CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith is joined by Jon Santiago, Secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Veterans Services, to discuss how the now two-year-old office is progressing, advances at the Commonwealth’s Veterans Homes, how it is responding to threats from Washington, and what work he’s excited about for the future.

CommonWealth Staff
Primary care physicians organizing union at Mass General Brigham
This week on The Codcast, John McDonough of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute talk to Michael Barnett, who is both a primary care physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a professor of health policy at the T.H. Chan School, about the ongoing effort to unionize PCPs across the Mass General Brigham system.
The data purge domino effect
CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith is joined by Ariel Beccia, an instructor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, to discuss the Trump administration’s purges of health-related government data, how these and other data purges ripple through society, and researchers’ efforts to respond.
Temporary Protected Status marks the latest immigration standoff between Trump and Massachusetts
CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith is joined by Sarang Sekhavat, Chief of Staff at the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), to discuss threats to immigration policies such as Temporary Protected Status and sanctuary cities, and how officials in Massachusetts and nationally are responding.
Sen. Ed Markey and the chainsaw to democracy
CommonWealth Beacon’s Jennifer Smith interviews US Sen. Ed Markey on the fight against Trump’s actions, his stance on running again, and the future of the Democratic party.
Tackling the primary care crisis in Massachusetts
John McDonough of the T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute sit down with Dr. Wayne Altman, Professor and Chair of Family Medicine at Tufts School of Medicine, to discuss the growing primary care crisis in Massachusetts.
They explore the causes behind the physician shortage, and the ‘Primary Care for You’ bill aimed at reforming payment models and improving access to care.
The case for banning smart phones in schools
CommonWealth Beacon editor Laura Colarusso sits down with state Senator John Velis to discuss the growing issue of smart phone addiction among youth, its impact on mental health, and a new bill aimed at addressing these concerns.