WUMB Radio’s Commonwealth Journal Attracting Big Name Guests

You never know who you’ll see riding the elevators down to the lower level of the Healey Library these days.

In just the past few months, singer and activist Harry Belafonte, Legal Seafoods CEO Roger Berkowitz, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ellen Goodman have all made the trip.

Their destination: the WUMB 91.9FM studios to be guests on Commonwealth Journal.

The award-winning weekly, half hour public affairs talk show added four new hosts in September and has reached out to a number of distinguished guests like Secretary of Education Paul Reville, UMass President Robert Caret, and feminist author, speaker, and filmmaker Jean Kilbourne.

"Commonwealth Journal is about conversations – conversations with newsmakers, community leaders, research experts and everyday people,” WUMB General Manager Pat Monteith said. “Conversations are most interesting when there are diverse people are involved with them, each bringing his or her own expertise and experiences into the exchange.”

New hosts include:

• Steve Crosby, Dean of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies
• DeWayne Lehman, Director of Communications, Division of Government Relations and Public Affairs
• Rachel Rubin, Department Chair of American Studies, College of Liberal Arts
• Paul Watanabe, Director of the Institute for Asian American Studies and Associate Professor of Political Science

“There is no better way to accomplish our goal than to use several members of the UMass Boston faculty and staff to lead these conversations, rather than to just have one program host,” Monteith said. “This also allows us to tap off these hosts’ tremendous connections in Massachusetts and beyond, to bring in a wider array of guests than ever before."

Commonwealth Journal airs on Sundays at 7 p.m. on WUMB 91.9FM. People can also listen online at www.wumb.org. The show also airs on approximately 30 other radio stations in Massachusetts at varying times on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays.

Guests for the month of February include independent filmmaker Chico Colvard, author Jean Kilbourne, Undersecretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation Barbara Anthony, and authors Murray and Peggy Schwartz.

Listen to past shows on the Commonwealth Journal podcast site.