The Takeaway: Recent Episodes
WNYC and PRX
A fresh alternative in daily news featuring critical conversations, live reports from the field, and listener participation. The Takeaway provides a breadth and depth of world, national, and regional news coverage that is unprecedented in public media.
Our host and our staff have remained dedicated to one thing: bringing you, the listeners, a quality news and information show.
Unfortunately, in February, The Takeaway staff found out that WNYC executives planned to cancel the show. The last day of the show was June 2nd, 2023. No official press release or external communications from NYPR mentions the end of the show, so in this episode, we address it head on with our former executive producer and current Executive Editor for GBH News, Lee Hill.
Then, to celebrate the end of the show, we heard from the incredible people who have been making the show, both past and present.
We want to say to all of you, thank you for being apart of the conversation and our community. The work of public radio is daunting, challenging, and often unrewarded. So, that's why we want you to remember this podcast as our final farewell.
Rounding out our Producer Appreciation Weeks, intern David Escobar and host Melissa Harris-Perry look back at some of the stories he’s produced for The Takeaway:
- Does The Indian Child Welfare Act Hang in Peril?/ An Enduring American Pastime: The State Fair
- Working Out the Four-Day Work Week
- Healing Trauma Through Nature in Wildcat
- How A Doll Became a Queer Icon in M3GAN
"David Escobar is a senior at Fordham University, double majoring in Journalism and Digital Technology & Emerging Media. His first memories of public radio started back in his hometown of San Francisco, where he remembers constantly listening to his local NPR-affiliate KQED in the car with his family. David began at WFUV in 2022, anchoring the midday newscasts at the station.
Now David hosts the “Fordham Conversations'' public affairs program, where he taps into the Fordham University community to discuss and uncover issues that impact our world. His passion lies in political and cultural issues around the country, especially in New York City.
David also regularly hosts WFUV’s “What’s What,” the station’s daily news podcast."
David Gebel spent many years working as a singer and actor, and in between shows would work as a temp at various corporate jobs.
Little did he know that all those acquired office skills would help him end up at WNYC, initially supporting Radiolab, and then expanding his work to also include supporting The Takeaway and the podcast More Perfect.
David focuses on the paperwork, the scheduling and the business support tasks, so that everyone else can focus on making great audio, but David was also incremental in shaping our "Aging While Queer" special series project and a number of other listener-involved segments. We are sending him lots of love and appreciation for all the incredible work he's done on The Takeaway.
"Atlanta influences everything."
As part of our Producer Appreciation Weeks, Host Melissa Harris-Perry talks with the professionals behind the scenes who bring you the stories you love.
Digital producer Zachary Bynum is a resident of Atlanta who's worked remotely with The Takeaway for the last 2 years. He produces, edits, and publishes all of our social media content, webpages, and podcasts.
Zachary has also produced some enterprising coverage on the show, so today we are revisiting some of his favorite segments he produced:
Cop CityTakeaway Report: A Teen Vogue State of the (Youth)ionDragphobia is on The RiseExploring Consumer Protection: The Kroger-Albertsons MergerBlack.Queer.Rising.
: Moore Kismet (they/them)
& George M. Johson (they/them)
You can follow Zachary on Instagram and Twitter: @__zaby (2 underscores)
You can pitch him here: zbynum360@gmail.com
Subscribe: Linktree: zabywrites
As part of our goodbye to The Takeaway, Melissa Harris-Perry sits down with the beautiful folks behind the scenes who make the show happen every day! Today, we're highlighting the work of producer, Monica Morales-Garcia, by listening back to a few of her favorite segments:
"Black Maternal Health Week Comes to an End""Hospice Care Is Plagued by Exploitation""Brittney Johnson is Spellbinding""Keyla Monterroso Mejia is Taking the Lead""Now, Who Speaks [non-English]?
" Monica joined The Takeaway in 2022, after a year-long audio fellowship at the Peabody Award-winning show Latino USA, the longest running national Latino news and cultural public radio program. Where she produced long-form narrative stories like, "Chisme: An Ancestral Language," and "The Little Black Dress: A Hidden History."
As an independent journalist and producer Monica has worked on, 30 Años: An Oral History of Latino USA, and has produced and fact-checked at Our Body Politic, the public radio show created and hosted Farai Chideya.
As part of our farewell to The Takeaway, host Melissa Harris-Perry sits down with the people behind the scenes who make The Takeaway happen. Today, we're taking a look at some of the work done by Cat Sposato while here on the show. Some of her favorite segments include:
Unpacking the Parkland Shooter VerdictA Conversation with MacArthur Fellow Kiese LaymonHurricanes, Puerto Rico and Bad Bunny's "El Apagón"The Polarizing Popularity of Pickleball
Cat joined The Takeaway team in September 2022, while in the final semester of her Master's program at New York University's Journalism Institute. Previously, she's worked at NPR Music and their Alt.Latinopodcast, and covered entertainment for NPR's Weekend All Things Considered. Her work has been featured in V Magazine and VMAN. In her spare time, she runs a Substack newsletter called Pop-Closure, where she rants and raves about all of the moments across our culture that she cannot get over.
Originally from Passaic, New Jersey, Cat is passionate about telling the stories of communities like hers.
You can find more of her work on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter at @CatVeryPopular and at catmariesposato.com
We continue our Producer Appreciation Weeks with Host Melissa Harris-Perry, who peels back the curtain and speaks with the talented folks that make The Takeaway every day. Today we're highlighting some of Morgan Givens' favorite segments produced during his time with The Takeaway:
What Makes a Black ManElectric Literature Editor-in-Chief Denne Michele Norris Makes History and Makes SpaceAward Winning Poet Danez Smith Rises to the TopWhy Titus Kaphar Won't "Shut Up and Paint"Level Up: Accessibility in Gaming
Morgan joined The Takeaway team in late 2022, and initially made his way into radio in a roundabout way. He spent years as a police officer in Washington, D.C., where he helped rewrite the training curriculum for the D.C. Police Academy before leaving the department for the non-profit sector, where he did work to eliminate sexual violence in the nation's prisons. Eventually, he interned with WAMU and NPRs 1A before becoming a producer for the program.
Morgan is a graduate of the Transom Storytelling Workshop, Neon Hum and Sony's Editor Bootcamp, and is an AIR New Voices Scholar and Mentor. He’s been named one of Variety’s Storytellers to Watch, has been featured in The Washington Post, NPR, Buzzfeed, NPRs Invisibilia, Crooked Media’s Work Appropriate and is frequently called upon to host The Moth storytelling events and perform for The Moth Mainstage in venues around the country. A frequent audio conference panelist, he's also spoken at the AFI Documentary Film Festival about the art of creating great audio.
Morgan is also the creator of the award winning and critically acclaimed hopepunk fiction podcast Flyest Fables. Currently repped by CAA, he's hard at work on his debut memoir.
Find him occasionally on Twitter at @Optimus_Mo and at MorganGivens.com
As part of our farewell to The Takeaway, Melissa Harris-Perry sits down with the folks behind the scenes who make the show happen every day. Today, we're highlighting the work of Mary Steffenhagen — an award-winning investigative journalist and producer who joined The Takeaway just over a year ago — by listening back to a few of her favorite segments:
• "When Women’s Survival is Criminalized" and "Corrections in Ink"
• "A Culture of Abuse and Cover-Ups in the Southern Baptist Convention"
• "How Trains Left Indelible Tracks on American Culture"
• "Music In Their Own Words: Sylvan Esso"
• "The Realities of Race in Assisted Reproduction"
• "Human Composting is Legal in New York—Now What?"
Mary Steffenhagen's original reporting on labor organizing, social activism, and the political movement behind homeschooling has earned awards from the Sidney Hillman Foundation (Hillman Award), the Newswomen's Club of New York (Front Page Award) and multiple national student journalism associations. She has reported for outlets including Teen Vogue, City Limits and Chalkbeat. She was also a Fulbright scholar in the 2022 Berlin Capital Program and previously interned at Salon and Coda Media, where she helped produce a weekly news podcast. She earned a masters' in investigative and audio journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY in 2021.
Find her on Twitter @marynotmerry__ and at www.marysteffenhagen.com
We continue our Producer Appreciation Weeks with Host Melissa Harris-Perry, who peels back the curtain and speaks with the talented folks that make The Takeaway every day.
Producer Ryan Wilde got his first taste of radio in an unlikely place: 104.5 Ice Radio in Antarctica. After beginning his public radio career as an intern, and then producer for The Brian Lehrer Show, he also had a stop in Illinois to produce The 21st, a daily, statewide show produced by Illinois Public Media. After returning to New York City, he joined The Takeaway team in 2022.
Ryan revisits some of his favorite segments, and shares highlights from two series he's spearheaded, from his past year producing for The Takeaway:
"Downballot" Series"23 Mayors in 2023" SeriesMason, Tennessee is Fighting for its FutureA Fight For Survival: The "Salmon People" of the Columbia RiverRyans Only at the Ryan Meetup (and Definitely No Bryans)
Find Ryan on Twitter at @RyanAndrewWilde
As part of our Producer Appreciation Weeks, Host Melissa Harris-Perry talks with the professionals behind the scenes who bring you the stories you value and the shows you love.
Producer Katerina Barton revisits some of her favorite segments that she's produced throughout the past two years on The Takeaway:
Gordon Plaza Residents Fight for Relocation from Toxic LandWhat is Driving the Truck Driver Shortage?What Does Queer Mean?Holiday Movie PrescriptionsThe Savannah Bananas Play Ball Katerina joined The Takeaway as an intern in 2020 and came back as a temp producer in 2021, before she became an associate producer in 2022. She has produced nearly 300 segments for The Takeaway. Prior to joining the Takeaway, Katerina earned a duel master's degree at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism in Global & Joint Program Studies: Journalism & European/Mediterranean Studies Institute, worked as a reporter at a weekly paper in central Texas, and spent a year teaching English on a small island in Indonesia as part of a Fulbright English Teaching Fellowship.
Find her on Twitter @KaterinaBarton.
As the Takeaway comes to an end, we get one last set of movie prescriptions from Kristen Meinzer, a culture critic and host of the podcast "By The Book" and Rafer Guzman, a film critic for Newsday, and they bring us movie prescriptions about embracing change and fresh starts.
Together Kristen and Rafer are the co-hosts of the podcast, Movie Therapy.
KRISTEN’S PICKS:Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar, 2021
When middle aged best friends Barb and Star lose their jobs, they decide that a restorative vacation in Vista Del Mar is just what they need to help them ease into the next chapter. But things don't go quite as planned - with mysterious men, villains, and more throwing monkey wrenches into their getaway. Fortunately their friendship, optimism, and sense of humor keeps them strong and ready for anything that's thrown their way. The movie stars Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo.
The lesson: Things in life don't always go as planned. Sometimes we lose a job, and then things get worse from there. But leaning on our friends, and laughing at the absurdity of life can make it all more manageable.
Sister Act, 1992
Whoopie Goldberg stars as a nightclub singer who's forced to go into witness protection in a convent after witnessing a mob hit. While there, she struggles with the regimented life of the nuns. But thanks to her outstanding musical talents and charisma, she's able to turn the convent choir into a soulful chorus complete with a Motown repertoire.
The lesson: Sometimes we're thrown into situations that feel wildly out of our purview. But that doesn't mean we can't handle them. In fact, those situations combined with our unique skills mean that we might excel in new ways.
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, 2010
This documentary follows one year in the life of Joan Rivers. It was filmed when Rivers was 75, and coming out of what she considered a down year...after 40+ years of ups and downs as an actor, writer, and comedian. Along the way, she reveals some of her darker moments, biggest struggles, and incredible work ethic...along with lots of her biting wit.
The lesson: Even a legend like Joan Rivers has had lots of down years...times that could have broken her...but she chose to keep working, evolving, and trying new things. I'll also add that this film has a special place in my heart because when she was on her press tour for it, Rafer and I got to interview her...and she ended up being our first celebrity interview for the Movie Date podcast.
RAFER’S PICKS:Harold and Maude, 1971
This is kind of the original cult movie, from 1971 -- before Rocky Horror, before Pink Flamingos, there was Harold and Maude. It’s the story of Harold, played by Bud Cort, and he’s a very rich, very mobrid young man who spends most of his time staging fake suicides to upset his mother. He hangs himself, cuts his throat, immolates himself and so on. For fun he attends random funerals, and that’s where he meets an 80-year-old woman named Maude, played by the great Ruth Gordon. And Maude is a rebel, even kind of an outlaw -- she's kind of a hippie, she poses nude for artists and for some reason she love to steal cars. She just loves to live. And these two start a friendship and despite their vast age difference, they fall in love.
There was a time when you could see this movie at an art-house theater just about once a week, and I pretty much did, but I think it got oversaturated and it’s really fallen off the radar these days. But I think it’s worth revisiting. I like this movie because it seems morbid and perverse, and the humor is very dark. But as it goes on, it gets more and more tender and sincere, and these two characters start to feel very real. And in the end, Maude changes Harold, she gives him a new way of looking at life, she gives him a new spirit and she gives him a new way of expressing himself. She teaches him to play the banjo (and like Steve Martin always said, it’s impossible to be in a bad mood when you play a banjo.) And the final scene in the movie, which involves that banjo, it's a really hopeful, happy scene that tell us Harold is about to embark on a whole new life.
Castaway, 2000
Probably most adult humans have seen Castaway but just to refresh you: Tom Hanks plays a guy named Chuck Noland. Happy, likeable guy, works for Fed Ex, he has a girlfriend, played by Helen Hunt, they’re both deeply in love. He’s really got it all. And then he’s in a plane crash. He wakes up on a tiny island, somewhere in Pacific Ocean, surrounded by junk and debris from the plane, completely alone. And he’s stuck there for FOUR YEARS. And of course, the most famous thing about this film is probably Wilson, a soccer ball that becomes Chuck’s best friend as Chuck starts to go a little crazy.
The scenes that always get me are in the second half of the film. Spoiler alert, Chuck gets rescued. And now he’s facing a world that moved on without him. His girlfriend is married! She thought he was dead, so she he had to move on. (What a scene that is -- I can’t believe Hunt didn’t get an Oscar nomination for that.) Anyway, in these scenes, Chuck actually starts to miss his life on the island. He misses sleeping on the hard ground, he misses the act of trying to spear a fish for food. And that really struck me as true. The thing about people is, they can adapt to anything. And once they do, they love it. But then things change and you have to adapt again. So I guess the lesson of this film is that no matter where you are, you aren’t at the end, you’re always in the middle. You’re always between the past and the future. But if you want to keep living, you’ve got to get to that next future.
Inside Out, 2015
I loved this movie so much back in 2015 that I just fell all over myself praising it. I’m pretty sure it was number one on my top ten that year. It’s the story of two emotions, one named Joy, with the voice of Amy Poehler, and one named Sadness, voiced by Phyllis Smith. And this is your classic Pixar buddy comedy, with two opposing personalities, and it all takes place in these imaginary realms of your brain and your personality, like the Train of Thought and Friendship Island and Dream Productions, which is basically a movie studio in the mind. And it does a great job of bringing abstract concepts to life in these really, clever funny ways.
But the reason I picked this movie is because Joy and Sadness live in the brain of a pre-teen girl named Riley. Her family has just moved from Minnesota to San Francisco when her father gets a new job. It’s a huge change, Riley doesn’t want to leave her old life, and she’s afraid of what her new life might be. So what we’re seeing as Joy and Sadness go on their adventure, is what’s happening in the mind of Riley as she grapples with change. And I really like how this movie shows that Sadness is important -- you have to feel it, you have to express it, and you can’t just bury it or shut it off, if you’re going to move forward on to the next thing.
You might not know this about our Line Producer Jackie Martin, but she is an Air Force Veteran who served from 2000-2005.
On The Takeaway, she has produced segments about “Other Than Honorably” Discharged LGBTQ+ Veterans who were discriminated against and discharged due solely to their sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status. On top of that, she has coproduced a number of other segments about sports, politics, and culture.
"After she left the AirForce she began her career in radio, where she worked for Howard Stern, and the SiriusXM sports channels. Jacklyn joined the Takeaway in January 2020 and has led production on a number of stories. She is the mother of two and enjoys traveling with her family, visiting every Major League Baseball stadium across the U.S. is her goal, and she also enjoys hiking, biking, or any outdoor activity."
Jackie is thoughtful and empathetic, and most of all, unparalleled in the speed and quality of her work on the show. That is why we want to thank her for all her work and wish her all the best in her future endeavors.
We went behind-the-scenes with our control room team: Jay Cowit, Vince Fairchild and Jackie Martin to find out how The Takeaway gets made every day.
Then, we got a 1-on-1 conversation between show host Melissa Harris-Perry and Director Jay Cowit who's been working on the Sound design of The Takeaway for nearly 15 years now.
"Jay has been with The Takeaway since its on-air inception in 2008, and has been the Show Director, Technical Director, and sound designer since 2009...He is responsible for the show's aural style, including, but not limited to, selecting the music used on the show, mixing interviews, producing the daily podcast version of the show, and creating sonic design used to convey news concepts."
For more than a decade, Jay has carried the sonic vision of the show to its highest quality possible and for that, we thank him for all his leadership and work.
Over the years, The Takeaway has seen a long list of rotating staff made up of intrepid, outspoken journalists and producers.
That list does not include Vince Fairchild who is a 'Takeaway veteran' in every sense of the word. Vince has worked as a broadcast engineer on the show since its first year on air in 2008 and now serves as our Senior Broadcast Engineer.
"He fact checks like no other. He sound designs with mastery. And he’s so good that when our Director Jay Cowit is out, Vince slides right into the director’s chair with aplomb."
For those who know Vince, they know he is regarded as a quiet yet formidable leader. What that means is when he chooses to speak, Team Takeaway always listens. Melissa chatted with Senior Broadcast Engineer Vince Fairchild about The Takeaway as our final show approaches June 2nd.
Vince, we're sending you all the love and appreciation for what you've done.
During the past month, the new Republican majority controlling North Carolina’s state Supreme Court issued reversals of previous rulings on voting rights and overturned a trial court decision.
These moves will have meaningful effects on the ability to cast a vote in the state and will have critical implications for local, state, and national election outcomes.
We speak with Ari Berman, National Voting Rights Correspondent for Mother Jones.
The new investigative podcast series “Head Down'' explores labor trafficking happening within the U.S. government sponsored H2A visa program. It is sold as a “mutually beneficial” immigration program that allows migrant workers to come to the U.S. as temporary agricultural workers, but a close look into the program reveals a great disparity between how the program is described and what actually happens.
A recent investigation by Prism, LatinoUSA, and Futuro Investigates found that this program is rife with exploitation and abuse. The two part podcast follows the journey of Mexican farmworkers who soon after arriving in North Carolina with H-2A visas found themselves in a nightmare they were forced to escape.
We speak with one of the podcast cohosts, editor-at-large of Prism News, Tina Vasquez. And while we’re on the topic of North Carolina, we also speak with Tina about the state’s recent move to ban abortion after 12 weeks.
Listen to "Head Down":
Head Down: Part I; Head Down: Part II
Jim Kenney was elected to the Philadelphia City Council in 1992 at just 32 years old. After decades of service, he was elected mayor in 2016 then reelected in 2020. As a term limited city leader, Mayor Kenney is in his final months of leading Philadelphia.
We hear him reflect on his time as mayor, his efforts to address crime, and hear about some of the reasons why he is a proud Philadelphian.
A new study from the Brookings Institution reveals that Americans in four major cities — Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Seattle — believe that crime is out of control in downtowns. But the data shows that that’s not the whole story. While cities post-pandemic have seen an increase in particularly violent and property crimes, those increases haven’t happened in the downtowns, but in the areas that have been historically disadvantaged and disinvested in. So what accounts for this mismatch between what people are seeing downtown and what’s really happening?
We speak with Hanna Love, Senior Research Associate at the Brookings Institution, to find out. Love is co-author of the study, "The geography of crime in four U.S. cities: Perceptions and reality."
As Americans faced soaring food prices, a proposed $24.6 billion dollar megamerger between Kroger and Albertsons was announced on October 13, 2022.
These are two of the largest grocery chains in the country, accounting for more than 5,000 locations and employing over 700,000 people across its banner.
The United Food and Commercial Workers and Rocky Mountain Farm Workers Union- two of the nation's largest and oldest unions- are opposed to the merger citing its potentially monopolizing effects on the grocery industry and America's food system writ large.
Back in 2015, Carol McMillian, a King Soopers groceryworker and a member of UFCW 7, remembers when Albertson’s acquisition of Safeway impacted her personally. Today, she joins us along with Dan Waldvogle, Director of Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, to talk about why they are a part of a broad coalition to ‘stop the merger.’
They spoke with The Takeaway about how this potential megamerger impacts some of America’s most vulnerable workers and consumers.
Editor's Note: We reached out to a Kroger's Spokesperson for comment. If interested, read below.
“Our proposed merger with Albertsons is about growing jobs and careers, and we expect the merger to create meaningful and measurable benefits for our associates. We will invest an additional $1 billion to increase wages and expand our industry-leading benefits starting on Day one following close, and we expect to provide new and exciting career growth opportunities for many associates. This commitment builds on our track record of supporting associates, including the incremental $1.9 billion we have invested in wages and comprehensive benefits since 2018. The Kroger Family of Companies is one of America’s largest unionized workforces and this merger also secures the long-term future of union jobs by establishing a more competitive alternative to large, non-union retailers. Kroger is a customer-focused organization, and our ability to deliver value to customers is rooted in providing lower prices and more choices. This is of critical importance to us, and we have a long track-record of investing in prices to lower costs, including investing more than $5 billion in lowering prices since 2003. As we have in past mergers, we will hold ourselves accountable to our customer commitments. This includes investing $500 million to lower prices starting on day one post close. With Albertsons, we will also offer customers a broader selection of fresh products and expand Our Brands portfolio to deliver more value without compromise.”
Netflix’s dating reality show The Ultimatum returns on May 24. This time, the show is focusing on queer love. But the version of queer love depicted in the launch trailers appears limiting in its depiction of queerness and its understanding of what it means to be nonbinary even as it creates space for more queer stories to be told.
We speak with Tuck Woodstock, host of Gender Revealand Co-founder Sylveon Consulting a “trans-led organization that provides trainings and consulting services with an emphasis on trans and queer equity” for media and entertainment companies about The Ultimatum and the place for queer love in reality dating t-v.
In March, the actions of a local church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina received national attention for all the right reasons. The congregation at Trinity Moravian Church partnered with an organization called R-I-P Medical Debt to cancel 3,000 local residents’ medical debt, to the tune of $3.3 million dollars. They bought that debt for just a little over $15,000 dollars.
Rev. John Jackman, the pastor of Trinity Moravian Church held a symbolic “debt burning” ceremony to mark the occasion, with confetti and hymns.
In 2016, John Oliver, a comedian and host of the HBO series Last Week Tonight, purchased $15 million dollars in medical debt from 9,000 people, that he bought for “less than half a cent on a dollar.”
And some state officials, like Governor Ned Lamont of Connecticut, are currently proposing using federal pandemic aid to cancel billions of dollars in medical debt.
Yes, these are happy stories of people working together to help their community members, neighbors, and even strangers.
But this is also a crisis. Millions of Americans carry the burden of outstanding medical debt – An investigation in 2022 by Kaiser Health News and the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that 100 million people across the nation have some type of health care debt. Kaiser estimated that in 2019 – the total medical debt in the country was around $195 BILLION dollars.
For more on this we spoke with Emily Stewart, Executive Director at Community Catalyst, a national nonprofit focused on health justice.
As if winning the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee and holding three Guinness World Records weren’t already huge accomplishments, now Zaila Avant-Garde is adding the title of author to her name.
She stops by and chats with Melissa about “It’s Not Bragging If It’s True: How to Be Awesome At Life” which is out now, and the upcoming Children’s Book, “Words of Wonder: From Z to A,” which is out June 27th.
Last month violence took over Sudan's capital, Khartoum… it has now spread through the entire country and thousands of civilians have fled from the chaos seeking refuge in Chad, Egypt, and other neighboring countries. Despite a second 72-hour ceasefire, violence has continued. Nations, including the US, have evacuated diplomats and citizens from the country.
The violence stems from a long rivalry between two generals.
The fighting between the two rivals has resulted in attacks on healthcare facilities and the destruction of the Airport… Civilians trapped in the capital are facing shortages of medicine, fuel, and food and are unable to leave their homes without the threat of being killed.
To get a closer look at what is happening in Sudan, on Tuesday Morning we talked with Lynsey Chutel, New York Times reporter from the Johannesburg bureau.
Millions of American high school students take Advanced Placement Courses and Exams every year. AP Courses are standardized, college-level classes that students can take in high school, ideally exposing them to the depth, breadth and intellectual rigor of content they’d encounter in the university. But the author of a new book argues that these courses and exams are instead shortchanging students out of the liberal arts education that the AP was initially founded to foster. We speak with Annie Abrams, high school English teacher and author of "Shortchanged: How Advanced Placement Cheats Students."
In response to a request for comment, The College Board, the nonprofit that runs the Advanced Placement Program, wrote:
The great strength of the AP Program is the community of talented, dedicated teachers who care about their students and feel passionate about their subjects. We hear from thousands of those teachers every year, and their insights help make AP more effective and more inspiring for students.
Annie Abrams' Shortchanged offers one, limited view, constrained by Abrams’ experience at a unique, highly selective high school. We find her examination of the AP Program not reflective of the experiences of the broader community of AP teachers and the students they serve. If she had consulted with any of the thousands of AP teachers educating across a variety of subjects, she would have found that students from all backgrounds can excel when they have the right preparation, a welcoming invitation, and a genuine sense of belonging.
Teachers choose to take part in AP because they find that it helps students engage deeply in subjects as diverse as English Literature, Physics, Art History, and Computer Science. Educators and college professors work together to guide AP frameworks, create and score AP exams, and make thoughtful revisions to course content as different disciplines evolve. The AP Program facilitates that large-scale collaboration between K12 and higher education, creating a uniquely valuable experience for students.
For schools across the country – urban and rural, large and small, well-resourced and economically struggling — AP provides a broad framework and a wealth of resources so that teachers at all levels can offer a college-level experience. AP frameworks are flexible by design so that teachers use their experience and creativity to expand and enhance the curricula. No two AP classes are alike, because they rely so thoroughly on the talent and commitment of individual teachers.
AP allows hundreds of thousands of students to engage in college-level work, regardless of the schools they attend. It offers an opportunity to earn college credit in high school, helping students and families save money, and graduate on time. We're incredibly proud to support the teachers who make that possible.
The recent death of Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman whose words prompted the kidnapping, torture and brutal murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955, now means that the last person known to be involved in his kidnapping and murder…will never face accountability.
We speak with Timothy B. Tyson, author of The Blood of Emmett Till and senior research scholar at Duke University, and Keith Beauchamp, an award-winning filmmaker behind the documentary “The Untold Story of Emmett Till” and producer of the movie “Till” about what Bryant’s death means in the quest for justice in Emmett Till’s murder.
Today the NBA enjoys an image of progressivism.
Basketball stars like Lebron James – a former Cavalier who now hoops with the Lakers – are given space to speak their minds on issues most important to them. Players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood and Earl “The Pearl” Monroe helped pave the way for ballers like Lebron James today. Players like Abdul-Jabbar, Haywood and Monroe grew up with the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement during their formative years. And they brought that push for equality to the N-B-A, often to the chagrin of white owners, reporters and fans.
Theresa Runstedtler, an associate Professor of History and Critical Race, Gender and Culture Studies at American University, and the author of Black Ball, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Spencer Haywood and the Generation That Saved the Soul of the NBA talks with us about the Black basketball players who laid the foundation for today’s NBA.
Original Air Date: April 25, 2023
Only days after passing a measure that could dismantle Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs at public universities and colleges, the Texas State Senate passed a bill that would ban tenure offers to new professors at public colleges and universities in Texas.
The measure has been opposed by professors across the state who say that this is an attack on academic freedom. Senate Bill 18 now moves to the Texas State House.
We speak with Dr. Karma R. Chávez, Bobby and Sherri Patton Professor of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies and Department Chair, and Sergio Martinez-Beltran, reporter with The Texas Newsroom.
Original Air Date: April 26, 2023
The sitcom Abbott Elementary has become a weekly favorite among all ages in the world of streaming and binge-watching TV. The network series created by Quinta Brunson is a comedy at heart set at a predominantly Black elementary school in Philadelphia, but under the brilliant writing and jokes, is a political commentary about the challenges faced by under-funded public schools.
In season 2 (spoiler alert!), the series introduces a new nemesis which is a charter school network – Legendary Charter Schools, along with the continuation of the artful slow burn of the “will-they-won’t-they” plot line between two young teachers.
We recap the season with Jessica Winter, an editor at The New Yorker and also writes about family and education, and dive into the tension between public schools and charters.
In recent months, franchisees of companies from the Hilton Inn to Subway have been pushing back against their corporate franchisors, claiming they are being squeezed out of profits. And a new study from the Government Accountability office found that franchisees tend to lack basic control over the operational side of their local storefronts, which can make turning a profit difficult. Yet despite these problems, many franchisees forgo reporting the deceptive and unfair practices of their franchisors.
We speak to Lydia DePillis, an economics reporter at the New York Times, to discuss the relationship between franchisees and their franchisors and the ongoing hurdles for regulatory franchise legislation. We also speak to Dr. Marcia Chatelain, Professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, about how the struggle for civil rights and the growth of the fast-food industry in America have shaped one another.
Thousands of New York Times contributors signed an open letter this February that raised concerns about alleged imbalance and bias in the paper’s coverage of trans people and issues. This month, the co-authors released another letter — this time addressed directly to Times’ publisher A.G. Sulzberger. Contributors continue to criticize both the Times’ coverage of trans people and issues, which they say is biased and harmful, as well as the Times’ response to the letter. Staffers who signed the letter in support have reported being disciplined, and anti-trans activists and lawmakers have continued to cite Times coverage in their justifications for bans on gender-affirming care.
We speak again with Harron Walker, freelance journalist and letter co-author, about the state of the Times. Listen to our previous conversation with Walker about the letter here.
An official autopsy report found no gun residue on Queer, Indigenous-Venezuelan activist Manuel Teran AKA Tortuguita's hands, meaning there’s insufficient evidence to suggest Teran shot at police first. The initial reports also claimed Manuel had been killed by 14 gunshot wounds, but an official autopsy from the DeKalb Medical Examiner's office shows Tortuguita's body suffered at least 57. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.
The officers involved were not wearing body cameras, and questions about the true nature of the activists' death linger.
We speak with Matt Scott, a member of the Atlanta Community Press Collective, which is a nonprofit media collective that’s been doing research on the development of cop city and providing community-embedded reporting.
Matt joins us for an update on the situation in Atlanta after attending the City Council Subcommittee on the project and some bond hearings for some of those charged with ‘domestic terrorism.'
Democratic Senator from California Diane Feinstein has spent more than three decades in the U-S senate. Her tenure has won her praise from allied politicians like former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The lawmakers have defended Senator Feinstein as questions arise surrounding her ability to serve. Despite the backing of some defenders, Senator Feinstein is facing calls to step down from within her own party. Minnesota Representative Dean Phillips and California Representative Ro Khanna have openly called for Feinstein’s resignation.
Senator Feinstein made efforts to slow the calls for her resignation by asking Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for a temporary replacement in her role on the Senate Judiciary Committee. But the brouhaha over Senate Feinstein brings more to mind than the current gerontocracy. It calls into question power in the Senate: who has it, how it operates, and how much of a senator’s work output is dependent on the staffers surrounding them.
We speak with Jerry Goldfeder, professor of Election Law and Director of the Voting Rights and Democracy Project at Fordham Law School, for more.
Our nation constantly struggles to understand the lives and lived experiences of enslaved Black Americans. Discussing the lives of enslaved Black people can be complicated.
That complexity can push us towards easy understandings and answers of who they were while inadvertently seeking rebellion in their every word and deed. This search for near constant rebellion through a 21st century lens flattens their lives and experiences.
In Reading Pleasures: Everyday Black Living in Early America, Professor Bynum pushes us towards a deeper understanding of the everyday lives of Black Americans like: the poet Phyllis Wheatley, ministers John Marrant and James Albert Ukawsaw Gronniosaw and pamphleteer David Walker who urged enslaved Black Americans to break free of slavery.
She pulls us into their internal worlds, and demands we recognize the pleasures they enjoyed as they lived, in spite of their societal station.
President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that he is running for re-election in 2024.
We speak with Joel Payne, CBS News political contributor and Chief Communications Officer for Move On, about the announcement, and what it means for Democrats in 2024.
On Friday, the Supreme Court issued a stay on a lower court ruling. The stay ensures, that for now, the abortion pill, mifepristone, will remain widely available. Mifepristone was first approved as safe and effective for ending pregnancies more than 20 years ago.
But earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a federal judge in Texas appointed by former President Donald Trump, suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit challenged part of Kacsmaryk’s ruling – leaving mifepristone legal, but making it harder to access. Friday’s decision by the Supreme Court halted those 5th Circuit Court restrictions and reestablished the status quo. But the decision is temporary.
This is the first time the Supreme Court has taken action on abortion since overturning Roe v. Wade last year. But, because this was an emergency decision and not a full case, the Court did not provide reasoning, noting only that Justices Thomas and Alito dissented.
For more on this, we spoke with Leah Litman, Professor of Law at University of Michigan Law School and co-host of the Crooked Media podcast Strict Scrutiny.
The Takeaway is celebrating a very intersectional Earth Day Weekend with some of our favorite segments on environmental justice:
How Indigenous Water Protectors Paved Way for Future Activism
The Work of Black Girl Environmentalist
What Queer Ecology Can Teach Us About Environmentalism
The Intersection of Climate Justice and Racial Justice
Young Voices Speak Out About Earth Day
For full transcripts, see our website.
Larissa Fasthorse is one of the first Indigenous women to have her play produced on Broadway. THE THANKSGIVING PLAY is one of six plays coming out written by Larissa Fasthorse in 2023. THE THANKSGIVING PLAY centers indigenous issues through the lens of a small community’s attempt at staging a “socially-conscious thanksgiving play.”
Fasthorse joins The Takeaway to talk about THE THANKSGIVING PLAY, the pressures of being one of the first Indigenous women to have a play produced on Broadway and what it’s like to center Indigenous issues in an industry that often ignores Indigenous artistry.
Founded in 1969, the Dance Theater of Harlem is a pioneer company in American ballet. Since its inception Dance Theater of Harlem has shaped American ballet, from performances to performers to tights!
This year, Virgina Johnson, a founding member of DTH and the Artistic Director, has announced that she will pass the baton to the next generation of dancers.
We speak to the Artistic Director about her incredible career and what it’s been like to be part of such an extraordinary legacy.
The stoner classics Scary Movie and Friday envisioned a future where “puff, puff, pass” is the norm. And the majority of states across the nation have acquiesced. Recent years have seen a spate of laws in state legislatures that make weed legal for medical and recreational purposes.
Federally, the issue of marijuana legalization appears to have stalled, but recent bills introduced in congress point towards a future of possible bipartisan support for the drug’s legalization.
Senior editor of Marijuana Moment, Kyle Jaeger, joins us as we talk about the current state of weed legislation in the U-S, and what, if anything, President Biden can do to reschedule and decriminalize the drug.
Little Richard was a larger-than-life entertainer and personality which is captured by the new documentary, “Little Richard: I Am Everything.”
We speak with the film’s director, Lisa Cortes.
As part of our "23 Mayors in 2023" series, we head to Boston, Massachusetts.
At the age of 36, Michelle Wu was elected as the first woman and the first person of color to become mayor of Boston 2021.
Boston is the 23rd largest city in America, with a population of almost 700,000. A diverse, and very young city, Boston has the highest percentage of 20-34 year olds of the top 25 largest cities in America. But challenges with racial inequality in Boston persist.
We speak with Mayor Michelle Wu, mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, about her journey into politics, how her identity has been an advantage (and disadvantage at times) in her job, and overcoming some of the challenges facing Boston.
It’s an act that’s familiar to countless older siblings around the nation: pick up your younger siblings from afterschool, the bus stop, maybe even another friend’s house and then walk them home. It’s an act that took a decidedly dangerous and near deadly turn for the 16 year-old “gentle soul”, clarinet player and member of his high school marching band – Ralph Yarl.
Hundreds marched and called for justice after Ralph Yarl was shot twice – once in the head – by a white homeowner last Thursday. Ralph’s supposed wrongdoing? Accidentally ringing the wrong doorbell while trying to pick up his younger brothers and bring them home.
Ralph Yarl has since been released from the hospital and is recovering at home. The white man who shot him, will now face two felonies: assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. Young Black boys – children – are often viewed as far older and threatening than reality would suggest. This can have far reaching consequences on their lives, and their mental health.
Making it to the NFL is the dream of countless young boys and men across the nation. Less than 2-percent of college football players make it to the NFL.
For those who do make it, before they can don the uniform of a professional team and see those dreams realized, they must first be selected in the NFL draft. Draft day is like winning the lottery for those selected to play on an NFL team, but the draft isn’t without its critics who find the process dehumanizing. Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and football executive Troy Vincent liken the process to a modern-day slave auction.
With the N-F-L draft taking place later this month, we check in with Dave Zirin, sports editor of The Nation and author of The Kaepernick Effect, about the state of its draft and how it stacks up against other professional sports.
Hollywood and the writers that make movies and TV shows possible are in the middle of a labor battle, which could bring Hollywood to a halt for the first time in 15 years.
On Monday, members in the Writers Guild of America union cast their last ballots, and the union announced that 97.85 percent of members voted to authorized a strike.
The writers’ union is currently in negotiations with Hollywood studios. The current contract ends on May 1st, which is when the strike would begin if both sides don’t reach an agreement.
At the core of this strike is the rise of streaming content and platforms, with writers feeling left behind with shorter seasons, longer production times, and smaller residual checks.
For more on this, we spoke with Brent Lang the Executive Editor at Variety.
Today marks the last day of Black Maternal Health Week. A week that sheds light on the rise of maternal mortality in the US. We speak with Loretta Ross an activist, educator, author, and co-founder of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, as well as the co-creator of the theory of reproductive justice.
Ross has traveled the world at the invitation of leaders and activists to speak about reproductive justice, and in 2022 she was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant.” She is currently an Associate Professor for the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College.
She joined us for some takeaways on this final day of Black Maternal Health Week.
Americans buy more than 800 million books a year. And even though the pandemic era bump in book sales has stabilized, publishing remains a multi-billion dollar industry.
There’s a booming genre of online content that is transforming the publishing industry. It’s called “book influencing” where book reviewers online find creative ways across social media platforms to discuss what they are reading.
Kelsey Weekman, internet culture reporter for Buzzfeed News, joins us to discuss how these influencers are promoting reading to entire communities online.
In the face of so many environmental crises caused by climate change, more and more Americans have been thinking about their carbon footprints. Not only the footprints we make by living — but also the ones we make by dying. An alternative method to burial and cremation has been gaining interest across the country, and it recently became legal in New York: human composting.
But legalization is really just the start of the story. Human composting still faces a few major barriers before New Yorkers can actually choose it, and competing interests between businesses in the death industry are complicating matters.
The Takeaway producer Mary Steffenhagen reports on what’s next for human composting and what it says about how we commemorate our time on earth.
Baseball season is underway, but this spring, America’s pastime will look a little different. Ahead of opening day, the MLB introduced a batch of rules to keep games shorter and more action-packed, reflecting the era of analytics and the growing trend of demanding a more streamlined, entertaining game.
And changes are coming on and off the diamond. In the background of opening day, the MLB and minor leaguers struck a deal for a collective bargaining agreement, which would form the first-ever union for non-major leaguers. Dave Zirin, Sports Editor at The Nation and host of the Edge of Sports Podcast, joins us to discuss how the latest rule changes are impacting baseball and how the minor league union could have a ripple effect across other sports leagues.
Dave also recaps the women's March Madness championship game, which set broadcast rating records, including the media spectacle surrounding Louisiana State University's Angel Reese and Iowa's Caitlin Clark.
Jonathan Majors is one of Hollywood’s swiftest rising stars. And he presented a version of masculinity that pushed back against the heavily policed boundaries set by society and Black men themselves. Majors’ version of masculinity welcomed softness and vulnerability – it also drew the ire of those who found his gender performance emasculating and pointed towards the “feminization” of Black men.
When he was arrested at the end of March on charges of domestic violence, Majors was arraigned and released, and Majors denies and disputes the charges. Curiously, following his arrest he was defended by many of the same people who decried his turn to a soft version of masculinity.
We discuss the boundaries placed on Black men with regards to their masculinity, and why an act of alleged violence can rewrite a man’s place in performing society’s masculine ideals. Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke distinguished professor of African and African American studies at Duke University joined to discuss.
Librarians across the country are using TikTok to advertise their services, connect with communities and put their libraries on the national map... And they're pretty funny! We talk with three librarians about their strategies, goals, and experiences as library workers during a time of rising right-wing attacks on books and library funding.
We speak with Rhea Gardner and Mychal Threets, both supervising librarians at Solano County Library in California — and they run the library's TikTok! Visit them on TikTok here.
We're also joined by Lisa Varga, executive director of the Virginia Library Association, a chapter of the American Library Association.
On Monday, at Rutgers University in New Jersey, thousands of professors, part-time lecturers, and graduate and undergraduate students marched together holding signs that read, “We R on strike for a better Rutgers.” We spoke to Dr. Donna Murch, Associate Professor of History at Rutgers and the New Brunswick Chapter President of Rutgers AAUP, one of the unions on strike.
In the midst of this standoff, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, took on a foundational role in preventing University President, Jonathan Holloway, from using an injunction on Faculty and staff. Governor Murphy instructed Holloway to hold off on issuing the injunction, and even spent two hours at the bargaining table himself.
Takeaway producer Ryan Andrew Wilde recently came across a flier that said "Is your name Ryan? Wanna meet other Ryans? Join the Ryan Meetup!" At the bottom of the flier, it laid out some strict rules: "First name must be Ryan" and "No Bryans Allowed."
A few weeks later, intrigued but unsure of what to expect, Ryan headed to Ryan Maguire's, a lower Manhattan bar and restaurant, with a microphone and some questions.
Ryan Andrew Wilde, associate producer for The Takeaway, shares the story. We hear all about some of the Ryans he encountered, the history of the name "Ryan," and what's behind the Ryan/Bryan rivalry.
In the wake of Monday’s mass shooting in Louisville, Kentucky, we discussed whether there is any value to “thoughts and prayers” in moments of public violence and loss.
Dean Yolanda Pierce is currently dean of the School of Divinity at Howard University and will soon become dean of the School of Divinity at Vanderbilt University this fall.
Dean Pierce joined The Takeaway to offer reflections on the contributions and challenges of public faith discourse in a secular democracy.
Many of the Founding Fathers who signed the Constitution had a deep familiarity with Native nations,some having negotiated treaties or engaged in diplomatic relations with them.
We spoke to Robert J Miller, Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU, who enlightened us about the Native origins of the US Constitution
After the U-S Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade last summer, Republican led states across the nation began enacting bans that curtailed reproductive rights and the right to an abortion. The state of Idaho has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the nation. Abortion is entirely banned in the state with exceptions for rape, incest, or if the life of the pregnant person is in danger.
Last week, the state moved further to the right with its anti-abortion laws after Republican Governor Brad Little signed into law a bill restricting assisted interstate travel for minors seeking an abortion outside of Idaho. It is the first state to enact such a law.
We speak with Sarah McCammon, national correspondent at NPR, about mifepristone, potential challenges with the new law in Idaho, and what it means for our evolving political landscape on abortion.
Today, officials in Nashville are scheduled to vote to reinstate former Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones. State Rep. Jones and State Rep. Justin Pearson of Memphis were expelled by Republican lawmakers last Tuesday after leading a push for gun reform in protest on the House floor last Thursday. Memphis city council could reappoint Pearson during their meeting on Wednesday of this week.
Even if both are reappointed by their respective city councils, the appointments are not permanent. Each would have to seek re-election to their respective seats in a special election that has not yet been scheduled.
How did we get here? We’re joined by Blaise Gainey, political reporter with WPLN in Nashville with the latest.
Original Air Date: April 4, 2023
It’s pretty hard to forget Tariq the “Corn Kid” from the popular digital series, “Recess Therapy,” an interview style show where the kids hold the spotlight, and talk about everything from their favorite foods, to the candid ways that they experience and understand the world around them, and even share wholesome advice for strangers.
We talk with the person that holds the microphone and conducts those interviews: creator, comedian, and host of Recess Therapy, Julian Shapiro-Barnum, about the rise of “Corn Kid,” what he has learned from interviewing kids, and what kids can teach us adults. And we hear from some Takeaway Caller Kids offering advice to grown ups.
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization toed a fine line between acknowledging the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over, while laying the groundwork to begin transitioning out of a global emergency. However, President Biden and his administration aren’t waiting to follow the World Health Organization's lead.
The administration plans to “terminate” the coronavirus national and public health emergencies on May 11 of this year. And perhaps sooner, now that a Republican led bill to end the emergency is headed towards his desk. The president continues to indicate he has no intention of vetoing the bill. The CDC reports a weekly COVID cases average just shy of 140,000 people, with nearly 2,000 dying from the illness weekly. And 11% of those who contract the illness find themselves also managing the fallout of Long Covid.
We speak with the Director of Epidemiology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Chief of Research and Development for the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Saint Louis, Zayid Al-Aly.
Nine prisoners have been executed in the United States in 2023, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Yet the number of death sentences in the country has steadily decreased in recent decades, from more than 300 annually in the mid-1990s to fewer than 30 in recent years. This is thanks, in part, to the work of a small group of little-known professionals known as mitigation specialists. Their mission? Mercy.
Sara Baldwin is a mitigation specialist in Florida. Her job is to dig deep into the lives of people who commit murder, to find out who was they were before they committed a terrible crime, and how did they become the kind of person who would? Mitigation specialists do this in order to convince juries, judges and prosecutors to bestow mercy — often in the form of a life sentence instead of a death sentence.
Maurice Chammah, staff writer at The Marshall Project, spent three years shadowing Sara Baldwin and her work on a particular case. Both join us for this conversation.
Read Maurice's latest piece about Sara's work for The Marshall Project: "The Mercy Workers."
Until fairly recently in their history, video games were considered a bit of a niche – and even nerdy – hobby. Though most of us are somewhat familiar with an Italian plumber racing through castles, a pac-man chomping on ghosts, and a hedgehog with a fondness for speed and golden rings.
In the decades since the release of Atari’s Pong, the industry has continued to expand and evolve. And consumers responded, spending 56-point 6 billion dollars last year alone on the hobby. And that’s just in the U-S. When we look worldwide, that number explodes to 100-70 billion dollars. Raking in more than the global movie industry. As gaming continues its cultural expansion, questions of who video games are made for, what types of gamers should have access, and what that access even looks like have emerged.
Accessibility journalist Grant Stoner whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, Wired, I-G-N and Can I Play That? took a moment to speak to us about the purpose, and importance, of accessibility in gaming.
In 1942,, just below the football stadium at the University of Chicago, scientists were racing to figure out the feasibility of a controlled nuclear reaction. At that moment, it was all about WWII.
But within a decade, the world’s interest in nuclear energy was not just about war power— it was about power. In 1958 the US began generating electricity from nuclear power . And today there are nuclear power plants in more than half of American states. The US Department of Energy touts nuclear energy as “cleaner and greener” pointing to its zero emissions and smaller land footprint. But nuclear power generation does produce hazardous waste products… and that waste has to go somewhere. And finding somewhere for it to go is not just a logistical issue, it’s a political one.
Today, the US remains one of the largest producers and users of Nuclear energy, which means that it we are one of the largest producers of nuclear waste materials. Also on the list is our neighbor to the North– Canada. And the Canadians are proposing a waste storage solution that is not going over well. MHP had a chat about the dilemma with Joseph Gedeon, a reporter at Politico and former producer here on The Takeaway.
Last month, Uganda’s parliament passed several new laws that criminalize openly identifying as LGBTQ+, adding on to brutal discrimination LGBTQ+ Ugandans have faced for years.
The Takeaway talks with Dr. Frank Mugisha, Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda about the recent laws.
Evan Gershkovich is a 31-year-old American journalist who works as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in Russia. Last week, he was arrested by Russian officials and accused of espionage, the first time Russia has accused a foreign journalist of spying since the Cold War. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
First, we hear from Pjotr Sauer, a former colleague and friend of Evan Gershovich. Then, we speak with Dr. Dani Gilbert, Fellow at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College, about Russia’s increasingly hostile behavior towards American citizens and journalists, and their willingness to engage in “hostage diplomacy.”
Pickleball is America’s fastest growing sport. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, pickleball has seen a 156.7% increase in players over the past three years.
Described as a cross between tennis, badminton and ping-pong, pickleball is attracting fans of racquet sports from across the country. And this increase in interest has come with both serious problems and incredible opportunities.
Takeaway producer Cat Sposato takes a quick journey through the world of pickleball at Lifetime fitness club locations across New York state. She finds out the appeal behind the game, learns about its possibilities for professional opportunities, and uncovers the challenges the sport still has to overcome.
Back in 2016 legacy journalistic institutions struggled to define our changing political climate. There were debates over when racism could be named racism, or when a lie could be called exactly what it was – a lie. As the nation grapples with rising anti-LGBTQ legislation and laws, ongoing mass shootings, and continued movement towards authoritarianism in the Republican party, the ability of the fourth estate to rise to the occasion is called into question.
We discuss journalistic institutional preparedness, and the role media literacy plays in speaking plain truths. We're joined by assistant professor of broadcast journalism and critical race media literacy expert Christine McWhorter.
On Tuesday, Wisconsin voters will head to the polls to cast their ballots for the State Supreme Court. With more than 30 million dollars in spending so far, this election will determine the fate of abortion rights and gerrymandered maps in Wisconsin… And could have larger repercussions during the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
To talk to us about Wisconsin’s Supreme Court elections is Maayan Silver, a reporter at W-U-W-M 89.7, Milwaukee’s public radio.
Original Air Date: January 18, 2023
A musical adaptation of the 1959 movie, "Some Like It Hot," is now on Broadway. The movie has been acclaimed as one of the best comedy films of all time, but much of that comedy relies on the trope of men using drag as a disguise. It's a trope that Broadway is no stranger to, as evidenced by recent adaptations of "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Tootsie." The "Some Like It Hot" musical attempts to alleviate this tension between historic and often harmful portrayals of drag and the rich reality of drag as art, self-expression, and everything in between. But can a revision of an old story featuring harmful stereotypes ever truly be a vehicle for authentic representation?
We speak with J. Harrison Ghee, star of Some Like It Hot, about the show's new take on his character. We learn about the evolution of drag in theater from Domenick Scudera, professor of theater at Ursinus College. And we talk with Miss Peppermint — drag star, actress and ambassador for Trans Justice at the ACLU — about her experience as a trans woman working on Broadway and in the drag industry during this time of rising hatred against drag performers and gender non-conforming folks.
International Transgender Day of Visibility is a day of celebration, support, and love within the transgender community and among allies, and it is especially important amid the ongoing legislative efforts across the country targeting the lives, the health, and the well being of trans individuals.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, which is tracking anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in statehouses across the country, just in these first few months of 2023, there have been a record number of bills that target transgender people specifically.
We speak with Shelby Chestnut, Executive Director of the Transgender Law Center about the history of the day, and finding joy amid the ongoing harassment, discrimination, and political violence that trans people continue to face.
Millions of people across the world rely on life-saving medications made from blood plasma. And U.S. is the leading exporter of that plasma.
Here in the U.S. donating plasma is a legal and regulated process. It is also a paid exchange. Although you can’t sell a kidney or even your blood, there are parts of you that you can sell to earn money. For example, donating eggs for assisted reproductive technology is legal and paid.
And the United States is one of only a few countries in the world that allows people to sell their blood plasma. And millions do so every year, as we learned from some of our listeners who called in. But the multi-billion dollar for-profit blood plasma industry, also relies on middle- and low-income donors.
We talk with Kathleen McLaughlin, a journalist and author of the new book, “BLOOD MONEY: The Story of Life, Death, and Profit Inside America’s Blood Industry.” In the book, Kathleen explores the U.S. Blood Plasma market in this new book, but she begins her story in China and her own personal connection to the blood plasma industry.
Two months after losing both of her parents Jenise Miller felt a sense of urgency to leave the country. She needed to feel like she was in a place that felt like her parents, so she left her home in Compton, CA, and traveled to what had been their home not so long ago. When Jenise arrived in Panama she recognized the familiar furnishing, a glass cabinet that held crystal glasses, china plates, and special teas and luxuries that could only be used when the time was right.
Jenise Miller is a writer, poet, and urban planner. Her work explores art, archives, geographic mapping, and intersectional history.
Houston Independent School District enrolls nearly 200,000 students, and is the largest school district in Texas, and 8th largest in the U.S.
Earlier this month, the Texas Education Agency announced the state was taking over the district citing poor performance. The state is dismissing the superintendent and the elected school board, and replacing them with state appointees. Critics say this is another example of predominantly white, Republican lawmakers taking control over a diverse, and largely democratic city's functions.
We speak with Josephine Lee, reporter for the Texas Observer, who says that the takeover is a trojan horse for Texas Republicans efforts towards privatizing education, and will only increase inequities.
On Monday, a 28-year-old shooter entered the Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, armed with two assault rifles and a handgun. The shooter then killed six people, including three 9-year-olds, and three faculty members. The shooter legally purchased seven weapons from five different gun stores before the shooting at Covenant school.
They were fatally shot by law enforcement who responded to the scene. This comes against a backdrop of Tennessee laws making access to guns far easier.
We spoke with the Frederick B. Rentschler II Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry and the director of the Department of Medicine, Health, and Society at Vanderbilt University, Jonathan Metzl, about the shooting, Tennessee’s gun laws, and if there may be any movement for legislation preventing access to firearms.
Inspired by Tracy McMillan’s Life, UnPrisoned is a half-hour comedy starring Kerry Washington, Marque Richardson, and Faly Rakotohavana. It's about Paige, a therapist and single mom, whose life is turned right-side-up when her dad gets out of prison and moves in with her and her teenage son.
Tracy joined us to talk about her real-life inspiration of a common story that is almost never told.
Over 60 companies and nearly 3,000 employees in the UK participated in a six-month study by participating in a four-day work week. The survey results are clear: most employees prefer a shorter work week. We’re talking to Erik Loomis, professor and labor historian at the University of Rhode Island, about the implications of a four-day work week for labor in the U.S. We’re also looking at the impact of unions, the pandemic, and technology on American labor to see how our conceptions of work have changed in the last century. And we hear from listeners to get their takes on a four-day work week.
Original Air Date: March 27, 2023
Right to Return USA just announced its 2023 Fellows. Six artists will receive a $20,000 award to support projects aimed at transforming the criminal legal and immigration systems, as well as combatting mass incarceration. We speak with Right of Return co-founder Jesse Krimes and 2023 Fellow Jaiquan Fayson about the fellowship, the barriers for formerly incarcerated people in society, and art's role in reforming the criminal justice system.
Dementia is a disease that slowly steals away memories while keeping up the pretense that it’s stealing away nothing at all. A patient’s ability to create reality from their fragmented memories can lead to strained relationships with their loved ones and a deep sense of loneliness in their caregivers. Clinical psychologist, and author of Travelers to Unimaginable Lands: Stories of Dementia, the Caregiver and the Human Brain.
Dasha Kiper shares how our understanding of consciousness makes it hard for those who love dementia patients to fully accept the diagnoses and the loss, and how a deeper understanding of brain processes can allow caregivers to express self-compassion for themselves and their loved ones.
Superjam producer Paul Peck is bringing the works of the illustrious American jazz pianist and composer Count Basie to a brand-new generation with his latest project. Late Night Basie is a Count Basie tribute album that’s reimagining many of the late musician’s greatest hits featuring artists like Cimafunk and Terence Blanchard behind the mic.
Paul Peck sits down with The Takeaway to talk about the project and the ways he’s brought this music to a new age.
Last month the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, unveiled the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT). In a tweet, Bukele announced, “El Salvador has managed to go from being the world’s most dangerous country to the safest country in the Americas. How did we do it? By putting criminals in jail. Is there space? There is now.”
We spoke to Jorge Cuéllar Assistant Professor of Latin American, Latino & Caribbean Studies at Dartmouth and Founding Faculty Fellow of the Consortium of Studies in Race, Migration & Sexuality.
Original Air Date: March 23, 2023
We’re devoting today’s episode of The Takeaway to the task of taking First Ladies seriously as we seek to understand the unique ways these women have affected and continue to shape America.
In this episode we explore the ways that Betty Ford's honesty and outspokenness changed the way we look at first ladies; we look at the roles of Martha Washington and Dolley Madison in relationship to chattel slavery in the United States; and how Edith Wilson may have been the country's first acting female president.
Guests:
Lauren Wright, is an associate research scholar and lecturer in Politics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. She is the author of “Star Power: American Democracy in the Age of the Celebrity Candidate” and “On Behalf of the President: Presidential Spouses and White House Communications Strategy Today.”
Lisa McCubbin, New York Times best selling author of six books, including “Betty Ford: First Lady, Women’s Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer.”
Marie Jenkins Schwartz, professor emeritus University of Rhode Island, author "Ties that Bound: Founding First Ladies and Slaves." Professor Schwartz insists First Ladies must be part of our investigation into slavery and the American founding.
Rebecca Boggs Roberts, educator, author, speaker, and leading historian of American women’s suffrage and civic participation. Her books include "The Suffragist Playbook"; "Suffragists in Washington, D.C."; and "Historic Congressional Cemetery." She is currently deputy director of events at the Library of Congress.
For full transcript, see above.
Black women make up about 29% of the women who are incarcerated in this country. Hispanic women make up about 14%. American Indian and Alaska Native make about up about 2.5%. These are dramatic overrepresentations of women of color in the criminal legal system in comparison to their make-up of the U.S. population.
80% of women in jail and 58% in prisons are parents, and Black women and girls are hit disproportionately. Black women make up 29% of U.S. prisons while only making up about 13% of the U.S. population.
The National Black Women’s Justice Institute (NBWJI) researches, elevates, and educates the public on the overcriminalization of Black women and girls, and NBJWI is conducting research on Black women's policing, health, and incarceration. Sydney McKinney, Executive Director of NBWJI, joined the Takeaway to discuss the current data surrounding Black women and girls' incarceration and what healing-centered alternatives can look like.
Joy Harjo was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1951, and is a member of the Mvsoske Nation. She has authored 10 books of poetry, and served as the United States Poet Laureate from 2019 until 2022. One of her most well known poems, "Remember" (1983) has been adapted and reanimated into a new children’s book, Remember, with illustrations by artist Michaela Goade.
Joy Harjo joins us to discuss Remember, reflect on her time as the U.S. Poet Laureate, and share thoughts on how indigeneity informs the themes of her poetry.
The recent derailment of a train carrying toxic and hazardous chemicals through East Palestine, Ohio, offers a window into the centuries-long history of industrial pollution in the Ohio River Valley region. This area, known for centuries as “coal country,” is transforming into a plastics production hub — with similarly devastating environmental consequences.
We're joined by Eve Andrews, an environmental journalist from Pittsburgh. Andrews recently visited the region and spoke with residents about how this past impacts their futures. Read her story for Grist here.
For most of us, chickens are ubiquitous, mainly as sources of food. Yet we rarely know much about chickens beyond that, or even interact with them. Those that do quickly find themselves obsessed with these fowl creatures — like today’s guest, journalist Tove Danovich.
Inspired after adopting three chickens for her Portland, Oregon backyard, Danovich set out to report on the wide world of chicken-keeping, a journey that took her hatchery in Iowa, to a chicken show in Ohio, to a rooster rescue in Minnesota.
We speak with Danovich about her discoveries and the surprising ways that chickens changed her life, and the lives of millions of Americans. Danovich's new book is "Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People who Love Them."
York, Pennsylvania holds a significant place in American history. During the Revolutionary War, it served as the temporary capital for the Continental Congress, and in York, the Articles of Confederation were drafted. But today the city of 44,000 residents suffers from a high rate of poverty, crime, and gun violence.
Host Melissa Harris-Perry recently spent time in York with Mayor Michael Helfrich and learned about the city’s efforts to interrupt violence through community based initiatives and to build economic strength through local, small business development. Mayor Helfrich describes York as a city of second chances he shares his vision for how to make those second chances a reality. We also hear from Tiff Lowe, of York's Group Violence Intervention program on community based efforts to stem violence and support victims of violence.
With a population of around 220 million, and growing fast, Nigeria is the largest democracy in Africa. After decades of colonial and military rule, Nigeria’s democracy is still young, beginning in 1999.
Last month, Nigeria held its Presidential elections, and political veteran, 70-year-old Bolo Tinubu was declared the winner with 37-percent of the vote. However, opposition parties, as well as international election observers, have criticized the election, citing logistical problems, violence, and the slow publishing of results as problematic.
We speak with Ope Adetayo and Ambassador Mark Green about Nigeria’s elections, and the state of democracy in the country, and more broadly, in Africa.
Last year, state lawmakers in Oklahoma passed SB 1369, the Oklahoma Healthcare Transparency Initiative Act. The legislation requires all healthcare providers to enter patient records into an online database.
Set to go into effect on July 1st, the measure specifically requires providers to quote “submit health and dental claims data, unique identifiers, and geographic and demographic information for covered individuals to the Oklahoma Healthcare Transparency Initiative”.
In advance of implementation, mental health care providers in Oklahoma are raising concerns about patient privacy and confidentiality. We spoke with Sabrina DeQuasie, a therapist in Oklahoma.
Original Air Date: October 13, 2021
Professor Christina Beltrán introduced us to the concept of political cruelty in Cruelty as Citizenship: How Migrant Suffering Sustains White Democracy, which reveals how white supremacy manifest as white democracy—a participatory practice of "racial violence, domination, and exclusion" that lends white citizens the right to both wield and exceed the law.
Progressive scholar, organizer, media personality, and co-president of Community Change Dorian Warren joined our host to discuss the ways we understand political cruelty. From Trump rallies to insurrectionist violence to the Haitian migrant situation at the border, our host and our guest make bold connections between power, civic engagement and domination.
It’s been two years since eight people were killed when a man opened fire in three different Atlanta-area massage businesses. Six of the eight victims were Asian women.
The discourse surrounding the mass shooting, from government officials to mainstream media outlets, claimed the motive of the shooting was unknown. But many people in the AAPI community scoffed. Pointing out that this hate crime didn’t happen in a vacuum– but within the context of a long and racist history. So, in the last two years, has anything changed?
We spoke with Phi Nguyen, Executive Director for Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, and Georgia House State Rep. Dr. Michelle Au, representing the Georgia House 50th district
This week marks the 111th anniversary of the founding of the Girl Scouts of America.
Founded with the goal of building girls’ confidence, The Girl Scouts has introduced millions of girls to new friends and experiences they may not have otherwise had access to. While they might be best known for their cookies, the organization’s true legacy lies with its nearly 2.5 million girl and adult current members worldwide, many of whom are in leadership positions in businesses, politics, and their local communities.
We explore the past, present and future of the Girl Scouts with Meridith Maskara, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York. And we hear from listeners about how the Girl Scouts changed their lives.
Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse last week was the largest American bank failure since 2008, and sparked worldwide fear of broader economic impacts and drew comparisons to the 2008 financial crisis.
We talk to Aaron Klein, Senior economic studies fellow at The Brookings Institution, about what caused this mess with SVB, what federal regulators are doing now, and what this means for other banks, and the economy as a whole.
Congress has not passed meaningful immigration reform in more than two decades. So when President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he promised to craft immigration policies far more humane than those of his predecessor and to “reassert America’s commitment to asylum-seekers and refugees.”
But the realities of immigration during the Biden years have been far more mixed. In recent months, the administration put in place more restrictions on who and how people can claim asylum in the U.S. at the U.S./Mexico border. These rules are some of the administration's harshest asylum policies yet.
These tightened restrictions are coming just ahead of the end of the Trump-era border restriction, Title 42. Since 2020, Title 42 has allowed border security to turn away hundreds of thousands of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers attempting to enter the country through the southern border. Title 42 is set to expire when the Biden Administration lifts the COVID-19 national and public health order on May 11. And the White House has voiced concern with a possible “surge” in migration at the border.
For more on this, we're joined now by Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. And Isabela Dias a reporter at Mother Jones covering immigration.
The 95th Academy Awards will take place this Sunday. Feeling like you've missed out on all the buzz? Wanting to catch up on your Oscars movie bucket list? Or just interested in hearing some great predictions for the category winners? You're in luck!
Kristen Meinzer, host of the By The Book podcast and Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday, sit down with The Takeaway to give us all of their 2023 Oscar Awards predictions and analysis.
It’s been ten months since the Southern Baptist Convention passed a number of reforms aimed at helping prevent abuse within its churches and caring for survivors of past abuse. But progress on implementing those reforms has been slow, and the Convention has continued to field debates within its churches about who is really accountable.
We speak with Liam Adams, religion reporter at The Tenneseean.
In June 2022, The Takeaway reported on the third-party investigation of the SBC's top governing body, which found that leaders systematically ignored, belittled and intimidated survivors of sexual abuse for the past two decades while protecting the legal interests of churches accused of harboring abusers. Listen to that piece here.
This week in Atlanta, supporters of an environmental movement to defend the Atlanta Forest are having a Week of Action against "cop city," following the January police killing of queer, Indigenous-Venezuelan Forest defender Manuel Teran aka Tortuguita.
Over this past weekend, some protestors engaged in property damage of construction infrastructure around a security outpost set up by police. Police responded, rushing to Weelaunee’s People Park, where many attendees of the week of action were attending a music festival.
35 protesters were arrested during the festival and 23 accused of domestic terrorism, including a legal observer from the Southern Poverty Law Center who was representing the National Guild of Lawyers. Our digital producer Zachary Bynum got the chance to speak with participants who’d been taking part in the week of action.
You can listen to our other segments on cop city below:
Cop CityCop City:Forest Defender KilledCop City: Welcome to RIOTSVILLE, USA
Editor's Note: We reached out to the Atlanta Police Foundation for comment. If we hear back from them, we will be sure to post their comments on our website.
Non-alcoholic liquor and beer sales have exploded in recent years, and bars across the country now have non-alcoholic cocktail options on their menu along with alcoholic drinks.
Takeaway producers Katerina Barton and Ryan Wilde talk to a few folks in the industry and and customers at a sober bar in New York City about this growing trend. They look at what makes a sober bar still a bar, and discover the deeper importance of folks being able to share physical space to come together and connect in environments that are alcohol free.
Guests:
Abby Ehmann, owner of Hekate, a sober bar in the East Village in NYC.
Brianda Gonzalez, owner of The New Bar, a non-alcoholic bottle shop in Los Angeles.
Chris Marshall, owner of Sans Bar, a space with all the fun and social life of a bar without the alcohol in Austin, Texas.
Arielle Ashford, co-founder of Unity Recovery and co-owner of The Volstead, a vegan restaurant and zero-proof bar in Philadelphia.
Satya Rhodes-Conway is the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, population 270,000. When she was first elected in 2019, Mayor Rhodes-Conway became the first out LGBTQ person to serve as Madison’s mayor. She is also the chair of the Climate Mayors, an appointed position from the EPA’s Local Government Advisory Committee.
Host Melissa Harris-Perry recently visited Madison, Wisconsin, and spoke with Mayor Rhodes-Conway in Madison. They toured a Madison landmark, and had a conversation about what makes cities great, the specific challenges Madison faces, and more.
Modern businesses and governments are entrenched in relationships with the consulting industry: a multibillion dollar industry that promises expertise and efficiency to cut through the stagnancy of bureaucracy. But according to our guest, it rarely delivers on those promises.
Rosie Collington is a political economist at the University College London’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. She and Mariana Mazzucato are co-authors of "The Big Con: How The Consulting Industry Weakens Our Businesses, Infantilizes Our Governments, and Warps Our Economies."
Collington joined us to discuss the book. She and Mazzucato expose our economies’ reliance on consulting firms and how they have obfuscated corporate and political accountability, heightened the extraction of privatization, and capitalized on crises like climate change — to the world’s detriment.
Recent reporting by The New York Times investigative reporter Hannah Dreier highlighted the issues with migrant children who are forced to work in the U.S., but this wasn’t the first time someone reported on this problem.
We’ll hear from Daffodil Altan, an investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker who produced the film Trafficked in America in 2018, and we'll hear from Margaret Wurth, Senior Researcher in the Children’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, about legal farm child labor.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Black people owned more than 16 million acres of farmland across the United States. Now, more than 90% of that land has been lost.
This land loss is, in part, due to the USDA's systemic racial discrimination of Black farmers. While advocates have struggled to preserve the tradition of Black farming across the United States through a concerted movement of both legal and policy measures, Black farmers have not seen real relief. And Black ownership of farmland continues to dwindle.
President of the National Black Farmers Association, Mr. John Boyd Jr., joins us to talk through updates in the fight against the extinction of Black farmers across the country.
While certain Asian American conservatives like Nikki Haley and Young Kim have gained prominence in recent years, they didn’t come out of nowhere. Conservative political traditions in Asian American communities have developed organically for decades, reflecting complex relationships between such communities, their heritage countries, and the U.S. itself.
The UCLA’s Amerasia Journal explores these understudied but multifaceted stories in a new special issue titled, “Conservatisms and Fascisms in Asian America.” We speak with the co-editors: Jane Hong, associate professor of history at Occidental College, and Adrian De Leon, assistant professor of American studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California.
We talk to Professor Anita Hill, about her fight for justice and her new book, Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence
Kinetic Light, a disability art collective, performed a duet called Under Momentum at Lincoln Center in February. The performance shows the joys of continuous motion, the allure of speed, and the beautiful futility of resisting gravity and is performed on a series of ramps, and the artists interchange between wheelchair and floor movement. We speak with Alice Sheppard, founder of Kinetic Light, who performed in Under Momentum, about the performance, the joys of moving the body, and access in the arts.
In this audio story you'll also hear audio descriptions from Under Momentum that describe the visual experience of the performance for those who are blind or have low vision. These are not just an add-on to the show, but a full and complete way of experiencing the performance. Audimance, Kinetic Light's signature approach to audio description was created by artist/engineer Laurel Lawson.You'll also hear from Miranda Hoffner, the associate director of accessibility at Lincoln Center. Under Momentum is an experience curated by disabled performers for a disabled audience and Kinetic Light worked with Lincoln Center to provide several access points to the performance including deaf and hearing ASL interpreters, captioning for hard of hearing or deaf folks, haptic wires that people could touch to feel vibrations during the performance, and a quiet room for people who might become overstimulated. There was also a “choose what you pay model” for tickets, because cost is also a barrier to accessing art.
Image Descriptions:Alice is a multiracial Black woman with short curly hair. Laurel is a white person with cropped teal hair. They both wear shimmery metallic costumes. In the photo Alice Sheppard kneels at the base of the ramp, with her back and wheels facing the camera. She reaches her arms high in a V. Laurel Lawson peers at her from behind the ramp.
For the past few months, the U.S. has faced shortages for hundreds of drugs – everything from prescription drugs like Adderall to over-the-counter necessities like baby aspirin.
According to the FDA, manufacturing quality issues, discontinuations, and delays in the global supply chain for raw materials have all contributed to the smaller global stockpile of drugs.
But outside of the production process of pharmaceuticals, increased demand for drugs – from both patients and medical providers – has also been a driving force for shortages, especially for one drug in particular.
The demand for Ozempic, and alternatives like Wegovy and Mounjaro, has spiked since 2021 when the FDA expanded the use of these diabetes drugs by approving them for patients with obesity.
But off-label uses for the drug have fueled questions about who gets priority access to a “miracle” weight loss drug during a shortage. And they’re sparking tense conversations about how the medical community classifies and treats patients with obesity.
We talk with Julia Belluz, a health and science reporter who’s been following the story, to learn about the latest developments in the drug shortage and how Ozempic is changing the obesity conversation.
For almost three years the amount of aid provided to low-income families increased. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, additional benefit allotments allowed SNAP households to receive more money in monthly benefits per person. But as of March 1st, those benefits are gone nationwide.
We look back at our conversation with Jamila Michener, associate professor in the department of Government at Cornell University, Co-Director of the Cornell Center for Health Equity, and Author of, Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard two arguments over whether President Biden has the authority to forgive millions of dollars in federal student loan debt.
These legal challenges come after Biden announced a plan last year that would forgive up to $20,000 in debt for some borrowers. This could affect an estimated 40 million borrowers across the country, and wipe out more than 400 billion in federal student debt.
The Department of Education has said that 26 million people already applied for the debt relief last year after the plan was announced, but it was put on temporary hold by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in November. These legal challenges are asking whether the Biden Administration has the authority to forgive student loan debt under the 2003 law called the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students, also known as the HEROES Act.
Supporters and advocates for student debt cancellation gathered outside of the Supreme Court building ahead of arguments, and one person there was Kat Welbeck, Director of Advocacy & Civil Rights Counsel at the Student Borrower Protection Center. She joined to discuss the arguments.
Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Indianapolis, and Newark are the site of a historic initiative to end gun violence in some of America’s cities. National Black-led organizations committed to ending gun violence are partnering with mayors, local community-based organizations, and hospitals to reduce gun homicides and non-fatal shootings by 20 percent over the next five years in 12 cities.
The first cohort of cities begin their work this month with the Coalition to Advance Public Safety (CAPS) to scale up, unite and bring cohesion and additional funding to their local community violence intervention (CVI) ecosystems.
We dig deeper into the initiative with some of its leaders Aqeela Sherrills, Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Community Based Public Safety Collective and Board Chair of the Newark Community Street Team, and , Sateria Tate Alexander founder of AGILE Planning Solutions and the executive director of the Baton Rouge Community Street Team.
Earlier this month, the Mississippi House passed House Bill 1020. The bill would expand the police force as well as create a new court system within the CCID — or Capitol Complex Improvement District — of the capital city of Jackson, where judges and prosecutors would be appointed by state officials, instead of elected, as they are in every other county in Mississippi. 83-percent of residents in Jackson, Mississippi are Black, and those state officials who would be appointing Jackson’s judges and prosecutors are both white.
We speak with Rep. Ed Blackmon, Mississippi state representative representing the 57th District about the bill.
It has been a year since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the brutal invasion of Ukraine. A country on the border of NATO and the European Union. And while the future of geopolitics is still up in the air, one twelve-year-old girl took it upon herself to tell the stories of children caught in the war.
Yeva’s diary began on her 12th birthday– only a handful of days before the invasion that displaced her and her grandmother. She is now 13. We spoke with Yeva Skalietska, author of You Don’t Know What War Is: The Diary of a Young Girl from Ukraine.
Nearly every town has one: a highly-curated mini-market or gift shop selling products with a local, artisanal vibe. Think boutique spices, olive oil, or tea towels. But it turns out, many of these small-looking businesses are actually getting their goods through a network of venture capital-funded, direct-to-consumer "Insta-brands."
These brands tend to trade on values like "ethically-sourced" or "progressive" while coming out of the same opaque global supply chain as everything else, giving rise to an uncanny feeling of sameness in shop... after shop... after shop.
We explore this commodification of authenticity with Emily Sundberg, a freelance reporter and director. Her recent piece in New York Magazine's Grubstreet is called "Welcome to the Shoppy Shop."
But UMWA and Warrior Met are still at a standstill on contract negotiations, all while the mines are still operating with replacement workers, and still earning a profit.
Last week, UMWA leadership informed the remaining members on strike that the union would be entering a new phase to win a fair contract, and sent a letter to the CEO of Warrior Met announcing that the striking miners were willing to return to work on March 2.
Now, those coal miners who choose to return to work will be working under their old contract, while the UMWA and Warrior Met continue to negotiate.
We get updates from Kim Kelly, an independent labor journalist and author of the book, "FIGHT LIKE HELL: The Untold History of American Labor." Kim has been covering the Warrior Met Coal strike since April 2021.
Here is our previous coverage of the Warrior Met Strike:Alabama Union Coal Mine Workers Enter Fifth Month of StrikeAlabama Miners Are Still on Strike Nearly Nine Months Later
Congressional committees often end up in the spotlight when a controversy shakes up the seats, or when a clip from a high-profile hearing goes viral. But even when no one is looking, they’re one of the most important parts of our government. They’re where the real work gets done — or at least, they should be. Increasingly, committees are spaces for partisan gridlock and dysfunction.
We speak with Maya Kornberg, a research fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, about how congressional committees got this way, and how to fix them. Her new book is called, "Inside Congressional Committees: Function and Dysfunction in The Legislative Process."
Wilmot Collins was born and raised in civil war-torn Liberia. Being witness to political violence and corruption in his own country, he became fascinated with America’s system of government in college. Confronted with violence, and hunger, he eventually fled with his fiance, Maddie, to Ghana in 1990, finding work as a teacher. Still struggling, they then decided to go to America. Maddie, pregnant at the time, got a student visa to go to nursing school in Montana. Wilmot would join her, and meet his young daughter, almost two years later in Helena.
Today, Wilmot Collins is the first Black mayor of Helena, Montana's capital city with a population 33,000. Montana state has a less than 1-percent Black population.
We speak to Mayor Collins about his journey to America as a refugee, the hope and worry he sees in America's democracy, and leading a predominantly white city as a Black mayor.
Technology is touted as the future but one thing the industry has not been able to solve is its lack of gender and racial diversity within the field. Black Girls CODE was founded in 2011 to improve the pipeline of Black girls in tech. To change the landscape of what technology looks like and to build a new generation of computer programmers. Today Black Girls CODE aims to deepen their impact by showing the world that Black girls can code, lead, innovate, and engineer their own futures.
We spoke to Sofia Mohammed, Interim Executive Director of Black Girls CODE
The anti-abortion movement continues to gain momentum, and its strategies against reproductive rights are evolving. We check in on attacks on abortion rights, from federal court in Texas, to Kentucky’s Supreme Court, to state legislatures across the country.
We're joined by Caroline Kitchener, national political reporter covering abortion at the Washington Post.
For well over a decade, rural hospitals have been in crisis. Since 2010, 141 hospitals in rural communities have closed. And although they’ve been struggling financially for years, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed them to the brink with a record 19 closures in 2020 alone.
And while pandemic-era federal aid stopped some of these rapid closures, much of that aid expired at the end of last year. The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform estimates that more than 600 rural hospitals – or nearly 30% of all rural hospitals in the country – are at risk of closing in the near future.
