Before Rosie DiMare was a Real Housewife of Rhode Island, she was a hard-news reporter, which is to say she has been asking people uncomfortable questions for a living for some time now. These days, she asks them of her castmates—which is roughly how she ended up known as Nosy Rosie. Poking, prodding, and saying what nobody wants said is, as she puts it, “just kind of in my nature.” Whether that makes her the troublemaker or the only one paying attention is up for debate. She grew up in Massachusetts, went to Boston University, and interned at Kiss 108, where she also met her husband, Rich. With RHORI’s finale airing this month, we talked to her about Del’s lemonade, lip filler, and (hopefully) becoming best friends with Andy Cohen. —Jonathan Soroff

Five years ago, you were a Providence news anchor waking up at 2 a.m. What would you have said if I’d told you you’d be on Real Housewives?
I would have thought you were a crazy person. Not only that, I’d be like, “What do you mean? I’m in a news contract. There’s no way I’m gonna be on a show like that.” Keep in mind that five years ago, I was living in my apartment in Providence. I was single, and I was getting up at 2 o’clock in the morning to go to work every day on the news. In my mind, as a 30-year-old, I had totally made it. I was paying all my bills by myself. I had bought myself a condo. I was driving my dream car, which was my Jeep Wrangler. I was going out in Boston with my friends from BU, doing stuff in Providence, doing the news. I was one of the main faces of the number-one station in Rhode Island. How could it get any better than that? So I definitely didn’t see this coming.

Were you a Housewives fan before this?
I was a Kathy Hilton fan, so I would watch Real Housewives of Beverly Hills a little bit here and there. I just think she’s so funny. But I was getting up in the middle of the night for most of my career, going to work at 3 a.m., and I wasn’t able to tune in at 8 or 9 p.m. I was not not a fan, but I wasn’t an avid viewer.

Did your years as a hard-news reporter change the way you operated on the show?
One million percent. You also have to remember that I’m 35. I’ve been out of the news for 2.5 years, but I spent all of my twenties as a hard-news reporter. I didn’t start doing traffic or lifestyle until I was 30. Before that, I was going to crime scenes, interviewing politicians, asking hard questions, noticing inconsistencies, saying, “That doesn’t make sense. Explain this to me.” I’d be very blunt. I am very blunt. I’m also very logical, and a little bit too literal sometimes. Rich makes fun of me for it. But when you’re used to asking important politicians who are 60 years old very uncomfortable questions, sitting down with a group of girls is not uncomfortable.

Did you go in to filming RHORI with a plan?
No. I wish I had. I didn’t realize that I needed to do that, which is very naive. I thought you just go on the show, and you just be yourself, and everyone will like you, and everyone will get to know you, and everyone will want to hear what you have to say, and you’ll just all be friends. By about Episode 4 or 5, I learned that was not the case. And I know other people went into it with a plan or with a pact or whatever. Next year, maybe I’ll go in with a plan.

How real is it, really?
I think it’s very real.

Do the producers push the drama, or do you all do that on your own?
I don’t think they encourage anything. It’s just: This is a show, and they’re watching your real life, and you know, we need drama for it to make sense.

Who was the peacekeeper?
Hmm. I think Alicia [Carmody] was trying her best to be neutral, but I don’t necessarily know if there was anyone who was a peacekeeper.

Who was the shit-stirrer?
They’ll tell you it was me. And I agree that sometimes it was, because I would ask questions they didn’t want asked or point out things that they didn’t want pointed out. I wasn’t ever doing it maliciously. It’s just kind of in my nature. But I think that as the show goes on, you see who’s actually just out there causing problems for no reason. You’ll see.

So you deny being the bad guy?
Maybe I’m the villain. Maybe I really am. Who knows?

Worst part of having cameras on you 24/7?
I actually didn’t mind the cameras. I didn’t always want the girls around, but I had no problem with the cameras. [Laughs.]

Anything you’d do differently?
I really just tried to be myself, and I think my only regret is that I should have fought back a lot sooner than I did. I’m not proud of the fact that I cried a lot. I would come home, and Rich would say, “We’ve been together for five years, and I’ve seen you cry like once, and this summer you’ve cried every day.” It was very overwhelming, and I was just trying to understand what was going on a lot of the time. I would say things, or point things out, or ask questions, and then I’d get beat up for it. And now [on RHORI], suddenly I’m thrown into a dynamic where there’s a secret language I don’t understand because I didn’t grow up with these people, and nothing I do is right. I also learned the hard way that you are not allowed to ask questions here. And instead of what I would normally do, which is fight back a little harder, I would kind of back down. So I would say my biggest regret was being a little soft.

You have been the subject of some wild rumors. In Episode 4, a castmate suggested you left NBC 10 because you were having an affair with a higher-up, but in that same Episode you clarified that you left because you had colitis.
They can accuse me of a bunch of things, but you will see—either on the show or in the [upcoming RHORI] reunion—that, like, corporate America has paper trails. They want to say I didn’t leave on medical leave, but why would I admit to having colitis? You can say whatever you want, but if it’s factually incorrect? I’ve only ever been on TV and told the truth, and so seeing that you can just say whatever you want was mind-boggling to me. Like, honestly, having an affair with someone that I worked with would have been far less embarrassing than admitting that I was bleeding out of my butt and wearing diapers.

What has the show gotten right about you, and what has it missed?
I do hope people get to know me more. I think what you see in Episode 5, of me talking about how much I love gay men, and how silly I’m being with my dog, Clemmy, in the confessionals. I say, “Don’t look at her cooch” or whatever, which was crazy. Why did I say that? But that stuff really does represent who I am. People don’t really know about my personal life or my marriage. They don’t really know what I do for work, other than what’s been made fun of on the show so far. So I think there’s a lot still to come. As for showing that I have a little bit of a messy side, and that I kind of clock everything that’s going on pretty quickly and will blurt out what is not supposed to be said, that’s also true. I’m somewhat socially awkward. I don’t always understand what’s going on in the group dynamic. They’re not my favorite qualities about myself, but they’re real.

Favorite memory from doing the show?
On Episode 6 or 7, Ashley [Iaconetti] and I have the most fun on a waterslide. It was the best time. I also loved another scene, with Alicia and Alicia’s daughter in my Jeep. I had fun with the bouncy shoes. I tried my best to show that I’m just this silly girl who loves the Disney Channel and doesn’t take life too seriously. I’m so lucky to have Alicia and Ashley as my real-life close friends. I would never have met Rulla [Nehme Pontarelli] without this experience, and now we’re becoming really good friends. Even with all the drama and whatever, a lot of it was really fun.

Why do you think the Real Housewives are so popular?
You know, I see these memes and reels, and it’s like there’s something about seeing other people fight and have total chaos that somehow calms their nervous system as a viewer. It doesn’t calm my nervous system, but I think it calms theirs.

Your favorite thing about Rhode Island?
Probably the food, which is such a crazy thing to say, but Rhode Island has such good food, and I feel like the food scene isn’t appreciated enough.

Coffee milk, stuffies, Del’s—which of these are you actually eating?
Gotta love the Del’s lemonade! The production staff was obsessed with it all summer, which I found so odd. Every day after work, they had to get a Del’s lemonade, and I was like, “All right, sure.” I don’t really do coffee milk, but I love a pizza strip or a party pizza. It’s so funny, too, because I grew up in Massachusetts, right near the Rhode Island border, and yet I didn’t learn a lot of these things until I was living here.

Where are you eating when you’re not trying to impress anyone?
There are so many good spots. But right near our house, there’s a place called Safehouse in East Greenwich. It’s not the fanciest restaurant, but it’s probably my favorite because it’s close, like five minutes away. But when I tell you, they have some of the best chicken Parm and the best drinks.

You grew up in Milton, Mass.?
We moved there when I was in middle school or so, but I like Milton. My parents live in Milton. My sister lives in Milton with her husband and their baby. The town square is so cute, right near the Canton border. I love Milton—we’re big Milton people.

The accents on this show are operatic. Anyone laying it on?
No, I think that’s really how they all talk. Alicia’s getting heat for her accent or the things she says. I can tell you with 100 percent certainty: She is 100 percent being herself, and she really does talk that way, and she really does act that way. As one of her close friends, I get voice memos on a daily basis that are so funny. If I put them on the Internet, they’d get a million views and a million likes. We are dealing with someone who’s actually hysterical and can’t help it.

Rhode Island is the smallest state and has the most regional accents. Explain.
It’s like a small little town, though. Everybody knows each other. But there are different sectors, and they all talk a certain way: Johnston, North Providence, Cranston, Newport, South County. But overall, I think of the Rhode Island accent as a mix between Boston and New York. I’ve said that since I started reporting here. Then there’s the added cultural thing, with a big Italian and Portuguese dynamic. And then there are people like me who have no accent because I had to go to speech school for journalism.

Walk me through your beauty regimen.
Hmm. My routine is so extravagant. My whole thing is that I do a lot so that I’m low maintenance in everyday life. I get the Botox. I get the lasers. I get the facials. I get the hair extensions. I get the lip filler. I get all the things so that even though I have to do all these things on different days, I actually wake up looking pretty, and that’s kind of my secret.

Does your husband, Rich, who’s also a performer, sing to you?
He never sings to me. Honestly, he sings to the dog more than he sings to me. But one of the things I love about Rich is that we’ll have sing-alongs in the car, and instead of it just being me being a weirdo, singing at the top of my lungs, he does it, too. Or we’ll go to karaoke, and I make him sing all the boy parts from something like Beauty and the Beast. I’m Belle, and he has to sing the Beast part. But I don’t need him to be singing to me on a daily basis. That would be weird.

You met Rich while you were interning at KISS 108 for Billy Costa. What was it like to start your career at the biggest morning show in Boston?
People don’t get it—this was, like, the biggest deal to me ever. I was 19 years old, like, “I made it, I’m a star now.” I’d listened to KISS 108 my whole life going to high school. We’d listen to “Matty in the Morning.” It was crazy that this was happening to me. I would go in early, stay late, trying to be the best intern ever. I just remember being at BU thinking, “Wow, I did it.” It was such a highlight. I loved working there. After I worked for the morning show for a year, I started working for the promo and production department and learned so much doing that too. It was my dream job and my first job.

For the record, I was not Rich’s intern. I was Billy Costa’s intern, but Rich helped me way more than Billy did. And you can tell Billy I said that. [Laughs.]

Thing you’re proudest of?
Being married to Rich, and being a good dog mom. I’m very proud of the house we’re building, and the fact that we’re doing it ourselves. I’m very proud of myself for my television career that I had for more than 10 years, and how hard I worked to get where I am.

