Congressional leaders think they could pass a roughly $900 billion stimulus bill by the end of the week, which might include direct payments, but won't include money for states and localities. A deal can’t come soon enough: eight million Americans have been pushed into poverty since this summer, while jobless claims (and COVID cases) are rising. The Supreme Court announced it will hear a case on compensation of athletes in the NCAA. Players think the NCAA’s cap on student athlete compensation vi...
Dec 17, 2020•18 min
Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg was announced as Biden’s nominee for transportation secretary yesterday, and former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm is expected to be picked to lead the Energy Department. We discuss those picks, plus other recent Biden nominees, like Marcia Fudge, Tom Vilsack, and Denis McDonough. The Dolly Parton-backed Moderna vaccine has been reviewed by the FDA and found to have an efficacy rate of 94.1 percent. Zooming out, a New York Times report said it may take...
Dec 16, 2020•17 min
The first coronavirus vaccines were administered in the US yesterday, and public education efforts also got underway with the HHS and CDC emphasizing the safety of the drug. Congress has one week left to agree on a relief bill before they go on recess. The latest proposal splits provisions into two parts, one that everyone can agree on, and one that contains more controversial elements. We explain, plus get into why Senator Bernie Sanders says he’ll vote against the bills. And in headlines: Bill...
Dec 15, 2020•19 min
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was authorized by the FDA on Friday evening, and the first shipments went out on Sunday. Most state governments intend to follow CDC recommendations and give the first few batches to health care workers and nursing home residents and staff… members of the Trump White House might also get it early. Today is the official electoral college vote, after which Biden and Harris will officially become the President-elect and Vice President-elect. Some Republicans may try to r...
Dec 14, 2020•19 min
The FDA’s advisory panel voted to approve emergency authorization of the Pfizer-BionNTech coronavirus vaccine. Once it’s authorized, which could be any day now, an initial shipment of about 6.4 million doses is expected to be sent across the country. The state of the pandemic in the United States is extremely dire, with this week bringing a new record in single day fatalities, and a record number of people hospitalized across the country. One of the main sources of reliable data throughout the p...
Dec 11, 2020•24 min
Facebook is facing two major antitrust lawsuits, one from the Federal Trade Commission and one from nearly every state in the country. The suits argue that Facebook has turned itself into a social media monopoly by purchasing or unfairly stifling its rivals. As a solution, the FTC is calling for the company to break off WhatsApp and Instagram. An FDA panel is meeting today to vote on whether to approve Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. Meanwhile, Canada has now approved it, and the UK is now recomme...
Dec 10, 2020•19 min
As vaccinations kick off in the UK, the approval process is moving forward here in the US as well. The FDA now says Pfizer’s vaccine offers protection within just 10 days of getting the first dose, though efficacy goes up even further after a second one. Authorization is still pending. The US had planned to rely heavily on the AstraZeneca vaccine, having made a deal to buy 300 million doses… but new data indicate the drug isn’t as effective as some of the other options being reviewed. On his fir...
Dec 09, 2020•20 min
A bipartisan relief bill that had some momentum last week hit a snag after two senators said they won’t support the proposal. We explain. Plus, an update on coronavirus restrictions in New York. The Trump administration has five executions planned between now and January 20th, including that of Brandon Bernard, whose sentence many are fighting to commute. Biden is against the death penalty and said he will work to end it as president. And in headlines: police shooting of 23-year-old Casey Goodso...
Dec 08, 2020•17 min
Biden has reportedly selected California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who led the defense of the Affordable Care Act in the Supreme Court last month, to lead the department of Health and Human Services. We discuss the pick. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s new lockdown order takes effect today in large parts of the state, and will be in effect for at least the next three weeks but possibly longer. The UK will begin its initial batch of COVID-19 vaccinations this week, using the drug from P...
Dec 07, 2020•19 min
There’s about a month left to go until the two Senate runoffs in Georgia, with Republican Senators Loeffler and Perdue walking the line of campaigning as a check on Biden while also not admitting that he will be the President. Meanwhile, Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff are focusing largely on the pandemic and the multi-million dollar stock trades both their Republican opponents made in its early weeks. We spoke to Nse Ufot, the CEO of the New Georgia Project, which register...