The federal government tried to address this crisis with a plan called the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation, but the plan comes with hard choices for many of these hospitals and would have a huge impact on the rural communities they serve.
For more on the crisis at rural hospitals, we spoke with Harold Miller, President and CEO of the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform.
Conflict, repression, economic circumstances, drought, and famine have driven the migration of nearly 2 million people from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East to Southern Europe in the last decade.
Migrants all over the world have died and gone missing at alarming rates. In the past decade, this endless tragedy has plagued the Mediterranean Sea in particular. Since 2014, over 25,000 migrants have gone missing and presumably died while taking the perilous journey asea.
Aid groups like who have been giving life-saving assistance to migrants who cross are now being criminalized. Twenty-four aid workers in Greece stand trial for helping migrants who were crossing through the Mediterranean.
We speak with New Yorker staff writer Alexis Okeowo who covers conflict, culture, and human rights across Africa, Mexico, and the American South to better understand the scale and impact of this crisis and what can be done to improve migration conditions.
Da’Shaun L. Harrison is an organizer, trans theorist, Editor-at-Large at Scalawag Magazineand winner of the 2022 Lambda Literary Award in transgender nonfiction for their book Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness.
For our series Black.Queer.Rising, they share their understanding of the connection between anti-fatness and anti-Blackness, why and how they’re able to show up as their full unapologetic self, and what they view as the limitations of liberation while existing within an oppressive system.
On February 24th, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked, full scale military attack on Ukraine. Russia’s attacks on Ukraine are ongoing, and with the first anniversary of war approaching, we check-in with journalists we’ve spoken to throughout the conflict to reflect on the past year and look at the current state of the war.
We spoke with Christopher Miller, Ukraine correspondent for the Financial Times and author of the forthcoming book about Ukraine, “The War Came To Us,” and Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times.
We also spoke with Ukrainians we’ve talked to throughout the conflict:
Last April, we spoke with Olena Shevchenko, Head of Insight Ukraine, an LGBTQ advocacy group based in Ukraine. Olena was in the Kyiv at the start of Russia’s invasion. She stayed for 14 days, partially sheltering in a basement, and then decided to move the Kyiv-based part of her organization to the western city of Lviv. They went back to Kyiv in June, and have hubs all around the country. Throughout the war, the organization continued advocacy work around LGBTQ issues, but they also helped tens of thousands of people who were fleeing the country or who were internally displaced, by offering legal consultations, distributing humanitarian aid, and finding temporary shelter.
Last March, we spoke with Mariia Sirychenko, just a couple of weeks after the Russian Invasion. She was in Kyiv when the city was attacked and she left two days later, also to the safety of Lviv. Nearly a year later, she’s back in Kyiv. Mariia is from Mariupol, a city that was under siege for more than 80 days. And it's estimated that thousands of civilians were killed in the attacks, but exact numbers are difficult to verify. The city is currently under Russian control. When we last spoke to Mariia, she hadn’t been able to contact her grandmother in Mariupol for 10 days, but thankfully they found a way to rescue her.
We check-in with these voices on the ground in Ukraine about how life has changed for them and how they’re reflecting on this one-year mark of the war.
On Monday, a gunman opened fire at Michigan State University, killing three students and injuring five others. Over 70 mass shootings have occurred since the start of 2023, so this week, we’re looking back at these shootings and their impact around the country. And we’re also looking back at the rise of school shootings in the past three years and reflecting on our conversation following the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last May.
On February 15, contributors, journalists and sources to the New York Times wrote an open letter addressing what they view as anti-trans coverage from the front pages of one of the nation’s papers of record. These are concerns that have been spoken about within the trans community for quite some time.They noted “serious concerns about editorial bias in the newspaper’s reporting on transgender, non-binary, and gender nonconforming people.”
In response, Charlie Stadlanter – Director of External Communications for the New York Times – provided a comment from the paper. It reads in part: “As a news organization, we pursue independent reporting on transgender issues that include profiling groundbreakers in the movement, challenges and prejudice faced by the community, and how society is grappling with debates about care…our journalism strives to explore, interrogate and reflect the experiences, ideas and debates in society – to help readers understand them. Our reporting did exactly that and we’re proud of it.”
Harron Walker, freelance journalist with bylines in New York and Out Magazines and the New York Times and co-author of the letter joins us to discuss why the letter was written and what causes concern for her, and the community, regarding the Times’ coverage.
Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, and U.N. ambassador has officially entered the 2024 presidential race. She is the first major Republican challenge to Former President Donald Trump… only two years after she said she wouldn’t.
Katon Dawson, former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party joins us to find out if Haley's bid is not just for president but for "the soul" of the Republican party.
Democratic Colorado Representative Leslie Herod joins us for our series Black Queer Rising. Herod has held down the 8 district in Colorado since her victory in the 2016 – and is the first openly Black woman in the Colorado House of Representatives elected in the state’s history.
Herod has made a name for herself by tackling and securing sweeping changes with a police reform bill signed into Colorado law in June 2020. Her efforts have defelonized drug possession and introduced bail reform. As a representative she supported and guided the passage of a voter supported tax to fund mental health and drug rehabilitation centers in the city of Denver. She turns to the city with her eyes on the coveted prize of Mayor. The Mayoral election is set to take place in early April of this year.
Representative Herod joins us to explain the reasoning behind her focus on criminal justice reform, and her plans for the future of Colorado.
Two weeks ago, a train carrying toxic chemicals through a small town in eastern Ohio derailed in a fiery crash and flames and black smoke filled the sky. Federal investigators have said the derailment was caused by a mechanical issue with a rail car axle.
But rail companies have used their influence to lobby against federal regulations that could have made an event like this less possible — including mechanical safety upgrades for trains carrying hazardous chemicals and what chemicals are even classified as hazardous. With such trains criss-crossing thousands of miles across the U.S., the event in Ohio is a warning for the country.
The Lever, a national reader-supported investigative journalism outlet, recently investigated the rail industry's lobbying against proposed federal regulations. We speak with reporter Matthew Cunningham-Cook.
Gray Love: Stories About Dating and New Relationships After 60 is an ambitious effort that includes forty-two essays covering a range of topics. From dating while mourning the loss of a partner, to what to write on an online dating profile. Some stories are sad and tragic while others are funny and joyful.
We talk to the Co-Editors of the book Nan Bauer-Maglin and Daniel E. Hood.
According to the Romance Writers of America’s definition, a book must have a love story as the central plot and have a happily-ever-after ending to fit into the romance genre. And that guaranteed happy ending can provide readers with a space for radical joy. In romance novels, characters have the space to be flawed and complex, with the promise of acceptance in the end.
For New York Times bestselling romance novelist Jasmine Guillory, that guarantee of happiness means that her heroines get to showcase vulnerability, love and radical acceptance in ways that are seldom available to Black women across popular culture.
Guillory sat down with The Takeaway to talk all about the power of a good love story, and what it can do for writers and readers alike.
The Spangler Candy Company has been making Valentine’s Day candy hearts for more than a century. The candies have featured messages like “Kiss Me,” which debuted from the beginning and is still present. But other messages have changed over the years, revealing the ever evolving ways that society perceives love.
We speak with Kim Severson, national food correspondent for The New York Times,about what candy hearts say about love in 2023.
Plus, listeners share their personal messages to their Valentines.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act, sometimes called the FMLA, which President Clinton signed into law in 1993. The legislation allows up to 12 weeks of “unpaid” leave for qualifying employees to recover from major illness, or childbirth, or to take care of sick family members.
It was a groundbreaking achievement for its time, but also limited. According to a Labor Department survey, about 44% of workers are not eligible for FMLA-leave because they work for small employers who are exempt from the law, or they don’t work enough hours to qualify, or they haven’t worked there long enough.And some people just can’t afford to take the unpaid leave from work.
Now Democratic lawmakers are renewing their push to make paid family leave federal policy. On February 1st, Representative Rosa DeLauro and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand reintroduced the FAMILY Act. And a day later, President Biden announced his recommitment to expanding the federal law to include paid family leave.
We speak with Natasha Pearlman, Glamour’s executive editor about the efforts to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Late last week a Chinese surveillance balloon flew over the continental United States until it was shot down by a U.S. military jet at the order of President Joe Biden. U.S. officials say the balloon was part of an extensive surveillance program from China that spanned 5 continents. In recent days, U.S. forces have shot down 3 more unidentified flying objects across the continent over a 3 day period: over Alaska, over Lake Huron, and over the Yukon in Canada.
We speak with Gordon Chang, author of The Coming Collapse of China and The Great U.S.-China Tech War about what it all means for U.S.-China relations.
It’s February, and it’s winter, but at least in New York City, it hasn’t felt like winter. Several states in the Northeast had the warmest January on record.
Meanwhile, California has been pummeled with rain, making it the third-wettest January on record. And as for that winter staple, SNOW, well, New York City finally got a tiny sprinkle on February 1st, making this the longest snow-drought in recorded history. But other cities out West are seeing their snowiest winters.
To talk more about what’s going on with this winter weather, we spoke with Dr. David Robinson - the New Jersey State Climatologist and a Professor at Rutgers University in the Department of Geography.
The rate of drug overdoses continues to rise in the U.S., in part due to the increasing presence of fentanyl in street drugs like heroin and cocaine. But there’s a new supply stream of contaminated drugs: certain pharmacies in northwestern Mexican cities that specifically cater to American tourists looking for prescription drugs. The L.A. Times recently sent two reporters to visit such pharmacies, purchase pills, and test them for fentanyl. We speak with one of them about their findings — Keri Blakinger, staff writer at the L.A. Times.
Read the L.A. Times report here. If you or someone you know has been harmed by fentanyl-laced pills in Mexico, the Times wants to hear from you. Reach out to Keri Blakinger at keri.blakinger@latimes.com.
Keyla Monterroso Mejia landed her breakout role as Maria Sofia on "Curb Your Enthusiasm."Keyla’s performance as a bad actor blackmailing Larry David made a splash. She is now the star of Netflix’s "Freeridge," a spin-off of "On My Block."
We talk to Keyla about the new show, Latine representation in Hollywood, and gratitude.
Super Bowl 57 kicks off on Sunday, and sure, we’re all a little excited about the game – the Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Kansas City Chiefs.
But a lot of people will be tuning in just for the halftime show, and the highly-anticipated “Rih-turn” of Rihanna! This is RiRi’s first public performance since the 2018 Grammys, and she had previously rejected doing the Super Bowl halftime show in 2019 in solidarity for Colin Kaepernick.
So we spoke to a member of Rihanna’s Navy, Stephanie Holland, staff writer for The Root, to get some insights into the show, and hype us up for the big game.
National Book Award finalist and Lambda Award winning author and poet, Danez Smith creates poetry that viscerally examines the intricacies of gender, the recognition of Black family and kinship, rebirth and growing to know and learn themselves anew every day.
They are the author of three books: [Insert] Boy, Don't Call Us Dead, and Homie.
They join us to discuss their craft, how poetry saved their life, and their dreams of a Black Queer future.
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake shocked Turkey and Syria near their shared border on February 6th. As of Friday morning, it is estimated that over 21,000 people have died. Less than 12 hours later, a second quake hit that was nearly as strong as the first. In the days since, at least 100 smaller earthquakes have also hit as aftershocks.
Near the epicenter, in Turkey’s Gaziantep Province, entire districts of cities and towns have been leveled. Thousands of buildings have collapsed in Turkey and Syria, including hospitals, schools and apartments — many with people still inside. Aid workers and civilians alike have been working nonstop over the past few days to rescue survivors from the rubble. But it has been too slow for many, and supplies like food and warm shelter have been limited.
We speak with Shirin Jaafari, reporter covering the Middle East for The World. Jaafari has previously reported from Gaziantep, the epicenter of the quake, and has been speaking with survivors in Syria in the aftermath.
Last Tuesday, Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens announced plans to move forward with the proposal to build Cop City despite ongoing opposition from the local community and after police killed environmental activist Manuel Teran AKA Tortuguita.
Environmentalists, local activists, college students, and parks advocates have pointed to their worries of the environmental impact on clearing this forest. And they’ve cited growing fears of police violence as issues of police brutality and police accountability plague our day-to-day lives.
And while pursuing cop city may seem like an unprecedented policy endeavor in the history of policing and public safety, it is actually not the first time the U.S. government has taken such measures. The documentary film Riotsville USA on Hulu illuminates this history, and it explores the decades-long project to militarize U.S. law enforcement and crush opposition to the state.
Before the idea of cop city came to be, following the Civil Rights Movement and rebellion in the late 60s, the U.S. government helped create “mock cities” where they were trained to use the same crowd control tactics police use on protests today. Sierra Pettengill, director and filmmaker of the documentary joins us to discuss how Riotsville, USA set the stage for an endeavor like cop city.
The State of Georgia has charged 19 protestors with domestic terrorism- at least 9 are accused of nothing more than trespassing. We also speak with Lauren Regan, executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center, who will represent some of the protestors charged with "domestic terrorism."
To keep up with our coverage of cop city, check out some of our other segments.
Over the past few months, news organizations continue to uncover lies and embellishments about Representative George Santos’ past, resume, and campaign finances. The Republican Representative of New York’s 3rd Congressional District, which covers parts of Long Island and Queens, is now facing several investigations into those lies. The Freshman lawmaker was only sworn in a month ago, and is also facing calls from some lawmakers in his own party to step down.
Many of his constituents are calling for his resignation. A recent Newsday/Siena College poll found that 78% of those surveyed in his district want Santos to resign. And on Tuesday, a busload of Santos’s constituents rode down to D.C., protested on Capitol Hill, and handed his staff members a petition for his resignation.
We look at what repercussions Santos could face in Congress and what rules are in place to prevent other lawmakers from lying to constituents with David Cruz, WNYC’s People & Power politics editor.
Last night, President Biden delivered the State of the Union address. It came at a moment when his approval rating is about 41-percent, close to the lowest of his entire presidency. On the Republican side, Arkansas Governor and former Trump White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, delivered the GOP’s response.
We hear analysis from Joel Payne, CBS News political contributor and Chief Communications officer for Move On, and Mitch Kokai, senior political analyst for the John Locke Foundation.
Medication abortions are the most common method in the U.S. for terminating a pregnancy, and the FDA recently moved to allow retail pharmacies to sell the abortion pill. So despite continuing attacks on abortion rights and access, the abortion pill has been an incredibly lucrative gamble for a secretive group of private equity investors — who are now battling each other for control of its future.
We speak with Mother Jones reporter, Hannah Levintova. Her new story is "The Abortion Pill’s Secret Money Men."
Brittney Johnson is an accomplished actor, artist, and the first Black woman to play the title role of “Glinda” in the Broadway musical Wicked.
She brings an exhilarating and sincere performance to any character she portrays. Brittney made Broadway History by being the first Black Woman to play the title role of “Glinda”, in Wicked on Broadway. You can watch this spellbinding performance for yourself, live, through February 12, 2023 at The Gershwin Theatre in New York City.
Johnson, who has also appeared on Broadway in Les Misérables, Motown, Sunset Boulevard, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,and Kristin Chenoweth: For the Girls, will succeed Ginna Claire Mason.
ChatGPT is chatbot software that can engage with users in conversational ways, doing so with a high level of sophistication. For example, ChatGPT can use information available on the internet to compose an essay. In fact, it is sophisticated enough that it recently was able to pass law exams at the University of Minnesota and graduate level coursework at UPenn’s Wharton School of Business.
We hear from Susan D’Agostino, technology and innovation reporter for Inside Higher Ed, about how educators are approaching this uncharted territory in classrooms.
Then we hear from Nabeel Gillani, an Assistant Professor of Design and Data Analysis at Northeastern University and director of the Plural Connections Group, about how AI can be used to help inform policy changes in education, fostering more equitable outcomes for students in the process.
In January, Florida's Department of Education rejected an Advanced Placement course in African American studies. Governor Ron Desantis called the course curricula "indoctrination." This move is in line with the state’s Stop Woke Act of 2022, which assumes that Critical Race Theory is running rampant throughout politics and education, that programs focused on race and diversity are discriminatory, and that strictly limits how topics like racism in American history can be discussed in Florida classrooms.
We speak with John Diamond, Professor of Sociology and Education Policy at Brown University and author of “Despite the Best Intentions: How Inequality Thrives in Good Schools," about the importance of Black studies.
SNAP or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is one of the most critical policy tools we have to address hunger and poverty in the U-S. And during the pandemic, it was a literal lifeline.
Congress temporarily increased SNAP benefits giving a boost of 15 percent to everyone who needed it and allowing all families to max out their eligibility based on the size of the family. This month, the nearly three-year boost to a benefit used by more than 41 million Americans will end. And now that a carton of eggs costs about as much as college tuition, millions of families will have to stretch their food dollars even further. It’s a tough blow, especially given Child Tax Credit, expanded for the pandemic, was also allowed to expire.
Data from the Brookings Institute show that those monthly checks of up to $300 dollars per child lifted more than 3 and a half million children out of poverty. Something the Biden Administration was very proud of.
We speak with Jamila Michener, associate professor of Government at Cornell University. Co-Director of the Cornell Center for Health Equity, and Author of Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism and Unequal Politics.
When the trailer for the new horror movie M3GAN came out in October, it sent social media users into a frenzy. In a matter of days, the campy and awkward dance moves of an AI-powered robotic doll inspired countless imitations on TikTok and fan edits on Twitter. Even Saturday Night Live got in on the fun with its own parody.
But it’s not just the queer community buzzing about M3GAN. Viral videos of a sassy robotic doll twirling might’ve put the movie in the spotlight, but M3GAN’s success speaks to how Hollywood is reimagining the horror genre.
We speak with Erik Piepenburg, a film writer for the New York Times, about M3GAN and how it's creating a renaissance for campy horror films. We also discuss the history of the horror genre’s ties to the LGBTQ+ community.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced a new initiative called Welcome Corps. The policy allows groups of at least 5 private citizens or legal residents to sponsor a refugee for $2,275 dollars. This marks a substantial reorientation of the four-decade old refugee process by giving significant logistic and financial authority to private citizens.
The State Department’s goal is to match refugees from Ukraine, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and other countries with U.S. sponsors who will help them to find housing, transportation, child school enrollment and employment.
Joining me to discuss the new program is Mark Hetfield, is president and CEO of HIAS the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. The world's oldest refugee agency.
On January 7, Memphis Police officers pepper sprayed and brutally beat photographer and avid skateboarder Tyre Nichols. Nichols complained of shortness of breath, and waited 22 minutes before an ambulance arrived to transport him – in critical condition – to a local hospital. He died on January 10.
Memphis police chief Ceralyn Davis called the beating of Nichols a “failure of basic humanity.” This brutal killing has renewed public discussions of police abolition.
We talk with Professor Christian Davenport, professor of political science at The University of Michigan and author of State Repression and the Promise of Democratic Peace.
To hear our deep dive on police abolition, you can listen here.
Goldie Taylor brings sharp analysis, keen insights, and deep empathy to her televised appearances and her journalistic coverage. The author of multiple novels, Goldie Taylor’s narrative voice is as memorable as her speaking voice. Earthy and resonant.
Now Goldie has written her most personal story– an unflinching memoir, The Love You Save. The book details the brutal journey of her childhood marked by poverty, unkindness, and repeated experiences of childhood sexual assault,
MHP sat down with journalist, writer, and survivor, Goldie Taylor.
Last week, the Department of Justice announced federal charges against dozens of people for their alleged role in a scheme where three South Florida-based nursing schools issued more than 7,600 fake nursing degrees to buyers knowingly purchasing sham degrees and transcripts.
We speak with Michelle Collins, registered nurse and Dean of Loyola University of New Orleans College of Nursing, about the scandal and what it means for the nursing profession.
His name was Tyre Nichols.
He was 29 years old, the youngest of four children. Father to a 4-year-old son. Tyree loved to skateboard. He was just 80 yards away from his mother’s house when he was stopped by Memphis police. Tyre called out to his mother as he was being beaten by five Memphis police officers.
On the evening of January 7, Memphis police stopped Tyre while he was driving. Initially, the police report indicated Tyre was stopped for reckless driving. But after extensive, initial review the Memphis chief of police indicated there was no proof of probable cause for the traffic stop. He died in the hospital three days after that traffic stop.
On Friday evening, the City of Memphis released video footage of the traffic stop. It is hard to watch. The video shows five officers pepper spraying, beating, kicking, punching, shocking, and dragging Tyre. The five officers were fired 2 weeks ago. On Thursday, they were indicted on multiple felony charges, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.For more, we spoke with Aaron Morrison, the national race and ethnicity writer for the Associated Press.
New Orleans launched their bike share program, Blue Bikes, in 2017 in partnership with a for-profit bike share company called Social Bicycles, beginning with 700 pedal bicycles. Geoff Coats was hired to run the program.
Soon after, Uber bought out Social Bicycles (which by then had changed its name to Jump) and Blue Bikes flourished: by 2020, the fleet size was upgraded and almost doubled to 1,350 pedal assist e-bikes. But then, the pandemic hit. Uber paused the program, and then spun it off to Lime, a scooter company and competitor. Lime, using the bikes as leverage, approached the city and asked to replace the bikes with electric scooters. The city balked, and almost overnight, the bikes disappeared from the city streets, and the bike share program was defunct by June 2020. While this could have been the end of bike sharing in NOLA, Geoff Coats devised a plan to resurrect the program. He organized with community leaders, organizations, and sponsors and eventually developed a non-profit entity, Blue Krewe to operate Blue Bikes, eventually receiving approval from the city to relaunch as a community-based bike sharing program. In September 2021, after over a year of New Orleans not having a bike sharing program, Blue Bikes went back online.
Since relaunch, Blue Krewe has overseen over 300-thousand trips, and have refocused the mission of NOLA's bike share program to be more aligned with the city’s mission of providing an affordable and equitable transportation alternative.
We speak with Geoff Coats, CEO of Blue Krewe, about reviving the city's bike share program.
January 27th marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this day in 1945, Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp, was liberated.
The Remembrance Day is a day to commemorate the 6 million Jewish lives that were lost at the hands of the Nazi German regime, and the millions of other Europeans the Nazis saw as racially inferior. This included Soviet prisoners of war, Roma and Sinti populations, people with disabilities, and Polish people.But this commemoration of 78 years since the end of World War II can’t be separated from the fact that recently some high profile celebrities and politicians have made antisemitic remarks, and there’s been a rising trend of harassment, vandalism and violence directed against Jews.According to the Anti-Defamation League, Antisemitic incidents reached an all-time high in the US in 2021.
We hear from Toby Levy, an 89-year-old Holocaust survivor, and Jack Kliger, the President & CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust about rising antisemitism and the importance of reflecting on history and remembering victims and survivors.
Then, we hear from Mattie Kahn, writer and author of the forthcoming book, Young and Restless, about the story of her great uncle Arthur Kahn, the first Jewish victim of the Holocaust
Back in 2015, #OscarsSoWhite was first mentioned on Twitter in response to the 20 acting nominations for the Academy Awards all going to white actors. The popularity of the hashtag put a spotlight on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their lack of recognition of the work of non-white actors and artists. This resulted in a multi-year effort to diversify the academy’s voting body. But for Black women in the industry, little has changed.
We talk to Robert Daniels, Film Critic and founder of 812filmreviews, about his recent commentary in the LA Times; "It’s not just the Oscars that fail Black women. It’s the entire awards ecosystem."
The ‘La Brea’ podcast, hosted by Alana Casanova-Burgess comes back with season two, and they are bringing you the Puerto Rican experience in eight songs. Alana dropped by The Takeaway to talk about all things La Brega and shared with us some music that made us get up and dance.
Listen to 'La Brega' wherever you listen to podcasts.
Alan told us, "The reason why we wanted to focus on music is that we talk about Puerto Rico in the context of the US all the time, because of that colonial relationship... But Puerto Rico is part of the Caribbean, it's part of Latin America. And we also connect with that part of the globe through our music. And so we wanted to get into that and to think about what are the songs that represent us to the rest of the world and that represent us to ourselves, right? What are the lessons that we get from our own music? How does it knit us all together?"
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We are 26 days into 2023, and the United States has already experienced 40 mass shootings, as of today Thursday morning.
California, a state with some of the nation’s toughest gun laws, has suffered three mass shootings in less than a week. In Monterey Park, California on Saturday, a man with a gun killed 11 people, and injured nine. On Monday, there were two more shootings. In Half Moon Bay, a man killed seven people, and injured one. And in Oakland, another armed individual killed one person and injured seven people in a shooting at a gas station that night.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, so far this year, in these 26 days of January, there have been nearly 3,000 gun related deaths - a number that includes deaths by suicides, homicide, defensive and unintentional shootings.
So what can we do about it? We speak with Igor Volsky, executive director of Guns Down America about guns and gun reform in America.
In a recent interview on The Takeaway, Kamau Franklin said, "What seems to be underreported is that even at the beginning of the protest against Cop City, when people were doing demonstrations and marches on city sidewalks, we would have at the end of those demonstrations, police jumping in the middle of them and arresting people for just standing or talking after demonstrations. And they've come in during demonstrations. They've used pepper spray. They've violently thrown people to the ground. Folks have been arrested. This is pre the charges of domestic terrorism."
Activists view cop city as proof of the ongoing militarization of the police.
Bulldozers and police raids made their way through Weelaunee People’s Park last Wednesday after police killed protester Manuel Terán AKA Tortuguita. Officials say Manuel fired first, but activists doubt the official account from police. The GBI director says there is no body cam footage from the incident and the Georgia Department of Public Safety released a press release saying they would not be releasing the identity of the trooper who was struck in the abdomen for concerns for "for the protection of life, safety, and public property."
Local activists are calling for an independent wrongful death investigation.
In the aftermath, protests happened across the country this past weekend and more protesters around the South River Forest have been arrested on “domestic terrorism” charges.
For more, we checked in with Founder of Community Movement Builders Kamau Franklin and Sean, a participant in the Defend the Atlanta Forest movement, for an update on “cop city.” We also spoke with City Councilmember At-Large Michael Julian Bond who supports the development of cop city.
To keep up with our coverage of cop city, check our recent segment.
Being able to take an unlimited amount of time off of work, while still getting paid, sounds like a dream. “Unlimited-Paid-Time-Off” was supposed to make that happen, but as it turns out, there are unspoken rules to unlimited.
The Takeaway speaks with, Rainesford Stauffer. Columnist for Teen Vogue's Work in Progress column and author of the upcoming book, All the Gold Stars: Reimagining Ambition and the Ways We Strive.
The Star Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California is where older Chinese immigrants learn to cha-cha and line dance.
But on Saturday night, the dancing and Lunar New Year celebrations came to an abrupt and violent halt. We speak with Angie Chung, Professor of Sociology at the University at Albany.
The Takeaway listeners and producers got the chance to get their student loans questions answered by student loan expert Betsy Moyette while the limbo over Biden's forgiveness plan continues.
When Congress passed the The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in 1990, it was seen as a "landmark" human rights legislation. The act was supposed to help return the human remains and funerary objects collected from Native American burial sites that were looted and taken to museums, universities and agencies during the United State’s bloody westward expansion throughout the 1800s.
An investigative series from ProPublica is looking at the various failures of NAGPRA to return ancestral remains to Native American tribes throughout the US. While some remains have been repatriated, ProPublica found that more than 110,000 Native American, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Natives’ ancestors are still held by museums, universities and federal agencies.
We spoke with Mary Hudetz, reporter at ProPublica focusing on tribal issues throughout the Southwest.
We’ve just passed the two year anniversary of the inauguration of President Joe Biden. So how are the American people grading him, halfway through? It’s time for a look back at the accomplishments and setbacks of those first two years — and to consider what they mean for a potential Biden-2024 run.
We speak with Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.
On January 3rd, Kenan Anderson returned to the familiarity of L-A for what was supposed to be a short visit. He’d recently set out to embark on a new professional career: that of educator as a high school English teacher in Washington, D-C.
Kenan hoped to collect a few belongings left behind in the city after the move to his new home. Instead, the man remembered by his uncle for his fearlessness in the face of challenge and adversity, was killed by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department. As tasers remain ubiquitous in police departments across the nation, and officers continue to kill using the weapon, we’re left to wonder if they’re truly “less lethal”.
Alex Vitale, Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College, author of City of Disorder: How the Quality of Life Campaign Transformed New York Politics and The End of Policing joins for more.
How has entertainment television in the U.S. reckoned with the reversal of Roe vs. Wade? A report from Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) at the University of California—San Fransisco found that for the first time in a decade, at least one third of shows in 2022 actually depicted barriers to abortion access. While it's progress, it's still a far cry from reality — for most of the past decade, the majority of women of reproductive age have lived in states that are hostile to abortion rights.
We discuss why it’s important to accurately portray all facets of abortion decisions in popular media, with ANSIRH research analyst Steph Herold.
The North Carolina General Assembly convened last week for the start of its new legislative session. Republicans sit on the cusp of a supermajority that would give them the power to override any veto handed down from the Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. And they’ve got their eyes set on abortion. Some of that support could come from the Democratic side of the house.
In 2019 and 2021 two abortion restriction bills were vetoed by the Governor, but not before receiving support from members of the Democratic caucus. Members Republicans once more hope will provide support for future abortion restriction bills. Pew Research shows North Carolinians, are almost evenly split on their views regarding abortion – 49 percent believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 45 percent believe the opposite – the state’s status as a safe haven for abortion could be in jeopardy.
We’re beginning our “23 Mayors in 2023” series and heading to Louisville, Kentucky!
Mayor Craig Greenberg was elected in November, and just took office after a campaign in which he survived a politically motivated shooting at his campaign office.
His background is as a lawyer and an entrepreneur who co-founded a luxury hotel chain and served as its CEO for a number of years. And while he’s a relative newcomer in the political arena, he’s no stranger to a good skirmish. He also is a majority owner of Ohio Valley Wrestling, a professional wrestling organization.
He enters his new role as mayor of a city which has deep mistrust of its police force, stemming from Breonna Taylor’s killing, and stretching further into the past.
We speak with Mayor Craig Greenberg about how he plans to address gun violence and policing, and hear about some of his hopes and dreams for Louisville, Kentucky.
This week, we’re taking a look back at the historic rainfall that inundated California and checking in on recovery efforts. We’re also looking at a new water management crisis in rural Arizona and getting the latest updates on the worldwide medical shortages.
On Wednesday morning a helicopter crashed into a kindergarten and killed at least 14 people in a suburb outside of Kyiv. Among the dead were Ukraine's Interior Minister and two other officials. Authorities have not determined the cause of the crash, but after a year of witnessing Russian missiles the Ukrainian people are left scarred and scared of what could be.
We spoke with Joshua Yaffa, a contributor to The New Yorker and author of Between Two Fires: Truth, Ambition, and Compromise in Putin’s Russia.
Lawmakers in the 118th Congress now face a clash in the House of Representatives that could bring the American economy to the brink of crisis — the fight over raising the debt ceiling.
In a letter sent to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the United States government will reach its debt limit of about $31.4 trillion, today — on Thursday Jan 19… after that, the Treasury Department will have to start taking QUOTE: “extraordinary measures” to prevent the United States from defaulting, but those measures will be exhausted by early June.
House Republicans are using their new majority and the threat of the debt default to leverage the Biden Administration and Democrats to make deep spending cuts, but Democrats have said they refuse to negotiate when it comes to raising the debt ceiling.
The debt ceiling is the government’s borrowing limit to pay for the nation’s existing bills. And if the debt ceiling isn’t raised, and the country defaults on payments, experts warn that it would be globally catastrophic.
For more on this we talk with Jeff Stein, White House economics reporter for the Washington Post.
In December, the index for eggs rose 11.1 percent, meaning there was some serious “egg-flation.” Eggs saw the highest month-over-month inflation of any expenditure category, so why are the prices of eggs going up?
Chickens. The egg, bird, and the food have played multiple roles in the lives of African American women. Chickens have provided food and a source of income for many Black families, and helped women define and exert themselves in a hostile and racist society.
The chicken and the egg have a long legacy and history in America that might "BEAK" your interest.
We speak with Thérèse Nelson, chef and founder of Black Culinary History.
Kenny Torrella, staff writer at Vox and author of the newsletter Meat/Less, tells us it's more than just supply chain issues– chickens are finding themselves in a tough and "PECK-uliar" circumstance.
And we hear from Beth Hoffman, journalist, farmer, and author of Bet the Farm: The Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America.
In Atlanta, Georgia, community activists remain locked in a nearly 2-year struggle against the development of a massive police training center in a forest just outside the city, dubbed "cop city."
Only weeks after George Floyd’s murder in 2020 and the 2020 police killing of Rayshard Brooks, calls to "demilitarize" and "defund the police" amassed all over the country. It was difficult for Atlanta, as it was for many cities across the country. The city’s 14 percent increase in homicides was accompanied by several, tragic, high-profile murders just as the voters were facing a choice of who would serve as the next mayor. The race and runoff were dominated by these public perceptions of crime and questions about how candidates would respond became central.
In September 2021, the Atlanta City Council approved plans to grant a ground lease to the Atlanta Police Foundation for a $90 million dollar police training facility to be built on 85 acres of land near Southeast Atlanta, located in a lower-income, predominantly Black area not represented on Atlanta's City Council. A local firm conducted a survey of residents near the proposed site and found 98% of respondents opposed the project. The approval was also granted despite strong opposition from community groups who oppose this substantial allocation of public resources to Atlanta police.
Additionally, the land slated for development has a fraught history, having formerly served as the Old Atlanta Prison Farm where inmates were subjected to abusive, "slave-like" conditions. Digital producer Zachary Bynum reports from Atlanta, talking with activists, organizers, and elected officials from the city to determine what this all means about race, land stewardship, and power in the struggle for the future of Atlanta's South River Forest.
Editor's note: We reached out to the Atlanta Police Foundation for comment and we have not yet received a response. If we do, we will post it on thetakeaway.org.
The Big Payback is a new documentary film that chronicles the efforts for reparations on both the national level with H.R. 40 through Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and on the local level in Evanston, Illinois by following the work of Alderman Ruth Rue Simmons.
Co-Directors Erika Alexander and Whitney Dow talk about their film which makes its television premiere on PBS’ Independent Lens on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Negro spirituals and Freedom songs carry within them expressions of joy, pain and the realities of living as a Black person in the United States. These songs provided the sonic background of the Civil Rights Movement.
Today, a new sound provides the sonic background in the ongoing movement for Black liberation and agency: Trap music. Trap music traces its roots to the heart of the Black American south. It’s part of the continuing evolution of Hip-Hop in America with lyrics that paint a picture of surviving a system that entraps while pursuing the “American Dream”.
We discuss music as a form of Black expression from the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement to Trap music’s existence as a route to self-determination and the path it carves on the journey of Black liberation.
The new federally mandated mental health assistance and suicide prevention hotline, 9-8-8, launched in July.
Since July, according to data from SAMHSA, calls and texts to the lifeline have risen significantly before the adoption of 9-8-8. But questions still remain whether state and local authorities have the infrastructure to provide services for this great demand.
We hear from Dan Gorenstein, executive producer and host of the podcast Tradeoffs, who provides updates on how things are going with 9-8-8 thus far.
Many women who encounter domestic abuse and are caught up in our criminal legal system are punished both for fighting back and when they don't.
“Criminalized survival” refers to this highly gendered and racialized phenomenon, and we see it in stories of self-defense, like Tracy McCarter and Pieper Lewis. Criminalized survival is also, in many states, essentially codified into law with “failure to protect” laws that punish parents who allegedly did not protect their children from abuse they were aware was occuring. In Oklahoma, where this practice is especially prevalent, 90 percent of people charged with the crime are women.
We speak with one of them, who was sentenced to serve 30 years in prison while her abuser got a lesser sentence.
We’re also joined by Dr. Alisa Bierria, Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles and a co-founder of Survived & Punished, to unpack the larger cultural mindset of misogyny and misogynoir that makes women responsible for other people’s actions, but also punishes them if they are not deemed “good victims.”
It’s been more than 3 weeks since the Taliban government in Afghanistan announced that women were banned from attending colleges and universities. It’s yet another gut-wrenching — but not unexpected — reversal of the regime’s initial promises to respect women’s rights. The college ban effectively means that the highest level of education most Afghan girls will now be able to receive is 6th grade.
We speak with Shabana Basij-Rasikh, co-founder and president of the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA), a girls’ boarding school, about Afghan women and girls' determination to continue their educations. SOLA is now based in Rwanda, having moved after the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
When Derek Lowen was 14, he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and underwent surgery to remove a tumor the size of a baseball from his brain. He soon discovered that he was one of many Tartan High School students in Oakdale, Minnesota, to be suffering from cancer. In the 18 years since, Derek and the rest of the Twin Cities East Metro community have been left to wonder how much a local manufacturing plant has to do with it.
Manufacturing giant 3M dumped industrial waste in the area surrounding its Cottage Grove, MN plant for decades — some of which contained PFAs, so-called "forever chemicals" that have been linked to adverse health effects including decreased fertility, decreased immunity, and certain cancers. The state settled a lawsuit against 3M in 2018 without establishing a definitive link between stories like Derek's and the plant. But recently, more states have followed MN's lead, suing companies alleged to be responsible for PFAs contamination. In December 2022, 3M announced it would end the production and use of PFAs by the end of 2025.
We speak with Chloe Johnson, environmental reporter at the Star Tribune, about the scope of PFAs pollution and the lingering impacts on Minnesota residents.
For more accounts from residents, read the Minnesota Reformer's story, "There Must Be Something in the Water."
3M responded to The Takeaway's request for comments with the following statement:
"Information about 3M’s decision to end PFAS manufacturing is available in our Dec. 20 news release and can be found here. As noted in the release: “We plan to put our innovation to work toward a future less reliant upon PFAS. We said we would stop PFAS production and work to remove PFAS from our products by the end of 2025. Our decision is based on careful consideration and a thorough evaluation of the evolving external landscape, including multiple factors such as accelerating regulatory trends focused on reducing or eliminating the presence of PFAS in the environment and changing stakeholder expectations. This is a moment that demands the kind of innovation 3M is known for. While PFAS can be safely made and used, we also see an opportunity to lead in a rapidly evolving external regulatory and business landscape to make the greatest impact for those we serve.” It is incorrect to characterize our work solely “as a result of publicity and/or lawsuits”. 3M announced our proactive investment in technologies to achieve our corporate environmental goals in February 2021, which includes efforts to reduce the amount of water used overall in our operations. We have installed state of the art technology at all of our PFAS manufacturing sites and are committed to remediating PFAS where we are responsible. On remediation and litigation: 3M will continue to remediate PFAS and address litigation by defending ourselves in court or through negotiated resolutions, all as appropriate. 3M acted responsibly in connection with products containing PFAS and will vigorously defend its record of environmental stewardship. On health science: 3M is committed to sharing our knowledge about health science to help people better understand this important topic. For more information on research and clinical studies related to fluorochemistries, especially PFOS and PFOA, please click here."
We’ve been covering Jackson, Mississippi’s water crisis since August when flooding overwhelmed the city’s main water treatment plant, and left residents with weeks of water shortages.
Over the Christmas weekend, a cold front that hit the south, freezing and bursting pipes in Jackson, already troubled water system. Thousands of residents woke up to a boil water notice and low water pressure on Christmas day, because of widespread leaks in broken water lines.
Last week, when students in Jackson’s school district were set to return after the winter break, the district was forced to to move to virtual learning for two days because of continued low water pressure across the city.
Although the citywide boil water notice was lifted over the weekend, the city still faces an uphill battle with its crumbling water system, but they are getting some outside help.
In November, the City of Jackson and the Mississippi Department of Health agreed to federal oversight of the water system by a third party administrator appointed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The city is also set to receive almost $800 million in federal funding to help fix its water.We talk more about Jackson's water issues with Lacey Alexander, a reporter at Mississippi Public Broadcasting in Jackson.
The Golden Globes have made a comeback last night after years full of scandals large enough to have its own feature film; bribery, conflicts of interest, and racism.
Now, after working to correct past transgressions and with a new set of policies in place, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association plans to hand out awards beginning with a lavish party hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael.
We speak with film critic, Rafer Guzman.
411, the number that embedded itself into our vocabulary as a synonym for “information” is going the way of the dinosaur. AT&T announced the end of the service this month for their landline customers.
It’s a move that impacts three million subscribers. We’re talking about the history of 411, what it means to say goodbye to the service and who’s impacted by its end.
We get the 411 from Associate Professor of Communication at the University of New Hampshire, Josh Lauer.
Margaret Cho began her comedy career 40 years ago.
Now, after groundbreaking TV shows, Off-Broadway debuts, sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall, Grammy nominations, Films, and Reality TV shows– just to name a few– the outspoken Comedian is celebrating 40 years with a comedy tour: Margaret Cho is Live & Livid.
On Sunday, thousands of supporters of Brazil’s far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro attacked the nation’s highest seats of power in the capital Brasília, just a week after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was inaugurated on Jan. 1. They were protesting what they falsely claim was a stolen election. Pro-Bolsonaro protesters stormed Brazil’s Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential palace in striking similarities to the U.S.'s Jan 6. Insurrection.
We speak to Mac Margolis, contributing columnist focusing on Brazilian and Latin American politics for The Washington Post Global Opinions, and author of Last New World: The Conquest of the Amazon Frontier, and Yascha Mounk, professor of international affairs at Johns Hopkins University, and author of The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure.
"Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng" is a podcast that features intimate conversations with men and women who have spent years in prison for crimes they did not commit.
Some have been fully exonerated and reunited with family and friends while others continue to languish in prison with some even facing execution on death row.
MHP talks with Maggie about wrongful convictions.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party instituted some of the most restrictive COVID policies in the world. Their “Zero COVID” strategy meant massive lockdowns and quarantines, mass testing, and hastily constructed quarantine hospitals to isolate the sick.
Then, in a stunning reversal in early December, the Chinese Government announced a rollback of the "Zero COVID" policy.
But the government's lack of a properly planned reopening is leading to chaos. Cases have surged. Leaked notes from a Chinese health official estimates that 250-million people—or 18-percent of the population—may have been infected with COVID in the first 20 days of December. And the effects of the Zero COVID policy and global inflation have put the country’s economy in a tailspin.
We speak with Keith Bradsher, Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times, about the latest in China.
To read the full transcript, see above.
Last week, marked the 100-year anniversary of the race riots of 1923 in Rosewood, FL.
After a white woman accused a Black man of assaulting her, a white mob destroyed the town and displaced hundreds of Black middle- and working-class families. This rural town was one of several Black communities in the US that suffered racial violence and destruction, and the violence resulted in the loss of economic opportunity and inequality for generations of people of color.
The massacre was dramatized in the 1997 film “Rosewood” by director John Singleton. Direct descendants of the families who once lived in Rosewood led the fight for reparations in the 1990s and are continuing to fight to reclaim their families' legacies.
In St. Paul, Minnesota (the same state where George Floyd was killed by police) the fight for reparations to address systemic racism is happening as well.
The state of Minnesota has the third largest racial wealth gap in the nation, and the state’s income gap is the 5th largest. When it comes to health disparities, Black and Indigenous babies in Minnesota die at a rate twice that of White babies. According to the 2021 State of Black Minnesota Report, Black residents lived 7 years less than white residents.
In response, the city of St. Paul moved forward with its plan to address systemic inequities and racism against Black residents through the formation of a permanent 11-member reparations commission. The group will work to advise the city council on measures to address systemic racism faced by Black residents in the city.
Trahern Crews, a social justice advocate who was a Co-Convenor of the St. Paul Recovery Act Legislative Advisory Committee, and Councilmember Jane Prince, St. Paul City Council member for Ward 7, join us to discuss this new commission and why reparations are still necessary today.
More than 10,000 nurses at five hospital facilities across New York City are on strike today. They're protesting staffing shortages and demanding wage increases and better working conditions as they head into the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, hospitals have scaled back services, canceled some elective surgeries, and are diverting the majority of ambulances to other hospitals.
We speak with Nancy Hagans, President of the New York State Nurses Association and a frontline nurse at Maimonides Medical Center, about the strike and working conditions.
Earlier this week, Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives backed Democratic State Representative Mark Rozzi as their candidate of choice for Pennsylvania House Speaker.
The move shocked many analysts across the state, given that Pennsylvania Republicans had a slight numeric advantage going into this deliberation. Gillian McGoldrick, Harrisburg Reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, joins us to discuss this surprising bi-partisan collaboration.
Our host Melissa Harris-Perry played a little game for this first edition of our NEW "X-Why-Z" series where she- an honorary Gen X-er- gets schooled by Gen-Z.
Today's X-Why-Z? Three Megs and a Trend. Digital Producer Zachary Bynum sits down with Melissa and they put a spin on 2 truths and a lie in order to discuss what’s hot, what’s not, and big news.
It’s a fun segment to end the first week of the 2023. Enjoy!
As the two-year anniversary of the January 6th insurrection approaches, the new graphic novel 1/6 explores a dystopian alternate history: What if the insurrectionists had been successful and violently overturned the election?
We speak with co-author Alan Jenkins, professor of practice at Harvard Law School and co-author of the graphic novel 1/6,about the premise, inspiration, and characters in this alternative historical fiction graphic novel.
It’s been two years since the January 6th, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former president Trump who were attempting to stop the election certification process of Joe Biden’s presidency. Since then, over 900 participants in the mob have been charged with various crimes for their actions that day. The majority have received months of jail time or probation, though a number have caught more severe charges and sentences for offenses such as attacking police officers, obstructing Congress, and seditious conspiracy.
The investigation has become the biggest criminal inquiry in the history of the Department of Justice, and federal investigators have signaled they’re in it for the long haul.
We’re joined by Alan Feuer, criminal justice reporter covering far-right extremism and political violence at the New York Times.
As of Thursday morning, there is still no speaker of the House. This is the third day of the House of Representatives’ new two-year session, and so far, it is in a state of limbo. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California failed to secure his bid for House speaker on six separate ballots, which prevents House members from being sworn in or working on any legislative business.
In the 2022 midterms, Republicans’ won such a slim majority in the House, that choosing a speaker requires near consensus among the party’s members. But the nearly unprecedented chaos that has ensued this week suggests that there may not be a single Republican party. Instead, the GOP just might be the big tent gathering spot for several loosely affiliated coalitions. A majority of the 20 conservative defectors who are holding the House hostage are part of the House’s right-wing Freedom Caucus.
For more we spoke with Nicole Hemmer, political historian at Vanderbilt University and author of "Partisans: The Conservative Revolutionaries Who Remade American Politics in the 1990s."
The documentary Wildcat follows a pair of conservationists attempting to teach an orphaned ocelot how to adapt to the wild and live on its own.
We speak with one of the film's stars, Harry Turner, an ex-British solider who originally went to the Amazon to rehabilitate from combat. We talk about the documentary and Harry’s experience in the Amazon.
The year just started, but there are already so many “most-anticipated” releases across all of popular culture. If you're feeling overwhelmed about what to watch and listen to, don't worry. The Takeaway has you covered.
We sit down with two pop culture experts to parse through the movies, music, and tv shows that have to be on your radar this year. Hunter Harris, writer of the Hung Up newsletter, and Larisha Paul, staff writer at Rolling Stone, join us to walk you through 2023's most exciting pop culture releases.
Two Ethiopians recently filed a lawsuit against Meta, Facebook's parent company, alleging that the company not only allowed hate speech to spread online during the country's recent civil war — it prioritized hate speech. Facebook’s content moderation practices have been under scrutiny for years, particularly after whistleblower Frances Haugen revealed internal documents that showed Facebook was well aware that its practices for finding and removing hate speech in a number of countries — including Ethiopia — were severely lacking. Will the recent peace deal also mean a reckoning for the social media giant?
We speak with Berhan Taye, a Practitioner Fellow at the Digital Civil Society Lab of Stanford University, researching digital rights and social justice. She's based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Meta answered The Takeaway's request for comment with the following statement:
"We have strict rules which outline what is and isn’t allowed on Facebook and Instagram. Hate speech and incitement to violence are against these rules and we invest heavily in teams and technology to help us find and remove this content. Our safety and integrity work in Ethiopia is guided by feedback from local civil society organizations and international institutions. We employ staff with local knowledge and expertise and continue to develop our capabilities to catch violating content in the most widely spoken languages in the country, including Amharic, Oromo, Somali and Tigrinya."
Earlier this week, Damar Hamlin, safety for the Buffalo Bills, collapsed following what appeared to be a routine tackle during a high-stakes football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He received medical treatment on the field for nearly 10 minutes before being rushed to the local hospital. It took the NFL over an hour to suspend the game as coaches and members of both teams refused to play on.
We speak with Nathan Kalman-Lamb, assistant professor of sociology at the University of New Brunswick in Canada, author of Game Misconduct: Injury, Fandom, and the Business of Sport, and co-host of The End of Sport Podcast about the capitalistic underpinnings of violent sports, the role of spectators in the "commodity spectacle" of sports, and the social coercion that pushes athletes to put their bodies, and lives, on the line in the name of entertainment.
The CDC reports “25-percent of U-S adults” serve as caregivers to those who need support and assistance. Caregivers need support, too. Without a network of support, they face burnout and high levels of stress.
We talk with Karen Warner Schueler, author of The Sudden Caregiver about what it means to be a caregiver, and how those who support others can find the support they need for themselves.
The 118th U.S. Congress convenes today as one of the most diverse and the youngest in recent congressional history. House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries follows in the footsteps of Nancy Pelosi, and Senator Kevin McCarthy battles for votes to become House Majority leader.
We discuss legislative opportunities for the new Congress and take a closer look at incoming freshmen members with national political reporter Eugene Scott of the Washington Post.
In the new book Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past, a group of historians takes on how the myths and lies of our past affect our present and possibly our future.
Co-Editors and Princeton Professors of History Julian Zelizer and Kevin Kruse join us to discuss this new book
The health of the economy is important, or so we’ve been told. The economy is measured by GDP, Gross Domestic Product, which only measures the value of goods and services produced.
And surprisingly, there is no scope for the positive or negative effects on real people's lives.
To talk more about this we speak with Dirk Philipsen, Associate Research Professor of economic history at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, and a Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute for Ethics.
In this last installment of The Takeaway Holiday Book Club we speak with Sarah Thankam (Thun-gum) Matthews about her debut novel, All This Could Be Different.
You may know Jesse Williams from his years starring as the self-proclaimed pretty-boy otolaryngologist Jackson Avery on Shonda Rhimes' hit medical drama Grey's Anatomy. Or maybe you know him from his extensive catalog of television roles, like on Little Fires Everywhere or Power. You might also know him as a fierce advocate against police brutality. But you've never seen him like this.
Williams has taken the stage as Darren Lemming in the Broadway revival of TAKE ME OUT, a play by Richard Greenberg. In the play, Lemming is a biracial baseball player whose life becomes infinitely more complicated after he decides to come out to the world as gay.
Williams is now on his second run of the show, currently staged at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre until February 5th. He joins The Takeaway to talk about some of our favorite words that start with a B: Broadway, bravery and baseball.
The "tripledemic" is surging, there’s a medicine shortage, China has ended its “zero COVID” policy, and public health institutions are under attack from activists and policy makers.
We speak with Gregg Gonsalves, The Nation’s public health correspondent, co-director of the Global Health Justice Partnership, and associate professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health about what it all means for our ability to act now, and in future public health crises.
The death of beloved dancer and host Stephen “Twitch” Boss took many by surprise. It once again thrusts the always present yet rarely covered reality of suicide by Black and Brown people back into the mainstream.
We discuss suicidality within Black and Brown communities, the disparities that exist and the help that’s available. Michael Lindsey, Dean and Paulette Goddard Professor of Social Work, NYU School of Social Work and Kiara Alvarez, Bloomberg Assistant professor of American Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health join us to discuss.
Americans love trains, and so doesThe Takeaway! So we’re telling the stories of how trains built America. Today, we go inside the trains and explore the experiences of passengers riding the rails in the 20th and 21st centuries.
We hear how trains were sites of civil rights struggles long before the 1960s, with Miriam Thaggert, associate professor of English at the University at Buffalo and author of "Riding Jane Crow: African American Women on the American Railroad."
And we speak with Jarred Johnson, executive director of Transit Matters in Boston, about how the struggle to ensure that trains are engines of freedom forall Americans continues to the present day throughout the country's public transit systems.
Check out the first episode in this mini-series, "How How Trains Built America's Labor Movement."
By some measures, 2022 was the year in labor organizing. Workers at Starbucks and Amazon secured historic victories. Our Takeaway Book Club selection for Tuesday is "Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor." We talk with the author, Kim Kelly, labor columnist for Teen Vogue.
We also take a look at the 2022 words of the year. Merriam Webster’s word of the year for 2022 is “gaslighting.” Oxford’s is “goblin mode.” We take a look at these words of the year and hear from Team Takeaway on their selections for word of 2022.
Where does the Republican Party go from here? Yesterday, a bipartisan January 6th House Committee elected to refer criminal charges for the de facto leader of the Republican Party, former President Donald Trump. Last month, President Trump’s handpicked Midterm candidates largely disappointed, calling into question whether or not Trumpism will continue to drive the Republican Party forward. Meanwhile, Kevin McCarthy is faces mounting pressure from a far right faction of the party, finding himself in a political battle in a bid to regain the Speaker of the House role in the next Congress.
We speak with Nicole Hemmer, political historian at Vanderbilt University and author of Partisans: The Conservative Revolutionaries Who Remade American Politics in the 1990s.
Last Friday, Attorney General Merrick Garland instructed federal prosecutors to end sentencing disparities for offenders convicted of crack and powder cocaine crimes. This comes after the decades long War on Drugs has left countless Black and Brown people with higher conviction rates because of the previous policy. We discuss this move by Garland and what else needs to be done with Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change.
On Monday, the January 6th committee referred former president Donald Trump to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution on four charges including: inciting an insurrection, conspiracy to defraud the United States and the obstruction of an act of Congress.
We speak with Hunter Walker, investigative reporter with Talking Points Memo and co-author of "The Breach: The Untold Story of the Investigation into January 6th," about the referrals and the likelihood of actual charges.
It’s that time of year and we’re here to spread the reading joy through this year’s Takeaway Holiday Book Club.
Our Monday selection is “Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family,” by Erika Hayasaki.
In November, anti-abortion activists filed a lawsuit asking a federal court in Texas to revoke the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, one of the drugs used in medication abortion.
We talk with Susan Rinkunas, senior reporter for Jezebel, about what this could mean for abortion access around the country.
After a recent series of convictions against police officers who killed unarmed Black Americans, including the officer who killed Atatiana Jefferson, questions still linger about what police accountability actually looks like.
While convictions can bring a sense of resolution, they don’t transform the cultures of police forces.
We’re joined by Andrea Ritchie, a co-founder of Interrupting Criminalization and co-author of No More Police: A Case for Abolition with Mariame Kaba, to better understand this sometimes-nebulous idea of police accountability.
Americans love trains, and so does The Takeaway! So we’re telling the story of the people who work on the rails and make sure all our precious cargo gets to us on time. As crucial as these workers are to every facet of the American economy, they’re currently facing grueling working conditions and paltry benefits. After negotiations broke down between rail worker unions and companies this past month over paid sick leave benefits, Congress moved to prevent rail workers from striking. But that basic right to strike was won by early labor organizers at the cost of many lives.
We’re looking at this current labor dispute and the epic battles on the rail that shaped the labor movement, with Jeff Schuhrke, assistant professor at the Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor Studies at SUNY Empire State.
Then, we learn about the workers who were leftout of that early labor movement, with Manu Karuka, assistant professor of American studies at Barnard College, and author of "Empire's Tracks: Indigenous Nations, Chinese Workers, and the Transcontinental Railroad."
And we hear about how some of these rail workers later built their own engines of power and became vital drivers of the movement for civil rights, from Bob Lettenberger, associate editor of Trains Magazine.
How did fentanyl, created to be a painkiller, become the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-49?
We talk with former assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri Hobson who prosecuted fentanyl cases in San Diego about the warnings she and others put out about this dangerous drug, that weren’t heeded by lawmakers on both the state and national levels.
It's been more than a year since the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. He was killed in his home where he was with his wife and their two children. Records show that he made several phone calls to top security officials while a squad of former Colombian soldiers ran through the house firing their guns. Outside neighbors heard two men with American accents through a megaphone saying: “This is a operation. DEA.” And at 1:46 am Moïse made one last call asking to save his life… The call dropped. He was then held at gunpoint and shot point blank.
Only five weeks later a 7 point 2 magnitude earthquake killed more than two thousand people and at least nineteen thousand Haitians have been displaced. Amidst the violence and political chaos, is a deadly cholera outbreak and a worsening famine.
We hear from Jacqueline Charles, a Caribbean correspondent for The Miami Herald, about the turmoil in Haiti.
The Puerto Rican Status Act is finally coming to a vote in the House of Representatives. If passed, this bill would create a process for Puerto Rican residents to vote on whether the territory should move forward with independence, full U.S. statehood or sovereignty with free association with the United States. While this bill still has multiple hurdles to cross, which includes passing both chambers of Congress and receiving a signature from President Joe Biden by the end of this congressional session, it is raising real questions about what the pathway forward for Puerto Rico is.
We sit down with Alana Casanova-Burgess, host of the La Brega podcast, to understand what these moves could mean for Puerto Rico.
On Monday, a young man named Majidreza Rahnavard was executed by the Iranian government. He is the second protester officially convicted and executed since the anti-regime protests began in September, over the death of Masah Amini while in the custody of Iran's morality police. Nearly 500 other protesters have also been killed by police and security forces during the protests.
We hear from Hadi Ghaemi, Executive Director for the Center for Human Rights in Iran, about the escalating situation and the continuing determination of the protesters.
Do you think your child has what it takes to figure out the biggest fib?
Deborah Goldstein, executive producer, head writer and host of The Big Fib Podcast joins us to talk about the show and give us some tips on how to win.
Inflation metrics this week came in lower than expected, a sign that inflation could be slowing down. Yesterday, President Biden delivered remarks touting his economic policies as effective in stemming the tide of inflation, and he shared an optimistic outlook on the overall strength of the economy going into 2023. However, the reality on the ground suggests that Americans are struggling, with indicators showing that Americans are saving less, and showing that Americans have had to substantially dip into their savings over the past two years.
We speak with Heather Long, economics correspondent for the Washington Post, about the health of the economy, and the economic outlook for 2023.
Even in her first term, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema has been unusually influential over the Democratic party's agenda — often by simply saying "no." But with her recent announcement that she is changing her party affiliation from Democrat to Independent, the balance of power within the Democratic party is shifting. What effects will her departure from the party have on the 118th Congress and President Biden’s agenda next year? We also check back in on what progress can be made before the end of the lame duck session on "last chance" bills for Democrats.
We're joined by Natalie Jennings, the Senior Politics editor at Vox, and Sophia Cai, Congressional reporter at Axios.
Last year, in response to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s ethical lapses and lack of diversity, the Golden Globes essentially got #canceled. After the HFPA committed to reforms, NBC will again air the Globes on January 10th, 2023. Comedian Jerrod Carmichael will host. Yesterday, the nominees for 2023 were announced.
We speak with Stephanie Holland, staff writer for The Root, about the nominees and the big storylines.
Leila Philip joins us on The Takeaway to discuss her new book, "Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America." It traces the beaver’s profound influence on America’s early economy, western expansion and natural landscape, and delves into what we can learn from beavers to tackle the greatest existential threat of our time – climate change.Leila Philip is professor of English and Environmental Studies at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts.
Half of Americans die in Hospice. And a new ProPublica investigation with The New Yorker shows how relaxed regulations have allowed the hospice industry to become rife with fraud and exploitation.
We speak to the investigating reporter, Ava Kofman.
As the 117th Congress comes to an end in the next couple of weeks, we are once again facing a looming government shutdown. Congress has until midnight on Friday to reach a deal to avoid a partial government closure.
This comes as Democrats and Republicans debate over a $1.5 trillion dollar omnibus bill that would fund the government through the end of September 2023.
Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asked for members to be prepared to pass a short-term continuing resolution that would give Congress an extra week to hash out the funding bill before the holidays.
But this isn’t the first time we’ve faced a potential government shutdown this year. On September 30th, Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown by 12 hours, by passing a stopgap measure that kicked the shutdown can down the road to where we are today. And if it feels like the threat of a looming shutdown happens on an annual basis, that’s because it does. Just last December, Congress punted their spending deadline into the new year, and didn’t pass a government funding bill until March of THIS year. The government has shut down 21 times since 1976.
And while it might seem like shutting things down saves a little money – it turns out that turning off the federal government is expensive! The 35 day shutdown during the Trump administration was the longest in history and according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) it reduced Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by a total of $11 billion dollars. A Senate report estimated the last three shutdowns cost taxpayers about $4 billion.
We speak more about the looming government shutdown with Roben Farzad, host of Full Disclosure on NPR’s member station station Virginia Public Radio.
With the "tripledemic" surging—that is flu, RSV, and COVID-19—parts of the country are also seeing a medicine shortage. Last week, the CDC addressed the surge in illness across the country, and acknowledged some medicine shortages in some parts of the country.
Moore County, N.C.-- On Saturday, December 3rd, a shooting attack was carried out on two power substations located in Moore County, NC. Residents were without power for nearly 5 days. This power grid attack happened about 3 weeks after a gunman entered Club Q in Colorado Springs and killed 5 people while injuring over 20 others and during a time when white supremacist protests of drag events have popped up in places like Boston and Ohio.
According to CNN, the power outage caused by the attack had real harm on Moore County's community. Residents in nursing homes who rely on electrical medical equipment were forced to go without electricity, some falling ill because of the lack of power. Homes lacked heat as the temperature dipped. One person was even found dead; details of their death have yet to be confirmed by investigators.
While the motivation behind the attacks is still under investigation, the same day Moore County lost power from the attack, a group of permitted protesters and counter protesters gathered outside of the Southern Theatre in Southern Pines to protest The Downtown Divas Drag Show that Naomi Dix was headlining.
The drag show was a fundraiser for Sandhills Pride, a local nonprofit supporting the LGBTQ+ community and was headlined by Durham-based drag artist and House of Cox (H.O.C.) house member Naomi Dix. Naomi tells us her story of the events that night and Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD, joins to give some context around the alarming rate of violent backlash to drag performances and drag artists we've been seeing all over the country.
The Pantone color of the year is Viva magenta. The color of the future– or at least that’s what the color forecasting company says. Every year Pantone releases colors that are a cultural statement about the year to come and our aspirations.
We speak with Professor Reggie Blaszczyk about the newest color of the year and her book, The Color Revolution. A revolution not just about color, but commerce and consumption in 20th-century America.
On Thursday, Brittney Griner was released from Russian custody. The WNBA star had been sentenced in August to serve nine years in a penal colony, after being convicted for having trace amounts of CBD oil in her luggage.
In order to bring her home, the U.S. agreed to release Viktor Bout, a Russian weapons dealer who has served 11 years of a 25 year sentence in the U.S. for illegal arms trading.
We speak with Amira Rose Davis, Assistant Professor of Black Studies at the University of Texas—Austin and co-host of Burn It All Down, a feminist sports podcast; and Jemele Hill, author of "Uphill: A Memoir" and contributing writer for The Atlantic.
Staff writer Derek Thompson will unveil the Atlantic’s inaugural list of 10 Breakthroughs of the Year, which span from developments in generative artificial intelligence to the revolutionary Webb Space telescope.
We talk to Derek about some of these breakthroughs and how the “abundance agenda” (the need to pursue innovation in all sectors of American life) influences technological development.
Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka will premiere her first comedy special The Intruderon HBO & HBO MAX on December 10th.
She drops in to talk to us about the comedy special, representation in comedy, and her comedy inspiration.
The Supreme Court began hearing arguments on Moore v. Harper this week, a case that involves North Carolina’s Republican led-state legislatures efforts to pass gerrymandered maps. After the 2020 Census, North Carolina’s Supreme Court threw out maps that had been drawn by the state legislature. In this case, Republican members of the North Carolina legislature are suing, arguing that the Constitution gives them sole authority to administer federal elections. The ruling will have important implications for the structure of American democracy.
We speak with Allison Riggs, co-executive director and chief counsel for voting rights for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and Ari Berman, senior reporter at Mother Jones, about the latest proceedings in the case, and the potential implications of The Supreme Court's decision.
After four more weeks of campaigning and tens of millions more advertising dollars, the last Senate seat has been decided. Incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker with just over 51% percent of the vote.
This long and hard-fought U.S. Senate race has proven to be the most expensive of the 2022 midterm cycle.
Voters had a minimum of five early voting days last week – and after a lawsuit, some counties in Georgia opened precincts for Saturday voting after Thanksgiving. This means that by Tuesday, more than 1.8 million voters in Georgia had already cast their ballots through early voting or mail-in ballots.
But for some folks there is just nothing like casting your ballot, in person, on election day.
Our Digital Producer Zachary Bynum is a Georgia voter himself, and he went out to vote yesterday in Savannah during his lunch hour, so we heard from him. Then, we dig into Georgia politics with Stephen Fowler, reporter for GPB News covering state and local politics and host of the Battleground: Ballot Box podcast.
We talk with three of Melissa Harris-Perry’s students from Wake Forest University, Cole, Haley and Emma, about their experience following SHElection! for a class assignment and the politics of gender discrimination they faced when a TikTok they created for the assignment went viral.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars in the psychological thriller series Surface as the subversive character, Sophie. Sophie is a woman without a past — as far as she remembers. The Apple TV+ series was just renewed for a second season, which will see Sophie attempt to find that past, even as she runs from it.
Mbatha-Raw is also an executive producer on the show, and she joins us to talk about filming in iconic San Fransisco locations and challenging Hollywood conventions — both on screen and behind the scenes.
Maxwell Alejandro Frost was elected in November to represent Florida’s 10th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. At 25-years-old, Frost will be the first Gen Z member of Congress.
We speak with Representative-elect Frost about learning the ropes and making relationships in Congress and why he says Democrats shouldn’t give up on Florida.
The Supreme Court heard arguments on Monday in the case of 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis. Justices will consider whether a Colorado-based web designer is obligated by the state’s law to design wedding websites for same-sex couples.
The evangelical Christian web designer is opposed to same-sex marriage on religious grounds. She is challenging the Colorado law on the basis of free speech. Lawyers for the evangelical Christian web designer contend that Colorado law violates the 1st Amendment by making her engage in speech with which she does not agree.
We speak with Kenji Yoshino, the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law and co-author of the upcoming book, Say the Right Thing: How to Talk About Identity, Diversity, and Justice.
A recent headline declared "bye bye booty, heroin chic is back," referring to a fashion look in the 1990s and 2000s that glorified women with ultra-thin figures. But the backlash to the headlines from people recalling how this trend harmed their relationships with food and their bodies, shows that plenty of people are not interested in going back. So what really makes a "trend" go in and out of fashion?
Professor Sabrina Strings says that while we may have had a few years in which having curves was considered fashionable, the thin ideal has never truly gone "out" of style. It's older than America itself — but just like America, it’s rooted in racist hierarchies.
Professor Strings is an associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine and author of "Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia."
From giant Sequoia’s only found in the California Sierra Mountains to Italy’s ancient olive trees, and New Zealand's kauri tree. Around the world, ancient trees are under threat due to climate change. These botanical giants are critical for the health of their ecosystems and hold clues to Earth’s history.
We speak with Jared Farmer, professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of “Elderflora: A Modern History of Ancient Trees” about the history and traditions of these trees and how they keep us in touch with our humanity.
More than 40,000 residents of Moore County, North Carolina are without power after an intentional attack on local power stations on Saturday evening. The county has instituted a curfew and declared a state of emergency.
Martha Quillin, Staff Writer for The News & Observer joins us to discuss the attack and how long it will be before residents get power.
Last week, President Biden signaled that he was willing and ready to engage with Vladimir Putin on peace talks. But a day later, a Kremlin spokesperson dismissed those talks as unlikely, pointing to the unwillingness by the U.S. and other allies to recognize Russia’s illegal annexation of new territories in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia continues to target Ukrainian civilian infrastructure with airstrikes, which has left millions of Ukrainians without power, heat, or running water as the cold winter months set in.
We speak with Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of international affairs at the New School in New York and the great-granddaughter of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, about where things stand in the war, and what shape peace talks could take.
Once considered to be France’s richest colony, Haiti was known as “the pearl of the Antilles," named after its beauty and natural resources.
But since the Haitian Revolution beginning in 1791, American occupation, massacres at the Dominican-Haitian border, hurricanes, dictatorships, earthquakes, the UN bringing cholera in 2010, and the COVID pandemic, just to name a few, the costs of Haitian liberation has not been cheap. Today the country is almost always cited as, “one of the world's poorest nations in the Western hemisphere.”
In October, acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry asked for military assistance from abroad to quell the gang violence and bring some stability to Haiti. But history has shown the Haitian people that assistance from abroad is not their answer.
We talk to Marlene Daut, Professor of French and African Diaspora at Yale.
Congresswoman-Elect Sydney Kamlager joins us to discuss her win for the 37th Congressional District seat in California. The seat was vacated by former Congresswoman Karen Bass who is now the first Black Woman elected to serve as the mayor of Los Angeles.
Kamlager discusses what it’s like to be a new kid on the block in Congress and her hopes and visions for her tenure in the U.S. Congress.
Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replays are out, which means the music that dominated 2022 is on everybody’s minds. From Harry Styles to Beyonce to Bad Bunny, this year was massive for pop music in particular.
We decided to take a quick look at these wrap ups with Reanna Cruz, producer for Vulture’s Switched on Pop podcast.
LGBTQ people in the US are nearly four times more likely to experience violence than their straight and cis gender counterparts.
Trans folks are particularly vulnerable – 2021 was the deadliest year for transgender and gender nonconforming people since the Human Rights Campaign began keeping count in 2013. But data tracking on violent crimes against transgender people are almost certainly an undercount. There is no central reporting database and police often misidentify victims.
Now, a new investigation from Insider has assembled the most comprehensive database of transgender homicides to date. Reporters found that over the last five years, at least 175 transgender people were killed throughout the United States.
Of those cases, only 28 resulted in murder convictions, 59 remain unsolved. And this violence disproportionately affects Black trans women.
We spoke with Diamond Stylz, an editorial consultant on this investigative project and Executive Director of Black Trans Women Inc., about the project.
In October, a young Black woman named Shanquella Robinson went on vacation in Mexico with a group of friends. She never came home. The circumstances surrounding her death were suspicious, but there was little movement on any investigation – until Black social media users helped her story go viral. Now, the FBI has opened an investigation and Mexican authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a suspect. Robinson’s mother has credited the sustained attention that "Black Twitter" and other online spaces have had on the story. And this is not the first time that Black social media users have exercised their online power to create social change offline.
We speak with Meredith Clark, associate professor of journalism and communication studies and founding director of the Center for Communication, Media Innovation and Social Change at Northeastern University. Professor Clark is involved in Archiving the Black Web and writes and researches on the power of Black digital activism.
On Tuesday, in a rare bipartisan vote, the US Senate passed the Respect for Marriage Act. But you might be wondering... I thought same-sex marriage and interracial marriage were already a thing?
Our host, Melissa Harris-Perry, speaks with Human Rights Campaign Kelley Robinson about Congress' swift action to have meaningful bi-partisan cooperation on same-sex marriage.
In February, one week before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, American Basketball star Britney Griner was arrested after Russian customs officials said they found vape cartridges that contained a small amount of cannabis oil in her luggage.
Now, the WNBA star and Olympic Gold Medalist is in one of Russia's IK-2 penal colonies, a labor camp that has been described as inhumane, where people are forced to work 16-hour days and beaten regularly. The specifics of Griner’s conditions are still unknown.
Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation and author of The Kaepernick Effect, spoke with us about why we can't forget Brittney Griner's arrest and Russia's hostage diplomacy.
Tuvalu is facing the climate crisis in a brand-new way. Their government has accepted that the island’s land mass is in a critical state due to climate change and rising sea levels and are making plans for the future.
In order to protect the cultural memory and legacy of Tuvalu, their government has announced that they will be digitizing the island in the Metaverse as a means of maintaining their sovereignty, even if the physical land of the island becomes uninhabitable.
To understand the reasons behind this move, Minister Simon Kofe, Tuvalu’s Minister for Justice, Communication & Foreign Affairs, joins The Takeaway.
A little more than a week ago a gunman entered Club Q- an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He opened fire, killing five people and injuring almost two dozen others. The shock, grief, and horror from this violence extended far beyond the city. Across the nation, local communities organized vigils of remembrance for the lives taken too soon. Hundreds gathered in distant Palm Springs to say the names of those murdered in Club Q.
For so many, the attack on Club Q recalls the brutal mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where a gunman killed 49 people and wounded more than 50 others. More than 6 years later, the shock, the confusion and loss is still almost unfathomable.
In this country, LGBTQ people are nearly four times more likely to experience violence than non-LGBTQ people. And 2021 was the deadliest year for transgender and gender nonconforming people since the Human Rights Campaign began keeping count in 2013. And then there is the legislative violence. An NPR analysis shows that over the past two years, “state lawmakers introduced at least 306 bills targeting trans people – more than in any previous period.”
But for all the grief and vulnerability, there is something else: a discernible shift in openness and a public landscape that looks and feels different in ways that are tangible.
In 1973, when an arsonist set a deadly fire set to the staircase of the Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans, 32 people who were trapped inside were killed. At the time It was the largest massacre of queer people in U.S. history. Media did not respond with outrage. The community did not respond with public vigils. No one was ever charged in the attack. Churches refused to bury the victims’ bodies. And some victim’s bodies went unclaimed by families who were too ashamed to be associated with their gay loved ones.
This time, when a gunman stormed into ClubQ, he was ultimately taken down by patrons in the club, including cis-gender male veteran Richard Fierro. Richard was enjoying a drag show with his wife, his daughter and friends. He and others put themselves in harm's way to protect those in Club Q. For decades Colorado Springs has been the unofficial seat of Christian conservatives in America; home to the influential Focus on the Family, major megachurches, and a center for evangelical Christians. These are some of the groups that have targeted the LGBTQ community with policies of exclusion. Now as the yet another queer community faces violence, it is not faced alone, as many stand in open embrace, solidarity and willingly shared vulnerability.
For more on this we spoke with Nadine Bridges, executive director of One Colorado, a Colorado-based LGBTQ advocacy organization.
For the past two weeks, 48,000 University of California graduate student employees, post-docs and researchers have been on strike. Their efforts have effectively shut down research and teaching across the 10 UC campuses. It’s the largest higher education strike in U.S. history, and it's showing no signs of slowing down.
The academic workers are negotiating what they say are necessary improvements to their contracts, including childcare benefits, expanded paid family leave, protections for international workers, and most pressingly, wage increases to lift these workers — who form the backbone of the UC's world-class research output and undergraduate education — out of poverty.
We speak with Nanette Asimov, higher education reporter at the San Fransisco Chronicle, about the strike and negotiations, and we hear from a rank-and-file union member about the solidarity on display across the 10 UC campuses.
Of the 52,000 farms in North Carolina, one farm stands out as doing more than growing produce and raising livestock. GrowingChange, a non-profit organization that converts decommissioned rural prisons into farms and education centers where local, at-risk young people learn about animal husbandry and sustainable agriculture.
Noran Sanford, Executive Director and Founder of GrowingChange, and youth leader Jaheim McRae join us to talk about the history of GrowingChange, its impact in North Carolina, and their plans for the future.
For full transcript, see above.
The foster care system is supposed to provide temporary housing and assistance to children whose families may be in a time of crisis. And while it is a system that is often overburdened and under-resourced, something more troubling seems to be happening in Minnesota where indigenous children are overrepresented in the foster system at a rate of 15 times that of their population.
Over the course of eight months, Jessica Washington, a reporter with the Fuller Project spoke with Native families, lawyers, and other experts to understand why Minnesota has the highest disproportionality of Indigenous children in the child welfare system in the country. The Takeaway speaks with Washington about her investigation. We also hear from one of Washington's sources, Teresa Nord, who is a Navajo and Hopi Indian descendant, and who has personal experience with the child welfare system in Minnesota.
For full transcript, see above.
Chef and media darling Carla Hall joins us to talk about all of her favorite foods and things for Thanksgiving.
Also, The Takeaway has you covered with recommendations from some top chefs who talk about their favorite Thanksgiving foods and share some of their go-to recipes.
We’ll hear from Chefs Samin Nosrat, author of the James Beard Award-winning book Salt, Fat Acid Heat; Pati Jinich, host of the 3x James Beard Award-winning PBS series, Pati’s Mexican Table; and the 2018 James Beard Best Chef of the Southeast, pitmaster Rodney Scott.
Butterball Talk-Line Supervisor Bill Nolan talks with us about all things Turkey from tips on cooking to avoiding common Thanksgiving Day cooking problems.
More than two years of being on the front lines of a global pandemic have stretched primary care doctors to a breaking point. The U.S. faces a looming shortage of primary care physicians over the next decade and the pandemic has exacerbated industry conditions that contribute to burnout: low pay, long hours and convoluted service structures that take time away from seeing patients.
A new Commonwealth Fund study of thousands of primary care doctors in 10 countries found that a majority of them are burned out and stressed, and many feel the pandemic has negatively impacted the quality of care they provide.
We speak with Dr. David Blumenthal, president of The Commonwealth Fund and former primary care physician, about the demands on doctors and the changes the system needs.
The experiences of Black womanhood in America are often bound up with a hyper-awareness of how one's natural hair could be perceived — and all the simultaneous trauma and joy that comes with it. A new docuseries, The Hair Tales, uses the complex world of Black hair as a portal to explore Black women’s cultural contributions, unique identities, and dynamic humanity. The six-part series is now available on-demand on OWN and streaming on Hulu.
We're joined by the show's creator and co-executive producer, and esteemed fashion writer and editor: Michaela Angela Davis.
According to the United Nations, areas managed by indigenous peoples are among the most biodiverse and well-conserved on the planet.
The Reciprocity Project is a series of 7 Indigenous-made films exploring the concept of reciprocity in Indigenous cultures, or “the way of life that centers mutual exchange and sharing amongst all beings, past, present and future, seen and unseen, and the Earth.” And through these films and Indigenous perspectives, the project aims to spark conversation and action on the climate crisis.
We speak with Kavita Pillay, a producer of the Reciprocity Project, and Brit Hensel, director of "ᎤᏕᏲᏅ," which is nominated for Best Short Documentary for the IDA Documentary Award.
Watch ᎤᏕᏲᏅ here:
Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi is an OB-GYN and prior to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. was an abortion care provider in Texas. Now there is a near total ban on abortions in Texas.
