Michigan has a 1931 law on the books that criminalizes abortion. That law has not been enforced since 1973 when Roe v Wade was decided, but it hasn’t been repealed either. And so it would take effect again should Roe be overturned because the state’s GOP-controlled legislature said they don’t plan to revoke it. We talk with Kelly Hall of The Fairness Project, which is gathering signatures to put a referendum on the ballot this fall to bypass the legislature and take the matter directly to voters...
May 10, 2022•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast If Roe v. Wade is overturned, abortion would become illegal in at least 26 states. That means two main things for people who hope to terminate a pregnancy – increased confusion and increased criminalization. Today is Victory Day, an important holiday in Russia that marks the defeat of Nazi Germany 77 years ago. Some reports say Putin might use the occasion to claim victory in Ukraine, while others suggest he may just use the day to further escalate the violence. And in headlines: Northern Irelan...
May 09, 2022•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Abortion providers and advocates in several states have been scrambling to figure out how to process the fall out of the Supreme Court leak, what to tell patients, and how to still help them if the procedure is restricted where they are. Susan Braselton, who manages the clinic escort program for the Roe Fund in Oklahoma, joins us to discuss how her work has been affected by anti-abortion laws both in her state and others. And in headlines: Russian forces continued their assault on a steel plant ...
May 06, 2022•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Abortion providers across the country are rushing to figure out their next steps in light of this week’s news about abortion and the Supreme Court. Plus, we share some of our listeners’ stories about how Roe has helped them and what it would mean to them if it were overturned. In headlines: The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates again, New Mexico officials are struggling to contain seven massive wildfires, and comedian Dave Chapelle was attacked on-stage by an audience member during his c...
May 05, 2022•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said that the leaked draft majority opinion on overturning abortion rights is authentic and that “it does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.” Leah Litman, co-host of Crooked’s “Strict Scrutiny” podcast, joins us to answer our legal questions about what this could mean for abortion access nationwide and future Supreme Court rulings. And in headlines: Russian forces stormed Mariupol’s embattl...
May 04, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Politico has obtained what is says are leaked documents showing the Supreme Court is poised to strike down the constitutional right to abortion. In a draft majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito writes that two landmark rulings – 1973’s Roe v Wade as well as 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey – “must be overruled.” Workers at an Amazon warehouse in New York City voted against joining the Amazon Labor Union on Monday. Kim Kelly, author of, “Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor,” ...
May 03, 2022•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast The current COVID wave in the U.S. is relatively mild considering what we’ve seen in the past. For instance, recent data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the daily COVID death rate has really slowed. And COVID hospital admissions are far below what we’ve seen during other surges. After numerous refusals by Ukraine to surrender the city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials have brokered a deal with Russia to allow some civilians trapped in a steel mill there to evacuate safely. The operation,...
May 02, 2022•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Moderna said on Thursday that they were asking the FDA for emergency use authorization for their vaccine for children under 6. If granted, they would be the first shots available to the youngest of kids. Separately, the FDA announced they will ban the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars across the U.S. within a year. Experts say that this could save hundreds of thousands of lives, especially among Black smokers. And in headlines: Oklahoma’s State Legislature passed another near-total ...
Apr 29, 2022•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Minnesota Department of Human Rights found that Minneapolis and the city’s police department engaged in a pattern or practice of race discrimination in violation of the state’s Human Rights Act. The two-year-long investigation began after former officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd in 2020. Russia released a former U.S. Marine from its custody yesterday in a prisoner swap with the U.S. The unexpected move indicates that there might be some diplomatic breakthroughs between Russia and t...
Apr 28, 2022•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Harvard University pledged $100 million to redress its ties to slavery. In an email on Tuesday, the school’s president said that the university bore “a moral responsibility to do what we can to address the persistent corrosive effects of those historical practices on individuals, on Harvard, and on our society.” According to multiple reports, President Biden said that he may be prepared to not only extend a pause on federal student loan debts that is set to end August 31, but to cancel some enti...
