The Takeaway
1,032 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsA 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.
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Episodes
What Does the Rest of the World Think About the U.S. Right Now?
July 13, 2022 16:00 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MBThis summer has been a turbulent one, and this is probably the understatement of the decade but it’s been ”eventful” in the US, with a series of high-profile mass shootings, the January 6th investigations, SCOTUS overturning of Roe v. Wade, continuing incidents of police violence, tensions on the Mexican border–all amidst the continuing Covid-19 pandemic. For many of us here in the U.S., it has felt like an overwhelming onslaught of events. But how is the rest of the world thinking about our...
What To Know About COVID Variants
July 13, 2022 16:00 - 8 minutes - 7.49 MBAcross 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 the Kaiser Family Foundation, a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine and a form...
Immortality and the Future of Anti-Aging
July 12, 2022 21:55 - 8 minutes - 7.32 MBHumans 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 20...
India's Democracy is in Crisis
July 12, 2022 21:54 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBIndia has long been considered the largest democracy in the world. But India’s constitution is 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 protes...
A Never-Before-Seen Look at Our Universe
July 12, 2022 16:00 - 17 minutes - 15.7 MBThis 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 pho...
20 Weeks of War in Ukraine
July 11, 2022 20:30 - 7 minutes - 6.84 MBThe Russian government recently declared an "operational pause" in its war on Ukraine, in the face of difficulties recruiting troops and continued international aid to Ukraine. Christopher Miller, world and national security reporter with POLITICO, covering Russia's war on Ukraine, explains what this means and where the war will go from here.
Movies to See and Skip at the 2022 Summer Box Office
July 11, 2022 16:23 - 16 minutes - 14.7 MBMore 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...
Brittney Griner's Guilty Plea
July 11, 2022 16:00 - 8 minutes - 7.66 MBLast 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 pla...
What’s Going On With the Economy and High Inflation?
July 11, 2022 15:15 - 12 minutes - 11.1 MBPrices 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...
Deep Dive: Water (Rebroadcast)
July 08, 2022 16:00 - 45 minutes - 42.1 MBIn this Deep Dive, 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 utili...
Deep Dive: The American Death Penalty (Rebroadcast)
July 07, 2022 16:00 - 44 minutes - 40.5 MBJoining 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. Cle...
Deep Dive: Sex Work (Rebroadcast)
July 07, 2022 03:00 - 51 minutes - 47 MBOn 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...
Deep Dive: Health Insurance (Rebroadcast)
July 05, 2022 13:00 - 49 minutes - 45.5 MBJoining 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 ...
Deep Dive: Fair Housing (Rebroadcast)
July 04, 2022 13:00 - 1 hour - 59.5 MBAfter 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 T...
Deep Dive: The U.S. Anti-Poverty and Labor Movement
July 01, 2022 13:00 - 56 minutes - 51.8 MB“We live in the United States, the richest country in the history of the world. And we have 140 million people who are poor or one health care crisis, one job loss, one storm, one tornado away from economic ruin.” - Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Co-Chair of the Poor People's Campaign Even before the excruciating weight of the COVID-19 pandemic, poverty rates rose for the first time in five years. In 2020, there were 3.3 million more people living in poverty than in 2019. Poverty rates rose among...
Reproductive Coercion is an American Cornerstone
June 30, 2022 20:55 - 14 minutes - 13.4 MBConservatives 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 his...
Alok Vaid-Menon Defies Definition
June 30, 2022 16:00 - 18 minutes - 17.2 MBAlok 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.
Meet the Voice Behind Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
June 30, 2022 13:00 - 14 minutes - 13.4 MBWe speak with comedian Jenny Slate about bringing back her viral character “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” for a feature length film.
U.S. Border Policy is Dangerous by Design
June 29, 2022 16:00 - 12 minutes - 11.8 MBOn 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 w...
Immigration Policy Past and Present
June 29, 2022 16:00 - 7 minutes - 6.85 MBDuring 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 Homela...
The Overturning of Roe Could Make Fertility Treatments Like IVF More Complicated
June 29, 2022 16:00 - 24 minutes - 22.1 MBThe 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 li...
