New York City holds its mayoral primary, today, one of the highest profile elections since the presidential election and a super visible test of ranked-choice voting. Closing messages in the last days touched on police violence, public safety, economic recovery and more. We spoke with Emma Fitzsimmons, City Hall Bureau Chief for the New York Times, about the four leading candidates, and we interviewed voters to get their perspective, too. And in headlines: SCOTUS strikes down NCAA’s restrictions...
Jun 22, 2021•17 min
Juneteenth is coming up this Saturday, and Congress just passed legislation to make it a federal holiday. We talk to UCLA Professor Brenda Stevenson about the historic legacy of June 19th, and why it deserved to become a national holiday now more than ever. Plus, we hear about how some people plan to celebrate this weekend. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday .
Jun 18, 2021•20 min
President Biden had his first one-on-one meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Geneva, yesterday. The leaders discussed recent cyberattacks and the state of human rights in their respective countries ... and allegedly, things stayed basically cordial. Next week, the Senate has a scheduled vote on voting rights legislation, and a memo put out yesterday by Senator Joe Manchin laid out the kind of bill he would be willing to vote for. Manchin said he's in favor of voter ID requirements a...
Jun 17, 2021•14 min
The main electric grid operator in Texas, ERCOT, is dropping the ball on providing services again, this time during extreme heat. It’s asking residents to conserve electricity until Friday to keep up with demand. Approximately 12 gigawatts of generating capacity was offline on Monday, and the electricity demand by residents came dangerously close to exceeding the grid's capacity. The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 climbed over 600,000 yesterday, according to the tracker from Johns Hopkins Univers...
Jun 16, 2021•16 min
President Biden meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow in Geneva for the final stop as part of his overseas trip as President. We spoke with Ben Rhodes, former Deputy National Security Advisor in the Obama administration and a host of "Pod Save the World," to talk about the takeaways from Biden's trip and what to expect for Biden and Putin's meeting. And in headlines: a driver kills a protestor in Minneapolis and injures three others, the Novavax vaccine is over 90 percent effectiv...
Jun 15, 2021•18 min
The G7 summit ended on Sunday, with President Joe Biden and several other world leaders pledging to send one billion COVID vaccines to poorer nations and endorsing the idea of a global minimum tax. Today, Biden is set to meet with NATO leaders before meeting with Vladimir Putin in Geneva on Wednesday. Yesterday in Israel, the Knesset voted to approve the new coalition government which includes eight different parties of varying politics who unified to oust former prime minister Benjamin Netanyah...
Jun 14, 2021•15 min
On Saturday, four Republican-led states will pull out of the federal government’s pandemic-related unemployment benefits program early. Congress hasn't moved on the wage issue at all, either, with Senate GOP members this week blocking the Paycheck Fairness Act. An extreme drought is affecting the West, with the entirety of Oregon, California, Utah, and Nevada under drought conditions, along with parts of other states. Unfortunately, things are expected to heat up and dry out from here, with cert...
Jun 11, 2021•17 min
President Biden is expected to announce a deal today where the U.S. will buy 500 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID vaccine and send them to 100 countries that are short on shots. This is great, but those doses alone won't help us achieve global vaccine equity. We discuss what else is being done and what more can be done. Biden's attempt to agree on an infrastructure bill with Senate Republicans broke down this week, with Republicans fulfilling their promise of obstructing the President ...
Jun 10, 2021•18 min
A more infectious coronavirus variant called the Delta variant is becoming the dominant strain in the UK, accounting for more than 60 percent of new infections there. We discuss what we know and don't know about the variant, which has yet to take hold in a major way in the U.S. International law enforcement agencies arrested more than 800 people in a sting operation that had criminals sending messages through an app they believed was secure...but was actually created and overseen by the FBI. And...
Jun 09, 2021•15 min
Several social programs launched during the pandemic are set to expire soon, including an eviction moratorium and enhanced unemployment benefits. Federal student loan payments will be due again starting October 1st, with no movement from the White House yet towards cancellation. The Supreme Court ruled that immigrants who came to the U.S. for humanitarian reasons can’t apply for a green card if they entered unlawfully. SCOTUS will continue issuing big decisions through the end of the month on is...
