren't embracing Market Basket employees' push to reinstate Arthur T. Demoulas as CEO? Boston Mayor Marty Walsh's dismissal of corruption in the Probation Department draws a rebuke from two Boston City Councilors. Also, does anyone really care who the Kennedys want to see get the Democratic nomination for president in 2016? The Scrum kicks it all around from the parking lot of the Somerville Market Basket.
Why did Boston Mayor Marty Walsh go on a live radio show and defend former probation department chief John O’Brien? Plus Ted Landsmark and the BRA, and let the gubernatorial mudslinging begin: Steve Grossman's growing super PAC presence.
Healey discussed a host of topics, from how she'd target State House corruption if elected to whether current AG Martha Coakley is being aggressive enough in negotiations with Partners Healthcare. Also, casinos, gun control, and Market Basket.
Massachusetts GOP chair Kirsten Hughes on why she thinks the Probation dept. trial will help Republicans--and why the furor over the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision won't hurt GOP frontrunner Charlie Baker.
The O'Brien probation trial finally gets interesting, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh cuts a casino deal, and the Supreme Rally for Women's Equality. In this episode: David Bernstein, Peter Kadzis, Adam Reilly, Joanna Weiss.
The 4th of July, freedom of speech, and personal liberties. The Scrum talks over the 2014 Muzzle Awards with media critic Dan Kennedy.
The state's highest court ruled that Massachusetts voters will be able to vote on whether the state's casino gambling law should be repealed. What does the ruling mean for Massachusetts politics?
Martha Coakley's Scott Brown apology tour continues--and while Coakley and her rivals Steve Grossman and Don Berwick all identify with the term "progressive," its meaning is nebulous at best.
Adam Reilly, Peter Kadzis and David Bernstein look at Martha Coakley's AG problem, Cantor's big win in Virginia, and why the media is so obsessed with Hillary Clinton.