What’s the show actually opened up for you?
I really don’t know. Even though the girls make fun of my little TV show, I’m very happy with my little TV show [Rhode Trippin’]. It’s on ABC 6, every Saturday at 6:30. I have a decent audience, and I get to help some local businesses. Now, it’s becoming a few national businesses, too, and I get to give them shout-outs or do commercial work for them. I don’t think I want to ever go back to being on the news or doing anything like that full time. I like being able to just do my little thing.

How has it changed you?
I’m very happy with my life. I was very happy with the way my life was before. I’m ecstatic to be able to do more DJing. I’m doing WeHo Pride, which would never have happened if it weren’t for the publicity. I’m a big ally to the gay community, and I love that. So it’s exciting to have more opportunities, but if I’m being honest, I’m very happy with the way things are.

Who do you get compared to?
I’ve been getting a lot of Katy Perry/Megan Fox mixtures online, like “She kinda looks like if they had a baby,” which I don’t hate at all. It’s very nice. I’ve been compared to Whitney Rose a lot, which I don’t really understand the comparison, but I’m here for it. That’s fine.

Tell me a secret about Andy Cohen.
I don’t really know Andy Cohen. He seems like a great guy. He went to BU, like me, but not at the same time. I haven’t spent that much time with him. I hope to make him my best friend. And he has great hair.

Additional reporting by Catarina Maia Amal and Camille Dodero.

A version of this article was first published in the print edition of the June 2026 issue, with the headline,“Real Talk with Rosie.”

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Related: New England Finally Has Its Own Real Housewives—and They’re Incredible

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Real Housewives of Rhode Island has put a very bright spotlight on New England. How does it feel to represent the region in this way?

Liz: I feel extremely proud because I am in love with my hometown of Rhode Island. I’ve moved away several times. There’s a magnetic quality that always drives you back.

Alicia: I am so proud of Rhode Island. I have always loved my state—that’s why I never left. So for me and my girlfriends to land this show for Bravo is wild. And the fact that people like the show is like a dream.

Rosie: I love Rhode Island. I grew up in Massachusetts, but I grew up so close to the border, I literally went there all the time—if there was a concert or I needed to go to the mall, we drove to Providence—and I’m glad that it’s finally getting a spotlight, and I’m glad that people are seeing how entertaining it is here and just how, kind of kooky it is.

How do you think the show has been received locally?

Liz: Rhode Islanders are the most critical of the show. If you read some of our local stuff, they’re like “What an embarrassment, trash! They don’t represent me.” And it’s only the Rhode Islanders saying it. I’m hoping they change that stance, but if they don’t, it’s okay. I am extremely proud of my state, but I don’t represent the entire population of Rhode Island—I can only represent myself: If there’s anything embarrassing that I do, it’s only on me. I don’t think it should affect whomever in Glocester, Rhode Island.

Alicia: At first everyone was like, “I want nothing to do with them”—it was almost shunned upon. But now everyone’s like, “Oh my God, we’re so happy” because they want to see it air, and they want to show the places that we’re going to be seeing.

Ashley, you grew up in Virginia, but your husband Jared is a Warwick [RI] native, which is what drew you both back to his home state. What’s been your experience adjusting to life in New England?

Ashley: I knew Jared loved Rhode Island so much. We were living in L.A. together, and whenever we visited here, I always loved it, so I was like, “I’d totally move here for you.” It’s an hour flight from my family. But what was a hard was when we started having kids: When we had [our eldest son, four-year-old] Dawson, I realized I didn’t feel like I had as much of a community here as I would have had in Los Angeles or in Virginia, because it is a little bit harder to make friends here. Everybody here has been friends since birth, since kindergarten—you don’t really ever have to make friends again because everybody [you grew up with] stays. People were not like that in Virginia.

What sets your cast apart from other Real Housewives franchises?

Alicia: I think that we never tried to be famous. We like being from Rhode Island. I don’t think we ever thought this would happen, so we are very pure about it. And I also feel like we are all friends—we all really do love each other. We might fight and stuff, but at the end of the day, we’re all so connected. We can’t escape each other. If I want to talk shit about someone, I’m going to deal with their family and friends at the supermarket.

Liz: Rhode Island is such a tiny, tight-knit community. We don’t typically stray out of the lines, and shit catches on here like wildfire. I always thought Rhode Island would be a perfect place for a Housewives franchise because of that: How incestuous it can be, the one degree of separation, and also because of our beautiful landscape. We have a lot of hidden gems.

Rosie, having grown up in Massachusetts, what do you see as the biggest differences between Massachusetts and Rhode Island?

Rosie: Massachusetts is so much bigger. Rhode Island is like one small town that just happens to have different towns in it, whereas Massachusetts—there’s the Berkshires, the Cape, the islands, parts near New Hampshire. It’s so different. Obviously the accents are strong. But Rhode Island is very much its own place. [My husband] Rich always says Rhode Island is like Boston’s little cousin.

Liz, you, in particular, have been warmly received by the Bravo fandom. What do you think the audience is connecting to so deeply?

Liz: I think what people are most connecting to with me is maybe what gets me in trouble the most: The fact that I am super blunt and I call out bullshit. You haven’t seen a lot of that yet, but you will.

Rosie, in what ways did your broadcasting background prepare you for being on a Housewives show?

Rosie: It actually did the opposite of what it was supposed to do. When I was in [the] news [industry], it was “Report the facts, get everything triple-checked, follow your script.” I was, like, 24 years old and having to ask politicians crazy things: Why am I asking this? Because the newsroom told me to. So I’ve taken that into my adult life, and maybe I shouldn’t have done that. The last couple years I did a lifestyle show, which was a breeze, and that made me very comfortable being myself on camera—but even then, when you’re ad-libbing, you have an idea of where you’re going. And now [on RHORI], suddenly I’m thrown into a dynamic where there’s a secret language I don’t understand because I didn’t grow up with these people, and nothing I do is right. I also learned the hard way that you are not allowed to ask questions here.

“The beef is real, okay?” —Ashley Iaconetti

What’s been the most surprising thing about this experience?

Ashley: The beef is real—the beef is real, okay? It goes throughout the year. We’re not filming now and it’s happening. It’s getting worse. More intense, perhaps, than I would have assumed. I thought things could be dropped a little bit easier. I’m not saying they’re worthy of dropping—I’m not trying to speak for the others, because I’m not really involved in any of the drama. I’m just a friend of the drama, you know what I mean.

Ashley, you’ve had two separate reality TV franchise experiences: The Bachelor and now RHORI. What’s the biggest difference?

Ashley: Filming this is more… I’m more on edge every time. I’m always worried about a fight breaking out. I was relatively comfortable during the filming of The Bachelor—it was a different kind of nerve. The nerves of The Bachelor are like: “Is he going to like me?”; “Is our date going to go well?”; “Is he going to kiss me?” Those things are obviously very nerve-wracking—probably more nerve wracking, actually—but for some reason it was a more comfortable environment, because you were surrounded by people who weren’t going to pick an argument with you. Here you’re walking on eggshells all the time—I didn’t have to walk on eggshells during The Bachelor. That’s the difference.

Alicia, you’ve been refreshingly vulnerable on the show. What’s been the hardest part about sharing your personal life this way?

Alicia: [During filming] I was speaking from my heart, and after a while, I forgot there were cameras. But now that I have to re-listen to it, I’m like, “Oh my God. That means [her long-term partner] Billy’s mother knows I said that. Everyone at my daughter’s school knows how I feel. I walk in and the teachers know.” I’m literally an open book now. I feel exposed. But I’ve always been an open book, so—whatever.

Liz, you and [The Real Housewives of New Jersey cast member] Dolores Catania are going into business together. Can you tell us about that? And how did Dolores guide you through the filming experience?

Liz: Dolores is truly one of my best friends in life—that’s not contrived. She is like the other half of my heart. We are on the phone together around the clock. I would have loved to have filmed more with her, just because she really understands me. We’re the closest in age—I’m much further along than the rest of my other castmates, so I would have loved to have her here more. 

As far as Dolores guiding us—once we started filming, things went really fast, and sometimes there wasn’t even time to consult with her. What she brought to all of us, and it was real and probably the best advice we could have gotten, was just: Be true to yourself. And in something like this, that is the only advice you need. Was I successful at that 100% all the time? No, like, I kind of let myself down a couple of times.

As for our business: Dolores and I are a year apart and we are going through the exact same stage of life at the exact same time. I take eight million supplements a day, all natural. We thought, how much more serendipitous could it be for the two of us? Everyone says we look alike because I used her plastic surgeon. I’ll send you a photo that before I ever even met him, of the two of us together, I think we looked more alike then. We’re working on something combining things like beetroot, a natural beta blocker, something for heat, and a non-psychoactive cannabis product. It’s an adjunct to other traditional menopause therapies, and we are both so excited for it.

Ashley, we’ve seen you open up this season about the challenges with Jared and the other woman in his life—[South Kingstown, RI café] Audrey’s.

Ashley: Thank God she’s a coffee shop [laughs]. 

How has it been watching those scenes back?

Ashley: It’s pretty reflective of life. I want people to know that Jared is an extremely involved dad. Even though he’s at Audrey’s a lot, if he’s not there, that man is with the kids—throwing them around, reading to them, playing with them. Audrey’s is just a time suck, a money suck—but that is what having a business is, especially in the first five years. You ask any restaurant owner who’s not the owner of a franchise or very well established, and that’s just restaurant life. 

And how are you balancing the filming obligations with family life?

Ashley: It’s a hard, hard time. My calendar is completely full for May. But we don’t film all year round. I could never commit to something like that. So you just kind of count it down until you feel the weight lift off your shoulders. And you get through it with a lot of help—with the nannies, and Jared being here, and teamwork.

 

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Alicia, your aunts have made a few appearances on the show and the Bravo fans seem to really love them. How do they feel about their newfound fame? They even have an Instagram account.

Alicia: My aunts are living their best life. They think they’re like 22 years old again. I don’t even deal with them anymore. I’m in a group chat and I can’t even answer them. They are actually like teenagers right now. It’s wild.

You’ve been dubbed the unofficial comedic relief of the show. How’s that feel?

Alicia: I’ve always been this way, so I guess I always make people laugh. But the fact that people love the way I say “crack-uh” is wild to me. I brought my entire life onto this show, and people want me to say cracker—and I love it, because that’s me. 