Polar Bears Face an Uncertain Future With Climate Change
June 28, 2022 20:42 - 8 minutes - 8.01 MBResearchers 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 ...
What Democrats Didn't Do for Abortion Rights
June 28, 2022 16:00 - 25 minutes - 23.2 MBBoth 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.
Monkeypox and Covid: What We Need to Know
June 28, 2022 13:00 - 15 minutes - 14 MBCases of the monkeypox virus have been spreading in several countries, including the U.S.. Many of those contracting the virus are gay and bisexual men, although the virus is believed to be spreading through close physical contact but not sexual transmission. New York City recently made monkeypox vaccines available to men who have sex with men, but the city has not had enough supply to meet demand among those seeking to get vaccinated. We speak with epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves about monke...
Gun Control: Where We Are and Where We're Going
June 27, 2022 16:15 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBIn 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 unconstit...
A Check-In With an Abortion Provider in Texas
June 27, 2022 16:00 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBIn 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 pro...
Musician Bartees Strange Takes Nothing for Granted
June 27, 2022 15:36 - 16 minutes - 15.2 MBMusician 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.
SCOTUS Overturns Roe v Wade
June 24, 2022 21:30 - 19 minutes - 17.8 MBThe 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 ...
Reproductive Care After the End of Roe
June 24, 2022 21:29 - 8 minutes - 7.95 MBWe 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.
Does It Matter If We Were "Born This Way"?
June 23, 2022 21:08 - 16 minutes - 15.5 MB"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 Tran...
Fifty Years of Title IX
June 23, 2022 17:39 - 25 minutes - 22.9 MBToday 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 wer...
The Hound Dog For the Win!
June 23, 2022 13:00 - 8 minutes - 8.19 MBThe 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 s...
Global Food Prices Are at A Record High
June 22, 2022 16:00 - 8 minutes - 7.69 MBGlobal 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 Th...
Tangerine Records and the Estate of the Legendary Ray Charles
June 22, 2022 16:00 - 19 minutes - 18 MBTangerine 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.
The Economics and Politics Behind the Proposed Gas Tax Credit
June 22, 2022 13:00 - 21 minutes - 19.8 MBWith 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 ...
Adrian Quesada's Boleros Psicodelicos
June 21, 2022 16:00 - 12 minutes - 11.7 MBGrammy award-winning musician and producer Adrian Quesada, known for his work as part of Black Pumas joins us to discuss his latest project, Boleros Psicodelicos which takes its inspiration from the golden era of Psychedelic Balada Music of the 1960's and 70's.
A Supreme Court Roundup
June 21, 2022 16:00 - 20 minutes - 18.5 MBGun 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.
How Racial Health Disparities Persist
June 21, 2022 16:00 - 14 minutes - 13.7 MBAmericans 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.
Mega Methane in Bovine Belches but Kelp is On the Way
June 21, 2022 13:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBWhile 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 Exten...
Becoming Afropunk
June 20, 2022 16:00 - 17 minutes - 16.3 MBJames 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.
The Poor People's March
June 17, 2022 20:45 - 13 minutes - 12.1 MBAhead 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.
The Voices of World Refugee Day
June 17, 2022 16:00 - 12 minutes - 11 MBLooking 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 jour...
Queer Families: Identical Twins Talk About Pride
June 17, 2022 13:00 - 16 minutes - 14.9 MBBrenda 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 Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
June 16, 2022 16:00 - 15 minutes - 14.1 MBThe 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 document...
How Stigma and Discrimination Affect the Bisexual+ Community
June 16, 2022 16:00 - 8 minutes - 8.15 MBPride 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, a...
The Biases Behind Predictive Algorithms for Child Welfare Tracking
June 16, 2022 13:00 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBEleven 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.
Is Pride Too Commercialized?
June 15, 2022 16:00 - 16 minutes - 14.8 MBThe 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 ni...
What Does Queer Mean?
June 15, 2022 16:00 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBPeople 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."
Queer As Folk is Back
June 14, 2022 16:00 - 9 minutes - 9.03 MBIn 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 quick...
Animating Real Stories of Immigration
June 14, 2022 16:00 - 15 minutes - 14.1 MBThe 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.