Jun 08, 2021•15 min
The twelve year tenure of right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may come to an end as early as this week if the broad coalition of officials that are set to replace him can hold together and form a new government. We spoke with Haggai Matar, the executive director of +972 magazine in Israel about the coalition, which includes representatives from eight ideologically distinct parties. Last week, U.S. Marshals shot and killed 32-year-old Winston “Boogie” Smith Jr. in Minneapolis whi...
Jun 07, 2021•16 min
President Biden had hoped to have 70 percent of adults in the U.S. vaccinated with at least one shot by Independence Day, and we’re close to hitting that goal. Biden also elaborated on his plan to share 80 million vaccine doses by the end of the month, with the first batch of doses headed for South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa. This was another banner week in the world of meme stocks, or stocks that have surged in value thanks to attention from retail investors on...
Jun 04, 2021•15 min
Yesterday, the U.S., Canada, and a number of European countries called for a ceasefire in Ethiopia, where government forces have targeted an ethnic group called Tigrayans with horrific attacks that have been described with elements of a "genocide." Reports have suggested that millions of people have been displaced with an unknown number killed. We spoke with Nima Elbagir, a senior international correspondent at CNN, about the ongoing crisis in the country. And in headlines: opposition leaders ag...
Jun 03, 2021•18 min
As most of the U.S. prepares to reopen by the end of this month, a World Health Organization official warned, “It would be a monumental error for any country to think the danger has passed.” Peru recently reported that COVID deaths in the country are almost triple than what was previously reported. Plus, the WHO moved to rename variants using letters of the Greek alphabet in part to remove the stigma from countries where they were first identified. Joe Biden became the first president to commemo...
Jun 02, 2021•17 min
The past year and more were filled with extreme ups and extreme downs, and as we reflect on that time, we’re looking back on some conversations that moved us, informed us, and made us smile. Today’s show includes interviews with 6th grade special education teacher Monice Seward, NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci, and Sana Khan, a student of public health at the University of Arizona. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday ....
Jun 01, 2021•17 min
Congressional Republicans have countered President Biden’s nearly $2 trillion infrastructure proposal with their own plan and a lower price tag: $928 billion. It came as Biden is expected to unveil a $6 trillion budget on Friday, too. We breakdown what’s in the GOP version of the infrastructure bill, and where this puts negotiations. The filibuster is coming into play as Senate Republicans vow to block the creation of a bipartisan commission that would’ve investigated the January 6th Capitol ins...
May 28, 2021•19 min
Amazon plans to buy movie studio MGM for $8.45 billion, which would give the tech company a huge library of movies, shows, and franchises including the James Bond series. Some in Congress want to block the sale. The tech company is also the target of a new antitrust suit from the D.C. Attorney General. The largest Confederate monument in the country is in Stone Mountain, Georgia, and it’s three acres large and carved into the side of a rock face. The park said this week that the monument will be...
May 27, 2021•15 min
Moderna said that its vaccine trial for 12-17 year olds resulted in zero cases of symptomatic COVID. Also, we discuss so-called breakthrough cases, which happen when fully vaccinated people get coronavirus: Don't worry, they're wildly rare and a sign of the effectiveness of vaccines. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law that would prohibit social media platforms from kicking off political candidates. If you're thinking "How do you enforce that?" or "Is this all to suck up to Trump?" the an...
May 26, 2021•18 min
Today is the 1-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. His friends, family, and the community of Minneapolis will memorialize him with a gathering and a candlelight vigil. Floyd's killing by now-former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin rallied activists to demand that their local police departments reform, be defunded, or be abolished completely. We discussed these efforts with Oluchi Omeoga, a co-creator of Black Visions Collective and organizer in Minneapolis. And in headlines: ...
May 25, 2021•20 min
The state of the pandemic in the US is looking brighter with infection rates dropping to where they were in June of last year, and hospitalization rates declining, too. But vaccination rates vary widely depending on where you look on a map, with New England showing rates above average and the South showing rates below average. The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas reportedly held over the weekend, and now the focus has shifted to addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Rebuilding after the ...