But it’s wild that people are appreciating the weird things that I do. Like, [I mentioned on the show that] I ran over a woman, and like, people are like, “I’ve done this!” I’m really enjoying to hear, like, the feedback from people. I love it. I really do. It makes me feel like, “This is probably why I ran over that woman by accident”—but she dove in front of my car, I’ve said this so many times. But certain things like that—like having crackers. There’s so many people that friggin’ like crackers too. And I’m like, “Oh my god, I see you. You see me.”

Has Saltines offered you a spokesperson role yet?

Alicia: I have been talking to a few [companies].

The Real Housewives of Rhode Island airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. on Bravo. This interview has been lightly edited and compiled from four conversations.

There is no tidy way to describe what Jon Batiste does. He’s an eight-time Grammy winner and a classically trained pianist who grew up in a New Orleans musical dynasty. He spent seven seasons leading The Late Show with Stephen Colbert band on CBS, danced with Mick Jagger at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, and has argued—convincingly—that Beethoven created definitively African music. Now he’s bringing his talents to the Boston Pops from May 12 to 14, for what promises to be the kind of evening that reminds you why live music exists in the first place. We caught him at home on his farm, in a reflective mood, and talked about genius, grief, and what it feels like to play with a full orchestra.

What’s your favorite part about performing with an orchestra?
The sound. You know, the orchestra can be very loud, but what I love about it is that, in order for an orchestra to work and for the sound to really come across, there has to be a real discipline in terms of volume. The trumpets can’t blast because the strings will be covered, and the brass has to be in balance with the strings, and the percussion section plays very melodically, which is also something that I really appreciate. So it creates a lot of nuance in the sound.

You’ve covered pretty much every musical genre there is—which do you most identify with?
I don’t really think about genres more than I think about what I call my music: in lieu of a genre title, it’s social music. But if I had to pick a genre, it’d probably be jazz, because jazz is both a genre and a culture. It’s a tradition, and within that tradition, there’s the blues, there’s folk music, there’s gospel, and it’s really very rooted in New Orleans, where it was invented, where I’m from, so I guess that would probably be the most all-encompassing genre and the one that I most relate to.

What is your favorite part about touring?
Seeing the audience respond in a way where they’ve been transformed by the music and the experience of being together—that feeling, that look in someone’s eye. They don’t have to tell you; you can see it on their face, and the energy that it puts into a room is really revitalizing. It’s one of the oldest traditions in humankind. It’s been around for a reason.

And your least favorite?
Travel is tough. You know, if you imagine you just played a show, and you’re on stage for nearly three hours, and you sweat through all your wardrobe changes, and you gave it all you got, and now you have to get up at 5 a.m. to get on a tour bus or to get on a plane to another city to make it to a 9 a.m. appointment, and you have a full slate that day, and then multiply that times 10.

Is there a performance venue that you absolutely love?
You know, it’s tough to say. It’s the audience that makes the performance. But I do love the feeling at the Greek Theatre in L.A. I love the feeling of the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans. I love the feeling of the St. Augustine Amphitheatre in Florida. I really love the big, iconic venues on the East Coast that I’ve played— especially ones where sporting events happen. Like, I love playing at Madison Square Garden and MetLife Stadium. They have an energy just built in. But it’s the audience, ultimately, that makes the thing.

You’ve described Beethoven as very African. How so?
His rhythm. Beethoven’s rhythms are one of the keys to understanding his innovation. We all know and love the melodies, but the rhythm is what drives it to that place of pathos, and it also is what makes it endlessly influential in the classical canon. And there’s this great lore around Beethoven being a person of color. Many claim he was Black or of African descent. And then there’s other lore about him, which is more of a musicological study, actually not even lore, that he would use the influences from these African musical traditions as inspiration, which many of the classical musicians did. Many of them were improvisers as well. There’s a lot of the classical canon that started as improvisation. It’s not thought of in that way, but this is what I do—I study this stuff. I spent my whole life studying this.

Where does improvisation come from? And is that a total high as a performer?
It comes from the divine stream of consciousness. It’s the subconscious. It’s the place where all ideas come from, all creativity comes from. It’s a super consciousness. It is beyond thought. It is where intuition comes from. Improv kind of speaks to the invisible realm.

Do you think music can fix the world?
I think music is a gift given to us that can put a mirror up to who we actually are.

Were you a big Nine Inch Nails fan before working with Trent Reznor on Soul?
I listened to them in high school in passing. Growing up in the MTV era, they were a big presence. I didn’t have a strong inclination that we would ever work together, which is why it made it so cool. It was kind of like some thing that you never would have thought in a million years would happen, right? That’s how I also felt about The Late Show, or many things in my life and career—it’s like you never would have thought that you’d arrive where you did.

People always use other artists to describe someone’s work. Is there a comparison you’re okay with?
Yeah. I mean, the most I’ve heard was maybe Thelonious Monk. I’ve been compared to Duke Ellington, who was a band leader. And both of those happen to be two of my biggest influences. I’ve never called myself this, but people who come to shows and see me play all these instruments and the way I lead the band have compared me to Prince. I had the chance to play with Prince when I was coming up in New York, in my early days after I moved from New Orleans, and he definitely was an influence. So I think that’s really cool. But one of my biggest influences is the trumpeter Roy Hargrove. He passed away recently.

Who is the most musically talented person you’ve ever known?
I grew up around a lot of musically talented people. My sister, who doesn’t play anymore, and now her son, who’s 10 years old—my nephew, Brennan. My sister and I started together, but she was better than I was.

Who is your favorite musician to collaborate with?
My dad.

Okay, tell me a secret about Stephen Colbert.
I don’t know if it’s a secret, but he can really sing.

Where do you keep all of your awards?
Wherever my wife, Suleika, puts them.

Speaking of which—did you two really meet at band camp?
Yeah, we met at band camp in Saratoga Springs in 2002.

And you’ve collaborated with her professionally?
I have. We just did a tour last year on stage together for her book, The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life. And she plays the bass, as well as obviously being a great writer. She is also an incredible visual artist, and she paints. For my album We Are, she actually took the photograph and designed the cover art. So I mean, she’s got many talents, and we put all our talents on stage around the release of this book, and it was an amazing success, and we plan to do more of it.

How did you end up dancing with Mick Jagger at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party?
I’d actually met him before that, but that was our first time really hanging for, you know, more than just seeing each other in passing. The first time I met him was when I played with the Stones at MetLife two years ago. We’ve been around each other, but we spent hours talking about records and history and life and all that. And then, you know, everybody saw that clip of us dancing.

Have you ever been starstruck?
Yes, but it’s mainly these older jazz musicians. Like, I remember the first time that I was around Sonny Rollins. It’s more like I get “these guys really can play” struck. And yeah, I’ve been around people who I’ve grown up watching on TV and feeling like, Oh my goodness. Like I remember the first time I met Will Smith when I was over at The Late Show. I grew up watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Or like, you know, when you have the opportunity to meet your heroes, like I got a chance to meet Carol Burnett. I was one of those kids, when I was 12 and 13 years old, that was watching television programs from the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s. My favorite television shows were I Love Lucy, Taxi, and The Carol Burnett Show. Carol Burnett wrote me a letter telling me that my dressing room in the Ed Sullivan Theater was her dressing room.

What was the last thing that made you cry?
I’m home right now. We have a beautiful farm here, and I guess it was moving to me, the fact that Suleika and I built this life together. And, you know, we didn’t know if she would make it beyond her last [cancer] treatment, the last time we were going through it. It was one of those precarious situations. And then you look around, and you see we had a bunch of friends and family; my mom was here, and her mother was here. And it wasn’t like I was sobbing. I remember feeling like the older I get, the tears just come every now and then, just looking around at life. But I don’t know the last time that I, like, heavy cried, but that was definitely one of the times when I felt like crying.

If you could play for one person, living or dead, who would it be?
Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And if you weren’t doing any of this—what path does your life take?
I’d probably be a monk or competitive video-game player in Kenner, Louisiana.

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By the Numbers

Special Guests

The Pops are amazing, but who wouldn’t love the help of a VIP like Batiste—or Elmo?

1,600+

Number of guest artists and ensembles who have appeared with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops between 1995 and 2025.

40+

Number of unique instruments used by soloist guest performers—including the gamelan, Uilleann pipes, zither, and typewriter.

8

Age of singer Oladunni Oladipo when she sang with the Pops in 2007, one of the youngest performers ever to appear with the orchestra.

7

Number of astronauts, including Buzz Aldrin, who have appeared with Lockhart and the Pops.

6

Number of former or current Massachusetts governors who have appeared as narrators onstage.

4

Number of Muppets—Elmo, Big Bird, Oscar, and Rosita—who were onstage for the Sesame Street “Evening at Pops” in 2000.

Liz Breadon didn’t walk into City Hall on January 5 expecting the gavel. But after a vote defined by high drama and backroom maneuvering, the woman who wasn’t even gunning for the job walked out as city council president. She’s Allston-Brighton through and through—nearly 30 years in the neighborhood, a champion of branch libraries and crosswalks—but now she’s got a bigger job: presiding over a body that’s arguably never been more fractured. We talked to the Northern Ireland native and first openly LGBTQ+ woman elected to the council about crumbling infrastructure, birth control for rats, and the best thing she’s ever dragged home from Allston Christmas.

You were a dark horse for council president. Were you as surprised as everyone else when it happened?
I was surprised at how it all unfolded, yes.

What’s been the biggest shift in becoming president of the city council?
I’m a city councilor for District 9—Allston-Brighton—and the city council president position is another job, so I’ve added a lot to my calendar, so to speak. I have two jobs.

How would you describe your working relationship with Mayor Michelle Wu?
I have a good working relationship with the mayor. I think she’s a visionary leader, and I feel that partnership in terms of making the city a livable, open, and welcoming city for everyone.

Most pressing issue facing the city right now?
There are a few. There’s the issue of needing more affordable housing for everyone in the city. The cost of housing has increased dramatically, and working and middle-class folks are feeling a lot of pressure. Then there are the schools. There’s an ongoing effort to try to improve Boston Public Schools, and that’s something that I will be taking particular interest in as city council president. And then there’s the fiscal health of the city, thinking about maybe other sources of revenue, and acknowledging the fact that our economy is under severe threat from the federal government. We’ve had a lot of funds taken away from our eds and meds, so I think that has an impact on our local economy as well.