Dec 04, 2020•21 min
The UK became the first country to authorize Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine yesterday, with vaccinations expected to begin next week. In the US, the CDC voted to give health care workers and residents of long term facilities access to the vaccine first, if and when it's approved. CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield predicted that the US could see close to 450,000 deaths from COVID-19 by next February, but that could be mitigated by following public health protocols. The CDC also put out a new holiday...
Dec 03, 2020•16 min
Attorney General Bill Barr said what is obvious to everyone, that the Justice Department hasn’t found any election of widespread voter fraud that would change the result of the election. As Trump winds down his presidency, he’s reportedly looking into pre-emptive pardons for Ivanka, Eric, Don Jr., Jared Kushner, and his face-melting lawyer Rudy Giuliani. A bipartisan group of senators pitched a compromise relief bill yesterday, which would extend some federal unemployment assistance and fund sta...
Dec 02, 2020•20 min
Biden officially announced several top members of his economic team, including his picks to lead the Treasury, White House Council of Economic Advisers, and the Office of Management and Budget. We talk about the picks and what it says about Biden's economic priorities. Moderna submitted its vaccine for FDA authorization yesterday, following Pfizer’s submission a couple weeks ago. The CDC is holding an emergency meeting today to hammer out some guidelines for states on who should get their COVID ...
Dec 01, 2020•22 min
New York City is opening up elementary schools next week after city officials faced heavy criticism for appearing to prioritize economic activities like restaurant dining over the well-being of children. Across the country, public school closures have led to a spike in private school matriculation, since private institutions have a better chance of staying open. Trump still hasn’t conceded yet, but he has ramped up predictable lame-duck behavior like pushing through a battery of new rules and po...
Nov 30, 2020•23 min
Michigan and Wayne County have repeatedly been targeted in Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results. In particular, he and his supporters have singled out Detroit, a heavily Democratic, majority-Black city. We talk to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib about that effort. Plus, we get her take on what’s next for House Democrats and what she’d like to see from the Biden administration. And in headlines: what happens when the Pope likes posts, no more politics in Animal Crossing, and Rudy Giulian...
Nov 20, 2020•22 min
Yesterday brought more bad news about the current state of the pandemic, even as we got more good news about ending it in the future. The entire public school system in New York City, the largest in the country, is going fully remote as cases rise in the city. Meanwhile, the FDA gave emergency use authorization to the first at-home COVID test, and Pfizer said their vaccine is 95% effective, according to new data. Trump’s attempts to overturn the election are ongoing, but they’re ongoing poorly. ...
Nov 19, 2020•18 min
The US is in an extremely dangerous period of the pandemic, with cases and hospitalizations at record highs, holidays fast approaching, and little in the way of a federal response. Our guest host for today —epidemiologist and former Detroit health commissioner Dr. Abdul El-Sayed — answers our questions about the current state of affairs, vaccine updates, Thanksgiving, and what gives him hope about a Biden administration. And in headlines: Hurricane Iota update in Central America, Apple faces pri...
Nov 18, 2020•20 min
Pharmaceutical company Moderna announced yesterday that its vaccine is 94.5% effective, according to early data. This comes after Pfizer's announcement last week and raises the prospects that two vaccines could cleared for use on a limited basis by the end of the year. With two senate runoffs set for January, all eyes are on Georgia. We talk about the candidates, the issues, and the organizers animating the race. And in headlines: more than 92,000 people have filed abuse claims against the Boy S...
Nov 17, 2020•19 min
The federal government still hasn’t affirmed Biden's victory, blocking him from the White House access he needs to get a handle on the transition and the government's pandemic response. America has now surpassed 11 million COVID-19 cases, and the virus is still predominately affecting Black and Brown Americans. Some states are taking sweeping actions to slow rising case numbers, like New Mexico and Oregon, which have both reimposed lockdown measures. And in headlines: new NYPD data show the limi...
Nov 16, 2020•19 min
Joe Biden’s lead has only grown since major networks projected him to win the presidential election last weekend, and despite that, Trump has continued to baselessly claim that he is the true winner and delay Biden’s transition process. To better understand the nuances of Trump’s lawsuits and whether we have anything at all to worry about, we spoke to Risk Hasen, a law professor at UC Irvine who specializes in election law and campaign finance. And in headlines: over 700,000 people file for unem...
