Episodes
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Hispanic voters: America’s political future
April 10, 2022 – Latinos are the fastest-growing segment of the American population and could steer its political future, picking those who control the U.S. House, Senate, and presidency.
“As long as we have this black-white dichotomy between the parties the real battleground is going to be over Hispanics,” says M.V. “Trey” Hood, a political scientist with the University of Georgia.
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The Politics of Ketanji
First Black Female Court Nominee on the ‘Defensive’
March 20, 2022 – First Black female U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson will face criticism this week from Senate Republicans for serving as a public defender.
“You’ve got a few guys up there running for president in 2024,” USA Today Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze says. “They care about firing up the Trump base of the party.”
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Rom Com to Rebellion, Irish Film Part of America
March 6, 2022 – Decades of Irish movies focus on the theme of the island’s violent struggle to free itself from British rule.
“Happiness is not really a prevailing characteristic of the Irish,” says Irish Studies Professor Socky O’Sullivan. “We tend to actually celebrate our troubles.”
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The Politics of the U.S. Intelligence
Radical Break from Past Strategies Stumps Russians
March 6, 2022 – Twenty years after colossal blunders claiming Iraq weapons of mass destruction and failing to intercept the 911 hijackers, U.S. Intelligence agencies are being praised for exposing Russian plans to invade the Ukraine.
“Someone decided to make a pretty radical break from what has been the practice for decades,” former New York Times national security reporter Scott Shane said. “What they did at each stage is they put the intelligence out.”
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The Politics of the Putin
Could His Ukraine Bullying Backfire?
February 27, 2022 – Russia may capture the Ukraine capital, but the well-armed opponent could become Vladimir Putin’s Afghanistan.
“He’s asking for trouble,” former longtime Russian correspondent Will Englund says. “You’ll have a guerilla war.”
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The Politics of the Robert T. Lincoln
Lincoln Son Close to Three Presidential Assassinations
February 20, 2022 – Our President’s Day edition focuses on how Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert T., detested politics after his father’s assassination.
“The Republican Party tried five times to run him for president,” Robert T.’s biographer Jason Emerson says. “He said ‘To me the presidency is nothing but a gilded prison.’”
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The Politics of the Ukraine
Russian President’s Threats ‘Cold War Ghosts’
February 13, 2022 – Communist Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat to invade Ukraine to prevent it from aligning with the Democratic west hearkens back to the east-west battle of a half-century ago.
“A lot of Cold War ghosts have been resurrected and scattered about,” Los Angeles Times Foreign Editor Jeffrey Fleishman said. “Is he willing to breach war to collect what the past has already taken from him?”
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The Politics of Bashing Biden
Liberal Opinion Writers are Turning on their President
February 6, 2022 – America’s liberal media is starting to criticize President Joe Biden’s handling of national and international affairs. Is it wiping out his chances for reelection in 2024?
“Some of it is deserved,” said Bill Straub, a former White House correspondent. “The withdrawal from Afghanistan was just a bloody mess.”
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The Politics of Killing Police
55 Shooting Deaths are Highest in 26 Years
January 29, 2022 – An increasing number of American police officers are being gunned down in a wave not seen in a quarter of a century.
“There’s a variety of reasons and most of them most of them can be laid at the feet of our elected officials and police leaders,” said a former Baltimore police union leader. They have emboldened criminals in this country by the de-policing.”
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The Politics of Bob Dole
The Man Once Called the Darth Vader of Congress Had a Soft Spot
January 23, 2022 – Bob Dole died last month at 98 and left a legacy of a tough, grim Congressional curmudgeon who failed to achieve the presidency three times but quietly helped the poor, including creating a key economic lifeline: food stamps.
“He had a very tough outside,” said author and Dole researcher Mark Zwonitzer. “He has a really soft core inside.”
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The Politics of Racial Reckoning
Are Companies Capitalizing Financially on Latest Civil Rights Struggle?
January 17, 2022 – In the wake of the George Floyd killing, American companies are engaging in a racial reckoning not seen since the Civil Rights struggle of the 1960s. But is the inclusion of more Black Americans in news stories, TV ads and hiring sincere?