The law also targets doctors. Providing an abortion in Texas is now a felony.
We check in with Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi to see what life looks like under the restrictive abortion laws in Texas.
For full transcript, see above.
On Saturday night, a gunman entered Club Q in Colorado Springs and opened fire. Before he was subdued by patrons, he managed to kill 5 people and injured more than two dozen. That gunman is now charged with 5 counts of murder and 5 counts of bias motivated crime causing bodily injury.
Dr. Jonathan Metzl, professor of Sociology and Psychiatry and the Director of the Center for Medicine, Health and Society joins us to talk about the aftermath of the 601st mass shooting in the United States this year.
Since taking over Twitter on October 27, Elon Musk has fired top executives, reinstated former president Donald Trump's account, laid off over half of Twitter's 7500 employees, and set guidelines for a new cut-throat work culture.
The Takeaway was joined by tech journalist Alex Kantrowitz, Host of the Big Technology podcast and a contributor to CNBC, to discuss an update on Elon Musk’s twitter takeover, employee layoffs, and the future viability of the social media app.
Election deniers and far-right conspiracies have found a home on a hard to monitor, minimally-scrutinized medium: talk radio. It's largely thanks to the efforts of one company most people have probably never heard of.
On the Media’s new series, The Divided Dial, charts this company's rise, its relationship with the far-right and its role in our democracy. We speak with journalist and show host, Katie Thornton, about the show.
New episodes of The Divided Dial are available Tuesdays.
A new report from The Intercept looks at the story of Ajay Kumar, an asylum-seeker from India, who was detained in an ICE Detention center. When Kumar went on hunger strike to demand his release, a judge allowed the U.S. Government to force-feed him – and this is the first time a video of a detainee being force-fed in federal custody has been released to the public.
This is a practice that is widely condemned by medical professionals and the United Nations has said that force feeding inside ICE Detention centers could be violating the U.N. Convention Against Torture, but this is a standard practice for detainees on hunger strike in U.S. Federal facilities, and often gets little attention.
We speak to the lead journalists of the investigation: Travis Mannon, Investigative video journalist for The Intercept, and José Olivares, lead producer for The Intercept.
Watch as Kumar is force-fed in ICE detention — lifting the veil of secrecy on a practice condemned by medical ethicists.
Full transcript, will be available soon.
The world of Cryptocurrency is rocked after the news of one of the industry’s leading exchanges, FTX, and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, mishandled user funds and was unable to honor withdrawals.
Here with The Takeaway is Vicky Ge Huang, Markets reporter covering crypto and retail investing for the Wall Street Journal, to unpack the implications of Crypto’s biggest scandal to date.
Farai Chideya, creator and host of the syndicated public radio show/podcast Our Body Politic, joins us to discuss the aftermath of the 2022 Midterm elections including: wins by her fellow Baltimorean Governor-elect Wes Moore as the first Black Governor of Maryland, and Florida’s Maxwell Alejandro Frost who is just 25-years-old.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll on the Monday before the Midterms, had President Biden’s approval rating at just 39-percent. And that unpopularity had Democrats bracing for a red wave. The red wave never came though. In fact, Democrats had the best midterm performance by a President’s party in decades.
We speak with Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, and explore what President Biden's newfound momentum can mean for his agenda in the lame duck session, and into the 118th Congress. Plus, we hear how the Midterms affect his reelection prospects in 2024.
On Wednesday, Republicans won their 218th seat in the Congress, flipping control of the House of Representatives even with several races still uncalled. Then on Thursday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her plans to step down as House Speaker after leading Democrats for two decades, though she will still remain in Congress as a Representative from California.
House Republicans nominated current Minority leader Kevin McCarthy to become the new speaker, pending a vote on the House floor in January. President Joe Biden now has a clearer picture of the legislative landscape for the remaining two years of his first term. But before the 118th Congress takes its seats just after the New Year, there is still a narrow window for some legislative action by the 117th.
The remainder of 2022 — this period between an election and the installment of successors is known as a lame-duck session — and this could be the last chance for Democrats to use their majority in both chambers of Congress to pass legislation.
In fact, they’ve already started that work.
On Wednesday, the Senate voted to advance a bipartisan same-sex marriage bill, which would protect marriage equality under federal law. Congress also just passed a federal cannabis bill designed to expand medical marijuana research to be signed into law.
And lawmakers need to pass a budget to avoid a looming government shutdown by December 16th.
So what else is on the agenda for this lame-duck session? Potential immigration reform, expansion of Child Tax Credits, and more. We spoke with Dorian Warren co-president of Community Change, co-chair of the Economic Security Project, and my co-host for Takeaway Deep Dives, and Bruna Sollad, Senior communications and Political Director of United We Dream, the largest non-profit immigrant youth-led community in the country fighting for immigration reform.
Assisted reproduction clinics have seen a sharp rise in the number of Black folks seeking their services during the pandemic. But many face a barrier even before pregnancy that they weren’t even aware of: a shortage of Black sperm donors.
For many, having a Black donor is a primary concern in building families that reflect their cultures and identities. And while the best current scientific evidence indicates there’s no genetic basis for the idea of race, that doesn't mean it doesn't matter to people when they are building their families — especially when they’re using assisted reproductive technologies.
We speak with Dr. Camisha Russell, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Oregon and author of the book “The Assisted Reproduction of Race.”
We're also joined by Regina Townsend, founder of The Broken Brown Egg, an infertility support community for Black individuals and families. And, we hear from a Black man who donated sperm on what creating a Black family means to him.
Georgians have less than four weeks before their next election since neither Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock or his challenger Republican Herschel Walker earned 50% or more of the vote, which under state law forces a runoff election. On December 6th the state will once again set out to decide who will fill the Senate seat.
We take a look at the sprint to the election finish line with Stephen Fowler, a political reporter at Georgia Public Broadcasting, and host of the Battleground: Ballot Box podcast.
Georgians have less than four weeks before their next election since neither Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock or his challenger Republican Herschel Walker earned 50% or more of the vote, which under state law forces a runoff election. On December 6th the state will once again set out to decide who will fill the Senate seat.
We take a look at the sprint to the election finish line with Stephen Fowler, a political reporter at Georgia Public Broadcasting, and host of the Battleground: Ballot Box podcast.
Georgians have less than four weeks before their next election since neither Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock or his challenger Republican Herschel Walker earned 50% or more of the vote, which under state law forces a runoff election. On December 6th the state will once again set out to decide who will fill the Senate seat.
We take a look at the sprint to the election finish line with Stephen Fowler, a political reporter at Georgia Public Broadcasting, and host of the Battleground: Ballot Box podcast.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is expected to draw a record breaking 5 billion viewers. Play kicks off Sunday and all eyes are on the host nation Qatar. This year's World Cup has been embroiled in controversy from the start, with allegations of corruption and bribery in the process of FIFA awarding the bid to Qatar.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Human rights organizations have called out Qatar over human rights violations against migrant workers who have been building the infrastructure for the World Cup. There are also concerns over freedom of expression and assembly, and discrimination against women and the LGBTQ community in Qatar. Meanwhile, there have been protests and calls for boycotts.
We speak with Roger Bennett, founder of the Men in Blazers media network, and co-author of Gods of Soccer.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is expected to draw a record breaking 5 billion viewers. Play kicks off Sunday and all eyes are on the host nation Qatar. This year's World Cup has been embroiled in controversy from the start, with allegations of corruption and bribery in the process of FIFA awarding the bid to Qatar.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Human rights organizations have called out Qatar over human rights violations against migrant workers who have been building the infrastructure for the World Cup. There are also concerns over freedom of expression and assembly, and discrimination against women and the LGBTQ community in Qatar. Meanwhile, there have been protests and calls for boycotts.
We speak with Roger Bennett, founder of the Men in Blazers media network, and co-author of Gods of Soccer.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is expected to draw a record breaking 5 billion viewers. Play kicks off Sunday and all eyes are on the host nation Qatar. This year's World Cup has been embroiled in controversy from the start, with allegations of corruption and bribery in the process of FIFA awarding the bid to Qatar.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Human rights organizations have called out Qatar over human rights violations against migrant workers who have been building the infrastructure for the World Cup. There are also concerns over freedom of expression and assembly, and discrimination against women and the LGBTQ community in Qatar. Meanwhile, there have been protests and calls for boycotts.
We speak with Roger Bennett, founder of the Men in Blazers media network, and co-author of Gods of Soccer.
27% of young people voted in this year’s election cycle. It’s estimated to be the second largest youth voter turnout of the past thirty years.
Jack Lobel, deputy communications director and spokesperson for Voters of Tomorrow, joins us to talk about some of the organizing work that goes into sustaining the youth vote.
For full transcript, see above.
Just over a month ago, the FDA announced a national shortage of Adderall, the drug commonly used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. The shortage is expected to last into mid-2023.
According to the health research firm IQVIA, 41.2 million Adderall prescriptions were dispensed in the U.S. in 2021. But many with ADHD have pointed out that it was difficult to get ADHD treatment even before the shortage, due to both Adderall’s classification as a schedule II controlled substance and lingering misconceptions about ADHD.
Dr. Kimberly Quinn, a professor of cognitive psychology and "mindcraft" at Champlain College, joins us to discuss the shortage, stigmas and tips for navigating them, informed by her own experience with ADHD.
Protests in Iran continue in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who died while in police custody after having been detained for allegedly wearing her hijab incorrectly.
Since the protests began in September, HRANA, an Iranian human rights organization, estimates that at least 344 protesters have been killed, and almost 16,000 have been detained.
Last week, in an open letter signed by the vast majority of Iran’s members of Parliament, lawmakers called for "no leniency” against protestors. The letter reads:
“We, the representatives of this nation, ask all state officials, including the Judiciary, to treat those, who waged war (against the Islamic establishment) and attacked people’s life and property like the Daesh (terrorists), in a way that would serve as a good lesson in the shortest possible time.”
And on Monday, an Iranian court court issued the first known death sentence to a protester since the demonstrations began in September. The protester was accused of setting a government building on fire and charged with “war against God” and “corruption on Earth.”
We speak with Jason Rezaian, Global Opinions Writer for The Washington Post and former Tehran correspondent for The Washington Post.
For full transcript, see above.
On Monday, President Joe Biden met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping ahead of the G-20 summit in Indonesia. This was their first face-to-face meeting since Biden was elected, and the meeting comes at a rocky point in U.S.-China relations.
For more on how the meeting went and what was discussed, we spoke with Gordon Chang, author of “The Coming Collapse of China” and “The Great U.S.-China Tech War.”
For full transcripts, see above.
Teen Vogue hosted it's 5th annual Teen Vogue Summit at Goya Studios in West Hollywood, Los Angeles.
"Everybody is just trying to be cool, but there's no such thing as cool," said Karissa Mitchell, Senior Beauty and Fashion Editor of Teen Vogue after hosting a panel of changemakers in the beauty industry.
Karissa said she put the panel together "...to inspire the teenagers that are coming up in today's society that you're fine just the way you are. And just don't panic when it comes to beauty. Everybody's having the same struggle, even the people you're trying to impress."
The theme of this year's summit was "celebrate, collaborate, create!" and it featured some of the industry's favorite creators, changemakers, and ceiling-breakers. Following the midterm elections, our digital producer and "Senior Gen-Z Correspondent" Zachary Bynum stopped by the Summit for some post-election takeaways on politics, culture, fashion, and self-care.
Zach spoke with Versha Sharma, Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue; ALOK (they/them), gender nonbinary writer, performing artists, and comedian; and Adwoa Aboah, British supermodel, actor, and founder of Gurls Talk.
For full transcript, see above.
Photos from Teen Vogue Summit 2022 at Goya Studios in West Hollywood, L.A. California Saturday, Nov. 12 2022. In the bottom righthand quadrant, Adwoa Aboah wears a creation for the Chloe ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion collection presented Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022 in Paris. (Zachary Bynum, WNYC/ Vianney Le Caer, Invision/AP)
According to a recent report from Greenpeace, U.S. households generate 51 millions of plastic waste each year, but the amount of that actually getting recycled is 2.4 million tons. That's not necessarily because people aren’t doing their part to recycle, but because the vast majority of plastics literally cannot be recycled.
There are thousands of varieties of plastic, each with its own chemical makeup that means many types are too expensive to sort and recycle, or simply cannot be reused at all. And yet, recycling is still pushed as the best way for consumers to take advantage of plastic’s conveniences while still being environmentally conscious.
We speak with environmental sociologist Rebecca Altman, who says historically, recycling has created the appearance of a solution to the waste problem. But the greater issue is the chemical toxicity at the root of plastic production itself.
For full transcript, see above.
Protests in Iran continue in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who died while in police custody after having been detained for allegedly wearing her hijab incorrectly.
Since the protests began in September, HRANA, an Iranian human rights organization, estimates that at least 344 protesters have been killed, and almost 16,000 have been detained.
Last week, in an open letter signed by the vast majority of Iran’s members of Parliament, lawmakers called for "no leniency” against protestors. The letter reads:
“We, the representatives of this nation, ask all state officials, including the Judiciary, to treat those, who waged war (against the Islamic establishment) and attacked people’s life and property like the Daesh (terrorists), in a way that would serve as a good lesson in the shortest possible time.”
And on Monday, an Iranian court court issued the first known death sentence to a protester since the demonstrations began in September. The protester was accused of setting a government building on fire and charged with “war against God” and “corruption on Earth.”
We speak with Jason Rezaian, Global Opinions Writer for The Washington Post and former Tehran correspondent for The Washington Post.
For full transcript, see above.
Teen Vogue hosted it's 5th annual Teen Vogue Summit at Goya Studios in West Hollywood, Los Angeles.
"Everybody is just trying to be cool, but there's no such thing as cool," said Karissa Mitchell, Senior Beauty and Fashion Editor of Teen Vogue after hosting a panel of changemakers in the beauty industry.
Karissa said she put the panel together "...to inspire the teenagers that are coming up in today's society that you're fine just the way you are. And just don't panic when it comes to beauty. Everybody's having the same struggle, even the people you're trying to impress."
The theme of this year's summit was "celebrate, collaborate, create!" and it featured some of the industry's favorite creators, changemakers, and ceiling-breakers. Following the midterm elections, our digital producer and "Senior Gen-Z Correspondent" Zachary Bynum stopped by the Summit for some post-election takeaways on politics, culture, fashion, and self-care.
Zach spoke with Versha Sharma, Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue; ALOK (they/them), gender nonbinary writer, performing artists, and comedian; and Adwoa Aboah, British supermodel, actor, and founder of Gurls Talk.
For full transcript, see above.
Photos from Teen Vogue Summit 2022 at Goya Studios in West Hollywood, L.A. California Saturday, Nov. 12 2022. In the bottom righthand quadrant, Adwoa Aboah wears a creation for the Chloe ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion collection presented Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022 in Paris. (Zachary Bynum, WNYC/ Vianney Le Caer, Invision/AP)
Protests in Iran continue in response to the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who died while in police custody after having been detained for allegedly wearing her hijab incorrectly.
Since the protests began in September, HRANA, an Iranian human rights organization, estimates that at least 344 protesters have been killed, and almost 16,000 have been detained.
Last week, in an open letter signed by the vast majority of Iran’s members of Parliament, lawmakers called for "no leniency” against protestors. The letter reads:
“We, the representatives of this nation, ask all state officials, including the Judiciary, to treat those, who waged war (against the Islamic establishment) and attacked people’s life and property like the Daesh (terrorists), in a way that would serve as a good lesson in the shortest possible time.”
And on Monday, an Iranian court court issued the first known death sentence to a protester since the demonstrations began in September. The protester was accused of setting a government building on fire and charged with “war against God” and “corruption on Earth.”
We speak with Jason Rezaian, Global Opinions Writer for The Washington Post and former Tehran correspondent for The Washington Post.
For full transcript, see above.
Teen Vogue hosted it's 5th annual Teen Vogue Summit at Goya Studios in West Hollywood, Los Angeles.
"Everybody is just trying to be cool, but there's no such thing as cool," said Karissa Mitchell, Senior Beauty and Fashion Editor of Teen Vogue after hosting a panel of changemakers in the beauty industry.
Karissa said she put the panel together "...to inspire the teenagers that are coming up in today's society that you're fine just the way you are. And just don't panic when it comes to beauty. Everybody's having the same struggle, even the people you're trying to impress."
The theme of this year's summit was "celebrate, collaborate, create!" and it featured some of the industry's favorite creators, changemakers, and ceiling-breakers. Following the midterm elections, our digital producer and "Senior Gen-Z Correspondent" Zachary Bynum stopped by the Summit for some post-election takeaways on politics, culture, fashion, and self-care.
Zach spoke with Versha Sharma, Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue; ALOK (they/them), gender nonbinary writer, performing artists, and comedian; and Adwoa Aboah, British supermodel, actor, and founder of Gurls Talk.
For full transcript, see above.
Photos from Teen Vogue Summit 2022 at Goya Studios in West Hollywood, L.A. California Saturday, Nov. 12 2022. In the bottom righthand quadrant, Adwoa Aboah wears a creation for the Chloe ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2023 fashion collection presented Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022 in Paris. (Zachary Bynum, WNYC/ Vianney Le Caer, Invision/AP)
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 44 children in the U.S. has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder. And almost 5-and-a-half million adults in the U.S. have autism. And the average age of an autism diagnosis comes at about 4 years and 4 months.
But that's not the case for everyone.
We speak with Lauren Ober, radio producer and host of The Big Listenfrom WAMU and NPR, who discovered that she is autistic at the age of 42, and chronicles it in her new podcast, The Loudest Girl in the World.
For full transcript, see above.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 44 children in the U.S. has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder. And almost 5-and-a-half million adults in the U.S. have autism. And the average age of an autism diagnosis comes at about 4 years and 4 months.
But that's not the case for everyone.
We speak with Lauren Ober, radio producer and host of The Big Listen from WAMU and NPR, who discovered that she is autistic at the age of 42, and chronicles it in her new podcast, The Loudest Girl in the World.
For full transcript, see above.
When the Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health this summer, 13 states had “trigger bans” set to go into effect. These laws were designed to severely limit or end access to abortion in a state if Roe v. Wade was overturned at the federal level.
One of those states was Wyoming.
Wyoming’s law makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to 14 years in prison. But in July, a district judge granted a temporary injunction against the ban.
The decision offered a moment of reprieve to Wellspring Health Access Clinic. In May Wellspring was preparing to open the state’s only procedural abortion clinic. On May 25, the clinic was targeted by arson.
Wellspring Health Access has been closed since an arson fire was set but is once again set to open in the coming months under the leadership of Julie Burkhart, the founder and president of the clinic.
The Takeaway spoke with Julie about the landscape for abortion providers in the Wyoming, as well as her relationship with the late abortion provider Dr. George Tiller.
For full transcript, see above.
Last week UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, opened the United Nation's annual climate summit, COP27 meeting this year in Egypt, with a dire warning: "We are in the fight of our lives, and we are losing, Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing, global temperatures keep rising, and our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.”
At last year's conference in Scotland, countries recommitted to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to limit the rise in global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius. Despite these promises, the world is still not on track to meet that goal. Even in this year the earth’s rising temperatures have fueled extreme weather events.
It’s poorer nations in the Global South that bear a disproportionate share of the burden. This year some of those nations have intensified demands for wealthier nations to pay climate reparations and establish a “loss and damages fund.”
President Joe Biden spoke on Friday and outlined U.S. commitments to cutting methane and carbon emissions, but he stopped short of committing any resources for global “loss and damages” due to the United States role as the world’s second largest producer of of greenhouse gasses.
For more on this we spoke with Jean Su, Energy Justice director at the Center for Biological Diversity, the co-author of the report, “The Climate President’s Emergency Powers.” And she is Co-Chair of Climate Action Network International.
For full transcript, see above.
Last week UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, opened the United Nation's annual climate summit, COP27 meeting this year in Egypt, with a dire warning: "We are in the fight of our lives, and we are losing, Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing, global temperatures keep rising, and our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.”
At last year's conference in Scotland, countries recommitted to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to limit the rise in global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius. Despite these promises, the world is still not on track to meet that goal. Even in this year the earth’s rising temperatures have fueled extreme weather events.
It’s poorer nations in the Global South that bear a disproportionate share of the burden. This year some of those nations have intensified demands for wealthier nations to pay climate reparations and establish a “loss and damages fund.”
President Joe Biden spoke on Friday and outlined U.S. commitments to cutting methane and carbon emissions, but he stopped short of committing any resources for global “loss and damages” due to the United States role as the world’s second largest producer of of greenhouse gasses.
For more on this we spoke with Jean Su, Energy Justice director at the Center for Biological Diversity, the co-author of the report, “The Climate President’s Emergency Powers.” And she is Co-Chair of Climate Action Network International.
For full transcript, see above.
Dr. Elizabeth Farfán-Santos is a medical anthropologist at the University of Houston. She spent five years working with a woman she calls Claudia Garcia: an undocumented Mexican mother who took multiple risks to bring her daughter Natalia to the United States in the hopes of finding a solution to Natalia's hearing loss.
Farfán-Santos new book “Undocumented Motherhood: Conversations on Love, Trauma, and Border Crossing” is an intimate look at the undocumented women making impossible sacrifices for their children by coming to the United States and their challenges navigating the healthcare system here.
Farfán-Santos joins The Takeaway to tell us about the book.
For full transcript, see above.
Last week UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, opened the United Nation's annual climate summit, COP27 meeting this year in Egypt, with a dire warning: "We are in the fight of our lives, and we are losing, Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing, global temperatures keep rising, and our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.”
At last year's conference in Scotland, countries recommitted to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to limit the rise in global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius. Despite these promises, the world is still not on track to meet that goal. Even in this year the earth’s rising temperatures have fueled extreme weather events.
It’s poorer nations in the Global South that bear a disproportionate share of the burden. This year some of those nations have intensified demands for wealthier nations to pay climate reparations and establish a “loss and damages fund.”
President Joe Biden spoke on Friday and outlined U.S. commitments to cutting methane and carbon emissions, but he stopped short of committing any resources for global “loss and damages” due to the United States role as the world’s second largest producer of of greenhouse gasses.
For more on this we spoke with Jean Su, Energy Justice director at the Center for Biological Diversity, the co-author of the report, “The Climate President’s Emergency Powers.” And she is Co-Chair of Climate Action Network International.
For full transcript, see above.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 44 children in the U.S. has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder. And almost 5-and-a-half million adults in the U.S. have autism. And the average age of an autism diagnosis comes at about 4 years and 4 months.
But that's not the case for everyone.
We speak with Lauren Ober, radio producer and host of The Big Listen from WAMU and NPR, who discovered that she is autistic at the age of 42, and chronicles it in her new podcast, The Loudest Girl in the World.
For full transcript, see above.
The new film Retrograde is an unflinching portrait of what happened in the nine months after President Biden announced he would withdraw troops from Afghanistan in August 2021. The film follows one Afghan general, Sami Sadat, to tell an emotional story of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Award-winning filmmaker Matt Heineman and his team of Green Berets were there to capture the final months of some 20 years of U.S. involvement in the conflict prior to the fall of Kabul.
When President Biden announced that the U.S. was pulling out, Heineman and his team shifted gears, and embedded with Afghan forces to see what would happen. We speak with Matt about the withdrawal from Kabul.
The number of military veterans elected to Congress has been slowly but steadily increasing since 2015, after decades of historic lows since the 1970s. The 2022 midterm election cycle saw the largest field of veteran candidates in a decade: 196.
We hear about the unique assets that veterans can bring to elected office, with Leo Shane III, deputy editor of The Military Times.
For full transcript, see above.
Veterans day is about honoring those who served. Some folks are thinking about parents and grandparents who dedicated their life to service. Many reflect on the hardships veterans have endured, as well as their courage at home and abroad.
We asked listeners to tell us about the veterans they hold near and dear in their hearts.
For full transcripts, see above.
Veterans day is about honoring those who served. Some folks are thinking about parents and grandparents who dedicated their life to service. Many reflect on the hardships veterans have endured, as well as their courage at home and abroad.
We asked listeners to tell us about the veterans they hold near and dear in their hearts.
For full transcripts, see above.
The number of military veterans elected to Congress has been slowly but steadily increasing since 2015, after decades of historic lows since the 1970s. The 2022 midterm election cycle saw the largest field of veteran candidates in a decade: 196.
We hear about the unique assets that veterans can bring to elected office, with Leo Shane III, deputy editor of The Military Times.
For full transcript, see above.
The new film Retrograde is an unflinching portrait of what happened in the nine months after President Biden announced he would withdraw troops from Afghanistan in August 2021. The film follows one Afghan general, Sami Sadat, to tell an emotional story of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Award-winning filmmaker Matt Heineman and his team of Green Berets were there to capture the final months of some 20 years of U.S. involvement in the conflict prior to the fall of Kabul.
When President Biden announced that the U.S. was pulling out, Heineman and his team shifted gears, and embedded with Afghan forces to see what would happen. We speak with Matt about the withdrawal from Kabul.
The new film Retrograde is an unflinching portrait of what happened in the nine months after President Biden announced he would withdraw troops from Afghanistan in August 2021. The film follows one Afghan general, Sami Sadat, to tell an emotional story of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Award-winning filmmaker Matt Heineman and his team of Green Berets were there to capture the final months of some 20 years of U.S. involvement in the conflict prior to the fall of Kabul.
When President Biden announced that the U.S. was pulling out, Heineman and his team shifted gears, and embedded with Afghan forces to see what would happen. We speak with Matt about the withdrawal from Kabul.
Veterans day is about honoring those who served. Some folks are thinking about parents and grandparents who dedicated their life to service. Many reflect on the hardships veterans have endured, as well as their courage at home and abroad.
We asked listeners to tell us about the veterans they hold near and dear in their hearts.
For full transcripts, see above.
Homelessness among veterans has decreased by 11 percent over the past 2 years. This represents a decline of more than half since 2010. But the problem persists in some particularly challenging communities.
Village for Vets is a non-profit organization working to address homelessness among veterans in Los Angeles, which has the largest population of unhoused veterans of any Metropolitan area.
We speak with Mary McGuire, Executive Director of Village for Vets, and Cari Bagdonas, a Coast Guard Veteran who has experienced housing insecurity.
For full transcripts, see above.
Homelessness among veterans has decreased by 11 percent over the past 2 years. This represents a decline of more than half since 2010. But the problem persists in some particularly challenging communities.
Village for Vets is a non-profit organization working to address homelessness among veterans in Los Angeles, which has the largest population of unhoused veterans of any Metropolitan area.
We speak with Mary McGuire, Executive Director of Village for Vets, and Cari Bagdonas, a Coast Guard Veteran who has experienced housing insecurity.
For full transcripts, see above.
The number of military veterans elected to Congress has been slowly but steadily increasing since 2015, after decades of historic lows since the 1970s. The 2022 midterm election cycle saw the largest field of veteran candidates in a decade: 196.
We hear about the unique assets that veterans can bring to elected office, with Leo Shane III, deputy editor of The Military Times.
For full transcript, see above.
Homelessness among veterans has decreased by 11 percent over the past 2 years. This represents a decline of more than half since 2010. But the problem persists in some particularly challenging communities.
Village for Vets is a non-profit organization working to address homelessness among veterans in Los Angeles, which has the largest population of unhoused veterans of any Metropolitan area.
We speak with Mary McGuire, Executive Director of Village for Vets, and Cari Bagdonas, a Coast Guard Veteran who has experienced housing insecurity.
For full transcripts, see above.
The new Netflix series “Blockbuster” premiered on November 3rd.
The show stars a diverse cast of characters, fighting to save the last Blockbuster store.
Cast member Tyler Alvarez joins us to discuss the new series, his connection to the character Carlos, and if not Blockbuster, what he hopes to save in this world.
The new Netflix series “Blockbuster” premiered on November 3rd.
The show stars a diverse cast of characters, fighting to save the last Blockbuster store.
Cast member Tyler Alvarez joins us to discuss the new series, his connection to the character Carlos, and if not Blockbuster, what he hopes to save in this world.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Haaland v. Brackeen, which could strike down the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).
The ICWA was intended to prevent Native children from being separated from their tribes and families. It was enacted in 1978 in response to US Government practices that forcibly removed hundreds of thousands of Native children from their homes.
We speak with Rebecca Nagle, a freelance writer and member of the Cherokee Nation, about what this new challenge in the Supreme Court could mean for ICWA and the SCOTUS precedents it could overrule.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Haaland v. Brackeen, which could strike down the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).
The ICWA was intended to prevent Native children from being separated from their tribes and families. It was enacted in 1978 in response to US Government practices that forcibly removed hundreds of thousands of Native children from their homes.
We speak with Rebecca Nagle, a freelance writer and member of the Cherokee Nation, about what this new challenge in the Supreme Court could mean for ICWA and the SCOTUS precedents it could overrule.
This year, a record number of women ran for governorships at 25 candidates, while the number of women running for Congress fell short of the record-setting 2020 and 2018 cohorts. But 45 of those races for Governor, House or Senate featured two or more women candidates running against each other. We’ve brought you special coverage of some of those races in our SHE-lection series: a partnership between The Takeaway and the Center for American Women and Politics. What do the 2022 midterm results tell us about the future of women in politics?
We're joined by Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
Find all episodes in the SHE-lection! series here.
This year, a record number of women ran for governorships at 25 candidates, while the number of women running for Congress fell short of the record-setting 2020 and 2018 cohorts. But 45 of those races for Governor, House or Senate featured two or more women candidates running against each other. We’ve brought you special coverage of some of those races in our SHE-lection series: a partnership between The Takeaway and the Center for American Women and Politics. What do the 2022 midterm results tell us about the future of women in politics?
We're joined by Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
Find all episodes in the SHE-lection! series here.
All the votes have been cast in Midterms 2022, and many of the results are in.
Florida Republicans are celebrating statewide victories in the elections for Governor and Senate. But outside of the Sunshine state, it’s hard to find evidence of a significant "red wave" that many Republicans had hoped for. For the most part, Republican candidates won in Republican districts, and Democrats carried Democratic districts.
The statewide races didn’t bring many surprises: Republican JD Vance took Ohio. Democratic candidate for governor Stacey Abrams conceded to Republican governor Brian Kemp. Democrat John Fetterman secured Pennsylvania. And as of Wednesday morning, many of the toss up state-wide races like Wisconsin and Nevada were still up in the air.
We get election takeaways from Joel Payne, Democratic strategist, and CBS News political contributor and Brendan Buck, a partner with the political communications firm, Seven Letter. Brendan was the press secretary for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign and former House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan.
All the votes have been cast in Midterms 2022, and many of the results are in.
Florida Republicans are celebrating statewide victories in the elections for Governor and Senate. But outside of the Sunshine state, it’s hard to find evidence of a significant "red wave" that many Republicans had hoped for. For the most part, Republican candidates won in Republican districts, and Democrats carried Democratic districts.
The statewide races didn’t bring many surprises: Republican JD Vance took Ohio. Democratic candidate for governor Stacey Abrams conceded to Republican governor Brian Kemp. Democrat John Fetterman secured Pennsylvania. And as of Wednesday morning, many of the toss up state-wide races like Wisconsin and Nevada were still up in the air.
We get election takeaways from Joel Payne, Democratic strategist, and CBS News political contributor and Brendan Buck, a partner with the political communications firm, Seven Letter. Brendan was the press secretary for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign and former House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan.
Just a few years after graduating from college, Chloe Maxmin won a seat in Maine’s 88th legislative district. Two years later she was elected to Maine’s state Senate. She was the first Democrat to represent the 88th and the youngest woman elected to the state senate.
We talk with Chloe about her strategy of deep canvassing and why she believes rural voters are the crucial to American democracy.
Just a few years after graduating from college, Chloe Maxmin won a seat in Maine’s 88th legislative district. Two years later she was elected to Maine’s state Senate. She was the first Democrat to represent the 88th and the youngest woman elected to the state senate.
We talk with Chloe about her strategy of deep canvassing and why she believes rural voters are the crucial to American democracy.
Heading into the 2022 Midterms, 37 states are governed by trifectas: a single party controls a majority in the state house, state senate, and also holds the governor’s seat. There are 23 Republican trifectas and 14 Democratic trifectas. This sort of single party control of states has increased since 2018, and in this election cycle, a handful of states could gain or lose trifectas.
We speak with Archon Fung, Director of the Harvard Ash Center at the Harvard Kennedy School, about what trifectas mean for democracy and for public policy.
Heading into the 2022 Midterms, 37 states are governed by trifectas: a single party controls a majority in the state house, state senate, and also holds the governor’s seat. There are 23 Republican trifectas and 14 Democratic trifectas. This sort of single party control of states has increased since 2018, and in this election cycle, a handful of states could gain or lose trifectas.
We speak with Archon Fung, Director of the Harvard Ash Center at the Harvard Kennedy School, about what trifectas mean for democracy and for public policy.
Over the summer, major social media platforms including Twitter pledged to ban and remove misinformation about voting and elections. But last week, the media and technology watchdog group Free Press released a comprehensive analysis of the election and disinformation-related policies of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. It concluded that these sites have not lived up to their promises. Read the Free Press report here.
The rampant spread of online disinformation in the run-up to the 2022 midterms has led to real threats and violence against poll workers, politicians and voters alike. In the midst of this, billionaire Elon Musk purchased Twitter and dramatically weakened the company’s ability to moderate hate speech, harassment and disinformation.
We speak with Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, one of the 60+ civil rights and government watchdog organizations supporting the Free Press report.
In response to requests for comment from The Takeaway, TikTok directed us to their statement "Our commitment to election integrity." Twitter highlighted a Tweet thread from Yoel Roth, Head of Safety and Integrity at Twitter. Meta directed us to their statement "How Meta Is Planning for the 2022 US Midterms."
According to The Williams Institute, an LGBTQ think tank at UCLA and more than 800,000 transgender adults are eligible to vote, but barriers to access, or fears of voter intimidation may prevent some trans individuals from even attempting to cast their ballot.
The Williams Institute says that 31 states conduct their elections primarily in person at polling places AND have voter ID laws – and half of voting-eligible transgender Americans living in these states do not have an ID that correctly reflects their name and/or gender.
We spoke with Josie Caballero, Director of US Trans Survey and Special Projects for the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Over the summer, major social media platforms including Twitter pledged to ban and remove misinformation about voting and elections. But last week, the media and technology watchdog group Free Press released a comprehensive analysis of the election and disinformation-related policies of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. It concluded that these sites have not lived up to their promises. Read the Free Press report here.
The rampant spread of online disinformation in the run-up to the 2022 midterms has led to real threats and violence against poll workers, politicians and voters alike. In the midst of this, billionaire Elon Musk purchased Twitter and dramatically weakened the company’s ability to moderate hate speech, harassment and disinformation.
We speak with Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, one of the 60+ civil rights and government watchdog organizations supporting the Free Press report.
In response to requests for comment from The Takeaway, TikTok directed us to their statement "Our commitment to election integrity." Twitter highlighted a Tweet thread from Yoel Roth, Head of Safety and Integrity at Twitter. Meta directed us to their statement "How Meta Is Planning for the 2022 US Midterms."
Discarded cars and a 19th Century Shipwreck are being discovered, human remains have been found, and barges are running aground as the Mississippi River has reached historic lows due to persistent drought throughout the Central U.S.
Last Saturday, October 22nd, the river fell to a new low of -10.81 feet in Memphis, Tennessee.
We speak with a scientist who studies water and rivers about what is causing the drop, the economic fallout, and what it spells for the future of the River in a climate change future.
Discarded cars and a 19th Century Shipwreck are being discovered, human remains have been found, and barges are running aground as the Mississippi River has reached historic lows due to persistent drought throughout the Central U.S.
Last Saturday, October 22nd, the river fell to a new low of -10.81 feet in Memphis, Tennessee.
We speak with a scientist who studies water and rivers about what is causing the drop, the economic fallout, and what it spells for the future of the River in a climate change future.
In her new book, “Raising Them Right,” award-winning journalist Kyle Spencer documents a coordinated and well-funded right-wing movement aimed at young people to bring ultra-conservative and radical ideas into the mainstream. Right-wing organizations have spent millions of dollars recruiting and training young people.
They use social media, flashy trips to conservative conferences in vacation hotspots, celebrity conservatives, and wedge issues from the so-called culture wars to draw them in, essentially making a machine to prepare these young people to become future leaders of American conservatism.
In her new book, “Raising Them Right,” award-winning journalist Kyle Spencer documents a coordinated and well-funded right-wing movement aimed at young people to bring ultra-conservative and radical ideas into the mainstream. Right-wing organizations have spent millions of dollars recruiting and training young people.
They use social media, flashy trips to conservative conferences in vacation hotspots, celebrity conservatives, and wedge issues from the so-called culture wars to draw them in, essentially making a machine to prepare these young people to become future leaders of American conservatism.
Writer, actor, and comedian Bashir Salahuddin is co-creator and star of the variety show Sherman’s Showcase and the HBO Max sitcom South Side.
We talk to Bashir about how his career in Hollywood has taken him back to the South Side of Chicago, his inspirations for writing television, and his words of wisdom for young creators who want to get a start in the industry.
Writer, actor, and comedian Bashir Salahuddin is co-creator and star of the variety show Sherman’s Showcase and the HBO Max sitcom South Side.
We talk to Bashir about how his career in Hollywood has taken him back to the South Side of Chicago, his inspirations for writing television, and his words of wisdom for young creators who want to get a start in the industry.
How many new clothing garments do you buy each year?
Data from the American Apparel & Footwear Association says that the average American bought about 69 items of clothing and 7 and a half pairs of shoes in the year 2020. The days of buying two pairs of jeans and two nice tops for each new season seem to be out of fashion in recent years. It's easier than ever to buy lots of clothes, but what are the consequences of that ease?
We look at our fashion consumption habits, the ethical ramifications of "fast fashion," and accessible alternatives with Aja Barber, author of CONSUMED: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism, and a contributing editor at Elle UK.
How many new clothing garments do you buy each year?
Data from the American Apparel & Footwear Association says that the average American bought about 69 items of clothing and 7 and a half pairs of shoes in the year 2020. The days of buying two pairs of jeans and two nice tops for each new season seem to be out of fashion in recent years. It's easier than ever to buy lots of clothes, but what are the consequences of that ease?
We look at our fashion consumption habits, the ethical ramifications of "fast fashion," and accessible alternatives with Aja Barber, author of CONSUMED: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism, and a contributing editor at Elle UK.
Emiko Jean is a Japanese-American author-- but, before she was an author, she was an entomologist (bug catcher), candle maker, florist, and teacher. She strongly believes in “faking it till you make it” and asking for forgiveness rather than permission.
Emiko has written many YA novels, like, Tokyo Ever After, which was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club YA Pick. But her most recent novel, Mika in Real Life, is a bit more grown-up. With themes about sexual assault, motherhood, adoption, and coming of age when you’re already an adult.
The protagonist, Mika, has disappointed her mother too many times to count, has given up her passions, can’t keep a job, and her love life is– well, nonexistent. The novel begins at the peak of all this messiness when Mika gets a call… and it’s the daughter she put up for adoption 16 years ago.
We speak with Emiko Jean about her new novel, motherhood, and how her book explores and deconstructs the 'model minority myth.'
It's the final weekend before Election Day 2022!
According to the US Election project, more than 33 million people have already cast their ballots, but that doesn't mean parties, campaigns, or candidates are ready to rest their cases. These heady final days are what we like to call — closing arguments.
Here at The Takeaway, we’ve been following the 2022 midterm elections through the stories of SHElection!, which is a political matchups where both candidates are women. So, in today's final installment of SHElection! we ask: How are the parties, candidates, and campaigns of 2022 targeting women voters in their closing arguments?
The Takeaway spoke with Aimee Allison,founder and president of She the People – a national organization the builds power for women of color, and Grace Panetta, politics reporter at The 19th – a nonprofit newsroom covering gender, politics and policy.
Since 2020, election officials are “leaving in droves,” in many cases due to the misinformation campaigns and the subsequent threats made against them.
In fact, the FBI issued a warning a few weeks ago that in seven states, including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Wisconsin, there have been an unusual level of threats continuing against election officials. In states like Arizona and Georgia, we’ve also seen how voter intimidation and suppression tactics are being used with baseless claims of "voter fraud" used as justification.
In Georgia, Joe Biden became the first Democratic president to win Georgia in nearly three decades in 2020, and a strong voter turnout helped send two Democrats to the US Senate, flipping control of the chamber to the Democratic party and making the state of Georgia a swing state.
But even as Democrats were celebrating their wins, Republican lawmakers in Georgia, were seizing on the potential political gains from Trump's, ‘Big Lie.’ And through that traction of disinformation passed the controversial Georgia Senate Bill SB 202. Which restricts almost all aspects of voting, including a provision that has made it easier for regular citizens to challenge the eligibility of other voters in their county.
We speak with Lawrence Norden, senior director of the Elections and Government Program for the Brennan Center for Justice, to hear about how political violence and threats of violence are playing out for the Midterms, and what it means for our democracy and free and fair elections. On The Media reporter, Micah Loewinger also joins The Takeaway to talk about how this is affecting voters, in the latest installment of our occasional series, Georgia at the Intersections.
Since 2020, election officials are “leaving in droves,” in many cases due to the misinformation campaigns and the subsequent threats made against them.
In fact, the FBI issued a warning a few weeks ago that in seven states, including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Wisconsin, there have been an unusual level of threats continuing against election officials. In states like Arizona and Georgia, we’ve also seen how voter intimidation and suppression tactics are being used with baseless claims of "voter fraud" used as justification.
In Georgia, Joe Biden became the first Democratic president to win Georgia in nearly three decades in 2020, and a strong voter turnout helped send two Democrats to the US Senate, flipping control of the chamber to the Democratic party and making the state of Georgia a swing state.
But even as Democrats were celebrating their wins, Republican lawmakers in Georgia, were seizing on the potential political gains from Trump's, ‘Big Lie.’ And through that traction of disinformation passed the controversial Georgia Senate Bill SB 202. Which restricts almost all aspects of voting, including a provision that has made it easier for regular citizens to challenge the eligibility of other voters in their county.
We speak with Lawrence Norden, senior director of the Elections and Government Program for the Brennan Center for Justice, to hear about how political violence and threats of violence are playing out for the Midterms, and what it means for our democracy and free and fair elections. On The Media reporter, Micah Loewinger also joins The Takeaway to talk about how this is affecting voters, in the latest installment of our occasional series, Georgia at the Intersections.
WNBA head coach James Wade is coming off an historic coaching stretch, winning a WNBA championship and the WNBA’s 2022 Executive of the Year Award in the past two seasons with the Chicago Sky.
But before his WNBA success, Coach Wade coached the same team in Russia that Brittney Griner- who's serving a cruel, nine-year sentence in Russia- played for before her arrest.
We talk to coach Wade about the experience for American basketball players overseas and about Brittney Griner’s incarceration in Russia.
WNBA head coach James Wade is coming off an historic coaching stretch, winning a WNBA championship and the WNBA’s 2022 Executive of the Year Award in the past two seasons with the Chicago Sky.
But before his WNBA success, Coach Wade coached the same team in Russia that Brittney Griner- who's serving a cruel, nine-year sentence in Russia- played for before her arrest.
We talk to coach Wade about the experience for American basketball players overseas and about Brittney Griner’s incarceration in Russia.
Scottish-born actor, Alan Cumming has had a long career. He’s been in everything from cult classics like "Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion." To Mainstream blockbusters like "X2: X Men United." Alan is eclectic. Time Magazine once called him one of the three most fun people in show business (the others were Cher and Stanley Tucci).
Alan Cumming’s new book Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life is about how his life, including his work life, has been shaped by his baggage and how he has learned to live it.
In this interview, Alan speaks about his career, the Spice Girls movie, and why his grandmother was so influential in letting his freak flag fly.
For the final installment of our SHE-lection! series, we're headed to Kansas’s Third Congressional district where Democratic Representative Sharice Davids is running for her third term against former Kansas Republican Party chair Amanda Adkins, who also challenged Davids for the seat in 2020. Davids is one of the first Native American women and one of the first openly LGBTQ persons elected to the House.
In the run-up to Election Day, Adkins and Davids have been squaring off on the economy, reproductive rights and public safety. A new Sienna College/New York Times poll showed Davids with a 14 point edge over Adkins, but recent redistricting has given the Third district a potentially more conservative constituency than previous years.
We speak with Washington correspondent for The Kansas City Star, Daniel Desrochers, and Emily Hedges Vietti, a gender and politics researcher at the Institute for Leadership Studies at the University of Kansas and the director of Ready to Run Kansas.
For the final installment of our SHE-lection! series, we're headed to Kansas’s Third Congressional district where Democratic Representative Sharice Davids is running for her third term against former Kansas Republican Party chair Amanda Adkins, who also challenged Davids for the seat in 2020. Davids is one of the first Native American women and one of the first openly LGBTQ persons elected to the House.
In the run-up to Election Day, Adkins and Davids have been squaring off on the economy, reproductive rights and public safety. A new Sienna College/New York Times poll showed Davids with a 14 point edge over Adkins, but recent redistricting has given the Third district a potentially more conservative constituency than previous years.
We speak with Washington correspondent for The Kansas City Star, Daniel Desrochers, and Emily Hedges Vietti, a gender and politics researcher at the Institute for Leadership Studies at the University of Kansas and the director of Ready to Run Kansas.
For the final installment of our SHE-lection! series, we're headed to Kansas’s Third Congressional district where Democratic Representative Sharice Davids is running for her third term against former Kansas Republican Party chair Amanda Adkins, who also challenged Davids for the seat in 2020. Davids is one of the first Native American women and one of the first openly LGBTQ persons elected to the House.
In the run-up to Election Day, Adkins and Davids have been squaring off on the economy, reproductive rights and public safety. A new Sienna College/New York Times poll showed Davids with a 14 point edge over Adkins, but recent redistricting has given the Third district a potentially more conservative constituency than previous years.
We speak with Washington correspondent for The Kansas City Star, Daniel Desrochers, and Emily Hedges Vietti, a gender and politics researcher at the Institute for Leadership Studies at the University of Kansas and the director of Ready to Run Kansas.
For the final installment of our SHE-lection! series, we're headed to Kansas’s Third Congressional district where Democratic Representative Sharice Davids is running for her third term against former Kansas Republican Party chair Amanda Adkins, who also challenged Davids for the seat in 2020. Davids is one of the first Native American women and one of the first openly LGBTQ persons elected to the House.
In the run-up to Election Day, Adkins and Davids have been squaring off on the economy, reproductive rights and public safety. A new Sienna College/New York Times poll showed Davids with a 14 point edge over Adkins, but recent redistricting has given the Third district a potentially more conservative constituency than previous years.
We speak with Washington correspondent for The Kansas City Star, Daniel Desrochers, and Emily Hedges Vietti, a gender and politics researcher at the Institute for Leadership Studies at the University of Kansas and the director of Ready to Run Kansas.
Jemele Hill joins us to discuss her new memoir, Uphill, which chronicles the events of her upbringing that shaped her life and career, as well as the story behind the better-known moments of her time at ESPN.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments this Monday in two cases that challenge the consideration of race in undergraduate admissions. The Court’s decisions in these cases will undoubtedly shape the future of American higher education for millions of students.
In previous challenges to affirmative action, the Court has continued to uphold the principles of affirmative action and the notion that diversity in higher education serves a compelling governmental interest. But the plaintiffs in both cases currently before the Court, a conservative activist group called Students for Fair Admissions, argue that affirmative action itself is discriminatory.
Dr. Melissa Murray, Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at NYU, joins us to unpack these arguments and consider their ramifications.
New York Times finance reporter Emily Flitter joins us to talk about her new book, The White Wall: How Big Finance Bankrupts Black America, which includes a deeply reported look into systemic racism within the American financial industry and the practices keeping the racial wealth gap in place.
"She also gives a voice to victims, from single mothers to professional athletes to employees themselves: people who were scammed, lied to, and defrauded by the systems they trusted with their money, and silenced when they attempted to speak out and seek reform."
It has been over a month now since the death of 22-year-old Iranian Mahsa Amini who died while in the custody of Iran’s morality police in September. Her death ignited a movement across the country, and protests have continued throughout the country.
The response from Iranian authorities has been brutal, with human rights groups saying at least 253 people have been killed, including 34 children. On top of the brute force being used to crackdown on dissidents, a new report from The Intercept details the ways in which Iran is employing digital violence by monitoring, and manipulating peoples phone usage and internet.
We speak with Murtaza Hussain, areporter for The Intercept, about the situation in Iran.
With 11 days until the 2022 Midterms we check in on Wisconsin and Florida.
We speak with Ari Berman, senior reporter for Mother Jones. We check in on the hotly contested races in Wisconsin and Georgia. Plus, we hear how, despite being a true swing state in statewide elections, the GOP has a stranglehold on Wisconsin's state level politics due to extreme gerrymandering.
This week, Futuro Media released its first ever-poll of Latino voters and the results offer critical insights into the fastest-growing racial and ethnic group in the U.S. electorate – making up more than 34 million eligible voters.
The polling looked closely at the battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. In the sunshine state, where Latinos account for more than 1 in 5 eligible voters – it’s incumbent Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis who earned higher ratings that his opponent Charlie Crist.
In Georgia – Latino’s who are about six percent of the state’s eligible voters show a preference for incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp over Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams.
But up in Pennsylvania, it's the Democratic candidates in both the Governor and Senate races with a slight edge.
So what does all of this tell us about Latino voters? To find out we spoke with Julio Ricardo Varela, President of Futuro Media and co-host of the podcast “In the Thick,” and with me is Héctor Sánchez Barba, the CEO of Mi Familia Vota, a non-profit organization that encourages Latino election participation. Héctor , welcome to The Takeaway.
Founder of Democracy in Color and New York Times Bestselling author Steve Phillips, joins us to discuss his new book "How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy for Good."
This month the U.N. announced that there were 7.7 million Ukrainian refugees scattered across Europe. Nearly one-third of all Ukrainians have been displaced. Among them is a 12-year-old girl, Yeva Skalietska.
During the early days of the war on Ukraine, Yeva picked up an empty notebook and began to write everything she was experiencing. She begins her journey on the day of her 12th birthday and through her diary we see the normal life of a 12-year-old girl change to a war zone. Now safe with her grandmother in Ireland, Yeva has published her diary into a book, "You Don’t Know What War Is: The Diary of a Young Girl from Ukraine."
Yeva begins with reading an excerpt of her diary...
The Pennsylvania Senate race between Dr. Oz and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman had its one and only debate on Tuesday evening.
On the road to the midterm elections, which are less than two weeks away, how important will this sole debate be for voters to decide on a candidate?
We discuss this and more with Oliver Morrison, a political reporter for WESA-FM who’s been covering the Senate race in Pennsylvania.
Teen Vogue and Change Research conducted a poll targeting 1,173 young voters across the country for their “Midterms Vibe Check” series.
Versha Sharma, Editor in Chief of Teen Vogue, joins us to discuss the results and what they say about voters under 35 in the United States.
In 2018, California voters passed Proposition 12 with a 63-percent margin. The measure attempts to increase the living conditions for farm raised animals such as chickens and pigs. It requires pork sold in California comply with certain living standards for breeding sows, mandating that they have 24 square feet of usable floor space per pig. Most pork raised on pig farms in other states are confined to metal gestation crates where they are unable to turn around for their entire lives. Because most pork consumed in California is produced outside of California, the measure in effect forces out of state pork producers to comply to California's standards. In National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, pork producers are suing saying that it is too expensive to comply with California's standards and that the constitution does not empower California to effectively set regulatory standards for all other states.
First, we speak with Kathy Hessler, Assistant Dean for Animal Legal Education at George Washington University Law School, about National Pork Producers Council v. Ross, and its possible implications.
Then we speak with Tyler Doggett, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Vermont, about how we should think about the living conditions of the pigs we kill for food.
Economic and political turmoil in Venezuela has led to a record number of Venezuelan migrants making the dangerous trek across Central America to seek refuge in the United States. Since last October, more than 150 thousand Venezuelans have arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border. For the first time on record, in August of this year, the number of Venezuelan migrants detained by Mexican authorities exceeded the number of migrants from Central America.
Until recently Venezuelan migrants were allowed to stay in the United States while they waited to go through immigration court and apply for asylum, but now the situation is more complex and the Biden Administration announced in mid-October that Venezuelan migrants would start being expelled back to Mexico under the controversial public health order, known as Title 42.
For more, we spoke with Ambassador Patrick Duddy, director of Duke University’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and from 2007 to 2010 he served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for both President Bush and President Obama.
Having gained two seats after the last census, Texas will now send 38 people to the House of Representatives in January, the second largest delegation after California. Because of redistricting, nearly every other seat is pretty safely in the red or blue column based on how voters decided between Trump and Biden two years ago.
Republican Monica De LaCruz is a small business owner and insurance agent. She has a massive fundraising advantage. She’s brought in nearly $4 million compared to Democrat Michelle Vallejo's $1.5 million. Democrat Michelle Vallejo is a grassroots and business leader. The outcomes of House races can be affected by campaigns at the top of the ticket, and the Texas governor's race versus Beto O'Rourke and Greg Abbott is a big one raging in Texas right now.
Race is also a big factor in this all-Latina, woman versus woman election. Texas’s 15th Congressional district is more than 80% Latino, and whatever happens in this Texas Congressional district will shape how many political observers understand the political power and preferences of Latino voters.
We hear from Maria Teresa Kumar, CEO and Co-Founder of Voto Latino and Matthew Choi, Washington Correspondent for the Texas Tribune for more.
The MacArthur Foundation just announced its newest class of fellows for 2022. Colloquially known as the MacArthur ‘Geniuses’, each class is meant to include some of the brightest minds across multiple disciplines. This year, the cohort is made up of authors, filmmakers, digital archivists, scientists, scholars and more.
Artist, photographer and filmmaker Sky Hopinka centers Indigenous perspectives in his films, layering abstract sounds, bright imagery and occasionally his own poems. Hopinka’s films are intended to capture the histories and contemporary experiences of Native peoples. His films Anti-Objects, or Space Without Path or Boundary (2017), Mnemonics of Shape and Reason (2021), and maɬni—towards the ocean, towards the shore (2020) all show Hopinka’s use of innovative cinematic language. He also founded COUSIN, a collective to support Native filmmakers and is an assistant professor of Film and Electronic Arts at Bard College.
The MacArthur Foundation just announced its newest class of fellows for 2022. Colloquially known as the MacArthur ‘Geniuses’, each class is meant to include some of the brightest minds across multiple disciplines. This year, the cohort is made up of authors, filmmakers, digital archivists, scientists, scholars and more.
Artist, photographer and filmmaker Sky Hopinka centers Indigenous perspectives in his films, layering abstract sounds, bright imagery and occasionally his own poems. Hopinka’s films are intended to capture the histories and contemporary experiences of Native peoples. His films Anti-Objects, or Space Without Path or Boundary (2017), Mnemonics of Shape and Reason (2021), and maɬni—towards the ocean, towards the shore (2020) all show Hopinka’s use of innovative cinematic language. He also founded COUSIN, a collective to support Native filmmakers and is an assistant professor of Film and Electronic Arts at Bard College.
BLACK.QUEER.RISING. is a special series where The Takeaway looks at Black, LGBTQ+ trailblazers and changemakers. We've gotten the chance to talk to artists like Big Freedia and Moore Kismet about their music, activist like #BlackLivesMatter founder Alicia Garza, and New York Congressman Richie Torres.
Today, we're talking to a member of this year’s TIMES 100 Most Influential People list, author, journalist, and activist George M. Johnson. They are the author of “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” their New York Times bestselling young adult, nonfiction “memoir-manifesto” that centers on growing up Black and Queer in America. According to PEN America, it is the second most banned book in the U.S. right now, as book bans are on the rise all over the country.
The book was adapted into a film, featuring a stylistic dramatized reading of the text. Our Deep Dive hosts Melissa and Dorian spoke to the film's award-winning director Nathan Hale Williams last year in a conversation about HIV-AIDS in Black communities.
George M. Johnson joins us to discuss their banned book and what Black.Queer.Rising means to them.
BLACK.QUEER.RISING. is a special series where The Takeaway looks at Black, LGBTQ+ trailblazers and changemakers. We've gotten the chance to talk to artists like Big Freedia and Moore Kismet about their music, activist like #BlackLivesMatter founder Alicia Garza, and New York Congressman Richie Torres.
Today, we're talking to a member of this year’s TIMES 100 Most Influential People list, author, journalist, and activist George M. Johnson. They are the author of “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” their New York Times bestselling young adult, nonfiction “memoir-manifesto” that centers on growing up Black and Queer in America. According to PEN America, it is the second most banned book in the U.S. right now, as book bans are on the rise all over the country.
The book was adapted into a film, featuring a stylistic dramatized reading of the text. Our Deep Dive hosts Melissa and Dorian spoke to the film's award-winning director Nathan Hale Williams last year in a conversation about HIV-AIDS in Black communities.
George M. Johnson joins us to discuss their banned book and what Black.Queer.Rising means to them.
22-year-old jazz phenom Samara Joy is out with her debut album, Linger Awhile. With comparisons to the likes of Sarah Vaughan and other great jazz artists, Samara is taking the music world by storm.
She talks to us about her career, when she knew music was her “thing,” and keeping it all together at such a young age.
22-year-old jazz phenom Samara Joy is out with her debut album, Linger Awhile. With comparisons to the likes of Sarah Vaughan and other great jazz artists, Samara is taking the music world by storm.
She talks to us about her career, when she knew music was her “thing,” and keeping it all together at such a young age.
Ohio 13 might be the most competitive congressional SHElection!** match up in the country right now. The race for Ohio’s 13th Congressional district is between Ohio State representative Emilia Sykes and Trump-backed attorney Madison Gesiotto Gilbert, who disagree on everything from the economy to abortion to who won the 2020 election...
Trump was able to carry Ohio both in 2016 and 2020 by about eight points. Until 2022, because of redistricting, Akron was broken apart, diluting its power and leaving political representation in the hands of people with less of a connection to the area. This cycle, Akron and nearby Summit City are fully intact on the redrawn maps, making over half of this voting district (51%) Democrat and 47% Republican. Most national polling deems the race a toss-up, but an early October FiveThirtyEight poll showed Gesiotto Gilbert with an "85 % chance of winning."
Gesiotto Gilbert, was Miss Ohio USA in 2014. She's married to Marcus Gilbert, the former NFL offensive tackle, and notably, she gave birth during the campaign cycle. Gesiotto Gilbert used to author a column about millennial politics called The Millennial Mindset at the Washington Times. She has no legislative record to uncover given that fact that she's never served in office, but she does have an interesting professional life as a conservative attorney and self-described business owner.
According to POLITICO, last year, she reported earning $24,000 as a contributor to conservative media outlet, The First. Gesiotto Gilbert also lists herself as the owner of a pageant consultancy called Pageant Precision. The consultancy's website no longer operates, and social media findings show that the company hasn't posted anything since 2017. POLITICO also reports that the Gilberts own The Gesiotto Gilbert Foundation, which the couple launched a week before Gesiotto Gilbert declared her candidacy. It describes itself as an organization “dedicated to cultivating the benevolent power of communities across Ohio and strengthening the state through innovative community initiatives, programs and services.” It also has no website, and state business filings list Pageant Precision as its mailing address.
Ohio state representative Emilia Sykes comes from a family of politicians. Sykes mother, Barbara, served on city council and in the Ohio House; her father as a state senator. Indeed, a Sykes has represented some part of Akron, Ohio for more than 4 decades now. In 2014, Emilia Sykes became the first Black woman under 30 to join the Ohio State House. She served as Minority Leader of the Ohio House and started an organization called #WeBelongHere to emphasize the importance of Black women’s political representation. Anna Starver, political reporter for USA Today's Ohio Bureau, noted that Sykes has signed legislation into law that deals with women's issues in particular. She had a bill come to law that allows victims of dating violence to get protective orders during the pandemic, pushed for Ohio lawmakers to prioritize helping Black Ohioans, and in policymaking, she focuses on things like health care.
Both young women are seen as potentially future leaders in their parties, but does this similarity neutralize gender as a factor in the race?
We hear from Wendy Smooth, Senior Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence and a Professor of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies at the Ohio State University and Anna Staver, a political reporter for USA Today network’s Ohio Bureau.
We're wrapping up our #DOWNBALLOT series with a trip to the local courtroom.
39 states elect judges in some form, so chances are you may see judges up for vote on your ballot in November. But what is the difference between all the different circuit courts in which judges preside over? And how can voters access information about the judges on their ballot? And... should judges even be elected?
Everything you can think of that impacts human beings happens in our courts. And judges are the ones who decide they have tremendous power. We don't know enough about them. So how do we pick the best judges when they're on the ballot? My answer is you can't unless you have sufficient information to know who these people are. And therein lies the problem. There is very little information out there about who these judicial candidates are. - LaDoris Hazzard Cordell
We speak with LaDoris Hazzard Cordell, retired California superior court judge, and author of the recent book Her Honor: My Life on the Bench... What Works, What's Broken, and How to Change It.
According to data from AdImpact, Republican candidates nationwide have recently increased their spending on ads attacking Democrats' approaches to crime and public safety. We look at how these narratives might impact voters' perception of their own safety and dig deeper into the data available on crimes rates — and what it can tell us about both causes and solutions to crime.
We're joined by Rena Karefa-Johnson, Director of National programming at FWD.us, and Ames Grawert, Senior Counsel at the Justice Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU.
On 20 October 2022, amid a continuing economic and political crisis, Truss announced her intention to resign as Prime Minister.
Installed by the UK's Conservative Party just last month, after her predecessor Boris Johnson was dramatically ousted, Truss had been in office less than six weeks before beginning the dizzying economic roller coaster she has been largely blamed for. But since her first days, some have said her days on the job are numbered. Turns out that the number of days Truss had was 45, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history.
Joining us to talk about the ever-changing political landscape of the UK is Adlea Suliman, Breaking News Reporter at the Washington Post, based in London.
Counties in 26 states elect county clerks. One of the primary responsibilities of the position is to administer elections. After the 2020 election, and false claims of election fraud by former President Trump and his supporters, county clerks and many of the election workers who work with them found themselves targeted by threats and harassment.
Those are the states that local elections administrators are really dealing with some brand new problems that I don't think any of us really expected after the 2020 election. They're getting physical assaults in their offices now. They're having to hire additional security. They have threats that they've had to report to the FBI. And, you know, for a job that was relatively unknown and also is so administrative and really when it's done right, is not a very controversial thing. It's been really jarring, I think, for a lot of election administrators that are now coming under attack for doing their job. And I think we're all still trying to figure out what that means for the future of elections administration. But everybody right now is really looking to 2024 and wondering what's going to happen. - Brianna Lennon
We speak with a Brianna Lennon, Boone County, Missouri County Clerk and co-host of the High Turnout, Wide Marginspodcast, about what a county clerk does, what voters should think about when electing one, and the importance of the position in upholding democracy.
This week we are running an entire series dedicated to the #DOWNBALLOT.
Coroners are elected in counties in 20 states in the country.
To learn more about about what a coroner does, and what is important to consider when voting for a coroner, we speak with Darnell Hartwell. He is currentlychief deputy coroner of Berkeley County, South Carolina, which encompasses parts of North Charleston and its outskirts. He is also a Republican candidate for coroner of Berkeley County running unopposed in the November midterm election
Interview Highlights
Melissa Harris-Perry: What kind of skill set does it take to do that kind of work?
Darnell Hartwell: The job of the coroner involves several different professions, we have to know some things about medical, law enforcement, legal. Again, we have extensive amount of hours and trainings that we have to have and maintain to be able to keep up with the qualifications and to be able to keep up with the changing times of things that we're seeing. Currently, right now we're seeing in Berkeley County, South Carolina, and other parts of the country as well, is the opioid pandemic. Again, we have to maintain knowledge on these changing things as well.
Melissa Harris-Perry: You did have a primary campaign. What does it mean? What does it look like to campaign for coroner?
Darnell Hartwell: Yes. Well, it was a busy campaign season for me. My candidate actually was in law enforcement for a number of years as well. He definitely had some of the requirements. Listening to the constituents here in Berkeley County, it was hard to beat the experience that I have. Again, working for the coroner's office for nearly 20 years, I've had the opportunity to work for three coroners and my career here with the Berkeley County Coroner's Office and my whole career was here working throughout this office.
I have investigated well over 5,000 deaths. I have several thousand hours of death investigating training, law enforcement training, medical investigating training. One of my campaign stumps was experience matters. You will want your coroner to be experienced, you want to be experienced in the investigation, you want to be able to have community connections, great relationships with law enforcement agencies, doctors' offices, hospitals. Throughout my career, I was able to build great relationships with all those entities here in Berkeley County.
A new book, “Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America,” explains how the “Stop the Steal” movement started online and resulted in the January 6 insurrection, using examples from Gamergate, the Occupy Wall Street movement and Donald Trump’s rise to the presidency to develop its playbook.
"Meme wars are about the struggle or battle over the definition of a situation or the definition of what it means to be on one side of an issue," book co-author Dr. Joan Donovan told The Takeaway. Donovan is the research director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.
"In a lot of ways, [meme wars] are an insurgent attack on the mainstream in some way. And in that sense, the idea is to bring fringe outsider ideas into the realm of the powerful," added co-author Emily Dreyfuss, Senior Managing Editor of the Shorenstein Center's Technology and Social Change Research Project project.
Dreyfuss and Donovan co-authored "Meme Wars" with Brian Friedberg, Senior Researcher on the Technology and Social Change Research Project.
For our #DOWNBALLOT series, we're looking at the role and importance of school board elected officials. Here's a highlight from today's interview:
Folks were very supportive of my campaign. I think people realized that, hey, it's a no brainer to have a student on the school board. You know, we're boots on the ground in the classroom. We know what our peers are facing. We know what's going on in our schools. So, it doesn't make sense not to have us included in the decision making and the policy making process in our schools. So that was the number one thing I heard was, yes, we should have a student on the school board. - Shiva Rajbhandari
Shiva Rajbhandari is a high school senior in the Boise School District who won an election in September to serve on the Boise School District Board of Trustees. He now serves on a school board who makes decisions which affect his own high school. We speak with Shiva about his experience as a student serving on the school board, why he believes students should have a seat at the table in school boards, and explore the importance of school boards as an important downballot elected office.
The fallout from the leaked audio of racist and derogatory comments made by Los Angeles City Councilmembers Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo and Kevin De Leon continues.
How does the city heal and move on from this? We’re joined by Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson who represents the 8th district in Los Angeles and Dr. Danielle Clealand, associate professor in the departments of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies and African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, to discuss anti-Blackness and colorism within the Latine community.
Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins joins us to discuss the 40th anniversary of The Actor’s Gang and their reprisal of the Play Ubu the King in Los Angeles. Robbins also discusses the ongoing work of their internationally recognized rehabilitation program, The Actor’s Gang Prison Project.
We kick off our "DOWNBALLOT" series to explore why local elections and politics matter.
Research shows that more than 30% of voters often don’t even bother filling out their entire ballot. Is it apathy or a lack of information about some of the less covered and more obscure races and candidates?
This week we'll be exploring what some of those down ballot elected officials actually do, what you should consider when you're voting for them, and how you can get research the candidates so that you can feel empowered and make an informed vote.
First we speak to Bridgett King, Associate Professor of political science at Auburn University, to learn why some voters don't vote for their entire ballot, and ways in which that can change.
Then we hear from Alex Niemczewski, Founder and CEO of BallotReady, a non-partisan organization, about how BallotReady is working to build a more engaged and informed electorate, and how voters can use it for to feel more confident in voting down ballot.
Producers Ryan and Katerina report on what makes a show or concert accessible to the deaf community and they look at, and try on, some technology from Music: Not Impossible that could help make attending concerts and experiencing music more accessible. Music Not Impossible created what they call “Haptic Suits,” specifically designed for the deaf and hard of hearing. The suits are used to translate music into vibrations that people can then feel throughout their entire body, which can provide a greater connection to music for deaf and hard of hearing communities, and break down barriers between hearing and deaf concert-goers. They spoke with a number of guests about this cutting-edge technology that's making the experience of music accessible for all.
Guests:
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Jeff Rosen, who is a Grateful Dead fan, and a Deafhead (which is what people who are deaf and also Grateful Dead fans, call themselves). Jeff was also the Chairman of the National Council on Disability under the Obama Administration and is now the general legal counsel for a company called Convo Communications LLC. We spoke to Jeff about the history of accessibility at Grateful Dead shows and what it means to have an accessible concert or venue.
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Paddy Hanlon is a co-founder of Music: Not Impossible and a Vibro DJ. He gave our producers a demo of their Haptic Suits at Nublu 151 in the East Village, New York.
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Alberto Madero, an ASL sign language interpreter, and his mother Merry Cuascut (Alberto interpreted for his mother), about their experience trying on Music: Not Impossible's Haptic Suits at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra this summer.
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Shelly Guy through an ASL interpreter about her experience trying on Music: Not Impossible's Haptic Suits at Lincoln Center's "An Evening of Access Magic " at their Silent Disco this summer. Shelly is a director of Community Engagement and Events Coordinator and the Director of Artistic Sign Language for Body Language Productions. She is also a performer and a deaf interpreter and works very closely with a non-profit organization called Up Until Now Collective.
Song credits:
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Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue,Performed by the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, conducted by Louis Langrée with pianist Conrad Tao.
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JOYRYDE & Skrillex - AGEN WIDA
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Binarium by Danny Dunlap, who is one of Music: Not Impossible's Vibro Tactile Composers and a Vibro DJ.
It's been a month since 22-year old Masah Jina Amini died after her brutal arrest by Iran's morality police who enforce the country's compulsory hijab law. As Iranians from all walks of life have taken to the streets, the government has responded with mass violence, with human rights groups reporting that at least 200 people have been killed. Despite the regime's internet blackouts, Iranians continue to share videos and reporting of the scope of the protests and brutality.
We're joined by Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, who has lived in exile in the U.S. for years as a result of her work. Since 2014, she's led social media campaigns encouraging Iranian women to commit acts of civil disobedience – such as removing hijabs – and taking video.
Four years ago, in February, 2018, Nikolas Cruz entered his former school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and opened fire. He killed 17 people. After pleading guilty last year, he was up for the death penalty. Yesterday, a jury decided to not sentence him to death, and instead he will serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole. We speak to Alexis Hoag-Fordjour, Assistant Professor of Law & Co-director of the Center for Criminal Justice at Brooklyn Law School, to discuss what legally constitutes justice in a crime this heinous.
We dive into the dynamics of one of the nation’s most competitive races during a pivotal midterm election cycle: Pennsylvania's Senate race.
Democratic candidate John Fetterman long held an edge in the race, as a candidate who flouted right-wing caricatures of the contemporary left as elite and out of touch — but a stroke he suffered in May left him with lingering side effects. His Republican opponent, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, and his team, have seized onto Fetterman's recovery, launching attacks to paint Fetterman as 'feeble' and 'lazy.'
New York Magazine writer-at-large Rebecca Traister writes, "But while the image of Fetterman as fighter is what his campaign is going for, it’s possible that it is benefiting from a more complicated dynamic: that over the course of the race, Fetterman has become even more familiar to voters, not because of his Everyman toughness but because of his struggles."
We speak with Traister whose recent piece chronicles Fetterman's trajectory and examines how tropes of masculinity are being deployed in this race.
"Kiese Laymon is a writer bearing witness to the myriad forms of violence that mark the Black experience. Laymon’s writing across genres is grounded in radical honesty and his perspective as a Black Southern man."- MacArthur Foundation.
Laymon’s first two books—the novel Long Division and the essay collection How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America—were originally published in 2013. He published revised editions in 2020 and 2021, respectively, that more fully realize his original visions for the works. Long Division (2020) mixes elements of speculative and science fiction, mystery, and a coming-of-age story about two Black Southern teenagers, both named City but from different time periods (1985 and 2013).
The author and 2022 recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship joined The Takeaway to talk about his work and what it was like to be inducted into the 2022 class of MacArthur Fellows.
Deidre DeJear is among the three Black women running to be some of the first Black women governors in the United States. Stacey Abrams in Georgia and Yolanda Flowers in Alabama are also vying to hold office as their states' top executive.
In 2018, DeJear became the first African American ever to be nominated by a major party for statewide office in Iowa and then did it again this year as the first Black person to ever win the Democratic nominee for governor of Iowa. DeJear is seeking office against Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, a popular incumbent seeking reelection, making this the first time two women are running against each other in the state. If elected, it would make DeJear Iowa's first Democratic governor in nearly 16 years.
Reynolds boasts an approval rating over 50%, an endorsement from former President Trump, and she delivered the Republican response to President Biden’s State of the Union address in March. Reynolds is currently pushing in court to allow a 2018 law to go into effect that would ban abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy- a timeframe before many women even know they are pregnant. The law does carry exceptions for rape, incest, fetal abnormalities and to protect the life of the mother.
In January, the Des Moines Register reported that Governor Reynolds had broken the record for most cash on hand reported for a campaign for Iowa governor- nearly $4.8 million. That kind of campaign finance advantage typically deters challengers, but DeJear has stepped up to the plate and is working to make sure that Monday's upcoming debate shows "the difference between the two... and [the] core issues that folks have been talking about all over the state," DeJear told the Des Moines Register.
We speak to Ian Richardson of the Des Moines Register and Deidre DeJear, Democratic candidate for Governor of Iowa, for a look into the Iowa governor's race in this edition of our special midterm election series SHElection! in partnership with Center for American Women and Politics and with support from Ms. Foundation.
Comedian Guy Branum joins us to talk about the new movie Bros, for which he’s a co-star and co-producer. We hear what it means to make a movie that centers the LGBTQ+ community both in front of and behind the camera. Guy also shares stories from his life in comedy, his stint as a lawyer, playing the sidekick, and his memoir, My Life As A Goddess.
Over the past three weeks, thousands of incarcerated people in Alabama have gone on strike in state prisons, stopping their work in prison facilities–work they aren’t paid for. The action comes after years of reported widespread negligence in the state’s prisons.
According to the Equal Justice Initiative, 14 people have been killed in prisons so far this year – putting the state on course to break a record set in 2019, when 18 homicides were recorded. As the strike carries on, inmates say that they’re receiving fewer meals and less recreation time as a form of punishment. State officials deny that claim, saying that normal services can’t be provided since the inmates aren’t working, and Alabama governor Kay Ivey said the corrections department has the current situation “well under control.”
We talk with Keri Blakinger, a reporter with The Marshall Project, to get the latest on the situation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched rhetoric about nuclear war in recent weeks, while escalating air missile attacks on Ukrainian cities after Russian forces suffered on-the-ground defeats. President Biden recently remarked that the world has only felt closer to nuclear war in 1962, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Though U.S. officials have stated they see no indication that Putin will follow through on his threats to use nuclear weapons, and Biden recently tempered his own response, the rhetoric has still left many on edge. We’re taking a look at what’s prompting Putin to escalate now and the rising stakes of Russia's war in Ukraine.
We're joined by Julian E. Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs in the Princeton School of Public & International Affairs and Nikolas Gvosdev, professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College and editor of "Orbis," a journal of world affairs by the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
New York Times Bestselling author, Brit Bennett, brought the newest American Girl Doll, “Claudie Wells” to life.
Claudie is the franchises’ fourth Black girl doll, growing up in 1920s Harlem during the creative boom of Harlem Renaissance. She spoke with The Takeaway about the making of Claudie, and the responsibility to balance historical accuracy with the playfulness of American Girl Dolls.
This year, an unprecedented number of candidates are skipping out on electoral debates, so we decided to take a closer look at electoral debates and their impact on midterm elections.
Joel Payne, CBS News political contributor and Brendan Buck, Partner at Seven Letter, a Washington and Boston-based public affairs firm, join us to understand how useful debates are in midterm elections, and who benefits from them most.
Jessi Hempel came out as lesbian; her siblings as transgender and bisexual; and it was revealed that Jessi’s father was gay through the children’s discovery of his infidelity. In her new book, she recounts this complicated family history and even unearths the story of her mother’s past romantic entanglement with an alleged accomplice to murder.
In “The Family Outing,” Hempel grapples with the power of secrets to perpetuate generational cycles of shame and silence, as well as the freedom that comes with telling the truth. Hempel joined to discuss her new book and how writing it brought her family closer.
Last week, a new dramedy called “Reservation Dogs” premiered on FX via Hulu. Set on Indian Territory in northeastern Oklahoma, the show is part of a renaissance among Indigenous creatives in Hollywood. It’s co-created by filmmakers Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi and had an entirely Indigenous writers room and directing team.
Shea Vassar, film and television critic and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, joined The Takeaway to discuss the new show and why it feels so refreshing for Indigenous audiences.
WATCH OFFICIAL TRAILER HERE
Biden is urging Governors to follow his lead on a state level, and called on the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to “review expeditiously” marijuana’s classification under the federal Controlled Substance Act.
The Takeaway was joined by Maritza Perez, the Director of the Office of Federal Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance to discuss Biden's pardon.
Biden is urging Governors to follow his lead on a state level, and called on the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to “review expeditiously” marijuana’s classification under the federal Controlled Substance Act.
The Takeaway was joined by Maritza Perez, the Director of the Office of Federal Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance to discuss Biden's pardon.
Nikki Giovanni, world renowned poet and beloved educator speaks with The Takeaway about her new book, "A Library" and its importance at this time when books are being banned across the country. She also shares stories about her love of writing, teaching, Beyoncé and what it’s like to retire after 35 years at Virginia Tech University.
Nikki Giovanni, world renowned poet and beloved educator speaks with The Takeaway about her new book, "A Library" and its importance at this time when books are being banned across the country. She also shares stories about her love of writing, teaching, Beyoncé and what it’s like to retire after 35 years at Virginia Tech University.
We're 30 days away from the final day to cast a vote in the 2022 midterm elections, and just about one hundred days ago, the Supreme Court' overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving access to abortion up to state lawmakers. The issue of abortion is of increasing importance to voters – and they are taking this fight to the ballot box: A survey by Pew Research in August found that 56-percent of voters said that abortion “will be very important in their midterm vote,” up from 43-percent in March.
In August, Kansas was the first state to vote on abortion rights since the June 24th ruling came down. Now, voters in five states: Vermont, California, Michigan, Kentucky and Montana, will be voting on abortion directly through ballot measures. In other states, including North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Michigan, competitive races for state legislatures, state supreme court justices, and governor’s seat, could tip the balance between abortion protections or restrictions.
