Here & Now

Hosted by Robin Young and Jeremy Hobson, Here & Now is a live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with public radio stations across the country.

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In 'Stronger,' Jake Gyllenhaal Takes On The Pain, 'Joy And Hope' Of A Marathon Survival Story

In the days, weeks and months after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, a 27-year-old man who lost his legs in the attack became the public face of the city's resilience — the face of "Boston Strong."

Jeff Bauman wrote about his experiences in the 2014 book "Stronger," and this week a film based on the book, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Bauman, is opening. Here & Now's Robin Young speaks with Gyllenhaal and Bauman (@Jeffmbauman) about the film.

You can listen to the full interview here. Photo: Robin Lubbock/WBUR

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I immediately just felt like, my heart sank to my stomach, and it was just a very sad moment. A lot of people were crying.

DACA recipient Thais Marques, on her reaction to Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program

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In Boise, you really start to feel welcome almost on the first day that you're here, for newcomers.

Harrison Berry, on Boise, Idaho, how it’s changing and why people are calling the city “the next Portland”

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I would just tell them to always believe, always keep fighting and never give up.

Emily Whitehead, the first child to have her immune system trained to fight cancer through gene therapy, a leukemia treatment which the FDA just recommended for approval

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It actually is, in many ways, the unsung hero of expanding coverage under the Affordable Care Act ... without a lot of the trauma and drama that we have seen in the exchanges. That doesn't mean it isn't ripe for some modifications.

Gail Wilensky, who ran the Medicaid program under President George H. W. Bush, on how the program needs to change -- and why the current health care bill is not the way to do it

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I see the pictures everywhere, and now that we have drones to add to our ability to see things -- when you see a drone shot of the Old City, a place I've been, it is -- it clutches at the throat and the gut.

Journalist Michael Goldfarb, on his personal story from Mosul, in wake of the Iraqi victory over ISIS

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This is, you know, this is the real deal. This is one of those things, you could just experiment and try once and not wake up from it.

Godsmack frontman Sully Erna, on opioid addiction and his song “Different Kind of Tears,” part of an awareness campaign to fight the crisis

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I have very distinct memories of just floating on my back looking up at the amazing walls, just thinking, 'This is like the perfect place, perfect time.' One of those moments.

Travel writer and photographer Joe Yogerst, on his visits to Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon -- and which lakes top the list of the nation’s best to visit over the summer

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My voice is my treasure — my friends and family back home and the people I grew up with, and the places that I grew up at. I want to tell everyone's stories.

Musician Terence Ryan, on leaving home, coming back and discovering the inspiration for his music

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I think it's sort of like a Sgt. Pepper's of the '90s. It defines the era. It stands out in a lot of ways. It's only gotten better with time.

Andy Greene, senior writer for Rolling Stone, on Radiohead and its breakthrough album, “OK Computer,” which turns 20 this year

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I want to show sharks within their world, within their habitat ... I do think that context is very important to human understanding of these animals, to see them as something more than just this villainous shape up in the blue void.

Brian Skerry, who’s spent more than 10,000 hours underwater in the past 30 years helping demonstrate how integral sharks are to the ecosystem

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What we’re trying to do is show people that history is not a settled thing. It’s open for question. It’s up to the visitor to find their answers to those questions along our path.

Philip Mead, historian at the new Museum of the American Revolution  

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Each of the world’s flags is simultaneously unique and similar.  They all say something—sometimes perhaps too much.

Tim Marshall, who looks at the stories and symbols behinds dozens of the world’s flags in his new book “A Flag Worth Dying For”

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I have this mantra that I believe: Books are like amusement parks, and sometimes you gotta let kids choose the rides.

Kwame Alexander, author of "The Crossover" and "The Playbook," on ways to get kids excited about reading

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Medicaid directors on a bipartisan basis have been calling for years for reforms, for changes to help us better manage the program — but that's not what this is.

Matt Salo, executive director of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, on the proposed health care bill and potential Medicaid rollback

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The island is going under. The whole thing is going to be underwater soon. Get another hurricane, and we're gone.

Rita Falgout, a longtime Isle de Jean Charles resident, on the future of the small island community in the southern Louisiana bayou

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Kevin Rutley on a boat on the Barataria Waterway. (Virginia Hanusik for Here & Now)

A Refrain As Louisiana's Coast Washes Away: We're 'Water People. We Can't Leave'

The state of Louisiana predicts that up to 2,800 square miles of coast will wash away in the next four decades. Rising sea levels, sinking land and encroaching salt water are causing massive erosion.

Officials say the flooding could be so common and such a nuisance that everyday life will become next to impossible within 25 years.

Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd visits Louisiana’s bayous to speak with people who’ve spent their entire lives witnessing the changes.

"It breaks my heart. There is so much that has disappeared in my lifetime." - Kevin Rutley, 65, whose family has lived by the Barataria Waterway since the Civil War

The entrance to The Pen, a lake off the Barataria Waterway that used to be a farm.(Virginia Hanusik for Here & Now)

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