Biggest infrastructure need in both your district and throughout the city?
In terms of infrastructure, we’re strongly advocating for a new community center in Allston-Brighton. We have a community center that was located at the former Jackson Mann school, and the building is in disrepair. We’re definitely lagging behind other neighborhoods in that respect because they have multiple community centers. Then there’s transportation infrastructure. The Cambridge Street bridge needs repair. Transportation and bridges are the big infrastructure issues across the city. Making sure that the MBTA is functional. I think Phillip Eng has done an amazing job, but he’s trying to address decades of under-investment and deferred maintenance in the system. We still have a lot of improvements to make.

What would you say is the solution to the rat problem?
Well, we have many different approaches to it. They say it’s a manmade problem, so it’s really trying to train people and educate them about how they can help by disposing of their trash more appropriately. We have the green buckets now to compost food waste and take that out of the trash bins. That’s reducing the food sources for rats. So it’s an across-the-board effort, a city-wide approach, to really address all of that. It’s also important to be really careful about using poisons that are dangerous for other animals, like hawks. They’re natural predators for rats, but if they eat a poisoned rat, then they can die. And we are really working hard to think about solutions, including birth control for rats. It’s a multipronged approach.

Biggest zoning change you’d like to see in the city?
I think the Accessory Dwelling Units issue is an important zoning change because it allows folks to develop living spaces within the envelope of their house or adjacent to it, where they could age in place and maybe other family members could live in the main house.

Do you think public transportation should be free?
In an ideal world, yes, but it’s a hard sell for folks when we have to invest money into improving the system. We spend a lot of public dollars maintaining, improving, and building roads and bridges for cars. When you travel to other parts of the world, and you see the quality of their public transit, you really appreciate that we’re sort of light-years behind.

Do you think the popular idea of Allston-Brighton as a student ghetto is misleading?
Absolutely. We have a very diverse population. We have mosques. We have a Buddhist center. We have synagogues and churches, with folks from all over the world here. One of the things I love is that stretch of Brighton Avenue from Union Square down to Packard’s Corner. It has a wide array of ethnic foods, which definitely makes it a place for folks who like to explore different cuisines.

What are the unique challenges Allston-Brighton faces, as opposed to other parts of the city?
One issue we have is that because we have a pretty high student population, it incentivizes investors to buy up family homes, which makes it difficult for families to buy those homes. I also feel that there’s this perception that Allston-Brighton is just all students, and we’re not. Certainly, the student population brings a lot of vitality to the neighborhood, but we have long-term families and a very large and diverse immigrant population.

Is Harvard your largest landowner?
Harvard is a huge landowner. It’s estimated they own a third of Allston.

Wow. Do you have a good working relationship with Harvard?
We do, and we also keep holding their feet to the fire in terms of being good neighbors. Over the years, they accumulated a lot of land by using secondary buyers, and that caused a little mistrust, but we also have a very active task force that works with them. They engage with Harvard on a regular basis, and we try to help negotiate good benefits for the community. There are benefits, and there’s a downside. We’re very excited that the A.R.T. is going to be opening in the neighborhood.

Allston-Brighton probably has as much or more waterfront on the Charles River than any other part of the city. Is that a major priority for you?
Well, the Charles River Reservation is managed by the DCR, so it’s a state-owned park, but it’s a tremendous amenity for us in the neighborhood. One of the biggest challenges is access, getting across Soldiers Field Road. It’s very busy, so even though all that green space on the river is right there, it’s difficult for residents to get to. We’ve been waiting for years to get improved crosswalks, and we’re not there yet.

You were a champion for the Faneuil Branch of the Boston Public Library. How important are branch libraries to neighborhoods?
Branch libraries are incredibly important. They’re third spaces in the sense that they’re places where anyone can come and spend time. They’re places where you can build community and connect with people of all ages and from different backgrounds. We’re very blessed in Allston-Brighton to have active Friends groups in our neighborhood libraries. The Friends of the Faneuil Library is an incredible group of people who raise money for extra programming and host events to build community.

Are there any pressing historical preservation needs in Allston-Brighton?
The space down near Allston Depot that used to be Pizzeria Regina. That’s an H.H. Richardson building, and the immediate space around it is a historic little hub of buildings. There’s also a wonderful old firehouse just around the corner there, on Harvard Avenue. So I feel that little area is worth preserving.

Complaint you hear most from your constituents?
It depends on the season. In the winter, I think probably snow removal and how we’re managing snow on the roads. Traffic safety is always a concern. And just generally, housing is also a big issue.

Generally speaking, how do you feel about bike lanes?
We have a large number of folks who travel by bicycle, and I think it’s really important to consider road safety for everyone: pedestrians, bicyclists, and also those folks who use cars. It’s not necessarily a comfortable road-sharing situation. Sometimes we hear of incidents of road rage, but everyone needs to be safe on the road.

Do you think that bars should be able to stay open past 2 a.m.?
I would probably say it depends on where they’re located. Two a.m. seems reasonable, but that’s me not really being a night owl.

Does being an immigrant to Boston give you a unique perspective on the city and the issues it faces?
I wouldn’t say it’s unique, because I’m one of many, many immigrants to Boston. But I do bring my life experience from somewhere else, having moved to Boston when I was in my thirties. I think Boston is an amazing city that offers opportunities for so many people. I came here and fell in love with the place, and here I am 30 years later.

As a politician, who would you welcome a comparison to?
I feel that I’m very hands-on and focused on local issues. This is going back a little, but Joe Moakley was an incredible congressman, and I’ve heard he used to have his office hours at Castle Island on Sunday mornings, with his Dunkin’ Donuts. Folks used to just come by and talk to him. I had the experience of actually needing help with an immigration issue and someone put me in touch with Joe Moakley. He called me personally, asked what the problem was, and told me what to do. I had assistance within days, and I wasn’t even a constituent of his. So I was always very impressed with that accessibility and responsiveness. He was sort of a legend in terms of constituent services.

Have you ever gotten anything at Allston Christmas?
Oh, absolutely. I have a Victorian piano stool that’s really nice. It’s sort of an antique, but we don’t really use it. It makes a great plant stand.

How many times have you seen trucks get Storrowed?
I’ve actually seen it about four or five times. I just go, “What the heck?” And I saw a video recently of a truck going the wrong way on Storrow Drive. My first reaction was, “Oh, my goodness, that truck is going to get stuck under a bridge,” and then, “Oh, my God, that truck is on the wrong side of the road!” Storrow Drive is definitely a challenge, especially for folks from out of town.

Do you have a favorite bit of Boston history or trivia?
Evacuation Day happening on St. Patrick’s Day, for us Irish folks, gives us an excuse to have a great party. I think if the British had thought about it, they would have evacuated on a different day.

Favorite Allston-Brighton restaurant?
I like Carlo’s Cucina Italiana, which is an Italian place in Brighton. And I also enjoy going for breakfast at a place called In House Café on Chestnut Hill Avenue.

One thing Boston should be doing that it isn’t?
Hmm. Always, the first thing I think of when someone asks me a question like that is, “What’s it going to cost?” But I really feel that one thing we should be investing in is youth programs—access to sports and recreation and music. It doesn’t have to happen in the context of school necessarily, but recreational programs for our youth are critically important.

Do you have any desire for the corner office?
No. I have no aspirations to be mayor. I’m perfectly content being a city councilor for Allston-Brighton.

Brian Scalabrine first burst onto the scene in Boston as the ultimate cheerleader—a red-headed reserve player who became the secret weapon of the 2008 championship team. He never touched the court in the playoffs, yet somehow turned professional benchwarming into must-see television. Now, years into his second act as NBC Sports Boston’s team analyst, we asked him about the mentors who taught him to entertain, not educate, his most extravagant sneaker splurges, and why failure was actually the key to his success.

You’ve been on both sides of the game—as a player, as a coach, and now behind the mike. How different is it to narrate the action versus actually living it?
Well, learning curves are all dictated by who’s around you. And first of all, I had Tommy Heinsohn, who was the biggest straight shooter you’ll ever find in your entire life, telling me exactly what I needed to do on a daily basis. We used to sit down and have dinner together, and if I was being too technical about pick and rolls and single side bumps, he would just be like, “Scal, people don’t wanna hear about that garbage. It’s not a basketball video. Just make people laugh and be entertaining.” So I had a constant supply of that from Tommy. And Mike [Gorman] was the same way. Mike was way more diplomatic about it, like maybe we should focus on this and that. I’m also not me if not for my producer, Paul Lucey, who’s been producing games for thirtysomething years, and an 80-year-old man named Jim Edmonds, who’s also my producer and a straight shooter. So you get this guy who loves basketball, and he gets inserted with no experience whatsoever with a bunch of people who just nudged him exactly the right way to become the broadcaster he needed to become. I probably would’ve failed in this business if it wasn’t for those four people who were exactly what I needed. Let’s be honest, I played basketball in the ’90s and 2000s, right, so straight shooter is really the only language that I understand.

In some alternate universe where you never picked up a basketball, what do you think you’d be doing right now?
That’s really hard because I actually never thought I was gonna make the NBA. It was all about being a coach. My whole life, all I wanted to do was be a history teacher and coach basketball, and then see where it could take me. My goal was to play as long as I possibly could, so it would help my résumé for me to become a coach. But I fell in love with the game at such an early age that it was never a question. Anybody who knew me growing up knew that I would be involved in basketball.

You’re from Enumclaw, Washington, which I’m guessing isn’t exactly the Seaport or the North End. What was the most thrilling thing that ever went down there?
Well, you know the kid Kasey Kahne, who used to race in NASCAR, he’s from Enumclaw as well. But it’s a small town at the base of Mount Rainier. The story of me really starts with my parents moving right across the street from a park. And I lived at that park for six to eight hours every single day, in the summertime maybe more; during the school year, I’d go home when it was 11 o’clock at night. And whether I was playing one-on-one, two-on-two, or three-on-three, I was living there. You know the 10,000 hours rule? Well, I was more like 20,000 or 30,000 hours, and that’s probably how I ended up making it.

Give me one line each: Nets, Celtics, Bulls—how would you describe them?
The Nets were great because I was a rotational player on a championship team. We didn’t win it, but we went to the Finals. I learned a lot that I needed to know about the NBA, playing with Jason Kidd. The Celtics were amazing because of the teammates, winning a championship, and the relationship that I have with the city. And then the Bulls, Tom Thibodeau brought me in to be a mentor. And it really sparked that inner desire—you know, I love the game as a player, but I also love the game as a mentor and teacher to keep guys accountable.

You had a few nicknames over the years—“Veal,” “White Mamba.” Which one did you prefer?
I like White Mamba—it’s a good nickname. There’s a lot of funny parodies involved, and I think that people like to know that I’m cool with the parody jokes.