For more on abortion issues on the ballot, we spoke with Alexis McGill-Johnson, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. And Laphonza Butler, is the President of Emily's List, which works to elect pro-choice Democratic women to office.
We're 30 days away from the final day to cast a vote in the 2022 midterm elections, and just about one hundred days ago, the Supreme Court' overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving access to abortion up to state lawmakers. The issue of abortion is of increasing importance to voters – and they are taking this fight to the ballot box: A survey by Pew Research in August found that 56-percent of voters said that abortion “will be very important in their midterm vote,” up from 43-percent in March.
In August, Kansas was the first state to vote on abortion rights since the June 24th ruling came down. Now, voters in five states: Vermont, California, Michigan, Kentucky and Montana, will be voting on abortion directly through ballot measures. In other states, including North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Michigan, competitive races for state legislatures, state supreme court justices, and governor’s seat, could tip the balance between abortion protections or restrictions.
For more on abortion issues on the ballot, we spoke with Alexis McGill-Johnson, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. And Laphonza Butler, is the President of Emily's List, which works to elect pro-choice Democratic women to office.
Two women have served as governor of Oregon: Democrat Barbara Roberts, who served from 1991 to 1995 and current Democratic Governor Kate Brown, who has held the office since 2015. Today, women hold the majority of statewide elective executive offices in Oregon.
In a little more than a month, voters will determine the next governor of Oregon; Democrat Kate Brown is term-limited. Oregon voters made history in 2016, when they elected Brown, who's openly bisexual, making her the first openly LGBT person elected governor in any state. Now, Oregon is the site of another historic gubernatorial contest. Three women are vying for the state’s top office: Tina Kotek (D), Christine Drazan (R), and Betsy Johnson (I).
All 3 women served in the Oregon state legislature. Democrat Tina Kotek, the first openly Lesbian woman to serve as Speaker of the Oregon House, served from 2013 to 2022. Republican Christine Drazan served as the Minority Leader of the Oregon House from 2019 to 2021. In that role, she was in direct conflict with then-Speaker Kotek. Betsy Johnson is a former member of both the Oregon House (2001-2005) and Senate (2005-2021). During the entirety of her tenure, she ran and served as a Democrat, but she is now running in the gubernatorial election as an Independent. Notably, Johnson’s successful petition drive to qualify for the ballot was bolstered by cash from Nike founder Phil Knight and several timber and construction companies and groups. The race has attracted over $30 million in campaign contributions, with national party groups backing Kotek and Drazan.
Already, the three candidates have differed sharply on their stances on issues like guns, law enforcement, housing, and education. The urban-rural divide in American politics is a factor shaping each candidates stance. And in a year where abortion is on the ballot, the issue remains a point of contention in the race where Republican Christine Drazan maintains a "pro-life" stance as abortion access becomes "increasingly important" for Oregonians.
We sat down with Alison Gash, an associate professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon and Hillary Borrud, State Government and Politics Reporter for The Oregonian, for more on this unique 3-way, SHElection!
Two women have served as governor of Oregon: Democrat Barbara Roberts, who served from 1991 to 1995 and current Democratic Governor Kate Brown, who has held the office since 2015. Today, women hold the majority of statewide elective executive offices in Oregon.
In a little more than a month, voters will determine the next governor of Oregon; Democrat Kate Brown is term-limited. Oregon voters made history in 2016, when they elected Brown, who's openly bisexual, making her the first openly LGBT person elected governor in any state. Now, Oregon is the site of another historic gubernatorial contest. Three women are vying for the state’s top office: Tina Kotek (D), Christine Drazan (R), and Betsy Johnson (I).
All 3 women served in the Oregon state legislature. Democrat Tina Kotek, the first openly Lesbian woman to serve as Speaker of the Oregon House, served from 2013 to 2022. Republican Christine Drazan served as the Minority Leader of the Oregon House from 2019 to 2021. In that role, she was in direct conflict with then-Speaker Kotek. Betsy Johnson is a former member of both the Oregon House (2001-2005) and Senate (2005-2021). During the entirety of her tenure, she ran and served as a Democrat, but she is now running in the gubernatorial election as an Independent. Notably, Johnson’s successful petition drive to qualify for the ballot was bolstered by cash from Nike founder Phil Knight and several timber and construction companies and groups. The race has attracted over $30 million in campaign contributions, with national party groups backing Kotek and Drazan.
Already, the three candidates have differed sharply on their stances on issues like guns, law enforcement, housing, and education. The urban-rural divide in American politics is a factor shaping each candidates stance. And in a year where abortion is on the ballot, the issue remains a point of contention in the race where Republican Christine Drazan maintains a "pro-life" stance as abortion access becomes "increasingly important" for Oregonians.
We sat down with Alison Gash, an associate professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon and Hillary Borrud, State Government and Politics Reporter for The Oregonian, for more on this unique 3-way, SHElection!
Two women have served as governor of Oregon: Democrat Barbara Roberts, who served from 1991 to 1995 and current Democratic Governor Kate Brown, who has held the office since 2015. Today, women hold the majority of statewide elective executive offices in Oregon.
In a little more than a month, voters will determine the next governor of Oregon; Democrat Kate Brown is term-limited. Oregon voters made history in 2016, when they elected Brown, who's openly bisexual, making her the first openly LGBT person elected governor in any state. Now, Oregon is the site of another historic gubernatorial contest. Three women are vying for the state’s top office: Tina Kotek (D), Christine Drazan (R), and Betsy Johnson (I).
All 3 women served in the Oregon state legislature. Democrat Tina Kotek, the first openly Lesbian woman to serve as Speaker of the Oregon House, served from 2013 to 2022. Republican Christine Drazan served as the Minority Leader of the Oregon House from 2019 to 2021. In that role, she was in direct conflict with then-Speaker Kotek. Betsy Johnson is a former member of both the Oregon House (2001-2005) and Senate (2005-2021). During the entirety of her tenure, she ran and served as a Democrat, but she is now running in the gubernatorial election as an Independent. Notably, Johnson’s successful petition drive to qualify for the ballot was bolstered by cash from Nike founder Phil Knight and several timber and construction companies and groups. The race has attracted over $30 million in campaign contributions, with national party groups backing Kotek and Drazan.
Already, the three candidates have differed sharply on their stances on issues like guns, law enforcement, housing, and education. The urban-rural divide in American politics is a factor shaping each candidates stance. And in a year where abortion is on the ballot, the issue remains a point of contention in the race where Republican Christine Drazan maintains a "pro-life" stance as abortion access becomes "increasingly important" for Oregonians.
We sat down with Alison Gash, an associate professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon and Hillary Borrud, State Government and Politics Reporter for The Oregonian, for more on this unique 3-way, SHElection!
For many, Dolly Parton’s legacy is linked to catchy country tunes and cowboy boots; but for those who have turned to her in times of pain, Parton’s music holds a much deeper meaning.
Lynn Melnick is the author of the book, “I've Had To Think Up a Way to Survive: On Trauma, Persistence, and Dolly Parton.”
The Takeaway spoke with Melnick about her memoir, and how her story of trauma and perseverance is intertwined with Dolly Parton's lyrics and legacy.
For many, Dolly Parton’s legacy is linked to catchy country tunes and cowboy boots; but for those who have turned to her in times of pain, Parton’s music holds a much deeper meaning.
Lynn Melnick is the author of the book, “I've Had To Think Up a Way to Survive: On Trauma, Persistence, and Dolly Parton.”
The Takeaway spoke with Melnick about her memoir, and how her story of trauma and perseverance is intertwined with Dolly Parton's lyrics and legacy.
For many, Dolly Parton’s legacy is linked to catchy country tunes and cowboy boots; but for those who have turned to her in times of pain, Parton’s music holds a much deeper meaning.
Lynn Melnick is the author of the book, “I've Had To Think Up a Way to Survive: On Trauma, Persistence, and Dolly Parton.”
The Takeaway spoke with Melnick about her memoir, and how her story of trauma and perseverance is intertwined with Dolly Parton's lyrics and legacy.
Cheating in sports and games is nothing new. From Lance Armstrong, to the Russian Olympic delegation’s doping scandals, from the steroid era in Baseball, to Tom Brady and “Deflategate,” cheaters come with the territory of competition. But recently a number of cheating controversies have rocked more obscure sports: fishing, chess, and poker. And the scandals have captivated online audiences.
David Mack, senior reporter for Buzzfeed News, has called cheating the "hottest trend in 2022." He joins us to break down these controversies, and offers analysis of they have captured the attention of Americans.
Cheating in sports and games is nothing new. From Lance Armstrong, to the Russian Olympic delegation’s doping scandals, from the steroid era in Baseball, to Tom Brady and “Deflategate,” cheaters come with the territory of competition. But recently a number of cheating controversies have rocked more obscure sports: fishing, chess, and poker. And the scandals have captivated online audiences.
David Mack, senior reporter for Buzzfeed News, has called cheating the "hottest trend in 2022." He joins us to break down these controversies, and offers analysis of they have captured the attention of Americans.
Cheating in sports and games is nothing new. From Lance Armstrong, to the Russian Olympic delegation’s doping scandals, from the steroid era in Baseball, to Tom Brady and “Deflategate,” cheaters come with the territory of competition. But recently a number of cheating controversies have rocked more obscure sports: fishing, chess, and poker. And the scandals have captivated online audiences.
David Mack, senior reporter for Buzzfeed News, has called cheating the "hottest trend in 2022." He joins us to break down these controversies, and offers analysis of they have captured the attention of Americans.
Hurricane Ian is just one of seven hurricanes hitting U.S. shorelines to reach category 4 or higher ratings since 2017. The storm, following the patterns of its predecessors, rapidly intensified right before touching ground. Scientists are now speaking out about the relationship between the intensity of these storms and the effects of climate change.
Kasha Patel, climate change writer and deputy weather editor at The Washington Post, joined The Takeaway to help us better understand the relationship between hurricane intensity and climate change.
Hurricane Ian is just one of seven hurricanes hitting U.S. shorelines to reach category 4 or higher ratings since 2017. The storm, following the patterns of its predecessors, rapidly intensified right before touching ground. Scientists are now speaking out about the relationship between the intensity of these storms and the effects of climate change.
Kasha Patel, climate change writer and deputy weather editor at The Washington Post, joined The Takeaway to help us better understand the relationship between hurricane intensity and climate change.
Hurricane Ian is just one of seven hurricanes hitting U.S. shorelines to reach category 4 or higher ratings since 2017. The storm, following the patterns of its predecessors, rapidly intensified right before touching ground. Scientists are now speaking out about the relationship between the intensity of these storms and the effects of climate change.
Kasha Patel, climate change writer and deputy weather editor at The Washington Post, joined The Takeaway to help us better understand the relationship between hurricane intensity and climate change.
Hurricane Ian is just one of seven hurricanes hitting U.S. shorelines to reach category 4 or higher ratings since 2017. The storm, following the patterns of its predecessors, rapidly intensified right before touching ground. Scientists are now speaking out about the relationship between the intensity of these storms and the effects of climate change.
Kasha Patel, climate change writer and deputy weather editor at The Washington Post, joined The Takeaway to help us better understand the relationship between hurricane intensity and climate change.
One short-listed film from this year's March on Washington Film Festival is the student-made documentary: “BlackatSMU.”
Highlighting tweets shared in 2020 under the viral hashtag #BlackAtSMU, the documentary tackles Black student’s experience with persistent racism on Southern Methodist University’s predominately white campus. Co-directors Aysia Lane and Crislyn Fayson, as well as producer Jillian Taylor, joined us to discuss their creative process for the film and hopes of the future.
One short-listed film from this year's March on Washington Film Festival is the student-made documentary: “BlackatSMU.”
Highlighting tweets shared in 2020 under the viral hashtag #BlackAtSMU, the documentary tackles Black student’s experience with persistent racism on Southern Methodist University’s predominately white campus. Co-directors Aysia Lane and Crislyn Fayson, as well as producer Jillian Taylor, joined us to discuss their creative process for the film and hopes of the future.
One short-listed film from this year's March on Washington Film Festival is the student-made documentary: “BlackatSMU.”
Highlighting tweets shared in 2020 under the viral hashtag #BlackAtSMU, the documentary tackles Black student’s experience with persistent racism on Southern Methodist University’s predominately white campus. Co-directors Aysia Lane and Crislyn Fayson, as well as producer Jillian Taylor, joined us to discuss their creative process for the film and hopes of the future.
One short-listed film from this year's March on Washington Film Festival is the student-made documentary: “BlackatSMU.”
Highlighting tweets shared in 2020 under the viral hashtag #BlackAtSMU, the documentary tackles Black student’s experience with persistent racism on Southern Methodist University’s predominately white campus. Co-directors Aysia Lane and Crislyn Fayson, as well as producer Jillian Taylor, joined us to discuss their creative process for the film and hopes of the future.
Last Wednesday, Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida and made landfall near Fort Myers as a category 4 storm, causing severe storm surge and flooding. Ian is tied for the fifth-strongest hurricane by wind speed in U.S. history. Its strength puts it alongside other recent hurricanes in the Gulf Coast like Ida and Laura.
Early projections of Ian’s destruction estimate that the storm has created tens of billions of dollars in damage across Florida. Although several communities were hit by the hurricane, Fort Myers and Sanibel Island in Lee County were among the hardest hit. And at a press conference on Tuesday, the Lee County Sheriff confirmed 55 deaths in the county, which is more than half of the total deaths in the state. Nearly 180,000 customers are still without power. And school is still closed in the county for the rest of the week.
Now that storm waters have receded, these communities are looking ahead at recovery. As we’ve learned in the past, not all communities are equally equipped to deal with the devastation after a hurricane. In a November 2020 report, FEMA’s own advisors admitted that the agency wasn’t meeting requirements to provide aid without discriminating based on race and other factors. One of President Biden’s first goals was to change that. Early in office, he signed an executive order that mandated federal agencies to create racial equity – both in new and existing policies. But in the community of Dunbar, a historically Black neighborhood in Fort Myers, about a quarter of its residents live below the federal poverty line, and many are concerned they won’t get the recovery assistance they need. In nearby Harlem Heights, a predominantly Latino and Black neighborhood, more than a third of residents live below the federal poverty line.
For more, we spoke with Florida State Representative of District 70, Michele Rayner-Goolsby.
Last Wednesday, Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida and made landfall near Fort Myers as a category 4 storm, causing severe storm surge and flooding. Ian is tied for the fifth-strongest hurricane by wind speed in U.S. history. Its strength puts it alongside other recent hurricanes in the Gulf Coast like Ida and Laura.
Early projections of Ian’s destruction estimate that the storm has created tens of billions of dollars in damage across Florida. Although several communities were hit by the hurricane, Fort Myers and Sanibel Island in Lee County were among the hardest hit. And at a press conference on Tuesday, the Lee County Sheriff confirmed 55 deaths in the county, which is more than half of the total deaths in the state. Nearly 180,000 customers are still without power. And school is still closed in the county for the rest of the week.
Now that storm waters have receded, these communities are looking ahead at recovery. As we’ve learned in the past, not all communities are equally equipped to deal with the devastation after a hurricane. In a November 2020 report, FEMA’s own advisors admitted that the agency wasn’t meeting requirements to provide aid without discriminating based on race and other factors. One of President Biden’s first goals was to change that. Early in office, he signed an executive order that mandated federal agencies to create racial equity – both in new and existing policies. But in the community of Dunbar, a historically Black neighborhood in Fort Myers, about a quarter of its residents live below the federal poverty line, and many are concerned they won’t get the recovery assistance they need. In nearby Harlem Heights, a predominantly Latino and Black neighborhood, more than a third of residents live below the federal poverty line.
For more, we spoke with Florida State Representative of District 70, Michele Rayner-Goolsby.
Last Wednesday, Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida and made landfall near Fort Myers as a category 4 storm, causing severe storm surge and flooding. Ian is tied for the fifth-strongest hurricane by wind speed in U.S. history. Its strength puts it alongside other recent hurricanes in the Gulf Coast like Ida and Laura.
Early projections of Ian’s destruction estimate that the storm has created tens of billions of dollars in damage across Florida. Although several communities were hit by the hurricane, Fort Myers and Sanibel Island in Lee County were among the hardest hit. And at a press conference on Tuesday, the Lee County Sheriff confirmed 55 deaths in the county, which is more than half of the total deaths in the state. Nearly 180,000 customers are still without power. And school is still closed in the county for the rest of the week.
Now that storm waters have receded, these communities are looking ahead at recovery. As we’ve learned in the past, not all communities are equally equipped to deal with the devastation after a hurricane. In a November 2020 report, FEMA’s own advisors admitted that the agency wasn’t meeting requirements to provide aid without discriminating based on race and other factors. One of President Biden’s first goals was to change that. Early in office, he signed an executive order that mandated federal agencies to create racial equity – both in new and existing policies. But in the community of Dunbar, a historically Black neighborhood in Fort Myers, about a quarter of its residents live below the federal poverty line, and many are concerned they won’t get the recovery assistance they need. In nearby Harlem Heights, a predominantly Latino and Black neighborhood, more than a third of residents live below the federal poverty line.
For more, we spoke with Florida State Representative of District 70, Michele Rayner-Goolsby.
Last Wednesday, Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida and made landfall near Fort Myers as a category 4 storm, causing severe storm surge and flooding. Ian is tied for the fifth-strongest hurricane by wind speed in U.S. history. Its strength puts it alongside other recent hurricanes in the Gulf Coast like Ida and Laura.
Early projections of Ian’s destruction estimate that the storm has created tens of billions of dollars in damage across Florida. Although several communities were hit by the hurricane, Fort Myers and Sanibel Island in Lee County were among the hardest hit. And at a press conference on Tuesday, the Lee County Sheriff confirmed 55 deaths in the county, which is more than half of the total deaths in the state. Nearly 180,000 customers are still without power. And school is still closed in the county for the rest of the week.
Now that storm waters have receded, these communities are looking ahead at recovery. As we’ve learned in the past, not all communities are equally equipped to deal with the devastation after a hurricane. In a November 2020 report, FEMA’s own advisors admitted that the agency wasn’t meeting requirements to provide aid without discriminating based on race and other factors. One of President Biden’s first goals was to change that. Early in office, he signed an executive order that mandated federal agencies to create racial equity – both in new and existing policies. But in the community of Dunbar, a historically Black neighborhood in Fort Myers, about a quarter of its residents live below the federal poverty line, and many are concerned they won’t get the recovery assistance they need. In nearby Harlem Heights, a predominantly Latino and Black neighborhood, more than a third of residents live below the federal poverty line.
For more, we spoke with Florida State Representative of District 70, Michele Rayner-Goolsby.
Angelica Ross is an actress, singer, and Trans activist. The former Pose star who played the beloved character Candy Ferocity, is now making her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in the musical "Chicago." She is making history as the first openly Trans lead in a major Broadway musical.
We speak with Angelica Ross, about her trailblazing journey to Broadway.
Angelica Ross is an actress, singer, and Trans activist. The former Pose star who played the beloved character Candy Ferocity, is now making her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in the musical "Chicago." She is making history as the first openly Trans lead in a major Broadway musical.
We speak with Angelica Ross, about her trailblazing journey to Broadway.
Angelica Ross is an actress, singer, and Trans activist. The former Pose star who played the beloved character Candy Ferocity, is now making her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in the musical "Chicago." She is making history as the first openly Trans lead in a major Broadway musical.
We speak with Angelica Ross, about her trailblazing journey to Broadway.
Angelica Ross is an actress, singer, and Trans activist. The former Pose star who played the beloved character Candy Ferocity, is now making her Broadway debut as Roxie Hart in the musical "Chicago." She is making history as the first openly Trans lead in a major Broadway musical.
We speak with Angelica Ross, about her trailblazing journey to Broadway.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Colombian President Gustavo Petro in Bogota Monday. On the agenda were policies key to the future of U.S.-Colombian relations. Colombia’s first leftist president supports ending forced eradication of coca plants and backs legislation which could lead to decriminalizing cocaine. He re-established diplomatic relations with Venezuela and re-opened the border, and questioned the value of Latin American intervention in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
For more on all this, we speak with Camila Hernandez, Associate Director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council.
With far reaching implications for long standing precedent on issues like voting access, LGBTQ rights and beyond, the new session’s docket will likely remain as contentious as the last one’s. The Court’s right-wing majority is expected to continue leaning right on certain legal issues, drawing criticism of the institution’s objectivity.
We speak with Melissa Murray, Stokes professor of law at NYU, faculty director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and co-host of the legal podcast, Strict Scrutiny.
President Biden announced his student loan forgiveness plan at the end of August. But in a reversal last week, the Biden Administration announced that it is scaling back its debt forgiveness plan, reducing relief for hundreds of thousands of Americans. All this comes amidst legal challenges targeting the program. Last week, six Republican-led states filed lawsuit together requesting an immediate restraining order of the program. Arizona has filed a similar lawsuit separately.
We speak with Cory Turner, education correspondent for NPR, about why the Biden Administration has scaled back the program, and whether the student loan forgiveness program will stand up to the legal challenges it now faces.
What’s the history and relationship between country music and Black people? That question and more is the subject of the new book, “Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions,” by Francesca Royster. In the book, Royster writes about the careers of folks like Charley Pride, Darius Rucker, Tina Turner, Beyonce and Lil Nas X along with the white washing of country music to exclude black artists and how contemporary Black Artists are working to change that narrative.
It’s been nearly 10 years since Colorado and Washington became the first states to approve marijuana for recreational use. Since then 19 states have legalized marijuana for recreational use and nearly 40 states have legalized marijuana for medical use.
In November, citizens in 5 states: Maryland, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri and Arkansas will vote on marijuana legalization measures.
We’ll talk about the states that have marijuana as a ballot measure for the 2022 midterms with Bruce Barcott, Senior Editor at Leafly, the World’s Cannabis Information Source.
It’s been nearly 10 years since Colorado and Washington became the first states to approve marijuana for recreational use. Since then 19 states have legalized marijuana for recreational use and nearly 40 states have legalized marijuana for medical use.
In November, citizens in 5 states: Maryland, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri and Arkansas will vote on marijuana legalization measures.
We’ll talk about the states that have marijuana as a ballot measure for the 2022 midterms with Bruce Barcott, Senior Editor at Leafly, the World’s Cannabis Information Source.
With more than 48% of the vote, leftist former president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva didn't earn enough votes to secure a win over current far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who clinched more than 43% of the vote. Bolsonaro sewed the seeds of mistrust in the electoral system throughout his campaign, leading to some concerns of a January 6th style insurrection should he lose.
The country, split on issues like traditional and religious values, LGBTQ and Indigenous rights, economic and environmental policy and the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic will vote again in a runoff election on October 30th. Freelance journalist in Brazil, Ana Ionova discusses the election's outcome and what the next steps mean for Brazil.
With more than 48% of the vote, leftist former president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva didn't earn enough votes to secure a win over current far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who clinched more than 43% of the vote. Bolsonaro sewed the seeds of mistrust in the electoral system throughout his campaign, leading to some concerns of a January 6th style insurrection should he lose.
The country, split on issues like traditional and religious values, LGBTQ and Indigenous rights, economic and environmental policy and the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic will vote again in a runoff election on October 30th. Freelance journalist in Brazil, Ana Ionova discusses the election's outcome and what the next steps mean for Brazil.
The new book "Brown Enough: True Stories About Love, Violence, The Student Loan Crisis, Hollywood, Race, Familia and Making It in America," is as much a memoir as it is a deep dive into what it truly means to be Brown in America. We talk with actor and author Christopher Rivas about how the language of identity fails us, the importance of representation and how to make space for non-binary thinking.
The new book "Brown Enough: True Stories About Love, Violence, The Student Loan Crisis, Hollywood, Race, Familia and Making It in America," is as much a memoir as it is a deep dive into what it truly means to be Brown in America. We talk with actor and author Christopher Rivas about how the language of identity fails us, the importance of representation and how to make space for non-binary thinking.
On Friday, in a ceremony at the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed the annexation of four regions of Ukraine: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. These regions make up about 15-percent of Ukrainian territory.
A map from BBC showing the regions Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed. (Institute for the Study of War via BBC)
The announcement was resoundingly condemned as illegal and illegitimate by the the international community. A day after the announcement, Ukraine liberated the Donetsk city of Lyman, forcing Russian troops to retreat in another humiliating defeat in recent weeks.
We speak with Ambassador Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and professor of international studies at Stanford, about how Russia’s annexation announcement changes the war, and what this announcement means for growing tensions between the U.S. and Russia.
On Friday, in a ceremony at the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed the annexation of four regions of Ukraine: Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. These regions make up about 15-percent of Ukrainian territory.
A map from BBC showing the regions Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed. (Institute for the Study of War via BBC)
The announcement was resoundingly condemned as illegal and illegitimate by the the international community. A day after the announcement, Ukraine liberated the Donetsk city of Lyman, forcing Russian troops to retreat in another humiliating defeat in recent weeks.
We speak with Ambassador Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and professor of international studies at Stanford, about how Russia’s annexation announcement changes the war, and what this announcement means for growing tensions between the U.S. and Russia.
After an 8 year hiatus, actress and singer Patina Miller has returned to Broadway this summer for the iconic role of The Witch in the play “Into the Woods.” We speak with her about her time away from Broadway, her return to the stage, and how she's made the role of The Witch her own.
After an 8 year hiatus, actress and singer Patina Miller has returned to Broadway this summer for the iconic role of The Witch in the play “Into the Woods.” We speak with her about her time away from Broadway, her return to the stage, and how she's made the role of The Witch her own.
Rikers Island, sits in the East River just across from LaGuardia Airport and its 10 jail campus is the main carceral complex for New York City. For decades, advocates and journalists have documented the dysfunction, violence, and deteriorating conditions at Rikers.
Now, new photos obtained through a public information request by Gothamist, reveal just how bad the conditions are, and the extreme neglect of some of the defendants held there.
The disturbing photos were shown to hundreds of prosecutors in an August presentation prepared by the Board of Correction, which oversees and regulates the Department of Correction. According to a person who attended the presentation, it appears that the District Attorney’s Office requested this look inside the jail to make prosecutors consider the conditions at Rikers before making decisions on charges or requests for bail.
And it’s important to remember, that a majority of the people detained at Rikers are waiting for trial, and haven’t been convicted of a crime. Defendants wait months, and sometimes years, for their court hearings.
We speak with Matt Katz, the reporter for WNYC and Gothamist who requested and wrote about these photos.
Rikers Island, sits in the East River just across from LaGuardia Airport and its 10 jail campus is the main carceral complex for New York City. For decades, advocates and journalists have documented the dysfunction, violence, and deteriorating conditions at Rikers.
Now, new photos obtained through a public information request by Gothamist, reveal just how bad the conditions are, and the extreme neglect of some of the defendants held there.
The disturbing photos were shown to hundreds of prosecutors in an August presentation prepared by the Board of Correction, which oversees and regulates the Department of Correction. According to a person who attended the presentation, it appears that the District Attorney’s Office requested this look inside the jail to make prosecutors consider the conditions at Rikers before making decisions on charges or requests for bail.
And it’s important to remember, that a majority of the people detained at Rikers are waiting for trial, and haven’t been convicted of a crime. Defendants wait months, and sometimes years, for their court hearings.
We speak with Matt Katz, the reporter for WNYC and Gothamist who requested and wrote about these photos.
There are record breaking numbers of LGBTQ+, Black and Latino candidates running in this year's midterm elections.
Among the closely watched elections, like Stacey Abrams' second attempt in Georgia's gubernatorial election and the three Texas congressional districts along the southern boarder, many elections featuring diverse candidates like Cheri Beasley's race for North Carolina Senate or Odessa Kelly's shift to Tennessee's 7th Congressional District have flown under the radar of national political media.
A panel of political strategists, Aisha Mills and Maria Cardona, discuss the elections they're following, the likelihood of a large demographic shift in Congress and the larger implications of more diverse representation.
There are record breaking numbers of LGBTQ+, Black and Latino candidates running in this year's midterm elections.
Among the closely watched elections, like Stacey Abrams' second attempt in Georgia's gubernatorial election and the three Texas congressional districts along the southern boarder, many elections featuring diverse candidates like Cheri Beasley's race for North Carolina Senate or Odessa Kelly's shift to Tennessee's 7th Congressional District have flown under the radar of national political media.
A panel of political strategists, Aisha Mills and Maria Cardona, discuss the elections they're following, the likelihood of a large demographic shift in Congress and the larger implications of more diverse representation.
Megan Piphus Peace is the first Black woman puppeteer at Sesame Street in the U.S., voicing the character, Gabrielle.
Megan began teaching herself the art of ventriloquy at the age of 10 when she fell in love with her friends on Sesame Street.
While her previous career in real-estate development was a success, her passion and pursuit for puppetry remained. Megan joined the Sesame Street cast full-time in 2021, and will be bringing her spirit and musical talent to the voice of Gabrielle for the show’s upcoming season. We sat down with her to discuss what Sesame Street viewerscan learn from Gabrielle.
As Hurricane Ian batters Florida after knocking out Cuba's entire electrical grid Tuesday, more than 300,000 Puerto Ricans were still without power after Hurricane Fiona hit the island over a week ago. It's drawn parallels to Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island five years ago. With what could be the sixth costliest hurricane in the U.S., response, rescue and repair will likely dwarf support for Puerto Rico, which is still recovering from last week’s Hurricane Fiona.
Still languishing government response keeps artists and activists like Bad Bunny busy spreading the word about government corruption. Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny has been using his platform to bring awareness to Puerto Rico’s political problems. In the latest official music video from the Boricua reggaeton star, Bad Bunny cuts between his song “El Apagón” (the blackout) and a documentary.
The film, by freelance journalist Bianca Graulau, highlights the devastation caused by the displacement of Puerto Ricans due to gentrification and government corruption. The Takeaway speaks with Graulau about her reporting and her work with one of the biggest artists in the world right now.
Louisiana’s State Penitentiary, commonly known as Angola, is one of the largest maximum security adult prisons in the country. There are 4,400 prisoners at Angola currently serving life without parole in a state with the highest incarceration rate in the U.S. It is also notorious for its brutal treatment of prisoners. Last month, The Takeaway discussed Louisiana's Governor Jon Bell Edwards proposal to move teens from a juvenile detention center to a facility on the grounds of the former slave labor camp.
Advocates and families filed a federal lawsuit to block this move saying it would be dangerous for the teens and young adults, and a federal judge placed a temporary hold on the plan. Now, a federal judge has lifted the stay, and the state can now move ahead with a plan to relocate about two dozen incarcerated young people from the Bridge City Center for Youth to a facility on Angola's grounds. The facility is a building previously designed to hold adult death row inmates. The ruling allows for the transfer of children as young as 12.
At a press conference in July, Governor Edwards said they would not have any direct contact with adult inmates at Angola, and would be housed in a separate facility, but parents and advocates remained worry what sending children as young as 12 to a maximum-security prison would only further the isolation and trauma wrapped up in childhood incarceration.
We spoke with Gina Womack, Executive Director of Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children, and we also spoke with a mother of an incarcerated youth at Bridge City Center for Youth in Bridge City, Louisiana.
Check out our previous segments covering Angola: Louisiana's Juvenile Detention Crisis.
Pete Souza, was the former Official White House Photographer for President Ronald Reagan and former Chief White House Photographer for President Barack Obama.
We speak to him about his career documenting presidencies and his latest book of photographs, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside The Presidency.
Pete Souza, was the former Official White House Photographer for President Ronald Reagan and former Chief White House Photographer for President Barack Obama.
We speak to him about his career documenting presidencies and his latest book of photographs, The West Wing and Beyond: What I Saw Inside The Presidency.
Last Wednesday, draft papers were delivered to thousands of people across Russia after Vladimir Putin announced the country’s first mobilization since World War II. Tens of thousands of men are fleeing the country to dodge the draft.
We’re checking in with Dr. William Pomeranz, director of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, to better understand what’s going on in the country.
Last Wednesday, draft papers were delivered to thousands of people across Russia after Vladimir Putin announced the country’s first mobilization since World War II. Tens of thousands of men are fleeing the country to dodge the draft.
We’re checking in with Dr. William Pomeranz, director of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, to better understand what’s going on in the country.
The Senate will likely pass a stopgap bill Thursday after West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin pulled his contentious energy permitting legislation from the package. While some House Republicans with inconsequential votes framed the bill as Democrat-led over-spending, Republican leadership is looking forward.
As the stopgap bill ends on December 16, Bloomberg congressional reporter Erik Wasson says the bigger budget fight will likely come later as Republicans hope to regain control of the House. He joins the show to discuss how the threat of a shutdown factors into partisan politics ahead of the midterms.
The Senate will likely pass a stopgap bill Thursday after West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin pulled his contentious energy permitting legislation from the package. While some House Republicans with inconsequential votes framed the bill as Democrat-led over-spending, Republican leadership is looking forward.
As the stopgap bill ends on December 16, Bloomberg congressional reporter Erik Wasson says the bigger budget fight will likely come later as Republicans hope to regain control of the House. He joins the show to discuss how the threat of a shutdown factors into partisan politics ahead of the midterms.
Gretchen Whitmer (D) is the second woman governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm (D), the current Secretary of Energy, was the first.
No Republican woman has ever served as governor of Michigan, but the relatively unknown, Trump-endorsed Tudor Dixon would be the first if elected over incumbent Gretchen Whitmer. After winning in 2018, Governor Whitmer quickly became a star in her party, and in 2020 delivered the Democratic response to President Trump’s final State of the Union address.
In Michigan's May primaries, 10 candidates were seeking the Republican nomination, but half were disqualified when it was discovered that their nominating petitions included tens of thousands of forged signatures. The early Republican front runner and the Republican candidate with the biggest campaign budget were among those disqualified early, and suddenly Tudor Dixon was leading a much narrower field.
With fewer dollars to spend than her opponent, Dixon is relying more heavily on earned media. It’s an incentive to be more outrageous and earn free news coverage to keep her name in front of the voters. Dixon effectively did this earlier in September when she used her address to the annual CPAC conference to make light of a 2020 plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer. In August, two men were convicted of conspiracy in the case.
Michigan voters are also in a unique position this year. Not only will they decide the state’s governor, they will also vote on a ballot measure which could ensure that access to abortion is protected by the state’s constitution. Governor Whitmer is a proponent of abortion access; meanwhile, Tudor Dixon has been an open opponent of abortion, even in the case of rape or incest. Democratic ad attacks have made this a central theme of the campaign because much like the Governor, Dixon has also emphasized her identity as a woman and a mother. So, what will be the outcome in this SHElection?
We hear from Simon Schuster, a senior political reporter with M Live and Jenna Bednar, a professor of political science and public policy at the University of Michigan and External Faculty of the Santa Fe Institute about Michigan's governor's race.
Gretchen Whitmer (D) is the second woman governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm (D), the current Secretary of Energy, was the first.
No Republican woman has ever served as governor of Michigan, but the relatively unknown, Trump-endorsed Tudor Dixon would be the first if elected over incumbent Gretchen Whitmer. After winning in 2018, Governor Whitmer quickly became a star in her party, and in 2020 delivered the Democratic response to President Trump’s final State of the Union address.
In Michigan's May primaries, 10 candidates were seeking the Republican nomination, but half were disqualified when it was discovered that their nominating petitions included tens of thousands of forged signatures. The early Republican front runner and the Republican candidate with the biggest campaign budget were among those disqualified early, and suddenly Tudor Dixon was leading a much narrower field.
With fewer dollars to spend than her opponent, Dixon is relying more heavily on earned media. It’s an incentive to be more outrageous and earn free news coverage to keep her name in front of the voters. Dixon effectively did this earlier in September when she used her address to the annual CPAC conference to make light of a 2020 plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer. In August, two men were convicted of conspiracy in the case.
Michigan voters are also in a unique position this year. Not only will they decide the state’s governor, they will also vote on a ballot measure which could ensure that access to abortion is protected by the state’s constitution. Governor Whitmer is a proponent of abortion access; meanwhile, Tudor Dixon has been an open opponent of abortion, even in the case of rape or incest. Democratic ad attacks have made this a central theme of the campaign because much like the Governor, Dixon has also emphasized her identity as a woman and a mother. So, what will be the outcome in this SHElection?
We hear from Simon Schuster, a senior political reporter with M Live and Jenna Bednar, a professor of political science and public policy at the University of Michigan and External Faculty of the Santa Fe Institute about Michigan's governor's race.
The bestselling book, "The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper," tells stories of racism at the root of our most complicated issues, like white communities burying their lavish public pools instead of sharing them with their Black neighbors.
In the new podcast, also titled The Sum of Us, Heather McGhee discovers the stories of everyday Americans who are working to build multi-racial communities to rally against the racist policies, practices and ideas built into our society. McGhee comes with some examples, and explains how the podcast differs from and continues the goal of her original book.
The 1835 Treaty of New Echota between Cherokee leaders and the U.S. government forced the Cherokee Nation off their ancestral lands east of the Mississippi River and onto the deadly "Trail of Tears”- what is now present-day Oklahoma. A quarter of the Cherokee population died on that treacherous journey.
Today, nearly 200 years after the The Treaty of New Echota displaced the Cherokee in forced migration West, Cherokee Nation is one of the country’s largest tribes. And the treaty which pushed them off their lands also contains an unfulfilled article: a guaranteed right to send a non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives. Now, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., is calling on Congress to make good on the promise of its predecessors as soon as this year.
We spoke with Delegate Kim Teehee, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Director of Government Relations for Cherokee Nation and Senior Vice President of Government Relations Cherokee Nation Businesses. In 2019, Chief Hoskin designated Kim TeeHee as the first Cherokee Nation delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.
The new animated series, Spirit Rangers, debuts on Netflix on Indigenous People’s Day, October 10th. It follows the story of Kodi, Summer and Eddy, junior park rangers who have secret abilities to be Spirit Rangers and protect the environment. Series creator Karissa Valencia joins us to discuss the show.
"Quiet quitting" is the latest workplace trend sparking conversation in social and mainstream media. The idea went viral after TikTok user Zaid Khan, a 24-year-old engineer in New York City, talked about not actually outright quitting a job, but "quitting" the idea that you have to go above and beyond the job description. It also spawned a spinoff, "quiet firing," which refers to employers who don't offer raises or promotions, or use other tactics to passive-aggressively push employees out of a job.
We speak with Sarah Damaske, Professor of Sociology and Labor & Employment Relations at Penn State University, about "quiet quitting," "quiet firing," and what these viral ideas say about the current state of labor and work.
"Quiet quitting" is the latest workplace trend sparking conversation in social and mainstream media. The idea went viral after TikTok user Zaid Khan, a 24-year-old engineer in New York City, talked about not actually outright quitting a job, but "quitting" the idea that you have to go above and beyond the job description. It also spawned a spinoff, "quiet firing," which refers to employers who don't offer raises or promotions, or use other tactics to passive-aggressively push employees out of a job.
We speak with Sarah Damaske, Professor of Sociology and Labor & Employment Relations at Penn State University, about "quiet quitting," "quiet firing," and what these viral ideas say about the current state of labor and work.
As Republican governors like Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott send migrants to Democrat run cities and the Supreme Court's conservative majority evades long-standing legal procedure, Atlantic staff writer Adam Serwer discusses how the cruelty of these practices is still the point.
His bestselling collection of essays, The Cruelty is the Point, argues the Trump administration effectively used cruel policies to rally its supporters. Now out on paperback with new writing, The Cruelty is the Point: Why Trump's America Endures, brings Serwer's premise to the latest issues in politics.
As Republican governors like Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott send migrants to Democrat run cities and the Supreme Court's conservative majority evades long-standing legal procedure, Atlantic staff writer Adam Serwer discusses how the cruelty of these practices is still the point.
His bestselling collection of essays, The Cruelty is the Point, argues the Trump administration effectively used cruel policies to rally its supporters. Now out on paperback with new writing, The Cruelty is the Point: Why Trump's America Endures, brings Serwer's premise to the latest issues in politics.
The devastation caused by Hurricane Fiona has re-opened conversations about the unsustainable nature of Puerto Rico’s status as a colonial entity. Many are calling for statehood as a solution to bureaucratic challenges that slow down disaster relief.
In revisiting this discussion, we hear from Christina Ponsa-Kraus, a Geroge Welwood Murray Professor of Legal History at Columbia Law School and Dr. Charles Venator-Santiago, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Connecticut, about the status of Puerto Rico’s future and the Island’s political possibilities.
The devastation caused by Hurricane Fiona has re-opened conversations about the unsustainable nature of Puerto Rico’s status as a colonial entity. Many are calling for statehood as a solution to bureaucratic challenges that slow down disaster relief.
In revisiting this discussion, we hear from Christina Ponsa-Kraus, a Geroge Welwood Murray Professor of Legal History at Columbia Law School and Dr. Charles Venator-Santiago, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Connecticut, about the status of Puerto Rico’s future and the Island’s political possibilities.
Lynsey Addario has spent more than two decades capturing intimate and human moments in the midst of the world’s most devastating disasters and conflicts. Her stunning photography shines a light on humanitarian issues including war, gender based violence, and climate change. Most recently, she has been documenting the war in Ukraine and its impact on the country’s civilians.
Now the School of Visual Arts is honoring her with a career-spanning solo exhibition of her courageous work. Lynsey shares why photojournalism is important, how she braves dangerous situations, and what inspires her through it all.
Lynsey Addario has spent more than two decades capturing intimate and human moments in the midst of the world’s most devastating disasters and conflicts. Her stunning photography shines a light on humanitarian issues including war, gender based violence, and climate change. Most recently, she has been documenting the war in Ukraine and its impact on the country’s civilians.
Now the School of Visual Arts is honoring her with a career-spanning solo exhibition of her courageous work. Lynsey shares why photojournalism is important, how she braves dangerous situations, and what inspires her through it all.
Jean-Michel Basquiat remains one of the most impactful artists more than three decades after his tragically untimely death. His boundary-defying artwork has influenced music, fashion, and film and television. It has also completely transformed the contemporary art world. In 2017, his 1982 piece Untitled sold for $110.5 million.
This is the Jean-Michel Basquiat the world knows and now his family has decided to share a more personal side of their beloved son and brother. This spring, his sisters Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux opened a 12,000 square foot exhibition that features hundreds of their brother's artwork, photos, and personal artifacts so visitors can get to know him in an entirely new way.
A newly national show from WNYC Studios debuts this Sunday. Notes from Americawill be a live weekly call-in show inviting you to listen in and join conversations on the country’s attempt at a plural society.
From conspiracy theories and social media algorithms to Christian nationalism and minority rule, Notes from America will parse out the big issues in our culture, media and democracy all to explore how we got to this point in our country’s history and how to grapple with where we might be going.
We heard from host Kai Wright about the show's "dinner party" atmosphere and how you can join the conversation.
There are still a lot of barriers to voting, and when we’re thinking about access to voting, it should be easier for every voter to cast a ballot.
According to the CDC, about 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. live with some type of disability: nearly 61 million people. When it comes time to cast their ballots, voters with disabilities can face a number of challenges at the polls. For in-person voters in the 2016 election, the Government Accountability Office found that less than half of polling places were accessible from parking to the voting booth.
Accessibility increased in 2020, and people with disabilities made large gains in the historic voter turnout surge of 2020. Expanded access to mail-in ballots pushed disability turnout to 17.7 million in 2020, up from 16 million in 2016, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
We spoke with Michelle Bishop, Voter Access & Engagement Manager at the National Disability Rights Network, and Michelle explained how the steps taken during the 2020 presidential election and against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, lowered some of those barriers and helped make it safer to cast a ballot for all voters, including voters who have a disability.
This week marks Bisexual Awareness Week – a week to celebrate the bi-plus community and help bring light to the issues that bi-plus individuals face.
The bi-plus community – which includes bisexual, pansexual, and omnisexual folks, among others – is the largest population within the LGBTQ community. But among other issues, bi-plus folks disproportionately struggle with physical and mental health issues. According to the Bisexual Resource Center, bi-plus people face even higher rates of depression and anxiety than lesbians and gay men.
And for the first time, the Biden Administration hosted a Bisexual Health Equity Roundtable. Yesterday, 15 bi-plus healthcare policy experts and advocates met with federal agency officials at the Department of Health and Human Services to discuss the health disparities facing the bisexual community, and made policy recommendations to address these issues.
We spoke with one of those advocates, Kierra Johnson, the Executive Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force.
Frida Kahlo is everywhere. Her signature flower crown, bold unibrow, and brightly colored dress have become cultural shorthand for third wave feminism. Her life, at times turbulent and painful, has been depicted dramatically in movies and on television.
This extraordinary artist was not just an icon, she was human. A Broadway musical about her life, currently in development, aims to show a different side of the Mexican artist. The show is based on the book Intimate Frida, written by her niece Isolda P. Kahlo, as well as personal conversations with her family in Mexico.
Composer Jaime Lozano seeks to highlight the Frida not everyone knew behind the now-legendary icon, and honor their shared Mexican heritage on the Broadway stage.
Detroit, Michigan is the largest Black-majority city in the United States, with almost 78-percent of the population Black. And since 1955, Detroit has been represented in Congress by at least one Black representative. But a redistricting process and a primary in which 8 of 9 Black candidates split 71-percent of the vote left the only non-Black candidate, Shri Thanedar, to win with just 28-percent of the vote.
We speak with Mario Morrow, political consultant based in Detroit and CEO of Mario Morrow and Associates, and Andra Gillespie, political scientist at Emory University, and explore the history of Black representation in Michigan, the political and electoral forces which led to this result, and the implications of this outcome on the Black community in Detroit.
Hurricane Fiona has left devastation in Puerto Rico. Massive flooding has occurred in some areas, and 1.3 million people, in a country of 3.2 million, were without electricity on Monday. As of Tuesday, the hurricane is responsible for at least two deaths and at least 1000 people have had to be rescued.
We speak with Carlos Berrios Polanco, freelance journalist in Caguas, Puerto Rico, to hear the latest on the ground in Puerto Rico.
We continue our SHElection! midterm coverage in partnership with the Center for American Women and Politics, with a focus on some unique races this cycle - contests where both candidates are women. This time, we’re looking at the heated race for Governor of Arizona where either candidates Secretary of State Katie Hobbs or Trump-backed Republican Kari Lake will become the 5th woman governor of Arizona.
We hear from Stacey Barchenger, a states politics reporter for the Arizona Republic and Gina Woodall, principal lecturer at the school of politics and global studies at Arizona State University.
2022 has seen more anti-LGBTQ legislation proposed so far than any other year. According to LGBTQ advocacy group Freedom for All Americans, 39 states introduced more than 200 such bills since April. The legislation mainly targets trans youth, running the gamut from healthcare restrictions, exclusion from sports and even equating gender affirming parenting to child abuse.
For Carolyn Hays, that policy threatened her family when an investigator from the Department of Children and Families knocked on her door. In her new memoir, A Girlhood: Letter to My Transgender Daughter, Hays writes: “...we quickly learned that in this southern state with Republican-appointed judges, we could lose custody. We could lose you.”
We hear from Carolyn on how raising her daughter expanded her understanding of parenting, faith, science and gender.
In "Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories that Make Us," New Yorker staff writer Rachel Aviv ventures into what she calls "the psychic hinterlands" — the gap between an individual's clinical mental health diagnosis and their lived experience.
She joined us to discuss Naomi, a young mother whose story bears a striking parallel to the inspiration behind Toni Morrison's "Beloved;" Laura, a Harvard student whose life couldn't be more different, and in other ways is a consistent through line; and Rachel herself, whose lifelong interactions with the field of psychiatry have caused her to question how a diagnosis can shape our experiences of the world, and of ourselves.
What if your child care provider had to close down? That’s the very real prospect facing child care providers as they lose employees to larger corporate companies that can afford to pay them more.
We talk to independent journalist Bryce Covert who reported on this in her piece, “I Can’t Compete: Child Care Providers are Losing Staff to McDonald’s and Target,” as well as Khulood Jamil, a child care provider and owner of Khulood’s Child Care in Pleasant Hill, California.
A financial trading company is trying to open up a new financial market to allow investors to bet on the outcomes of the upcoming midterm elections. But federal regulators have to approve it first, and in the past they've raised concerns that markets could influence the outcomes of the races themselves. What are the odds?
We're joined by Koleman Strumpf,Professor and Burchfield Presidential Chair of Political Economy at Wake Forest University, to learn if this is a gamble the country is willing to take.
Only one HBCU made the grade in U.S. News and World Report's overall rankings of top colleges and universities this week. But with metrics like SAT scores and high school class standings, some college leaders and education officials question the validity of the lists, despite their direct impact on how schools are managed and perceived.
We hear from Dr. Helene Gayle, president at Spelman College, which was ranked 51st in national liberal arts colleges and landed the top spot on their list of HBCUs. She discusses how schools could be measured more equitably, including social mobility and student progress within college, and explains why such rankings are still useful for education administrators like herself.
One of the Fall’s highly anticipated films is The Woman King starring Viola Davis. It’s the story of the Dahomey empire and their elite fighting force, the Agojie, made up entirely of women.
We talk with director Gina Prince-Bythewood and producer Cathy Schulman about what it took to get this movie made, the inclusion of difficult subjects, and what it means to have a film that centers Black women.
During the pandemic, the federal government granted schools lunch waivers which allowed them to provide free school lunch to every student, regardless of income. This meant families could access “to-go” lunch pick-ups or meal deliveries by bus. These waivers continued in 2021, but Republicans blocked further extension for the start of this school year.
As we continue our back-to-school, School Principles, series we speak with:
Jennifer Gaddis, associate professor of Civil Society and Community Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of The Labor of Lunch: Why We Need Real Food and Real Jobs in American Public Schools, about seeing school lunch and nutrition as part of education, the history of school lunch, and how school lunch policy should change.
Then, we hear from Monifa Bandele, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at MomsRising, about how the history and legacy of The Black Panthers' own free school meal program, and the importance of equitable food access in schools for all kids.
Then we hear from a current New York City high schooler, Savannah, who has done work with Teen Justice For Food and shares her own experience with school lunch, and how it could be improved. And we hear from listeners, who reflect on their memories of school lunch and share how it differs from the lunch at their children's schools.
We talk about the historical and scientific knowledge gap of women’s bodies and people with vaginas, including trans men, intersex people, and nonbinary people, with Rachel E. Gross, a science journalist and author of the book “Vagina Obscura: An Anatomical Voyage.”
In California’s 37th Congressional District, voters will choose between two Black women Democrats vying for a now-open Congressional seat left vacant by Karen Bass. Representative Bass isrunning for Mayor of Los Angeles.
This is 1 of 2 U.S. House general election contests with the unique distinction of being between 2 Black women major-party nominees; the other contest is in Minnesota's 5th Congressional District between incumbent Rep. Ilhan Omar (D) and challenger Cicely Davis (R). However, in this California race, both candidates are Democrats due to the state's top-two primary rules.
We hear from both challengers, California State Senator Sydney Kamlager and former Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry, in our special "SHElection!" midterm coverage.
We talk about the teacher shortage being experienced in many communities across the country. We hear from Kirk, a former middle school math teacher who recently made the very hard decision to leave teaching after 6 years.
We also spoke with David Rosenberg, a partner at Education Resource Strategies.
Ukraine launched a counteroffensive last week, reclaiming some of the land it had lost to Russia earlier in the war. Meanwhile, Russian forces are reportedly fleeing rather than fighting, and Russian oligarchs dying under mysterious circumstances.
Much of Ukraine’s recent focus has been in the region of Kharkiv, and the Associated Press has reported that parts of the Ukrainian front have even reached the border of Russia.
Ukraine has been backed by a large influx of military aid and weapons from the West. Just this week the U.S. approved an additional $2.7 billion dollars of aid and weapons, bringing the total amount of U.S. aid to Ukraine to approximately $13 billion dollars.
So, is Russia losing the war?
We speak with Nikolas Gvosdev, professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College and editor of Orbis, a journal of world affairs by the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
Democrat Stacey Abrams faces a rematch with Georgia Governor and Republican Brian Kemp this November. Georgia Democrats have been campaigning on the party's recent legislative wins, but Kemp’s consistent lead over Abrams in recent polls has many on edge. And the race for Georgia’s Senate seat is getting even tighter, with incumbent Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock seeing his Republican challenger and former NFL star, Herschel Walker, close the polling gap between them in recent weeks.
We talk with New York Times politics reporter Maya King, who recently reported that some Democratic strategists are wondering if the "Abrams model — seeking to expand the universe of voters to fit her politics — is truly better than trying to capture 50 percent of the voters who exist now."
It’s been 10 years since the events of Benghazi, Libya, in which militants attacked a U.S. Consulate and CIA Annex leaving four Americans dead, including then U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. The tragedy also sparked major political fallout, which has rippled through our politics and elections for years.
We speak with Ethan Chorin, former U.S. Diplomat to Libya and author of Benghazi: A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink.
Adolescents and teenagers require 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night to support brain development, an amount of time that is challenging for them to achieve when the school day begins early in the morning. Now, California has become the first state in the country to require schools to start later. Middle schools must start no earlier than 8am and high schools no earlier than 8:30 AM. For our back to school series, "School Principles," we explore the issue of sleep deprivation for students, how it affects school performance, and the impact on later start times on schools and families.
To understand the value of this legislation, we spoke with Lisa L. Lewis, author of “The Sleep Deprived Teen: Why Our Teenagers are So Tired, And How Parents and Schools Can Help Them Thrive.” We also spoke with Dr. Marian Kim-Phelps, Superintendent of Poway Unified School District about the challenges of implementing these mandated changes.
We’re kicking off our series “School Principles” this week!
According to Education Week, in 2022 there have been 29 school shootings in the US that resulted in injuries or deaths, with at least two taking place already this school year. And parents and experts are worried about learning loss during the pandemic. The National Center for Education Statistics recently looked at the education gap during the pandemic. Stats showed a drop in reading and math scores for 9 year olds. This was the largest average score decline in reading since 1990, and the first recorded decline in math scores since 1973.
Add to that the impact of teacher shortages, and the end of pandemic-era school lunch waivers in the midst of rising prices. It’s a lot to consider on top of just getting kids to school every day.
For more on this, we spoke with John King, EdTrust President and former U.S. Secretary of Education for joining us for this conversation.
A poll of registered Asian-American and Pacific Islander American voters released this summer revealed that a majority of respondents had never actually been contacted by canvassers from either political party. While AAPI share of the electorate remains small compared to other racial groups, AAPI is the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the country, and between 2016 and 2020, the rate of voter turnout for AAPI increased more than other racial or ethnic group.
We talk with Jane Junn, professor of political science and gender studies at the University of Southern California, about patterns in AAPI voting behavior, issues that mobilize voters, and what these numbers could mean for the midterms.
Two years ago in the summer of 2020, the largest racial justice demonstrations in history swept across the globe after Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, murdered George Floyd. In the aftermath, it seemed that Americans were reckoning with whether or not the police are a necessary entity in maintaining public safety, but the issue of police abolition remains contentious for many.
In March of this year, President Biden earned a bi-partisan standing ovation for saying:
We should all agree, the answer’s not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police. Fund them.
In late August, the President traveled to Pennsylvania, where he gave a speech on crime and offered specifics of his Safer America Plan.
The plan includes $13 billion dollars to hire 100,000 officers over the next five years and grants to states and cities to recruit, train, and support police in “effective, accountable community policing.” Hiring more police and sending more policing dollars to states and localities is certainly reminiscent of the 1994 Crime Bill which Biden championed during his Senate years.
According to FactCheck.org®, a Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center at University of Pennsylvania, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in 2005 that the 1994 crime bill added an additional 88,000 police officers and only contributed to a "modest" drop in crime. The GAO reported that from 1993 to 2000, funds apportioned to hire more police in the crime bill contributed to a "1.3 percent decrease in overall crime" and a "2.5 percent decrease in violent crime rates" from 1993. The report also found that factors other than funds to increase the number of police were much more significant to lower crime rates. Increased employment, better policing methods, an aging of the population, growth in income and inflation are just a few factors the report offers.
With the news of Biden's recent announcement, Deep Dive cohosts Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren take a look into the proposal to abolish American police, working together to build a syllabus for their exploration of the issue as "students of abolition."
Guests:
- Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director of the Advancement Project National Office
- Professor Treva B. Lindsey, author of "America, Goddam: Violence, Black Women and the Struggle for Justice"
- Andrea Ritchie,co-founder of Interrupting Criminalization, author of “Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color” and “No More Police: A Case for Abolition with Mariame Kaba"
- Chuck Wexler, Executive Director of the Police Executive Research Forum offers a defense of police
- Philip Atiba Goff, co-founder and CEO of the Center for Policing Equity and a Professor of African-American Studies and Psychology at Yale University
With the NFL season beginning this week, millions of fans will be watching America’s most popular sport. But beyond the play on the field, the NFL is still grappling with big problems off the field. Whether it be fair compensation for former players suffering from brain injuries, racial equity in the hiring of coaches, or how the NFL has handled players accused of sexual and domestic violence, the NFL’s past and recent handling of social and political issues have cast a shadow over the game.
We speak with Dave Zirin, Sports Editor for The Nation, author of The Kaepernick Effect: Taking a Knee, Changing the World, and co-producer, co-writer and star of the new documentary, Behind the Shield: The Power and Politics of the NFL, about the upcoming season, football’s place in American society, and the continued issues that the league faces.
We speak with Jason Reid, Senior NFL Writer at ESPN about his new book “Rise of the Black Quarterback: What It Means for America.” In 2019, Jason started writing about the emergence of Black quarterbacks, and the record year for Black play-callers in the NFL’s history. His new book expands on that series of articles lays out the history of how integral Black players were in creating a professional football league, the racism those players faced, and the slow progress of Black players in the NFL.
The water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi has laid bare the fraught relationship between the state’s majority-white, Republican leadership and the city’s majority-Black, Democratic leadership. Funding and resources for the city often comes with strings attached that give more control to the state, a pattern the city's Mayor has previously called "paternalistic."
We talk with Jarvis Dortch, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi and former representative in the Mississippi legislature, about the state's long history of racial politics and what it has meant for the health of the state.
Water pressure was restored this Monday to the city of Jackson, Mississippi — but that doesn’t mean the water from the taps is drinkable. The tap water is swimming with contaminants, putting the city under a "boil water" notice since late July. The city's crisis of crumbling infrastructure caused by decades of underfunding could also take decades to address.
We check in with Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba on how the city is recovering and what’s next for its residents.
President Biden’s announcement two weeks ago that his administration was canceling up to $20,000 of student debt for borrowers who make under $125,000 was met with strong reactions. But debt relief from the federal government has historical precedent.
We speak with Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, about how we as a country have dealt with debt in the past.
In a 2019 Report, PEN America revealed that book restriction policies in American prisons amounted to the nation’s largest book ban. These bans can come from prison-wide, state, or federal policies, and are aimed mostly at material that is deemed sexually explicit, detrimental to security or that disrupts the social order of a prison.
But some of these lists can be arbitrary. Previously, books like “Freakonomics” were banned in prisons in Texas, and a federal prison in Colorado in 2009 blocked a person incarcerated from reading President Barack Obama’s memoirs because they were deemed to be "potentially detrimental to national security."
We spoke with Christopher Blackwell, who is incarcerated at a Washington state facility and is serving a 45 year sentence for crimes he committed in his 20s. In prison, Christopher was prohibited from reading Michael Kimmel's, “Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era.”
We reached out to the Washington State Department of Corrections to hear why they denied access to the book. They said it was rejected because “The content could reasonably be thought to lead or add to tensions between groups specifically in a prison setting.” They also noted that Christopher appealed and was later granted access to the book.
Today, Christopher is an incarcerated writer and a co-founder of the nonprofit Look2Justice. Last month, Christopher wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about having the right to read and to get an education in American prisons, and about his own experience with book restrictions. We spoke with him about book bans in prison, his own experience with it, and the importance of books and education for rehabilitation in prison.
In the new book What Should We Do? A Theory of Civic Life, Peter Levine puts forth a blueprint for collective cooperation and action in the face of “collective action problems.”
Levine cites examples of change—from the Montgomery Bus Boycott to Gandhi’s movement—that exemplify how individuals, acting within a group, are able to reason together, cooperate, act collectively, and compel change. He then deconstructs the social and political mechanisms that worked to make those movements successful.
We speak with Peter Levine, professor of citizenship and public affairs at Tufts University and author of What Should We Do? A Theory of Civic Life, about his new book and his theory on civic engagement.
After Friday’s loss at the U.S. Open, the journey to retirement has begun for the greatest tennis player of all-time, Serena Williams.
We talked about her storied career, her decision to step away, and the legacy she leaves behind with Amira Rose Davis, an Assistant Professor in African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and co-host of the Burn It All Down podcast.
Two months from election day, we're kicking off our midterm coverage with a focus on some unique races this cycle: contests where both candidates are women.
Kelly Dittmar, Associate Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University-Camden and the Director of Research at the Center for American Women in Politics (CAWP) joins us to discuss the unique political lessons we can learn from studying the recruitment, campaigns, media coverage, and outcomes of elections where women are vying for office against other women.
Devastating floods in Pakistan have washed away entire buildings, homes, roads and bridges. These are the worst floods that Pakistan has seen in over a decade. Since mid-June, more than 1,300 people have died from the floods, nearly a third of them children. By some estimates, more than 30 million people are now displaced.
Last week, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres called the disaster "a monsoon on steroids." Also last week, the country’s climate minister said that one third of the country was underwater, and officials have blamed climate change for the disaster.
For more on the grave impact of these floods, we spoke with Susannah George, Washington Post Afghanistan and Pakistan Bureau Chief.
More than two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, the country is still averaging more than 85,000 new Covid cases daily. That’s not nearly as high as the numbers we saw last year, but earlier this week, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized new COVID booster shots that target the omicron BA.5 subvariant. The boosters will be available as soon as the Centers for Disease Control approves guidelines on who should get the shot, and the rollout could begin as soon as next week.
Although the risk of severe sickness and death have gone down—thanks in large part to Covid vaccines—avoiding spikes is still key to helping the most vulnerable.
New data from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey (HPS) from this summer, found that about 16 million people—around 8 percent—of working-age Americans have long Covid today. Symptoms like brain fog, trouble breathing, fatigue – and the list goes on – makes it hard for some folks to return to work. But a new study from the Brookings Institution estimates that between 2 and 4 million people are out of work because of long Covid, and these absent workers are having an effect on the labor market and economy. We spoke with Katie Bach,Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of the study.
More than two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, the country is still averaging more than 85,000 new Covid cases daily. That’s not nearly as high as the numbers we saw last year, but earlier this week, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized new COVID booster shots that target the omicron BA.5 subvariant. The boosters will be available as soon as the Centers for Disease Control approves guidelines on who should get the shot, and the rollout could begin as soon as next week.
Although the risk of severe sickness and death have gone down—thanks in large part to Covid vaccines—avoiding spikes is still key to helping the most vulnerable.
New data from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey (HPS) from this summer, found that about 16 million people—around 8 percent—of working-age Americans have long Covid today. Symptoms like brain fog, trouble breathing, fatigue – and the list goes on – makes it hard for some folks to return to work. But a new study from the Brookings Institution estimates that between 2 and 4 million people are out of work because of long Covid, and these absent workers are having an effect on the labor market and economy. We spoke with Katie Bach,Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of the study.
This July, global temperatures were the 6th hottest on record since 1880.
In China, the longest heatwave on record has been accompanied by an extreme drought. The drought has caused major disruptions in the Southwestern regions of the country. Parts of the Yangtze River have dropped so low that supplies can be shipped, power-generating dams are unable to produce enough electricity to run factories and car assembly plants have been rendered non-operational.
China's government has been forced to institute rolling blackouts in some cities. The heat wave and drought are also driving up food prices, in Wuhan. For example, the price of bok choy has doubled in the last month.
We speak with Keith Bradsher, Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times, about the crisis.
This July, global temperatures were the 6th hottest on record since 1880.
In China, the longest heatwave on record has been accompanied by an extreme drought. The drought has caused major disruptions in the Southwestern regions of the country. Parts of the Yangtze River have dropped so low that supplies can be shipped, power-generating dams are unable to produce enough electricity to run factories and car assembly plants have been rendered non-operational.
China's government has been forced to institute rolling blackouts in some cities. The heat wave and drought are also driving up food prices, in Wuhan. For example, the price of bok choy has doubled in the last month.
We speak with Keith Bradsher, Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times, about the crisis.
The drinking water system in Jackson, Mississippi, failed its 150,000 residents this week after severe floods overwhelmed the city's outdated facilities. Thousands of residents have no clean drinking water and little to no water pressure, meaning they cannot even flush their toilets.
But this current crisis has been decades in the making due to disinvestment and neglect. Many residents already lived under a “boil notice,” meaning their water wasn't safe to use without first boiling out contaminants, or even didn’t use their tap water at all, due to lead contamination.
We speak with Mississippi Public Broadcasting reporter Kobee Vance and Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard to Opportunities, to understand how the city got here and what must be done.
The drinking water system in Jackson, Mississippi, failed its 150,000 residents this week after severe floods overwhelmed the city's outdated facilities. Thousands of residents have no clean drinking water and little to no water pressure, meaning they cannot even flush their toilets.
But this current crisis has been decades in the making due to disinvestment and neglect. Many residents already lived under a “boil notice,” meaning their water wasn't safe to use without first boiling out contaminants, or even didn’t use their tap water at all, due to lead contamination.
We speak with Mississippi Public Broadcasting reporter Kobee Vance and Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard to Opportunities, to understand how the city got here and what must be done.
Brandon Dale, New York ambassador at Hunters of Color, talks to us about the importance of representation amongst hunters as well as the interdependency between hunting and wildlife conservation.
Brandon Dale, New York ambassador at Hunters of Color, talks to us about the importance of representation amongst hunters as well as the interdependency between hunting and wildlife conservation.
On Tuesday, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev died at the age of 91 in a hospital in Moscow. In 1990, Gorbachev won a Nobel Peace Prize for his part in ending the Cold War.
His passing comes at a pivotal moment in history, when Russia is seeking in so many ways to reassert its dominance, whether it be through Putin's invasion of Ukraine or his desire to reverse so many of the policies that were Gorbachev’s legacy. Across much of the West, Gorbachev was hailed as a forward thinking statesman who enacted meaningful, liberal reforms. But those reforms ultimately led to the end of the Soviet Union, leaving Gorbachev with a mixed legacy amongst his fellow Russians. Today the Guardian reported that current Russian president, Vladimir Putin will not attend Gorbachev’s funeral.
We're joined by Masha Gessen, a Russian-American journalist, staff writer at The New Yorker, and author of “Surviving Autocracy” for more.
On Tuesday, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev died at the age of 91 in a hospital in Moscow. In 1990, Gorbachev won a Nobel Peace Prize for his part in ending the Cold War.
His passing comes at a pivotal moment in history, when Russia is seeking in so many ways to reassert its dominance, whether it be through Putin's invasion of Ukraine or his desire to reverse so many of the policies that were Gorbachev’s legacy. Across much of the West, Gorbachev was hailed as a forward thinking statesman who enacted meaningful, liberal reforms. But those reforms ultimately led to the end of the Soviet Union, leaving Gorbachev with a mixed legacy amongst his fellow Russians. Today the Guardian reported that current Russian president, Vladimir Putin will not attend Gorbachev’s funeral.
We're joined by Masha Gessen, a Russian-American journalist, staff writer at The New Yorker, and author of “Surviving Autocracy” for more.
For years, Myanmar has been a hotbed of antidemocratic governance, human rights violations, and other crimes against humanity. A group who knows this all to well is the Rohingya people. For decades, the Rohingya have been the target of violence and brutality under Myanmar's military controlled regime.
Though tension and resentment already existed between the region's Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic groups, in 1982, the Burmese, military-controlled government enacted the Burmese Citizenship Act which defined a total of 135 recognized "national races." Though many Rohingya have claimed ancestral ties to Myanmar for centuries, they are not recognized under this doctrine. Because of this, military and government persecution have cascaded, and the Rohingya people have been treated as if they are "illegal immigrants" or "stateless" in a country in which many of them were born.
There have been a number of concerted efforts to rid the country of the Rohingya through campaigns of unspeakable violence. Human Rights Watch, along with other human rights organizations and watchdogs, report that these campaigns of terror have included mass killings, gang rapes, and relentless torture at the hands of the Burmese security forces.
In the 2017 attacks, at least 25,000 people were killed and over 730,000 Rohingya were driven into refugee camps in Bangladesh. In March, after decades of bloodshed, escalation, and persecution, the US State Department and other international entities "formally" determined this situation as a genocide.
The International Court of Justice has brought a case against Myanmar, but for the Rohingya who have suffered the loss of their homes, livelihoods and loved ones, it is too little, too late.
August 2022 marked the fifth year of this ongoing genocide which has displaced nearly 800,000 Rohingya people and created one of the biggest iterations of today's global refugee crisis.
To better understand the history and current conditions of the plight of the Rohingya, we spoke with Raïss Tinmaung, founder of the Rohingya Human Rights Network and Canada Coordinator for the Free Rohingya Coalition. His parents fled persecution in Myanmar when he was born in 1978. To mark five years since this crisis began and what it will take to end this veiled genocide, we also spoke with Shayna Bauchner. She's a researcher at Human Rights Watch in the Myanmar division.
For years, Myanmar has been a hotbed of antidemocratic governance, human rights violations, and other crimes against humanity. A group who knows this all to well is the Rohingya people. For decades, the Rohingya have been the target of violence and brutality under Myanmar's military controlled regime.
Though tension and resentment already existed between the region's Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic groups, in 1982, the Burmese, military-controlled government enacted the Burmese Citizenship Act which defined a total of 135 recognized "national races." Though many Rohingya have claimed ancestral ties to Myanmar for centuries, they are not recognized under this doctrine. Because of this, military and government persecution have cascaded, and the Rohingya people have been treated as if they are "illegal immigrants" or "stateless" in a country in which many of them were born.
There have been a number of concerted efforts to rid the country of the Rohingya through campaigns of unspeakable violence. Human Rights Watch, along with other human rights organizations and watchdogs, report that these campaigns of terror have included mass killings, gang rapes, and relentless torture at the hands of the Burmese security forces.
In the 2017 attacks, at least 25,000 people were killed and over 730,000 Rohingya were driven into refugee camps in Bangladesh. In March, after decades of bloodshed, escalation, and persecution, the US State Department and other international entities "formally" determined this situation as a genocide.
The International Court of Justice has brought a case against Myanmar, but for the Rohingya who have suffered the loss of their homes, livelihoods and loved ones, it is too little, too late.
August 2022 marked the fifth year of this ongoing genocide which has displaced nearly 800,000 Rohingya people and created one of the biggest iterations of today's global refugee crisis.
To better understand the history and current conditions of the plight of the Rohingya, we spoke with Raïss Tinmaung, founder of the Rohingya Human Rights Network and Canada Coordinator for the Free Rohingya Coalition. His parents fled persecution in Myanmar when he was born in 1978. To mark five years since this crisis began and what it will take to end this veiled genocide, we also spoke with Shayna Bauchner. She's a researcher at Human Rights Watch in the Myanmar division.
If democracy requires the participation of equals, has the U.S. ever really been a democracy? Professor Jedidiah Purdy of the Duke University Law School says no.
He joined to discuss his new book, "Two Cheers for Politics: Why Democracy Is Flawed, Frightening — and Our Best Hope," which argues that the best version of democracy is a never-ending, always-shifting participatory process... and that’s something that the United States has yet to achieve.
If democracy requires the participation of equals, has the U.S. ever really been a democracy? Professor Jedidiah Purdy of the Duke University Law School says no.
He joined to discuss his new book, "Two Cheers for Politics: Why Democracy Is Flawed, Frightening — and Our Best Hope," which argues that the best version of democracy is a never-ending, always-shifting participatory process... and that’s something that the United States has yet to achieve.
Since gaining the right to vote, 18-21 year olds have never turned out at the same rates as older citizens. Is it a matter of apathy? Access? Or both?
In July, Senator Elizabeth Warren along with Representative Nikema Williams filed a bill called the “Youth Voting Rights Act,” in an effort to expand youth access to voting. The bill would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote so that they’re ready to vote on their 18th birthday, expand voter registration access at public universities and colleges, and require institutions of higher learning to have on-campus polling places.
Recently youth voter turnout has actually increased. In 2018’s midterms, we saw historic voter turnout rates among people aged 18-29, and in the 2020 Presidential elections, about half of 18 to 29 year olds voted, an 11% increase from 2016.
We know that in 2020 Gen Z made up 10% of eligible voters in the U.S, and that they are more ethnically and racially diverse than previous generations. They’re also on target to be the most educated generation yet. But as we approach the 2022 midterms, what do Gen Z and other young voters want? And how do they assess the state of our politics and democracy? We hear from young callers about what issues are motivating them in the 2022 elections.
Then, we hear from 19-year-old Anya Dillard, activist and founder of The Next Gen Come Up, and 23-year-old Benji Backer, founder and president at American Conservation Coalition about how they see the state of voting and the health of our democracy.
Since gaining the right to vote, 18-21 year olds have never turned out at the same rates as older citizens. Is it a matter of apathy? Access? Or both?
In July, Senator Elizabeth Warren along with Representative Nikema Williams filed a bill called the “Youth Voting Rights Act,” in an effort to expand youth access to voting. The bill would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote so that they’re ready to vote on their 18th birthday, expand voter registration access at public universities and colleges, and require institutions of higher learning to have on-campus polling places.
Recently youth voter turnout has actually increased. In 2018’s midterms, we saw historic voter turnout rates among people aged 18-29, and in the 2020 Presidential elections, about half of 18 to 29 year olds voted, an 11% increase from 2016.
We know that in 2020 Gen Z made up 10% of eligible voters in the U.S, and that they are more ethnically and racially diverse than previous generations. They’re also on target to be the most educated generation yet. But as we approach the 2022 midterms, what do Gen Z and other young voters want? And how do they assess the state of our politics and democracy? We hear from young callers about what issues are motivating them in the 2022 elections.
Then, we hear from 19-year-old Anya Dillard, activist and founder of The Next Gen Come Up, and 23-year-old Benji Backer, founder and president at American Conservation Coalition about how they see the state of voting and the health of our democracy.
More than 55,000 people across the U.S. are incarcerated with the sentence of life without the possibility of parole. This population been rising sharply in the past few decades, with an increase of 66% since 2003, according to research by The Sentencing Project.
For those who are sentenced to live and die behind prison walls, there is a sense that they have been forgotten. But a new project is documenting some of their stories: The Visiting Room Project features interviews with more than 100 men who are serving with life without parole at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola.
The Takeaway spoke with Project co-creator, Dr. Marcus Kondkar of Loyola University New Orleans, and with Mr. Arthur Carter, who was recently released from Angola after his life without parole sentence was reduced.
"I think that once you get a chance to see this is the person that the taxpayers are still holding in prison, I think the question should resonate: why they still are? Why are they still serving life sentences with no possibility of going home?" said Mr. Carter.
The protests we see now have their foundation in the previous century and borrow from the intellectual work of black renegades.
We talk to Robin DG Kelley about the 20th-Anniversary Edition of his seminal book "Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination," the future of social movements, and the possibilities they can bring for our collective future.
The protests we see now have their foundation in the previous century and borrow from the intellectual work of black renegades.
We talk to Robin DG Kelley about the 20th-Anniversary Edition of his seminal book "Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination," the future of social movements, and the possibilities they can bring for our collective future.
Louisiana’s Office of Juvenile Justice, also known as the OJJ, oversees five facilities including one in Jefferson Parish in New Orleans, called Bridge City Center for Youth. And the Bridge City Center, which houses inmates as young as 13 years old to the age of 21, has had repeated reports of violence within the facility, and multiple escapes.
In July, six young people incarcerated at Bridge City, overpowered a guard and escaped. One of those who escaped was accused of shooting a person while trying to steal a car.
In response, LA Governor John Bel Edwards announced he’d carry out a plan to enhance security and address leadership issues at Bridge City. He also announced that he would temporarily relocate a portion of the 50 juveniles at Bridge City to LA State Penetierian- known as Angola. Governor Edwards said they would not have any direct contact with adult inmates at Angola, and would be housed in a separate facility.
But advocates and families of those at Bridge City, say this move would be dangerous for the teens and young adults in juvenile detention, and filed a federal lawsuit to block this move.
Last week a federal judge placed a temporary hold on the plan to move the juveniles to Angola. For more on this we spoke with Jacqueline DeRobertis, a staff reporter with The Advocate.
Louisiana’s Office of Juvenile Justice, also known as the OJJ, oversees five facilities including one in Jefferson Parish in New Orleans, called Bridge City Center for Youth. And the Bridge City Center, which houses inmates as young as 13 years old to the age of 21, has had repeated reports of violence within the facility, and multiple escapes.
In July, six young people incarcerated at Bridge City, overpowered a guard and escaped. One of those who escaped was accused of shooting a person while trying to steal a car.
In response, LA Governor John Bel Edwards announced he’d carry out a plan to enhance security and address leadership issues at Bridge City. He also announced that he would temporarily relocate a portion of the 50 juveniles at Bridge City to LA State Penetierian- known as Angola. Governor Edwards said they would not have any direct contact with adult inmates at Angola, and would be housed in a separate facility.
But advocates and families of those at Bridge City, say this move would be dangerous for the teens and young adults in juvenile detention, and filed a federal lawsuit to block this move.
Last week a federal judge placed a temporary hold on the plan to move the juveniles to Angola. For more on this we spoke with Jacqueline DeRobertis, a staff reporter with The Advocate.
More than 55,000 people across the U.S. are incarcerated with the sentence of life without the possibility of parole. This population been rising sharply in the past few decades, with an increase of 66% since 2003, according to research by The Sentencing Project.
For those who are sentenced to live and die behind prison walls, there is a sense that they have been forgotten. But a new project is documenting some of their stories: The Visiting Room Project features interviews with more than 100 men who are serving with life without parole at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola.
The Takeaway spoke with Project co-creator, Dr. Marcus Kondkar of Loyola University New Orleans, and with Mr. Arthur Carter, who was recently released from Angola after his life without parole sentence was reduced.
"I think that once you get a chance to see this is the person that the taxpayers are still holding in prison, I think the question should resonate: why they still are? Why are they still serving life sentences with no possibility of going home?" said Mr. Carter.
Seventeen years ago today, August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana as a category 4 storm. It caused more than 1,800 deaths, and roughly 200,000 people were displaced from the Gulf Coast area.