Nov 13, 2020•22 min
The US is still in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of confirmed cases rising by 70 percent in the past two weeks. The CDC put out a new guidance that said face masks protect the person wearing the mask as well as the people around them—which is one more reason to keep wearing them. Republicans are still occupying an alternate reality where they largely refuse to acknowledge that Joe Biden has won the presidential election, even as Biden and his team of outside allies start pr...
Nov 12, 2020•18 min
Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo made a bad “joke” yesterday that led many to believe Trump will continue to ignore the election results… which is making it harder for President-elect Joe Biden to begin the transition process. Trump’s lawsuits to challenge election results have been mostly unsuccessful and lacking in any evidence. We go through a few examples, as well as what comes next in the election certification process. And in headlines: Amazon faces antitrust charges in the EU, who’s making ...
Nov 11, 2020•19 min
Pfizer says an initial analysis of their vaccine found it was more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19. President-elect Joe Biden announced his 13-member pandemic task force, which includes health experts that previously served in Republican and Democratic administrations. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell backed Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the election yesterday, while simultaneously welcoming new incoming Republican senators. In Georgia, current senators Perdue a...
Nov 10, 2020•20 min
The presidential race was called this weekend for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, leading to spontaneous celebrations across the country. Biden and Harris gave their first speeches as President-elect and Vice President-elect on Saturday night, reiterating their message of unity and sketching out a mandate that includes rooting out systemic racism, working towards and economic fairness, and tackling climate change. The country recorded its 10 millionth COVID case over the weekend, which is higher th...
Nov 09, 2020•21 min
A significant number of ballots were counted yesterday in states where races have been too close to call, leading to gains for Joe Biden in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Georgia. At this point, Trump would need everything to break his way to win the election—and that doesn’t seem likely. Biden’s campaign continued to project confidence yesterday, while Trump did a press conference where he tried out every anti-Democratic lie he could think of. Looking at the Senate races: the Ossoff/Perdue race in G...
Nov 06, 2020•19 min
Joe Biden now has the most votes of any presidential candidate in history, and he’s won two more key states in his path to 270 electoral votes: Michigan and Wisconsin. We’re still waiting on calls in five battleground states: Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. We discuss where things stand, and how the two campaigns are responding. Spoiler alert: one is being dignified and the other is trying to derail the democratic process. Meanwhile, things aren't looking so good for ...
Nov 05, 2020•18 min
Yesterday was Election Day, and it ended as we expected it to: without an official call on the presidential race. There wasn’t a Biden landslide like we hoped, but as we went to record last night, he still had a path to victory. We discuss that path, some surprising and less surprising calls, and how the two presidential candidates treated the results. Looking at Congress, Democrats retained control of the House, adding some cool new progressives including Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, and Marie New...
Nov 04, 2020•14 min
After four long hard years, we’ve made it to election day… now we just need to make it through the next 24, to 48, to 100-plus hours. We discuss when the results will come in and what we’ll be watching out for. Plus, a look at some key Senate races in states that could flip. And in headlines: battleground states were hit hardest with misinformation, voter preferences by first name, and a whale statue saves a train. Show Notes: If you run into any issues voting or witness voter suppression or int...
Nov 03, 2020•20 min
Over 93 million people have voted as of Sunday night. More than 8 million of those voters are doing so for the first time, according to the data firm TargetSmart. We talk to a group of first time voters about why they are participating this year, and why they’re choosing Biden. The US hit a new record high of Covid-19 cases last Friday — with many swing states hitting record highs as well. And the UK announced a new lockdown to combat their rise in cases. And in headlines: Typhoon Goni hits the ...
Nov 02, 2020•20 min
Another 5 million people cast ballots yesterday, bringing the vote total to over 80 million so far. We explain two recent Supreme Court decisions over voting rights in Pennsylvania and North Carolina… and what they could mean for the post-election count. The GDP went up by 7.4 percent in the third quarter, but the economy is still 3.5 percent smaller than it was pre-pandemic. Plus, we check in on the chances for a new relief bill after the election. And in headlines: Trump HHS can’t find one cel...
Oct 30, 2020•20 min