Did you ever try to work “White Mamba” into a pickup line?
[Laughs.] I’ve been married since before I was the White Mamba, so I’m gonna have to say no on that one.

What’s the best piece of swag from your NBA career?
My favorite thing is we have a warmup jacket with every one of the banners on it. I think it’s one of the coolest things the Celtics have ever made.

Are you a sneaker freak?
A little bit, but not crazy.

What’s the most you’ve ever spent on a pair of sneakers?
$180.

That’s…surprisingly reasonable.
Yeah, I usually buy when the Jordans go on sale. But there were some Jordan 3s that had a great color combination I was looking for, and I splurged on them for full price. It’s the only time I’ve ever paid full price for a pair of shoes.

What’s the best basketball game you’ve ever experienced, on the court or off?
I think the best I’ve ever played was Game 5 against Detroit in 2004. It was like a triple-overtime game where everyone fouled out, and I was just banging down threes in overtime. The exhilaration of that and the magnitude of it were phenomenal. Best game I’ve ever watched—I think the most excited I’ve ever been was the Jayson Tatum dunk over LeBron game, so that would be Game 7 of the Conference Finals. Tatum was a rookie, no Kyrie, no Gordon Hayward, no one thought this team would ever be able to do it. And I was certain when Tatum had that dunk that the Celtics were going to the Finals.

Which NBA venue has the best home-court advantage?
It’s all day Boston. Everybody I talk to always privately—they won’t do it publicly—they always talk to me about the Boston crowd. They’re like, “Is it like this every night?” and I’m like, “Yeah.” We are so spoiled, because I go to a lot of the other arenas, and it’s just okay, but Boston is completely different.

And that’s because of the fans?
Oh my God, yeah, I was in the building the year after COVID, but there were no fans. The Garden is not the Garden without the fans’ uniqueness and the way they dress up and paint their face—they’re all part of the show, and it’s really cool. It’s not like that everywhere.

What was the worst injury of your career?
After I was done playing in the NBA, I got my tooth knocked out during a pickup game, and it was by far the worst, because it takes maybe 10 to 15 different surgical procedures to get a tooth back—it would’ve been less rehab for an ACL. I’m telling you, it’s crazy how many appointments you have to do just to get your smile back right.

Who is the player you admire the most?
So Kevin Garnett is an incredible human being. The guy cared about everyone in the organization. I also got a chance to coach Steph Curry, and I never met a player who, whatever is going on, doesn’t really get caught up in all the drama. It was really eye-opening to see a star player just literally not be affected by all the crazy noise of the NBA.

How exhausting is playing an NBA game—physically, emotionally, all of it?
When you’re in the NBA, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing—when the lights go on and the ball is tipped, you can compartmentalize all of it. The only thing that you can really feel is injuries, but everything else goes away. I find it really amazing how athletes who play professional sports can block out the world and then focus in—not on the game, because that sounds like that’s a two-and-a-half-hour process. They can focus in on the second, make a read in that moment, and nothing else in their life matters, whether they’re exhausted or not.

What’s your take—are NBA players making too much money?
I mean, it’s the percentage of the revenue coming in, so no, I don’t think they’re overpaid.

Outside of basketball, what sports do you follow closely?
Uh, nothing, really.

Really?
Yeah, nothing. My life is all basketball. I don’t do anything else. I don’t know anything else.

Any regrets about your facial-hair choices over the years?
They’re based on laziness. It’s not a choice. It’s like choosing to shave or not shave, you know, but yeah, I mean, who doesn’t regret certain ways they look throughout the years?

Do you wear your championship ring?
I don’t wear it that often. I should wear it more. You know, to galas and stuff like that, but I don’t wear it as much as I should.

What’s your favorite basketball movie or show?
You know, I gotta be honest with you. I’m really turned off by basketball movies. I think when I grew up, I watched the movie Heaven Is a Playground probably 50 times, but now that I’ve experienced it, I’m a little turned off by it.

What’s your best advice for a kid who dreams of the NBA but doesn’t think they have a shot?
Yeah, you know I get this question a lot right now. Here’s the thing—I would never want to tell that kid something where he could skip a step. I think the reason why I made it is because everyone thought I wasn’t gonna make it. If I go and tell that kid he’s gonna make it, I’m not sure that kid does make it. I’m a success from my failures, so I wouldn’t want to try to curb those failures. If there was a way to go back and tell my eight-year-old self, like, you’re probably not gonna make it, that would be the best advice I could possibly give, because once you think you’re not, and you work like you’re not, when you finally do, the work habits are already established. So I would not want to go back and mess up my eight-year-old self. I don’t think I can replicate my life and make it better, given the circumstances, and end up in a better position than I am right now. I think I could only mess it up.

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By the Numbers

Off-Court Champs

The numbers you need to know about the legendary voices of Celtics glory.

43

Years Mike Gorman spent as the Celtics’ play-by-play announcer—the longest
tenure in franchise history.

~2,800

Number of games Mike Gorman and Tommy Heinsohn broadcast together, one of the most enduring partnerships in sports television.

2

Number of Curt Gowdy Media Awards won by Celtics announcers: radio legend Johnny Most (37 years, 1953–1990) and Gorman.

10

Number of games per season Hall of Famer Bob Cousy called as a part-time Celtics analyst from 1999 to 2008.

13

Years Brian Scalabrine has been a Celtics commentator and analyst—and counting.

Seth Moulton has made a career of picking fights with fellow Democrats—challenging Nancy Pelosi’s leadership, calling for generational change, and refusing to fall in line on cultural debates. So when he announced that he was running against Ed Markey in the 2026 Senate primary, the move felt practically inevitable. The four-tour Iraq veteran, North Shore native and current Salem resident is now making his case for the Senate at a moment when Massachusetts voters are squeezed by costs and increasingly skeptical of anyone in office. We recently spoke with him about term limits, trans sports, Ron DeSantis’s social skills, and whether he’d ever run for president again.

What’s the oddest interaction you’ve ever had on Capitol Hill?
There are, sadly, a number of disreputable people in Congress, but the guy who literally couldn’t even say hi to you was Ron DeSantis when he was in the House.

Aside from family and friends, what’s the thing you miss most about Boston when you’re in DC?
There’s nothing better in Boston than a Sox game in the summer.

People describe DC as a hornet’s nest, a snake pit, a shark tank, a cesspool, a swamp, whatever. What metaphor do you think applies to Washington?
[They say] it was built on a swamp, and sometimes I question George Washington’s judgment in putting it there, but I keep it in perspective by reminding myself that nothing in DC is as hard as Iraq.

What was it that led you to join the Marines just days after graduating from Harvard?
It was Reverend Peter Gomes and his challenge to us students to serve, to do something, to give back. He wasn’t advocating specifically for military service, but when I looked at all the different ways I could serve, I just had so much respect for the 18-year-old kids who put their lives on the line for our country that I felt I should do my part, too.

What was the scariest experience that you had in Iraq?
Well, unfortunately, I had a lot, and I don’t like telling war stories, so I won’t go into the details, but I’ll just tell you that I consider myself lucky to have come back in one piece and think all the time about the guys I served with who did not.

What is the most important lesson that you brought back with you from your military service?
That there are extraordinary Americans who come from wildly different backgrounds all across the country serving together. I mean, my platoon had rich and poor, Black and white, gay and straight. We had different religious beliefs, different political beliefs, and yet we were able to set aside those differences to do what was right for the country. And I want to see more of that kind of leadership and service in America today, including in our Congress.

You majored in physics—do you still read about physics, or do you follow physics magazines?
I don’t read physics magazines, but I love science and keep up with it in the news. I wasn’t smart enough to be a physicist, so here I am in Congress.

What led you to make the decision to run against U.S. Senator Ed Markey this year?
We can’t afford to wait six more years for new leadership in the commonwealth or the country.

Do you think that’s one of the biggest problems in Washington right now—stagnation?
I do. And stagnation is an especially big problem with the Democratic Party. I mean, we’ve seen the results with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Dianne Feinstein, and Joe Biden, but we’ve also seen the results on the other side with Zohran Mamdani, Mikie Sherrill, and Abigail Spanberger, who all won huge Democratic victories as next-generation leaders willing to challenge the party establishment.

How do you feel about term limits?
I think we should have them, but I think we should pair them with campaign finance reform. Term limits tend to be more popular with Republicans, campaign finance reform tends to be more popular with Democrats, but both are widely popular with the American people, so each side could eat a little crow and do something good for Congress that will finally raise our esteem in the eyes of the people we represent. Right?

And Ed Markey has been in office for quite some time.
I respect his service, and I’ve voted for him in the past myself. I just think it’s time for new leadership. And with all due respect, he’s been elected longer than I’ve been alive.

Do you think bipartisanship is possible today, given the climate?
Yes, it is. I passed 988 [through the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act] under the first Trump administration by finding a Republican veteran I could work with. So it’s hard, but it’s necessary if we want to truly serve our constituents.

In 2024, you introduced the American High-Speed Rail Act, which proposes $205 billion in federal funding to create a national high-speed rail network. Right now, do you think that American rail lines are up to snuff?
Absolutely not. American rail service is pathetic, and it should be the best in the world. I mean, so many Americans don’t realize what we’re missing, and we should be able to get around the country faster than driving without squeezing yourself into a pressurized aluminum tube 30,000 feet in the air and hoping the door doesn’t blow out.

What part of your district intrigues you the most?
The city of Lynn, because it’s bursting with potential, but Lynners need more opportunities. A great example is the fact that Lynn is the same distance from downtown Boston as Brooklyn is from downtown Manhattan—same distance by train—but Lynn has one train an hour in the middle of the day, and Brooklyn has about one train a minute. My regional rail plan would do wonders for opportunity and economic development, and in Lynn and so many cities like it around the commonwealth.

Besides rail lines, what are the top three other things about infrastructure in the United States—bridges, roads, highways—that you think are most pressing?
We need to build more carbon-free energy infrastructure to bring down energy prices. And we’ve clearly failed to do that in Massachusetts, because energy bills are sky high, and people are turning down their thermostats this winter to save money. We also need to completely rebuild our education infrastructure. Here’s an example: Kids are voting with their feet today, standing in lines outside of vocational schools, because they know these jobs will not be automated out of existence. And the older generation in Massachusetts is debating how to ration these seats rather than building more to serve our kids.

What questions or requests do you most commonly hear from your constituents?
Right now? It’s all about affordability. People are understandably concerned that they won’t be able to afford healthcare. They won’t be able to pay their electricity bill.