Edward Buckles Jr. was 13 when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and this month, he released the documentary “Katrina Babies” on HBO. The film intimately documents the experiences of children who were traumatized and displaced by the catastrophic levee failures in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, including Buckles himself.
We talked with the writer and director Edward Buckles Jr., and we spoke with Denese Shervington, founder and CEO of the Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies, a national non-profit health organization based in New Orleans that explores the intergenerational impact caused by the trauma of Hurricane Katrina in its research and advocacy.
Since its founding in 1910, more than 130 million youth have participated in scouting with The Boy Scouts of America. Today it remains one of the largest youth organizations in the U.S., with more than 2 million members and nearly 900,000 adult volunteers.
But the Boy Scouts of America find themselves in financial straits. After mounting lawsuits alleging sexual abuse, the BSA filed for bankruptcy in February of 2020. More than 82,000 survivors of alleged abuse have filed claims against The Boy Scouts. In order to fund whatever claims are ruled payable, the BSA has proposed to federal judges the creation of a $2.7 billion dollar trust to compensate the claimants. In order to create the fund, the BSA has called on local Boy Scout chapters to make contributions to the national organization. If the plan goes through, no further claims of past sexual abuse can be brought against the Boy Scouts of America or its chapters.
One of the Boy Scouts largest assets is land. In order to pay their contributions, local Boy Scout chapters have been selling their land, or announcing intentions to do so across the country. Much of this land is preserved, pristine land, and is a hot commodity for the interests of both developers and conservationists.
We explore what is being described as "The Great Boy Scout Land Sell-Off" and the legal and ethical questions of how, and to who, the land is being sold.
We first hear from Molly Osberg, freelancewriter and reporter and author of the recent Curbed piece "The Great Boy Scout Land Sell-Off."
Then we hear from Keith Ainsworth, an environmental lawyer based in New Haven, Connecticut, and Tim Kosnoff, anattorney representing victims of sexual abuse from the Boy Scouts.
Since its founding in 1910, more than 130 million youth have participated in scouting with The Boy Scouts of America. Today it remains one of the largest youth organizations in the U.S., with more than 2 million members and nearly 900,000 adult volunteers.
But the Boy Scouts of America find themselves in financial straits. After mounting lawsuits alleging sexual abuse, the BSA filed for bankruptcy in February of 2020. More than 82,000 survivors of alleged abuse have filed claims against The Boy Scouts. In order to fund whatever claims are ruled payable, the BSA has proposed to federal judges the creation of a $2.7 billion dollar trust to compensate the claimants. In order to create the fund, the BSA has called on local Boy Scout chapters to make contributions to the national organization. If the plan goes through, no further claims of past sexual abuse can be brought against the Boy Scouts of America or its chapters.
One of the Boy Scouts largest assets is land. In order to pay their contributions, local Boy Scout chapters have been selling their land, or announcing intentions to do so across the country. Much of this land is preserved, pristine land, and is a hot commodity for the interests of both developers and conservationists.
We explore what is being described as "The Great Boy Scout Land Sell-Off" and the legal and ethical questions of how, and to who, the land is being sold.
We first hear from Molly Osberg, freelancewriter and reporter and author of the recent Curbed piece "The Great Boy Scout Land Sell-Off."
Then we hear from Keith Ainsworth, an environmental lawyer based in New Haven, Connecticut, and Tim Kosnoff, anattorney representing victims of sexual abuse from the Boy Scouts.
Seventeen years ago today, August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana as a category 4 storm. It caused more than 1,800 deaths, and roughly 200,000 people were displaced from the Gulf Coast area.
Edward Buckles Jr. was 13 when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, and this month, he released the documentary “Katrina Babies” on HBO. The film intimately documents the experiences of children who were traumatized and displaced by the catastrophic levee failures in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, including Buckles himself.
We talked with the writer and director Edward Buckles Jr., and we spoke with Denese Shervington, founder and CEO of the Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies, a national non-profit health organization based in New Orleans that explores the intergenerational impact caused by the trauma of Hurricane Katrina in its research and advocacy.
On Monday, August 22nd, NASA released stunning images of Jupiter taken from the James Webb Space Telescope.
To learn more about the images and what we can expect to learn about Jupiter and our solar system, we speak with Munazza Alam, astronomer, a National Geographic young explorer, and a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory in Washington, D.C.
On Monday, August 22nd, NASA released stunning images of Jupiter taken from the James Webb Space Telescope.
To learn more about the images and what we can expect to learn about Jupiter and our solar system, we speak with Munazza Alam, astronomer, a National Geographic young explorer, and a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie Earth and Planets Laboratory in Washington, D.C.
The ongoing pandemic that has killed more than 1 million people in the United States
Last week, Rochelle Walensky, the head of the nation’s top public health agency, announced the need for a "reset" at the organization amid criticism of the mismanagement of COVID and monkeypox.
We speak with Dr. Debra Houry, the acting principal deputy director of the CDC about what went wrong at the beginning of the pandemic, what this “shake up” will entail, and how the CDC can do better with other public health emergencies, including monkeypox.
For the past few months, the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood has been the site of an effort to form the first union for strippers in the U.S. in 25 years. While stripping may seem like an unlikely profession to unionize due to the "gig" nature of the work, the dancers say they are defying stereotypes about sex work and proving that every worker deserves a union.
"I want this campaign to hopefully inspire and motivate other dancers and other sex workers to stand up for themselves and stand up for each other and know that there is a community," Reagan, an organizer at Star Garden told The Takeaway.
The same energy animating the Star Garden dancers has been inspiring workers across many industries. According to a Bloomberg Law analysis of National Labor Relations Board data, there were more successful union elections in the first half of this year than in the first half of any other year since 2005. We hear from Alex Press, labor journalist with Jacobin Magazine, about how workers can leverage this energy into workplace power.
For the past few months, the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood has been the site of an effort to form the first union for strippers in the U.S. in 25 years. While stripping may seem like an unlikely profession to unionize due to the "gig" nature of the work, the dancers say they are defying stereotypes about sex work and proving that every worker deserves a union.
"I want this campaign to hopefully inspire and motivate other dancers and other sex workers to stand up for themselves and stand up for each other and know that there is a community," Reagan, an organizer at Star Garden told The Takeaway.
The same energy animating the Star Garden dancers has been inspiring workers across many industries. According to a Bloomberg Law analysis of National Labor Relations Board data, there were more successful union elections in the first half of this year than in the first half of any other year since 2005. We hear from Alex Press, labor journalist with Jacobin Magazine, about how workers can leverage this energy into workplace power.
Last weekend, “House of the Dragon” premiered on HBO. The show is a “Game of Thrones” prequel, and according to Warner Media, 9.9 million people watched the first episode, a record number of viewers for an HBO series premiere. But critically, the show has not been received as positively as the early seasons of “Game of Thrones,” with many reviewers questioning whether this new series does enough to justify its existence.
The Takeaway speaks with Vulture TV critic Roxana Hadadi about her thoughts on the show and why so many streaming services have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in fantasy series.
Catch a preview of the second episode of HBO's House of the Dragon, premiering Sunday, August 28:
On Wednesday, President Biden announced that he will cancel $10,000 in federal student loan debt for people earning $125,000 or less per year, and will cancel an extra $10,000 for Pell Grant recipients, extend the pause on student loan payments until Dec. 31, and make reforms that would allow the student loan system to be more manageable for borrowers.
This was a long-awaited announcement for the more than 45 million people who have federal student loans, and the White House estimates that this relief will allow for roughly 20 million borrowers to have their student debt fully canceled.
In the coming months, the Department of Education said it will release a form to apply for this relief before the end of the year, but also noted that roughly eight million people will receive automatic relief.
We talk with John King, EdTrust President and former U.S. Secretary of Education, about the announcement and what more needs to be done.
And we also hear from Michael Arceneaux, author of “I Don’t Want To Die Poor,” who talks about his private student loan debt.
On Wednesday, President Biden announced that he will cancel $10,000 in federal student loan debt for people earning $125,000 or less per year, and will cancel an extra $10,000 for Pell Grant recipients, extend the pause on student loan payments until Dec. 31, and make reforms that would allow the student loan system to be more manageable for borrowers.
This was a long-awaited announcement for the more than 45 million people who have federal student loans, and the White House estimates that this relief will allow for roughly 20 million borrowers to have their student debt fully canceled.
In the coming months, the Department of Education said it will release a form to apply for this relief before the end of the year, but also noted that roughly eight million people will receive automatic relief.
We talk with John King, EdTrust President and former U.S. Secretary of Education, about the announcement and what more needs to be done.
And we also hear from Michael Arceneaux, author of “I Don’t Want To Die Poor,” who talks about his private student loan debt.
On Tuesday, August 23rd, former Louisville metro police department detective, Kelly Goodlett, pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy in association with the murder of Breonna Taylor in March of 2020. Goodlett admitted to helping falsify information in order to obtain a search warrant. Taylor was asleep when police officers barged into her apartment and gunned her down in her bed, allegedly searching for Taylor’s former boyfriend whom they suspected of dealing drugs. Joining us to talk about Goodlett’s plea and police accountability in the aftermath of Breonna’s death is Teva Lindsey, Associate Professor in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department at Ohio State University.
On Tuesday, August 23rd, former Louisville metro police department detective, Kelly Goodlett, pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy in association with the murder of Breonna Taylor in March of 2020. Goodlett admitted to helping falsify information in order to obtain a search warrant. Taylor was asleep when police officers barged into her apartment and gunned her down in her bed, allegedly searching for Taylor’s former boyfriend whom they suspected of dealing drugs. Joining us to talk about Goodlett’s plea and police accountability in the aftermath of Breonna’s death is Teva Lindsey, Associate Professor in the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department at Ohio State University.
In Ukraine, today is a day of celebration and sadness. On this day, thirty-one years ago, Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union, after nearly 70 years under Moscow’s control. This came as the USSR was slowly crumbling, and many Soviet satellite states had already established democracies after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Ukraine’s Independence Day is usually marked with a military parade in the capital, air force pilots flying over the Independence Square in Kyiv, and people gathering in their local town squares to celebrate.
But when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th of this year, that all changed. Today also marks six months since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine. In the capital today, Kyiv authorities have banned mass gatherings for fear of intensified attacks from Russia. Instead, destroyed and burned-out Russian tanks and military equipment line the capital’s main street is lined with – a quiet, triumphant nod to Russia’s president who had once hoped to overtake the city.
And across the US, vigils and events were held throughout the week in solidarity with Ukrainians.
Last night, a crowd gathered at a park in lower Manhattan in a candlelight vigil organized by Razom, a nonprofit in New York working to support Ukraine. Attendees wore Ukrainian flags and held candles to honor the soldiers and civilians whose lives have been lost in the war.
We speak with Nataliya Gumenyuk, a Ukrainian journalist and founder of the Public Interest Journalism Lab, with updates on the ground from Kyiv, Ukraine.
Caribbean beaches have been under attack this year, not by people or even sharks, but by the proliferation of Sargassum seaweed.
The monthly report by the University of South Florida’s Optical Oceanography Lab recorded 24 million tons of Sargassum in the Atlantic Ocean in June affecting beaches from Puerto Rico to Barbados.
We speak with Chuanmin Hu, Professor of Oceanography at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science who assists in producing the report about the uptick in Sargassum and how it's affecting not only economies but also the local people.
We speak with associate professor of political science at Fordham University Christina Greer and former Florida Republican Congressman David Jolly about the primary election results in Florida and New York. Voters in New York chose candidates in important Congressional districts, and Democratic voters in Florida selected opponents to run against Governor Ron Desantis and Senator Marco Rubio in November. We’ll break down what happened on Tuesday and talk about what Governor Desantis’s strategy in Florida signals for his political ambitions and the direction of the GOP.
In July, a man was diagnosed with polio in New York State’s Rockland County. Officials say that polio has been in the county’s wastewater since May and New York City officials detected polio in the city’s wastewater earlier this month. Other countries that had not detected polio in decades have also confirmed new cases this year. We speak with Apoorva Mandavill from the New York Times about these cases of polio and what it would take to eradicate the virus completely.
It is still legal to sterilized a disabled person without their consent in over 30 states in the United States. And despite the Americans with Disabilities Act barring discrimination, barriers persist in healthcare spaces that make it inaccessible to many disabled people, including costs. Even when disabled people find their way around these, many find they must constantly advocate for their healthcare providers to see them as capable of making their own choices in reproduction, pregnancy and parenting.
Bodily autonomy, self-determination, the right to have a child and the right to choose not to — these are the ideas at the core of both reproductive justice and disability justice.
We speak with Laurie Bertram Roberts, co-founder and executive director of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund and Rebecca Cokley, Program Officer for U.S. Disability Rights at the Ford Foundation.
It is still legal to sterilized a disabled person without their consent in over 30 states in the United States. And despite the Americans with Disabilities Act barring discrimination, barriers persist in healthcare spaces that make it inaccessible to many disabled people, including costs. Even when disabled people find their way around these, many find they must constantly advocate for their healthcare providers to see them as capable of making their own choices in reproduction, pregnancy and parenting.
Bodily autonomy, self-determination, the right to have a child and the right to choose not to — these are the ideas at the core of both reproductive justice and disability justice.
We speak with Laurie Bertram Roberts, co-founder and executive director of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund and Rebecca Cokley, Program Officer for U.S. Disability Rights at the Ford Foundation.
Last week, Scotland became the first country in the world to make tampons, pads and other period products free to the public. The legislation was initially approved by lawmakers in 2020.
Scottish leaders are using this initiative to combat period poverty, or the lack of access to period products because of the high cost, something we have plenty of in the United States, especially among young people.
And although menstrual hygiene is a basic need, there are still many barriers to accessing products to meet it. A 2021 study by George Mason University of college women showed that 1 in 10 college women experience period poverty. In another study commissioned by Thinx & PERIOD, called the State of the Period, it found that a quarter of students who menstruate, ages 13 to 19, experience period poverty.
As we begin a new school year, addressing period poverty here in the U.S. remains critical as ever.
For more, I’m joined now by Michela Bedard, Executive Director of PERIOD., a non-profit that is fighting to end period poverty.
Last week, Scotland became the first country in the world to make tampons, pads and other period products free to the public. The legislation was initially approved by lawmakers in 2020.
Scottish leaders are using this initiative to combat period poverty, or the lack of access to period products because of the high cost, something we have plenty of in the United States, especially among young people.
And although menstrual hygiene is a basic need, there are still many barriers to accessing products to meet it. A 2021 study by George Mason University of college women showed that 1 in 10 college women experience period poverty. In another study commissioned by Thinx & PERIOD, called the State of the Period, it found that a quarter of students who menstruate, ages 13 to 19, experience period poverty.
As we begin a new school year, addressing period poverty here in the U.S. remains critical as ever.
For more, I’m joined now by Michela Bedard, Executive Director of PERIOD., a non-profit that is fighting to end period poverty.
This spring, comedian Jerrod Carmichael released his latest Emmy-nominated stand-up special, “Rothaniel” on HBO Max. In the new act, Carmichael comes out as gay, but the special is an exploration both of his own secrets as well as the ones held by previous generations of men in his family.
It’s part of an exciting new chapter in Carmichael’s career that also includes his directorial debut “On the Count of Three,” and his Emmy-nominated performance guest hosting SNL earlier this year. The Takeaway speaks with Carmichael about embracing honesty in his work.
Between 1820 and 1860, as the cotton industry in the United States boomed, about one million enslaved people were forcibly relocated from states in the upper South to the plantations of the Deep South. Historians call this the Second Passage, echoing the first forced migration of the Middle Passage.
After the Civil War, these newly-emancipated people tried to reunite their families. Thousands of them placed advertisements in their local newspapers, providing as many details as they could about when they last saw their loved ones and who they were sold to. One ad placed by Henry Anderson in the Indianapolis Freeman in 1895 began, "I would like to find my people."
Many of these families were never reunited. But their messages are being collected and archived by historians and genealogists, and these archives are now helping their descendants find their people.
Rachel Swarns, contributing writer at the New York Times and an associate professor of journalism at NYU, joined us to discuss her recent reporting on people who are using archives to find their ancestors who had been enslaved. Dr. Blair Kelley, an associate professor of history at North Carolina State University and incoming director of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina, also joined and she's done some of her own research into her own lost ancestors.
In Beirut, Lebanon last week, an armed man took hostages at a bank because he couldn’t access his own money – funds he needed to pay for urgent medical care for his father. After an hours-long standoff, the man accepted a portion of the funds he was trying to take out of his bank account. The money was given to his brother in exchange for turning himself in and releasing the hostages. Meanwhile, crowds had gathered outside of the bank to support him.
This event underscored the deep economic crisis that Lebanon has been experiencing since 2019. According to the World Bank, it could be one of the “world’s worst economic crises since the mid-19th century.”
For more on this we spoke with Sarah Dadouch, Washington Post Correspondent covering the Middle East.
Despite years of press coverage on the pros and cons of the gig economy, less focus has been given to the question of whether app-based corporations do enough to protect workers’ lives. Data gathered from the last 5 years by The Markup and the advocacy group Gig Workers Rising indicates that they have not.
According to a recent report "Death And Corporate Irresponsibility In The Gig Economy: An Urgent Safety Crisis," Gig Workers Rising's research found news reports, legal filings, police records and family accounts indicating that over 50 gig workers have been killed on the job since 2017 in just the United States. The true number is likely to be much greater as gig corporations don’t regularly disclose the number of homicides that occur for people working using their app.
Recent reporting from The Markup also revealed that Uber reported more than 350 gig workers were carjacked, 28 killed, and 24,000 physically assaulted and threatened from passengers against drivers occurred between 2017 and 2020. There have also been numerous reports of sexual assaults by drivers against passengers.
There is relatively little government oversight of these companies, so we looked at whether change is possible to better protect rideshare drivers and passengers. We spoke with Alexandrea J. Ravenelle, an Assistant Professor in Sociology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and author of the book "Hustle and Gig: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy" and Bobby Allyn, business and tech reporter for NPR.
Marine Major Tom Schueman met interpreter Zainullah “Zak” Zaki while serving in Afghanistan. After Major Schueman’s tour ended in 2011, Zak continued to support the United States in spite of death threats from the Taliban. Zak applied for a U.S. visa in 2016. From 2016, Major Schueman launched a campaign to help Zak escape Kabul.
Brilliantly told in Tom’s and Zak’s alternating first person voices, ALWAYS FAITHFUL tracks the parallel lives of two men who each spent their childhoods in fear, peril, and poverty, and turned to war in attempt to build a meaningful future. Their experiences dovetail in Afghanistan’s deadly Helmand Valley, where they form a brotherhood, eventually culminating in Zak’s harrowing, eleventh-hour rescue.
Since first coming to America in fall 2021, Zak and his family have settled near cousins in San Antonio, Texas. But despite the dramatic and public circumstances of Zak’s escape, he still is battling red tape with the US State Department. As of April, his most recent visa application was rejected, meaning that his stay in the US still is not guaranteed.
Tom and Zak detail their experience in Afghanistan and Zak’s eventual escape in their book, "Always Faithful: A Story of the War in Afghanistan, the Fall of Kabul, and the Unshakable Bond Between a Marine and an Interpreter," and they joined us to share their story about friendship and loyalty.
Under the Trump Administration's “Zero Tolerance” family separation border policy, over 5,600 children were separated from their families. Despite efforts from the Biden Administration to reunite families, anywhere from 700 hundred to 1000 children have still not officially been reunited with their families.
We speak with Caitlin Dickerson, staff writer for The Atlantic, whose latest investigative piece “The Secret History of Family Separation,”—which took 18 months to report and spans nearly 30-thousand words—chronicles the full scope and of the policy, its legacy, and how similar, future iterations may be adopted.
The Gullah (also known as Geechee or Gullah-Geechee) are descendants of enslaved West and Central Africans who were brought on slave ships to the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Their descendants retained many of their ancestors’ African traditions reflected in their arts and culture, food, and religion.
In 2006, Congress designated the Atlantic shores and sea islands from North Carolina to Florida, “The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.”
One of those designated places is off the Georgia Coast, called Sapelo Island. On Sapelo Island, a small community of Gullah-Geechee people are struggling to preserve their culture, land, and future. They are descendants of enslaved West Africans, and their ancestors worked on plantations on the island until Emancipation, when they bought their own land.
The Gullah-Geechee originally owned land all over Sapelo Island and had several communities, but according to descendants, in the 1930’s, the North Carolina tobacco heir R.J. Reynolds, Jr. used coercive and exploitative tactics to move the Gullah-Geechee onto one part of the island called Hog Hammock (or called Hogg Hummock by descendants) — where they remain today.
In the 1970s, Reynolds’ widow sold most of the island to the State of Georgia, which owns 97 percent of the island. Descendants and others own the other 3 percent.
This is one of the last intact Gullah-Geechee communities in Georgia, and the number of descendants on the island is declining every year. Descendants say their people are leaving the island because they are slowly being driven off by state and county entities that are denying descendants basic municipal services, and increasing property taxes.
We spoke with Reginald Hall, CEO of Raccoon Hog Community Development Corporation and a descendant living on the island. Hall was not born on the island, but grew up visiting his grandmother. He was living in the Midwest in 2007 when his family called him back to his ancestral home to help his community and take an assessment of their survival.
Back in 2015, Hall and 56 Sapelo Island property owners, filed a federal race discrimination lawsuit which claimed that McIntosh County, the state of Georgia, and the Sapelo Island Heritage Authority were “engaged in a policy designed to make plaintiffs’ lives so uncomfortable that they abandon their homes and their land.”
In a statement to the AP, the county’s lead attorney in the lawsuit denied the county had discriminated against Hogg Hammock residents because they were Black.
Sapelo Island is located about 7 miles from the mainland, and its remote location has helped descendants preserve their Gullah-Geechee culture, but also made it difficult to live full-time on the island.
The only public access to and from the island is a state-run ferry, which only runs three times a day. It makes it hard for descendants to hold jobs off the island, and many end up working for the state institutions on the island. And the docks to-and-from the ferry, and the ferry itself, are not wheelchair accessible, meaning many of their elders cannot come to the island.
There’s also no school on the island, no medical services, no fire department, no trash collection. And on top of that, descendants’ lands are being threatened by developers and the resulting high property taxes.
In 2020, the state settled its portion of the lawsuit that descendants had filed in 2015. The state agreed to fix the aging ferry dock, and make the ferry and the docks ADA-compliant. The settlement is estimated to cost 19 million dollars in infrastructure rebuild, along with a $750-thousand-dollar payout to descendants.
And earlier this month, descendants settled the federal lawsuit against McIntosh County. The county agreed to station an emergency medical vehicle and emergency medical equipment on the island. The county will maintain and install a helipad for emergencies and evacuations, and provide a functional fire truck and firefighting training to residents who wish to receive it. And the county will maintain the roads, and reduce the trash collection fee that Island residents pay. Descendants also received $2 million in damages and attorneys’ fees, and a three-year freeze on property taxes.
The settlement agreement says the settlement is not “an admission or acknowledgment of liability by Defendant McIntosh County.” We also reached out to the county and the state for a comment but did not get a response.
Receiving these settlements, and the updates to the island that will come with them, is just one step in Hall’s, and his family’s, plans for recovery.
Their main goal is to bring their family members and other descendants home – but also to create jobs for them to come back to. In the future some descendants are hoping to work with the state and county to create a historical district on Sapelo Island. With this historic district designation, Hall and his family hope to build a tourism industry on the island run by descendants.
The Gullah (also known as Geechee or Gullah-Geechee) are descendants of enslaved West and Central Africans who were brought on slave ships to the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. Their descendants retained many of their ancestors’ African traditions reflected in their arts and culture, food, and religion.
In 2006, Congress designated the Atlantic shores and sea islands from North Carolina to Florida, “The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor.”
One of those designated places is off the Georgia Coast, called Sapelo Island. On Sapelo Island, a small community of Gullah-Geechee people are struggling to preserve their culture, land, and future. They are descendants of enslaved West Africans, and their ancestors worked on plantations on the island until Emancipation, when they bought their own land.
The Gullah-Geechee originally owned land all over Sapelo Island and had several communities, but according to descendants, in the 1930’s, the North Carolina tobacco heir R.J. Reynolds, Jr. used coercive and exploitative tactics to move the Gullah-Geechee onto one part of the island called Hog Hammock (or called Hogg Hummock by descendants) — where they remain today.
In the 1970s, Reynolds’ widow sold most of the island to the State of Georgia, which owns 97 percent of the island. Descendants and others own the other 3 percent.
This is one of the last intact Gullah-Geechee communities in Georgia, and the number of descendants on the island is declining every year. Descendants say their people are leaving the island because they are slowly being driven off by state and county entities that are denying descendants basic municipal services, and increasing property taxes.
We spoke with Reginald Hall, CEO of Raccoon Hog Community Development Corporation and a descendant living on the island. Hall was not born on the island, but grew up visiting his grandmother. He was living in the Midwest in 2007 when his family called him back to his ancestral home to help his community and take an assessment of their survival.
Back in 2015, Hall and 56 Sapelo Island property owners, filed a federal race discrimination lawsuit which claimed that McIntosh County, the state of Georgia, and the Sapelo Island Heritage Authority were “engaged in a policy designed to make plaintiffs’ lives so uncomfortable that they abandon their homes and their land.”
In a statement to the AP, the county’s lead attorney in the lawsuit denied the county had discriminated against Hogg Hammock residents because they were Black.
Sapelo Island is located about 7 miles from the mainland, and its remote location has helped descendants preserve their Gullah-Geechee culture, but also made it difficult to live full-time on the island.
The only public access to and from the island is a state-run ferry, which only runs three times a day. It makes it hard for descendants to hold jobs off the island, and many end up working for the state institutions on the island. And the docks to-and-from the ferry, and the ferry itself, are not wheelchair accessible, meaning many of their elders cannot come to the island.
There’s also no school on the island, no medical services, no fire department, no trash collection. And on top of that, descendants’ lands are being threatened by developers and the resulting high property taxes.
In 2020, the state settled its portion of the lawsuit that descendants had filed in 2015. The state agreed to fix the aging ferry dock, and make the ferry and the docks ADA-compliant. The settlement is estimated to cost 19 million dollars in infrastructure rebuild, along with a $750-thousand-dollar payout to descendants.
And earlier this month, descendants settled the federal lawsuit against McIntosh County. The county agreed to station an emergency medical vehicle and emergency medical equipment on the island. The county will maintain and install a helipad for emergencies and evacuations, and provide a functional fire truck and firefighting training to residents who wish to receive it. And the county will maintain the roads, and reduce the trash collection fee that Island residents pay. Descendants also received $2 million in damages and attorneys’ fees, and a three-year freeze on property taxes.
The settlement agreement says the settlement is not “an admission or acknowledgment of liability by Defendant McIntosh County.” We also reached out to the county and the state for a comment but did not get a response.
Receiving these settlements, and the updates to the island that will come with them, is just one step in Hall’s, and his family’s, plans for recovery.
Their main goal is to bring their family members and other descendants home – but also to create jobs for them to come back to. In the future some descendants are hoping to work with the state and county to create a historical district on Sapelo Island. With this historic district designation, Hall and his family hope to build a tourism industry on the island run by descendants.
Since August 5th, hundreds of asylum seekers and migrants have arrived in New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal from the US-Mexico border in Texas. The buses were sent by Texas state leadership under Governor Greg Abbott, who claims that this is the city’s chance to put its "sanctuary city" status into practice. We speak with Arun Venugopal, race and justice reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, about the circumstances these travelers are now facing.
Since August 5th, hundreds of asylum seekers and migrants have arrived in New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal from the US-Mexico border in Texas. The buses were sent by Texas state leadership under Governor Greg Abbott, who claims that this is the city’s chance to put its "sanctuary city" status into practice. We speak with Arun Venugopal, race and justice reporter for WNYC and Gothamist, about the circumstances these travelers are now facing.
The world has been captivated by Beyoncé’s 7th studio album RENAISSANCE ever since it dropped nearly two weeks ago. And while many have relished in the excitement of the new era Beyoncé has ushered in, it hasn’t been without some controversy.
Amidst a crediting conflict primarily between artist Kelis and music producer Pharrell, another issue arose. Some disability advocates took issue with a song lyric containing the word 'spaz' in the track “Heated.” It’s a word rooted in the word spastic, a medical term often used to describe those who suffer from disabilities involving muscle spasms. Beyoncé’s not the only artist who has received criticism for the use of the term. In June, Lizzo also received similar backlash after including the word in the lyrics to the song "Grrrls." In response both artists removed the word from their lyrics.
Writing this month for OkayPlayer, Clementine Williams noted that the term has often been used by Black artists to mean “going wild,” and that the initial call outs on the Beyoncé and Lizzo lyrics were largely made by white disability activists. However, the double meaning and history of its use in African American Vernacular English does not negate the harm the term can cause for the disabled community. Instead, moments such as these have helped create dialogue around what accountability can look like in the music industry, and even drawn the conversation to the growing movement and consciousness around disability.
But for Black disabled writer, poet, activist, and scholar Leroy Moore Jr., he couldn't help but notice a critical voice missing from the conversation: Black disabled artists.
Leroy was born with cerebral palsy and has dedicated much of his writing and activism to disability rights. He co-founded Krip-Hop Nation, a movement that uses hip-hop as a means of expression for people with disabilities and this movement has grown to different parts of the world including parts of Africa and Europe. He is also a doctoral student in linguistic anthropology at UCLA, and he writes and delivers lectures and performances that reflect the intersections between racism and ableism, in the United States and abroad.
Leroy joined The Takeaway to give us his take on the situation. He addressed the problematic nature of both policing Black language while erasing Black disabled voices, shining a light on the ways Krip-Hop Nation is working to make this change.
The world has been captivated by Beyoncé’s 7th studio album RENAISSANCE ever since it dropped nearly two weeks ago. And while many have relished in the excitement of the new era Beyoncé has ushered in, it hasn’t been without some controversy.
Amidst a crediting conflict primarily between artist Kelis and music producer Pharrell, another issue arose. Some disability advocates took issue with a song lyric containing the word 'spaz' in the track “Heated.” It’s a word rooted in the word spastic, a medical term often used to describe those who suffer from disabilities involving muscle spasms. Beyoncé’s not the only artist who has received criticism for the use of the term. In June, Lizzo also received similar backlash after including the word in the lyrics to the song "Grrrls." In response both artists removed the word from their lyrics.
Writing this month for OkayPlayer, Clementine Williams noted that the term has often been used by Black artists to mean “going wild,” and that the initial call outs on the Beyoncé and Lizzo lyrics were largely made by white disability activists. However, the double meaning and history of its use in African American Vernacular English does not negate the harm the term can cause for the disabled community. Instead, moments such as these have helped create dialogue around what accountability can look like in the music industry, and even drawn the conversation to the growing movement and consciousness around disability.
But for Black disabled writer, poet, activist, and scholar Leroy Moore Jr., he couldn't help but notice a critical voice missing from the conversation: Black disabled artists.
Leroy was born with cerebral palsy and has dedicated much of his writing and activism to disability rights. He co-founded Krip-Hop Nation, a movement that uses hip-hop as a means of expression for people with disabilities and this movement has grown to different parts of the world including parts of Africa and Europe. He is also a doctoral student in linguistic anthropology at UCLA, and he writes and delivers lectures and performances that reflect the intersections between racism and ableism, in the United States and abroad.
Leroy joined The Takeaway to give us his take on the situation. He addressed the problematic nature of both policing Black language while erasing Black disabled voices, shining a light on the ways Krip-Hop Nation is working to make this change.
Last week, a settlement administrator uploaded a report showing that hundreds of Black former NFL players now qualify for compensation from the league, following adjustments to dementia tests that eliminated the discriminatory practice known as “race-norming.”
Following a civil rights lawsuit by two former players, the NFL said last year that they would stop applying lower cognitive base scores to Black players compared with white players. The Takeaway spoke with former NFL running back and player advocate Ken Jenkins about the significance of this latest development.
And to learn more about the use of "race-norming" as well as what else is going on in the sports world, The Takeaway checked in with Dave Zirin, sports editor at The Nation.
Last week, a settlement administrator uploaded a report showing that hundreds of Black former NFL players now qualify for compensation from the league, following adjustments to dementia tests that eliminated the discriminatory practice known as “race-norming.”
Following a civil rights lawsuit by two former players, the NFL said last year that they would stop applying lower cognitive base scores to Black players compared with white players. The Takeaway spoke with former NFL running back and player advocate Ken Jenkins about the significance of this latest development.
And to learn more about the use of "race-norming" as well as what else is going on in the sports world, The Takeaway checked in with Dave Zirin, sports editor at The Nation.
Liz Cheney lost her seat in Wyoming, and Sarah Palin returned to fill the late Don Young’s congressional seat in Alaska in the special election.
We speak with national correspondent for the New York Times, Trip Gabriel, about the these primaries and next week's races in Florida and New York.
Liz Cheney lost her seat in Wyoming, and Sarah Palin returned to fill the late Don Young’s congressional seat in Alaska in the special election.
We speak with national correspondent for the New York Times, Trip Gabriel, about the these primaries and next week's races in Florida and New York.
What do you think happens to us after we die? Not our essences, our inner beings, our souls — whichever term you prefer — but our bodies. Who takes care of us, from the time we are found to the time we are laid in the ground? The people who tend to our bereavements, our burials, and our bodies do work that is largely invisible, allowing the rest of us to maintain our distance from a painful and difficult concept.
"But the bodies have to go somewhere," writes journalist Hayley Campbell, in her new book, "All the Living and the Dead." Each chapter focuses on a different person who works closely with the bodies of those who have died. We speak with her about what we might learn from confronting the physical realities of death with an open mind.
What do you think happens to us after we die? Not our essences, our inner beings, our souls — whichever term you prefer — but our bodies. Who takes care of us, from the time we are found to the time we are laid in the ground? The people who tend to our bereavements, our burials, and our bodies do work that is largely invisible, allowing the rest of us to maintain our distance from a painful and difficult concept.
"But the bodies have to go somewhere," writes journalist Hayley Campbell, in her new book, "All the Living and the Dead." Each chapter focuses on a different person who works closely with the bodies of those who have died. We speak with her about what we might learn from confronting the physical realities of death with an open mind.
Since 2014, nearly 25,000 people have gone missing in the Mediterranean. It is one of the most deadly migration routes in the world. Many of these migrants and refugees have already risked dangerous journeys across harsh terrains and conflict zones rife with traffickers on their way to the sea, from their home countries in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. When they reach the coast, they are crowded onto small inflatable rafts or rickety wooden boats that are ill-equipped to handle the mercurial sea.
That's where rescue ships come in. Run by humanitarian organizations, rescue ships patrol international waters for signs of travelers in distress or on sinking boats. The delicate rescue operations are a race against time and the Libyan Coast Guard, which is supported by European Union funding to capture migrants and detain them before they can reach Europe's shore.
We hear about this human cost of this ongoing crisis from Jenelle Eli, emergency responder for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies who served on the Ocean Viking rescue ship in 2021, and Bill Frelick, Director of the Refugee and Migrant Rights Division at Human Rights Watch.
Since 2014, nearly 25,000 people have gone missing in the Mediterranean. It is one of the most deadly migration routes in the world. Many of these migrants and refugees have already risked dangerous journeys across harsh terrains and conflict zones rife with traffickers on their way to the sea, from their home countries in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East. When they reach the coast, they are crowded onto small inflatable rafts or rickety wooden boats that are ill-equipped to handle the mercurial sea.
That's where rescue ships come in. Run by humanitarian organizations, rescue ships patrol international waters for signs of travelers in distress or on sinking boats. The delicate rescue operations are a race against time and the Libyan Coast Guard, which is supported by European Union funding to capture migrants and detain them before they can reach Europe's shore.
We hear about this human cost of this ongoing crisis from Jenelle Eli, emergency responder for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies who served on the Ocean Viking rescue ship in 2021, and Bill Frelick, Director of the Refugee and Migrant Rights Division at Human Rights Watch.
Months after Guidepost Solutions exposed the mishandling of sexual abuse reports within the Southern Baptist Convention, the DOJ has subpoenaed documents as part of its own investigation of the SBC.
We speak with staff reporter at the Houston Chronicle, Robert Downen, about the significance of the DOJ’s investigation.
Months after Guidepost Solutions exposed the mishandling of sexual abuse reports within the Southern Baptist Convention, the DOJ has subpoenaed documents as part of its own investigation of the SBC.
We speak with staff reporter at the Houston Chronicle, Robert Downen, about the significance of the DOJ’s investigation.
One year ago, on August, 15, 2021, the capital city of Afghanistan, Kabul fell into Taliban control amidst the U.S.’s withdrawal after 20 years of occupation in the country. Democracy had failed in Afghanistan. As the entire world watched, Afghans raced to escape the country, risking their safety and lives.
The new podcast Kabul Falling recounts the story of how Kabul fell, told by Afghans who lived through it; some who escaped, some who were left behind.
We speak with British-Afghan journalist Nelufar Hedayat, the host of Kabul Falling.
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the rate of job openings in the leisure and hospitality industry has consistently hovered around 10% since June of 2021, the highest out of all industries it tracks. Many businesses are turning to older adults to fill those shifts and sweetening the deal with better travel benefits.
We hear from Maria Boyd-Scott, a 60-year old part-time ramp agent at an airline, about her experience. And we speak with Debra Kamin, a journalist who covered this trend recently in the New York Times.
The American Library Association tracked 729 book bans across the country targeting more than 1500 books in 2021–a record since the organization started counting, more than 20 years ago. Most of the books that have been targeted concern race, slavery or LGBTQ topics. We speak with Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, about book banning and protecting our libraries.
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was created in 1943 during World War II, as many of the male athletes were fighting abroad. Until it ended in 1954, the league provided women with an opportunity to play a professional sport for a decent salary. The league was the inspiration for the 1992 film A League of Their Own, and now it's getting a reboot as a new television series, also called A League of Their Own.
We speak with historian Kat Williams, professor of women's history at Marshall University and the president of the International Women's Baseball Center, about the women who inspired A League of Their Own and legacy of the AAGPBL.
Then we hear from 95-year-old Maybelle Blair, a former player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League about her life, career, and working as a consultant on the new TV series.
Nearly six months into Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, the repercussions of the war are being felt across the globe, with disrupted supply chains, weakened economies, and shifted geopolitical relationships. And then there’s the human toll.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has recorded 5,400 Ukrainian civilian deaths since the start of the war. Intense fighting has made reporting difficult, though, and the agency believes that the true numbers are much higher. And while more than 3.5 million people have fled the country and applied for temporary residence in another country, an even larger number of Ukranians have remained in Ukraine. An estimated 7 million people are displaced from their homes within the country, spending months in shelters, gymnasiums and schools that are ill-equipped to handle the winter on the way.
We speak with Nataliya Gumenyuk, Ukrainian journalist and founder of the Public Interest Journalism Lab, with updates on the ground from Kyiv, Ukraine.
And we hear from Ann Lee, the CEO of Community Organized Relief Effort — CORE — a nonprofit humanitarian organization working in across Ukraine, about the conditions refugees and internally displaced people in Ukraine are facing.
The human mind is awe-inspiring. Its complex, yet coordinated, web of 86 billion neurons all fire together to help us breath, talk, walk, and experience everyday life.
But the mind is also vulnerable. It takes only a few microscopic molecules out of place to completely disrupt our personalities, shift our perception of reality, and dramatically alter our ability to think and reason.
We spoke with Sara Manning Peskin, assistant professor of clinical neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, about her book "A Molecule Away from Madness: The Hijacked Brain."
She shares the discoveries and diagnoses that have significantly advanced neuroscience while also illustrating the human component behind the mind's diseases that affect us all.
Could there be infinite versions of us, spinning off into their own universes from every choice we make? Is all of time happening all at once? Do we have free will?
"When we try to answer such big questions about our existence, we basically have three options. That's religion, philosophy and physics," Dr. Sabine Hossenfelder told The Takeaway. "And of those three, I think physics has made the biggest progress in the past century."
Sabine Hossenfelder, a physicist at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies in Germany, has made it her mission to make physics engaging to the public. She's the creator of the YouTube show, "Science without the Gobbledygook," and her newest book is "Existential Physics: A Scientist's Guide to Life's Biggest Questions." She plumbs the depths — and limitations — of the best knowledge physicists currently have about our universe, where it overlaps with some of our biggest spiritual and existential questions, and the possibilities they present.
There are a record number of abortion measures on the ballot for the November midterm elections. Voters in Vermont, California, Kentucky and Montana will decide on respective abortion measures in their states. A proposed Constitutional amendment in Kentucky would amend the state constitution to explicitly ban the right to abortion. Proposals in Vermont, California, and likely in Michigan, would have the opposite effect, enshrining abortion rights in their state constitutions. And a ballot measure in Montana would establish personhood for infants born alive after attempted abortions.
We speak with Vox politics reporter, Nicole Narea, for more on the various measures.
Last Tuesday, voters in Kansas rejected a proposal to amend the state’s constitution to say there is no right to abortion.
Kansas is one of the most solidly Republican states in the union, having chosen the Republican candidate in all but one presidential election since 1940. But data from the Kansas Secretary of State’s office shows that more people voted in the abortion referendum than in any primary election in state history, and the margin of victory was substantial: 59% voted against amending the constitution to ban abortion.
For many, the outcome was surprising. But those who know Kansas more intimately understand that the roots of this outcome are deeply ingrained in the history and politics of the state.
The Takeaway spoke with Thomas Frank, author of the 2004 book “What’s the Matter with Kansas?” about how the state’s political history is reflected in this outcome.
The Takeaway also was joined by Representative Stephanie Clayton, House Minority Whip in the Kansas’s State Legislature. Clayton discussed how a more conservative leaning framework for the state’s ballot measure on abortion rights ended up being a winning strategy for Democrats and moderate Republicans in the state.
At the end of July, the Ford Foundation and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation announced a new cohort of Disability Futures Fellows. The fellows are supported by a grant designed to spotlight a group of visual and performing artists and writers who live with disabilities.
We spoke with one of the new fellows, Naomi Ortiz, who isa poet, writer, and visual artist whose intersectional work focuses on self-care for activists, disability justice, climate action, and relationship with place. They are also the author of the book, "Sustaining Spirit: Self-Care for Social Justice" and the forthcoming book, "Rituals for Climate Change: A Crip Struggle for Ecojustice."
Fungi under the soil plays an important role in forestry growth and capturing carbon, and it turns out understanding unknown territory of underground fungi networks could be critical for climate change mitigation efforts.
We spoke with Colin Averill (AiVE-rall), lead scientist at the Crowther lab at ETH Zurich and Co founder of The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks to understand why we should adopt a “fungi first” approach to climate change.
Fungi under the soil plays an important role in forestry growth and capturing carbon, and it turns out understanding unknown territory of underground fungi networks could be critical for climate change mitigation efforts.
We spoke with Colin Averill (AiVE-rall), lead scientist at the Crowther lab at ETH Zurich and Co founder of The Society for the Protection of Underground Networks to understand why we should adopt a “fungi first” approach to climate change.
Last week, the Biden administration declared a public health emergency over the spread of the monkeypox virus in the United States. There are currently more than 7,500 known cases in the country, with more than 90% occurring among men who reported recently having had sex or other intimate contact with other men. After the public health emergency declaration, Alondra Nelson, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and several of her colleagues published a statement in partnership with leaders from twenty other countries calling for research around monkeypox to be shared openly among academics from different nations. We speak with Deputy Director Nelson about the importance of sharing this research.
Last week, the Biden administration declared a public health emergency over the spread of the monkeypox virus in the United States. There are currently more than 7,500 known cases in the country, with more than 90% occurring among men who reported recently having had sex or other intimate contact with other men. After the public health emergency declaration, Alondra Nelson, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and several of her colleagues published a statement in partnership with leaders from twenty other countries calling for research around monkeypox to be shared openly among academics from different nations. We speak with Deputy Director Nelson about the importance of sharing this research.
The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that the earth’s temperature will rise by almost 35 degrees Fahrenheit by 2040 if we don’t curb our greenhouse gas emissions. But what if there was another way — what if we could simply shade the planet from the sun's hot rays? It sounds like something right out of a science fiction movie, but research into making it a reality has recently won some powerful financial backers. Solar geo-engineering, as the idea is called, doesn't just pose environmental and technological challenges, but also questions of international cooperation and governance.
Dr. Alan Robock, Distinguished Professor of climate science in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University, joined us to explain the research, the technology, and the unintended consequences.
The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that the earth’s temperature will rise by almost 35 degrees Fahrenheit by 2040 if we don’t curb our greenhouse gas emissions. But what if there was another way — what if we could simply shade the planet from the sun's hot rays? It sounds like something right out of a science fiction movie, but research into making it a reality has recently won some powerful financial backers. Solar geo-engineering, as the idea is called, doesn't just pose environmental and technological challenges, but also questions of international cooperation and governance.
Dr. Alan Robock, Distinguished Professor of climate science in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University, joined us to explain the research, the technology, and the unintended consequences.
Primaries were held last week in Arizona, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington. On the Republican side, many of the races were close, making it hard to say definitively whether former President Trump had a strong sway on these votes. But overall, a number of the candidates he endorsed won, meaning that in several prominent midterm races the GOP nominee will be a candidate who has backed Trump on his 2020 election lies. At the same time that the primary season is moving along, Congressional Democrats do have some momentum back, passing a bill granting more benefits to veterans affected by toxic burn pits and garnering the votes necessary to pass federal climate change legislation.
We speak about all of these developments with Joel Payne, Democratic strategist, host of the podcast Here Comes the Payne, and CBS News political contributor and Christina Greer, associate professor of political science at Fordham University, co-host of podcast FAQ NYC, and author of the book Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration and the Pursuit of the American Dream.
In July, Google put software engineer Blake Lemoine on administrative leave after he claimed that the Google’s chatbot system he was working with had become aware of its own existence. Google dismissed his claims and denied that the application called LaMDA, or Language Model for Dialogue Applications, was sentient. We speak with Dr. Karin Vold, assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology about the feasibility of sentient artificial intelligence.
90-year old Natalie Levant and 88-year old George Saltz are subjects of the new documentary Still Standing from The New Yorker and filmmaker Elizabeth Zephyrine McDonough. After losing their life partners, they each began stand-up comedy careers in their early 80's
We talk with Natalie and George about the power of laughter as healing, and finding humor in the golden years.
You can watch the documentary Still Standing from The New Yorker online here.
You can see George Saltz perform at The Comic Strip in New York City on August 14th.
And can catch Natalie Levant at the monthly stand up show she hosts at Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar in Philadelphia. e
The United States has a food waste problem. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, up to 40% of our food supply goes uneaten every year. That’s in a country where more than 38 million people face food insecurity. Unreliable food date labels are one of many reasons behind this. A 2019 survey found that 85% of people throw away their food based on those labels, but as it turns out, there isn't much science behind them.
To learn more, we speak with Yvette Cabrera, Director of Food Waste at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
On Thursday, WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner appeared once again in front of a Russian court. She faced up to 10 years in prison for drug charges, as Russian authorities alleged that they found vape canisters containing hashish oil with trace amounts of cannabis oil in her luggage in February. Before a judge handed down her sentence, she pled for leniency, saying, "I made an honest mistake and I hope your ruling doesn’t end my life here." But she was sentenced to nine years of prison.
Dr. William Butler, John Edward Fowler Distinguished Professor at Pennsylvania State’s Dickinson Law School, and Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon, a PhD candidate studying race in Russia at the University of Pennsylvania Department of History, joined us to explain Griner's defense, sentence, and what she's really facing for the next nine years.
For the second half of the 20th century, Ebony Magazine and Jet Magazine were the sources of news and entertainment for the African American community.
It was in these magazines, put out by the Johnson Publishing Company, where you could find news and images of Black celebrities, writers, artists, and political activists, as well as snapshots of Black life in our own neighborhoods. The Johnson Publishing Company was founded in 1942 by John and Eunice Johnson.
This week, ownership of the Ebony and Jet photo archives was transferred over to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Getty Research Institute. And as a result, millions of images as well as audio and video recordings from the Johnson Publishing archives will be preserved and eventually available to the public.
The Takeaway spoke with Dr. Carla Hayden, the 14th Librarian of Congress and the first African American and the first woman to hold the post. Dr. Hayden led a board of experts who helped determine where and how to preserve these archives.
Ten years ago this week, a white supremacist gunman entered the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, in Oak Creek, and shot ten people. Six people were killed on August 5, 2012, and they were part of Wisconsin’s Indian immigrant community. This was no random act of violence. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, targeted acts of violence directed at Sikhs increased significantly. Still, the FBI did not begin to collect data on anti-Sikh hate crimes until 2015. That decade of heightened hostility went largely unmarked by federal data and ended in a massacre.
Dr. Catherine Ceniza Choy says that this pattern of violence and erasure is critical to understanding the histories and experiences of Asian Americans. But there is also a third element to this pattern — resistance.
Dr. Choy is a professor of Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, and Comparative Ethnic Studies at the University of California Berkeley. We speak with her about her new book, Asian American Histories of the United States, which upends cultural narratives about Asian Americans, highlights overlooked identities, and catalogs stories of resistance in these communities across the decades.
The Savannah Bananas are an unconventional baseball team that have amassed 3 million followers on TikTok – more than any Major League Baseball team. This wildly popular minor league baseball franchise has sold out every home game at their Historic Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Georgia since its founding in 2016. Fans come from miles away to watch the Bananas’ collegiate team in the summer, and the pro Bananas throughout the rest of the year. Those pros have become famous for their high energy, quick-paced, and quirky game of Banana Ball!
And this is not just a game, but a show, where fans, players and coaches alike dance, sing, and play. A number of sports reporters have compared the team’s fun-filled approach to the trailblazing style of the Harlem Globetrotters. Savannah Bananas games include choreographed dances during the game, iconic walk-ups, players in kilts, and sometimes even a pitcher on stilts. And of course, lot’s of banana costumes. And before the first pitch is thrown, there’s a Lion-King-themed tribute to a different "Banana Baby" each game.
We spoke with Jesse Cole, owner of the Savannah Bananas-fun fact, he owns seven yellow Tuxedos and wears one to every game- and Maceo Harrison, first base dance coach and choreographer for the Savannah Bananas.
Brandon Ethridge is a classically trained pianist, music director and composer who has worked on Broadway and touring with a Queen cover band.
During the pandemic, he took up a new hobby, writing what he calls “mini-musicals.” Listening carefully to people’s speech patterns, he sets viral videos, interviews and speeches to music, using rhythm and harmony in a way that makes it sound almost as though his subjects are singing.
His mini-musicals run the gamut from the political to the profane, satirizing “Karens” and giving new life to old memes. We talk to the TikTok and YouTube creator about the genesis of his mini-musicals and the process he employs.
In mid-July, the Southern Poverty Law Center and several immigrant advocacy groups released a letter detailing sexual assault allegations made by four migrant women formerly detained at the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia.
All four women accused the same nurse of assault, and since the release of that letter, The Intercept reported on a fifth woman who accused the nurse of assault. CoreCivic, the private prison company that runs Stewart, claims that they investigated three reports of sexual assault against the nurse and found two to be “unsubstantiated” and the other to be “unfounded.”
We speak with José Olivares, lead producer for The Intercept and John Washington, contributor to The Intercept and reporter for Arizona Luminaria, about their reporting on this story. Click here to read the full Intercept report on this story.
In a 2019 report for The Takeaway, José Olivares uncovered evidence that staff at Stewart “skirted rules when dealing with a migrant with mental illness” who died by suicide at the facility. Click here to listen to that reporting.
The Takeaway reached out to CoreCivic for this story and received a statement that reads in part:
"The safety, health, and well-being of the individuals entrusted to our care is our top priority. In accordance with Department of Homeland Security and Prison Rape Elimination Act standards, CoreCivic maintains a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of sexual abuse. It is the policy of CoreCivic to provide a safe and secure environment for all detainees that is free from the threat of sexual abuse, assault, or harassment.
It is CoreCivic’s policy to aggressively investigate all sexual abuse allegations, regardless of the source, and support prosecution for those who are involved in incidents of sexual abuse. Any detainees making such allegations are offered appropriate medical and mental health services, emotional support services, and answers to any questions they have about the investigative process. We unequivocally deny any claims of threats or retaliation."
The Takeaway also reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and received this statement:
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has a zero-tolerance policy for all forms of assault, including sexual abuse, and works to protect detainees from sexual abuse by staff as well as other detainees. Detention facilities are required to notify ICE of all sexual abuse or assault allegations, as well as notify local law enforcement of any allegations involving potentially criminal behavior. Every allegation is investigated and referred appropriately for adjudication as required. With respect to the recent allegations at the Stewart Detention Center, two allegations remain under investigation and ICE continues to follow all appropriate protocol to notify, report, and investigative requirements. Any individual – ICE employee or contractor – suspected of sexual abuse or assault is immediately removed from contact with detained individuals until the completion of the investigation."
Tunisia’s young democracy––that emerged from the 2011 anti-government protests known as the Arab Spring––may be approaching its final days after the adoption of a new constitution headed by President Kais Saied.
The new constitution effectively grants President Saied a monopoly on power and bolsters Islam as a priority of the state.
The constitution was approved by referendum on July 25th, passing with 95% approval, by only 30.5 percent of Tunisia’s eligible voting population.
Supporters of President Saied see a strong leader as their only hope of achieving political and economic stability; Opponents of the new constitution boycotted the referendum as they deem Saied’s constitution and seizing of power illegitimate.
The Takeaway was joined bySharan Grewal, Assistant Professor of Government at the College of William and Mary and a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution, to discuss Tunisia’s new constitution and what this means for the future of democracy in the North-African region.
School's out, camp is on, and the parks are packed — it's summer! But summertime joy isn't just for kids.
Adults can play too, so we're taking a week to highlight different ways to play. Dr. Laurie Santos, Professor of Psychology at Yale University and host of the "The Happiness Lab" podcast, joins us to highlight the many benefits of play and the importance of play for play's sake.
Steven Thrasher’s research explores the ways in which our social structures underscore the inequities of viruses: how they are transmitted, who they kill, and the impacts they have on communities. He joins us to discuss his new book The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide.
“The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide,” explores how social determinants impact the health outcomes of different communities. (Celadon Books)
The 40+ Double Dutch Club is getting women all over the country into their local parks and playgrounds for jumping, dancing and playing.
It all started with one group in Chicago and has turned into a full-fledged movement with chapters in over 30 states and three countries. We speak with the founder, Pamela Robinson, about how the nostalgic game of her childhood became an exercise in community-building and, well — exercise! We're joined by her mother and club board member, Pamela Powell Pelt, who still finds time and energy to play at the age of 76.
According to the Republican National Committee, 160 Black candidates filed to run as Republicans in local, state and federal elections this year. But there are also 100 Republican candidates running for political office who have been labeled “far-right” by the Anti-Defamation League. Can the GOP be both the party of Lincoln and the party of Trump?
We speak with Dr. Leah Wright Rigueur, Associate Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University and author of "The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power" about the GOP's recent investments in Black candidates.
We're joined also by Brendan Buck, partner at the political communications firm Seven Letter, and former press secretary for the Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign and former House Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan, to hear more on how Republican midterm candidates are making their case to voters.
Due to a chain of court decisions, roughly 56,000 formerly incarcerated people on probation or parole are now eligible to vote in North Carolina’s midterm elections. A 2019 lawsuit filed by several non-profits challenged a 1973 state law disenfranchising people still serving out felony sentences through probation or parole.
In the lawsuit, the non-profits point out that this 1973 law disproportionately targets Black people, particularly Black men, in North Carolina.
Although it is still possible that the North Carolina state Supreme Court could reverse the decision allowing people with felony convictions to vote, voting rights advocates are viewing the recent development as an important step in the fight for equity at the ballot box.
The Takeaway spoke with Rusty Jacobs, Politics Reporter for WUNC, North Carolina Public Radio.
Nearly a month after releasing her summer single “Break My Soul,” Beyoncé is back with ACT I of her 7th studio album “Renaissance.” It was officially released this past Friday, July 29th and the Beyhive has been raving ever since the rollout began.
In a recent Rolling Stone article about 70 of Beyoncé’s greatest hits, music journalist Mankaprr Conteh describes Beyoncé as the “world’s greatest living entertainer,” and in her unique album "RENAISSANCE", the innovative sound of Ms. Beyoncé's Giselle Knowles-Carter continues to show her capacity and range as a musical artist.
We speak with Rolling Stone staff writer Mankaprr Conteh, and sidenote: she and Melissa have been preaching the gospel of Beyoncé for quite some time now.
A former high-school dropout from Washington D.C., Carlton McCoy found his calling after attending culinary school. After working at several of New York City’s top restaurants, McCoy discovered a love for wine. By 28, he became just the second ever Black Master Sommelier. Today McCoy is the CEO of Lawrence Wine Estates, a collection of Napa Valley wineries, and co-founded The Roots Fund, which is working to diversify the wine world by providing pathways for Black and Indigenous people.
Now, McCoy has his own travel show on CNN, Nomad with Carlton McCoy, in which he explores people, culture, and foods from around the world.
Last week, a dozen Black girls and women gathered at Melissa's home for the Black Land Use and Food Supply Summer, an immersive one week living and learning project organized by the New Jersey based Grassroots Community Foundation in collaboration with the Anna Julia Cooper Center.
We hear from the participants:
Amina Anekwe (17) from New Jersey
Nyasah Simmons (11) from New Jersey
Farida Odumosu (17) from New Jersey
Ain Dantzler (14) from Philadelphia
Diya Dantzler (20) from Philadelphia
Leinad Ra (14) from Philadelphia
Zolah Ramsey-Francis (13) from Maryland
Alana Travitt (16) from New Jersey
And we take a tour with the participants of Green Heffa Farms, in Liberty, North Carolina with owner and operator Farmer Cee about regenerative farming and connections to Black land.
Last week, a dozen Black girls and women gathered at Melissa's home for the Black Land Use and Food Supply Summer, an immersive one week living and learning project organized by the New Jersey based Grassroots Community Foundation in collaboration with the Anna Julia Cooper Center.
We hear from the participants:
Amina Anekwe (17) from New Jersey
Nyasah Simmons (11) from New Jersey
Farida Odumosu (17) from New Jersey
Ain Dantzler (14) from Philadelphia
Diya Dantzler (20) from Philadelphia
Leinad Ra (14) from Philadelphia
Zolah Ramsey-Francis (13) from Maryland
Alana Travitt (16) from New Jersey
And we take a tour with the participants of Green Heffa Farms, in Liberty, North Carolina with owner and operator Farmer Cee about regenerative farming and connections to Black land.
A recent study from The New Republic which analyzed historical data from 1920 to 1997, found that the value of stolen Black farmland in that period equates to $326 Billion dollars today. But Black land has been, and remains a site of Black resistance.
To learn more about the ways Black people and communities use land, farming, and food justice as tools of resistance against racial inequality, we speak with Monica White, professor of environmental justice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement.
Then, we hear from one Black freedom farmer in North Carolina about his Black land reclamation project. Kamal Bell, is the founder of Sankofa Farms in Cedar Grove, North Carolina. There, he grows food on a 12-acre farm, and has an education program working with Black youth and teaching them about food deserts and ancestral history.
A recent study from The New Republic which analyzed historical data from 1920 to 1997, found that the value of stolen Black farmland in that period equates to $326 Billion dollars today. But Black land has been, and remains a site of Black resistance.
To learn more about the ways Black people and communities use land, farming, and food justice as tools of resistance against racial inequality, we speak with Monica White, professor of environmental justice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement.
Then, we hear from one Black freedom farmer in North Carolina about his Black land reclamation project. Kamal Bell, is the founder of Sankofa Farms in Cedar Grove, North Carolina. There, he grows food on a 12-acre farm, and has an education program working with Black youth and teaching them about food deserts and ancestral history.
A new startup tournament, LIV Golf, backed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and financed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund, is dividing the professional golf world by promising players multi-million dollar prizes and attracting some of the best-known names in golf to play in their circuit. And rebranding the game as “GOLF, BUT LOUDER.”
All this is upsetting already established tournaments like the PGA Tour – which is like the NFL of American Football, or the MLB of Baseball – and for nearly a century, it has been pro golf's gold standard tour.
Top golfers including former World No. 1 Dustin Johnson have resigned from the PGA Tour and moved over to LIV Golf. LIV reportedly offered Johnson $100-150 million to play. Six-time-major-winner Phil Mickelson joined LIV Golf with an even bigger reported $200 million contract.
Others, like Tiger Woods, who reportedly turned down a nearly $1 billion offer from LIV, have been loyal to the PGA, and has criticized players who have left.
But LIV’s supporters are also having to address Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 by Saudi agents.
Former president Donald Trump, who has business ties to Saudi Arabia and has repeatedly downplayed concerns about the country’s record, plays today in a pro-am tournament at his Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, in New Jersey.
To tee things off for us, we’re joined by Andrew Beaton, sports reporter for The Wall Street Journal.
Republican state lawmakers have introduced a record number of laws this year intended to limits the rights of trans, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people. According to data compiled by the ACLU, they've proposed 162 bills in the first half of this year alone, outpacing the 151 laws considered throughout all of last year.
These legislative campaigns are largely motivated by a small group of wealthy far-right actors with extreme religious beliefs. They might remain somewhat fringe if not for a network of think tanks and outlets with mainstream credibility laundering their ideas to the public. Peabody-award winning journalist and founder of Translash Media Imara Jones unravels this apparatus in her investigative podcast, The Anti-Trans Hate Machine: A Plot Against Equality. She joins us to explain how the machine works, and how to resist it.
In May, Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed in May while reporting on an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank. An investigation by CNN found that “Abu Akleh was shot dead in a targeted attack by Israeli forces,” but an investigation overseen by the U.S. State Department claimed that a damaged bullet prevented the U.S. government from making any conclusions over whether Israeli forces were fully responsible for her death.
We speak with Shireen Abu Akleh’s niece, Lina Abu Akleh, who is demanding accountability from the U.S. government.
With four months left until the midterms, we check in on Democratic strategy and what the White House is thinking with Basil Smikle, a Democratic strategist and director of the public policy program at Hunter College and Maria Teresa Kumar, Voto Latino’s founding president.
With four months left until the midterms, we check in on Democratic strategy and what the White House is thinking with Basil Smikle, a Democratic strategist and director of the public policy program at Hunter College and Maria Teresa Kumar, Voto Latino’s founding president.
Multinational corporations from T-Mobile to Jimmy John's to Build-A-Bear have increasingly baited online engagement with "not safe for work" social media posts. Is tweeting about sliding into DMs, launching an OnlyFans, or how hot their "buns" are good for their brands? We talk with Nathan Allebach, Creative Director at Allebach Communications and freelance writer covering internet culture, who dove into the weird and cringy history of this trend for Vulture.
Multinational corporations from T-Mobile to Jimmy John's to Build-A-Bear have increasingly baited online engagement with "not safe for work" social media posts. Is tweeting about sliding into DMs, launching an OnlyFans, or how hot their "buns" are good for their brands? We talk with Nathan Allebach, Creative Director at Allebach Communications and freelance writer covering internet culture, who dove into the weird and cringy history of this trend for Vulture.
The Oak Fire in Mariposa County, California has scorched more than 18,000 acres since it started last Friday.
It comes several weeks after the start of the Washburn fire, which is now more than 85 percent contained. But both fires have threatened Yosemite National Park and the communities that surround it.
While the idea that fighting fire with fire might sound counterintuitive, it’s a practice with plenty of history and success in mitigating fire damage.
Yosemite’s sequoia trees, for example, remained relatively undamaged by this month’s Washburn fire. And many experts believe that’s due to the use of prescribed fires.
The Takeaway spoke with environment reporter Manola Secaira about the recent Washburn and Oak fires in California and how effective efforts to limit the damage of wildfires to forests have been so far this year.
The Takeaway was also joined by Scott Stephens, Professor of Fire Science at UC Berkeley, to understand prescribed fires and how they helped in California.
The Oak Fire in Mariposa County, California has scorched more than 18,000 acres since it started last Friday.
It comes several weeks after the start of the Washburn fire, which is now more than 85 percent contained. But both fires have threatened Yosemite National Park and the communities that surround it.
While the idea that fighting fire with fire might sound counterintuitive, it’s a practice with plenty of history and success in mitigating fire damage.
Yosemite’s sequoia trees, for example, remained relatively undamaged by this month’s Washburn fire. And many experts believe that’s due to the use of prescribed fires.
The Takeaway spoke with environment reporter Manola Secaira about the recent Washburn and Oak fires in California and how effective efforts to limit the damage of wildfires to forests have been so far this year.
The Takeaway was also joined by Scott Stephens, Professor of Fire Science at UC Berkeley, to understand prescribed fires and how they helped in California.
According to the CDC, in 2020, 861 women died in the US as a result of maternal causes. That’s up from 754 women who perished during or shortly after giving birth the year before, and an increase compared to the 658 women who lost their lives due to pregnancy and birth complications a year earlier.
In fact, the rate of maternal mortality in the United States has increased in the past three decades. During a time when most countries throughout the world have improved outcomes for people giving birth, having a baby in this country has become more dangerous and deadly. And Bearing the brunt of these brutal statistics is Black women.
For nearly a decade researchers and reproductive justice advocates have worked to marshal resources to address this crisis. But statistics, graphs, and “rates per one hundred thousand” can make it difficult to capture the human reality of maternal death.
A new documentary film out on Hulu is changing that.
In Aftershock, Tonya Lewis Lee and Paula Eiseltfollow what happens to the families of Amber Rose Isaac and Shamony Gibson, after each woman dies from medical negligence after giving birth.
Officials in the city of Houston, Texas say 25,000 people have moved into permanent housing in the city since 2011, a decrease in the homeless population of 63 percent. The city implemented a "housing first" strategy, a model that moves vulnerable people straight from streets and shelters into apartments, without requiring them to enter other programs, like substance abuse treatment or job training, first.
We speak with Mandy Chapman-Semple, the former Special Assistant to the Mayor for Homeless Initiatives in Houston, and James Gonzalez, Director of Program Operations at Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, about the program’s implementation, obstacles and successes, and what’s in store for the future.
We also hear from Jayro Garcia Lopez, a young man who was unhoused and received stable housing through the program, and Kenneth Eakins, Director of Housing and Navigation Services for the Salvation Army of Greater Houston, who helped him navigate the process.
We talk with best selling author Michael Pollan about the paperback release of his book, “This is Your Mind on Plants,” in which he analyzes the complex relationship between humans, their brains, and the psychoactive molecules in plants, and how these plants are used to alter our consciousness. In the book, he uses a trio of psychoactive substances in plants (opium, caffeine, and mescaline) to look at these relationships, challenge what we characterize as a "drug," and look at why some drugs are legal, commonly and openly used, while others are cast into the shadows of crime of punishment.
Michael Pollan,co-founder of the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics and author of the books “This is Your Mind on Plants,” and "How to Change Your Mind." He is also the host of the Netflix series, “How to Change Your Mind.”
The iconic actor, writer, and singer Billy Porter makes his directorial debut with the new film called, “Anything’s Possible.” The movie is a sweet, queer rom-com that Porter has described as being in the mold of a John Hughes classic, but with a much more representational cast.
We speak with Billy Porter about the film, his career, and living his truth after speaking publicly last year about being HIV positive.
The residents of Gordon Plaza are fighting for a fully-funded relocation from the toxic land that their community was built on by the City of New Orleans. The subdivision was built on top of what was once the Agricultural Street Landfill – an area designated by the EPA as a hazardous waste site in 1994. Since 1993, residents have been fighting for financial compensation for emotional distress and property damage. They’ve also pushed for a fully-funded relocation, which after decades, may now be in sight.
On June 23, the New Orleans City Council voted unanimously to approve a $35 million plan to relocate the residents of Gordon Plaza. The $35 million dollar figure is an estimated cost of relocation for the owners of all 67 households including home replacement costs and moving expense. The estimate came from a study authored by two professors at Tulane University and a New Orleans real estate broker and expert on home evaluations in December.
Along with relocating the residents, the City plans to convert part of the land into a solar energy farm. In the 2022 budget passed in December, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell allocated $2 million in bond funding to survey the site for redevelopment.
Residents of Gordon Plaza are optimistic but are still keeping things in perspective. Gordon Plaza residents have won several judgments in class-action lawsuits against the City of New Orleans, the Housing Authority of New Orleans, and the Orleans Parish School Board, for lost property value and emotional distress. But, many of the residents have still not received compensation from those judgments, and probably never will. According to a 2021 investigation by the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate, the City has more than 560 outstanding judgments and settlements, with a backlog of about $40 million. Some date back 25 years.
The difference this time is that the money has been allocated: The City Council is diverting funding from municipal bonds in this year’s capital budget from stalled projects the city hasn’t yet initiated.
The city has scheduled meetings with residents and is working with a law firm to work out distributing the funds. But Jesse Perkins, other residents of Gordon Plaza, and advocates are hoping to get this money as soon as possible – and potentially even find new homes by the new year.
A city spokesperson told The Takeaway that "the city has hired a firm to assist with the property acquisition, the firm is planning to identify the escrow and title companies by the end of July. And then will be providing the city with timelines on the process."
We spoke with Jesse Perkins, a resident of Gordon Plaza about these updates, and how he and the other 54 families still living there, feel after decades of fighting to get city officials’ attention.
Check out our previous coverage: Gordon Plaza Residents Fight for Relocation from Toxic Land.
The 2022 Georgia Senate race is heating up as Republican Herschel Walker, a political newcomer, faces off against incumbent Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock. As was evident in the 2020 Georgia Senate races that saw Warnock and Democrat Jon Ossoff win election, the importance of Black voters in Georgia is expected to play a key role in determining the outcome of this election.
We speak with Maya King, New York Times politics reporter covering the South, who has been covering the race, and Andra Gillespie, political scientist at Emory University, who discuss the latest developments in the race, and the efforts and strategies by both sides to garner support from Black voters.
Khristi Lauren Adams joins us to discuss her new book, Unbossed: How Black Girls Are Leading the Way.
The 2022 Supreme Court ruling on Oklahoma vs. Castro-Huerta granted the state of Oklahoma the power to prosecute non-Indians who commit felony crimes against tribal citizens on reservation land. It comes just two years after a landmark decision in McGirt vs. Oklahoma, which resulted in 40% of eastern Oklahoma being affirmed as reservation land, thereby expanding tribal jurisdiction over criminal cases there. Tribes and tribal law experts see the Castro-Huerta ruling as an alarming turn in the Court’s treatment of Indian law and tribal affairs.
We speak with Allison Herrera, reporter on Indigenous Affairs at KOSU in Oklahoma and correspondent for Newsy, and Dr. Matthew Fletcher, Harry Burns Hutchins Collegiate Professor of Law at University of Michigan Law and a tribal judge.
On Wednesday, President Biden visited Somerset, Massachusetts, and spoke at what used to be the largest fossil-fuel-burning power plant in New England. In front of the shuttered Brayton Point Power Station, Biden announced new executive orders to direct funding towards the impacts of climate change. "Today I'm making the largest investment ever. $2.3 billion to help communities across the country build infrastructure that's designed to withstand the full range of disasters we've been seeing up to today extreme heat, drought, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes," Biden said.
But environmental groups have been urging Biden to go further than executive actions: to invoke a national climate emergency. They say this would empower the administration to take even more substantial steps against climate change.
For more on this we speak with Jean Su, the Energy Justice director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Jean also co-authored a report that details how Biden could use the powers of an emergency declaration on climate. It’s called “The Climate President’s Emergency Powers.”
For his new book Rebel Speak: A Justice Movement Mixtape scholar and activist Bryonn Rolly Bain compiled conversations he’s had with movement and thought leaders from different generations with the goal of reframing how we think about justice. Many of the people featured in Bain’s book are formerly incarcerated or people whose family members are incarcerated. We speak with Bain about how he centered marginalized perspectives in his book to weave together a radical vision for the future.
Bain is also co-director of the Center for Justice at UCLA and creator of the one-man show “Lyrics from Lockdown."
Growing up, Keri Blakinger was a rising star in competitive figure skating. But an eating disorder and drug addictions sent her down a different path that eventually led her into a prison in New York state. She’s now a reporter for The Marshall Project covering prisons and jails, motivated by her time in the system. We speak with her about her memoir Corrections in Ink.
This past Sunday, Operation Save Abortion tackled the question: what can one person do after the Dobbs vs. Jackson decision took away the constitutional right to abortion? The Takeaway attended the day of learning, action and fundraising.
We hear from five of the panelists and Lizz Winstead, co-creator of The Daily Show and founder and Chief Creative Officer of Abortion Access Front, to discuss Operation Save Abortion, the movement for abortion access, and securing reproductive justice for all.
After a Supreme Court session that ended the right to an abortion and put other rights in jeopardy, some Democrats have proposed expanding the Supreme Court as a way to restore political balance. Some analysts have even called for the Court to be abolished. But these arguments hinge on the assumption that the Court has enormous power.
We speak with Dr. Gerald Rosenberg, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Lecturer of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. His foundational book, "The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change?" examines landmark Supreme Court cases that are often credited with creating sweeping social and political changes, and questions whether they truly did so.
Payments for federal student loans have been paused since March 2020, and after multiple extensions, they are currently scheduled to restart on September 1, 2022. President Biden has not said whether he plans to extend the pause again, or if he has made the decision to cancel up to $10,000 of student loans for borrowers.
But there’s a federal program that has already promised loan forgiveness to an estimated 9 million public service workers with federal student loans.
In 2007, Congress created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, also known as the PSLF, to help incentivize people to work in the public sector. The program promised to forgive student loans for eligible employees after 120 payments over 10 years. But in reality, it rarely worked like that.
In 2018, when the first wave of employees were due to qualify for forgiveness, the Department of Education reported that only around 1 percent of applications were approved. Tens of thousands of other applications were denied, mostly due to hard-to-understand requirements and administrative missteps.
To try and address this problem, last October, the Department of Education announced temporary reforms that they hope will make it easier for public sector workers to have their student loans forgiven. And the Department is urging people to apply (or even re-apply) for forgiveness with this waiver, before it expires at the end of this coming October.
Last week, Democratic House Representative Joe Courtney introduced a bill that would make many of the PSLF changes permanent.
In the meantime, there are still some obstacles. But some people are already seeing a degree of success.
For more on the PSLF, we spoke to Kat Welbeck, Director of Advocacy & Civil Rights Counsel at the Student Borrower Protection Center… and a former student of mine at Princeton University.
What if you found out that everything you thought you knew about your family and your identity…was a lie? That’s what Carmen Rita Wong tackles in her new book, Why Didn’t You Tell Me: A Memoir, as she confronts the stories her mother told that kept her biological father’s identity a secret for decades.
Oakland’s 2018 Youth Poet Laureate Leila Mottley joins us to discuss her debut novel, Nightcrawling. The work, already an Oprah’s Book Club Pick, has been described as “dazzling” and Leila has been named a New York Times “writer to watch.”
Since Donald Trump lost the presidential election in 2020, prominent Republican figures have continued to fuel the “Big Lie” of voter fraud and election rigging. The coordinated efforts around pushing this false information have included widespread targeting and harassment of election officials and poll workers.
Many of these workers now feel unsafe at their jobs overseeing and certifying elections, and some are quitting to avoid the threats. In a recent poll from the Brennan Center of nearly 600 local election officials across the country, one in six reported that they have experienced threats because of their job.
Ruby Freeman is a former poll worker in the Atlanta area. Near the end of June, the January 6th House Committee showed a video of Freeman’s testimony about the harassment. In a virtual hearing with GOP lawmakers in Georgia after the election, Rudy Guiliani accused Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, of processing fake ballots for Joe Biden. He pointed to a surveillance video in which Moss hands her mother a small item, which he claimed was a USB drive. In reality, that item was a ginger mint. Strangers began leaving Freeman and Moss death threats on their voicemails, sending racist texts, and even showing up on their doorsteps.
Freeman said that the threats were so violent and incessant that the FBI advised her to leave her home for 2 months. And Moss testified that she had to go into hiding, change her appearance, and leave her job due to the threats.
Tina Barton, a former Republican City Clerk in Rochester Hills, Michigan faced some of this same harassment after the 2020 election. Tina and her colleagues had already been working late hours due to high voter turnout and the challenges of facilitating an election during a pandemic. And then there were the added pressures of political tensions and scrutiny over every part of the vote process. After a minor mistake with counting absentee ballots was fixed on the morning after the election, Tina, and her small town of less than 75,000 people, were thrust into the national spotlight, with some Republicans stating that the vote count was inaccurate. She received several voicemails with verbal harassment and death threats.
Tina left her city clerk job in 2021 because she wanted to make a bigger impact on her fellow election officials who she saw needed help. She spent time working at the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and is now working as a senior elections expert at The Elections Group. But she still sees more work that needs to be done.
We speak with Gowri Ramachandran,senior counsel in the Brennan Center’s Elections & Government Team.
After each census every 10 years, a fight for redistricting ensues. The process of redrawing congressional maps is supposed to ensure a representative democracy, yet partisan gerrymandering has meant that many states do not have fair representation. And the gerrymandering happens from both political parties. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project which assigns grades based on a set of fairness metrics gave F’s to several states this redistricting cycle: Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Wisconsin. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court announced in June it would hear a case on North Carolina maps, potentially giving state legislators independent power over election rules—including redistricting—rendering them not subject to state constitutions or review by state courts.
We speak with Allison Riggs, co-executive director and chief counsel for voting rights for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, about what fair maps look like, the work that goes into advocating for them, and what the future is for a fair redistricting process.
Formed in the 1970s, the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo were a powerful cultural force across Latin America, and, eventually, for Spanish speaking audiences worldwide. The group’s founder, Edgardo Díaz, employed a strategy of phasing out older members once they entered their later teens, and replacing them with younger ones, so that the group could continue indefinitely.
The new HBO Max documentary “Menudo: Forever Young,” co-directed by Kristofer Ríos and Angel Manuel Soto, traces the rise of the group and also examines the allegations made by several former members that Díaz physically abused them. Díaz has denied those allegations.
The Takeaway speaks with Ralphy Rodriguez, former member of Menudo and current singer and bass player for the band Veinte/Ochenta andKristofer Ríos, co-director and co-executive producer of “Menudo: Forever Young.”
During the pandemic, a new wave of Americans have moved abroad in search of cheaper rent, better weather, and slower lifestyles. Many of these young workers are self-described digital nomads, with disposable incomes.
