Tomorrow, the National Labor Relations Board is set to hold a hearing into the failed unionization vote of workers at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, with the union that sought to represent the workers alleging foul-play. We spoke with Sara Nelson, head of the Association of Flight Attendants, about the hearing, and the state of the labor movement in the U.S. more generally. Nelson has been a lead figure in supporting Amazon workers and unions across the country. And in headlines: the...
May 06, 2021•17 min
After delivering on his promise of 200 million shots in 100 days, President Biden has set a new vaccine target: that 70 percent of the adult population get at least one shot by July 4. The Biden administration also plans to change the way doses are portioned out to states by allowing states to request or reject doses from a central stockpile according to their need. Republican state lawmakers are pushing bills to ban or severely limit the teaching of critical race theory, which is the idea that ...
May 05, 2021•20 min
Four mothers who had been separated from their children at the border by the Trump administration will finally be reunited with them this week, according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas yesterday. These are the first families to be brought together as a result of a task force President Biden created shortly after taking office, and over the next few weeks, an additional 32 families from across Mexico and Central America are set to be reunited. Public health experts think it's u...
May 04, 2021•15 min
The COVID crisis in India is getting worse by most metrics, with Saturday marking another daily record of new cases. In the U.S., Oregon is emerging as a hotspot. On the brighter side of things, the U.S. vaccination campaign remains extremely successful with over 103 million adults now fully vaccinated. A landmark lawsuit in the decades-long opioid crisis begins today between two communities in West Virginia and the nation's three largest drug distributors. The trial centers around an explosion ...
May 03, 2021•17 min
The pandemic continues to spiral out of control in India, with the country recently topping 200,000 deaths by the official count. The initial flights carrying relief from the U.S. landed yesterday. Vaccine manufacturing supplies from the U.S. will soon follow. The Food and Drug Administration announced yesterday that it’s creating standards over the next year to ban menthol in cigarettes and all flavoring in cigars. Flavored tobacco offerings are heavily marketed to Black people, and as a result...
Apr 30, 2021•17 min
President Biden gave his first address to Congress last night, themed largely around moving America out of the most difficult stage of the pandemic and approaching a new normal. Part of that has to do with The American Families Plan, a $1.8 trillion program that would pay for two free years of community college, universal pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds, and more. We go over the main takeaways. Biden timed his speech to come right as he approaches his 100th day in office on Friday, too. To discuss ...
Apr 29, 2021•22 min
The CDC issued new guidance yesterday that fully vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks outdoors unless they’re gathering in a large crowd, and they can safely enjoy many indoor activities with masks. Of course, the key phrase here is “fully vaccinated." Until you’re pumping COVID antibodies, the CDC continues to recommend masking up in any situation where you’re around other unvaccinated people. Apple released its latest iOS on Monday, introducing a new tool called App Tracking Transparency...
Apr 28, 2021•20 min
The results of the 2020 Census were released yesterday, and they showed that over the past decade, the U.S. population grew by the slowest pace since the 1930s. The results will change how the 435 seats in Congress are allocated, with a handful of states set to gain or lose a seat. We discuss. The Supreme Court will be taking up a case that deals with the rights that people have to carry guns outside their homes for self-defense. They'll also take on a case affecting free speech that began when ...
Apr 27, 2021•19 min
The CDC and the FDA have lifted their recommended pause on the Johnson and Johnson COVID vaccine, and added a warning label about the very, very rare reported cases of blood clots. But overall vaccination rates in the US are slowing down, indicating that while supply is increasing, demand is decreasing. President Biden lifted the partial ban against the export of the supplies necessary to make vaccines in India, as well as rapid tests, ventilators, and more. The state of the virus there is dire:...
Apr 26, 2021•18 min
President Biden and 40 heads of state met for the first day of a virtual climate summit, yesterday, and he pledged to cut America’s greenhouse gases in half from where they were in 2005 by 2030. Biden also announced a plan for the US to double the amount of money it gives to other countries to help them lower their own emissions. COVID cases are still surging worldwide, with a record 5.24 million new cases recorded just last week. The State Department issued 116 "Do No Travel" advisories to disc...