Do you think that some form of compulsory public service should become part of the United States’ culture, even if it’s not military?
I don’t think national service should be compulsory, but I do think it should be expected that we all do something to give back to this great country, and that would not mean expanding the ranks of our military. It would mean dramatically expanding the opportunities for civilian service—Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, City Year.

You have always been very vocal about your opinion on the Iraq War. Looking back at what happened and the outcome, and having served four tours, can you encapsulate your view of the Iraq War?
Well, I ran for Congress because I saw the consequences of failed leadership in Washington over four tours in Iraq, and today I’m gravely concerned we’re going to play this movie again with Venezuela, which is why I wrote the legislation to prevent any funds from supporting ground operations in Venezuela.

Do you view China as our biggest rival or our biggest enemy?
As opposed to Venezuela? Yes.

Could you ever see China becoming a close ally?
It’s not impossible, but one of the biggest problems with our China policy is that we don’t have a long-term vision for where this will be in 30 years. But in the meantime, we have to do everything we can to deter and prevent a war with China. And getting distracted in Venezuela does not help, right?

So a recent controversy you were in was the whole trans sports question. Do you feel that your words were sort of twisted or misinterpreted?
I have a 100 percent voting record on trans rights, but I don’t believe we serve any minority we’re working to protect if we’re not willing to take on their issues and have tough conversations. Because otherwise, the only ones who set the agenda are the Republicans with hateful policies, which is exactly what we’ve seen in this Congress.

So was there any lingering bad blood between you and Nancy Pelosi?
It was tough for a time, but I’ve always heard that she has great respect for me because I’m willing to challenge the status quo when so many aren’t, and I feel the same way about her. We had a really lovely conversation about Christmas with our families on the House floor just yesterday.

What about presidential aspirations?
Been there, tried that. I’m amazed you remember.

Well, who do you see as the frontrunner in the next election cycle?
Look, I think it’s important for the next generation of leaders to rise up, and that’s why people, including a past president, encouraged me to run several years ago, but I think it would be a huge mistake to designate that person now. We tried that in 2024, and it didn’t work out well for us. We need to win the midterms and then use that as a blueprint for 2028.

What is your single favorite thing about Salem?
Not the witches. Salem is so much more than Halloween. The Peabody Essex Museum is amazing. The restaurants are amazing, and it’s a great city to raise a family.

What is the one headline that you’d most like to read?
The headline I’d most like to see is, “School shootings are down 1,000 percent because we finally got weapons of war off our streets.”

What was the most emotional or heart-wrenching interaction that you’ve had with a constituent?
It’s meeting constituents whose sons or daughters have died from gun violence, because there are absolutely things we can do to prevent it. But it’s one of the best examples of how cowardly the Republicans in Congress are today.

Who is the person from history that you’d most like to have met?
Teddy Roosevelt. He was a Republican, but he was a progressive champion who was always willing to challenge the status quo. And he seemed to always have a good time doing it. The other person that I would have really liked to meet was Frederick Douglass, because I’ve always admired people who have political courage, and the influence he had, given where he began his life, took an unbelievable amount of courage, politically and otherwise.

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By the Numbers

The Moulton File

Five stats on the candidate.

3

Number of degrees Moulton has from Harvard—BA, MBA, and MPP.

4

Number of tours Moulton served in Iraq as a Marine infantry officer.

7

Number of glasses of milk Moulton drank a day when he was in grad school at Harvard.

123

Number of days Moulton spent running for president in 2019.

2,116,539

Amount, in dollars, Moulton had raised for his Senate run through the end of 2025.

An earlier version of this article was first published in the print edition of the February 2026 issue with the headline: “The Challenger.”

You’re best known for your work on “the Singularity”—the point of accelerating technological change when human intelligence merges with AI. What connection do you see between this concept and the challenge of extending human longevity?
Singularity includes longevity. We’re already making very substantial gains in terms of overcoming health problems. Right now, if we come up with a new cure or treatment, it has to undergo human testing, and that could take years. We’re moving toward being able to simulate this using computers, which can be done in days. For example, with the COVID vaccine, they tried out thousands of formulations and did it in two days; otherwise, it would’ve taken years. This is going to be done for everything [as part of the AI revolution]. It’s not fully there yet, but it will be there in about five years.

You’ve popularized the concept of “longevity escape velocity”—in the simplest terms, what exactly is the theory, and why do you believe we’re so close to reaching it?
Eventually, [medical advancements] will be able to overcome what causes our bodies to expire. Right now, if you use up a year of your longevity, you’re a year older. But by 2032, you’ll gain back one year for each year lived. Beyond that, you’ll actually get back more than a year. It doesn’t guarantee immortality; accidents can happen, but we’re also reducing accidents. For example, the 40,000 deaths a year we have from humans driving cars, we’ll be able to reduce through automated driving.

You’re well known for your personal longevity routine. What are some of the things you do to stay healthy?
I do TPE, therapeutic plasma exchange, on a regular basis. Plasma holds toxins, and if you never replace it, it gets more and more filled with toxins. This process replaces the plasma in your blood with plasma that’s free of toxins. Also, my father died at age 58 of heart disease. We didn’t have the ability to control it back then. Right now, we have something called Repatha, which is an injection, so my LDL cholesterol, which is the bad, is now 10. I have no plaque because of this treatment. Then I take maybe 70 or 80 supplements a day, some through injections.

For the average person who simply wants to live a longer, healthier life, what is the most encouraging message you can share about the future of medicine?
AI is merging with medicine, so breakthroughs will be exponential. You want to be as healthy as possible, and even if you have a disease, you want to slow it down, because new things will come up very quickly. We’re going to be able to try out a billion different solutions in one weekend, find one that works, and then test it on a million different humans in a matter of days, rather than years. Within seven years, we’re going to come up with things that will overcome disease very quickly.

This article was first published in the print edition of the February 2026 issue with the headline: “Forever Young?”

Charlie DeLoach never intended to serve on a jury, let alone one deciding arguably the state’s highest-profile murder case. An educator who grew up in the Bromley Heath public housing development in J.P., he’s spent more than three decades working with Boston kids and already had his hands full. But this past year, he found himself leading those deliberations after Judge Beverly Cannone tapped him as foreman in the second criminal trial of Karen Read, who was ultimately found not guilty of murder and manslaughter this past summer. As Read’s civil case ramps up, we sat down with DeLoach—and he didn’t disappoint.

What was your initial reaction when you got the jury summons? Were you going to try and avoid serving, or did you want to?
I was gonna do the old “Out of sight, out of mind” kind of thing. I had always tried to dodge it, so if they didn’t call me, or they didn’t come to my door knocking, they weren’t getting me.

So how did you become the foreman? How does that work?
I became the foreman because of Judge Beverly. She chose me. After they had their final statements and closing arguments, she said, “This is the time that I usually go over the law, and before that, I pick the foreman.” She said, “I select Juror One,” and I was like, “Okay.” She was like, “Oh, that’s a man who says yes before he even knows what he has to do.”

You had no idea what it entailed?
Not really. Actually, over the weekend, I looked it up before we started deliberating. We went in there around 2:20 p.m. [on Friday afternoon] for official deliberations, and probably by 2:45 p.m., all the evidence was in the room. Then we could finally talk about the case. I didn’t really know the true detail of it until the weekend.

What was the initial atmosphere like? Did you immediately take a vote? Did everybody declare what they thought, or did they keep their opinions to themselves?
We asked the question, “Does everybody want to vote now?” And a lot of people were like, “No.” So we started by looking at the evidence. And then I realized what a foreman does: organizing, keeping the process going, keeping the peace, and those kinds of things. Which is kind of what I do at work anyway.

I was going to ask if your work experience helped with being a foreman.
Oh, big time! Yes. Because I have to deal with a lot of different personalities all at once. So I had to figure that out. What I usually do is kind of stay low-key and just let whatever come my way and try to figure it out, instead of trying to be more aggressive about it. So I wasn’t like, “Oh, this is how we’re going to do it. This is how we’re going to lay it out.” And everybody was very helpful. When I felt like things were kind of going left or right, I’d try to reel it back in and make sure everybody was being heard, that everybody was listening when someone else was talking.

Did you all feel the public pressure, the people outside the courthouse watching and waiting?
You could see the presence of people outside. But did it sway the way I was going to determine my decision, or how I was going to vote? No, because I was just going to stick to the evidence and testimony and the stuff that went on in the courtroom. There was the pro-Karen group and the anti-Karen group, and I was like, “I get it. Everyone’s in an outrage.” But my job was to do whatever I could with what was in front of me.

How did you keep it all to yourself when you were with family or friends?
It was a lot of, “I just can’t talk about it.” That was my mindset because I wanted to be totally impartial in the decision that I made and make sure it wasn’t something coerced by someone telling me something. Boy, was I tempted to get on the Internet and just look up everything, but I was like, “I can’t. This is what they want us to look at, and there’s a reason why, so I’m just going to stick to it.” And then afterward, oh, was I surprised!

What did you find out afterward that surprised you the most?
Things from the first trial. We didn’t see the majority of the people that they called as witnesses. And I could see how the prosecution did not want us to see certain witnesses, how it would have skewed our judgment on things. And then just to hear everybody talking about what they thought happened inside the house, or what they thought really went on with John O’Keefe.

Were there any confrontations or raised tempers in the jurors’ room?
None whatsoever.

Wow! So everybody got along?
Yes, we did. It was comfortable to come to every day.

Were there any “Aha!” moments?
Well, I’d say the biggest thing for me was the [inverted] sallyport video [of Karen Read’s car being brought into the garage as evidence]. That was a real “Aha!” moment for me, for the defense. I was like, “Oh, now I see.”

How about the missing Ring footage from John O’Keefe’s house?
I was still open-minded; if the prosecution had something, I was open to seeing it. But the amount of evidence that was stacking up for Karen was getting higher. And then seeing the video of them putting the car on the tow truck, and the red light on the passenger side lit up, I was like, “Are we serious?” The exact piece that’s supposed to have been found in the snow is lit up. That gave me the insight that she didn’t hit him. And then all the other forensic people, not one definitively said, “This is how she hit him.” There was no consistent evidence, even with his injuries. Where was the bruising on his legs? There was none. So yeah, he could’ve got clipped, but to sustain an injury that makes you hit your head that hard, where you get a laceration to your skull? Come on.