Apr 27, 2022•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Elon Musk reached a deal with Twitter on Monday to take over the company for roughly $44 billion. Mike Isaac, a tech reporter for the New York Times, joins us to discuss how we got here and what comes next. And in headlines: President Biden plans to nominate Bridget Brink to be the next ambassador to Ukraine, the Supreme Court will take up the case of Rodney Reed, and Beijing officials began mass testing its residents for COVID. Show Notes: NY Times: “Elon Musk and Twitter Reach Deal for Sale” –...
Apr 26, 2022•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Supreme Court is in session this week and will hear two cases that could have a big impact. The first will be heard today and could affect our First Amendment right to freedom of religion, including the separation of church and state. The other will be heard on Tuesday and could have major implications for migrants at the Southern border seeking asylum. Netflix estimates that 100 million accounts around the world are sharing passwords. The streaming service is considering making users pay mo...
Apr 25, 2022•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast The GOP-led Florida state legislature gave the final stamps of approval to a pair of proposals on Thursday. The first redraws Florida’s Congressional voting map in a way that would eliminate two majority Black districts. The other revokes Disney Corporation’s special tax status around Disney World. In headlines: The U.S. will provide $800 million in military aid to Ukraine, the Supreme Court ruled that residents of Puerto Rico aren’t eligible for some federal aid programs, and CNN+ announced its...
Apr 22, 2022•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Russia gave Ukrainian forces in Mariupol an ultimatum earlier this week: surrender or die. Russian-backed separatists said only five people surrendered, which could mean that the city could be captured very soon. Voting rights organizations are funneling their support to the people on the ground who oversee local elections ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Amanda Litman from Run For Something joins us to discuss her new program called Clerk Work dedicated to recruiting and supporting thous...
Apr 21, 2022•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hours after a federal judge in Florida overturned the CDC’s mask mandate for public transportation, airlines like Delta and United made masks optional. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, host of Crooked’s “America Dissected,” gives some advice to help you make your own decision on whether to stay masked. In headlines: President Biden announced actions toward federal student loan debt forgiveness, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis escalated his war with Disney, and Blac Chyna's $100 million lawsuit against the Kard...
Apr 20, 2022•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast A federal judge in Tampa, Florida, voided the nationwide travel mask mandate on Monday. Last week, the CDC extended that mask mandate for commercial flights, subways, trains, and other forms of public transportation until May 3rd. The Russia-Ukraine war has sparked concerns among U.S. officials about cyber warfare. On Sunday, CBS News reported “evolving intelligence” that suggests that Russia is planning new cyber attacks. And in headlines: Russia launched an assault on eastern Ukraine, Johnson ...
Apr 19, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast The city of Mariupol has been one of the worst sites of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While Ukrainian forces have held their ground, reports are now saying that Mariupol is likely to fall to Russian forces soon. A man named Richard Moore in South Carolina is scheduled to become the fourth person executed in the United States this year. Moore was given the option of being killed by the electric chair or by a firing squad, and last Friday he announced that he chose the firing squad. And in headlin...
Apr 18, 2022•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alabama became the first state to criminalize the act of providing gender-affirming medical care to trans youth, last week. The bill makes it a felony to prescribe puberty blockers or hormones to trans kids under the age of 19. Kaitlin Welborn, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama, joins us to discuss her organization’s work challenging the law. And in headlines: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, Ed Buck was sentence...
Apr 15, 2022•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast New York Police arrested a suspect in relation to Tuesday’s mass shooting on a Brooklyn subway. Frank James was apprehended in Manhattan and is accused of shooting ten people, which resulted in many more injuries as well. Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill on Tuesday that makes performing an abortion in the state a felony. Jenny Ma, a Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, joins us to discuss the broader implications of the ban. And in headlines: Ukrainian official...
Apr 14, 2022•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast A mass shooting took place on a New York City subway train, Tuesday morning. According to New York’s Fire Department, 10 people were shot and, miraculously, no one died. We recap what we know and what we don’t know about the shooting. And in headlines: Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol accused Russia of using chemical weapons, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill that outlaws performing an abortion in the state, and New York Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin resigned. Show Notes: Center for...