Apr 23, 2021•15 min
Derek Chauvin has been found guilty, but it's painfully obvious that the issue of police brutality is bigger than the conviction of one officer for murder. For example, today is the funeral for Daunte Wright, the 20-year-old Black man who was killed by police during a traffic stop near Minneapolis. Plus details are still coming out in Columbus, Ohio, about the police killing of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant, who was shot just minutes after the Chauvin verdict was announced. To discuss the trial in ...
Apr 22, 2021•21 min
Former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd, yesterday, and now faces up to 40 years in prison. The verdict represented a rare moment of accountability in a country where law enforcement officers who kill rarely get convicted. We discuss the verdict, along with reactions from elected officials, activists, and Floyd’s family in Minneapolis. And in headlines: drug regulators in the EU approve distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine with a wa...
Apr 21, 2021•14 min
President Biden held bipartisan meetings yesterday to find some middle ground for his massive infrastructure bill. On the left, AOC and Bernie Sanders introduced their own version of the bill with a larger commitment to public housing. But passing any infrastructure bill will likely require budget reconciliation as long as the filibuster remains in place. The union that sought to represent Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, formally filed objections last Friday to the results of the ...
Apr 20, 2021•18 min
It was another tragic weekend in the midst of our national epidemic of gun violence, with mass shootings taking place in Wisconsin, Texas, Nebraska, and Ohio. That was after the shooting last week at a FedEx warehouse in Indiana, which many have called to investigate as a hate crime against Sikhs. We discuss the shootings, as well as what’s happening in Minnesota in relation to the police killings of Daunte Wright and George Floyd. The worldwide death toll from COVID reached 3 million over the w...
Apr 19, 2021•17 min
Only a handful of blood-clotting cases have been reported among recipients of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, but it's predominantly women who have developed these rare symptoms. To answer questions about the “one dose fits all” mode of medical research that can occasionally lead to these kinds of outcomes, we spoke to Rosemary Morgan, a research scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She’s currently studying the gendered effects of COVID-19 on several international commu...
Apr 16, 2021•25 min
A CDC committee voted yesterday to keep the pause going on the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, at least until it meets again. Temporarily stopping use of the vaccine makes sense, but the move also has immediate impacts on the underserved populations that had been relying on the vaccine for protection. Now-former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter will be charged with second-degree manslaughter for shooting and killing Daunte Wright. We discuss the history of what happened whe...
Apr 15, 2021•18 min
Federal health officials recommended a pause on giving out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, yesterday, after they reported that six women experienced rare blood clots. Nearly 7 million people have received the J&J vaccine so far, so the incidents are extremely rare, but all 50 states suspended the vaccine’s use or advised a pause. Today, President Biden is expected to announce that he will withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan by 9/11 of this year. This comes after 2,300 US service membe...
Apr 14, 2021•16 min
A police officer shot and killed 20-year-old unarmed Black man Daunte Wright in a Minneapolis suburb this Sunday, just a few miles from where former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for the murder of George Floyd. We discuss the details of the killing, plus the reactions from leaders and residents of the city. The CDC’s director Dr. Rochelle Walesnky said that vaccines won’t solve the COVID crisis unfolding in Michigan, and suggested a lockdown instead. Surges like these are ...
Apr 13, 2021•19 min
Most adults in America can soon sign up for a vaccine, but we're faced with a new set of COVID-related questions on vaccine passports, virus variants, and more. To give us some answers, we're joined by epidemiologist, physician, and former Detroit health commissioner Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. Plus, Michigan has become the center of America's latest COVID surge with an average of over 7,300 new daily cases last week. We ask Dr. El-Sayed about the link between that surge and the UK variant of the virus,...
Apr 12, 2021•21 min
It's been over two months since the military first seized control of Myanmar. The coup was met with a massive protest movement in the streets, in workplaces, and on the internet. As a response, the military has become increasingly violent in its crackdown, killing over 500 people and jailing thousands more. We spoke to Aye Min Thant, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has been reporting on the coup since February about the country's past, present, and future. And in headlines: An executive ...
