From left: Economic roundtable members Schlander Campbell, Jerome Rappaport, Dave Ratner, Bob Sicotte and Helen Ramirez. (Sarah Bush/WBUR)

By Bob Oakes and Sarah Bush

In late 2008, the federal government had just initiated the first wave of bailouts. Economists had begun to warn that the country was entering a deep recession. Massachusetts lawmakers said they would have to consider cutbacks in local aid to cities and towns. To get a sense of the fears and frustrations of everyday people, WBUR invited a diverse group of Massachusetts residents to come into our studios and share their experiences in a worsening economy.

Click here to listen to all three discussions, including the latest on January 7, 2010:

http://www.wbur.org/2010/01/07/economic-roundtable

By Sarah Bush

BOSTON — Over the next few weeks, hockey pucks, rather than baseballs, will be flying at Fenway Park.

For the first time, Fenway will host the NHL’s Winter Classic on New Year’s Day, as the Boston Bruins will take on the Philadelphia Flyers. The following week, Boston University will play Boston College at the iconic park.

BOSTON — Turnout has been low in this statewide special primary election. We asked voters in West Roxbury and Brookline why they turned out — and what issues matter to them.

(Joe Doherty from West Roxbury says "Voting is important for democracy." (Sarah Bush/WBUR)

Click here to see the interactive graphic:

http://www.wbur.org/2009/12/08

By Bob Oakes and Sarah Bush

BOSTON — What does it mean to be a “good man” in the modern world?  That’s the central question the new book, “The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Frontline of Modern Manhood,” tries to answer.

Tom Matlack is the book’s editor and co-founder of the Boston-based Good Men Foundation, a non-profit that supports men and boys at risk.  He says men are at an inflection point of “trying to figure out what’s important in life.”

Click here to listen to the interview:

http://www.wbur.org/2009/11/27/good-men

Spud's Restaurant & Pub in Saugus opens its doors every year on Thanksgiving for those in need. This year, Spud's expects to serve 600 free meals. (Sarah Bush/WBUR)

By Sarah Bush

SAUGUS, Mass. — On this day of bounty, not everyone will gather around the dinner table with loved ones. More people are going hungry this year. Demand for food at pantries is up an average of 11 percent, according to the Greater Boston Food Bank. So one restaurant in Saugus, called Spud’s, opens its doors every year on Thanksgiving for those in need.

Click here to listen:

http://www.wbur.org/2009/11/26/spuds-thanksgiving

A scene from 'A Civil War Christmas.' (Photo courtesy the Huntington Theatre Company)

By Deborah Becker

BOSTON — Playwright Paula Vogel is no stranger to upending traditional ideas about theater and taking on dark themes — often with comedy. It started with her Pulitzer prize winning play “How I Learned to Drive,” which is about incest and forgiveness.

Now, Vogel, who is chair of the play-writing department at the Yale School of Drama, has a new show that’s also decidedly different. “A Civil War Christmas,” which is being staged by the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston, is billed as an uplifting musical.

Click here to listen to the interview:

http://www.wbur.org/2009/11/25/paula-vogel

WBUR Slideshow: World War II Bombers & Fighter Planes (Sarah Bush/WBUR)

By Bob Oakes and Sarah Bush

NORWOOD, Mass. — On this Veterans Day, many are remembering loved ones who never made it home from war.

George Sutcliffe, of Greenville, R.I., is one of those who did make it. Barely.

At 86, Sutcliffe still has that straight-as-an-arrow bearing of the World War II Army fighter pilot he was, with a bit of a mischievous twinkle in his eye and an itch to climb into the cockpit to soar again.

We spoke with Sutcliffe a few weeks ago at the airport in Norwood, where restored and still flying World War II aircraft stood, wings spread, noses pointed to the runway, were ready to take flight again.

Click here to listen and see a slideshow:

http://www.wbur.org/2009/11/11/wwii-fighters

Senate candidate Stephen Pagliuca, left, with WBUR's Bob Oakes. (Jennifer Donaldson for WBUR)

By Bob Oakes and Sarah Bush

BOSTON — At a lab in New England Baptist Hospital, a biotechnician demonstrates surgery on a plastic shoulder. Stephen Pagliuca, getting a tour of the place, realizes he had this surgery about two years ago.

“This is incredible! So this is what they did to me,” he says.

The Democratic Senate candidate is touring the hospital — the official hospital of the Boston Celtics, which he co-owns — because he had just unveiled a five-point plan for health care reform.

Click here to listen:

http://www.wbur.org/2009/10/29/senate-ridealong-pagliuca

BOSTON — Dozens of internationally recognized writers such as Richard Russo and Cornel West are visiting Boston this weekend. They’re taking part in the workshops, panel discussions, performances, and readings at the inaugural Boston Book Festival, which opens Saturday in Copley Square. We spoke with its founder and president, Deborah Porter.

Click here to listen:

http://www.wbur.org/2009/10/23/boston-book-fest

Dr. Tristan Gorrindo, Massachusetts General Hospital

By Bob Oakes

BOSTON — In the recent brutal murder case that rocked a small New Hampshire town, four teenage suspects were identified from online social networking sites hours before authorities even announced arrests had been made. Some of the online material may make its way into the legal case against the teens.

“I think the Internet and social networking sites provide some sort of anonymity for kids,” Dr. Tristan Gorrindo, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital, told WBUR’s Bob Oakes.

Click here to listen to the interview:

http://www.wbur.org/2009/10/21/social-networking