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 & 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.