In many cities, this influx of well-off migrants has led to gentrification and displacement of local residents. To zero in on how this issue is playing out in Mexico City, we speak with Tamara Velasquez, a doctoral student and researcher of gentrification in the Rutgers University Global Urban Studies program. And we hear from an American digital nomad in Mexico City, Meckell Milburn, about her experience as a Black woman abroad and how she tries to be a responsible nomad.
On Sunday, 31-year old Elijah Muhammad, who was being held at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex, was found dead in his cell. It is the 8th death of an inmate at Rikers Island just this year. Last year, 16 people died while in custody at Rikers. The city’s Department of Correction has released a plan for reforming Rikers, but a federal takeover of the facility is still possible later this year.
We speak with WNYC and Gothamist reporter Matt Katz about the conditions at the jail complex.
In 2020, friends Ashley Scott, Renee Walters and Laura Riley-Cooper pooled their money to buy 502 acres of in a rural area of Georgia. Their goal? To create a haven for Black people in the wake of the upheaval caused by the pandemic and police brutality. They've since recruited 19 families to work together to build a town from scratch. They’re calling it Freedom, Georgia. But before Freedom can become a town, it needs infrastructure, governance and an economy. We speak with Freedom co-founder Ashley Scott about the town's goals and challenges, and Dr. Teruko Mitsuhara, an anthropologist at the University of California Los Angeles, about what Freedom can learn from historic attempts to build utopian communities.
Right now, the American West is facing its worst megadrought in 1200 years.And like much of the American West, Utah, and its fast-growing capital of Salt Lake City, is facing a looming water crisis, which is also impacting the state’s iconic body of water: the Great Salt Lake. And due to poor water management and a growing population, the Great Salt Lake is slowly drying up, which could hurt the local ecosystem, Salt Lake City's economy, and could have health impacts as dust with toxic metals is kicked up from the dried lake bed. We speak with Kevin Perry, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Utah, who has been studying the impacts of the increasing number of dust storms in the area surrounding the Great Salt Lake.
The new federally mandated crisis hotline, 988, is launching on July 16. The hotline will serve as an alternative to 911 and is meant to specifically target people in need of mental health and suicide prevention assistance. 988 callers will be routed to local and state funded crisis centers, or connected with the National Suicide prevention hotline. We hear from Hannah Wesolowski, National Alliance on Mental Illness Chief Advocacy Officer, and Tonja Myles, community activist and peer counselor, about what the potential of the program of helping many more people experiencing mental health issues.
We also hear from Dan Gorenstein of the podcast Tradeoffs, whose reporting has revealed how many states may not have the mental health infrastructure in place yet to support the launch of 988, with the rollout just days away.
Since 2019, "A Black Lady Sketch Show" has served as a testament to just how wonderfully weird and insightful things get when some of the best Black women comedians gather. Its success is due in large part to the vision of creator and star Robin Thede. On Tuesday, June 12, it was announced that Thede's timely and iconic sketch comedy show was nominated for a third year in a row. This year the show is nominatd for 5 Emmy nominations including: Outstanding Variety Sketch Series; Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series; Outstanding Editing for a Variety Series; Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series; and Outstanding Production Design .
Back in April, Thede joined The Takeaway to discuss the third season of "A Black Lady Sketch Show" and what it's like blazing trails as a Black woman in comedy.
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Across the country, hospitalizations for COVID-19 have risen to their highest levels since March. This rise in cases is being driven by the new BA.5 variant, which now accounts for around 65 percent of all COVID infections in the U.S. To help us understand this stage of the pandemic, we speak with Dr. Celine Gounder, Senior Fellow at Kaiser Health News, a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine and a former member of the Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board.
This week, NASA released the first photos taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, which reveal galaxies as they appeared up to 13 billion years in the past. This is the most powerful space telescope of all time, with a 270-square foot mirror that can collect infrared light from some of the most far-flung stars and galaxies in the universe. Dr. Ezinne Uzo-Okoro, Assistant Director for Space Policy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, speaks with us about what these photos can tell us about our universe's past and future.
Humans live meaningful lives with the knowledge they will eventually die, but an increasing amount of money and resources are being put into researching whether we can significantly prolong the aging process. There’s a growing field of scientific research dedicated to staving off both the physical and mental changes that tend to accompany older age. According to The New Statesman, this anti-aging industry, also referred to as the “immortality industry” will be worth 610 billion dollars by 2025.
But if we do extend life beyond the bounds of present day medicine, what would that mean for humanity, and the planet?
For more on this, we spoke with Thomas Fink, founder and director of the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences, about his understanding of anti-aging and immortality, and the physics behind it.
India has long been considered the largest democracy in the world. But the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, and the u of India’s constitution, are struggling against the test of time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads the BJP, a right-wing, Hindu majority government, and today, there are growing concerns about the direction of India’s democracy.
Recently, two BJP party leaders made anti-Islamic comments, sparking protests, and clashes between Muslims and Hindus. Hundreds of Muslims were arrested and the homes of Muslim activists and protestors were reportedly demolished. Some prominent voices in India say that India’s democracy has been damaged beyond repair, and worry that the country is becoming a “Hindu-fascist” state. In May, ten human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, condemned India for targeting and prosecuting journalists and government critics, particularly Muslim journalists.
We speak with Indian Muslim journalist Rana Ayyub, who has been subjected to harassment and detainment, and Indian journalist and writer Salil Tripathi about how India has gotten to this moment.
Last week, WNBA star Brittney Griner appeared in Russian court and pled guilty to drug trafficking charges. Griner has been wrongfully-detained in Russian for over 140 days, and she recently wrote to President Biden, saying "I’m terrified I might be here forever." A few days later, We speak with Dr. Danielle Gilbert, Fellow at the Joan Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College, about what to expect next in Griner’s case and what legal strategies might be at play.
More movie fans are back in theaters this year than last, but the 2022 box office is still below pre-pandemic levels. So if you’re on the fence: which releases are actually worth checking out in theaters this summer? Marvel’s latest, "Thor: Love and Thunder," topped the box office this weekend, but did it live up to expectations? And what’s still to come? The Takeaway turns to Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday, and Alison Willmore, film critic for New York Magazine and Vulture, for their recommendations on what to see and what to skip.
Prices are high and they're going higher. In June, the Labor Department reported that a key inflation measure, the Consumer Price Index, had increased by 8.6 percent year-over-year – the largest 12-month increase in 40 years. New numbers will be out this week – and they are expected to stay high.
In response to this inflation, and in order to stabilize it, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by three quarters of a percentage point in mid-June – the biggest hike since 1994. And the Fed has indicated that additional rate hikes are expected in the coming months.
While these higher rates are supposed to “cool” the economy down, some economists worry that this could hurt the job market, cause higher unemployment, and potentially trigger a recession.
To hear more about what's going on with the economy we spoke with Damon Jones, economist and professor at University of Chicago.
We're joined by Christopher Miller, world and national security reporter with POLITICO, covering Russia's war on Ukraine.
In this week's Deep Dive with Dorian Warren, Melissa and Dorian take an in-depth look at water insecurity, access and cleanliness. They start off with Sera Young, associate professor anthropology and global health at northwestern University.
Then Josina Morita, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District in Cook County about how the infrastructure bill will aid in improving water systems.
Jonathan Nez, president of the Navajo Nation and Bidtah Becker, Associate attorney with the Navajo tribal utility authority join for a discussion of water issues in Indian Country, with a specific focus on Navajo Nation.
Reverend Roslyn Bouier, executive director of the Brightmoor Connection Client Choice Food Pantry explains how water shut offs affect the citizens of Brightmoor in Detroit, Michigan.
And finally Tom Mueller, research assistant professor of geography and environmental sustainability at the University of Oklahoma will discuss how water insecurity and plumbing poverty affects rural area.
Some music from this episode by:
I Think Like Midnight (http://www.ithinklikemidnight.com/) & The Sometime Boys (https://www.thesometimeboys.com/)
Joining our hosts to discuss the racial and class inequalities infecting application of the Death Penalty is Samuel Spital, Director of Litigation at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. They speak with Sabrina Butler Smith, the first woman exonerated from death row, about her experience of being wrongly convicted of murdering her infant and sent to death row in Mississippi. We also get a look from a victim’s perspective through a conversation with Jennifer Pinckney, Widow of Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was murdered by Dylan Roof.
Finally, the hosts explore the processes and procedures of putting inmates to death with Lynden Harris, Director of Hidden Voices and Editor of "Right Here, Right Now: Life Stories from America’s Death Row" and Sister Helen Prejean, anti-death penalty activist, spiritual advisor to men and women on death row, and author of "Dead Man Walking," "The Death of Innocents," and "The River of Fire."
On today's Deep Dive, Melissa and Dorian take an in-depth look at sex work and how it's been criminalized in the United States, starting off with journalist and former sex worker Melissa Gira Grant, who discusses the history of criminalizing sex work in the U.S.
Then Cecilia Gentili, principal consultant and founder of Trans Equity Consulting, and LaLa B. Holston-Zannell, trans justice campaign manager in the National Advocacy Department at the ACLU, explain the idea of sex work as work and why some advocates are calling for full decriminalization.
Yasmin Vafa, executive director of Rights 4 Girls, discusses concerns that sex work increases opportunities for sex trafficking, particularly the trafficking of children.
RJ Thompson, managing director of the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center, helps break down some of the stigma surrounding sex work as well as how and why male sex workers are often left out of conversations around sex work.
And finally Elexus Jionde, author, content creator and founder of Intelexual Media, explores how technology, digital communication and the “realites” of the virtual world will continue to shape the future of sex work.
Some of the music on this podcast was made by Touque (https://davidaaron4.bandcamp.com/album/soho-sessions), Hannis Brown (https://www.hannisbrown.com/), James Perry, and j. cowit (https://jcowit.bandcamp.com/)
Joining our hosts to discuss the history of U.S. Health Insurance and how it compares to other countries is Julia Lynch, Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, and Jamila Michener, associate professor in the department of Government at Cornell University about the connections between health inequities and our insurance system.
We also take a look at the creation of the Affordable Care Act with one of its architects Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel who currently serves asVice Provost of Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania. Peter Suderman, features editor at Reason, joins us to discuss the current state of healthcare and health insurance and how both parties could make changes to their approaches on both.
Finally, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal discusses expanding health insurance for Americans with her Medicare for All Plan and how it will restore dignity to every American through adequate health insurance coverage.
After the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act and even Loving v. Virginia, one major issue around the racial justice movement remained unaddressed: fair housing.
On April 11, 1968 President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Fair Housing Act into law. Because of this, April is National Fair Housing Month. All month, advocates, organizers, and communities commemorate this landmark piece of Civil Rights legislation which outlawed discrimination in housing.
On this episode of The Takeaway, Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren take a Deep Dive into the history and current state of fair housing in America, 54 years after the passage of the National Fair Housing Act.
Guests:
Lisa Rice, President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance
Jim McCarthy, President/CEO of Miami Valley Fair Housing Center
Michael Allen, Attorney and Partner at Relman Colfax
Ava Deakin, lead plaintiff in Deakin v. Old Town Triangle Association
Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia
Conservatives have long invoked the specter of the 1857 Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott vs. Sandford in their fight against abortion rights, likening embryos and fetuses to slaves with no due process. Progressives now, too, are drawing parallels between the stripping of rights from people who may get pregnant and the infamous majority opinion penned by then-Chief Justice Roger Taney, who wrote, "a Black man has no rights which the white man was bound to respect."
Missing from this historic analogy, however, are the experiences of Black women, whose enslavement and forced reproduction was fundamental to America's rise. We speak with Dr. Deborah Gray White, Distinguished Professor of History and Women’s and Gender Studies at Rutgers University, about this not-so-distant history and the possibilities it holds for all American women.
Alok Vaid-Menon is a gender non-conforming writer and performer who grew up in Texas to Indian immigrant parents. They use their creativity and platform to explore themes of gender, race, trauma and belonging, advocating and bringing visibility to the trans community. We speak with Alok about their work and advocacy, and what they learned from their aunt, Urvashi Vaid, the beloved LGBTQ rights activist who spent more than a decade working for equality at the National LGBTQ Task Force.
We speak with comedian Jenny Slate about bringing back her viral character “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” for a feature length film.
During his first days in office, President Biden suspended the Migrant Protection Protocols, or the ‘remain in Mexico’ program, which required migrants to wait in Mexico instead of crossing the border into the United States while the United States government adjudicated their cases. Republicans in Texas and Missouri sued the Biden administration, and a federal judge in Texas ruled that MPP be reinstated with approval from Mexico. Now, SCOTUS will decide whether the Biden Department of Homeland Security can, in fact, legally suspend the program. We discuss immigration policy under Biden and the upcoming SCOTUS decision with CBS News immigration reporter, Camilo Montoya-Galvez.
The Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and ending the constitutional right to abortion, could have meaningful repercussions on assisted reproductive technology, including in vitro fertilization, also known as IVF. IVF is one of the most widely known forms of assisted reproductive technology (ART). Assisted reproduction plays a role in 2 percent of all births in the United States.
Some fertility experts worry that the existing language in state laws could complicate or even limit the choices of would-be parents.
Guests:
Dr. Kim Thornton, Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and a reproductive endocrinologist at Boston IVF. Dr. Thornton, thanks for being with us.
Dr. Louise King, an ethicist and surgeon who serves as Director of Reproductive Bioethics at the Harvard Medical School’s Center for Bioethics, and Vice Chair of the Ethics Committee of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
On Monday, an abandoned truck on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas, was found on the side of a desolate road. Responders discovered a tragedy: dozens of migrants, trapped in the back of the truck in deadly heat. The death toll is now over 50 people, with several survivors still in hospitals fighting for their lives.
We speak with Jason De León, professor of anthropology at UCLA and director of the Undocumented Migration Project, who studies clandestine border crossings, about how and why tragedies like this happen.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties have been using abortion as a wedge issue to generate votes for decades, but with the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe vs. Wade, many Democratic voters are questioning whether the party did enough to prevent the loss of the constitutional right to abortion. We speak with Rebecca Traister, writer-at-large for New York Magazine's The Cut and the author of Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger.
Researchers at the Polar Science Center at the University of Washington have recently a population of polar bears in Southeast Greenland that appear to be adapting their hunting habits to climate change induced impacts on their environment. Polar bears typically hunt seals from the edge of sea ice, however due to climate change the sea ice is breaking up earlier and earlier in the spring, shortening the hunting season for polar bears. According to the new research paper titled "Glacial ice supports a distinct and undocumented polar bear subpopulation persisting in late 21st-century sea-ice conditions" published in Science, a particular population of polar bears in Southeast Greenland has begun supplementing their hunting from the sea ice environment to freshwater ice melt environments, from calving glaciers.
We speak with Kristin Laidre, principal researcher for the Polar Science Center at the University of Washington, to hear what this finding means for polar bears' ability to survive through the climate crisis.
In the wake of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, we check in with Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi, an OB-GYN, abortion provider in Texas and founder Pegasus Health Justice Center.
Even before the ruling, thirteen states had “trigger” laws that enacted bans contingent on Roe being overturned and nine states had pre-existing bans which presumably go back in effect now that Roe has been overturned.
Texas has both, and Planned Parenthood and Whole Woman’s Health, along with other providers, stopped providing abortions as of Friday, based upon Attorney General Ken Paxton’s statement that “abortion providers could be criminally liable for providing abortions starting today.”
We spoke with Dr. Moayedi about where things go from here.
In a week of monumental developments in gun rights, both houses of Congress passed bi-partisan gun control regulation that President Biden signed into law over the weekend. It comes in the wake of the tragic mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, and marks the first time Congress has made significant progress on gun control since 1994. But it wasn’t all good news for gun control advocates: in a 6-3 decision on Thursday, the Supreme Court found that New York’s concealed carry law was unconstitutional. That law required individuals to show a “proper cause” and a special need to defend themselves in order to carry a handgun in public.
We speak with a constitutional law professor and gun law expert Jacob Charles, the executive director of Duke University’s Center for Firearms Law, about what these developments will mean for gun laws and guns on the street.
Musician Bartees Strange broke out in the fall of 2020, when he released the album Live Forever to critical acclaim.
This month, he’s out with a new album, Farm to Table, which finds Strange celebrating everything he’s achieved, while taking his music in new sonic directions.
The Takeaway spoke with Strange about his journey from a childhood in western Oklahoma to a career playing stages across the world.
We speak with Planned Parenthood president Alexis McGill-Johnson about the ramifications of the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe vs. Wade and what reproductive healthcare organizations will be doing in the wake of the decision.
The Supreme Court has issued its ruling in the much anticipated case Dobbs. V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The decision has two parts. All of the court’s conservative justice ruled in a 6 to 3 decision to uphold Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks. In a second portion of the decision explicitly overturning Roe v. Wade, the court decision was 5 to 4, as chief Justice John Roberts joined with the more liberal members of the court.
The outcome overrules Roe v. Wade and ends federal recognition of a constitutional right to an abortion after nearly 50 years.
We speak with Kenji Yoshino, the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law, and Melissa Murray, Law Professor at NYU, faculty director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and co-host of the legal podcast called “Strict Scrutiny.”
"We were born this way" was the unofficial mantra of the movement for LGBTQ rights in the 1970s and 1980s—a counter to the idea that people "choose" to be lesbian or gay or bisexual or transgender. But the message raises as many questions as it answers. We speak with Dr. Lisa Diamond, Professor of Psychology and Gender Studies at the University of Utah, about how this language took root in our culture and what the science actually says about it. Then, Chase Strangio, Deputy Director for Transgender Justice with the ACLU, explains how "born this way" language became entrenched in our legal system's treatment of constitutional rights, and how we might strive for a world with more nuance.
Today marks 50 years since Title IX was signed into law, banning sex-based discrimination in educational programs and activities at federally funded institutions. The statute itself is only 37 words long, but that one sentence expanded educational opportunities for millions of women.
Before Title IX, many educational institutions set quotas for the number of women admitted, or barred them from access altogether. As a result, according to a Census report, in 1970, only 8 percent of women were college graduates compared to 14 percent of men. And according to the most recent census data, a greater percentage of current U.S. college graduates are women than men.
The statute extends far beyond access and admissions – it applies to discrimination in classrooms and grading, extracurricular programs and activities, and sexual harassment and assault on school campuses.
Title IX has also been used to protect LGBTQ students, too. Last week, the Department of Education issued a policy directive stating that Title IX protects against discrimination towards students on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
To get a better understanding of the legal framework provided by Title IX, we spoke with Chai Feldblum, long-time civil rights activist, scholar, and former Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
And shortly after Title IX was passed, the law set in motion equity in high school and collegiate athletics – opening new opportunities for women in sports and attempting to level the playing field.
According to a report from the Women's Sports Foundation, in 1972 there were about 300,000 women participating in high school athletics. In the 2018-2019 school year, that number was nearly 3.5 million…. And at the college level, the number of women athletes competing on teams rose. In 1972, they made up just 15 percent of college athletes. By the 2020-2021 school year, they made up 44 percent.
For more on Title IX and sports and the gaps that still exist, we spoke with Donna Lopiano,the president and founder of Sports Management Resources, the former CEO of the Women’s Sports Foundation, and a National Sports Hall of Fame 4- sport athlete.
The 146th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show concluded late on the evening of the 22nd of June. Just under 3,500 dogs competed this year for the title of Best in Show at the Lyndhurst Estate in Tarrytown, New York.
Trumpet the bloodhound won Best in Show, which was the first time in Westminster's 146-year history that a hound took the prize. We speak with journalist Sarah Montague, The Takeaway’s Westminster Dog Show correspondent, who shares highlights and canine coverage from this year’s show.
Tangerine Records, founded by Ray Charles and now run by record producer and collaborator John Burk, released two new records of the legendary pianist’s past work.
Ray Charles Live in Stockholm 1972 includes concert recordings only discovered last year and A Message from The People has just been reissued in a 50th anniversary album. Burk joined to discuss the new releases and to share what it was like working with musical legend Ray Charles.
Global food prices have remained close to record highs in June, in part due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As the world’s fourth largest exporter of grain, about 20 million tons is sitting in storage in Ukraine without any efficient way to get it to market because of a Russian blockade in the Black Sea, which is preventing shipping containers from transporting the grain.
We speak with Ukrainian-American Anna Nagurney, Chair in Integrative Studies at the Isenberg School of Management at The University of Massachusetts - Amherst and board member at the Kyiv School of Economics, about the latest on Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian food exports, and how it is affecting global food prices and supply.
With average national gas prices hovering around $5, the Biden administration is feeling the pressure to take more actions that will lower prices and take some heat off of Democrats running in the midterms. President Biden is currently deciding whether to implement a federal gas tax holiday, which could decrease gas prices by roughly 18 cents, but could also be a bigger help to gas and oil companies than to consumers. We take a look at the economics and politics of gas prices. We speak with Joel Payne, former aide to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and CBS News political contributor, and Denvil Duncan, Associate Professor of Economics at Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.
Americans like to believe we're in complete control of our own health—but structural racism has shaped everything from food access to living environments, meaning that racial disparities in health and healthcare persist. We speak with Linda Villarosa, contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, an educator at CUNY's Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, and author of the new book, Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of our Nation.
Gun control laws, the power of federal agencies to enforce regulations, the First Amendment’s Religion and Equal Protection Clauses are just a few of the major issues at stake during this Supreme Court term. We talk with James Romoser, editor of SCOTUSblog, about some recent decisions and what to expect from the ones we're still waiting on.
While countries around the world have been eating seaweed for thousands of years, commercial seaweed farming is a new industry in the United States. Seaweed is not only nutritious, but it can be used to produce biofuels and bioplastics.
A particular red algae strain of seaweed called asparagopsis has also been added to cattle feed with surprising results. Seaweed just may be the answer to reducing over 80% of methane gasses into our atmosphere. We speak with Jaclyn Robidoux, a Marine Extension Associate with the University of Maine’s Sea Grant program, and a seaweed specialist, about the benefits of seaweed.
James Spooner, who directed the documentary Afro-Punk in 2003 and co-launched the Afropunk music festival in 2005, recently published a graphic novel memoir. The High Desert: Black. Punk. Nowhere. focuses on his childhood as the son of a Black dad and a white mom, living in a small California town where white supremacy flourished. We speak with him about growing up afropunk, and how afropunk itself has grown since he helped establish the movement.
Ahead of the Poor People’s March this weekend, we spoke with Bishop William Barber and Dorian Warren, the co-president of Community change and co-chair of the Economic Security Project walks us through what the campaign is all about.
Looking ahead to World Refugee Day, recognizing the more than 100 million forced from their homes and countries due to conflict and disaster, we reflect on the recent refugee crises caused by the war in Ukraine and the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. We hear from Chef Hamidullah Noori, who after resettling in the United States from Afghanistan opened an Afghan restaurant where he welcomes and feeds new refugees from the country. And Andrii Kokorin, a refugee from Ukraine who recently journeyed to the United Kingdom with his family, describes the value of a welcoming community.
Brenda Rae is one of the most sought-after singers in opera today–a regular at the Met and other leading opera houses. She’s also an identical twin–and she and her transgender twin, Drew, speak with us about growing up inseparable, singing together, and they tell us about their journey to become identical brother and sister. Drew transitioned 11 years ago, and the twins remain as close as ever.
The moment on December 1, 1955, when Mrs. Rosa Parks refused to give up her Montgomery, Alabama city bus seat to a white man, has come to define Mrs. Parks' legacy. It sparked the Montgomery Boycott and galvanized the Civil Rights Movement. But throughout her lifetime, she was involved in the struggle for Black liberation, working for school desegregation and reparations. A new documentary explores these facets of her life: The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks. We’re joined by the documentary's executive director and co-director Yoruba Richen, and Dr. Jeanne Theoharis, who penned the book of the same name on which this documentary is based.
Pride month is about celebrating the LGBTQ community and bringing light to the issues the community still faces, ranging from homophobia and transphobia to economic insecurity to civil rights and liberties. Today, we’re highlighting another set of issues: something that members of the B in LGBTQ struggle with: biphobia, or bi-antagonism, and bi-erasure.
Many people in the bi-plus community – which includes bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual folks, among others – feel invisible, invalidated, and dismissed by members in and outside of the LGBTQ community.
Pressured to “choose a side” – in other words, to identify as straight or gay–many bi-plus people find themselves in limbo when it comes to finding acceptance and understanding, and as a consequence, can struggle with adverse physical and mental health issues. In fact, according to the Bisexual Resource Center, bi-plus people face even higher rates of depression and anxiety than lesbians and gay men.
For more on this we speak with Belle Haggett Silverman, President of the Board of Directors of the Bisexual Resource Center.
Eleven states in the country are currently using child welfare tracking algorithms to better identify children at risk. According to research conducted by Carnegie Mellon University, the algorithms target a disproportionate number of Black and low-income families. We discuss the implementation of child welfare tracking algorithms with Anjana Samant, senior attorney at the ACLU and Nico’Lee Biddle, Senior Program Manager at the Center for the Study of Social Policy.
People from different generations, different experiences, and different sexuality and gender identities use the word "queer" in different ways, and some prefer not to use the word at all. We untangle the powerful and painful politics of queer with Michael Bronski, long time activist, Professor of the Practice at Harvard University, and author of "A Queer History of the United States" and "A Queer History of the United States for Young People."
The first Pride marches were radical acts for queer people occupying public space loudly and proudly. Today, Pride Month gatherings are more likely to be described as parades than marches. And with rainbow flags adorning the storefronts of big corporations, it might be easy to think the struggle is over. But many LGBTQ activists worry that Pride’s commercialization has diluted its political legacy and lets corporations off the hook for supporting anti-LGBTQ politicians. We speak with jodi nicole, an organizer with Reclaim Pride NYC, and Dr. Katherine Sender, professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Cornell University, about the commercialization of Pride.
The new animated documentary Home is Somewhere Else tells the stories of immigrant children and their undocumented families. At a time when immigration policy is at a crossroads, can an animated documentary contribute to having a more compassionate and human-centered conversation? To find out, we spoke with director and producer Carlos Hagerman and Jose Eduardo Aguilar (El Deportee), one of the subjects of the film.
In 1999, the British network Channel 4 debuted a radical new show about the lives of gay men living in Manchester. Full of nudity, sex, drugs and hedonism, the show took a frank look at gay culture and took on taboo subjects.
A year later, Showtime debuted the US version of Queer as Folk, which ran for five seasons and changed the game for American television’s representation of LGBT culture. Set in Pittsburgh, the US series started off as a literal remake of the British version, but quickly found a voice of its own and eventually outlast the original’s run.
Now, there’s a new “Queer as Folk” reboot . It reflects a much more diverse LGBTQ representation in terms of race and gender identity, and is based in the vibrant city of New Orleans.
The show premiered on Peacock on June 9th, and follows the cast of characters as their lives intersect within queer friendships, family, love, tragedy, and everyday struggles.
For the series, showrunner Stephen Dunn expressed his love for unique found sounds, and so for the relaunch of “Queer as Folk,” composer Jasha Klebetook inspiration from sounds around him to score the show and create specific character themes. We spoke to Jasha about working on the show and composing his music.
According to zoologist Lucy Cooke, scientists have traditionally defined females in the animal kingdom with Victorian, sexist stereotypes. In her new book, “Bitch: On the Female of the Species,” Cooke debunks these outdated notions using examples throughout the animal kingdom of females breaking out of their passive roles and displaying aggression, competitiveness, and promiscuity.
We spoke with Lucy Cooke about looking at female animals with a new lens, one that shows that males and females are not as different as previously thought.
Sunday, a bi-partisan group of Senators announced they had reached a deal on gun control. Their proposed legislation falls short of many of the actions endorsed by President Biden, including passing federal “red flag” gun laws, also commonly known as extreme risk protection laws. These laws typically prevent the possession or purchase of guns from individuals who are deemed a threat to themselves or to others. 19 states and Washington D.C. currently have some version of red flag gun laws on their books. But, while there is seemingly momentum and signs of capitulation from Republicans, historically the powerful gun lobbies have wielded their power to prevent meaningful gun legislation from passing.
First, we’ll hear from Jennifer Mascia, reporter for The Trace and former New York Times reporter covering gun violence, about what the research says about how effective red flag gun laws are, and how gun lobbies have prevented gun legislation like red flag laws from being enacted. Then we’ll speak with Cole Wist about his experience trying to get a red flag gun law passed in his state, and the retaliation it was met with from the gun lobby.
In 2018, Cole Wist, a former Republican Colorado state representative (2016-2019) with an “A” rating from the NRA, sponsored a bill red flag bill in the state following the shooting death of a sheriff deputy close to his home. The bill passed the House, but was killed in the Republican state senate at the time, and a state wide gun lobby came after him. Wist, who was up for reelection at the time was called “Cole the Mole” in social media posts and flyers. He eventually lost reelection, and the bill did not pass. Colorado did eventually pass an even more restrictive red flag bill in 2019 once the state senate flipped Democrat.
California held primary elections at all levels of government on June 7, 2022. We talk with Marisa Lagos, KQED’s California Politics and Government correspondent and co-host of the podcast Political Breakdown, about the results and ramifications.
The 75th Tony Awards will be taking place this coming Sunday. Frontrunners include the musical “A Strange Loop” and the play “The Lehman Trilogy.” The Takeaway speaks with New York Times critic-at-large Maya Phillips about some of the highlights of the past year and whether it looks like the support Black theater artists received this season will be sustained going forward.
Thursday marked the first of six proposed public hearings of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. It occurred during prime time from 8pm-10pm. What did we learn from this first round? Did the committee make its case? And will the mounting evidence result in charges against administration officials? We break all of this down with Adam Serwer, staff writer for The Atlantic Ideas.
Live Stream the Select Committee Hearing below.
As many as 23 million people in the United States are struggling with long Covid. The sometimes debilitating symptoms include brain fog, fatigue, difficulty breathing, and depression or anxiety.
But almost a year after the Biden administration released guidance stating that people with long Covid can be included under the Americans with Disabilities Act, receiving benefits has been a struggle.
Even before the pandemic, roughly one in four Americans were living with a disability. And while people with disabilities are more likely overall to experience financial difficulties…that is particularly true for people of color with disabilities. According to The Century Foundation, one in four Black disabled people were living in poverty as of 2020. That’s compared to one in seven white disabled people.
At the end of May, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion held a hearing on financial inequities for people with disabilities, including those with long Covid.
Disability rights advocate and Century Foundation fellow, Vilissa Thompson testified at the hearing, and spoke with us more about the economic barriers that people with a disability face and gave us an intersectional framework for understanding economic justice for people living with a disability.
Many dancers are independent contractors with virtually no labor protections. While there are some unionized dance companies, the nature of the work is inherently precarious, with grueling training and policing of dancers’ bodies that seems intentionally designed to break them—physically and emotionally. In the past few months, more stories have come to light about serious abuses in dance companies: sexual harassment, revenge porn, etc. In all these stories, the abuse and corruption go straight to the top, and the institutions protect the abusers.
How can dancers increase workplace protections, what obstacles do they face to organizing, and how do realities like young age and the hyper-focus of body image exacerbate the power imbalances here? We discuss current issues facing ballet workers with Chloe Angyal, Senior Editor at VICE News and author of “Turning Pointe: How a New Generation of Dancers is Saving Ballet From Itself.”
Top Gun: Maverick is flying high at the box office. This newest installment in the Top Gun franchise features Phoenix, the franchise’s first female pilot. We wanted to find out how real the portrayal of her experience was: so we turned to Commander Becky Dowling Calder, the first female pilot ever to graduate from the Naval Fighter Weapons School—a.k.a. Top Gun.
In 1996, 16-year-old Almeer Nance was an accomplice in an armed robbery in Knoxville, Tennessee during which 20-year-old Robert Manning shot and killed a worker. Despite the fact that Nance didn’t commit the murder, he was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to a minimum of 51 years in prison under Tennessee’s strict mandatory minimum laws. The other accomplice in the case, a white woman, only spent one year in prison for her involvement in the robbery.
For "51 Years Behind Bars," a new documentary from Al Jazeera English’s "Fault Lines," correspondent Josie Duffy Rice and producer Jeremy Young interviewed Nance and other people connected to his case to learn more about the consequences of his lengthy sentence.
The Takeaway spoke with Josie Duffy Rice about this reporting and how it coincides with recent developments in juvenile sentencing.
On June 8, Disney Plus’ "Ms. Marvel" will premiere. It brings New Jersey-based Pakistani-American teenager Kamala Khan’s story to Marvel viewers for the first time and represents a major moment for Asian American and Muslim representation in Hollywood. Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy directed multiple episodes of the show, marking a major transition in her career. "Ms. Marvel" is the first fictional live action work Obaid-Chinoy has directed, after a successful career making documentaries and animated films.
The Land Back movement to return ancestral lands back to Indigenous tribes has gained momentum lately. However, the efforts of tribal native reclamation are not new. For decades, Indigenous peoples and allies have been working to restore land to Indigenous tribes through the courts, through protest, and through policy. Some tribes, such as the Kaw Nation in 2002, have even purchased parts of their ancestral lands back.
First, we hear from Nick Tilsen, president and CEO of NDN Collective and a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, about the origins of the Land Back movement and what it means to different Indigenous communities.
Then, We speak with James Pepper Henry, Kaw Nation vice chairman and executive director of the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who was instrumental in the Kaw Nation purchasing 160 acres of their ancestral homeland in Kansas back in 2002.
The First Nations Version of the New Testament is a "translation" of the Christian text by Indigenous peoples that embraces tribes’ traditions, storytelling and language patterns in English. We speak with Terry Wildman, the lead translator of the text, about how language choices impact religious beliefs and how the historic relationships between Christian institutions and Indigenous people gave rise to this translation.
LGBTQ activists Kris Williams and Rebekah Wilson got married in 2019. In August of that year, Kris and Rebekah welcomed a baby boy into their family, and both women were recorded as mother and mother on the birth certificate. After two years, however, the couple divorced, and Rebekah petitioned the court to remove Kris from their son’s birth certificate. Oklahoma County Judge Lynne McGuire ruled in favor of removing Kris’s name from the birth certificate stating that Kris should have adopted her own son. Last week, Judge McGuire reversed her decision and recognized Kris Williams as a legal parent. We speak with Toby Jenkins, CEO and executive director of Oklahomans for Equality about this ruling and what it means for LGBTQ parents and all non-gestational parents in Oklahoma.
Just over one month ago, Politico published a leaked draft opinion penned by Justice Samuel Alito, a nearly unprecedented breach of the high Court’s norms of non-disclosure until the moment an opinion is officially released. Now that it is June the Court is likely to release its official decision in the Mississippi case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
The decision in this case could overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade precedent which established that abortion rights were an extension of an implied Right to Privacy found in the 14th amendment. If Roe is overturned it is most likely that each individual sate would be left to decide legality and access to termination services within its own boundaites. . And according to the Guttmacher Institute, 26 states are certain or likely to ban or severely restrict the procedure.
Planned Parenthood estimates that 36 million women – more than half of all women of reproductive age in the United States – live in one of those states.
The loss of rights is not consistent with the American narrative of ourselves. American exceptionalism. The shining city of the hill. Here, on this soil is where the arc of history is meant to bend toward justice, offering ever more access to liberty, equality, justice. But is the arc of American history always bending toward justice?
We look back through history with Blair Kelley, is a Professor of history at North Carolina State University. She is also the author of “Right to Ride: Streetcar Boycotts and African American Citizenship.”
And some legal experts and advocates worry that this Court decision could threaten other basic rights like access to contraception, same-sex marriage, and interracial marriage. We speak with Akhil Reed Amar, a Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, looking forward to what may happen next.
At Coosa High School in Rome, GA, five Black students and their parents are suing the Floyd County School District in a civil lawsuit in which they allege that the school district has continually shown indifference to racial discrimination.
The school garnered national attention after a group of white students carried Confederate Flag memorabilia and shouted racial slurs at students of color. In response, a multiracial coalition of students moved to organize a Black Lives Matter demonstration. The principal of the school denied the request to demonstrate and only suspended the five Black students in the lawsuit.
We spoke with Andrea Young, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, about the Coosa High School lawsuit and what it means for the state of civil rights.
Editor's Note: The Takeaway reached out to the Floyd County School District for comment on this story and has not yet heard back. If we do receive a response, we’ll post it here.
Service dogs can help veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by providing calming support with everyday tasks. A law signed in August 2021 allowed the Department of Veteran Affairs to launch a new program in which veterans with PTSD help train service dogs for other veterans. We speak with Rick Yount, the Executive Director of Warrior Canine Connection, a nonprofit that teaches veterans how to train service dogs for other veterans, about how involving veterans in dog training can help them heal.
The aftermath of a mass shooting for families includes the unimaginable tasks of saying goodbye and grieving over their loved ones. But what if you couldn’t say goodbye? That is the case for Eli Torres, the father of 10-year-old Uvalde shooting victim Eliahna Cruz Torres. He is currently serving time in Kentucky at the McCreary United States Penitentiary due to a drug trafficking and conspiracy conviction. He was denied a compassionate release to attend his daughter’s memorial this past Thursday. We’ll speak with Kentucky State Representative Attica Scott about her efforts and letter to President Biden to intervene on behalf of Eliahna’s father.
Researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have developed a popular app for birders called eBird. The app allows birders to track and and follow bird sightings, with some birders then traveling to locations of a recent sighting to hopefully catch a glimpse for themself. But the app also eBird also serves an important function for researchers. As eBird recently logged its 1 billionth bird sighting, it is crowdsourcing massive amounts of data which provides valuable information for researchers who can then better understand the movement of bird populations and what they can tell us about climate change.
We speak with Amanda Rodewald,professor and senior director for Center of Avian Population Studies at Cornell University, about eBird, and what birds can teach us about climate change.
Additional reading: "A Once in-a Lifetime Bird" by Kevin Nguyen for The Verge.
A third-party investigation of the Southern Baptist Convention’s top governing body found that an influential group of leaders systematically ignored, belittled and intimidated survivors of sexual abuse for the past two decades while protecting the legal interests of churches accused of harboring abusers. Despite recent declines in membership, Southern Baptists are still the largest evangelical group in the United States, with more than 13 million members. How they respond to this moment is deeply consequential for America.
We speak with Robert Downen, a reporter at The Houston Chronicle, and Dr. Kristin Kobes Du Mez, professor of history and gender studies at Calvin University and author of "Jesus and John Wayne," about the recent findings and the SBC's response. We also hear from two survivors of abuse in the SBC, Hannah-Kate Williams and Christa Brown, about their long fights for justice and accountability.
If you ever dreamed of exploring Antarctica, you might consider applying for the highly sought after role of postmaster for the southernmost post office in the world. From November through March, post office employees live without running water or flushing toilets and are also expected to observe, count, and clean up after a colony of Gentoo penguins in Port Lockroy, Antarctica. We learn more about the challenges and rewards of living amongst penguins in Antarctica with Vicky Inglis, former postmaster and current field operation coordinator for the U.K. Antarctic Heritage Trust.
The United States is entering its fourth month of an infant formula shortage, and disturbing new numbers released Friday show the situation hasn’t gotten any better. According to Datasembly, more than 70 percent of infant formula is out-of-stock across the country, affecting millions of families. That’s up from 43 percent just a few weeks ago—and in many states, the percentage is even higher.
In February, Abbott Nutrition, the largest manufacturer of infant formula in the country, shut down one of its largest plants in Sturgis, Michigan and recalled its products due to contamination problems. And this exacerbated pandemic supply chain issues.
The plant was shut down after four babies were reported having rare bacterial infections last fall. Two of the infants died. The babies had reportedly consumed formula from the Abbott plant, but after an investigation, the FDA found no conclusive evidence that the strains came from that plant.
Last Wednesday, while testifying to a House of Representatives Oversight Panel, the head of the FDA Dr. Robert Califf, detailed the “egregiously unsanitary” conditions of Abbott Nutritions’ plant in Michigan.
On Tuesday, Abbott announced that it will begin reopening its Michigan plant by June 4, with some formula expected to start rolling out by the end of June, although full production of the plant will take longer.
In the meantime, President Biden’s Operation Fly Formula has announced its fourth additional shipment of infant formula from overseas, in an effort to offer caregivers some relief during this continuing shortage.
But for now, the desperate searching for infant nutrition continues for so many. We spoke to Sarah Cosley who lives in Dubuque, Iowa, and started a Facebook group called the Infant Formula Shortage Support Group to connect with other parents struggling to find baby formula.
We also speak with Carla Cevasco, an assistant professor of American Studies at Rutgers University - New Brunswick, and author of “Violent Appetites: Hunger in the Early Northeast,” about the history of infant formula and the reasons why some people cannot or choose not to breastfeed.
June is the annual celebration of Black Music Month.
We spoke with Ebro Darden, Apple Music’s global editorial head of Hip-Hop and R&B and host of The Ebro Show on Apple Music 1, about their efforts to highlight Black Music and Black music’s lasting and continuing impact on our collective, cultural landscape.
On June 3, 'Fire Island' will be released on Hulu. The film is a queer rom-com that's loosely based on 'Pride and Prejudice' directed by Andrew Ahn, and written by and starring Joel Kim Booster, and also co-starring Bowen Yang. We speak with Andrew Ahn about bringing this love story to the screen.
The Women’s House of Detention was a prison that housed primarily poor, or Black, or queer people, and people living at multiple intersections of those identities. It stood in Greenwich Village, New York City from 1932 to 1974 and had an indelible impact on the modern and intersecting movements for queer liberation, Black liberation and abolition. We speak with Hugh Ryan, author of “The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison,” a new book about the prison and its place in the history and present of the movement for LGBTQ rights.
In light of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the role and effectiveness of armed police officers—sometimes referred to as SROs (or school resource officers)—on school campuses has again entered the national conversation. But research shows that having armed police officers in schools do not make schools safer, and in fact, can have deleterious effects. The presence of SROs in schools correlates with increased criminalization of school discipline incidents, and disproportionately affects students of color.
We hear from Marc Schindler, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, a non-partisan think tank in Washington D.C. about the what happens when you put SROs in schools.
Then, we speak with Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough, sheriff for Forsyth County in North Carolina, about why he thinks SROs are the answer to addressing school safety.
The day after the horrific mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, in which a white supremacist targeted Black residents in a majority-Black neighborhood, Kelly Diane Galloway decided to organize a vigil to bring her grieving community together. We speak with Kelly about how the residents of Buffalo are supporting each other and why creating joy is a form of resistance.
Lorgia Garcia-Pena was a respected and beloved professor at Harvard University. There, she says, she and her predominantly Latinx students faced consistent scrutiny and surveillance from the Harvard campus police.
We talk with Lorgia Garcia-Pena, author of Community As Rebellion: A Syllabus for Surviving Academia as a Woman of Color and Mellon Associate Professor of Race, Colonialism and Diaspora Studies at Tufts University, about her experiences at Harvard with campus police and later being denied tenure there. We also explore how those events informed her latest book on building communities of rebellion.
Twenty-seven years may seem like a long time between seasons of a television show, but for the Kids in the Hall, it’s like the five members of the legendary Canadian sketch comedy troupe never split up. This month, they are back with the series available on on Amazon Prime after nearly three decades off the air, and no surprise here, they’re still pretty weird.
Bruce McCulloch, Canadian actor, writer and comedian, and one of the founding members of the group, tells us what's new with the Kids.
According to an economist at Indeed, more than a million people have come out of retirement to reenter the workforce. We speak with Dr. Beth Truesdale, an expert on the aging workforce at the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, to understand this trend. Dr. Truesdale speaks to the reasons behind unretirement and why retirement works for some and not for others in this country.
This weekend, hundreds of military families gathered in Arlington, VA, for a unique program designed to provide support for relatives of the fallen. Bonnie Carroll founded Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) after the death of her husband, Brig. Gen. Tom Carroll. Since its founding, they have helped more than 100,000 surviving relatives of military service members with comprehensive assistance, including financial support, counseling services, helping navigate government agencies, and much more.
One of their signature programs is the Good Grief Camp, where children find support and community with one another, and get assigned an active duty military service member as a mentor. We share some of their stories here.
For Memorial Day, we speak with Richard Brookshire, co-founder of the Black Veterans Project, an organization dedicated to advocating for the needs of Black veterans. Brookshire can speak about the disparities in how Black veterans are treated compared to their white counterparts, and is also very open about his own mental health struggles following the end of his active duty service.
The United States has a long history of military presence in Somalia dating back to the early 90s. More recently, as his time in office was ending, President Trump withdrew troops from the country. But last week, President Biden reversed that decision and announced that the U.S. would be sending 500 troops into the country in a security effort against Al-Shabab, an islamic insurgent group active in the country. Meanwhile, the country's struggles with unrest have been compounded by natural disasters and a food crises.
We speak with Omar Mahmood, senior analyst for Somalia for the International Crisis Group, to explore why the U.S. is going back to Somalia, and what it means for the country.
We take a look at the latest primary election results from this past week. We’re joined by Maya King, politics reporter for The New York Times, and Stephen Fowler, state and local politics reporter for Georgia Public Radio.
Lidiya Yankovskaya is the conductor and artistic director of the Chicago Opera Theatre; one of the few women to hold that title at a major arts organization. She's also a former refugee. Raised in Russia, with summers in Ukraine, her family fled St. Petersburg in the post-Soviet Reconstruction era due to anti-semitism there and came to the United States. She founded the Refugee Orchestra Project in the wake of the Syrian conflict to raise awareness about the contributions refugees make.
This Memorial Day Weekend, the orchestra will play a special benefit concert in Boston to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees.The performance will feature all refugee soloists, performing music by refugee composers, with an orchestra made up primarily of refugee musicians or recent descendants of refugees. We speak with Yankovskaya and one of composer Milad Yousufi about the project.
19 children and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday. Though their lives were all tragically cut short, all of them were loved by their families and friends in unique ways. We take a moment to remember the victims.
In the wake of the tragedies in Uvalde and Buffalo’s East Side, there is a need for mental health care for families, for survivors, and for the community as a whole. Yet tragedies like these also highlight inequities in mental health care access for communities of color, where the data shows that people of color are less likely to access mental health treatment than white folks.
To explore the importance of culturally competent mental healthcare and the need for expanded mental health care access in communities of color, we speak with Luis Zayas, dean of the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin.
In 2016, the American Medical Association declared that gun violence in the U.S. is a public health crisis. Not just the mass shootings which make national headlines, but the daily violence that constitute the overwhelming majority of gun deaths- suicide, intimate partner violence, murder, police killings and even accidental shootings. The ripple effects impacts all of us, even if we are not directly experiencing the violence ourselves.
It's compounding another national crisis, that of adolescent mental health. The CDC estimated that in 2020, the proportion of emergency room visits by adolescents seeking mental health care increased by 31 percent. But because of a lack of residential program beds, young patients are left to become “boarders” in emergency departments—kept in small, bare rooms or even in hospital hallways.
We speak with Dr. Megan Ranney, Academic Dean at the School of Public Health and a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Brown University, about how we got here and how a public health perspective on gun violence can help us find solutions.
We learn more about Uvalde and the people who live there.
We spoke with Texas state senator Roland Gutierrez, who represents Uvalde, about the devastating school shooting that took place at Robb Elementary on Tuesday, May 24.
On Tuesday, an 18 year old gunman shot and killed at least 21 people, including 19 children and 2 adults, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Uvalde is a majority Latino-town slightly over an hour outside of San Antonio. The shooting is the deadliest to occur at an elementary school since the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012.
We spoke to professor of sociology and psychiatry Jonathan Metzl to discuss the toll that school shootings take on the mental health of children nationwide.
On Tuesday a gunman killed at least 19 children, 1 teacher, and at least 1 other adult in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
These precious children were killed while simply attending school are now among the thousands of young people injured or killed by guns during the past year. In fact, analysis of CDC data recently published by the New England Journal of Medicine reveals that in 2020 firearms became the leading cause of death for young Americans.
In December, the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a public health advisory on the youth mental health crisis that has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The rate of death by self-inflicted gunshot wound has risen faster among adolescents and teens than any other group.
We speak to Dr. Michael Lindsey, Executive Director at the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University, to better understand death by suicide and its connection of the mental health of young people.
A school shooting like this is an enraging act of violence which can lead young people who are already struggling, to feel even more vulnerable, distraught, or hopeless. We spoke to three young people who have faced mental health challenges and have all become advocates for their own well-being and that of their peers, before the mass shooting in Uvalde, and we think that this event makes it even more crucial to keep thinking about the emotional well-being and mental health of young people.
We heard from Diana Chao, founder and executive director of Letters to Strangers, Juan Acosta, mental health advocate, and Charlie Lucas, co-founder of the notOK app.
A Strange Loop already won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2020 following its off-Broadway run; now, the Broadway show is up for 11 Tony Awards–the most-nominated production of the year.
We speak with playwright and composer Michael R. Jackson about his groundbreaking musical, which poignantly tackles themes of queerness, race, religion and AIDS with humor and heart. The original Broadway cast recording comes out June 10.
Loneliness and social isolation are growing public health concerns among older Americans. Loneliness is not only detrimental to mental health, but also contributes to physical health risks including strokes, worsened diabetes and frailty.
We spoke with Dr. Carla Perissinotto about the causes of loneliness for older adults, what we get wrong about it, and what interventions can address the crisis of loneliness. We also hear from Wanda Dobson, a 69-year old woman in New York City and employee with the Brooklyn Public Library's Services for Older Adults program, on her own experience with loss, loneliness and healing.
The critically acclaimed show Love on the Spectrum premiered on Netflix this month with its first U.S.-based season. The docu-reality series takes us inside the lives of autistic adults as they date and look for love. Director and showrunner Cian O’Clery and show participant Dani join us to talk about making the show and trying to find love in front of the camera.
Social media and dating apps have fundamentally changed the culture of sex, and this impacts how young adults are shaping their personal relationships today. In her new book, The Current Collegiate Hookup Culture, online dating researcher Aditi Paul talks about the “new” culture of sex on college campuses.
With the recent leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court suggesting the court may overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion, privacy experts are concerned about digital surveillance and digital privacy in a post-Roe world. Smartphone apps and internet search engines can track data and locations leaving a data footprint if someone is searching for reproductive healthcare or abortion care. We speak with Cynthia Conti-Cook, civil rights attorney and current Technology Fellow on the Ford Foundation’s Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice team, and Yveka Pierre, Senior Litigation Counsel at If/When/How, about our digital privacy.
As another class of Gen-Z graduates, they are taking one more step into adulthood. But still, our nation is divided by racial violence, economic inequality and disappearing reproductive rights. For this reason, The Takeaway takes a Deep Dive into Gen-Z: Who are they and what do they want?
To give us a better idea we talked to Cathy Cohen, the David and Mary Winton Green Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and Philip N. Cohen, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies of the Department of Sociology at The University of Maryland. Cathy Cohen is the principal investigator and founder of the GenForward Survey.
One of the biggest concerns for Gen-Z is economic security. As the older part of this cohort enters the workforce we discussed what work they want to do as well as what work should do for them. We speak with 20-year-old Parker Lacewell who’s facing these questions as well as Terry Nguyen, a reporter for The Goods at Vox who covers consumer and internet trends, and technology.
We also looked into how Gen-Z utilizes technology to do everything from organizing to quitting their jobs. We spoke with Pamela Aronson, Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn about what their use of technology tells us about their hopes for the future.
WNYC's Radio Rookies Rainier Harris and Folashade Olatunde joined to discuss their concerns for their generation. Activist, strategist, influencer and founder of the Gen Z Girl Gang, Deja Foxx told us how her cohort uses the power of social media to affect change in the world. And, we had the privilege of listening in on a conversation between Marley Dias, founder of #1000BlackGirlBooks and her Mom, Janice Johnson Dias, author of Parent Like It Matters. They discussed everything from college, to the massacre in Buffalo to the future of reproductive rights.
From the 1870s into the 1990s, the Canadian government and Catholic churches ran a vast network of boarding schools called "Indian residential schools," where Indigenous children were taken and forced to assimilate into white Canadian culture. Countless children suffered sexual, physical and psychological abuse in these institutions, and survivors and their families are wrestling with the repercussions to this day. Connie Walker, the host of the podcast Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s, speaks with us about her own family's experience with a residential school, which she uncovered while reporting the new second season of the show, and what the U.S. can learn from Canada’s attempted reckoning with this past.
Cover for the podcast "Stolen," from Gimlet Media/Spotify (Gimlet Media/Spotify)
This weekend, rapper and poet Omar Offendum will be performing a show he wrote called “Little Syria” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). In it, Offendum uses music to tell the story of the Little Syria neighborhood of Manhattan, which flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century, before many of its residents were displaced by construction and left for Brooklyn.
The Takeaway speaks with Offendum about how he approached telling this history on stage.
Valarie Kaur is a civil rights activist, author of "See No Stranger" and leader of the Revolutionary Love Project. She joined us to reflect on her work that addresses hate crimes against Muslim and Sikh Americans, and how it connects to the racist attacks from this past weekend in Buffalo.
Last weekend’s racist attack at a Tops Supermarket in Buffalo has had significant ramifications for a part of Buffalo’s East Side, a neighborhood which has historically struggled with food insecurity. Tops is the lone supermarket in this part of Buffalo’s East Side, and it is now temporarily closed. The attack highlights how the city’s legacy of institutionalized racism and segregation has given rise to food access and inequities in the communities affected. In the aftermath, community-based providers are stepping in to address the food insecurity that continues to plague low-income communities of color.
We speak with Allison DeHonney, Founder and CEO of Buffalo Go Green, whose organization is working to address food inequities in Buffalo's East Side, and Craig Willingham, Managing Director for CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute.
In response to a number of mass shootings and incidents of gun violence across the country this past weekend, including the Buffalo massacre, some cities instituted curfews. Policymakers are also having their perennial conversation on gun control.
The Takeaway speaks with Dr. Jonathan Metzl about the history and future of curfews and gun regulations in the U.S.
Natasha Warikoo, Professor of Sociology at Tufts University spent time in a privileged suburb on the East Coast doing research for her book “Race at The Top: Asian Americans and Whites in Pursuit of the American Dream in Suburban Schools.”
In a majority white town she calls Woodcrest, the Asian population is growing, and the Asian students consistently out-perform the white students there. We speak with Natasha about the competition between white and Asian students at Woodcrest and in suburbs like it. We also discuss where this leaves students whose opportunities are limited due to the lack of resources and access.
“Race at The Top: Asian Americans and Whites in Pursuit of the American Dream in Suburban Schools” by Natasha Warikoo(University of Chicago Press)
Reverend Jacqui Lewis is Senior Minister at Middle Collegiate Church. She is the author of Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness That Can Heal the World and the host of the “Love.Period.” Podcast.
Reverend Jacqui Lewis a regular of the show and she always leaves our listeners with a timely message about the power of love and radical acceptance. We spoke with the Reverend Jacqui Lewis, Senior Minister at Middle Collegiate Church about how she's making sense of the tragic Buffalo massacre.
This past weekend, a gunman who appears to have been motivated by white supremacy shot and killed ten people in Buffalo, New York, where he traveled to target the city’s Black community.
The tragic shooting is one of several disturbing massacres motivated by hate that have occurred in recent years. But the history of race based violence dates back to the beginning of what is now the United States, and some of the recent racially motivated attacks call to mind the racist violence that targeted Black communities in the early 20th century.
The Takeaway speaks with Jelani Cobb, historian, staff writer at The New Yorker and incoming dean at the Columbia Journalism School.
The shooting in Buffalo is being investigated as a hate crime, and given the gunman’s racist writings all indications are that he targeted the Black community.
We're joined by Jack McDevitt, Professor of the Practice in Criminology and Criminal Justice and Director of the Institute on Race and Justice at Northeastern University, to explore the connection between racism in America and hate crimes, and consider why explicit racism has declined over time, yet racist hate crimes have recently hit a 12-year high. We also consider when the switch happens from people holding racist views, to acting them out in lethal ways.
In her new film, "Try Harder," Debbie Lum takes viewers through the reality of the American college application process and the intersections of race, class, educational opportunity and attainment.
The documentary focuses on students who attend Lowell High School in San Francisco California, a school known for academic excellence. Asians represent the majority of the student body, but all of the students at Lowell high school face intense pressure from their families and peers to get into the most competitive colleges.
Since the 1970s white evangelicals have become increasingly powerful in American elections and increasingly influential in American policy making.
We explore the history, contemporary power, and likely future of white evangelicals in American politics with Anthea Butler, Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought and Chair of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and author of White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America, and Randall Balmer, professor of religion at Dartmouth College and author of several books including Evangelicalism in America and Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right.
Comedian Matt Rogers is well known as co-host of the podcast “Las Culturistas” with Bowen Yang. On the show, Rogers and Yang dissect everything from the Real Housewives franchise to Taylor Swift to the Oscar frontrunners. The podcast has a devoted following, and this spring, Rogers is set to break out on screen in the Showtimes series, “I Love That for You,” and the Hulu movie, “Fire Island.”
Rogers joins The Takeaway to talk about his new roles and weigh in on some of the pieces of pop culture that most excite him today.
Recent results from a survey conducted by the Women Mayors Network indicates that nearly all mayors report experiences with threat and harassment. The problem is particularly acute for women and women of color mayors.
We speak with Heidi Gerbracht, Founder and director of the Equity Agenda and Co-founder of the Women Mayors Network, about what this reveals about the health of our democracy.
This week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that they will be phasing visitations back in for people being held at their detention facilities. In-person visitations from family, friends, and advocates have been halted since the start of the pandemic based on Covid-19 concerns, according to ICE. Unlike ICE, the federal prison system allowed visitations to resume starting in October 2020.
The move is a promising sign for people being held by ICE and their loves ones, but the fact that it took so long reveals the extent to which the needs of ICE detainees are often ignored by the federal government.
The Takeaway speaks with Luis Romero, assistant professor in the department of Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies at Texas Christian University, with a focus on immigration enforcement, about the importance of visitation for those held in ICE detention and other changes that immigrant rights advocates want ICE to make.
On Thursday, May 12th, astronomers announced that they finally had proof of a super massive black hole in The Milky Way after years of speculation. The Event Horizon Telescope Team shared an image of the black hole named Sagittarius A*, which is 4 million times the mass of our sun.
We speak with Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, professor of physics and astronomy and core faculty in women’s and gender studies at the University of New Hampshire and author of The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred, to talk about Sagittarius A* and the significance of this discovery.
Music in this Segment by Sarah Mucho: (https://sarahmucho.bandcamp.com/track/black-hole-sun)
An ongoing Associated Press investigation into the Federal Bureau of Prisons is uncovering rampant employee misconduct, coverups, under-staffing and neglect across the agency's 122 prisons. We speak with The Marshall Project reporter, Keri Blakinger, and president of the AFGE Local 506 union for correctional officers, Joe Rojas, about the corruption and abuse and how that impacts the lives of employees and incarcerated people.
Since pandemic eviction moratoriums and other tenant predictions have lapsed, eviction rates have risen to nearly pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, some states and cities have in place "Right to Counsel" laws, guaranteeing legal representation in court to those facing eviction.
We hear from Caroyln Headlam, organizer with the Ithaca Tenants Union in upstate New York, and Lauren Springer, tenant leader with Catholic Migration Services, as well as a member of the Steering Committee of the Right to Counsel New York City Coalition, about what they're seeing in housing courts in their areas.
Then, we speak with Marika Dias, Managing Director at the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center in New York City and Ora Prochovnick, Director of Litigation & Policy at the Eviction Defense Collaborative in San Francisco, about the importance of Right to Counsel rights for tenants who are facing eviction.
Full Rent Stabilization Association statement:
After forecasting an eviction tsunami that never materialized, the advocates are at it again – with legal services providers warning that tenants will have to represent themselves because of a shortage of public defenders. The facts tell a different story. Housing Court continues to operate in a limited capacity, with a hybrid of virtual and in-person appearances. Most housing courtrooms are hearing only 25-40 cases per day virtually, compared to about 45-60 pre-pandemic," said Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents 25,000 diverse owners and managers of more than one million apartments that house over 2.5 million New Yorkers in neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs.
"Not all of the pending eviction cases are eligible for free legal services because not all tenants fall at or below 200% of the poverty level ($23,000 annual income for an individual, and $49,000 for a four-person household), and it is still not known how many of these cases will ultimately be discontinued based on tenants having received rental assistance or having otherwise paid the rent," Strasburg continued.
"With Housing Court operating on limited calendars and public defenders representing a fraction of the existing cases – coupled with the state's Emergency Rental Assistance Program having stayed eviction for tens of thousands of tenants – why are legal services providers failing to meet their contractual obligation with the City of New York in delivering taxpayer-funded, right-to-counsel services to needy families? Are they manufacturing this crisis to cover up their failures and clog court calendars? Or worse, further delaying proceedings that would enable tenants and owners to resolve problems, and connect families to government-funded rent assistance programs that keep them in their homes and provide owners with the rent-arrears needed to maintain their buildings and pay city property taxes?" Strasburg further stated.
"Property owners have been prevented from fully asserting their rights in court for over two years. If legal services providers cannot meet their contractual obligation with New York City and provide these legal services to qualifying tenants, then New York City should reallocate funds and hire private counsel to alleviate the burden from legal services providers and ensure that New York's most financially distressed tenants have representation in court. For decades, the Assigned Counsel Plan – also referred to as 18B Panel attorneys – has provided legal services to indigent persons throughout the city by compensating private attorneys in criminal and family law matters. If legal services providers insist that they are unable to provide the free legal services New York City is paying them to provide, there is no reason why an 18B Panel could not be established for landlord-tenant matters. This would ensure that cases in Housing Court start moving again, while also ensuring that those tenants who qualify get the legal representation as required by law," Strasburg said.
Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed on May 11 while reporting on a raid in the West Bank by Israeli army forces. Her colleagues and eyewitnesses allege they were attacked by the Israeli Defense Forces while clearly identified as press. The Israeli military initially suggested that Abu Akleh might have been killed in crossfire, before walking back this stance. The United Nations and journalists and humanitarian groups around the world are calling for an independent investigation and examination of Israeli authorities' treatment of journalists. Rob Mahoney, executive director of the Committee to Project Journalists, speaks with us about the situation.
There are plans underway in Michigan to create the first spaceport in the Midwest. The Michigan Aerospace Manufacturers Association, also known as MAMA, has announced a plan to create a spaceport with three potential sites, including a vertical launch site in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on an estate known as Granot Loma which sits on the edge of Lake Superior.
However, Residents who live near that proposed vertical launch site at Granot Loma are concerned about environmental effects to the area and what it would mean to have a commercial spaceflight industry in their backyards.
We spoke with David Rompf, a New Yorker contributor who wrote about the Michigan Launch Initiative in his recent article, “The Plan to Make Michigan the Next Space State.” We also spoke with local resident who is concerned about the location of the proposed launch site, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, near Lake superior, Dennis Ferraro, the President of the nonprofit Citizens For a Safe and Clean Lake Superior.
WNBA star Brittney Griner has been detained by Russian authorities for more than two and a half months now. News on Griner’s situation has trickled out slowly from the U.S. State Department. And while the pace of these updates has frustrated many of Griner’s fans, last week an announcement was made that could be critical in her case. The State Department announced that they are now classifying her as “wrongfully detained.” This means that Griner’s case will now be handled by the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, who will work towards her release.
The Takeaway speaks with Dani Gilbert, assistant professor of military and strategic studies at the U.S. Air Force Academy and a nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point, about what to expect in Griner's case going forward.
Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, a groundbreaking resource by and for transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive communities, is publishing a second edition. We speak with Kelsey Pacha, board president of the nonprofit Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, about the book’s impact, the increasing need for information about gender-expansive communities in the face of anti-trans policies, and how far trans representation has come in the past eight years.
Humor can serve as an effective tool in exposing the hypocrisy and absurdity in politics. Lizz Winstead, political satirist, co-founder of The Daily Show, and co-founder of Abortion Access Front, discusses how Abortion AF uses humor to educate and fight restrictive abortion laws in this country.
Noga Arikha, philosopher and science humanist, explored the intersection of neurology and psychiatry in her book “The Ceiling Outside: The Science and Experience of the Disrupted Mind." In her book, Arikha described the patients she observed in a neuropsychiatry unit of Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital for 18 months. She joins us to discuss her findings and thoughts about memory, self-awareness, and identity.
Right now, the American Southwest is experiencing one of the worst droughts on record — the past 22 years are considered the worst dry-spell in 12,000 years.
Since much of the West is experiencing this megadrought, and many Californians face water restrictions, conserving water is important step. But while conservation may mitigate water shortage, it is not a permanent solution to the problem of limited sources of water, especially in Southern California.
That means we’re going to have to get inventive here. One solution to creating a new source of drinking water could be to use recycled wastewater — recycling the water from our sinks and showers, and even toilets, to use as drinking water. And although this might seem like an unsavory solution to our water woes, this process is already being used around the world, and even in Orange County, California, which has the world’s largest wastewater recycling facility.
So could could recycling wastewater be the future of our drinking water?
For more, we speak with Dr. Daniel McCurry, Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Southern California.
Lake Mary Jane is on the outskirts of greater Orlando, and it, along with one human co-plaintiff, is suing for its right to exist. The legal argument is rooted in the “Rights of Nature” movement, which centers on the idea that objects of the natural environment and ecosystems should be entitled to the rights of personhood in order to be preserved and to protect against pollution.
We speak with Chuck O’Neal, an environmental activist and the co-plaintiff in the case, as well as Steven Meyers, the lawyer representing Lake Mary Jane.
Climate scientists and activists were cautiously optimistic when Joe Biden promised to ban new permits for oil and gas drilling on federal land during his 2020 campaign. But two years in, the Biden administration is under strong pressure to respond to rising gas prices due to the war in Ukraine. In mid-April, the Department of the Interior announced it would resume leasing federal lands to gas and oil companies for drilling—mere days after a United Nations report warned that the climate crisis is more dire than ever, and governments haven't been doing enough to stop global temperatures from rising. Zoya Teirstein, a climate policy reporter for Grist, explains why this move won't actually do much to lower gas prices for Americans in the short term, and why the Biden administration’s climate agenda is moving too slowly to prevent irreparable environmental harm.
As we approach 1 million Covid-19 deaths in the U.S., The Takeaway considers how Covid has changed the way our world sounds. In cities like New York, the early days of the pandemic were marked by sounds like unrelenting ambulance sirens, celebratory pot clanging to honor health care workers, and eerie silence in once-crowded places. Radio hosts Brian Lehrer, host of The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC in New York, and Austin Cross, host of mid-day All Things Considered on KPCC in Los Angeles, joined to talk about the sounds that made an impact during the pandemic.
Stephanie Foo’s memoir What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma tells her story of her childhood, where she suffered abuse and abandonment from her parents, and how those experiences led her to suffer from complex PTSD. Complex PTSD differs from regular PTSD, as it is caused when someone is exposed to a traumatic event repeatedly, over the course of years. Complex PTSD also doesn’t officially exist in the DSM-5, and so there is relatively little literature on the issue.
We speak with Stephanie Foo about her childhood trauma, her coming to terms with her Complex PTSD diagnoses, and how she’s worked to overcome it.
Jason Marsalis, he youngest family member of the famed Marsalis musical family joins us to discuss life as a musician during Covid, the death of his father and what the return of music means to him.
While various trackers put the United States near 1 million deaths due to Covid, the numbers are most likely much higher, according to the CDC. Fatalities around the world are close to 15 million. In spite of this staggering death toll, chief medical adviser to the president Dr. Anthony Fauci says we are no longer in a pandemic phase here in the U.S.. Access to vaccines, boosters, and antiviral medications have also shifted attitudes and behaviors. To discuss what we have learned these past two years and what we need to do to prepare for the next pandemic, we speak with Dr. Bhakti Hansoti, associate professor of emergency medicine and international health at Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Motherhood and its many meanings and expectations are created and experienced within the particular realities of our society and history. And to better understand some of our shared national history with mothering we sat down with Professor Michele Goodwin of the University of California-Irvine who is author of the book Policing the Womb: Invisible Women and the Criminalization of Motherhood.
"Policing the Womb" by Prof. Michele Goodwin brings to life the chilling ways in which women have become the targets of secretive state surveillance of their pregnancies. (Cambridge University Press)
According to a 2020 study by The Williams Insitute, an LGBT think tank at UCLA Law School, 19% of transgender adults are parents. Many are parents to biological children. But for transgender people who choose to adopt or foster, the process can be particularly challenging. Laws vary by state, and while 28 states prohibit adoption discrimination on the basis of gender identity, 19 states do not.
Octavia Lewis is a transgender Health Coordinator at Montefiore Health System and she's navigated the foster and adoption systems in New York state. The Takeaway spoke with her about her constantly evolving relationship with motherhood.
We discuss what motherhood looks like when mothers and children are separated by borders, and how these families challenge Western stereotypes about what "good" motherhood is. We speak with Gabrielle Oliveira, associate professor at Harvard's Graduate School of Education and the author of "Motherhood Across Borders: Immigrants and their Children in Mexico and in New York City."
According to the Prison Policy Initiative, over half of the women who are in federal prisons and 80% of women in jails are mothers. The National Bail Out Collective is an organization fighting for pretrial reform to remove these mothers and caregivers from behind bars instead of allowing them to sit in jail cells while awaiting adjudication. The National Bail Out Collective also coordinates Mama’s Day Bailouts to bail out Black mothers and caregivers on Mother’s Day.
We speak with Rodreshia Russaw, Executive Director of The Ordinary People Society and Qiana Johnson, Founder of Life After Release about their work to support incarcerated women and mothers and their participation in Mama’s Day Bailout.
Julius Jones was convicted in the 1999 killing of Paul Howell in Oklahoma and was sentenced to death. He proclaims that he is innocent and first saw Howell on T.V. when his death was reported on the news. After new evidence and a long legal fight, on November 18th, the day that Jones was set to be executed, Governor Kevin Stitt commuted his sentence to life without the possibility of parole less than four hours before he was set to be executed.
We speak with Antoinette Jones, the sister of Julius Jones and Reverend Cece Jones-Davis, the campaign founder/director of Justice for Julius to discuss the latest in Julius’ case and their ongoing fight to prove his innocence.
But the truth is, that almost all of us, even the richest and most well-off, benefit from government services and programs.
There are services that most of us can recognize as government programs: food stamps, welfare, Pell Grants, Medicare and Medicaid, and Social Security retirement benefits. Maybe you’ve used some of these.
But there are also not so visible government programs that we might benefit from without realizing. These are usually hidden in the tax code or through subsidies through private organizations. These include the home-mortgage-interest deduction and tax exemptions you may get on employer-provided health and retirement benefits. You might have used some of these as well without even knowing it.
We speak with Suzanne Mettler, a professor of government at Cornell University, calls this the "submerged state." She is also the author of the book “The Submerged State: How Invisible Government Policies Undermine American Democracy.”
J.D. Vance won the Ohio Republican Senate primary after an endorsement from Donald Trump signaling that the Republican party may still be beholden to Trump and his loyal followers. While the battle over the Republican party plays out state to state, both Democrats and Republicans fight over state and congressional maps, which have been redrawn after the 2020 census. We look at primary elections across the country and how redistricting may impact the results with Amy Walter, Editor-in-Chief of The Cook Political Report.
On our special May the Fourth episode, we start the show talking to two NASA astronauts about their experiences in space.
We speak with Chris Hadfield, who was an astronaut with NASA for 21 years, a colonel in the Canadian air force, and he is also an educator, a musician, and Chris was the first Canadian astronaut to walk in space in 2001 and is the only Canadian to command a space station. He retired from NASA in 2013, and since then, he helps run several space companies, and has become known around the world for his internet presence and videos that have made space science fun and accessible. He’s also an author of several books and his most recent novel, “The Apollo Murders” is a Cold War-era thriller.
We also speak with Sunita Williams,an astronaut at NASA and the second female commander of the International Space Station. She’s also been training commercial space crews for private companies like SpaceX and Boeing. She spent 322 days in space aboard the International Space Station and performed 7 spacewalks, spending a total of 29 hours and 17 minutes strolling around in the cosmos.
May the forth be with you today, on this May 4th!
Stormtroopers pose at world premiere of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" on Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photos)
Culture critic Maya Phillips has been a major Star Wars fan since she first saw the original trilogy on VHS as a kid. She even has a soft spot for some aspects of the prequels! But as she’s gotten older, some of her opinions on the franchise have soured, both when it comes to its politics and the recycling of ideas that has taken place since Disney acquired Star Wars. We speak with Phillips about her connection to Star Wars and whether the franchise can be saved.
This Thursday, Paramount+ is bringing viewers back onboard the USS Enterprise with the new series, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
Actor Celia Rose Gooding stars in the series as Uhura. The role was originated by Nichelle Nichols in the original "Star Trek" television series when it premiered in 1966.
Gooding joined The Takeaway to discuss taking on the role of Uhura and how she sees it fitting into her burgeoning career in entertainment.
The news is monumental in every sense: a historic legal development, an unprecedented violation of Court protocol, and a decision that will have stunning consequences for women all across the country.
The Politico reporting by Josh Gerstein and Alexander Ward includes a link to the draft opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito back in February. It’s a draft opinion that decisively reverses Roe v. Wade and the legal precedent it set nearly 50 years ago.
We spoke with Prof. Melissa Murray of NYU School of Law and cohost of the legal podcast Strict Scrutiny and OB/GYN, abortion provider, and founder of Pegasus Health Justice Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi about their reaction to these recent developments and what this leaked opinion indicates for the future of reproductive rights.
It’s Teacher Appreciation Week, but more than two years into the pandemic, many teachers are struggling to find the light in a darkened tunnel. According to the National Education Association, a nationwide teacher shortage and widespread burnout have a significant number of teachers considering leaving the profession entirely. Recent cases have also underscored the ways in which both liberal and conservative leaning educators feel constrained by their districts.
We speak with Prudence Carter,Professor of Sociology at Brown University about what this moment represents for teachers nationwide.
For this story, The Takeaway also spoke with Rachel Stonecipher, a former teacher at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas. After it was discovered that the school had removed "LGBTQ safe-space" stickers from classroom doors, Stonecipher and other teachers sent an email to administrators asking for an explanation. Shortly after, the Irving Independent School District placed Stonecipher on administrative leave. Later, in April of 2022, the district declined to renew Stonecipher's contract, which she believes was, in part, done in response to her stand on the “safe-space" stickers.
The Takeaway reached out to the Irving Independent School District in response to this story and received a statement dated April 22 that reads in part: “[O]n April 18, 2022, the Irving ISD Board voted on both renewals and terminations...[t]hese Board votes impact contracts for the 2022-2023 school year. No teacher contracts were terminated with immediate effect.”
Amazon is contesting the recent historic union win at their Staten Island warehouse. The National Labor Relations Board decided on May 2nd to give Amazon a hearing to present evidence for their claims of preferential treatment by the NLRB in Brooklyn. Amazon also claims the Amazon Labor Union intimidated warehouse workers into voting for the union and bribed them with weed. The director of the NLRB branch where the case will be heard has said he’s seen evidence that “could” overturn the election results. The hearing is set for May 23. Lauren Kaori Gurley, senior staff writer for Motherboard, joins us to discuss the battle between Amazon and The NLRB.
On February 13th, Christina Yuna Lee was stabbed to death in her own apartment in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York City. A college graduate and creative, digital producer Christina was just 35-years-old when a man she did not know followed her to her home, pushed his way into her apartment, and took her life with stunning brutality.
This unthinkable violence against Christina came just weeks after the shocking killing of Michelle Go. Just 40 years old, Michelle was waiting on the platform in the Times Square subway station when a man pushed her in front of an oncoming train.
The deadly crimes against these two Asian-American women occurred in New York, but the reverberations were felt across the nation. After Michelle’s death, Russell Jeung, a co-founder of STOP AAPI HATE, spoke with FOX 2 in San Francisco and said, "I think in our community a lot of people are one degree of separation from knowing someone who has been attacked or assaulted."
From March 2020 to December 2021, the advocacy coalition Stop AAPI Hate received nearly 11,000 reports of hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islanders. It’s no wonder that many in Asian-American communities are feeling the grief and fear of living just “one degree of separation” from violence.
In her Nation article, "Sex, Death, and Empire: The Roots of Violence Against Asian Women," Panthea Lee, an ethnographer, activist, and writer, interrogates a long history of sexualized and gendered violence against Asian women. She finds the roots of contemporary anti-Asian hate are far deeper than Covid-era rhetoric.
And when Panthea found a 38-second video from the summer of 2020 in her own iPhone, she discovered she was less than one degree removed from Christina Yuna Lee, whose startling murder in February rocked New York’s Chinatown.
Global film audiences have generally heard of Bollywood and come to associate that as the dominant Indian film industry. But in recent years, Tollywood, another film industry from a part of India where the Telugu language is spoken, has been making a huge mark in and outside of India.
The film “RRR,” which came out at the end of March, has grossed over $130 million worldwide, making it the third highest grossing Indian film of all time.
According to film critic Siddhant Adlakha, part of the appeal of Tollywood is that its films are even flashier than Bollywood’s, and audiences share celebratory communal experiences seeing them in theaters.
The Takeaway speaks with Adlakha about what the success of "RRR" signals for the future of Tollywood.
The acquittal of 4 police officers who brutally beat Rodney King in 1992 triggered the destruction of Korean-owned businesses and violence directed toward Korean Americans living in South Central Los Angeles.
Claire Jean Kim, professor of political science and Asian-American studies at the University of California, Irvine, and author of Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World, joins us to discuss the racial tensions that already existed between Black and Korean Americans and how structural racism pits Asians and Black Americans against each other.
After the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act and even Loving v. Virginia, one major issue around the racial justice movement remained unaddressed: fair housing.
On April 11, 1968 President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Fair Housing Act into law. Because of this, April is National Fair Housing Month. All month, advocates, organizers, and communities commemorate this landmark piece of Civil Rights legislation which outlawed discrimination in housing.
On this episode of The Takeaway, Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren take a Deep Dive into the history and current state of fair housing in America, 54 years after the passage of the National Fair Housing Act.
Guests:
Lisa Rice, President and CEO of the National Fair Housing Alliance
Jim McCarthy, President/CEO of Miami Valley Fair Housing Center
Michael Allen, Attorney and Partner at Relman Colfax
Ava Deakin, lead plaintiff in Deakin v. Old Town Triangle Association
Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia
The Food and Drug Administration is supposed to put safety standards in place and investigate and respond to outbreaks of food-borne illnesses. But a recent investigation from Politico titled “The FDA’s Food Failure,” revealed significant structural leadership issues and found that the food arm of the agency – the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition – has repeatedly failed to create regulations or respond in a timely manner to a wide range of food safety, health, and nutrition issues.
We speak with the reporter who worked on that investigation, Helena Bottemiller Evich, Senior food and agricultural reporter for Politico.
