Podcast   7-24-2018

Make no mistake: Trump has always desired to be a strong man and now he desires to be seen as a strong man as president of the United States. His admiration for autocrats is by no means confined to Vladimir Putin. He has seemed to reserve much of his praise in public and private comments for autocratic leaders like President Erdogan of Turkey and Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, and much of his criticism for allies leading European democracies. He finds the checks and balances of the American system inconvenient, and he clearly wishes that even the modest checks he has had to contend with so far weren't there.

No more breaking news breaking our hearts. 
No lock down drills, students learning
to drop to the floor, out of the line of vision.
No bump stocks. No more AK 5’s, 47’s. No need
for women to open their purses before they enter
the play, the movie, the concert. And no need
to fear windows that offer vantage points
for taking aim.

A direct reboot of Bravo’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, which debuted in 2003, Queer Eye is, on its surface, a makeover show in which five gay men –– Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Karamo Brown, and Bobby Berk –– help transform their clueless subject, or “hero,” in five areas: grooming, fashion, food, culture, and home decor. But each episode becomes more than a makeover as the men of that Fab Five break through the hero’s walls and reach the root of their low self-esteem. That’s where the true emotions rise to the surface.

Bekah McNeel 7-22-2018

Chad Belew, pastor of The Arsenal, a non-denominational church south of downtown San Antonio, understands the pressure to keep a low profile on political issues or run the risk of alienating his congregation. But he also believes that silence is deadly, spiritually speaking. He quotes Martin Luther King, Jr. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

The July report by the Council of Economic Advisers uses an alternate way of measuring poverty, based on households’ consumption of goods, to conclude that poverty has dramatically declined. Though this method may be useful for underpinning an argument for broader work requirements for the poor, the much more favorable picture it paints simply does not reconcile with the observed reality in the U.S. today.

the Web Editors 7-20-2018

1. When a DNA Test Shatters Your Identity

The generation whose 50-year-old secrets are now being unearthed could not have imagined a world of $99 mail-in DNA kits. But times are changing, and the culture with it.

2. Shadow Politics: Meet the Digital Sleuth Exposing Fake News

Buried in media scholar Jonathan Albright's research was proof of a massive political misinformation campaign. Now he's taking on the the world's biggest platforms before it's too late.

Jim Wallis 7-19-2018

Trump is more than a liar. He has always tried to change what people believe about the truth.

A woman named Leydi, held in Chula Vista, Calif., described watching young children trying to touch their parents through metal fences.

“The mothers tried to reach their children, and I saw children pressing up against the fence of the cage to try to reach out," she said. "But officials pulled the children away and yelled at their mothers."

Sandi Villarreal 7-18-2018

Parents who have just been reunited with their children — after being separated, some for months, amid the implementation of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy — are offered food, clothes, toys, and other essentials and are paired with background-checked volunteers to help them through the next steps of the process.

Dani Gabriel 7-18-2018

These recent events have catalyzed a movement, inspired by the leadership of members of color at First Congregational Church in Oakland, Calif., to encourage churches to divest from police. This means churches will stop calling the police and will start hosting activities to promote alternatives, such as restorative justice circles, self-defense classes, and mental health de-escalation trainings.