How Tiny Can A Robot Get?

What Does A 174 Year-Old Speech Mean In 2026?

First up, it’s ICYMI, our Friday menagerie of misfit news. Joining this week, we’ve got GBH’s Renuka Balakrishnan and Boston Globe higher-ed business reporter Diti Kohli. We’ll get their reactions to some lighter World Cup headlines (think: Merlin the duck [https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-duck-mexico-mascot-merlin-4fbe0000dbf7c7b793e4ef664205b373] & Scotts’ love for Irn-Bru.) We’ll also talk about the D.C. reflecting pool algae bloom, and if it’s indeed time for Waffle House to expand north to New England. Then, Soul Fire Farm is an afro-indigenous community based in Grafton, New York, that teaches farming and sustainability while also addressing issues of racism and food inequity. Edgar talks with GBH News Rooted host Paris Alston about her recent trip to the farm & the proper way to enjoy a tomato.  Lastly, this Mass Humanities has organized 76 public readings of Frederick Douglass’ 1852 address “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”. Edgar meets Mass Humanities’ Latoya Bosworth for a conversation about the speech’s continued relevance around America’s 250th + Juneteenth.

Do You Like, Hate When People Say Like?

It’s another edition of “The Glitch Report” with Joan Donovan from the Critical Internet Studies Institute. She’ll talk about some implications of A.I. deepfake videos becoming indiscernible from the real thing, and the fun-house reality of right-wing podcaster Candace Owens – who’s been promoting a bizarre conspiracy theory about the death of Charlie Kirk.  Then, Neuroscientists Bob Datta and David Brann explain their groundbreaking research [https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/science/nose-brain-smell-olfaction.html] mapping out how our brains register smell.  Lastly, Edgar checks in with Martha Barnette & Grant Barrett from the public radio show A Way With Words to answer some listener-submitted etymological curiosity questions. We’ll get into the origin of “dust bunnies,” and why New Englanders call drinking fountains “bubblers."

Why Are Bananas So Cheap?

First up, Edgar talks with Abagael Giles from Vermont Public about her recent piece on scientists working to save the American Elm. Then, As the cost of groceries rises, why do bananas remain so cheap? We get a primer in food supply chains, grocery store business models and fruit engineering from Sean Cash, economist at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition & Policy.  Lastly, it’s the June edition of “Ask The Remodeler,” with Mark Philben from Charlie Allen Renovations.

Can You Teach A.I. Compassion?

First up, it’s the latest edition of our A.I. News panel, this week with Harvard humanist chaplain Greg Epstein, former Executive Director of the National AI Advisory Committee Kathy Pham, and AI Ethics Lab founder Cansu Cansa.   Then, we get caught up on Four Things To Know, with Gal Tziperman-Lotan from the GBH Daily Newsletter.  Lastly, URI Greenhouse Manager Benjamin Robbins joins with the latest news around their soon-to-bloom corpse flower [https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/06/09/metro/university-rhode-island-corpse-flower/].

What Are Archaeologists Digging Up In Charlestown?

First,  Edgar talks with Massport CMO John Raferty about what could potentially be the world’s largest soccer ball, which arrived at a park in East Boston on Friday.  Then, This Wednesday will mark 251 years since the Battle of Bunker Hill. We explore the battle's legacy with Julie Hall from the Charlestown Historical Society, ahead of an event Tuesday with GBH’s The Forum Network. Julie will join alongside archaeologists at an ongoing site dig [https://www.actionnewsnow.com/news/archaeologists-digging-for-clues-about-battle-of-bunker-hill-fortification-find-key-gun-flint/article_320d4f9f-83ee-5fb6-aeda-e68b9b06f440.html], and a descendant of one of the soldiers who fought.  Lastly, Author Eric Moskowitz talks about his new book The Hardest, Longest Race: Henry Ford and the Cross-Country Contest That Changed America.