WBUR

I sent the note below to more than 65,000 friends of WBUR this morning. If you care about WBUR, NPR and independent journalism — I hope you will read it and share with anyone you think can make a difference. Thank you.

On Point hosted by Meghna Chakrabarti is the winner of two 2025 Gracie Awards from Alliance for Women in Media. The 50th annual awards recognize exemplary programming created by women, for women, and about women in all facets of media, including news and entertainment and acknowledge individuals who have made inspirational contributions to the industry. Listen to the winning stories here: News Feature - The Taliban’s Crackdown on Women’s Rights, produced by Paige Sutherland https://lnkd.in/eDyyxKSJ Public Affairs - Election Officials on their duty and risk for democracy, produced by Jonathan Chang https://lnkd.in/eiTBWxGh Every weekday, host Meghna Chakrabarti leads provocative conversations that help make sense of the world. Each show is a deeply researched, beautifully produced hour. On Point is on more than 300 NPR member stations coast to coast, distributed by American Public Media Group.

To be from Boston is to know and love Mel King. Since October, book clubs and organizations across Massachusetts have participated in a readathon, helmed by the Mel King Institute, to read King's seminal work, "Chain of Change." In the vein of King, MKI director Shirronda Almeida said, " Love is the question and the answer. We're doing this work, not just to do it but because we have love for our fellow neighbors, for our communities, for ourselves.” https://lnkd.in/epjFK-q3

Thirty-five years ago this week, 13 priceless works of art were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum—the largest art theft in world history. Today, those artworks have never been recovered. In "Last Seen," a podcast about the Gardner heist, we try to solve the mystery: wbur.org/lastseen WBUR and Boston Globe Media joined forces to ask why this cold case exerts its irresistible pull. With a $10 million reward on offer, how is it that not even a single piece in a haul estimated to be worth half a billion dollars has surfaced? Gone in 81 minutes, the Gardner loot — and the thieves who made off with it — remain at large. With first-ever interviews, unprecedented access and over a year of investigative reporting, Last Seen takes us inside the ongoing effort to bring back the jewels of the Gardner collection. Listen to all 10 episodes now.

I had a blast talking Space Jam one last time on the "Endless Thread" podcast with WBUR's Amory Sivertson & Benjamin Brock Johnson, and Warner Bros. Pictures' original Digital Team, Donald Buckley, Dara Kubovy-Weiss, Michael Tritter, jen Braun Davies with an awesome cameo from Hollywood In Pixels' Bettina Sherick. Huge thanks to all of you for a great time! You can listen to it here: https://lnkd.in/gtmNN9xi

We turned 75 this past week, but WBUR is far from the oldest organization in town. Boston has a rich history of charitable organizations and family businesses older than us, each of which tells a chapter of the city’s story. So we asked the leaders of a few of these outfits: What does it take to last this long and build a local legacy? Read our conversation with The Home for Little Wanderers, J.J. Foley’s, Wally’s Café Jazz Club, and more.

Happy 75th Birthday to WBUR on March 1st, 2025! We're celebrating later this spring with a three-day party from Thursday, May 29th to Saturday, May 31st. The WBUR Festival will have captivating conversations and musical performances up and down Commonwealth Avenue at Boston University. It is bringing together some of your WBUR favorites like Jose C. Masso III, Bob Oakes, and Tiziana Dearing with speakers including Jamelle Bouie, Ira Glass, Kara Swisher, Sam Sanders, Eric Ripert, Ina Garten, Roxane Gay and many more. You’re invited! RSVP here: wburfestival.org/lineup

Join us at CitySpace on Wednesday, March 19th for our Ones to Watch Short Film Festival. WBUR film critic Sean Burns will host a conversation about the craft and challenges of making and financing movies and how to build an audience. Complimentary popcorn will be served! Local filmmakers include Shaun Clarke, Maria Servellón, Brittany Severance, Sarah Wisner and Sean Temple. Their films range in topic, style and point of view, exploring intimate connections, an existential crisis, the beauty of dance and the supernatural.

This year at On Air Fest in Brooklyn, WBUR alumni were featured in a lineup of podcast world luminaries. Highlights included Audie C. in conversation with Anderson Cooper, Maria Garcia with Maria Hinojosa, Sam Sanders for Vibe Check live, and Tonya Mosley introduced by our own Darryl C. Murphy.