May 24, 2021•17 min
The NBA playoffs begin tomorrow after a season that's played out during a global pandemic and a mass movement against police brutality. To discuss this season in context, we're joined by the host of Takeline and ALL CAPS NBA, Jason Concepcion. Israel's security cabinet voted to accept a ceasefire that a Hamas official said would start at 2 a.m. local time on Friday. The full terms of the agreement aren't clear just yet, but this comes after mounting international pressure and a humanitarian cris...
May 21, 2021•16 min
Progressive Representatives in the House led an effort to block a $735 million arms sale to Israel in a demonstration of the shifting political attitudes towards the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. We spoke with Simone Zimmerman of B'Tselem USA and Yousef Munayyer at the Arab Center in Washington D.C. to get their perspectives. Also, Israel and Hamas are moving slowly towards a cease-fire. We're approaching the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre in Oklahoma where a white ...
May 20, 2021•20 min
Airstrikes have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with numerous vital resources damaged or destroyed. We spoke with Inès Abdel Razek, advocacy director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, about the situation on the ground. Also, EU members called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The House passed an anti-Asian hate crimes bill, yesterday, which would speed up review of COVID-19 related hate crimes, help law enforcement to better identify anti-Asian bias...
May 19, 2021•22 min
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that directly challenges Roe v. Wade, which deals with a 2018 Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of gestation. This is not a drill: based on the current makeup of the court, there's a real possibility that Roe could get overturned, which would allow 21 states to immediately ban or restrict abortion. The Israeli military continued to barrage the Gaza Strip, yesterday, with this month's attacks leaving hundreds of Palestinians dead, thous...
May 18, 2021•19 min
Since the Centers for Disease Control announced their new relaxed guidance for mask-wearing for vaccinated people, there have been numerous questions about what was behind the decision, how it will affect mask hesitancy, how businesses will respond, and more. To discuss these questions, we’re joined by Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist, physician, and former health commissioner of Detroit. And in headlines: Israel conducts its deadliest airstrike in Gaza, a California gubernatorial candidate...
May 17, 2021•23 min
The Center for Disease Control announced revised mask guidelines yesterday, stating that people who are fully vaccinated can safely go maskless and stop social distancing most of the time, even if they are indoors. One hope is that the guidance will cut down on vaccine hesitancy; The Biden administration is effectively telling Americans that you can get vaccinated and do a lot more, or you can keep on wearing a mask and do less. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is in hot water, with NBC a...
May 14, 2021•19 min
Congresswoman Liz Cheney was ousted from the House GOP leadership, yesterday, over a failure to pretend that Donald Trump won the election he lost by more than 7 million votes. In the aftermath of this action from House Republicans, 100 members of the party say they plan to release a letter threatening to form a third political party unless the GOP gets less Trumpy. Yesterday afternoon, the operator of the Colonial Pipeline said it was resuming operations after last week’s ransomware attack with...
May 13, 2021•18 min
The coronavirus crisis in India continues to escalate, with the World Health Organization warning of a potentially more transmissible variant and the country reporting over 240,000 deaths. To get a better sense of the situation on the ground, we spoke with Niha Masih. She's a Washington Post reporter in New Delhi. And in headlines: Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip kill over 33 Palestinians, missile launches by Hamas kill two in Israel, and the NRA's bankruptcy filing is thrown out by a feder...
May 12, 2021•19 min
Israel carried out air strikes on the Gaza Strip, last night, leading to the deaths of at least 20 people. This was in response to rockets launched by Hamas at Israel, and it marked the most destructive moment stemming from the ongoing conflict in Jerusalem. We discuss the circumstances that produced these violent clashes, as well as the international response. President Biden announced yesterday that he will not put an end to the 300 dollar weekly bonus payments that are currently going to unem...
May 11, 2021•19 min
With more and more Americans becoming fully vaccinated against COVID-19, officials have signaled a willingness to revise mask wearing rules again for those who have gotten their shots. Globally, the Biden administration has finally gotten behind the idea of waiving patents on vaccines so that generic versions of the drugs can be produced abroad, especially in places that are experiencing extreme surges in coronavirus cases. To answer the most pressing questions we have about this new phase of th...
May 10, 2021•20 min
