Today on Boston Public Radio:

We begin the show by asking listeners how they’re finding positivity amid a slew of bad news. 

Michael Curry discusses federal funding to combat hate crimes in the wake of the Buffalo shooting, and the conflict between politics and public health as COVID cases rise again. Curry is chair of the NAACP Advocacy and Policy Committee, and is president and CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers.

Chris Burrell shares insights from his investigative reporting into the inaccessibility of Massachusetts beaches. Burrell is an investigative reporter for GBH News. The first story in his series “Barriers at the Beach” is now out, GBHnews.org.

Then, we take calls from listeners about their experiences with Massachusetts beaches.

Corby Kummer talks about how the baby formula shortage became so dire, and the problems with the Food and Drug Administration. Kummer is executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III weigh in on a new report on decades of sex abuse cover-ups in the Southern Baptist Church. Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist and the Boston voice for Detour’s African American Heritage Trail. Price is founding pastor of Community of Love Christian Fellowship in Allston, and the Inaugural Dean of Africana Studies at Berklee College of Music. Together they host the “All Rev’d Up” podcast.

Richard Blanco reads poetry on motherhood, including his poem blanco.com/book/city-of-a-hundred-fires/mother-picking-produce/">“Mother Picking Produce,” and “Different Mothers” by Kim Dower. Blanco is the fifth presidential inaugural poet in U.S. history. His latest book, “How to Love a Country,” deals with various socio-political issues that shadow the United States.

We end the show by discussing a recent study that showed women receive higher emotional benefits from hugs than men.