The Codcast

CommonWealth Beacon
  • 4.4 (37)
  • NEWS
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Tune into spirited debate, local stories, and insightful analyses with The Codcast. Hosted each week by a CommonWealth Beacon reporter, the half-hour policy podcast delves into the heart of Massachusetts’s most pressing and intriguing topics. Hear newsmakers, historians, and policy experts tackle statewide housing struggles, immigration policies, little-known histories, surprising political fights, and even take to the sea to visit rising offshore wind turbines.

  1. The 2025 CommonWealth Beacon reporter roundtable

    1D AGO

    The 2025 CommonWealth Beacon reporter roundtable

    On this end-of-year episode of The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon editor Laura Colarusso sits down with reporters Jennifer Smith, Chris Lisinski, Jordan Wolman, and Hallie Claflin to discuss their 2025 storylines and what they each plan to cover in the new year.

    35 min
  2. ‘The exits are growing, the entries are slowing’ in primary care (with Zirui Song)

    12/29/2025

    ‘The exits are growing, the entries are slowing’ in primary care (with Zirui Song)

    On the monthly Health or Consequences episode of the Codcast, John McDonough of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute talk with Zirui Song, associate professor of health care policy and medicine at Harvard Medical School and a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. They discuss Song’s research and thoughts about the primary care crisis nationally and in Massachusetts, and dive into the promise and issues with private equity in health care.

    38 min
  3. Beyond the MCAS with Ed. Secretary Tutwiler

    12/22/2025

    Beyond the MCAS with Ed. Secretary Tutwiler

    On this week’s episode of the Codcast, Michael Jonas, executive editor of CommonWealth Beacon, sits down with Patrick Tutwiler, Massachusetts’ Secretary of Education. Tutwiler co-chairs a graduation council tasked with proposing new educational standards and assessments to replace the MCAS. Take a look behind the scenes.

    33 min
  4. The political and the personal of who learns classical music (ft. Élider DiPaula)

    12/15/2025

    The political and the personal of who learns classical music (ft. Élider DiPaula)

    On this week’s episode of The Codcast, what it means when political forces come for the arts. CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Élider DiPaula, the new executive director of Project STEP — a 12-year music program focused on bringing students from underrepresented or marginalized backgrounds into the world of classical string music. The program lost a federal grant this spring, as did hundreds of other Northeast programs considered out of step with President Trump’s nationalist priorities for the arts. DiPaula talks about his background as a Brazilian composer and performer, and what classical music sounds like, who it’s for, and who created it is both personal and political.

    31 min
  5. Showdown over Boston tax rates, ft Greg Maynard

    12/08/2025

    Showdown over Boston tax rates, ft Greg Maynard

    How much of Boston’s tax needs should fall on residents? The question is splitting City Hall and the business community, as dropping commercial property values and rising home values threaten a 13 percent residential tax hike in 2026. This week on the Codcast, Greg Maynard, executive director of the Boston Policy Institute, joins CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith as the city council prepares for a Wednesday vote expected to raise taxes on single-family homes. Maynard, who has butted heads with Mayor Michelle Wu since his think tank’s founding, says the administration is not moving quickly enough to inform the public about dire revenue forecasts or adopt new measures which could make up the difference.

    35 min
  6. The Legislature breaks for the holidays and ballot questions heat up

    12/01/2025

    The Legislature breaks for the holidays and ballot questions heat up

    On this week’s episode of The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporters Jennifer Smith and Chris Lisinski check in as Beacon Hill heads into its winter break. Chris looks back at the end of year lawmaking hustle, and what was left for 2026, then turns to a possibly record-smashing number of ballot questions that could land before voters next November.

    31 min
  7. Restoring civic discourse in an age of polarization (with Jim Peyser)

    11/24/2025

    Restoring civic discourse in an age of polarization (with Jim Peyser)

    On this week’s episode of The Codcast, Jim Peyser, who served as secretary of education under Gov. Charlie Baker, talks with executive editor Michael Jonas about the yearlong series of essays he wrote for CommonWealth Beacon on the need for civil discussion of often controversial issues in an era of polarized debate. Peyser says a healthy democracy depends on our ability to move past the current moment, where opponents are often characterized not as adversaries but enemies, and complex issues, which often involve difficult trade-offs and not just matters of right and wrong, are often reduced to strident – and simplistic – slogans. . . https://commonwealthbeacon.org/author/james-peyser/

    36 min
  8. When medical access is a legal puzzle (with Matt Selig)

    11/17/2025

    When medical access is a legal puzzle (with Matt Selig)

    On the monthly Health or Consequences episode of The Codcast, John McDonough of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute talk Matt Selig, the executive director of Health Law Advocates (HLA). They discuss the blur between medical and legal access issues, the group’s history and capacity, and their current litigation focuses.

    35 min
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4.4
out of 5
37 Ratings

About

Tune into spirited debate, local stories, and insightful analyses with The Codcast. Hosted each week by a CommonWealth Beacon reporter, the half-hour policy podcast delves into the heart of Massachusetts’s most pressing and intriguing topics. Hear newsmakers, historians, and policy experts tackle statewide housing struggles, immigration policies, little-known histories, surprising political fights, and even take to the sea to visit rising offshore wind turbines.

Information

  • Creator
    CommonWealth Beacon
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    500
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    The Codcast

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