Here's a comment from the FDA from an FDA spokesperson:
The FDA has accomplished a tremendous amount in the last 10 years to make the American food supply as safe as it’s ever been. At the FDA we are harnessing new technology, data management, and strategies to improve our ability to identify and interdict unsafe food products to build a New Era of Smarter Food Safety. By advancing our scientific capabilities to detect pathogens and other contaminants, we are now detecting more outbreaks and we are making real progress on reducing toxic elements in the food supply. On April 27, 2022 we issued draft guidance to industry to help reduce the levels of lead in juices—which is good for everyone, but in particular young children, and as part of our Closer to Zero action plan, we expect to issue additional guidance on lead action levels for foods commonly eaten by babies and young children later this year.
April is National Poetry Month and The Takeaway is talking with young poets across the country. Alyssa Gaines is Urban Word’s 2022 National Youth Poet Laureate Midwest Regional Finalist. She joined the program to talk about her work and shared one of her poems
Much like the unrest that was triggered by the police killings of George Floyd in 2020, the Rodney King verdict was an inflection point in the relationship between communities and police. The not guilty verdict was preceded by a long history of police brutality in Los Angeles’ Black and Latino communities that were already suffering from heightened levels of gang-related violence; political, social, and economic inequality; and a heightened vulnerability from systemic issues underlying urban life, still prevalent in America’s cities today.
But, one thing the media missed was an event that took place right before: the Watts truce of 1992. On April 28, 1992, Black and Latino gangs across L.A. saw what was happening around them and decided to finalize a peace treaty. That treaty was strongest in L.A.’s predominantly Black Watts projects amongst four gangs: the Grape Street and PJ Watts Crips, and Bounty Hunter and Hacienda Village Bloods.
Aqeela Sherrills was a former Grape Street Crip who helped broker the peace deal between the groups. Today, he is a community violence activist and public safety advocate. Sherrills is co-founder of the Community Based Public Safety Collective and the President and Board Chair of the Newark Community Street Team. He joined the show to discuss the 30th anniversary of the Watts truce and L.A. rebellion, and he explained how these events hold valuable lessons on redefining public safety.
On Tuesday, President Biden exercised his presidential clemency powers for the first time in his presidency, issuing 3 pardons and 75 commutations, all of whom were convicted of drug offenses or other non-violent crimes.Still, there are 18,000 petitions for clemency still pending.
We speak with Austin Sarat, professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College, to explore the history of how presidents have used clemency powers in the past, why the process serves so few, and if President Biden might meet his campaign promise of criminal justice reform by using the powers of clemency going forward.
For a new piece in The Atlantic, that was also the center of the latest episode of the podcast The Experiment, reporter Jessica Bruder takes a look at how abortion activists nationwide are preparing for a world in which Roe v. Wade is overturned.
The work being done by this underground network includes online forums to raise awareness about pharmaceutically induced abortions. Bruder also draws parallels between the work done by activists in the pre-Roe era to provide safe abortions to people in need. The Takeaway speaks with her about what this work means as the country awaits a Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
On April 6, Data Science Day, Dr. Alondra Nelson, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, delivered a keynote address about the importance of data collection and measurement in addressing equity of government policies and programs. Dr. Nelson joins us to discuss her role on the Equitable Data Working Group and how data can protect civil rights and civil liberties.
Melissa Lucio has been on death row for 14 years for the death of her two year old daughter. She was due to be executed on Wednesday, April 27th. After appeals from advocates, Texas lawmakers, and even five of the jurors on her original trial, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay on her execution on Monday, April 25th.
We speak with Jolie McCullough, reporter for The Texas Tribune covering criminal justice and policy about Lucio’s case and what the court’s decisions means looking ahead. Then, we look at the politics of motherhood and what constitutes a “good” and “bad” mother with Jane Aiken, Dean and Professor of Law at Wake Forest University and author of the article “Motherhood as Misogyny.”
According to Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, author of Periods Gone Public: Taking a Stand for Menstrual Equity, taxing menstrual products is discriminatory and unconstitutional. The good news is that the movement to get rid of what has been called the “tampon tax” has been successful in some states. There are still states, however, that continue to tax half of its population. Jennifer Weiss-Wolf joins us to discuss period equity and the injustice of the tampon tax.
April is National Poetry Month and The Takeaway is talking with young poets across the country. Elizabeth Shvarts is Urban Word’s 2022 National Youth Poet Laureate Northeast Regional Finalist. She joined the program to talk about her work and shared one of her poems.
Two weeks ago, heavy, sustained rains in the area around the port city of Durban, in the KwaZulu-Nata province of South Africa, triggered major flooding and mudslides. More than 400 are confirmed dead, dozens are still missing, and over 40,000 people displaced. Amongst those most affected are vulnerable communities, some of whom were already displaced by the government during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. President Cyril Ramphosa said after the tragedy that “these floods are a tragic reminder of the increasing frequency of extreme weather conditions as a result of climate change.”
The Takeaway talked with John EligonJohannesburg bureau chief at The New York Times.
Alongside the delicious food, the new cookbook “Gullah Geechee Home Cooking,” tells the story of the Gullah Geechee through the history of Edisto Island and author of the book, Emily Meggett's family. The recipes that she shares have been passed down through generations.
The cookbook will be available on April 26, and in it you’ll find fresh seafood recipes that are an homage to the Sea Islands on the Atlantic Coast – recipes like deviled crab and Miss Emily’s famous Stuffed Fish with Parsley Rice and Roe. There are recipes that might remind you of other Southern cooking you may have tried, like red rice, corn fritters, and okra gumbo. And there are plenty of pie recipes and one for a glorious Pineapple upside-down cake.
We speak with the author new cookbook “Gullah Geechee Home Cooking,” Emily Meggett, also known as “the matriarch of Edisto Island.” And co-author of the cookbook Kayla Stewart, who is also a food and travel reporter.
Last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that will end Disney World’s special tax status starting in June 2023. The move was a direct response to Disney’s belated opposition to the recently passed Florida law restricting the ability of teachers to discuss sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. Disney has been criticized by many on the right and the left over its handling of what opponents have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay Bill.”
We speak with Carlos Ball, law professor at Rutgers University, and Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, about how what’s happening with Disney connects to other recent examples of corporations weighing in on LGBTQ issues.
Queer Ecology looks at the biases and limitations that exist in environmental studies. To learn more, we spoke with Nicole Seymour, an associate professor of English and Graduate Advisor of Environmental Studies at Cal State Fullerton. She is author of several books including: "Strange Natures: Futurity, Empathy, and the Queer Ecological Imagination."
Many Indigenous communities live on land that is being directly impacted by global warming. And as resistance to fossil fuel production has grown in recent years, Indigenous people have been at the center of the movements to reverse this trend. On this Earth Day weekend, The Takeaway is looking at how the 2016 Standing Rock protests and water protector movement created a blueprint for ongoing environmental activism.
To learn more, we speak with Nick Estes, a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, incoming American Indian Studies department professor at the University of Minnesota, and founder of The Red Nation, an Indigenous resistance organization. He's also the author, "Our History Is the Future:
Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance."
Environmental justice documents the disproportionate effects of climate harm on communtiies of color and it insists that these communities must be the key decision makers as we find solutions.
Wawa Gatheru is the 23 year-old founder of Black Girl Environmentalist, a supportive community for Black girls, women, and non-binary environmentalists. We speak with Gatheru about her work with Black Girl Environmentalist and her goal of an anti-racist environmental movement.
On this Earth Day we want to celebrate by hearing from the next generation. April is National Poetry Month and as you may have heard, The Takeaway is talking with young poets across the country. Jessica Kim is Urban Word’s 2022 National Youth Poet Laureate West Regional Finalist. She joined the program to talk about her work and shared one of her poems. We’ll also hear from students at Wake Forest University about what Earth Day means to them.
From the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana to the deep freeze in Texas during winter storm Uri, to the urban heat islands in California, we are facing the extreme effects of climate change and marginalized communities are the most impacted. We speak with Elizabeth Yeampierre, the executive director of Uprose, about the inequities of climate change and the need for climate justice.
Mason, Tennessee is a small, predominantly Black town of approximately 1,300 residents situated about 40 miles northeast of Memphis in West Tennessee. The city has struggled with financial mismanagement in the past, but is expected to benefit from a major new economic investment, an electric vehicle plant being built by Ford Motor Company just a few miles away. Recently the Tennessee Comptroller, Jason Mumpower, tried to forcibly take control over the town's finances. We explore the fight Mason is taking on for its financial autonomy.
We speak with:
*Virginia Rivers,* Vice-Mayor of Mason, Tennessee
Gloria Sweet-Love, President of the Tennessee State Conference NAACP
John Marshall, judicial magistrate in Memphis, Tennessee, amateur historian, and sixth generation Mason native
Otis Sanford, political columnist for The Daily Memphian and a journalism professor at the University of Memphis
Music from this episode by: The Memphis Jug Band Milton Ruiz, J. Cowit (https://jcowit.bandcamp.com/), I Think Like Midnight (http://www.ithinklikemidnight.com/) Hannis Brown (https://www.hannisbrown.com/) The Sometime Boys (https://www.thesometimeboys.com/)
The Next 100, a progressive think tank working to support the next generation of policy leaders, partnered with The GenForward Survey to find out how Millennials and GenZers feel about the US government, and their level of trust in local and state officials.
The survey, conducted last November and December, shows that young adults, especially low-income individuals and people of color, feel a general lack of trust in the government, and they say they feel underrepresented, and disconnected from policy making decisions.
One of the findings shows that: “Black respondents and respondents with a household income below $60,000 were the least likely to feel like full and equal citizens in our country.”
For more we speak with Francisco Miguel Araiza, Deputy Executive Director of Next 100.
While sewage surveillance is not a new concept, testing a community’s wastewater has become much more common in the age of Covid to identify spikes in infection. The data is not reliant on how many people have insurance or how many choose to get tested. So, is sewage surveillance the great equalizer of disease identification? What are its applications beyond Covid? We speak with Newsha Ghaeli, president and cofounder of Biobot Analytics, about the inclusive and comprehensive benefits of water epidemiology.
In November 2020, voters in New Jersey legalized recreational marijuana, and now, recreational marijuana will finally be available for adult consumers to purchase in New Jersey starting tomorrow on April 21st.
New York legalized recreational marijuana last March, but legal sales by licensed dispensaries are not expected to open until the end of 2022 – despite a robust unlicensed market.
For more, we spoke with WNYC and Gothamist reporter Caroline Lewis.
Does the burgeoning marijuana industry have an equity problem? We look at the barriers to entry and the problems of equity and decriminalization with Christine De La Rosa, CEO and CO-Founder of The People’s Ecosystem, an organization empowering communities through cannabis from legacy to legends.
What does it take to enter the cannabis industry? We’ll talk to Emmy award-winning journalist, Mara Schiavocampo, executive producer & host of the podcast “Run Tell This,” about entering the industry as a person of color, the barriers she and others face, and the health benefits of cannabis.
Bicycle Day commemorates the day when Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann was the first human to trip on LSD on April 19, 1943.
And now, there is a growing movement in the United States to decriminalize and legalize psychedelic substances, such as psilocybin – the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms.” New research shows that these psychedelic drugs can be used for recreation and also for therapeutic treatments.
In November 2020, Oregon became the first state to legalize psilocybin-assisted therapy, alongside decriminalizing the personal possession of drugs more broadly. In Cities such as Denver, Oakland, California and Washington, D.C., voters have approved ballot measures to decriminalize the personal possession of psychedelic mushrooms.
And although Psilocybin and other psychedelics remain illegal under federal drug laws, there are several prominent universities studying psychedelic-aided therapy and its effectiveness in treating mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, PTSD and – perhaps most surprisingly – addiction.
We speak with Michael Pollan, Co-founder of the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics and author of How To Change Your Mind: What The New Science Of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, And Transcendence, about the history of Bicycle Day, the criminalization of psychedelics, and psychedelic-aided therapy.
April is National Poetry Month and The Takeaway is talking with young poets across the country. Isabella Ramirez is Urban Word’s 2022 National Youth Poet Laureate South Regional Finalist. She joined the program to talk about her work and shared one of her poems.
In late March, New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s administration began carrying out highly publicized sweeps of homeless encampments. The mayor has said he’s focused on getting people off the streets and into shelters, but even under the best of circumstances there are many barriers associated with making a shelter-based strategy effective for all who are affected by homelessness. Brendan Cheney, the Director of Policy and Communications for the New York Housing Conference, and Joel Berg the CEO of Hunger Free America join The Takeaway to discuss Adams’ approach to homelessness.
At the beginning of April, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report stating that global greenhouse gas emissions are continuing to rise… putting the world at risk for more climate-change related issues, unless immediate action is taken.
Extreme weather events are likely to force millions from their homes - creating climate refugees across the world and right here in the United States. In advance of these perils, some are trying a new process known as “managed retreat," or planned relocation of communities impacted by climate change.
We talk with A.R. Siders, an assistant professor at the University of Delaware and climate change adaptation expert on what managed retreat is and how it has been implemented across the US.
We also talk with Hilton Kelley in Port Arthur, Texas about climate-related issues in his community. Kelley is also the founder and director of the Community in Power and Development Association.
Last week President Biden used the word "genocide" for the first time to characterize Russia's actions in Ukraine. But do Russia's atrocities in Ukraine rise to the legal definition of genocide? We speak with Gissou Nia, director of the Strategic Litigation Project for the Atlantic Council, to explore the international framework of what constitutes genocide, and consider whether Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine rise to that level yet.
Over the past year, Atlanta’s median home prices have increased nearly 24 percent and according to the real estate brokerage firm Redfin -- Atlanta home purchases have been particularly targeted by investors- which means flipping and reselling for even higher prices. A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta says the median annual income in Atlanta has increased by roughly one thousand dollars since 2020, meanwhile the median home price has gone up by more than 100,000 dollars.
As housing prices rise, the city’s racial demographics are also shifting. White residents coming to Atlanta have vastly outnumbered the arrival of new Black residents, a reversal of trends from previous decades, when Black residents made up the majority of Atlanta's population.
For our ongoing series, Georgia at the Intersections, we’re talking about what this all means for Atlanta residents and Georgia politics. We spoke with Jim Burress, a WABE reporter who's been covering Atlanta’s housing market for nearly 14 years and Bambie Hayes-Brown, CEO of Georgia Advancing Communities Together, an organization representing non-profit housing and community development groups in Georgia.
We host a politics roundtable talking about the lead up to midterm elections this November and the ongoing “culture war” between Republicans and Democrats.
We speak withChristina Greer, Associate Professor of Political Science at Fordham University, co-host of podcast FAQ NYC, and author of the book "Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration and the Pursuit of the American Dream." And Ron Christie,former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and Republican strategist.
At the start of the month, the Biden administration announced that on May 23, they will be ending Title 42, the Trump-era public health rule that has been used to expel migrants out of the United States since the start of the pandemic.
Since it was first implemented, immigration advocates have been pushing for an end to the policy, which blocks most migrants from seeking asylum. And even establishment Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have called on the Biden administration to terminate Title 42. But more conservative Democrats like Arizona Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly have partnered with Republicans to create legislation that would keep Title 42 in place.
The Takeaway hears from advocates Abraham Paulos, Deputy Director of Communications and Policy of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), and Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Senior Policy Counsel at the American Immigration Council, about how their organizations are reacting to the end of Title 42. And we also speak with Camilo Montoya-Galvez, immigration reporter for CBS News, about the politics of ending Title 42.
A poll conducted by ABC News in January found that only 20% of Americans feel confident in our country’s election systems. And that skepticism exists for those who identify with both parties. We look to Georgia, one of the highly contested states in 2020 to see how skepticism is playing a part in who’s running, and efforts to tighten voting laws and restrictions.
Gabriel Sterling, Chief Operating Officer and Interim Deputy Secretary in the Office of the Georgia Secretary of State joins us to discuss the road ahead to the midterm elections.
Back in 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a "war on drugs." More than 50 years later, it's clear that what was a war on drugs in principle turned into an assault on marginalized communities in practice. That’s a tone very different than what we heard from President Biden earlier this year during the State of the Union address.
At his address, the Biden said, "There is so much we can do: increase funding for prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery. Get rid of outdated rules that stop doctors from prescribing treatments. And stop the flow of illicit drugs by working with state and local law enforcement to go after traffickers. If you’re suffering from addiction, know you are not alone. I believe in recovery, and I celebrate the 23 million Americans in recovery."
And it’s not just President Biden. Even conservative politicians like like Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton have advocated for treatment rather than punishment to address opiod addiction – a a drug epidemic where white Americans largely have been the public face.
To be clear opioid use is a crisis. In 2019 over 70 percent of overdose deaths in the US involved an opioid. And according to research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, overdose deaths between 2009 and 2019 actually hit Black communities the hardest.
Even as this crisis is being discussed in ways that are different from previous drug epidemics, there is still a lot of stigma for those seeking recovery from opioid use disorder, also known as OUD. This month the Department of Justice sent an important message with hopes of addressing that stigma. The DOJ issued guidance explaining that people who are recovering from opioid use disorder are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act, known as the ADA. This includes anyone taking prescription medications as part of their treatment.
We speak with Ryan Hampton, an advocate and author of the book “UNSETTLED: How the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis.” Ryan is also a person in recovery from opioid addiction. We also speak with Kassandra Frederique, executive director at Drug Policy Alliance, a non-profit that works to end the war on drugs.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration extended the national COVID-19 public health emergency for another 90 days. The move will prolong the period in which insurance and Medicaid is required to cover Covid-19 tests, and extend other pandemic related benefits. It comes at a moment when cases continue to rise in some parts of the country, but hospitalizations and deaths remain down.
We speak with New York Times science and global health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli about how the Biden administration and local leaders are handling the current stage of the pandemic.
April is National Poetry Month. To celebrate we’re going to chat with a series of young poets about their love for poetry. In this installment we’ll speak with Kevin Gu, the 2021 National Student Poet representing the Northeast region of the United States for The National Student Poets Program.
On February 13, 2020, Olivia Warren, staff attorney at the Center for the Death Penalty Litigation and former law clerk of the newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, brought national attention to the federal judiciary when she testified before the House Judiciary Committee.
In her testimony, she gave a deeply personal recount of the sexual harassment she says she faced while serving as a law clerk for the late LA-based, Appellate Judge Stephen Reinhardt. In her testimony, Warren alleged that Judge Reinhardt persistently sexually harassed her and that the system meant to protect people like her did just the opposite.
Aliza Shatzman is a family law attorney and former law clerk in Washington D.C. and similarly to Warren's experience, she claims she too was a victim of gender discrimination and retaliation while clerking for a judge in D.C. Superior Court from 2019 to 2020.
In a written Statement for the Record submitted to the House Committee on the Judiciary, she recalled her painful experience of harassment at the hands of a D.C. federal judge, including “[her] attempts to report the mistreatment, how the system failed [her] when she tried to report, and [her] efforts to seek justice for herself and accountability for the misbehaving former judge.”
When she filed her complaint against the judge to the D.C. Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure, she found out that there were very few legal protections from harassment and retaliation for law clerks who reported judges' misbehavior. Currently, judges are excluded from anti-discrimination laws, and in July 2021, Congress proposed a bill that would fix this: the Judiciary Accountability Act (JAA). The law would empower judiciary employees who experience abuse, harassment, and retaliation to sue judges under Title VII, along with a number of other measures that create more accountability for judges.
For Shatzman, this is just the base level of change needed. She believes the federal judiciary needs meaningful structural change to occur within a system that does little to protect law clerks and other court employees from harassment. We spoke to her about how pervasive this issue is and the legislative efforts being taken to hold judges more accountable.
Editor's note: We reached out to the D.C. Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure for comment on this story and have not yet heard back. Any comments will be updated and made available ASAP.
On Monday, A New York jury found R&B singer R. Kelly guilty on all 9 counts against him which included racketeering and sex trafficking charges. We speak with dream hampton, showrunner and executive producer of the docu-series “Surviving R. Kelly” about what this conviction means to her and Kelly’s numerous victims.
Correction: At 9:05 minutes in the interview, the guest says that Stephen Henderson produced BET's awards shows. She meant to refer to Stephen Hill, the former president of programming for BET Networks.
Last month, a federal judge in Richmond, Virginia ruled that the use of a geofence warrant to make an arrest in a robbery case was unconstitutional because it violated the Fourth Amendment. Civil liberties advocates have raised concerns about geofence warrants for a long time because they give police data for anyone whose phone was in a given area during a specific timeframe.
The Takeaway speaks with Jennifer Granick, surveillance and cybersecurity counsel with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, about what this latest ruling means for the use of geofence warrants going forward.
If you have yet to get swept up in the wave of cryptocurrency investments, you are not alone. While it may seem that bitcoins and ethereum are making millionaires out of early-adopters, there is much to understand about the individual risks of buying digital currencies and the potential dangers cryptocurrency poses to our economic system as well as the environment. We speak with John Beccia, co-founder and CEO of FS Vector, and Hilary J. Allen, author of “Driverless Finance,” about fintech, cryptocurrency, and the importance of regulation.
Gordon Plaza – a subdivision in New Orleans’ Desire neighborhood, was established in the late 1970s and was supposed to be an opportunity for New Orleans’ emerging Black middle class to buy into the American dream. But the dream that was Gordon Plaza quickly dissolved into a nightmare for the residents of this community when they discovered the very foundation of their community was toxic.
In the early 1900s, the land that Gordon Plaza now occupies was low lying, swampy, and largely vacant, New Orleans used this area as a dumping ground for the city’s waste. It was called the Agriculture Street Landfill. For decades, residents in nearby neighborhoods complained about the site and eventually it was closed. But then in 1965, the city temporarily reopened the Agriculture Street Landfill as a dumping ground for debris from Hurricane Betsy. Most of the new residents who first bought in Gordon Plaza in the 1980s did not know their homes sat on a toxic site. But within a decade, debris and residue became visible as sealed oiled drums literally popped out of the ground in family’s yards.
Under intense pressure from environmental activists and distressed residents, the Environmental Protection Agency began to test Gordon Plaza’s soil and found 140 toxic and hazardous materials, more than 40 of which were known to cause cancer. In 1994 the EPA declared the area a superfund, or hazardous waste site. In the mid-1990s, the EPA financed a $20 million remediation project to remove contaminated soil from some areas of the property and replace it with new soil, but now that residents in the area knoe the land they owned was a former landfill and dumpsite, they are seeking more than just new dirt for their backyards. They want a way to relocate, and residents are still fighting with the City of New Orleans for the funds to do so.
In 2016, the City amended its master plan and included a portion about Gordon Plaza residents. It provided a five year timeline to “Identify and apply for Federal, State, and other funding or resources to relocate consenting residents of the Gordon Plaza Subdivision that was built on the Agriculture Street Landfill.” That five year timeline ended in 2021. Residents have estimated that it will now cost $35 million to relocate the 54 families on still living on Gordon Plaza. On January 6, 2022, the New Orleans City Council earmarked $35 million in the capitol Budget to help relocate residents. But that money is not guaranteed.
According to a 2019 report from the Louisiana Tumor Registry, Gordon Plaza’s census tract has the second highest cancer rate in the state, although the report also says it’s hard to prove links between cancer and certain exposures.
We spoke with Wilma Subra, technical advisor to the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and President of Subra Company, an environmental consulting firm. Subra has been working as an environmental consultant for residents on the site since the late 1980s.
We also spoke with two residents, Jesse Perkins and Marilyn Amar, who currently live in Gordon Plaza. They bought their houses without knowing about the dangerous toxins they might be exposed to on their own properties. You can learn more about residents' advocacy at GordonPlaza.com.
Statement from the City of New Orleans from John F. Lawson II, Deputy Press Secretary:
The City of New Orleans is working closely with the Environmental Protection Agency to identify additional resources to redevelop the existing Agriculture Street Landfill and properties near the site, such as those in Gordon Plaza, into a sustainable solar farm that would increase the City’s power resilience and minimize greenhouse gas emissions.To date, EPA has provided technical assistance to the City in funding the science and engineering work for a project Feasibility Study through its Superfund Program.
The Feasibility Study estimates building the solar farm will cost approximately $10 million. At present, $2 million in bond funding has been allocated to developing the solar farm project. The $35 million earmark by the New Orleans City Council is not actually tied to the City's project.The most critical element of moving this project forward is property appraisal and acquisition. To that end, the City plans to re-release a Request for Proposal for a third party firm to assist with determining property acquisition costs within the undeveloped property and within Gordon Plaza this month.The Cantrell Administration remains committed to bringing this project to a thoughtful resolution.
Medical gaslighting is when people feel that their symptoms are dismissed or not treated appropriately by health care providers. Women and people of color are more likely to experience medical gaslighting. We speak with Dr. Karen Luftey Spencer, professor of health and behavioral sciences at the University of Colorado, Denver and Dr. Jamila Taylor, director of health care reform and senior fellow at The Century Foundation about the medical gaslighting of women and people of color.
Last week, two far-right populist leaders were reelected in their respective countries: Viktor Orban in Hungary and Aleksandar Vucic in Serbia. Meanwhile in France, far-right populist candidate Marine Le Pen placed second in the election on Sunday, which means she will face off against current President Emmanuel Macron in an election runoff on April 24, 2022.
What does the sustained strength of populism and its autocratic underpinnings abroad mean for the state of American politics and democracy?
To explore that question and more, we hear from David Rothkopf, columnist for The Daily Beast and USA Today and host of the Deep State Radio podcast.
Since 2019, "A Black Lady Sketch Show" has served as a testament to just how wonderfully weird and insightful things get when some of the best Black women comedians gather. Its success is due in large part to the vision of creator and star Robin Thede.
Thede joined The Takeaway to discuss the third season of "A Black Lady Sketch Show," which just kicked off on HBO.
In 2017, the World Health Organization found that even though maternal mortality rates were decreasing globally, the U.S. was one of two countries to experience a significant increase in its maternal mortality ratio.
What this means is that women and other birthing people in the U.S. are "dying before, during, and after childbirth" at a rate higher than any developed nation in the world, with Black women and Black birthing persons 3 times more likely to die from pregnancy related complications than their white counterparts.
In December, we took a deep dive into the issue of childbirth, disparities in maternal health outcomes, and the need for action. Listen to it here. The White House hosted its first ever Maternal Health Day of Action Summit on Dec 7, 2021 and in continuation of addressing the racial disparities in maternal health outcomes, announced that April 11th through April 17th is officially Black Maternal Health week.
We speak with Raven Freeborn, Director of Policy, Organizing, and Partnership at Mamatoto Village, an organization creating career pathways in maternal health and providing accessible, reproductive support services for Black pregnant people and Black mothers.
Yesterday, April 7th, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States, making her the first Black woman to serve as a justice on the nation's highest court. Building off the confirmation of Justice Brown Jackson, we took a Deep Dive into the life and legacy of Judge Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to serve on the federal judiciary.
Constance Baker Motley was a civil rights lawyer, NY state politician, and the first Black woman appointed to the federal judiciary. Before finishing law school at Columbia University in 1945, Motley served as a law clerk in the office of Thurgood Marshall, the well known civil rights leader who was the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.
In 1946, Motley joined the NAACP Legal and Educational Defense Fund where she served as a civil rights lawyer for nearly two decades. She represented well known civil rights leaders like MLK and Medgar Evans whose constitutional rights were often under siege by the American government during that time. She also represented those who took part in civil rights activism such as the Freedom Fighters and the Birmingham Children Marchers. She was considered a key legal and political strategist of the movement.
In 1950, Motley was the legal mind behind the original complaint in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the landmark case that ended school segregation in the U.S. in the mid 20th century. The complaint in Brown v. BOE (1954) argued that under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, racial separation under the guise of "separate but equal," was in-fact unequal therefore unconstitutional. This historical case set the legal stage for desegregation in the U.S.
In 1964, Motley became the first Black woman elected to the NY State Senate, and she eventually became the first Black woman elected to serve as Borough President of Manhattan. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed her to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, making her the first Black woman to be appointed to the federal bench.
Today, we took a deep dive into her life and legacy with Tomiko Brown-Nagin, Dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and Professor Law and History at Harvard University. She's author of Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality, “A must-read for anyone who dares to believe that equal justice under the law is possible and is in search of a model for how to make it a reality,” said Professor Anita Hill. Anita Hill is the legal scholar and professor who captivated the American public in 1991 during her testimony before the Senate judiciary committee in the vetting process for then-nominee Clarence Thomas. Thomas is the only other African American to sit on the Supreme Court; he was appointed by George H. W. Bush to replace Justice Thurgood Marshall. He's married to Virginia Thomas who sent a great deal of text messages begging former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to push to overturn the fairly drawn results of the 2020 presidential election.
We also spoke with President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF), Janai Nelson, about the legacy Motley left and the pivotal cases she worked on during her time there.
Simone Yhap, the immediate past president of the National Chair of the National Black Law Students Association also joined us. Yhap spoke to us about the obstacles Black law students continue to face, citing a recent incident from law student Brooklyn Crockton. Crockton posted a TikTok back in March about what happened when she arrived at court to serve as a Rule 9 attorney representing an indigent client. She says a court officer blocked her entry into the courtroom and asked if she was the defendant on trial. Simone speaks to this incident with her own story of racial discrimination during law school and reflects on how the historical confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will inspire the next generation of U.S. attorneys.
Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson gestures as she speaks during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, March 22, 2022 (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
To learn more about her new book “The Trayvon Generation,” we speak with author Elizabeth Alexander, poet and president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the nation’s largest funder in the arts, culture, and humanities. We also hear her thoughts on motherhood, philanthropy, and the anxieties of young Black people growing up and making art in this moment.
We speak with choreographer Claudia Schreier and composer Jessie Montgomery about their work on the piece Passage, performed this weekend by the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Passage was created in recognition of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans to Virginia in 1619.
Can there be LGBTQ+ affirmation within the Black Church?
That’s what the new PFLAG documentary “Taking the Long Road Home” explores through the lens and story of director Qiydaar Foster and participant Reverend Naomi Washington-Leapheart. They who joined us on The Takeaway.
Last week, members of the One Herald Guild, made up of employees of the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald newspapers, staged a virtual walkout. The action was taken to express frustration at McClatchy, the parent company of the newspaper, with whom One Herald Guild has been negotiating a labor contract for over two years. One of the biggest points of contention are the sharp pay disparities between El Nuevo Herald reporters and their English-reporting counterparts at The Miami Herald.
The Takeaway speaks with Miami Herald Capitol Bureau Chief and One Herald Guild co-chair Mary Ellen Klas about the ongoing negotiations.
WNYC’s youth radio initiative, Radio Rookies, is presenting its new season of stories this week. These young journalists are between the ages of ages 16 to 24 and have come from all over New York City. They’ve spent the past few months developing story ideas, learning interview skills and how to use audio equipment, and maybe most important of all – learning how to make a good story for the radio waves.
We speak with Carolina Hidalgo, Producer of Radio Rookies and two Rookies themselves, Folashade Olatunde and Rainier Harris, and speak to them about their stories their stories and experiences working on those stories.
Check out more Radio Rookies stories here.
Is the child welfare system set up to destroy Black families? That is a question asked in the new book TORN APART: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World by Professor Dorothy Roberts. She challenges the system that exists, discusses the stories of families negatively affected, and the possibilities for change.
Amid the ongoing exodus of Ukrainians fleeing their country due to the Russian invasion, members of the country’s LGBTQ community find themselves in a particularly precarious position. Some of the countries that they are fleeing to, including Poland, have had vocal anti-LGBTQ movements in recent years. LGBTQ+ Ukrainian refugees also face obstacles towards receiving proper medical care, and at times, issues with their identifying documents.
We hear from Edward Reese, a non-binary, queer Ukrainian about his experience fleeing Ukraine. We also speak with two activists working to help LGBTQ Ukrainian refugees, Olena Shevchenko, Head of Insight Ukraine, an LGBTQ advocacy group based in Ukraine, and Miroslawa “Mirka” Makuchowska, Deputy CEO of Campaign Against Homophobia, a Polish LGBTQ+ rights organization.
The new podcast, "HBO Docs Club," revisits some of the most fascinating HBO documentaries of the past several years with the people who made them. The first two episodes of the show look back at "Atlanta's Missing and Murdered:The Lost Children" and "How to Survive a Pandemic."
The Takeaway speaks about the podcast with its cohosts, Brittany Luse, writer, cultural critic, and co-host of the podcast, For Colored Nerds, and Ronald Young Jr., storyteller, audio producer, and cultural critic.
A new study is causing an uproar within the paleontology community. According to it, the iconic Tyrannosaurus Rex should be broken up into three different species: T.Rex, Tyrannosaurus imperator, and Tyrannosaurus regina.
The Takeaway speaks with Thomas Carr, paleontologist at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, about the new paper, the controversy around it, and more.
On April 1st, JFK8 Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island voted to unionize against all odds, becoming the first Amazon warehouse in the nation to vote to join a union. We speak with WNYC reporter Gwynne Hogan and Rebecca Givan, Associate Professor, Labor Studies and Employment Relations (LSER), Co-Director, Center for Work and Health (CWH) at Rutgers University.
After police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, people across the country demanded racial justice and amplified a national movement to “defund the police.” During that time, several large cities and counties promised to restructure local police budgets with plans to reinvest in community programs. But those promises have largely faded or reversed course completely. In Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed, a majority of the City Council pledged to dismantle the police department and create a new department of public safety in its place. But come last November, voters rejected the idea, and during that November election, many voters across the country favored mayoral candidates who campaigned on public safety and were “tough on crime.”
Meanwhile the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act remains stalled in the Senate. The bill would have enacted sweeping federal police reform that would ban certain police techniques, including chokeholds and forms of potentially deadly force. It would have also ended qualified immunity, a legal provision that makes it difficult to sue police officers for any wrongdoing.
In order to make sense of these new efforts to refund local police departments, we talked with Philip Atiba Goff, Co-founder and CEO of the Center for Policing Equity, and a Professor of African-American Studies and Psychology at Yale University.
In the introduction of Scott Reynold Nelson’s new book Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade the World, he writes “Ukraine has what may be the richest soil in the world.” Throughout history, what is today Ukraine, was considered a prize for ambitious emperors who saw the fertile land as a way to feed populations in their homeland, and in conquered lands.
Today, Ukraine is the world’s 4th largest exporter of corn and the world’s 5th largest exporter of wheat, and between Ukraine and Russia, the two countries produce 30-percent of the world’s wheat and 12-percent of the world’s calories. But with the region that is known today as the “World’s breadbasket” now embroiled in war after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, wheat prices and global food prices have hit record highs, pushing the world towards a global food crisis.
To explore the historical significance of grain to this region and hear how it's factoring into Russia's war in Ukraine and a global food crisis, we spoke with Scott Reynolds Nelson, Professor of History at the University of Georgia and author of the new book Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade the World.
We live in surround sound. From the din of traffic to a symphony of song birds, you can’t escape noise no matter where you live — whether it’s a rural, suburban, or urban environment.
In Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution’s Creativity, and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction, author David George Haskell explores the diverse sounds of our planet, as well as humans’ impact on the world’s soundscape.
The Takeaway recently spoke with David, who is also a professor of biology and environmental studies at the University of the South, about the first animal sounds, humans’ impact on the world’s soundscape, and the looming crisis of what he calls a “sensory extinction.”
In our latest installment of Women Leading Locally we speak with Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell who serves as the chair of the LA County Board of Supervisors about her path to politics, hopes for the future, and inspiring others into service. We’ll also wrap up the Women Leading Locally series and look back at what we learned, the power of sisterhood and the necessity of money for women running for office.
We also highlighted this week’s Facebook Live where we spoke with Kira Sanbonmatsu, Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University and Senior Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. We’re also joined by Baton Rouge’s Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and, according to the non-profit watchdog group Airwars, Russian airstrikes are responsible for the deaths of as many as 23,000 Syrian civilians.
For Syrians watching from afar, the parallels in Russia’s violent invasion of Ukraine are unsettling. Borzou Daragahi, International Correspondent for The Independent, recently traveled to the opposition held Idlib province and spoke to Syrians about how they’re processing the invasion of Ukraine.
We talk with William Neuman, former Andes Region Bureau Chief for The New York Times about his new Book Things Are Never So Bad That They Can’t Get Worse: Inside the Collapse of Venezuela. He’ll take us through the events that have led to the current state of crisis for Venezuela and how the country factors into the current situation between Ukraine and Russia.
Cuba has refused to publicly support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, abstaining from a United Nations resolution to condemn the unprovoked war. Abstention does not signal neutrality, however.
Cuban state media has echoed Russia’s false claims for invading Ukraine and blamed NATO for what they’re calling a “special military operation.” We speak with Patrick Oppmann, CNN International Correspondent and Havana Bureau Chief about Cuba’s position and what’s at stake during the Russian invasion.
The new book, “Crossing Borders: The Reconciliation of a Nation of Immigrants,” compiles the stories of people and families fleeing their homes in different parts of the world. Like many refugees today, the characters in this book are fleeing because of violence, corruption, poverty, or climate change. The book highlights many of the difficulties they face as they arrive at the doorstep of the United States, and the failures of American institutions to assist and protect them.
We spoke to the book's author, Ali Noorani. He is a long time immigration policy expert and President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum.
It’s been 8 months since the Taliban re-captured control of Afghanistan, following the United States’ withdrawal from the country. Almost immediately, there were concerns over what this would mean for Afghanistan's women and girls. Since the Taliban regained power, there’s been a rollback of their rights, including banning them from government jobs and policing what they wear.
Now education is under threat. Just last week, the Taliban announced that girls’ high schools will be closed indefinitely, meaning that female students above the sixth grade will not be able to attend school.
This happened just a week after the education ministry announced that schools would open for all students. Schools will remain closed for girls until they can come up with a plan in accordance with Islamic law and Afghan culture.
The Taliban’s decision has prompted outrage from the international community, as well as teenage girls in Afghanistan. They’re taken to the streets in protest in Kabul, demanding the right to education.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Shabana Basij-Rasikh, co-founder and president of the School of Leadership Afghanistan boarding school.
According to the United Nations, in Haiti, a country of over 11 million people, a rising food crisis is threatening nearly half the population with acute food insecurity and severe hunger. Political instability, inflation, recurring disasters exacerbated by climate change, and challenges in Haiti’s agricultural capacity are all catalysts for the food crisis. To make matters worse, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is also expected to drive food shortages around the world in a time where global food prices are at an all time high. Because Haiti is a major importer of food and fertilizer, the disruption in the global market caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine is expected to exacerbate food insecurity in Haiti.
To learn more about the food crisis in Haiti, The Takeaway spoke with Roseval Supreme, Country Director for Action Against Hunger in Haiti.
On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill – dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by opponents – into law.
The law bans public schools from teaching kindergartners through third-graders about sexual orientation and gender identity, it also prevents teachers from discussing these topics in a manner that is “not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.” LGBTQ advocates worry that language could extend to students beyond third grade. And the law allows parents to sue the school districts for violations.
Earlier this month, while the bill was moving through the Florida legislature, high school students across Florida staged walk outs to protest the bill. Last week, Disney employees in Burbank, California walked off the job to protest Disney’s tepid response to the bill. On Monday, Disney released a statement condemning the law. And the bill even grabbed some attention at the Oscars last weekend.
A law like this could hurt LGBTQ students. A 2021 report from the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization that helps prevent suicide in LGBTQ young people, says that LGBTQ youth who learned about LGBTQ issues in school were 23 percent less likely to report a suicide attempt.
It’s not just a hypothetical that a law like this could pass in states beyond Florida. According to The Hill, lawmakers in fifteen other states have introduced legislation limiting how gender and sexual orientation can be discussed in schools.
For more, we speak with Heather Wilkie, Executive Director of the Zebra Coalition, a nonprofit that helps support LGBTQ Youth in Central Florida.
Maternity ward closures are increasingly common. According to recent reporting by Vox, many of these closures are happening primarily in rural areas and predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Alecia McGregor, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Politics at Harvard Chan School of Public Health, and Katy Backes Kozhimannil, professor at the University of Minnesota and director of the university’s Rural Health Program.
According to some estimates, millions of people in the U.S. could still be suffering from long Covid related symptoms, including brain fog, extreme exhaustion, and irregular heartbeat. But despite the widespread nature of the problem, many people have experienced challenges when attempting to qualify for disability benefits due to long Covid. We hear from Georgia Linders about her experience with long Covid and then speak with Washington Post reporter Christopher Rowland about his reporting on long haulers applying for benefits.
Across California, cities are dealing with a housing crisis that has resulted in dramatic increases to rent and housing prices. California’s state universities are also coping with a housing shortage.
Most recently, the lack of student housing has aggravated town-gown tensions in the city of Berkeley, California, where a group of local residents have sued the University of California, Berkeley for increasing campus enrollment, claiming that students seeking housing are now aggravating the existing shortage.
Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods sued UC Berkeley in 2018 under the California Environmental Quality Act. The lawsuit cited the university’s failure to adequately mitigate the environmental impacts of increasing enrollment. This included traffic, party noise, pricing out local residents, and diverting emergency services. Last year, Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods had a temporary win when UC Berkeley was ordered by a superior-court judge to freeze enrollment at 2020-2021 levels. An appeal on this case from UC Berkeley was rejected by the California Supreme Court earlier this month, which would have required the university to slash its admissions. But soon after, state legislators passed a bill that allowed Berkeley to move forward with its planned 2022 fall enrollment. Now UC Berkeley has 18 months after the court ruling to complete an environmental review.
We spoke with Phil Bokovoy, president of Save Berkeley’s Neighborhood and Harry La Grande, vice chancellor emeritus for student affairs at the University of California, Berkeley, and Interim Vice President of Student Experience at California Institute of the Arts.
Recent reporting from the American Association of University Professors has traced an uptick in the targeted harassment of faculty members, most often those accused of having a liberal bias and of teaching “controversial” topics.
The Takeaway spoke with Eric Ruiz Bybee, associate professor in the department of teacher education at Brigham Young University, about his recent experience of being harassed by conservative groups after standing up for a colleague who assigned students coursework on whiteness.
Plus, Chris Surprenant, Professor of Ethics, Strategy, and Public Policy Director of the University Honors Program and Director of the Urban Entrepreneurship and Policy Institute at the University of New Orleans, shares how he has been targeted for receiving scholarly funding from a conservative philanthropy organization called the Charles Koch Foundation.
The 94th Academy Awards became quite tense on Sunday when Will Smith got on stage and slapped Chris Rock in response to an insensitive joke that Rock made about Jada Pinkett Smith. Shortly after the incident, Smith won the Oscar for Best Actor and gave a speech about family and protecting the people you love.
The takes on the incident have ranged from insightful to groan inducing to flat out racist. The Takeaway takes a step back and speaks with Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke Distinguished professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University and host of the podcast, "Left of Black," about what this moment revealed about Black masculinity and race in mass media.
The UN OHCHR estimates that more than 1,000 civilians have already been killed in Ukraine by the Russian military.
We speak with Valerie Hopkins, reporter for The New York Times currently based in Ukraine, about the situation.
The incomparable Tamron Hall joined to discuss the third season of her talk show, motherhood, and her new Court TV show “Someone They Knew.” She also gave some advice to future journalists.
In our final installment of our Women Leading Locally Series, we speak with the Honorable District Attorney Satana Deberry. D.A. Deberry who discusses her path to the office of district attorney and the importance of bringing her whole, authentic self to the position.
In recent months, there’s been a disturbing pattern of bomb threats against historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs. At least 36 HBCUs have been targeted…and that includes threats made against 18 of them on the first day of Black History Month.
Now, the White House is boosting funding for HBCUs, with the aim of bolstering campus security and mental health services. In addition to the bomb threats, hate crimes against Black people have been on the rise in the U.S. According to the FBI, there was an almost 50 percent increase between 2019 and 2020.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke to Dr. Greg Carr, Associate Professor of Afro-American Studies at Howard University and adjunct professor at Howard Law school.
This conversation around the state of American democracy extends beyond the Trump years because there has been a slow breakdown of our political institutions that facilitate and support our Democracy.
We spoke with Charles Homans, writer for The New York Times Magazine, and Dr. Lilliana Mason, an associate professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University and the SNF Agora Institute, and author of “Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity” a discussion on the state of American Democracy and its future.
In partnership with the Center for American Women and Politics, The Takeaway presents Women Leading Locally, a Women’s History Month special focused on highlighting women holding office and making change.
In our eighth installment of the series, we’re joined by Maria Rivera, Mayor of Central Falls, Rhode Island. She is the first Latina to serve as Mayor in the state, and the first woman to serve as Mayor in the city.
We talked to Mayor Rivera about her path to leadership and how we can get more women into office.
The Senate GOP race in Pennsylvania has become one of the most heated primary races in the country. The Senate seat held by Pat Toomey (R) is not seeking re-election making this an open seat race between Mehmet Oz, also known as celebrity surgeon Dr. Oz, and Hedge Fund CEO David McCormick.
So far, the campaign has focused a lot on Oz’s Turkish American heritage, to the point where he said he would renounce his Turkish citizenship if elected and before he is sworn into the senate. We invited Katie Meyer, politics reporter at WHYY to discuss Pennsylvania politics.
This Sunday, The Power of the Dog and CODA will be neck and neck in the race for Best Picture at the 94th Academy Awards. Neither film has been seen by most of the country, but that’s to be expected with the Oscars.
The Takeaway looks at what to watch for this weekend, and what to make of some minor controversies heading into the ceremony, with Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday, and Alison Willmore, film critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.
In partnership with the Center for American Women and Politics, The Takeaway presents Women Leading Locally, a Women’s History Month special focused on highlighting women holding office and making change.
In our seventh installment of the series, we’re joined by New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, the first Latina to hold that position, and because women do it all, she was also the first NJ Senate leader to give birth while holding office.
We spoke to NJ Senate Majority Leader Ruiz about how she came to love politics and how we can get more women to say YES to running for office.
On day one of her confirmation hearings, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson addressed her daughters directly: "Girls, I know it has not been easy, as I have tried to navigate the challenges of juggling my career and motherhood. And I fully admit, I did not always get the balance right. But I hope that you've seen that with hard work, determination and love it can be done."
This isn’t the first time motherhood has played a role in Supreme Court hearings. Justice Amy Coney Barrett famously spoke about being a mother when she was getting confirmed. We look at the intersection of motherhood and the Supreme Court with Irin Carmon, Senior Correspondent, New York magazine and Nadia Brown, Professor of Government, chair of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program and affiliate in the African American Studies program at Georgetown University.
Continue watching the the hearings live.
How powerful is Speaker Nancy Pelosi?
A new Frontline documentary called “Pelosi’s Power” takes a look at Pelosi’s career and how she’s dealt with challenges of all sorts through the years to become one of the most powerful, influential and sometimes polarizing women in Washington D.C. The Takeaway spoke with Frontline Director of “Pelosi’s Power,” Michael Kirk.
Since the start of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings, one of the most pernicious lines of attack from Republican senators has been Judge Jackson’s history of sentencing with child pornography cases.
Senators including Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz have taken examples from Judge Jackson’s career out of context to paint her as extreme on this issue, when in reality, the sentences she’s issued in the past have been entirely within the mainstream compared to other federal judges. We’re taking a moment to offer some context into the GOP attacks with Melissa Murray, Law Professor at NYU, faculty director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and co-host of the legal podcast called “Strict Scrutiny.”
Continue watching the the hearings live.
The name “Moore Kismet” means “more than fate.”
Moore Kismet also known as Omar Davis has accomplished quite a bit for a 17 year old. In both 2021 and 2020, they were featured in Billboard's 21 Under 21 and in 2020 Dancing Astronaut named them the Breakout Artist of the Year.
Photo of Moore Kismet AKA Omar Davis (Courtesy of Moore Kismet)
Last year, at the age of 16, Moore Kismet became one of the youngest artist to ever play a set at Lollapalooza.
The festival in Chicago's Grant Park hosts an estimated 400,000 people each July and sells out annually, and it is considered one of the longest-running in the United States and one of the most iconic music festivals in the world. Last year, Lolla dropped rapper DaBaby from its lineup after he made homophobic remarks on July 25, 2021 at Miami's Rolling Loud Festival. A month later, he apologized at Hot 97 Summer Jam. Instead, Young Thug, creator of the 2016 original album "JEFFERY" performed.
"JEFFERY" (Album Cover of Young Thug's JEFFERY (2016)/Wikiart)
At the time of its release, the album caused some buzz online because some fans found it quite subversive that a rapper with the monicker Young Thug chose to cover an album with a photo of himself in a designer dress (which to be fair was designed by a man and originally modeled by a male model), but this was a little overblown. It's not just the Alessandro Trincone designed dress Young Thug wears, it's his view that matters. In a Calvin Klein’s Fall 2016 campaign Young Thug said, “In my world, you can be a gangsta with a dress or you can be a gangsta with baggy pants. I feel like there’s no such thing as gender.”
Black artist defying gender norms and heteronormative ideas of what it means to be Black is nothing new in music, but it is becoming more prevalent in genres like hip hop where topics like homosexuality have long been taboo. This is evidenced by the rise of openly Queer artist like Lil Nas X and TikTok rapper Dellie Boe. Their prominence in a genre that has often shunned openly queer voices reveals the push and pull of progress within hip hop, a music industry that has always depended on Black creativity.
It also shows the push and pull of culture as generational and demographic shifts occur. More and more people are openly identifying as LGBTQ+ nationally and globally. According to Gallup, 7.1 percent of the U.S. is now openly queer. Data suggest that nearly 15.9 % of Generation Z, already noted for its immense racial diversity, also identifies as LGBTQ+, making it the most openly queer generation yet.
But there's always an attempt to roll back what's been pushed forward.
As we see a record number of people openly identifying as queer, state legislatures across the country have filed nearly 240 anti-LGBTQIA+ laws in the first three months of 2022. Most of these laws target trans and nonconforming people, who are often the most vulnerable to discrimination and hate, especially Black and Brown trans youth.
Proponents of these bills say they’re about parental rights, protecting children, religious freedom or a combination of all three. However, opponents contend that it is discriminatory and about scoring political points with conservative voters rather than protecting constituents.
Today, a new generation of unapologetically Black, openly Queer and nonconforming musicians and creatives like Moore Kismet AKA Omar Davis have emerged.
They are pushing the boundaries of R&B, hip hop and dance music while re-centering the Black queer legacy in house and techno music. We got the chance to speak to them about telling the stories of young, Black, queer love and how they're taking the dance and electronic music industry by storm in this special edition of Black.Queer.Rising.
Want to hear more of Kismet and artist like them?
If so, check out our first Black.Queer.Rising. playlist which features mostly Black queer artist whose music is redefining the sound and feel of hip hop and dance music.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Disney animated series Doc McStuffins, we meet the real life inspiration behind the character, Dr. Myiesha Taylor, board-certified emergency medicine physician specialist and a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Dr. Taylor joins us to talk about her path to emergency medicine and the importance of representation in the media.
Senate confirmation hearings got underway on Monday for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. In some ways, Judge Jackson has had similar path to the Supreme Court as several other sitting justices, including being a Supreme Court clerk. It is an experience shared by 6 of the 9 current justices and one that Judge Jackson addressed in her opening statement when she thanked retiring Justice Breyer for the experience of serving as his clerk.According to a report by the National Law Journal, from 2005 to 2017, 85 percent of Supreme Court clerks were white, and two thirds were male. To help us understand a little more about clerking, and how we’re slowly moving towards a federal judiciary that is more diverse in various ways, we spoke to Cecillia Wang, Deputy Legal Director at the National ACLU and director of the Center for Democracy, and Cecillia clerked for Justice Harry A. Blackmun (working in the chambers of Justice Stephen G. Breyer) from 1996-1997.
In recent years, there’s been a lot of media coverage surrounding head trauma among football players, but there's been little attention paid to another group that also experiences serious head trauma at an alarming rate: domestic violence survivors.
In fact, research shows that they may experience head trauma even more than football players but are unfortunately often undiagnosed. According to some estimates, 1.6 million survivors of domestic abuse will experience brain injuries annually.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Rachel Ramirez, the Founder and Director of The Center on Partner-Inflicted Brain Injury, a project of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, and Eve Valera, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a leading researcher on traumatic brain injuries among survivors of domestic violence.
Plus, The Takeaway hears from Davine Manson, a volunteer with the nonprofit PINK Concussions. She's also starting her own organization to help women who’ve experienced domestic violence.
In an effort to restrict abortion access, similar to the Texas abortion ban, Missouri Representative Elizabeth Coleman has introduced a bill that would allow citizens to sue anyone helping Missouri residents get an abortion in or outside of the state. The bill would also prevent access to medicated abortions.
We speak with Rachel Rebouché, Interim Dean of Temple University Beasley School of Law and the James E. Beasley Professor of Law, about the constitutionality of this bill and what states and the federal government could do to protect reproductive rights.
Why are the cases of missing Black women and girls not covered as extensively as other missing people?
We talk with Soledad O’Brian, creator of the four-part HBO documentary series Black and Missing, about why this disparity exists and what one organization is doing to fix that.
In March 1972 Gary, Indiana hosted the very first National Black Political Convention. Attendees included Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale and US Presidential Candidate Shirley Chisholm. Artists and athletes like Muhammad Ali and Harry Belafonte also attended. The convention produced a foundational document titled The Black Agenda.
Here at Gary we are faithful to the best hopes of our fathers and our people if we move for nothing less than a politics which places community before individualism, love before sexual exploitation, a living environment before profits, peace before war, justice before unjust “order”, and morality before expediency (The Black Agenda)
The Takeaway Melissa Harris-Perry and co-host Dorian Warren take a Deep Dive into the political gathering that changed Black politics, asking how it affected the women leading locally today. Melissa and Dorian talk about Gary with former Gary, Indiana mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson about the anniversary, her current work as the President and CEO of the Chicago Urban League, and the importance of Women Leading Locally.
The Takeaway presents Deep Dive (Courtesy of WNYC Studios The Takeaway)
Throughout March for Women’s History Month, The Takeaway is joining forces with the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University to bring you the stories of Women Leading Locally. Professor Wendy Smooth is Associate Professor and Associate Dean at Ohio State University. Her scholarly work includes Perceptions of Power and Influence: The Impact of Race and Gender in American State Legislatures, which examines the impact of race and gender on the distribution of power and influence in U.S. state legislatures. She joined to discuss the importance of women in leadership positions on the local level and her advocacy work to insure more women are elected to office.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has made clear — in Vladimir Putin’s Russia dissent is not welcome. Still, thousands of Russians have protested the invasion, risking fines, detention, and imprisonment.
The rare sources of independent radio and TV news in the country have gone silent, including Echo of Moscow and TV Rain.
Earlier this week, a producer for a government-run television station interrupted a live broadcast holding a sign that read: “Don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here.” She was subsequently arrested and detained for nearly 24 hours, before being fined several hundred dollars.
Russian lawmakers passed a new law at the beginning of March, making it a crime to spread what they deemed “fake news,” which includes calling the conflict in Ukraine a “war.” The law includes penalties of up to 15 years in prison.
Because of this, several Western media organizations decided to pull their journalists out of Russia. Bloomberg News, CNN and the New York Times have moved their journalists out of the country because of concerns over the new law and their staff’s safety.
Even before the invasion began, Russia was ranked 150 out of 180 countries in the Reporters without Borders World Press Freedom Index.
We spoke with Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times about his staff's move out of Russia and Clayton Weimers, Deputy Director of the DC Bureau of Reporters without Borders.
More than two years after the WHO declared a global pandemic, things are starting to look pretty normal here in the U.S. In many places, mask mandates have been lifted — and physical distancing is all but gone.
This comes after a winter marked by COVID surges across the U.S. due largely to the highly contagious omicron variant. The number of cases has since steadied here, but that’s not the situation elsewhere in the world.
In China, part of the country has been put into lockdown after a fourfold jump in cases in a week. The U.K., Germany, Switzerland, and Italy also all saw surges in cases over the past week — fueling concerns that another global wave could be on the way.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Rebecca Weintraub, an assistant professor of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Juvenile detention centers were established a hundred years ago to provide rehabilitation for minors who had committed crimes, providing support and services to help them navigate the world upon reentry.
Unfortunately, many centers mirror the punitive practices of adult prisons. Reports of shackling, solitary confinement, and the denial of services and education were reported from the Acadiana Detention Center in St. Martinville, Louisiana.
We speak with Beth Schwartzapfel at The Marshall Project about her joint investigation with ProPublica and NBC News into The St. Martinville Detention Center.
At more than 1,500 pages in length Gunnar Myrdal’s “An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy,” remains a foundational text on issues of race, politics, and power in the US. Published in 1944 by Swedish economist, Gunnar Myrdal, the study was commissioned and supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York who believed that the European outsider could produce a more “unbiased” analysis. This choice by Carnegie philanthropists has shaped the study of race in America for more than 7 decades. A new book from Maribel Morey, “White Philanthropy: Carnegie Corporation’sAn American Dilemma and the Making of a White World Order” examines this influential text and the powerful monied interests behind it. Morey is also the Founding Executive director of the Miami Institute for the Social Sciences.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced it would be closing the Red Hill fuel facility in Hawai’i amid a contamination crisis affecting thousands of people in Oahu.
The facility — which consists of 20 massive tanks — is located just 100 feet above the primary drinking aquifer in Oahu — and for years, petroleum has been found in Oahu’s water supply.
Native Hawaiians have demanded the dismantling of the World War II era facility with months of protesting— including a demonstration outside the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in December.
To better understand the contamination crisis, The Takeaway spoke with an expert. Dr. Kamanamaikalani Beamer is a professor at the University of Hawaiʻi and a member of O’ahu Water Protectors and Kaohewai.
One year ago today, a gunman killed eight people at multiple spas in Atlanta. Six of the victims were women of Asian descent: Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, Xiaojie Tan, and Daoyou Feng. Delaina Ashley Yaun and Paul Andre Michels were also killed in the shootings.
Anti-Asian and Pacific Island hate crimes have continued to increase since Covid-19, and perpetrators often target the most vulnerable such as women and the elderly.
The Takeaway speaks with Phi Nguyen, Executive Director for Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, about the work her organization is doing to mobilize AAPI communities in Georgia.
Sonal Shah, Interim Executive Vice President of Worldwide Network Advancement and board member of the Asian American Foundation, also joins to discuss the policies and initiatives necessary to end anti-AAPI hate.
And Congresswoman Grace Meng, who represents New York’s 6th Congressional District, joins to discuss her work on legislation to protect AAPI communities.
It’s been nearly a month now since WNBA star Brittney Griner was detained in Russia. Russian authorities only announced Griner’s detention earlier this month, two weeks after arresting her, after allegedly finding hash oil in one of her bags at an airport in Moscow. She could face ten to twenty years in prison under Russian law.
Griner has been playing in Russia since 2014 in order to supplement her WNBA income. Financial opportunities in the U.S. for WNBA players are often much less lucrative than those available to their NBA counterparts.
Relatively scarce details have emerged since news of Griner’s detention became public, in part due to her family’s desire to maintain privacy for the sake of her protection. But her detention is concerning for several reasons. Amid Russia’s violent invasion of Ukraine, and the United States’ subsequent sanctions, diplomatic relations between the two nations are particularly fraught.
But while Brittney Griner is the most high profile American citizen currently detained in Russia, the state department has been working for several years on the release of two other Americans being held in Russian prisons. And in addition to the complications that come with the detention of any American in an autocratic nation, there’s also the fact that Griner is a Black, openly queer woman in a country that is hostile to LGBTQ rights.
The Takeaway turns to someone who knows firsthand what it’s like being unjustly detained abroad. Jason Rezaian is a global opinions writer at the Washington Post, host of the Spotify Original Podcast 544 Days, and executive producer of the documentary Bring Them Home.
In the early morning of August 10, 1984, Deborah Sykes, a 25-year-old copy editor at a local newspaper in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death. Without any evidence, Darryl Hunt, a 19-year-old Black man, was implicated and convicted for Sykes murder. Although DNA evidence was found to exonerate him in 1994, he spent another 10 years in prison. The case is the subject of the 2007 HBO documentary "The Trials of Darryl Hunt."
After Hunt was finally exonerated in 2004, he started a nonprofit called the Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice which helped provide resources to individuals recently released from prison and advocated for criminal justice reform. On March 13, 2016, Hunt tragically killed himself.
To commemorate his death six years ago, we take a long look at the grave injustices in his wrongful conviction with award-winning investigative journalist, narrative writer, and college professor Phoebe Zerwick. She wrote an eight-part series for the Winston-Salem Journal in 2003 that led in part to Hunt’s exoneration, and she is the author of Beyond Innocence: The Life Sentence of Darryl Hunt, in which she spent years investigating and covering Hunt’s case.
Cover of "Beyond Innocence: The Life Sentence of Darryl Hunt" (Amazon)
We also speak with Suzy Salamy, the director of social work at the Innocence Project, about some of the mental health impacts of wrongful conviction and the trauma caused by racial discrimination and biases in the criminal justice system.
The first amendment allows citizens of the United States freedom of speech and the right to peacefully assemble and protest. Georgia Senate Bill 171 threatens these constitutional rights by imposing permit requirements, encouraging increased policing, and criminalizing protests. Nora Benavidez, Senior Counsel and Director of Digital Justice & Civil Rights at Free Press, joins us to discuss the anti-protest legislation in Georgia as part of our series, Georgia 2022: At the Intersections.
Emilia Sykes was first elected to her Akron district in 2014 and became the first Black female lawmaker under the age of 30 to serve in the legislature. Her mother, Barbara Sykes, served in the Ohio House and ran for state auditor, and her father, Vernon Sykes, is a state senator.
We spoke with Emilia Sykes about her path to leadership and the power of Black women's representation in politics and governance for the third installment of Women Leading Locally, a Women’s History Month special focused on highlighting women breaking barriers, holding office, and making change.
A growing number of state-level laws restricting abortion access have already had real effects on the health of women and raised alarms about the future of reproductive justice and women’s capacity for self-determination.
These issues are central to a new play entitled “The Billboard.” We speak with Natalie Moore, reporter for WBEZ and author of The Billboard.
Last week, the Senate passed federal anti-lynching legislation, called the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act, through unanimous consent. This comes after 100 years and 200 failed attempts in which anti-lynching measures were blocked by Congress.
The Takeaway speaks with Paula Giddings, professor emerita of Africana studies at Smith College and author of Ida: A Sword Among Lions, a biography of Ida B. Wells, about the work that journalist and anti-lynching advocate Ida B. Wells did to bring awareness to racial terror lynchings during her lifetime.
Russia’s relentless destruction of Ukraine continued this week. According to Ukrainian officials, Russian airstrikes in the town of Mariupol hit a maternity hospital on Thursday where civilians were killed and more than a dozen were wounded.
Mariia Sirychenko is originally from Mariupol but was living in Kyiv and working for a tech company at the start of the Russian invasion. She joined The Takeaway to detail her experience leaving Kyiv for the city of Lviv after the war began.
We talked to Councilmembers at-large Helen Gym and Kendra Brooks about their path to politics and the sisterhood they’ve formed through their work in Philadelphia.
Recent CDC data showed an increase in pregnancy-related deaths during the first year of the pandemic, but for some reason Indigenous women were not included in the research. This is despite the fact that previous studies have shown that Indigenous women are at least twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as white women.
The Takeaway speaks with two experts to learn more about why Indigenous women are at higher risk for maternal deaths and what needs to be done to improve their health outcomes: Abigail Echo-Hawk, Executive Vice President at the Seattle Indian Health Board and the Director of the Urban Indian Health Institute and enrolled citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, and Caroline Davis, a research associate working with tribal nations and tribal organizations, and a member of the Navajo Nation.
In India, there is just one newspaper run entirely by women, Khabar Lahirya, and it covers the region of Uttar Pradesh. The women are also Dalit, or so-called “untouchables,” a category excluded from India’s caste system.
This unique outlet is the subject of “Writing with Fire,” an independent Indian feature documentary. Over five years, the filmmakers followed a group of brave women journalists from marginalized communities as the newspaper transitioned from print to digital and as the reporters’ challenged the structures of tradition and power in their region in India.
The film is nominated for best documentary feature at this year’s Academy Awards, and has won several other awards in the film festival circuit. We spoke with one of the directors of the documentary, Rintu Thomas.
On Wednesday, the House approved a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill that would fund the government through September, and includes nearly $14 billion in humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. The bill did not contain aid to continue battling the pandemic. Still, it is one of the largest spending packages in American history.
One part of the spending package is directed towards new cybersecurity protections for the United States, which the Senate passed last week.
Although cyber attacks from Russia against Ukraine have been low-level so far in the conflict, there is rising concern that Russian-backed hackers could disrupt key infrastructure and resources in Ukraine such as electricity or fuel. Russia’s first big cyberattack against Ukraine happened in 2015, after Russia’s attempt to annex Crimea. It launched a blackout attack against Ukrainian electric companies using malware that resulted in blackouts for almost a quarter-million Ukrainians.
And some lawmakers are worried about Russia turning its ire onto the U.S. Last May, a Russian hacker was responsible for a ransomware attack against the Colonial Pipeline that lead to widespread gas shortages along the East Coast – though Russian authorities said they arrested the hacker in January.
To learn more about the threat of cyber attacks, we talked with Joseph Marks, writer of the Cybersecurity 202 newsletter for the Washington Post.
As we receive reports of traumatized and starving animals in the Ukrainian zoo during the Russian invasion, we consider our relationship with animals and our responsibility to animals in captivity, especially during wartime. John Kinder, Associate Professor of History at Oklahoma State University, joins us to talk about the history of zoos and how we allocate limited resources for zoo animals during wars, ultimately posing the question about the value of zoos.
A new report by the National Center for Health Statistics shows that pregnancy related deaths for mothers rose in the first year of the pandemic. Black women continue to be disproportionately affected.
We talked with Monica McLemore, associate professor of family health care nursing at the University of California, San Francisco about the report and solutions to improve Black maternal and child health care.
The National Butterfly Center, located along the U.S.-Mexico border, is owned and run by the nonprofit North American Butterfly Association. It’s a conservation project for wild butterflies located on 100-acres of botanical gardens in Mission, Texas.
The center closed its doors indefinitely on February 1st due to fears of harassment from far-right conspiracy theorists and anti-immigration groups. In the last few years it has become the target of malicious lies, not unlike the debunked “Pizza-Gate” conspiracy from a few years back, falsely claiming that the center is engaging in human trafficking, exploitation of children, and smuggling immigrants across the border.
At the end of January, the center closed for three days because of fear of being targeted by those attending a “We Stand America” border security rally in the neighboring border town of McAllen, Texas. One of the headline speakers was Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a former Trump administration official and QAnon supporter. The center has decided to close until it can assess the risks and plan for reopening safely.
But this fight actually dates all the way back to 2017, when the center sued the Trump Administration for trying to build a portion of the border wall that would cut through the middle of National Butterfly Center’s land.We spoke with the Executive Director of the National Butterfly Center, Marianna Traviño-Wright, and to learn more about how the National Butterfly Center got wrapped up in all this, we spoke with Melissa del Bosque, Co-Founder of The Border Chronicle, and who has been covering the National Butterfly Center since 2017.
Once a taboo subject, the pandemic has forced many of us to confront death. It’s also put a spotlight on the people working in the death care industry and the many ways inequities in life are perpetuated in death.
We were joined by Joél Simone Anthony, also known as The Grave Woman, a licensed funeral director, embalmer, insurance agent and sacred grief practitioner and Alua Arthur, death doula and founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization.
Many world leaders, including President Biden, have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of violating international law with his invasion of Ukraine, and used that as a justification for the economic sanctions they’ve imposed on Russia.
Ingrid Wuerth, professor and associate dean at Vanderbilt Law School and incoming co-editor in chief of American Journal of International Law, joins The Takeaway to discuss accountability under international law.
Two million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded two weeks ago.
The UN's high commissioner for refugees has praised the response from Poland, Romania, and Hungary where Ukrainians have fled in search of safety from the relentless attacks. But he acknowledged the horror of what the people themselves are experiencing.
Many global humanitarian organizations in neighboring countries have tried to aid those still in Ukraine, but they’re struggling to employ the normal channels as ports are blocked and roads compromised by bombings.
The Kremlin offered to create so-called humanitarian corridors for civilians to safely leave Ukraine, but mainly allowed pathways leading to Russia and their ally Bela-roos. And as of today, both Ukrainian officials and the Red Cross have cited danger, including mines, along the only routes that led to other parts of Ukraine.
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than four hundred civilians have been killed in Ukraine and over 800 injured since the Russian invasion began.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Adam Keehn, Director of Complex Emergencies at the global non-profit Americares.
Can there ever be true justice if most cases never make it to trial and instead are subject to plea bargaining? That’s the question posed in the new book Pleading Out: How Plea Bargaining Creates A Permanent Criminal Class by Dan Canon who joins us to discuss this unfair and often unchecked part of the criminal justice system.
Collier Meyerson was only 6-years old at the time of the Crown Heights Riot, but having grown up with her white, Jewish father and Black mother and living 10 of her adult years in Crown Heights, she’s able to provide an insight and personal perspective as she explores history, identity, political power, and racism during and after the Crown Heights Riot in the Pineapple Street Studios podcast, Love Thy Neighbor.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted how global dependency on fossil fuels and nuclear energy can create significant geopolitical issues in times of conflict. A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the U.S. has been pressuring the Biden administration to ban imports of Russian oil and rely more on domestic fossil fuels, but the White House is resisting that measure at the moment, arguing that it would unnecessarily raise gas prices for Americans.
At the same time, Russian attacks on nuclear power plants in Ukraine have worried officials, who have major concerns about what could happen if those plants become unstable.
We speak with Jonathan Elkind, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University and a former Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the Department of Energy, to get some insight into how energy supplies are factoring into Russia’s war.
Words like 'unhinged,' 'insane,' and 'psychotic' have all been used to describe Kanye West’s behavior in recent weeks. Outbursts, twitter pleas to his wife, Kim Kardashian, and threats to her current boyfriend Pete Davidson have been met with understandable alarm.
There’s also been a rush to pass judgement accompanied by potentially dangerous and demonizing language when it comes to his mental health. West has been public about his bipolar disorder in recent years. While Ye’s condition is not an excuse for harassment or dangerous behavior we should exercise caution and be very clear in how we characterize and talk about his bipolar disorder.
We look at bipolar disorder, the stigmatizing language used to describe West, and more with freelance journalist Kiana Fitzgerald who recently wrote, “Bipolar disorder is complicated. So is how we talk about Ye” for Vox.
This weekend we learned that 31-year-old WNBA star Brittney Griner was detained in Russia since February. Griner’s vulnerability in this moment is a reminder of how top athletes in the WNBA face a very different landscape than their male counterparts in the NBA.
According to a Sports Illustrated report, the New York Liberty were fined $500 thousand dollars last year due to a violation of the WNBA league’s collective bargaining agreement for chartering of flights in the second half of the season. It's a violation because supposedly it exceeds the permitted compensation to players.
Howard Megdal, the editor and founder of The Next Women’s Basketball Newsroom and The IX Women’s sports Newsletter joined us for more about how inequity effects women’s basketball.
As pandemic restrictions loosen up across the country, the most vulnerable among us are still very much at risk if they contract Covid-19. We hear from immunocompromised listeners about how they’re feeling about this stage of the pandemic.
In February, the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team reached a $24 million settlement after their 6-year legal fight for equal pay. Kelsey Trainor, entertainment attorney and VP of Business Affairs at Gaming Society joins us to discuss this historic decision and next steps for women’s soccer and women’s sports.
We speak with former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, what actions the U.S. and NATO should take to aid Ukraine, and how the rest of the world can respond to Putin’s nuclear threats.
Putin’s war against Ukraine is changing the lives of Russians.
Russian authorities have arrested and detained thousands of Russians who have openly protested the invasion. And many Russian Americans and Russian Immigrants living in the U.S. stand in solidarity with Ukraine, and against Putin’s aggression.
Global sanctions and boycotts are a critical tool being used to pressure and isolate Putin. At the same time, this moment has proved precarious for some Russian businesses in the U.S. Vandals broke windows at the Russia House Restaurant in D.C. last week. The famous Russian Tea Room in New York sat almost empty this week, despite posting on their website that they stand with Ukraine.
We speak with Anton Svyatsky, managing partner of Fragment Gallery, which works with marginalized artists in Russia and Eastern Europe to amplify their visibility and facilitate conversation with the West. And Ekaterina Pravilova, Professor of history at Princeton, specializing in 19th-century Imperial Russia and the Rosengarten Chair of Modern and Contemporary History at Princeton University.
Europe is in the thick of a refugee crisis. Since Russia invaded Ukraine last week, and more than a million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries — a number that will keep growing according to the United Nations refugee agency.
The majority of these refugees are women and children; meanwhile, Ukrainian men have been stopped from crossing the border in order to be made available for military conscription.
For more on the gender politics in Ukraine, The Takeaway spoke with Amb. Melanne Verveer, Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and the first U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues under President Barack Obama.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, and more Ukrainians continue to be killed and displaced, it is difficult not to feel pessimistic about what could happen next in this war. With so many different angles to this story, we reached out to listeners to find out what’s keeping them up at night when they think about the war. We put their concerns and questions to Kristine Berzina, head of the geopolitics team for the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
On Tuesday night — during his first State of the Union address — President Joe Biden talked about a return to normal.
Under these new guidelines, most Americans in most of the country can now go mask free. And based on projections, more of the country will reach across that point across the next couple of weeks.Thanks to the progress we have made in the past year, Covid-19 no longer need control our lives.
But for millions of Americans that are immunocompromised, COVID-19 still does control their lives. With the U.S. dropping COVID measures like masking, some immunocompromised people are feeling abandoned or ignored, as the rest of the country moves on from the pandemic.
We spoke with Dorry Segev, a professor of surgery and population health at NYU Langone, and Ed Yong, a staff writer at The Atlantic, about what this stage of the pandemic has meant for immunocompromised people.
How do non profit newsrooms thrive? Richard Kim, the new Editor-in-chief of TheCity.nyc joins us to discuss his new position, the world of nonprofit newsrooms and how they can compete with their big money counterparts.
At the top of the ballot, in the race for Governor, incumbent Governor Greg Abbott beat out his primary challengers — winning the Republican nomination for Governor to move forward in his bid for a third term in office. On the other side of the ticket — Beto O’Rourke, the El Paso native who ran for Senate against Ted Cruz four years ago — won over 90 percent of the vote for the Democratic party’s nomination for governor.
There were also some key races that will now head to runoffs. Incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton faces a runoff for the Republican nomination against Land Commissioner George P. Bush. And down in South Texas, progressive candidate Jessica Cisneros will face a runoff with incumbent U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a conservative Democrat, for Texas’ 28th Congressional District.
As we look at the Texas primaries and what these returns may mean for the midterms in November — one key question remains, will this be the year that Texas goes blue? For a look at how Democrats in Texas fared, we spoke with Odus Evbagharu, Chair of the Harris County Democratic Party.
Throughout the month of March for Women’s History month, The Takeaway is joining forces with the Center for American Women and Politics to bring you stories of Women Leading Locally.
We spoke with Representative Anna Eskamani, Representative for the 47th District in Orlando, Florida about her family, what it's like to be a progressive in Florida, and how she is fighting to protect her constituents against conservative laws such as reproductive rights restrictions and Don’t Say Gay laws in Florida.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rocked the world last week. While the news media has largely done its job in keeping up with the latest on the situation, there have been some misfires — especially by Western media.
On Friday, CBS News senior foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata said about Ukraine:"This isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilized, relatively European — I have to choose those words carefully, too — city, where you wouldn’t expect that or hope that it’s going to happen." In another clip from ITV News, correspondent Lucy Watson said, "Now the unthinkable has happened to them. This is not a developing third world nation. This is Europe."
For some, the comments from D’Agata and Watson raise questions about the double standard in how journalists cover conflict in different parts of the world. Language like “civilized” and “third world nation” can further dehumanize non-white, non-European people living through war.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Sarah Ellison, media reporter at the Washington Post.
Jason Katim’s new dramedy on Amazon Prime, As We See It, follows three 20-something roommates with Autism as they navigate life, love, and social cues. Katim’s commitment to authenticity extends beyond storytelling. Many of the actors, writers and crew members have Autism including three of the show’s lead actors, Rick Glassman, Albert Rutecki, and Sue Ann Pien. We speak with Rick, Albert, and Sue Ann about their experiences in front of the camera and beyond.
On Tuesday night, President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union before a crowd of Congressional lawmakers who were no longer required to wear masks and who showed a surprising amount of bipartisan applause to a number of issues he covered.
In his remarks, the president highlighted the country’s role leading the Western response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; outlined his plans to address inflation; and affirmed his continuing optimism in the American project.
We dissected the issues he discussed and the biggest issues he left out in his speech with Pablo Manríquez, Capitol Hill correspondent for Latino Rebels and Michael Tomasky, editor for The New Republic.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, more than 500,000 people are estimated to have fled Ukraine for neighboring countries. Amid the exodus from the country, a number of accounts have emerged on social media and in various news outlets detailing discrimination experienced by people of African descent, as well as other people of color trying to leave Ukraine.
Some have accused white Ukrainian citizens and border agents of racism, including forcing groups of Black and brown people to wait while white people board trains to the border. And others have said that border guards in neighboring nations have prevented them from entering.
To get a better sense of the racial demographics of Ukraine and how racism might be playing into the experiences of people of color trying to leave Ukraine at the moment, The Takeaway speaks with Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon, PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania Department of History who's studying race in Ukraine and Russia and book review editor for H Net Ukraine.
Throughout the month of March for Women’s History month, The Takeaway is joining forces with the Center for American Women and Politics to bring you the stories of Women Leading Locally.
We’re talking to women breaking barriers, shattering ceilings, holding office and holding it down right where they're changemaking directly touches lives. We kicked off this series with one of our partners in this endeavor, Debbie Walsh, director for CAWP at Rutgers University.
For nearly half a century, "racial discrimination in agriculture, exclusion from federal relief programs, and laws that preyed upon the economically disadvantaged" squandered the number of Black farmers from nearly one million in the 1920s to less than 50,000 today.
President Joe Biden signed The American Rescue Plan into law in March of 2021 which included $5 billion for farmers to address a history of racial discrimination in the USDA and provide debt relief for farmers of color during Covid.
Not only have many farmers of color not received a dime, the USDA has sent letters of foreclosure to those farmers who are behind in their loan repayments. John Boyd Jr., Founder and President of the National Black Farmers Association and April Simpson, senior reporter at the Center for Public Integrity joined us to talk about farming while Black.