Apr 13, 2022•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast President Biden announced a new rule that would prohibit the unregulated online sale of “ghost guns,” or firearms that you can self-assemble from kits with gun parts. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives says that it recovered about 20,000 suspected ghost guns last year, which is ten times more than it did in 2016. The effort to try Russia for war crimes in Ukraine is picking up pace, and the Biden administration is weighing whether to get involved as well. Alex Whiting, a forme...
Apr 12, 2022•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Texas authorities arrested 26-year-old Lizelle Herrera, last week, on murder charges for what the local sheriff’s office described as a “self-induced abortion.” Her bond was set at $500,000 and her arrest sparked protests from abortion rights activists over the weekend. But on Sunday, local prosecutors dropped the charge against her. More than 50 people were killed and another 98 injured after a missile struck a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, last Friday. Thousands of...
Apr 11, 2022•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman to be confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice on Thursday, and the first former public defender to sit on the high court. Three Republicans crossed party lines to support her, including Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a new report this week saying that global emissions need to peak by 2025 at the latest in order to have a ...
Apr 08, 2022•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Amir Locke earlier this year will not face any criminal charges. Locke was a 22-year-old Black man who was killed while members of the Minneapolis Police SWAT team executed a no-knock warrant on his cousin’s apartment. An FDA advisory committee met yesterday to discuss the next phase of COVID vaccines and boosters. Dr. Abdul el-Sayed, an epidemiologist and the host of Crooked’s “America Dissected” joins us to discuss what might come next as we c...
Apr 07, 2022•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave an emotional address to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday after his visit to Bucha. In his speech, Zelensky accused Russian troops of atrocities, which included violent murder, rape, and a number of horrific acts. There are a number of states fighting over redrawing their maps even as the midterm elections inch closer. Michael Li, senior counsel for the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, joins us to break down some of the states that are ...
Apr 06, 2022•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island, New York, voted to form the company’s first union in the U.S. last Friday, making a historic win for labor organizers everywhere. The union earned recognition in less than a year into its existence, and it overcame multiple arrests as well as millions that Amazon spent on anti-union consultants. Chris Smalls, founder of the Amazon Labor Union, joins us to discuss how it felt to win and what comes next. And in headlines: Sacramento police arrested a susp...
Apr 05, 2022•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Signs of a massacre in Bucha, a town near Kyiv, have intensified calls for investigations into possible war crimes by Russia. Footage and photographs from Bucha show the corpses of at least twenty men strewn across the streets. The town’s mayor has said the victims included men and women and at least one child, and that they’ve already buried 280 people in mass graves. Today, hundreds of people are assembling at the U.S. Department of Education in D.C. to urge President Biden to cancel all feder...
Apr 04, 2022•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Biden administration will reportedly end its use of Title 42 by late May. The policy effectively acted as a suspension of the legal asylum process, and has been viewed as inhumane by immigration activists. The BA.2 Omicron subvariant is now the dominant COVID strain in the U.S. This comes as many states begin to close mass vaccination and testing sites that were vital throughout the pandemic. Dr. Céline Gounder, an infectious disease specialist & epidemiologist, joins us to give us her persp...
Mar 31, 2022•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Over 3.9 million people have fled Ukraine and become refugees since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, according to the United Nations. About 2.3 million of those people have gone to neighboring Poland, and another 600,000 people have crossed into neighboring Romania. Julia Pashkovska, a mother who left her home in central Ukraine, joins us to discuss her experience fleeing the country. And in headlines: A Palestinian gunman killed 5 people in Tel Aviv, the FDA approved a second booster do...
Mar 30, 2022•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast The House select committee investigating the insurrection is reportedly soon going to seek an interview with Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She was found to have lobbied former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to pursue a plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election, sending 29 texts on the subject. Immigration advocates, lawmakers, and health officials are urging President Biden to overturn Title 42, a Trump administration policy used to block migr...
Mar 29, 2022•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