Did Michael Proctor’s behavior or his texts factor into the deliberations at all?
No. I had to push past a lot of that, even though it was really, really unprofessional. I had to look at it as a lot of locker-room talk. Yeah, you have bias, but just because you’re biased doesn’t mean the person hit them or whatever, right? It just seemed like a bunch of unprofessional state troopers. But I couldn’t let that taint my opinion a certain way.

“I wish a lot of people were able to take the approach that I and the 17 other jurors took, how seriously we were seeking justice.”

Did the whole experience color your opinion of law enforcement, the judicial system, or police in general?
I mean, that’s two parts. One, I wish a lot of people were able to take the approach that I and the 17 other jurors took, how seriously we were seeking justice. Then there’s a regular Joe like me. I don’t have money like that to withstand two trials. There are going to be a lot of people worried that this is our justice system and how easily it can be swayed.

Did you and the rest of the jury think that there was someone else who could have done it?
I mean, I can’t say. There was something else that happened to him. We wanted to get into that part, trying to solve it. But that was not going to happen. I just made sure we stuck to the path so we didn’t go down all these rabbit holes endlessly. It wasn’t our job to solve the case. Our job was to look at the evidence and see if she was guilty of this crime.

Did Turtleboy help or hurt her case?
I didn’t know about Turtleboy until two weeks before the end of the trial. I didn’t know the impact of who he was. And again, they told me about Turtleboy, and I still didn’t look it up, so no.

What was the shadiest thing to you? [The Alberts’] Selling the house? The deleted texts? The missing dog?
The dog was probably number two. Number one was selling the house. Your family house? Like, why? And then you sold it for less than market value? What?

Ultimately, what made the murder and manslaughter charges not meet the burden of proof, while the operating under the influence charge did?
Well, if there’s no collision, there’s no manslaughter. No one felt that there was any evidence of that. We even wrote out the definition of everything. Reasonable cause. Manslaughter. OUI. We had all the definitions on the walls, so that anytime we got stuck, we could refer to them.

Are you still in touch with any of the other jurors?
Yes. We were supposed to get together for a reunion soon, but we all have each other’s numbers and everything.

Was there ever any intimidation involved? Did you ever feel like either side was a threat?
No, but there were a lot of journalists across the way, just looking at us. It wasn’t intimidating, but I just knew they were looking for any little thing, like, “Ooh, I saw a juror do this!” So I tried to stay stone-cold-faced, and my eyes were on the lawyers, or the witness, or the judge.

Is there anything that you’d do differently?
No, no. After looking at everything online and even just hearing other people, nothing really.

How has this affected your life?
In large part, it hasn’t really affected my life. Even during the trial, I still went to work if it was a day off from court. I was back working with the kids. I mean, certain people, friends, family, coworkers, and their wives want to know my input on things. “How did you feel about X, Y, or Z?” But other than that, it was just an experience for me. Looking at the judicial system, I realized it only takes a couple of people, and you can make anyone look guilty.

Throughout the process, how did you decompress?
Well, I go to the gym, and I watch TV. I play video games.

So what was the emotion when you finally reached a verdict?
It was such a sense of relief. And when I was finally able to say it, it was just mixed feelings, because somebody was gonna leave with a sour taste in their mouth, right? But at the same time, justice needed to be done, and I didn’t want someone going to jail who shouldn’t have.

Lydia Shire doesn’t yell. In a business historically built on tantrums and testosterone, the septuagenarian Boston legend is practically revolutionary for treating her kitchen staff like human beings—quietly doing what she’s always done: cooking ridiculously good food. She’s still running the show at Scampo in the Liberty Hotel (yes, the one that used to be a jail), recently took over the kitchen at Bar Enza in Cambridge, and can spot a gluten-free diner just like that from across the room. We called her up to hear her take on everything from why Barbara Lynch deserved better to her go-to order at McDonald’s.

If you weren’t a chef, what do you think you’d be?
I would be an interior decorator, or I would be a picker. You know what a picker is?

No—what’s a picker?
A picker is somebody who travels around and finds amazing items. You know, both my parents were artists, so I grew up in a home with art, and I love beautiful objects because I’m a Libra. So if I couldn’t be an interior decorator, I probably would be a picker. I would go out and find beautiful things for people.

So restaurants with big-name chefs—has the trend sort of gotten out of control?
I wouldn’t say that. I would have to say that big-name chefs in most cities, it’s because they deserve it. They worked hard to reach the level that they are. For instance, if you go to any of Michael Scelfo’s restaurants in Cambridge, you know, his food is amazing. I love his food. Doesn’t he deserve to be named as one of the top chefs in the Boston area? I think so. The same would be said about Ken Oringer, Jody Adams, or Barbara Lynch.

Speaking of Barbara Lynch, did you feel like a lot of the criticism of her smacked of sexism?
What it smacked of to me was people, you know, smelling blood, and they jump on the bandwagon and pile on. I felt that the articles in the Boston Globe and then the New York Times were just mean-spirited and looking at the opinion of one disgruntled employee. Instead of thinking for a second about how much Barbara Lynch did for Boston—how many happy dinners did she cook for countless people in Boston? How many engagements happened at No. 9 Park?

The kitchen is, by necessity, a hierarchical place. How does that work in your restaurants?
At Scampo, for instance, the executive chef is Simon Restrepo, and I am the chef-owner. He and I have worked together side-by-side for more than 36 years. You know, he can finish my sentences. I don’t think we’ve ever really had any cross words. We just really love to be with each other, work together, and create together.

That said, the personality type that’s always depicted of a celebrity chef is a Gordon Ramsay who presents himself as you know, yelling and screaming.
Well, they kinda do in Britain. I mean, Marco Pierre White can be very mercurial, and so is Gordon Ramsay. I met Gordon Ramsay around 30 years ago. I wanted to thank him and say hello to him; when he finally agreed to come out of the kitchen, he was very close to being rude, very matter-of-fact. And Jasper White and I went to Marco Pierre White’s restaurant in London, and he came out and he was rude and kind of brusque. I guess that’s the way they do it over there.

What’s the worst disaster that has ever befallen you in the kitchen?
I think when I found out that somebody close to me was stealing from me. That was not a good thing.

What’s the most significant way in which you have evolved as a chef, either personally or in your cooking?
Well, what I’m most proud of right now, at age 76, is my brain. I feel my brain is 21 years old. My body, on the other hand—I’ve had three spine operations, and I’m still having trouble with my back, so sometimes it’s difficult to walk long distances. But boy, do I love writing menus.

What do you think is the biggest problem with food today?
In general, I think people are starved for fat. You know, if you give a piece of duck to somebody—a duck breast that you rendered, but it has that nice little rim of fat on it—they’ll grab it because it tastes so good. It distresses me when I go into a supermarket and I see package after package of skinless, boneless chicken breast. I just really like to give people something they want but wouldn’t ask for.

Like butter.
Yeah, like butter.

You’re the queen of butter.
I sure am, although I will tell you this: I actually ripped out a page in a magazine, in which they asked Thomas Keller what his favorite ingredient was to cook with, and he said butter. So I’m not the only one, I will say that.

What is your favorite thing to cook?
If I were at home alone and really, really hungry, I would love a skirt steak. You know, I would marinate it for 15 minutes with a little soy and ginger and sesame oil, and then I would dry it off and heavily season it, and I would sear it in my black cast-iron pan. And I would keep it rare, and yes, I would put butter on it.

Is there a spice or seasoning that you find yourself using more than any others?
I love cumin. My husband, who is from Colombia, introduced me to the beauty of cumin. For instance, when I make rice, I chop up some onion and sauté it in a little oil, and I add cumin and then the rice and water—and salt, of course, and you have to have oil when you boil rice, because that’s what keeps it separate and flaky. But the flavor of jasmine rice and some cumin seeds is delicious. Try it sometime.

What are your thoughts on things like gluten-free and other culinary fads?
Well, it’s a known fact that many people want gluten-free food who do not have celiac disease. It’s preference—I’ve joked that if you look at a 40-year-old woman with blond hair, you know she’s gluten-free. And I’m not chastising anybody. But, you know, we do take all allergies extremely seriously. The manager has to be involved so the order is placed correctly in the kitchen.

What’s one thing that no one should ever bother making at home?
I mean, unless you wanna blow up a duck with your mouth, I don’t know how you would make Peking duck at home. That’s a pretty hard one. When I was doing a Peking duck for one particular menu, and we didn’t have an air pump, I literally had to make a little slit in the skin, and I had to put the duck to my mouth and blow air into it. That’s not funny. Imagine me standing around every day blowing ducks.

“We are kind in the kitchen—we don’t scream. I never point a finger, because that’s not the right way to talk to people.”

What is your silver bullet in the kitchen?
Well, I definitely will say that we are kind in the kitchen—we don’t scream. If I see something wrong—like somebody didn’t season something correctly, or they overcooked it, or whatever—I never point a finger, because that’s not the right way to talk to people. I never say that was wrong. You make it so that we’re a team and we’re gonna better the situation.

Do you think food is love?
Oh, definitely. Oh my God, can you imagine if I were a meter maid spreading misery? I mean, we work when other people are off, and that’s a beautiful thing—they come out to dine, and they’re happy. They’re at peace; they’re relaxed. We’re there with a nice smile to really make it special.

Do you have a favorite new restaurant in Boston?
Well, I’ve been to Jody’s restaurant, La Padrona, and I’ve had a great time there. I think the food is great.

If you were on death row, what would you request for your final meal?
I think a steak and spaghetti aglio e olio.

Is there anyone from history that you’d love to cook for?
Well, I met James Beard once toward the end of his life. When I say I met him, I literally said hello and that was it—I shook his hand. And then he died shortly thereafter, but I’ve read all of his books, and I just think he was such a colorful character. I love his recipes—to this day, I still make his cream biscuits, and I make a plum pudding for Christmas from his book.

What’s the best way to cook a lobster?
You don’t want to overcook it. Because when you think of it, lobster, especially the tail, it’s a muscle—it’s how they move. So if you overcook a lobster, that tail gets pretty chewy. But if you undercook it a bit—we do our lobsters for about five minutes, depending on the size—and then put them in an ice bath, it’s so tender and delicious.

Do you think that female chefs have an edge over male chefs in the kitchen?
No, I don’t. I think it’s luck of the draw. If you eat food from a great chef, it could be a woman or it could be a man.

Do you have a favorite holiday meal?
Oh, definitely—Christmas. Oh my God, are you kidding me? I pull out all the stops. I have a giant tin of caviar that I get from Browne Trading Market in Portland. I always have plum pudding—even though my children hate it.