To understand more about Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision-making, we speak with Nina Khrushcheva, a professor of international affairs at the New School in New York and the great-granddaughter of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
In many ways the Russian invasion of Ukraine is unprecedented, but there are other contemporary examples of war waged in urban centers with resisting populations. We talk with Earl Catagnus, Jr, about what we might expect next from both the Russian military forces and Ukrainian military and civilian resistance.
Rashad Robinson is an American civil rights leader and president of Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, which organizes campaigns and mobilizes supporters to make tangible change in communities and systems.
He joined for our final, February installment of Black.Queer.Rising. a special project series we launched in accordance with Black History Month. It's a special project series highlighting Black Queer people's impact on American culture and society. Throughout the series, we interview Black, queer trailblazers and changemakers who are making an impact in their lives and in our world.
Here in the U.S., abortion access is under threat as state legislatures continue to pass increasingly restrictive laws. But that’s not necessarily the case elsewhere in the world.
Across Latin America, there’s been a string of reproductive rights victories in recent years. Just last week, Colombia’s top court decriminalized abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. Clad in their signature green bandanas, abortion rights activists gathered outside Colombia’s constitutional court in the capital, Bogotá, to celebrate the historic day.
The decision follows rulings in Mexico and Argentina that have similarly expanded access to abortion. It’s part of a sea change across Latin America, which has historically been conservative on the issue of abortion.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Julie Turkewitz, the Andes bureau chief for the New York Times.
On Friday, President Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the Supreme Court, making good on his promise to appoint the first Black woman to ever sit on the court.
Judge Jackson currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and is a former clerk for retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. The Takeaway speaks with Melissa Murray, law professor at NYU, faculty director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and co-host of the legal podcast called “Strict Scrutiny,” about Judge Jackson’s experience and her path to confirmation.
For the next part in The Takeaway's series Black.Queer.Rising., we talk with New York Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15), who became the first openly gay Afro Latino lawmaker elected to Congress in 2020.
There hasn't been a large-scale war in Europe since World War II. Now it’s on the brink, after Russia launched a military attack on Ukraine.
In the weeks leading up to the attack, President Joe Biden imposed economic sanctions against Russia to deter military action. He also enacted measures aimed at hurting some members of the Russian elite, as well as barring Russia from trading debt in the U.S. and Europe.
On Thursday, President Biden took things a step further, announcing yet another slate of sanctions against Russia and vowing to “hold Russia accountable” for the attacks. This time, the president announced sanctions on four of Russia's largest banks. That’s in addition to two financial institutions the U.S. sanctioned earlier this week. The U.S. and allies will also be imposing new export controls on Russia and further hitting Russian elites with sanctions.
President Biden said NATO will be convening on Friday, where the U.S. and allies will be mapping out what comes next — though the president emphasized that U.S. forces would not be going to fight in Ukraine.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Paul McLeary, defense reporter at POLITICO.
In Texas this week, Governor Greg Abbott issued an order to state agencies criminalizing gender-affirming surgery and medical care for trans youth. This decision followed an opinion issued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton earlier in the week stating that providing gender-affirming medical care to minors is considered child abuse under Texas law.
While Gov. Abbott is saying that gender-affirming care could be considered child abuse, medical organizations including the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics say there are long-standing and significant benefits for social, medical, legal and surgical aspects that assist transgender and gender-nonconforming young people.
We heard from Kimberly Shappley and her daughter Kai, about how this directive in Texas is affecting Trans youth and their families. We also heard from Andrea Segovia, Senior Field and Policy Advisor at the Transgender Education Network of Texas.
Tamir Rice was just 12 years old when he was killed by police for playing with a toy gun. Jordan Edwards was 15 years old when he was killed by police for attending a house party. Dajerria Becton was 15 years old when she was violently arrested at a pool party. From an early age, society criminalizes Black adolescence.
For Black youth, every part of their lives is policed — from the clothes they wear to the music they listen to. That’s something explored in depth in the book The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth. With her 25-plus years experience in juvenile justice, Georgetown Law professor Kristin Henning looks at the staggering number of cases where Black and Brown children were unfairly targeted and prosecuted, as well as killed by police.
Professor Henning — who is also the Director of Georgetown Law's Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative — joined The Takeaway to discuss America’s treatment of Black youth.
How has the proliferation of Black film in recent years helped to define American culture? We’ll talk with The New Yorker Radio Hour producer Ngofeen Mputubele about their upcoming episode The Shape of Black Film which highlights the explosion of Black Films in the last six years.
On Thursday morning, Russia attacked Ukraine resulting in dozens of deaths. We ask what this invasion will mean for the people on the ground in both countries, and the next steps of the Biden administration and their allies.
We're joined by Yaroslav Trofimov, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for The Wall Street Journal from Kyiv; Anton Troianovski, the Moscow bureau chief for The New York Times; and Robin Wright, columnist at The New Yorker and a Wilson Center Distinguished Fellow.
The Takeaway speaks with executive producers Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar about bringing their iconic animated show back on Disney Plus in this month’s revival “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.”
Following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, there were calls for sweeping police reform across the U.S. Floyd’s murder sparked the largest racial justice protests since the Civil Rights Movement — and ignited long overdue conversations about police violence and the racist roots of our criminal (in)justice system.
Many states changed their use of force standards in the aftermath, with bans on chokeholds and neck restraints. Several states also established the duty for police officers to intervene in cases of excessive or illegal force.
There was also some accountability in the justice system. Derek Chauvin — the former police officer who murdered Floyd — was found guilty, marking a significant moment in the quest for justice.
Now, the three other cops involved in Floyd’s death face trial. Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao are accused of violating Floyd’s constitutional rights by not intervening when Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes.
While we await that verdict, there have been developments in other high-profile cases of police-involved killings. Last week, Kim Potter — the former Minneapolis police officer who killed Daunte Wright — was sentenced to two years in prison. Potter fatally shot Wright during a routine traffic stop. Her sentence was far less than the standard manslaughter sentence of seven years. Judge Regina Chu defended the sentencing, saying Potter was quote a "cop who made a tragic mistake," not one who committed murder as in the Chauvin case.
Even still, instances of police violence against Black bodies continue. At the beginning of February, Minneapolis police officers entered an apartment building under a no-knock warrant and seconds later shot and killed Amir Locke. Locke, who is Black, was not named on the warrant. The incident is under review and the officer involved in the shooting is on administrative leave.
So how much has policing actually changed since Floyd’s death? Are we seeing any real oversight? And what are the challenges of making lasting change in policing?
For that and more, The Takeaway spoke toTracey Meares, professor at Yale Law School and a founding director of the Justice Collaboratory, and Nia T. Evans, writer, researcher, and fellow at the Boston Review.
For the next piece of The Takeaway's ongoing series Black.Queer.Rising, we're shaking things up with the Queen of Bounce, Big Freedia, who joined the show to talk about how activism, identity, and movement come together in her work. Also joining for the conversation is artist and activist Jonathan Lykes who recently collaborated with Freedia on the song “Ella Baker Shaker,” for his compilation album The Black Joy Experience volume 2: Comrade.
In 2014, Russia annexed Crimea illegally and threatened to invade eastern Ukraine. Sanctions imposed by the European Union, Canada, the United States and Western allies prevented Russia from further action. After Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine, claiming two territories as independent states in violation of international law, Europe and the United States have once again imposed economic sanctions. These sanctions target financial institutions, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and wealthy oligarchs. We discuss the history of economic sanctions and their efficacy with Jacob Kirkegaard, Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute For International Economics and German Marshall Fund.
In one of his first actions after assuming office, President Biden signed an executive order with the explicit purpose of acknowledging and addressing how environmental racism has devastated the economic and human health of Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities.
But now the administration sounds very different as the White House introduces their Justice40 system. Justice 40 is an initiative to identify and provide disadvantaged communities with 40 percent of overall climate and clean energy benefits and with Federal investments. And while this initiative is supposed to address environmental racism — race is absent from the formula being used to identify these disadvantaged communities.
White House officials have said that they’re taking this approach in order to avoid possible legal challenges.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Sheila Foster, a Professor of Law and Public Policy at Georgetown University and co-author of From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Movement.
Conviction: The Disappearance of Nuseiba Hasan is a new podcast from Spotify and Gimlet Media. It focuses on the case of Nuseiba Hasan, a young Jordanian-Canadian woman who disappeared in 2006.
For the past three years, journalist and host Habiba Nosheen has been trying to find out what happened to Nuseiba. The Takeaway recently sat down with Habiba to talk about her new podcast and the true-crime genre.
Cover art for the podcast Conviction: The Disappearance of Nuseiba Hasan (Courtesy of Habiba Nosheen)
After a weekend of heightened tensions, the Ukraine border crisis entered a new phase on Monday. First, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of two separatist regions in Eastern Ukraine. They call themselves the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, or DPR and LPR. They are not recognized by Ukraine or by other international actors as separate nations. But these areas have had considerable autonomy and been governed by Russian backed separatists since the 2015 Minsk Peace Accord.
Shortly after Putin’s formal recognition, the Kremlin ordered Russian troops to enter the DPR and LPR on what the Russian Defense ministry is describing as a peacekeeping mission.
For weeks, thousands of Russian troops have been stationed along the Ukrainian border. And since December, Putin has tried to pressure NATO to decrease its military presence in Eastern Europe, and commit to disallowing Ukraine from ever joining the alliance.
Yaroslav Trofimov, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, joined The Takeaway to discuss the latest developments.
Not only is the date 2-2-22 fun to say, but according to numerologists, the palindrome date and succession of 2s has meaning, as well. What can we expect when the numbers on the calendar align? We speak with Shereen Campbell, astrologer and founder of My Little Magic Shop, a self-care and wellness store, to learn more about numerology and its significance around the globe.
Check out our Spotify playlist 2/22/22. It's a playlist of 2's!
Public opinion polls consistently show that Abraham Lincoln is widely regarded as our greatest president. And George Washington nearly always makes the top 5 which is why we celebrate Presidents Day on this third Monday of February. But, beyond Washington and Lincoln, Americans today have very different ideas about what makes a president great.
Historian Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University, joins us to discuss what makes a great president.
When the final US troops left Afghanistan in August, there was still $7 Billion dollars in Afghan central bank assets locked away in the federal reserve in The United States. This is $7 billion that the new Taliban government claims belongs to them, and $7 billion that could finally pay damages to the families of those who were killed on Sept 11, 2001. Perhaps most urgently, this is $7 billion that could provide valuable relief for the Afghan people facing a dire humanitarian crisis in a nation we occupied for two decades.
This week, President Biden signed an executive order that would split the $7 billion in half, giving just half of it to support humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, with a judges’ approval. The other $3.5 billion is being freed up for a group of relatives of victims of the Sept. 11th attacks who filed a lawsuit against the Taliban 20 years ago, and could claim this money for damages.
We spoke with with Charlie Savage, New York Times National Security and Legal Reporter and author of “Power Wars,” to help explain to us why Biden is proposing to split these funds in half, and why he’s facing criticism.
This month, following the killings of New York City based rappers Chii Wvttz and TDott Woo, Mayor Eric Adams said he was going to meet with social media companies to discuss removing drill rap videos featuring “guns” and “violence.” Members of the drill scene and fans of the genre have criticized Adams for looking at drill as the problem, rather than the much more systemic issues that lead to gun violence. Mayor Adams has since met with several drill rappers in an attempt to focus on potential solutions but his initial criticism is reminiscent of a long line of attempts by politicians to criminalize rap rather than understand it.
The Takeaway speaks with Michael Jeffries, dean of academic affairs and professor of American Studies at Wellesley College and also author of “Thug Life: Race, Gender, and the Meaning of Hip-Hop,” about the history of political attacks on hip hop.
It’s been more than six months since the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Since the withdrawal, more than 76,000 Afghans have resettled across the U.S. We check in on resettlement efforts, the challenges facing Afghan refugees, and more with Krish O'Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.
In the first month after the Texas SB8 law banning abortions after 6 weeks took effect, the number of pregnant people getting abortions in the state decreased by 60 percent. Abortion providers in neighboring states like Oklahoma are seeing an influx of patients.
We speak with Caroline Kitchener, national political reporter, covering abortion, at The Washington Post, and Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi, an OB-GYN and abortion provider in Texas and board member with Physicians for Reproductive Health, about where people are going to obtain abortions and the impact the rise in demand has on patients, abortion providers, and the medical system.
In a rare bipartisan move last week, Congress passed legislation targeting forced arbitration in sexual assault and harassment cases. For years, employers have used forced arbitration clauses in employment contracts to silence workers. The bill, called The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, gives people a choice of going to court to pursue sexual misconduct claims or through arbitration.
One of the issue’s most prominent advocates has been former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson. She’s been working to ban forced arbitration since 2016, when she filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. A forced arbitration clause prevented her from being able to sue her employer so instead she had to sue Ailes personally
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with with David Noll, professor of law at Rutgers Law School.
For the next installment in Black.Queer.Rising, The Takeaway speaks with Chanda Prescod-Weinstein. She's an assistant professor of physics and core faculty member in Women’s Studies at the University of New Hampshire, and she's author of “The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred,” a book about the work she’s done to rethink our understanding of the cosmos and make space for more Black, queer people in STEM.
In recent weeks, a growing number of Democratic governors have started rolling back mask mandates, out pacing and other Covid-19 related restrictions.
WNYC health and science editor Nsikan Akpan recently explored the breadth of research that shows how effective masks are at slowing the spread of Covid-19 for kids and adults, and he joined The Takeaway to give listeners a better understanding of what public health experts are advising at the moment.
An analysis by Penn State and Iowa researchers found that Covid-19 may be fairly widespread among white-tailed deer. Up to 80 percent of the deer sampled in Iowa from April 2020 through January 2021 were infected with COVID-19. And The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed Covid infections in deer in 15 states total.
Another recent study of deer in Staten Island, New York in December 2021 and January 2022, found white-tailed deer carrying the omicron variant, which marks the first time this varient has been reported in wild animals. These findings worry experts about the possibility for the virus to mutate in wild animals and cause other variants.
The Takeaway gets an explanation of the research from Suresh Kuchipudi, who led the research team and is a Professor and Chair in emerging infectious diseases at Penn State University.
What is Ethical Artificial Intelligence? We talk with Timnit Gebru, founder and executive director of DAIR (Distributed AI Research) about creating AI that is rooted in people from the beginning and works to serve marginalized communities.
Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency issued an emergency order to shut down a metal processing facility in Atlanta, Georgia. According to the EPA, the facility, which is run by TAV Holdings Inc., has generated lead and other pollutants that pose a quote “imminent and substantial” danger to the public and the environment.
Experts say the facility might just be the state’s next Superfund site — a designation for the country’s most hazardous waste sites. Like many environmental threats, the TAV waste site is located in a predominantly Black community. In fact, a recent analysis from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that the neighborhoods surrounding the state’s 18 current Superfund sites are more likely to be Black.
For decades, Black people in this country have felt the heavy toll of environmental racism. A study published by University of Michigan in 2016 shows that communities of color and low-income neighborhoods are targeted by polluting industries. At the same time, people of color are more likely to be exposed to high levels of fine particulate air pollution, which causes tens of thousands of deaths every year.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Christina Fuller, Associate Professor at Georgia State University School of Public Health, and Drew Kann, an enterprise reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution covering climate and environmental issues.
Tensions at the Russia-Ukraine border continue to run high. And U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that these tensions could escalate into a crisis in the coming days. Embassy staff and diplomats from several countries have begun evacuating from their posts in Ukraine, and US officials and other NATO allies are urging citizens to leave the country.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials are trying to tamp down the panic calling the evacuations “needlessly alarmist.”
The Takeaway gets an update on these growing tensions from Alex Ward, a national security reporter at Politico.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures speaking during a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz following their talks in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. (Sergey Guneev/AP Photo)
This month, thousands of public employees have been demonstrating in Puerto Rico to call for wage increases and better working conditions. At the center of these protests have been teachers, who have not been given a base salary raise in 13 years. We hear from the head of the Puerto Rico Teachers’ Association about why the teachers have been demonstrating and then turn to AP reporter Dánica Coto for the latest.
We also speak with Fernando Tormos-Aponte, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at University of Maryland Baltimore County, about Puerto Rico’s history, economic struggles, and governance as we take a closer look at the recent protests by public workers demanding higher wages and better pensions.
In the aftermath of the Parkland shooting, there was a flood of youth activism coming out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The Parkland teens took to social medial; they spoke out on cable news; they testified before Congress; and they also amassed one of the largest youth protests in U.S. history.
The Takeaway recently spoke with one of the Parkland teens — now twenty-something — who was front and center in that movement: David Hogg, gun violence prevention activist and co-founder of March For Our Lives.
In a 4-3 decision, the court ruled that the GOP-drawn electoral maps violated the state’s constitution because lines minimized the influence of Democratic voters. In a tweet, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said, “The maps violate a voter’s fundamental right to vote.”
The maps would have given Republicans a good chance of winning 11 Congressional seats, compared with three for Democrats, despite voters in the state being closely divided between the two parties. Now, the North Carolina General Assembly has until Feb. 18th at 5pm to submit new maps.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Derwin Montgomery, a former Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly.
Does the NFL have a problem hiring and retaining Black coaches? We explore that and whether or not the Rooney rule has made an impact on hiring black coaches or if it’s just a bandaid on a larger problem plaguing the league with Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation.
The MLB is in a lockout for the first time since 1995. The MLB and MLB Players' Association have yet to come to any agreement on the new collective bargaining agreement, which means pitchers and catchers likely won’t start on February 14th as planned. And with spring training being pushed back, that means opening day might be delayed as well.
This is heartbreaking for the fans, including The Takeaway's own line producer Jackie Martin, who joins the show to break down the baseball drama.
On Friday, the 2022 Winter Olympics kicked off in Beijing. Amid the fanfare and medals, there’s been silence from Muslim-majority countries about China’s treatment of the Uyghur Muslim community, which officials from the U.S. have called a genocide.
The Takeaway speaks with Yasmeen Serhan, staff writer at The Atlantic, about how different countries have been responding to the oppressive treatment of Uyghurs in China both before and during the Olympics.
Here at The Takeaway we love our music, both classic tracks and new hits, but these days there are fewer new hits on the top charts.
According to music-analytics firm MRC Data, new music makes up 30 percent of the current music market, while artists from previous decades are among the most downloaded on iTunes. On Spotify, songs like “Dreams by Fleetwood Mac'' are being discovered by new audiences, thanks in part to platforms like TikTok.
So what’s happening? What does this signal about the future of the music industry? To answer those questions and more, The Takeaway turned to Ted Gioia, who writes the music and popular-culture newsletter The Honest Broker on Substack and is also the author of 11 books, including, most recently, Music: A Subversive History.
Alicia Garza, principal at the Black Futures Lab and Co-Founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network joins us as part of the series Black.Queer.Rising.
Over the past year, book bans have nearly tripled. School boards and parents unwilling to teach or even understand the importance of Critical Race Theory have expanded their censorship to include books that they consider inappropriate for their children.
In Tennessee, a school board voted to ban ‘Maus,’ Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel about the Holocaust, due to 'profanity' and 'nudity'. Shawntee Burns-Simpson, Associate Director of School Support and Outreach at the New York Public Library joins us to discuss the harm in banning books and how it deprives children by depriving their access to all kinds of books from diverse authors.
We also spoke with award-winning author and National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds about how to navigate books with complicated or difficult subject matters for young people.
Behavioral Scientist Michelle Drouin joins us to discuss her new book Out of Touch: How to Survive an Intimacy Famine.
At the end of last week, President Biden announced that U.S. special forces had conducted a raid in the countryside near the Syrian-Turkish border that resulted in the death of the current leader of ISIS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, also known as Hajji Abdullah.
To avoid civilian casualties, Biden said the Administration opted to dispatch U.S. Special Operations Forces rather than use missiles or drones. U.S. officials say that there were no American casualties in the attack, but the ISIS leader detonated an explosive that killed both his family and himself before special forces could reach him. According to The White Helmets, a Syrian civil defense group, rescuers who were on the ground after U.S. forces left said they found the bodies of at least 13 people, including 6 children and 4 women.
Biden is simultaneously dealing with tensions between Russia and Ukraine, a contentious relationship with China, among other foreign policy issues. A year into Biden’s presidency, The Takeaway looks at his strategy for foreign policy — or Biden’s doctrine — with Robin Wright, a columnist at The New Yorker and a Wilson Center Distinguished Fellow.
On January 31, 2022, Mexican journalist Roberto Toledo was shot and killed in the town of Zitácuaro. Toledo is the fourth Mexican journalist murdered in 2022 alone.
While investigative work is being done to determine if Toledo and the other slain journalists were killed in retaliation for their reporting, Mexico has been one of the most dangerous countries for journalists in the Western Hemisphere in recent years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The Takeaway spoke with reporter Andalusia Soloff about the risks faced by reporters in Mexico and what can be done to protect them.
In late January 2020, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar declared a federal public health emergency as a result of COVID-19: "The actions we have taken and continue to make complement, complement the work of China and the World Health Organization to contain the outbreak within China."
Since then, it has been renewed eight times, but eventually the declaration will expire. When it does, it may initiate another kind of public health crisis. According to some estimates, 15 million people — including 6 million children — are at risk of losing Medicaid coverage when the public health emergency expires. That is because that's when state officials will sift through their Medicaid rolls and eliminate people who are no longer eligible for coverage under the expanded social safety net.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke toMegan Messerly, health care reporter for POLITICO.
Data released in 2022 about the previous year’s economy is giving a clearer picture of what the Covid-era has meant for workers and businesses. Hourly wages increased but not enough for the average worker to keep up with the spike in inflation. And even though workers are not earning enough on average, some economists continue to argue that higher wages will further drive inflation, putting more blame on workers than the overall financial system.
We break down what’s truly driving inflation and how to make the economy work best for lower-wage employees with Anne Price, President of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development and Heather McGhee, author of “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together.''
In 2017, Andrea Jenkins became the first black openly-transgender woman elected to office in the United States. This year, she became the first openly transgender city council president in Minneapolis.
This week, hundreds of tribes agreed to a tentative opioids lawsuit settlement with Johnson & Johnson and three major drug distributors worth roughly $590 million. Although Johnson & Johnson continues to deny responsibility for its role in the opioid crisis, Native Americans have been disproportionately overrepresented among opioid deaths. If the tribes agree to the settlement agreement, they’ll be able to put the money towards combating the opioid crisis in their own communities.
The Takeaway speaks with Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., Cherokee Nation Principal Chief, about the settlement and the impact of the opioid crisis on his tribe. The Cherokee Nation previously announced a $75 million settlement with distributors McKesson, Amerisourcebergen and Cardinal Health in September 2021.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine seem to be persisting as White House officials on Wednesday said they will send 3,000 troops to NATO allies in Eastern Europe, though the troops will not be deployed to Ukraine. We get the latest from Nahal Toosi, Senior Correspondent for Foreign Affairs at Politico. This announcement comes as Russia continues to build up its military near Ukraine.
Nahal Toosi, Senior Correspondent for Foreign Affairs at Politico, gives us the latest
During Donald Trump's presidency, the US government enacted Title 42, a public health authority that allows Border Patrol and ICE to immediately expel or deport migrants over supposed public health concerns. The law has been criticized for allowing racist and abusive treatment of Haitian asylum seekers at the border, highlighting the disparate treatment Black migrants have long faced.
A study by the Black Alliance for Just Immigration and NYU School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic reports that Black migrants face a higher rate of deportation than any other race.
Under Title 42, thousands of Haitian asylum seekers who were fleeing chaos, violence, and natural disaster have been expelled at the border and forced to remain in Mexico or deported to Haiti through repatriation flights.
In September 2021, the issue came to a head when images and videos of Border Patrol's mistreatment of Haitian migrants surfaced, and the Biden administration vowed to hold those agents accountable. However, after the Trump administration used the Covid-19 pandemic as a justification to immediately turn away and expel Haitian asylum seekers under Title 42, the Biden administration continues to enforce it.
According to the International Organization for Migration statistics, 17,313 Haitians were returned to Haiti by the United States and four other nations between September 19 and January 8, 2022. Of those repatriated by the United States during that period, the U.S. Coast Guard returned 406 Haitians interdicted at sea, and ICE returned, on 128 separate flights, 13,690 Haitians. (These IOM statistics do not include the 25 additional expulsion flights from the United States to Haiti since January 10.) Today nearly 20,000 Haitian immigrants have been expelled or deported back to Haiti.
A Border Patrol agent chasing Haitian migrant Mirard Joseph in Del Rio, Texas, in September. (Paul Ratje/Agence France-Presse /Getty Images)
11 Haitian migrants, represented by groups like the Haitian Bridge Alliance, are suing the Biden administration over the racist and abusive treatment they faced at the border in hopes of receiving justice and halting the cruel enforcement of Title 42.
Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance and recipient of the 2021 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award joined us after returning from the U.S.-Mexico border to discuss the situation Haitian asylum seekers are facing and the disparate treatment of Black migrants.
Last week, actor Peter Dinklage—best known for his role on Game of Thrones—appeared on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron.
Dinklage talked about a lot: the evolution of his career, mainstream success, and his new film Cyrano. But there was one particular moment that got people’s attention:
They’re very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White but you’re still telling a story of Snow White and Seven Dwarfs. Take a step back and look at what you’re doing there. It makes no sense to me. You’re progressive in one way but still making *ing backward story of seven dwarves living in a cave. What the * ya doing man?
Dinklage, who has dwarfism, was calling out Disney’s decision to make a live action adaptation of Snow White. Since his criticism, Disney has said it would be reimagining the dwarf characters in the fairytale. Now, this is not the first time Hollywood has misfired when it comes to its portrayal of the dwarfism community. For decades, the entertainment industry has perpetuated harmful stereotypes about people with dwarfism.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke to Rebecca Coakley, the program officer for the Ford Foundation's U.S. Disability Rights program.
This summer the Supreme Court will decide the fate of a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Most court observers expect the Supreme Court’s decision to undermine or even overturn Roe v. Wade.
As the country awaits the Court’s decision, the fight over abortion is heating up in the states. Nebraska and Florida are preparing bills further restricting access to abortion. Some of the proposed bills are modeled after Texas’s controversial anti-abortion law, SB-8, which bans abortion after six weeks and allows people to sue doctors who provide them.
For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Elizabeth Nash, Principal Policy Associate for State Issues at the Guttmacher Institute.
Then, The Takeaway speaks to Katie Woodruff, a public health social scientist at the University of California San Francisco, about how the news media covers abortion.
For five years, comedian Al Madrigal spent time riffing on his Mexican identity as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’s “Latino correspondent.”
In his own stand-up, Madrigal has highlighted the absurdity of being lumped into the “Latino comedian” category, an experience he first contended with when he left the comedy scene of his native San Francisco to perform in Los Angeles.
As Madrigal has learned firsthand, representation in the entertainment industry is often handled bluntly, to put it mildly. But this month, Madrigal is using his clout to address a glaring absence. As a comics fan, Latino superheroes were pretty much nonexistent when he was growing up.
Thankfully, that’s starting to change, Marvel’s new Spider-Man, Miles Morales, is one recent mainstream example. And Madrigal is adding to the mix with “Primos,” a new comic he wrote that tells the story of Ricky Pascal, a teenager who discovers that he and his cousins have been handed down some pretty potent superpowers.
The Takeaway spoke with Madrigal about the events that led to his name being published on the front page of “Primos.”
In a new series called Georgia 2022: At the Intersections, The Takeaway will look at Georgia throughout the year, all with the goal of understanding how politics, culture, legacy and the future of Georgia are shaping our nation.
After Georgia sent two Democratic senators to Washington and handed the states electoral college votes to Joe Biden, the Republican-controlled legislature in Georgia passed restrictive voting legislation that limits mail ballot drop boxes, adds strict new ID requirements for mail ballots, and gives voters less time to request mail-in ballots.
A recent report by Mother Jones shows that voting restrictions have already made it harder for Georgia voters to cast a ballot. During municipal elections in November 2021, Mother Jones found that Georgia voters were 45 times more likely to have their mail-in ballot applications rejected than the year before. Georgians who successfully obtained mail ballots were also twice as likely to have those ballots rejected once they were submitted compared to the previous year.
The Takeaway spoke with Ari Berman, senior reporter at Mother Jones covering voting right, and the author of “Give us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America.”
Nearly two years into this pandemic, doctors still don’t know much about why some people develop long lasting COVID symptoms and why others don’t. But, a study published last week by the scientific journal Cell, found several factors that were identified early in a person’s coronavirus infection that could show increased risk of developing long-term symptoms.
Some studies show that as many as half of COVID-19 survivors experience some sort of lingering symptoms, these patients are known as “Covid long-haulers.” We heard from listeners about their long-term Covid symptoms and from one of the leaders of a Covid long hauler group.
We also spoke with Dr. Jason Goldman, infectious disease clinician and researcher at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Washington and lead clinical author of this study on long-Covid.
On February 1, the documentary “Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power," will have its television premiere on Starz. The film profiles Congresswoman Barbara Lee, representative for California’s 13th Congressional district, and her iconoclastic political career.
Rep. Lee joined The Takeaway to speak about her life-long commitment to activism and the new film.
SpaceX’s satellite Falcon 9, which launched in 2015, is due to crash into the moon in a matter of weeks. The satellite did not have enough fuel for its return trip and its “chaotic orbit” will be over when it hits the moon and creates a crater upon impact.
Falcon 9 is one of many rockets and satellites that we've launched into space on a one way trip, and it’s one of over 27,000 pieces of trackable space junk tracked by the Department of Defense that can cause damage to spacecrafts and brighten the skies with light pollution as it reflects the sun’s light. That number does not account for the smaller, untrackable paint chips, nuts and bolts and other small bits of trash that are undetectable but can be just as harmful because of the speeds at which they travel. We speak with Moriba Jah, Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and Chief Science Advisor for Privateer, about space trash and the growing need for regulation.
On Thursday, Justice Stephen Breyer officially announced his retirement from the Supreme Court after more than 27 years on the high court. He will step down at the end of this term sometime in the early summer. On Thursday, Biden also reaffirmed his commitment to nominate a Black woman, and he said he intends to announce his decision before the end of February. The Takeaway speaks with Melissa Murray, Law Professor at NYU, faculty director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and co-host of the legal podcast called “Strict Scrutiny,” and Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center, about the historical significance of a Black woman on the high court, how identity does or does not influence jurisprudence, and their thoughts on potential nominees.
The Equal Rights Amendment, an amendment to the Constitution that would invalidate any state law that discriminates against women, has been on a nearly 100 year journey. It was first introduced in 1923 and did not pass both the Senate and House until March 1972. On January 27, 2020. Virginia became the 38th state to vote for ratification.
Section 3 of the amendment states that it takes effect two years after its ratification, so by that standard the ERA became law on Friday... or did it?
Representative Carolyn Maloney represents New York’s 12th Congressional district and chairs the Oversight and Reform Committee. She joined to discuss the resolution and the amendment’s importance.
ABC mockumentary Abbott Elementary takes us to a public school in Philadelphia, where the teachers do their best to educate their students in spite of a lack of resources and funding. Sheryl Lee Ralph plays a no-nonsense, veteran teacher and mentor to second-grade teacher Janine Teagues, played by the show’s creator Quinta Brunson. While the reality of the public school system is no joke, Abbott Elementary allows us to laugh at the absurdity of a dire situation and root for the unsung heroes of the public school system. We speak with Sheryl Lee Ralph about activism, education, and Abbott Elementary.
Joining our hosts to discuss the history of U.S. Health Insurance and how it compares to other countries is Julia Lynch, Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania, and Jamila Michener, associate professor in the department of Government at Cornell University about the connections between health inequities and our insurance system.
We also take a look at the creation of the Affordable Care Act with one of its architects Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel who currently serves as Vice Provost of Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania. Peter Suderman, features editor at Reason, joins us to discuss the current state of healthcare and health insurance and how both parties could make changes to their approaches on both.
Finally, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal discusses expanding health insurance for Americans with her Medicare for All Plan and how it will restore dignity to every American through adequate health insurance coverage.
For the past 45 years, Leonard Peltier has been behind bars for a crime he says he didn’t commit. The Native American activist was accused of killing two FBI agents during a shootout on Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1975. Peltier was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, and he’s been denied parole several times since.
Over the years, his imprisonment has been denounced by people like Pope Francis, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, and more. Many people expected former President Bill Clinton to grant him clemency, but he didn’t — and neither have any subsequent presidents. The U.S. attorney who helped put Peltier in prison has even pleaded with President Joe Biden to grant him clemency.
Now, Peltier is begging for help amid the COVID pandemic. According to reporting from the Huffington Post, he says quote “fear and stress” associated with his prison’s COVID lockdowns are taking a toll on everyone, including himself. At 77 years old, Peltier has serious health problems including an abdominal aortic aneurysm and diabetes.
For more on Peltier and his activism, The Takeaway spoke to Kent Blansett, the Langston Hughes Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies and History at the University of Kansas and a Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Shawnee, and Potawatomi descendant.
Instead of bringing you one daily podcast, we’re trying something different! We’re going to send each of our stories down the feed, so you can have shorter listens and more choices!
This means you’ll get multiple Takeaway stories in your feed every day, and you can listen to them in any order that you want, or maybe hold onto one for later if you don’t have time. You won’t lose anything, but you’ll gain a little bit of control. DEEP DIVE episodes will stay on the podcast feed as full episodes, and they’ll still be full of information.
Starting on January 7th, about 200 of those detained at one jail facility at Rikers Island went on a partial hunger strike in hopes to draw attention to the poor conditions at the jail, and also a lack of basic services.
You’ve probably heard of the infamous Rikers Island, which is the main jail complex for New York City. And because it’s a jail complex, most people there, about eighty percent of the near 6,000 detainees, are waiting for trial and haven’t been convicted of a crime. And although the jail has long been characterized by dysfunction, brutal conditions, and violence, detainees and advocates say that Rikers is in its worst crisis since the 1990’s. Along with poor conditions at the jail complex, rising Covid, and issues with correctional officers not showing up for work, violence is also increasing in the jail with reports of detainees hosting fights for entertainment with little intervention from guards. Last year, 16 people died in custody at Rikers — and at least five died by suicide – making 2021 the deadliest year since 2013.
The Takeaway spoke with Jan Ransom, a Metro investigative reporter with the New York Times, who has been following what’s happening at Rikers.
Next month, New York City officials will vote on whether to give painter Faith Ringgold permission to move her painting “For the Women’s House” from Rikers Island to the Brooklyn Museum. When Ringgold visited the painting in 2019, she found that it was not being well maintained, and wasn’t even in view for most people being held at Rikers.
The Takeaway speaks with Nicole Fleetwood, inaugural James Weldon Johnson professor of media, culture, and communications at New York University and 2021 MacArthur Fellow, and Russell Craig, a painter based in New York City, about how art is made and displayed in prisons and jails in the U.S.
This week, David Ortiz was voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, while Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds did not make the cut. This means that Clemens and Bonds will no longer be on the main voting ballot going forward and their chances of ever making it into the hall of fame are slim. Many baseball fans and writers have voiced their anger over somewhat arbitrarily denying these greats entry into the hall over their use of performance enhancing drugs while allowing many other players who either used steroids or otherwise bent the rules.
In other sports news, the Super Bowl is just weeks away, and while much of the current attention is on the big name musicians playing the halftime show, the NFL is still failing to hire and keep Black coaches, cementing its status as a league that profits off of Black athletes without investing in Black leaders at the highest levels. We speak with Burn It All Down co-host Amira Rose Davis about these stories and everything else happening in the sports world as we head towards February.
Today, January 26th, New York’s Labor Law Section 740 expands, offering increased protection to whistleblowers. We speak with Rachel Green, an associate at Katz, Marshall & Banks LLP in Washington D.C. and a Stanford Law graduate about the recent changes, what they mean, and how they compare to both federal and state protections around the country.
Indigenous Children are Overrepresented in Minnesota's Foster Care System
Over the course of eight months, Jessica Washington, a reporter with the Fuller Project spoke with Native families, lawyers, and other experts to understand why Minnesota has the highest disproportionality of Indigenous children in the child welfare system in the country. The Takeaway speaks with Washington about her investigation. We also hear from one of Washington's sources, Teresa Nord, who is a Navajo and Hopi Indian descendant, and who has personal experience with the child welfare system in Minnesota.
New York Expands Whistleblower Law
We speak with Rachel Green, an associate at Katz, Marshall & Banks LLP in Washington D.C. and a Stanford Law graduate about the recent changes, what they mean, and how they compare to both federal and state protections around the country.
The Intersection of Sustainable Farming and Decarceration
Sustainable farming in rural North Carolina provides a model for decommissioned prisons, decarceration, and opportunities for youth living on the edge of the criminal justice system.
For transcripts, see individual segments.
Since 2011, Syria has been engaged in a devastating civil war. More than three hundred fifty thousand people have been killed during the conflict. The war has forced more than six million people to flee the country.
These Syrians in forced exile have had to endure overcrowded refugee camps, treacherous journeys by sea, and painful family separations.
Academy Award winning director Megan Mylan is known for her films "Lost Boys of Sudan" and "Smile Pinki." Her latest documentary, "Simple as Water," follows several families of Syrian refugees.
The Takeaway spoke with Mylan to find out more about how she created such a compassionate depiction of people whose stories are frequently sensationalized.
"Simple as Water" is available to stream now on HBO Max.
Understanding and Addressing Increasing Rates of Suicide Deaths Amongst Black Youth
Last week, Academy Award winning actor Regina King lost her only child to death by suicide. The tragic loss of a loved one to suicide is a pain far too many have endured. We speak with Dr. Michael Lindsey, Executive Director, NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research about rising suicide rates among young people of color.
Hospitals Are Overwhelmed in Arizona
In Arizona and elsewhere, the omicron wave has overwhelmed hospitals and burned out healthcare workers.
Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan
Afghanistan food insecurity crisis affects more than 23 million people, nearly half the country.
'Simple as Water' Shows the Meaning of Family for Syrian Refugees
Academy Award winning director Megan Mylan joins The Takeaway to discuss her new film “Simple As Water,” which tells the story of Syrian Refugees displaced around the world.
Mitch McConnell's Verbal Separation of African Americans and Americans Sparks Outrage
In light of light of the Republicans' blockage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, Latino Rebels reporter Pablo Manríquez asked MiSenate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell whether he had a message to people of color ahead of the midterms. Senate Minority Leader McConnell said, “Well, the concern is misplaced because, if you look at the statistics, African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans.” The comment ignited a wave of angry responses on social media. Commenters noted that it was just the latest example of how often white people in power don’t see Black people and other people of color as Americans. We speak with Manríquez and professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad about McConnell’s comment and the response.
A Report Reveals Potential Conflicts of Interest in Sheriff Campaigns
The report reveals more than $6 million in potential conflicts of interests for sheriffs in 11 different states. These Sheriffs, who are elected officials, received contributions from businesses that stood to benefit from contracts with the sheriffs’ offices and jails in their control. The Takeaway speaks with Keshia Morris Desir, Census & Mass Incarceration Project Manager at Common Cause, about the report.
A New Guaranteed Income Program Will Launch in Georgia This Year
In Her Hands is a partnership between the the Georgia Resilience & Opportunity (GRO) Fund and GiveDirectly who are planning to supply 650 Black women across Georgia with $850 per month over the course of two years. For more on this, The Takeaway spoke to Hope Wollensack, Executive Director of the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund and co-director of the In Her Hands Initiative.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
The Past, Present and Future Of The Biden Administration
This week, the filibuster and voting rights act fell through in the Senate, and student debt forgiveness, criminal justice and climate change reforms hang in the balance. These failures have had an impact on voters across the country, according to recent polling. So what does that mean for the future of the Biden administration? For the discussion we're joined by Joel Payne, Democratic strategist, host of the podcast, Here Comes the Payne, and CBS News political contributor.
NYC Law Granting Noncitizens the Right to Vote Concerns Some Advocates
A new law allowing roughly 800,000 noncitizens to vote in local elections went into effect in New York City. Some Democrats and immigration advocates don't see it as a win. Russell Berman, staff writer for The Atlantic, joined to discuss his recent reporting on the law and what it means for the Democrats nationally.
Russia's Potential Invasion of Ukraine
We spoke with Professor Kimberly Marten about why Russia has chosen this moment to take more aggressive action towards Ukraine, and whether the U.S. and other Western powers have any other options to prevent a military conflict.
How Should the Media Be Covering Democracy At Risk?
The Takeaway spoke to Margaret Sullivan, media columnist at the Washington Post, and Lewis Raven Wallace, author of The View from Somewhere and the host of the podcast of the same name.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
How Antitrust Laws Are Defining the Facebook Monopolization Case:
We get the latest on Facebook/Meta antitrust lawsuit, and learn more about what constitutes antitrust with Vanderbilt law professor Rebecca Allensworth.
A Year and a Half After McGirt v. Oklahoma, State Officials Still Want Ruling Overturned:
State officials have filed 45 petitions with the Supreme Court asking the justices to either overturn or rule more narrowly on McGirt. This month, the Court has been considering some of those petitions. The Takeaway speaks with Allison Herrera, Indigenous Affairs reporter for KOSU, about the most recent developments.
A Word about Wordle:
We speak with Associate Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Florida, Matt Baldwin, about why playing Wordle and sharing our results with friends and family is so rewarding.
How to Reimagine Judging:
Judge Nancy Gertner, argues that judges must be actively involved in revolutionizing the justice system. She also offers up six key recommendations for reimagining judging, including improvements to judicial selection and community engagement.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Dr. Anthony Fauci on How to Make Sense of Omicron
Dr. Anthony Fauci joins The Takeaway to give his take on omicron, vaccinations and testing, and answer questions from listeners.
Why the Biden Administration Is Getting Low Marks On Handling COVID
Did Biden's handling of Omicron make things worse?
How Do We Achieve Vaccine Equity?
When we look at education, access, and messaging, we begin to understand the barriers to vaccination.
Dads Can Experience Mental Health Issues After Childbirth, Too
The Takeaway talked to Aymann Ismail, a staff writer at Slate, about his recent experience with his newborn baby.
The Filibuster: An Obstruction or Preservation of Democracy?
The Takeaway looks at filibuster reform and how it impacts our democracy.
What Exactly is An Accident?
There are racial and economic disparities when it comes to who dies and who lives in a so-called accident.
The Spirituality of Toni Morrison
The Takeaway speaks with writer and journalist Nadra Nittle about her book Toni Morrison’s Spiritual Vision, which explores Morrison’s Catholicism and spirituality.
Representative Ayanna Pressley on Voting Rights, Ending the Senate Filibuster, and More
The Takeaway speaks to Massachusetts Representative Ayanna Pressley about voting rights, ending the Senate filibuster, the fight to end student loan debt, and more.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
In some ways it is impossible to fully celebrate MLK Day in a virtual environment, after all, the movement for racial justice and Civil Rights has always been about coming together. However, the decision to go digital does honor another aspect of the movement- its creativity and collective action.
Hosted by various WNYC radio hosts, this commemorative and uplifting special brings together scholars, cultural and community leaders, and activists to engage in conversations and performance, exploring the many ways the arts influenced the creative nonviolent resistance of Dr. King's activism and how his work is continued today.
You'll be hearing excerpts from the Uptown Hall: MLK- Activism And The Arts, our live celebration of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. recorded on Apollo Digital Stage. Brian Lehrer sat down with award winning children’s book author Jacqueline Woodson; Kai Wright spoke with Rashaad Robinson from Color of Change; and WNYC’s Jami Floyd, spoke with Garrett McQueen, executive producer and co-host of the Trilluqoy podcast and president of trill werks media. WNYC’s host of “all of it”, Alison Stewart was joined by stage and film actress, writer and director, Trezana Beverly and Jonathan McCrory, the artistic director of the National Black Theater.
The Takeaway host Melissa Harris-Perry spoke with artist, collector, CEO and founder Of Black Art In America, Najee Dorsey and former executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, mayor of Atlanta, member of Congress, and US Ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young.
Graphic courtesy of WNYC (WNYC Studios )
This week marked 20 years since the opening of Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, a military detention facility that has been controversial since its inception. We took the entire hour to understand what has happened there and why it matters.
Guest 🎙:
Wells Dixon, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights
Earl Catagnus Jr., an adjunct professor in Security and Risk Analysis a Penn State University Brandywine
Mansoor Adayfi, former Detainee at Guantanamo Bay and author of the book “Don’t Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantanamo”
Steve Wood, former Guantanamo Bay Detention Center guard
Carol Rosenberg, Guantanamo Bay Reporter for The New York Times
Congressman Adam Schiff, (D-CA 28th District) Chairman of the House Intelligence committee
Outgoing Congressman David Price of California
A Look at New Weight Loss Meds and Weight Related Stigma:
The Takeaway spoke with Emma Court, health reporter at Bloomberg News about this new class of weight loss drugs. And maybe you’ve noticed there is more than a little fat-shaming going on around Covid-19, obesity, and mortality. We also spoke about this with Paula Atkinson, a body liberation psychotherapist and professor at George Washington University, where she teach a course about body justice called Weight and Society.
Masking 101:
The Takeaway spoke to Dr. Lisa Maragakis, Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Senior Director of Healthcare Epidemiology and Infection Prevention with the Johns Hopkins Health System, about the latest on masking, which masks are most effective, and more.
Why Some Star Athletes Refuse The Vaccine And Get Away With It:
We speak with sportswriter Kavitha Davidson about why this mentality from these players matters in the sports world and beyond.
Navarro is Back on the Mat for Season 2 of Cheer:
We speak with the director and executive producer of Cheer, Greg Whiteley, about what to expect this season and why the docuseries has us all cheering for the cheerlebrities of Navarro.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Biden's ATL Voting Rights Speech:
Mother Jones Senior Reporter and author of Give us the Ballot Ari Berman and Barbara Arnwine, President and Co-Leader of the Transformative Justice Coalition, joined us to discuss the pros and cons of the president’s speech and whether the president’s speech will move the needle on this issue.
Across the Country, Substitute Teachers Are In Demand
Giulia Heyward, reporter at the New York Times, joins The Takeaway to discuss the staffing shortage, what it’s meant for substitute teachers, and more.
The Dangers of Restricting Teachers From Teaching:
Last week, during an Indiana state senate committee hearing on an education bill, state senator Scott Baldwin argued that educators “need to be impartial” when teaching about Marxism, Nazism, and fascism. We spoke with Pedro A. Noguera, Dean of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, about the dangers of placing these limits on educators, and hear from Indiana teacher Matt Bockenfeld, whose comments sparked Senator Baldwin’s controversial remarks.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Rep. Adam Schiff on the January 6th Committee and Restoring Trust After Trump:
The Takeaway speaks with Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and one of the members of the House committee investigating the insurrection, about the work of the January 6th committee and some of the other central issues facing Congress and the Democrats today.
Holly Robinson Peete, An Advocate for Autism:
Actress, author and “gangsta mom of four” Holly Robinson Peete joins us to talk about her advocacy work for kids on the autism spectrum and her decision to go public about her son’s diagnosis.
How Researchers Are Using Stem Cells To Learn More About A Rare Form of Autism:
We spoke with Dr. Joseph Dougherty, professor of genetics and psychiatry at Washington University in St Louis about the research that he and his team are conducting.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Disagreements Between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union Result in Closures:
The Takeaway speaks with Nader Issa, reporter covering education for the Chicago Sun-Times, about the recent disagreements with the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Public School district, and we hear from teachers and parents.
Bronx Apartment Fire Leaves 17 Dead:
We were joined by Jake Offenhartz, WNYC and Gothamist Reporter to discuss the apartment building fire.
Sidney Poitier and Professor Lani Guinier Pass Away at Ages 94 and 71:
Our host reflects on the legacy of these two figures.
Do We Understand The Full Breadth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Message?:
Scott Roberts, senior Director of Criminal Justice Campaigns for Color of Change and Patrisse Cullors, New York Times bestselling author, educator, artist and abolitionist joined us to discuss the complicated legacy of Dr. Martin Luter King Jr. and how there’s still so much work to be done to realize his dream in full.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Taking Our Politics Pulse for the Week
Maya King, national politics reporter at Politico, and Sahil Kapur, senior national political reporter at NBCNews, join us for a politics roundtable to discuss this week’s top stories
New PBS Documentary Explores History of Democracy in the U.S.
A new documentary from PBS called Preserving Democracy: Pursuing a More Perfect Unionchronicles the pursuit of democracy in the U.S. from the Revolutionary War to the Capitol Riot.
Julia B. Chan Discusses her New Role as Editor-in-Chief of The 19th
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
The Capitol Insurrection's Impact on American Democracy
In a recent article for The Atlantic, “Trump’s Next Coup Has Already Begun,” staff writer Barton Gellman looks at the events leading to Jan 6., Republican efforts to subvert democracy, and how this could impact upcoming elections.
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman Shares Her Story of Surviving the Insurrection
Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman joins us to discuss her experience during the insurrection at the Capitol last year as well as the upcoming public hearings.
A Historian Reflects on How to Teach the Insurrection
Professor Hasan Jeffries of The Ohio State University has focused his research on the long history of Black struggle, and his work reminds us that the violence we saw at the Capitol one year ago is not an anomaly—in fact political violence has long been a feature of how white supremacy has asserted itself in this country.
Did the Lack of Civics in American Education Help Cause the Insurrection?
Will Bunch, national opinion columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Coshandra Dillard, a senior writer for Learning for Justice, join us to discuss how civics could play a role in preventing events like this in future.
How the Big Lie Led to the Insurrection
The core motivation behind the violence we saw a year ago on January 6, is a belief in The Big Lie– the self-serving falsehood perpetrated by former President Trump himself that the 2020 election was stolen.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
The Mayor of Superior, Colorado on 2021's Destructive Wildfires
The Takeaway speaks with Mayor Clint Folsom of Superior, Colorado about the fires and how his community is faring.
Is the Texas Power Grid Ready for Winter?
We spoke with Phil Jankowski, reporter covering politics and infrastructure at Dallas Morning News, about the Texas power grid and its readiness for the winter months ahead.
A Record-Breaking Covid Spike Is Hitting Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico had reported a record 84,000 new cases in December.
Is Composting the Future of Death?
Three states—Colorado, Washington and Oregon—have legalized the process of natural organic reduction, or human composting.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Rethinking Public Health Under Omicron
We speak with Dr. Céline Gounder, infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist at Bellevue Hospital in New York City and host of the Epidemic podcast, about what statistics to keep an eye on at the moment and how public health officials should be communicating this information.
How "Clean" Energy Continues To Harm Indigenous Communities
What happens when the new threat that tribal nations are confronting is clean energy? We were joined by Nick Estes, a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, and host of The Red Nation podcast.
The Power and Necessity of Treating Criminal Defendants with Dignity
A conversation with Judge Victoria Pratt about the theory and practice of procedural justice criminal court.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Music:
Luke Cissell
How Do We Begin to Grade 2021?
Political scientist Christina Greer joins us to help grade some of the big political moments of 2021.
Voting Rights: The Continued Fight Over Access to Elections
Keeping an eye on restrictive voting legislation in the 2022 session is Mother Jones reporter Ari Berman who explains how a 2013 Supreme Court decision set the course for this continued fight for equitable voting rights.
Self-Managed Abortions and the Fight for Abortion Rights
A November 2021 study published in The Lancet found that self-managed abortions are about as safe and effective as surgical abortions. We speak with Mary Ziegler, law professor at Florida Sate University, about how the fight over abortion rights could shift to self-managed abortions in the coming year.
Former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs on His New Memoir, His Tenure, and What’s Next
Former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, known widely as the guy who did the largest guaranteed income program, talks about his new memoir, “The Deeper the Roots: A Memoir of Hope and Home.”
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Janai Nelson
Janai Nelson, Associate Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund joins us to discuss the banning of books that teach a truthful version of history, and how she will lead the NAACP LDF in Spring of 2022 after the departure of current president, Sherrilyn Ifill.
Arab Americans Are 'White' On The Census. But Should They Be?
In the fall of 2021, Boston mayoral candidate Annissa Essaibi George, like many other Arab Americans, chose to identify publicly as a person of color. But the thing is Arab Americans are considered “white” on government forms. That means Arab Americans and people from the Middle East...who descend from countries that span Africa and Asia...are left out of a process that decides the political map, federal funding and medical research. For decades, Arab American organizations have pushed the federal government to adjust official forms to stop what they say is erasure. But the question is, what is a person of color - and are Arab Americans a part of the group? Sarah Gualtieri, historian and professor of American studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California (USC) and Maya Berry, executive director at the Arab American Institute, join The Takeaway to discuss more.
Asian Americans Secure Historic Political Wins Across The Country
A report from Politico in 2021 revealed that elected officials from the Asian American and Pacific Islander community were the LEAST represented demographic in American politics, making up less than ONE percent of all people who hold office. But that’s starting to change. In fact, this November was a historic election cycle for AAPI communities across the country. Asian Americans will serve for the first time as Mayor in Boston and Cincinnati. 5 Asian Americans were elected to New York’s city council this year. Jane Junn, professor at University of Southern California and Arun Venugopal, Race and Justice Reporter at WNYC, join The Takeaway to discuss more.
On the second edition of the Takeaway Book report, our host spoke with some amazing guest about the books they've been reading and writing in 2021.
Guest in this episode include:
Constance Grady, senior culture writer at Vox, talked about her picks for 2021.
Treva B. Lindsey, author of America, Goddam: Violence, Black Women, and the Struggle for Justicediscussed her upcoming book.
Deep Dive co-host and co-president of the Center for Community Change Dorian Warren told us his favorite books of the year.
Kaitlyn Greenidge discussed her new work Libertie, a work of historical fiction that is one of the most buzzed about books of the year.
Torrey Peters author of Detransition, Babydiscussed her national bestselling novel whichtells the story of three people, transgender and cisgender, whose lives intersect thanks to an unexpected pregnancy.
CDC Cuts Recommended Quarantine Time as US COVID Infections Reach an All-Time High
Is the policy change about jobs and the economy, or about public health?
Deferring Student Debt... Again
Black borrowers experience the heaviest debt burden according to Andre Perry, senior fellow at Brookings Metro. He joined The Takeaway to share his research on how dated economic analysis ignores race and what cancelling student debt could do to boost Black wealth.
The Whitewashing of Reggaeton And Why J. Balvin's Apology Falls Flat
Artist J. Balvin received a ton of backlash after he received the Afro-Latino artist of the year award from the African Entertainment Awards.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Petroleum Spill In Hawaii Contaminates Drinking Supply For Thousands
We were joined by Mahealani Richardson, anchor and reporter with Hawaii News Now, to discuss what this fuel leak means for the people of Hawaii.
A Trucker Faces 110 Years in Prison Because of Colorado's Mandatory-Minimum Sentencing
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos is facing 110 years in prison after a deadly crash. Truck drivers are threatening to boycott the state of Colorado over mandatory-minimum sentencing laws there.
Favorite Movie Moments of 2021
We walk listeners through some of our favorite movies of the year with Rafer Guzman, film critic for Newsday and Kristen Meinzer, culture critic and author of How To Be Fine.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Omicron Today: This Year in Pandemic Policy
Nsikan Akpan, health and science editor for the WNYC newsroom, joined with the latest updates and responses on the Omicronn variant while looking back on some of the policy choices that led to this moment.
Other segments from today's episode include:
What is With the Cult of Resilience?
The Toll of Fibroids on Black Women
Study Finds Women Denied Abortion Access Fare Worse in Life
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Aging While Queer
Michael Adams is the CEO of SAGE, the country’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older people. He discusses the many unique challenges facing our LGBTQ+ elders and what his organization SAGE is doing to provide a life of dignity for this underserved community.
Affirming Housing for LGBTQ-SGL Elders
Dr. Woody discusses the importance of affirming housing for LGBTQ-SGL elders and how Mary's House serves as a model for inclusive elders of all gender, racial, and sexual identities.
Aging While Queer in Puerto Rico
After living in Massachusetts to attend university, Wilfred Labiosa returned to his native Puerto Rico, where he established support services for the LGBTQ community similar to those he discovered in Massachusetts. Queer elders in Puerto Rico face isolation, discrimination, and depression. Wilfred discusses how his organization, Waves Ahead, is working to address these issues.
Aging with HIV
We talk to Tez Anderson, a long-term survivor of HIV, activist and founder of the first and largest group in the world focused on long-term HIV survivors and older adults aging with HIV, Let's Kick ASS (Aids Survivor Syndrome).
Pat and Paulette Martin on Finding Love Later in Life
We spoke with Pat and Paulette Martin. They discuss the challenges of coming out of the closet, the significance of marriage equality, and how they give back to their community.
Check out the full Aging While Queer series page.
Journalists Around The World Are Being Jailed And Detained At Record Highs
Journalists around the world are being jailed at a record high, according to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Right now the number sits at 293. CPJ's editorial director Arlene Getz and Ohimai Amaize, an exiled Nigerian journalist, joined to discuss.
The True Cost of a Common Cleaning Product
Air pollution in a series of southern communities is well above levels deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency following a chain of plants making the key chemical in Cascade.
Violence Is Spiking on Airplanes
Since the pandemic started, there’s been an uptick in violence on airplanes across the U.S., largely stemming from disputes over masking.
What does the Diplomatic Boycott against the Beijing Olympics Mean?
The United States and a few other countries are boycotting the Beijing Olympics by not sending government officials to the games.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
The Trial of Kimberly Potter
The Takeaway spoke to Associated Press reporter Amy Forliti to discuss the charges being deliberated by the jury and how Minnesotans may react to the verdict.
How Love and Relationships Have Changed in the Time of COVID-19
Dr. Lexx Brown-James, a licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of the Institute for Sexuality and Intimacy, and Logan Ury, the author of the book, “How To Not Die Alone” and director of Relationship Science at Hinge, talk about the changes the pandemic has brought about, give advice for making time for intimacy, and give tips on how to get out there and date for those folks who are looking.
Parenting During the Pandemic
The Takeaway spoke with Yasmeen Khan the host and managing editor of a new podcast about parenting called “Childproof,” from Ten Percent Happier, about how parents can raise their kids without losing track of themselves.
The New Matrix is About More Than the Movie
The Matrix Resurrections is set to be the first blockbuster directed by an openly trans filmmaker. Emily VanDerWerff, critic at large for Vox joins us to discuss The Matrix franchise.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
A Closer Look at Joe Manchin
Ken Ward Jr., co-founder of Mountain State Spotlight and distinguished local reporting fellow with ProPublica joined with Evan Osnos, author, staff writer for The New Yorker and CNN contributor, to discuss the political, social and local motivations behind Joe Manchin's decisions in congress.
Military Documents Show U.S. Airstrikes Have Led to Thousands of Civilian Deaths
In the American air war in the Middle East, a New York Times investigation reveals flawed intelligence, rushed and imprecise targeting and the deaths of thousands of civilians.
Why The Final Frontier Matters
A conversation with science journalist Shannon Stirone about the JWST launch, recent discoveries in space, and why space exploration matters.
Hollywood's Obsession with Nuns Explained
Sister Act is far from the first — or last — movie about nuns. From horror films like 2018’s The Nun to the "nunsploitation" films of the 1970s, Hollywood has a habit of depicting the lives of nuns on the big screen. For more on this, The Takeaway with Alissa Wilkinson, film critic and culture reporter at Vox, about why pop culture is so obsessed with nuns.
Migrant Workers At Dubai's Expo 2020 Report Unlivable Wages And Confiscated Passports
The World Fair in Dubai has employed migrant workers to build it out, and many are claiming they have been tricked into coming to the city for unlivable wages after paying an illegal fee to local recruiters. Some even claim they've had their passports confiscated, leaving them stranded in a foreign country. We were joined by The Associated Press' Gulf and Iran reporter Isabel DeBre to discuss labor and human rights issues at Expo 2020.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Omicron's on the Move in the U.S.
We put the current pandemic moment in perspective with WNYC science and health editor Nsikan Akpan who broke down what’s going on with this current Covid surge.
The Shady Business Behind Tree Equity
We spoke with Vivek Shandas, Professor of Climate Adaptation at Portland State University, about tree equity and how we might get closer to achieving tree equity with funding earmarked in the Build Back Better bill.
What's Causing the Rise of Deaths in Jail?
We asked Nafeesah Goldsmith and Samantha Melamed to discuss how this is happening.
The Facility: A Look Inside ICE Detention During The Pandemic
The new documentary The Facility shows the inside of the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia as the coronavirus pandemic first hit the United States.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
From the Debt Ceiling to Inflation: The State of the U.S. Economy
The Takeaway spoke to Heather Long, economics correspondent for the Washington Post and Anne Price, president of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, to look back on the year in economics and get a sense of what people can expect going forward.
How One New Movie Highlights Elder Economic Insecurity
Director Sian-Pierre Regis joins us with his mother Rebecca Danigelis who went through job loss at the age of 75. They tell us about the unique way they dealt with her job loss and how it changed their outlook and inspires their current activism.
Outgoing Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan on Her City, Why She Chose Not To Seek Reelection
The Takeaway speaks with outgoing Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan about the ways she thinks about Seattle, what she hopes is next, and why she chose not to seek reelection.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
In Remembrance of bell hooks
Alondra Nelson, the Harold F. Linder Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, shares stories of inspiration discussing bell hooks' impact on Black feminism and looks ahead to her lasting influence.
The Takeaway Book Report
The Takeaway community is full of book worms and literary lovers, so we spoke with some incredible authors about their work and some titles to look out for this holiday season.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Alabama Miners Are Still on Strike Nearly Nine Months Later
On April 1st, 1,100 workers from the Warrior Met Coal Mine in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama went on strike. Now, 258 days later, those workers are still on strike in hopes of forcing the company to address what they call unfair labor practices. The Takeaway spoke with Kim Kelly, an independent journalist and author of the forthcoming book, ‘FIGHT LIKE HELL: The Untold History of American Labor, updated us on what’s happening with these Alabama union issues. Kim has been covering the Warrior Met Coal strike since April.
The Continuing Strike Against Kellogg's
The Striketober work stoppage goes on as the two sides balk on a deal. In response, Kellogg's closer to hiring new employees as permanent replacements. HuffPost labor reporter David Jamieson has the latest and frames this strike within the modern labor movement and the larger context of history.
The Historical Relevance Behind The January 6 Capitol Riot
Are some moments of racialized and political violence in the United States quickly forgotten for a reason? We speak with historian Martha S. Jones about some of the most relevant examples.
Isis King on "With Love" and Trans Representation on the Small Screen
The series "With Love" features LGBTQ+ love stories for two characters, including one played by Isis King. The Takeaway spoke to her about the new series and her career in Hollywood.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Private Companies Pledge $1.2 Billion in Investments to Central American Northern Triangle
Vice President Kamala Harris announced a total of $1.2 billion worth of infrastructure and economic development investments in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras from high-earning corporations like Microsoft, Mastercard and PepsiCo. Oscar Chacón, Executive Director of Alianza Americas says while this public, private partnership is a step in the right direction, more is needed like leveraging the far greater $22 billion in remittances from Central Americans working in the United States.
Food Insecurity in the Military
We speak with Shannon Razsadin, President and Executive Director of the Military Family Advisory Network about food insecurity in the military.
Happy the Elephant Could Change the Face of Animal Rights
Happy finds herself at the center of a legal case that could shift our notion of legal personhood as we know it. An organization called the Nonhuman Rights Project filed a writ of habeas corpus, or claim of unlawful detention, on behalf of Happy, all in an effort to get her rehomed to a sanctuary. Right now, you can only use a habeas corpus petition on behalf of a person. Happy’s case will go before New York State’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, sometime in 2022. For more on this, The Takeaway spoke to Jill Lepore, the David Woods Kemper Professor of American History at Harvard University and a staff writer at The New Yorker. She recently wrote about Happy the elephant for The Atlantic.
For transcripts, see individual segments page.
"What If We Don't Comply?": Texas Abortion Provider Weighs in on SCOTUS Ruling
We spoke about the decision with Dr. Ghazaleh Moayedi, an OB-GYN and abortion provider in Texas, and board member with Physicians for Reproductive Health and Texas Equal Access Fund.
The Legal Implications of SCOTUS Ruling on Texas Anti-Abortion Law SB8
We break down the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Texas law and how ongoing legal challenges against SB8 could play out in the court. Melissa Murray, Law Professor at NYU, faculty director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network and co-host of the legal podcast called “Strict Scrutiny” joined to help our listeners understand more about the complicated legal path ahead for challenges to Texas’s SB8.
Women in the U.S. House Are Targets of Verbal Violence
Even as the number of women elected to the US Congress has grown, so too has our awareness of the ways that political critiques far too often track along gender stereotypes and verbal gendered violence. Kelly Dittmar, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University–Camden and the Director of Research and Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics, joined The Takeaway to discuss.
Aging While Queer: Coming out at An Older Age with Chris Bolan
Pat Henschel and Terry Donahue met on an ice rink in Saskatchewan, Canada in the late 1940s and fell in love, but spent decades hiding their relationship from the world. Their love story, which also became the two women’s coming out story, was made into a 2020 Netflix documentary called “A Secret Love.” As a part of our Aging While Queer series, we spoke with the documentary's director Chris Bolan about the two women's love story and what it's like coming out at an older age.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
The Takeaway host Melissa Harris-Perry and Dorian Warren are tackling the important topic of childbirth.
The U.S. Supreme court is considering a second case on abortion this session as the White House host its first Maternal Health Day of Action Summit on Dec 7, 2021. We took a deep dive into the subject of childbirth and the politics around it. Topics that were introduced: the medical professionalization of childbirth, maternal and infant mortality, the work of doulas and midwifery, and the importance of paid family and medical leave.
They speak with Monica McLemore, associate professor of family health care nursing at University of California, San Francisco; Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, founder and president of the National Birth Equity Collaborative; Tracie Collins, CEO & Founder of the National Black Doulas Association; Lynn Paltrow, Executive Director and Founder of National Advocates for Pregnant Women. Josie Kalipeni, Executive Director of Family Values at Work joins us to discuss how paid family and medical leave offers families the time and resources to bond with their newborn children.
Finally, Melissa shares a personal story as she speaks with her youngest daughter's gestational carrier.
A pregnant woman looking at newborn. (Canva Stock Images/ WNYC Studios The Takeaway)
The Harm of Spanish-Language Disinformation
In 2020, Latinx voters registered and voted in record numbers, now making them the second largest voting bloc in the U.S. Many of these voters are being targeted online with disinformation. Stephanie Valencia, co-founder and president of Equis Research and Nora Benavidez, senior Counsel and Director of the Digital Justice & Civil Rights division of Free Press join us to discuss this problem and potential solutions.
Playwright Jeremy O. Harris Doesn't Want You to Get Too Comfortable
The Takeaway speaks with playwright Jeremy O. Harris about bringing "Slave Play" back to the theater and the work he’s done to change theater world from the inside out.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
"Remain in Mexico" Border Policy Reinstated Under Biden Administration
The Takeaway spoke about the reinstatement of the "remain in Mexico" policy with Aura Bogado, reporter at Reveal, from The Center for Investigative Reporting.
16 Thousand Haitians Have Been Expelled From The Dominican Republic In The Last 3 Months
In the last three months, 16 thousand Haitians have been expelled from the Dominican Republic.We are joined by the AP’s Caribbean correspondent Dánica Coto, who was just recently reporting out of the Dominican Republic.
DOJ Says Redistricting in Texas Violates Voting Rights
A conversation with Michael Li, senior counsel for the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program about the DOJ’s lawsuit against Texas for discriminatory redistricting.
"Citizen Ashe" Spotlights a Legend On and Off the Court
Co-directors Rex Miller and Sam Pollard join The Takeaway to discuss their film "Citizen Ashe," which explores the life and activism of tennis legend Arthur Ashe.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Why Vaccine Mandates Seem To Cause Backlash
Partisanship explains much of the national division surrounding vaccine mandates, but this divide may highlight another important policy-making challenge--the contemporary American’s reluctance to contribute to the public good. We speak with epidemiologist and public health correspondent Gregg Gonsalves about whether anyone is asking not what the country can do for us, but what we can do for our country.
Puerto Rico Is a COVID Success Story
According to the CDC, the island had fully vaccinated 74 percent of its population as of November 22. That’s higher than any other US state or territory. Puerto Rico also has one of the lowest COVID-19 death rates. So how did Puerto Rico become a bright spot in the pandemic? For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Nicole Narea, immigration reporter for Vox.
Diaper Need Is an Invisible Part of Poverty in the U.S.
The the issue is wide-ranging: 1 in 3 families cannot afford an adequate supply of diapers for their children. Chabeli Carrazana, an economy reporter for the 19th, recently wrote an article about diaper need in rural Missouri, and explained to The Takeaway just how far-reaching this issue is. We also hear from Representative Barbara Lee, who introduced the End Diaper Need Act of 2021 earlier this year with Representative Rosa DeLauro.
Decarceration in New Jersey
In October of 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a law allowing early release of 5,300 prisoners. Under legislation S2519, inmates who were eligible to be released in a year’s time could be awarded public health emergency credits during a public health emergency. Incarcerated adults and juveniles were released 8 months early as a result. When Governor Murphy ended the state’s public health emergency status during the summer of 2021, early releases ended, too. We speak with Karen Yi, a reporter for WNYC Radio, about decarceration in New Jersey.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Parents of Alleged Michigan School Shooter Also Charged
On Friday, the parents of the 15-year-old who is charged with killing four students in Michigan, were themselves charged with involuntary manslaughter. Professor Jonathan Metzl joins us to discuss the move by the prosecutor. Does it signal a move to hold the parents of shooters more accountable and will others face the same legal consequences?
The Last "Fire Camp" For Incarcerated Youth In California
To risk their lives fighting fires, they earn between $2.20 and $4 an hour. California firefighters who are not incarcerated typically earn more than $40 an hour. Still, these jobs feel unattainable to the young people of Pine Grove after their release, many of whom are now trained but can't find permanent jobs in the field. Joining us for the discussion is Sara Tardiff, freelance reporter for Teen Vogue, who looked into the Pine Grove facility and California's incarcerated firefighting industry.
Riz Ahmed on "Encounter" and Making Space for His Own Identity Onscreen
Riz Ahmed stars in “Encounter,” a film about an ex-Marine who takes his sons on the run, in an attempt to protect them from what he believes is an impending alien invasion. The Takeaway spoke with him about “Encounter” and how he's managed to include more of himself onscreen over time.
Steven Spielberg’s Remake of "West Side Story" Hits Theaters This Week
The remake does attempt to correct some of the problems of the original film, including its casting, but is it enough? For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Frances Negron-Muntaner, media scholar and professor at Columbia University.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
According to estimates from Cal Fire, more than 4 million acres in the state burned in 2020 and another 3 million have been lost to blazes in 2021. The fires have destroyed thousands of homes and claimed dozens of lives. And the realities of global climate change suggest that this destruction is likely to be a new normal for the state.
But because of a firefighter shortage, around 30% of firefighters in the state are inmates or remain incarcerated. But what Pine Grove does is a little different. Pine Grove is a state juvenile justice facility where incarcerated boys and young men between the ages of 17 and 24 are trained to fight fires.
In fact, it’s the last “fire camp” for incarcerated youth in the state.
To risk their lives fighting fires, they earn between $2.20 and $4 an hour. California firefighters who are not incarcerated typically earn more than $40 an hour. Still, these jobs feel unattainable to the young people of Pine Grove after their release, many of whom are now trained but can't find permanent jobs in the field.
Joining us for the discussion is Sara Tardiff, freelance reporter for Teen Vogue, who looked into the Pine Grove facility and California's incarcerated firefighting industry.
On Thursday President Biden held a press conference on the quickly spreading Omicron variant that’s now been found in multiple states.
To do that Biden has a new plan - and it doesn't include lockdowns. Instead, the White House wants to focus on vaccinating families, getting every adult a booster shot, and upping the testing on international travelers. The administration is even pushing for free, at-home covid tests covered by private insurance.
To beat the new variant, Biden says it’s time for Americans to be united. But Americans across the country aren't exactly “united” in their support for him. Biden's approval rating sits at about 42%, and it hasn't budged even after the House passing his signature piece of legislation, Build Back Better. And when it comes to getting the shot, less than 60 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 - one of the lowest rates among wealthy nations.
So what does all this mean for the White House when it comes to their response against omicron? We discuss with Sheryl Gay Stolberg, a Washington Correspondent covering health policy at the New York Times.
Will Biden's New Covid Strategy Fix His Low Approval Ratings?
On Thursday President Biden held a press conference on the quickly spreading Omicron variant that’s now been found in multiple states. To beat the new variant, Biden says it’s time for Americans to be united. But Americans across the country aren't exactly “united” in their support for him. Biden's approval rating sits at about 42%, and it hasn't budged even after the House passing his signature piece of legislation, Build Back Better. We discuss with Sheryl Gay Stolberg, a Washington Correspondent covering health policy at the New York Times.
Reproductive Rights and the Constitution
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health which involves a Mississippi law that restricts abortion at 15 weeks, well before the viability of the fetus. Upholding the law threatens the constitutional right to abortion established in 1973 with Roe v Wade. We wanted to understand what the Constitution says or doesn’t say about the reproductive rights that have been extended to individuals for the past 50 years, so we spoke with Carter Snead, Professor of Law at Notre Dame University, and Elizabeth Wydra, President of the Constitutional Accountability Center.
Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams Second Bid for Governor: How the Political Landscape Has Changed
On Wednesday, Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams announced via Twitter that she would once again seek the office of governor of Georgia. With the upcoming midterm elections, all eyes will be on Georgia once again. But the political landscape has changed since 2018, so what will this mean for Abrams’ campaign? Delilah Agho-Otoghile, Field Director for Stacey Abrams' 2018 gubernatorial campaign and Executive Director of the Texas Future Project, joined the Takeaway to discuss.
What Is the NYC Racial Justice Commission?
In March, New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio created the Racial Justice Commission. The Takeaway hears from two members of the commission, Jennifer Jones-Austin and Yesenia Mata about their work.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
"Attica" Film Chronicles Dishonest Media Portrayal Of America's Largest Prison Uprising
50 years ago, in 1971, over a thousand prisoners took hold of the Attica supermax facility for five days in Western New York making it the largest prison rebellion in American history. We were joined by "Attica" co-director Stanley Nelson to talk about the film and the historical significance of the uprising.
"Mississippi Goddam: The Ballad of Billey Joe:” An Exploration of History, Southern Identity, Policing and Race
The Takeaway talks to Al Letson, the host of the national investigative news program, Reveal. He’s been working on an investigative podcast series that is out now called "Mississippi Goddam: The Ballad of Billey Joe.” The series takes its listeners to Lucedale, Mississippi, located in the southeast corner of the state, near Mobile, Alabama where a Black high school football star, Billie Joe Johnson, died during a traffic stop with a white deputy back in 2008.
Reinaldo Marcus Green on Directing HBO's King Richard
We spoke with the film's director Reinaldo Marcus Green about helming this project and where he’d like to take his career from here.
For transcripts, see individual segment pages.
Janai Nelson on the Future of the NAACP LDF
Janai Nelson, Associate Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund joins us to discuss the banning of books that teach a truthful version of history, and how she will lead the NAACP LDF in Spring of 2022 after the departure of current president, Sherrilyn Ifill.
Abortion Is Back in the Supreme Court
As the justices hear arguments, advocates are gathering outside the Court to express their support or opposition to abortion rights. The Takeaway spoke with one of those advocates, Dr. Dawn God-bolt, policy director at the National Birth Equity Collaborative. Her organization filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in support of the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only remaining abortion provider in Mississippi.
The Urgency of Addressing Global Inequalities on World AIDS Day
This year’s World AIDS Day theme is End Inequalities. End AIDS. End Pandemics. While the Joint United Nations AIDS program believes we can end the AIDS pandemic by 2030, we will not be able to do so without addressing the inequalities of awareness, infection rates, access to healthcare, and treatment around the world. We discuss the impact of those inequities with Dr. Steven Thrasher, professor at Northwestern University and author of the upcoming book, The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide.
Comedian Lizz Winstead on Bringing a Satirical Lens to the Fight for Abortion Rights
Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead joins The Takeaway to discuss her work for abortion access and the two recent abortion cases before the Supreme Court. She also talks about her organization Abortion Access Front and their new weekly Youtube show, Feminist Buzzkills Live!
For transcripts, see full segment pages.
SCOTUS To Decide the Fate of Reproductive Rights
This week, the Supreme Court will be hearing arguments for a Mississippi case that challenges legal precedent set by Roe v. Wade. If SCOTUS sides with the State of Mississippi, nearly five decades of abortion law will almost immediately be undone, and the effects would be swift and consequential as there are nearly 21 other states with "trigger laws" intended to criminalize a woman's right to choose. We heard from some listeners what Roe v. Wade means to them, and we sat down with Melissa Murray, Law Professor at NYU, faculty director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network, and co-host of the legal podcast “Strict Scrutiny.”
Environmental Defenders Are Being Killed, Threatened for Protecting Their Land
According to a report by Global Witness, an environment and human rights watchdog, 2020 was thedeadliest year on record for environment and land defenders around the world. On average more than four people a week were killed as a result of their work. And these numbers almost certainly underestimate the true scope of the violence. Much of this brutality occurred in Central and South America and more than one third of the victims are Indigenous persons. President Josefina Tunki of the Shuar Arutam People (PSHA) and Herlin Odicio, leader of the Kakataibo people in the central Peruvian Amazon joined the Takeaway to discuss.
BOOK: A Field Guide to White Supremacy
A Field Guide to White Supremacy creates a roadmap for understanding the existence of extremism and white supremacy in the United States and why it continues to persist. Co-Editor Kathleen Belew and Jamelle Bouie, one of the many leading thinkers contributing to the text, join us to discuss the new book.
George McGovern's Impact on Today's Political System
To understand the current polarization of our political system, we need to look at political campaigns in history. In the podcast, Of The People, creator and producer Ben Bradford focuses his lens first on the 1968 Democratic National Convention. While anti-Vietnam war protestors demonstrated outside the convention, party bosses selected pro-war vice presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey, who had not won a single primary. At the same time, South Dakota freshman Senator George McGovern decided to run for president. We speak with Ben Bradford about how the trajectory of McGovern’s campaign impacted our political system.
Transformational Takeaway
Today, we honor the lifetime and legacy of American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim who composed scores for groundbreaking musicals like Into the Woods, Westside Story, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Stephen Sondheim For transcripts, see full segment pages.