Apr 09, 2021•23 min
The CDC is continuing to warn about new, more infectious variants of the coronavirus in the US, and is tracking potential spread in daycare centers and youth sports. Meanwhile, Brazil is grappling with its own new variant that has caused infections and deaths to reach new highs this week. Republicans in Kentucky joined together with the Democratic Governor to expand voting rights in the state — bucking the trend of Republicans elsewhere in the country. We explain what’s behind the move, along wi...
Apr 08, 2021•17 min
Senate Democrats got the green light to pass more bills with a simple majority vote. On Monday, the Senate’s parliamentarian ruled that the Dems can pass more budget reconciliation bills this year — the same process they used for the relief bill. We explain what this means. President Biden wants states to make all adults eligible for vaccines by April 19th. The new date is two weeks sooner than his previous goal. And in headlines: St. Louis jail uprising, Iran and the US take steps to resume nuc...
Apr 07, 2021•16 min
The Biden administration is trying to get corporations to pay their fair share of taxes in order to fund a new jobs and infrastructure package. Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for a global minimum corporate tax rate. We explain. Clinical trials of a low-cost COVID vaccine are beginning in Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, and Vietnam. The vaccine is produced in a less expensive, more traditional way than the vaccines we have now, and it could be majorly important to ending the pandemic...
Apr 06, 2021•15 min
The MLB is officially moving the All-Star Game out of Georgia after Republicans in the state passed a restrictive voting law. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp insinuated the move amounts to so-called “cancel culture.” And in Texas, big businesses are starting to speak out against a similar voter suppression law there before it’s on the books. The CDC released new guidance for vaccinated Americans on how to safely travel. Plus, “vaccine passports” are emerging as a major flashpoint for both politics a...
Apr 05, 2021•17 min
As Biden works to sell his infrastructure plan, we take a look at the money he’s proposing for high-speed internet and what it could do to address equity issues in education. 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine had to be tossed out after a factory mix-up in Baltimore. Meanwhile, Major League Baseball is back and the Texas Rangers have announced no plans to cap attendance … even though we’re still in a pandemic. And in headlines: Republicans try to stay silent on Gaetz-gate, Iva...
Apr 02, 2021•21 min
Journalists got a tour this week of a detention facility in Texas housing migrants — the first time the media have gotten access to one since Biden took office. They reported that 4,000 people, including children, were packed into a space designed for only 250. Companies like Coca-Cola and Delta finally spoke out about Georgia’s new voter suppression law. We discuss the statements, whether they came too late, and what businesses can do now to step up from here. And in headlines: Witnesses in the...
Apr 01, 2021•19 min
President Biden is in Pittsburgh, today, to unveil a new infrastructure plan that would invest trillions in the country’s roads, bridges, affordable housing, broadband, and manufacturing industry. We explain how Biden might fund the bill and how earmarks might come into play. Today is the Trans Day of Visibility, and it comes at a moment when the human rights of trans kids and adults are under attack in states across the country. On Monday, Republican state lawmakers in Arkansas passed a bill to...
Mar 31, 2021•20 min
Florida is following Georgia’s lead by moving forward on a bill that makes it harder to vote. It’s part of a broader and coordinated effort to roll back voting rights in states across the country, backed by groups like The Heritage Foundation. We explain that, and listen to leaked audio that reveals how Republican donors are trying to message against federal voting rights legislation. Yesterday brought back-to-back federal warnings about the pandemic. Biden called on states to reimpose mask mand...
Mar 30, 2021•21 min
The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is set to begin today with opening statements. We explain what to expect and highlight new police reform efforts in cities across the country, including a pandemic decriminalization program in Baltimore that could become permanent. Covid-19 cases are starting to rise again driven by increasing infection rates in places like New York, New Jersey, and Michigan. And although vaccinations continue to rise, experts still caution the public ...
Mar 29, 2021•16 min
In the new Crooked podcast Takeline, hosts Jason Concepcion and Renee Montgomery discuss the recent viral tweet by an Oregon Ducks women’s basketball player, highlighting the unequal support in women’s sports by the NCAA. They are also joined by senior writer for The Athletic Chantel Jennings, who provides more context regarding the treatment of female college athletes and coaches. Subscribe now and follow Takeline for more conversations like this every Tuesday as Jason and Renee dive deep into ...
Mar 28, 2021•17 min
