Episodes

  • Why Trump is sending Venezuelans to El Salvador

    Why Trump is sending Venezuelans to El Salvador
    Apr 9 2025
    One of President Trump's main campaign promises was carrying out mass deportations. We look at how the Trump administration is testing the U.S. legal system to make good on its promise, starting with the story of one family trying to find their 18-year-old son after immigration agents showed up at their doorstep.

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    38 mins
  • What's lost in Trump's DEI ban?

    What's lost in Trump's DEI ban?
    Apr 2 2025
    President Trump has put diversity, equity, and inclusion in his crosshairs — but there's no consensus on what DEI even means. Some say that that fuzziness is the point, and that the current anti-DEI push is part of a larger plan to undo the gains made by the Civil Rights Movement.

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    32 mins
  • With measles on the rise, what we can learn from past epidemics

    With measles on the rise, what we can learn from past epidemics
    Mar 26 2025
    As the U.S. health system grapples with new outbreaks and the risk of old diseases making a comeback, we're looking to the past to inform how people in marginalized communities can prepare themselves for how the current administration might handle an epidemic. On this episode, a conversation with historian and author Edna Bonhomme, about her latest book A History of the World in Six Plagues.

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    30 mins
  • What Mahmoud Khalil's arrest means for ... everyone

    What Mahmoud Khalil's arrest means for ... everyone
    Mar 19 2025
    Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident and Columbia alum, was detained by ICE for his role in leading pro-Palestinian protests at his former university last year. As Khalil's case has captured the nation's attention, free speech advocates see it as a test of the First Amendment. Meanwhile, the Trump administration argues they have the right to deport Khalil without charging him with a crime. On this episode, why Khalil's arrest should worry all of us.

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    37 mins
  • This Palestinian-American's debut novel may not be political — but her existence is

    This Palestinian-American's debut novel may not be political — but her existence is
    Mar 12 2025
    To be a Palestinian-American writer right now can lead to a lot of expectation to focus on identity and devastation, but in her debut novel, Too Soon, Betty Shamieh shares the story of three generations of Palestinian women trying to find love, purpose and liberation.

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    32 mins
  • A look at the human toll of the construction of the Panama Canal

    A look at the human toll of the construction of the Panama Canal
    Mar 5 2025
    The Panama Canal's impact on the geopolitical stage far outreaches its roughly 51-mile stretch of land and water. This week, we're trying to understand the canal's murky future - from climate change to President Trump's threat to take it for the U.S. - by looking at its turbulent, cataclysmic birth.

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    32 mins
  • Black audiences see themselves centered in a brand new soap opera

    Black audiences see themselves centered in a brand new soap opera
    Feb 26 2025
    B.A. Parker digs into the historical connection between Black Americans and soap operas with the launching of "Beyond the Gates," the first ever soap focused primarily on a Black family.

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    36 mins
  • The NFL's concussion problem beyond CTE

    The NFL's concussion problem beyond CTE
    Feb 24 2025
    In 2015, the NFL agreed to an uncapped settlement to pay former players diagnosed with brain disease. The agreement came after players sued the league for covering what it knew about the links between brain disease and football. But who's gotten paid and how much is affected by their race. On the final episode of our series on race and football, we speak with Will Hobson, investigative sports reporter at The Washington Post.

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    23 mins