“I think there are some companies that have leadership that realizes there has to be a change and are making a best effort,” said Phyllis Alexander of the National Coalition Building Institute. “The majority of our corporations are in the business of making money...not to do social justice.”
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The Politics of Christmas Songs
From the Political to the Bizarre
December 26, 2021 – From war to nuclear holocaust, Christmas attracts songs with a purpose, in addition to those you wish remained a silent night.
“There is a billion of hours of recorded Christmas music in the world that most people do not hear,” says technical producer, Brad Maybe, organizer of The Eggnog Playlist.
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Homeless a Persecuted Class
December 20, 2021 – As the number of billionaires in America has risen to 614 so has the population of our nation’s most unfortunate residents: the homeless. Many communities are enforcing public nuisance laws to rid them from their streets.
“Being homeless is not protected under our anti-discrimination laws and therefore many forms of what is blatant discrimination against unhoused people are very difficult for us to challenge using legal advocacy,” said Eve Garrow of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.
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The Politics of Build Back Better
President Biden’s Signature Legislation Perilously Dangles
December 13, 2021 – President Biden’s ambitious Build Back Better legislation that he says will make historic improvements to affordable housing, childcare, education, and tax equity faces derailment in the Senate.
“Any one member can unilaterally impose their will,” said Kevin Fogarty, former chief of staff for Republican Congressman Peter King. “When you’re dealing with such a narrow majority, it hard to get some of these things done. It’s like herding cats.”
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Longstanding Kosher Rules in Israel Being Challenged
December 6, 2021 – Israel’s new governing coalition does not include ultra-Orthodox parties for the first time in a half century, causing a push to loosen longstanding food certification, religious and social policies.
“In America, you have no guidelines on who says what is kosher,” said Rabbi Josh Yuter, considered the world’s largest Jewish influence. “In Israel it’s completely different, in order for you to claim your establishment was kosher, you had to have the official Rabbinut body certify you.”
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America’s Most Dangerous Criminals? Fire Setters
November 28, 2021 – Footage of heartbreaking California wildfires consuming gorgeous homes seems to be a regular segment on the nightly news. But one in 10 of those devastating blazes are intentionally set, destroying communities, forests, and lives.
“The wildland arsonist, in particular, is the most dangerous criminal that there is,” says the nation’s leading arson investigator, Edward Nordskog. “They can burn a town or a county down with just a match.”
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Nation’s First Inhabitants Continue to Struggle
November 21, 2021 – Native Americans lead the nation among ethnic groups in COVID outbreaks and death, while also ranking first in methamphetamine drug abuse.
“There are decades of Native people not being heard,” said Kerry Hawk Lessard, executive director of Native American LifeLines, a Baltimore health center. “The identities of Native American people are so often asserted through stereotypes.”
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Paper Shortage May Stall Santa’s Holiday Book Delivery
November 14, 2021 – A paper shortage threatens to disrupt holiday book sales and independent bookstores gain a small COVID victory over the nation’s book selling king, Amazon.
“During the pandemic, people have started to shop more consciously, looking at their local and retail businesses,” said book industry analyst Jane Friedman. “They want them to survive.”
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The Politics of the Veterans Administration
Veterans Care Healthy With Customer Contact Improvement Needs
November 7, 2021 – Health care provided to 9.1 million American veterans is exceptional though improvements are needed in areas of patient access, ranging from answering the phones to providing adequate parking.
“In a word, I would say the care we provide is outstanding,” said Tim Kelly, a recently retired Customer Care Coordinator with the agency. “But if I call, and nobody answers the phone, I’m not going to remember the care, I’m going to remember that someone didn’t answer the phone.”
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The Politics of Boston
After Two Centuries of White Men Mayors, Women of Color
October 31, 2021 – White men have served as Boston mayors since its founding but on Tuesday voters will elect one of two women of color in a city scarred with a national reputation for vehemently fighting busing and housing integration.
“That’s a reputation Boston maintains but it’s definitely one that the city wants to move away from,” said Dr. Erin O’Brien of the University of Massachusetts Boston political science department.
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