Today on Boston Public Radio:

Our show began by opening up the lines for our listeners to share if they believe our country is goin backwards as state legislatures fight to roll back trans and gay rights, reproductive rights, and child labor laws.

GBH’s Jeremy Siegel and Nicci Kadilak of the Burlington Buzz join to discuss Jeremy’s reporting on local news

Medical ethicist Art Caplan discusses the GOP trap of the COVID lab leak theory: He argues we should be talking about lousy security, underfunding, poor pay, etc in labs, not just “zoonotic spillover”

Food policy writer Corby Kummer discusses the end of COVID SNAP benefits, and food makers pushing ‘sleep’ snacks (night cereal)

Alejandra Caraballo, clinical instructor at Harvard Law’s cyberlaw clinic and a former staff attorney at the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, discusses pushes to roll back trans rights.

Nick Quah, Vulture mag’s podcast critic discusses his favorite podcasts of the year so far, and delves into podcasting’s market shift away from big money in new projects.

We ended the show by asking listeners to share their thoughts on forming relationships with AI and chatbots.