Do you cook at home, or does cooking ever feel like a busman’s holiday for you?
Well, I’m a huge sports lover, and football is my favorite sport. When the season opens, it’s always the beginning of September. It could be the hottest day of the year because you know how hot September can be, especially early. But I have to have a roast chicken, even though the oven heats up my house. It ushers in fall and my favorite time of year, so it’s a tradition with me now—I have to have roast chicken on football Sunday.

Okay, McDonald’s or Burger King?
McDonald’s.

Why?
I don’t know—I haven’t been to Burger King that many times, but I’ve been to McDonald’s more in my lifetime. I like Big Macs; I think they’re delicious.

If you could open any style of restaurant today, what would it be?
Oh, definitely a steakhouse, because I’ve never had a steakhouse.

What do you hope you’ll be remembered for?
I would like to say that people would see me as adventurous. And also, I would love it if people would see that the way I write a menu—the actual words—I think that I write beautiful menus. But I hope that they remember me for great flavors.

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By the Numbers

The Shire Files

Vital stats on Lydia Shire’s five decades in the kitchen—and counting.

4

Shire’s age when she began cooking with her father.

1,200

Amount, in dollars, that Shire had to her name when she went to London to study at Le Cordon Bleu.

0

Number of female head chefs there had been at the Bostonian Hotel before Shire took the helm.

1.2 million

Amount, in dollars, that Shire had to raise to open the first restaurant she ever owned, Biba.

1992

Year Shire won the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Northeast.

17

Number of years that Scampo, Shire’s Italian restaurant at the Liberty Hotel, has been open.

You can take the boy out of Boston, but you can’t take Boston out of the boy—and Donnie Wahlberg seems determined to prove it with his new CBS series, Boston Blue, premiering this Friday, October 17. The highly anticipated spin-off of the popular police procedural Blue Bloods transplants Wahlberg’s character, former NYPD detective Danny Reagan, to the Boston Police Department, because why stop at one fictional badge, right? But that’s hardly all that’s keeping the musician turned actor busy. In June, New Kids on the Block launched the first leg of their Las Vegas residency, a nostalgia-powered spectacle that will captivate fans again this fall and winter with their signature moves and hits. We recently caught up with Wahlberg between chasing fictional criminals by day and harmonizing with Jordan Knight by night to chat about teenage fame, Tom Selleck, and those infamous NKOTB cruises.

First of all, if you could only root for one team for the rest of your life—Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots, or Bruins—which is it?
Oh, my God, that’s the most evil question in the history of the world. I’m gonna go with the New England Revolution.

So Boston Blue—was that partially or wholly your idea?
Partially. I think it was my idea to do a show with Danny Reagan as a fish out of water, but never in my wildest dreams did I think that CBS would agree to [setting it in] Boston, so I didn’t even suggest it. And when I suggested Texas or California or Las Vegas, they said, “What’s wrong with Boston?” And my jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe that they actually would be okay with it.

Is the show shot here?
Oh, yeah. We’re going to Fenway to shoot. We’re going to a bunch of different landmarks. We’re going to do a lot of exterior scenes. Doing this in Boston was a dream, and because of the economics of the industry right now, you know, [other productions are] going elsewhere, but I was kind of adamant that there are just things you can’t fake about Boston. So while I didn’t get my dream of filming it entirely in Boston, I got a fair compromise from everybody involved.

So who is the most talented Wahlberg?
That would have been Alma.

I know it’s been four years, but I’m very sorry about the passing of your mom. She was a really lovely person.
It’s all good. It would have been Alma, but I’ll go with Paul [the chef] now. If you’re asking just between Mark and me, I produced all of Mark’s records and wrote most of his songs, so I think I’d win between him and me. But he’s a very talented young man.

Acting versus singing: How do you identify yourself? Are you an actor? Are you a singer? Are you a singer who acts, an actor who sings?
Oh, boy. I think I was born to be a member of the New Kids on the Block. So I think that is my purpose. I started acting in first grade, so it was always in my blood. But I think my true purpose is music.

Are the NKOTB cruises exhausting?
I don’t sleep for four days on the cruises, and it’s the best four days of my life every time we do it.

What do your kids think of New Kids on the Block?
They’re very proud of me. They’re both musicians. They both love coming to New Kids concerts. But they both don’t want me to go see their bands play, so they’re proud to a point.

What was the last concert you went to?
Barry Manilow.

That’s so funny. Me, too. It was clearly a very Vegas show, but TD Garden was full, and he was awesome. Speaking of Las Vegas, you guys just got a residency—that’s like some Elvis-level shit. Is that a career high for you?
When we talked about doing Vegas as kids, back then, you went to Vegas and you did cover songs and, you know, show tunes, and you just retired there. Now, it’s a completely different thing. We share a theater with Bruno Mars and formerly Aerosmith, Lady Gaga, and Maroon 5. Vegas has changed so much that it’s really become a milestone, as opposed to a place where you set up your career gravestone.

How did you avoid the pitfalls of teenage fame?
I’m not sure I avoided the pitfalls of teenage fame. I think I just avoided the stereotypical pitfalls of teenage fame. I certainly made my share of mistakes, and it wasn’t easy growing up or going through sort of my autonomy years in a fishbowl. But I think there’s something about growing up in Boston that made all the New Kids very determined not to become a footnote. You know, Boston keeps you humble, but it also keeps you hungry. I never wanted to go back to that city and not make it proud.

Who in the band is the messiest?
Well, every one of the New Kids would say me, so I’m not gonna argue with them.

Can you still rap?
Of course.

What’s the cheesiest piece of merchandise with your face on it?
I went into…I think it was a Sears when New Kids were really at the height of the insanity. And there was a whole area dedicated to us, and I saw neon furry slippers. And, you know, ironically, I’d probably find them cool today, but in 1990, I literally turned around, went down the escalator, left the store, and called our attorney and said, “What are we doing?”

Is there anyone who calls you Donald?
My son, Elijah. It’s all he calls me.

That’s hilarious. What do you think is your best performance as an actor?
Well, I’m not sure. I would probably have to say The Sixth Sense, just because of what it meant to my career and how I think it was officially the moment I started to be considered an actor, as opposed to a guy from a boy band acting now and again.

Who’s the greatest actor you’ve ever worked with?
Fast answer would be Al Pacino, but I think the most important answer would be John Leguizamo. You know, it was at a really early stage in my career, and I worked with him on a movie that was on the verge of being shut down, and some of the actors were, I guess, hoping it would get shut down. I had a scene with John, and we rehearsed together, and he was so committed and disinterested in the politics of what was happening behind the scenes and so focused on the work that I knew that was the path I had to follow—to stay committed to the work no matter what. As it turned out, the movie didn’t get shut down, and he was exceptional in the movie, and it really had an impact on me to this day.

Is there a singer or an actor that you’ve been compared to that you consider the greatest compliment?
I’ve been told that I’d be a good choice to play Frank Sinatra in a biopic. I don’t see it. Other than that, I don’t think I’ve been compared to anyone. Honestly, sometimes people mistake me for Mark Wahlberg. So I guess that’ll have to do.

You were in all the Saw movies. What do you think it is about horror movies that we love so much?
It’s probably that we survived them. Half the thrill is being terrified and then coming out of it, knowing you’re okay and laughing like an idiot.

What are your top three spots in Boston?
Well, I would say courtside at a Celtics game. Anytime I can go back to Dorchester would be number two, and I’d probably say anywhere down by the harbor or in the Seaport. Because I remember Boston before the Big Dig, and it has changed so much. It’s so beautiful. Sure, it was disastrous at times, but no other city in the world could dream of doing such a thing for the budget that it was done on.

What three adjectives would you use to describe Tom Selleck?
I’ll go with serious, dedicated, and a big softy.

Do you have any aspirations to do Broadway?
The phrase “do Broadway” for me means go to some shows and watch them.

So you don’t want to perform on Broadway?
I don’t want to perform on Broadway, per se, but I’d like to do a New Kids Broadway show at some point. But performing on Broadway, it’s not my calling. I hope to go see Joey McIntyre in a Tony Award–winning performance on Broadway someday.

Have you ever worked with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck? And if not, why?
I’ve worked with Ben on the Dunkin’ Super Bowl ad, and he was awesome. I haven’t worked with Matt, but I’ve gotten to know him, and I just think the world of both of them.

What, besides your family, is the thing you miss the most about Boston?
The unmistakable energy in the air. It’s noticeable the second I step off an airplane or out of a car driving in from another place. It’s just unmistakably Boston. If you haven’t traveled out of Boston, you don’t know, but if you have, and you’ve been able to be in other places and come back, it’s different here.

Anybody you were ever intimidated to work with or starstruck by?
Not really. I was a little intimidated to work with Bill Belichick on the Dunkin’ ad, but he had already wrapped and finished before I got there, so it wasn’t a problem.

Do you think you’d make a good cop in real life?
I do. I never forget a face.

Have you done any actual police training? Or have you learned things about being a policeman by playing so many of them that you’d never know otherwise?
Absolutely; I’ve learned a lot. Most specifically, the whole concept of running to something that everyone else is running away from. When you’re a husband or wife or a dad or a mom and you’re on the job and you have family or loved ones at home, and something horrible is happening, and you’re running to it while hundreds of people are running in the other direction, you know, to put all the things in your life to the side and put other people’s safety first, it’s an amazing thing to consider. I don’t really have to do that. I just have to pretend to do that, right? But I treat that commitment that real police officers have with great respect and admiration.

To what degree do you think you owe your success to record producer Maurice Starr?
Maurice Starr changed my life. Maurice Starr changed the lives of so many people that it’s almost limitless to consider. The Maurice Starr family tree—if you think of New Edition, then you’d have to think of each individual member and their success, then the offshoots, then the [groups they influenced], Boyz II Men, the people that they affected. Then, of course, New Kids. You know, I don’t think you have Backstreet Boys without Maurice Starr. You don’t have NSYNC without Maurice Starr; you don’t have Justin Timberlake. Without Maurice Starr, you don’t have One Direction and Harry Styles. There should be a statue of Maurice in Boston.

It’s funny that you say that, because my next question for you was going to be, “Would you like a statue of yourself? And where would you put it?”
I wouldn’t personally put a statue of myself anywhere. That’s for someone else to decide if I’m deserving of that. I’d settle for a street named after me in Dorchester, or a park. That would be a tremendous honor for me.

Well, my last question for you is, where is the best burger in Boston?
[Laughs.] At a little place called Wahlburgers next to Fenway Park.