Eastern Standard

WEKU•www.weku.org

WEKU's weekly public affairs program discussing topics and concerns of Central and Eastern Kentucky, hosted by Tom Martin

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Episodes

Eastern Standard April 4th, 2024

In Episode Three of the special Eastern Standard series Democracy Optimist : 2020 saw unprecedented attacks on the results of the presidential election, even though there was no evidence to question its results. Host Joshua Douglas, an election law and voting research professor at the University of Kentucky, asks Harvard Law School professor Lawrence Lessig, co-author of “How to Steal a Presidential Election,” if this could happen again in 2024. Also in this episode: The Constitution does not ex...

Apr 04, 2024•53 min

Eastern Standard March 28, 2024

On this week’s edition of Eastern Standard: “It feels unusual in that the pro-authoritarian forces are not disguising their authoritarianism” - Robert Farley, a professor in the University of Kentucky’s Patterson School for Diplomacy on segments of the U.S. population who openly welcome autocratic rule in the White House. Can “Red and Blue” folks gather in one place and hold a civil conversation? That’s the aim of workshops coming to Lexington, hosted by Braver Angels, a national organization de...

Mar 28, 2024•43 min

Eastern Standard March 21st, 2024

Gerry Roll, recently retired as CEO of the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky with her successor, Kristin Walker Collins(Chris Begley) Truth and honesty are those values that give us that “North Star” that we can rely on as we navigate our way in the world. But William Damon, one of the world's leading scholars of human development, observes that these days we seem to be going through a dysfunctional period of social change, when “an essential commitment to truthfulness no longer seems to be as...

Mar 21, 2024•53 min

Eastern Standard March 14th, 2024

Childcare underfunding is a crisis for working families and employers( Shutterstock) Part Two of a financial crisis for the vital service of childcare looms as a second “fiscal cliff”, a legacy of emergency pandemic aid, approaches. Kentucky Youth Advocates’ Sarah Vanover, a living encyclopedia on the subject, discusses a proposed major state response now in process in the General Assembly. Brigitte Blom looks into a strategy to recover from the learning loss that occurred during the pandemic. H...

Mar 14, 2024•53 min

Eastern Standard March 7th, 2024

Episode Two of the Eastern Standard series "Democracy Optimist" connects the importance of local elections which also will appear on the November ballot to the daily lives of voters. Hosted by University of Kentucky election law and voting research professor and author Joshua Douglas, this edition features conversations with Richard Young, founding director of CivicLex, and Jennifer Huseman, editorial director of the non-profit newsroom VoteBeat.org.

Mar 07, 2024•53 min

Eastern Standard Feb. 29th, 2024

&nbsp;Members of the Kentucky Student Voice Team(KSVT) This week on Eastern Standard: The latest in our ongoing series about America’s flirtation with autocracy. Our guest is Matthew Howell, Associate Professor of Government at Eastern Kentucky University. Believing the structure of American democracy to be sound, time-tested, and resilient, Dr. Howell is confident the country can weather the 2024 presidential election. Zachary Clifton, a senior at Corbin High School, is the Legislative Poli...

Feb 29, 2024•53 min

Eastern Standard Feb. 22, 2024

Which way for the USA?(Shutterstock / Shutterstock) On this week’s Eastern Standard: After escaping dictatorship in his home country of The Congo for democracy in the U.S., EKU professor Patrick Litanga describes seeing his adopted home country flirt with authoritarianism. WEKU’s Stan Ingold explores failing municipal water systems in eastern Kentucky. How does it feel to be recognized with the teaching equivalent of an Oscar? Education contributor Gill Hunter talks with Lexington agriculture te...

Feb 22, 2024•53 min

Eastern Standard Feb. 15, 2024

Climate change impacts such as wildfires are reversing air quality improvements(Shutterstock) The rate of chronic absenteeism in Kentucky’s public schools has reached 30 percent. Education contributor Brigitte Blom hears from experts who say student absenteeism is a lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The significant gains of the past 50 years in U.S. air quality have been reversed by the effects of climate change, according to an analysis by scientists at the First Street Foundation. Ten...

Feb 15, 2024•53 min

Eastern Standard Feb. 8, 2024

Coal train adjacent to the North Fork of the Kentucky River, Perry County, Kentucky(Chris Begley) Do surface mines and mountaintop removal sites worsen flooding in Eastern Kentucky coalfield communities? The question is the focus of Episode Ten of RISE, the Eastern Standard documentary series. The hour features an extensive conversation with veteran environmental mining engineer and mine safety inspector Jack Spadaro, Mary Cromer and Rebecca Shelton of the Appalachian Citizens Law Center, and th...

Feb 08, 2024•53 min

Eastern Standard Feb. 1, 2024

Democracy Optimist, an election-year special series from WEKU, Eastern Standard, and Dynamix Productions, delivers expert background on election law and voting to prepare you for the 2024 general election on November 5. Hosted by University of Kentucky election law and voting research professor Joshua Douglas, Episode One features conversations with two Secretaries of State: Michigan Democrat Jocelyn Benson and Kentucky Republican Michael Adams. Benson and Adams oversee elections in their states...

Feb 01, 2024•53 min

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