How well do the news media serve us as citizens, and what role does the notion of “objective,” or “neutral,” journalism play in the failings of American democracy? Story reported by Lewis Raven Wallace, with…
In most American schools, children hear about democracy, but don’t get to practice it. What would a more engaged brand of civics education look like? Story reported by Ben James, with host John Biewen and…
“America” and “empire.” Do those words go together? If so, what kind of imperialism does the U.S. practice, and how has American empire changed over time? By host and producer John Biewen, with series collaborator Chenjerai…
The conservative, neoliberal counterrevolution in the face of expanding democracy in America: It started long before Donald Trump. Even before Ronald Reagan and his like-minded counterpart across the Atlantic, Margaret Thatcher. By host and producer…
In the summer of 1964, about a thousand young Americans, black and white, came together in Mississippi to place themselves in the path of white supremacist power and violence. They issued a bold pro-democracy challenge…
In this special episode, host John Biewen and series collaborator Chenjerai Kumanyika discuss the coronavirus pandemic and how the crisis, and the nation’s response to it, echo themes we’re exploring in our Season 4 series…
The Great Depression presented a crisis not only for the U.S. economy, but for American democracy. President Franklin Roosevelt wanted to save the nation’s system of government, and its economic system, while reforming both. What…
S4 E5: Feminism in Black and White
- March 4, 2020
- Tagged as: S4E5, Season 4
People fighting for more democracy in the United States often have to struggle against sexism and racism. In fact, those two struggles are often inseparable—certainly from the perspective of black women and some other women…
After the Civil War, a surprising coalition tried to remake the United States into a real multiracial democracy for the first time. Reconstruction, as the effort was called, brought dramatic change to America. For a…
In the decades after America’s founding and the establishment of the Constitution, did the nation get better, more just, more democratic? Or did it double down on violent conquest and exploitation? Reported, produced, written,…
Twitter Feed
😳 A university faculty member both-sides’d anti-black violence. So much for that uniformly lefty, sjw academy.
Earlier today, I sent an email to my department regarding the recent and ongoing anti-Black violence, and how we, as an academic department, should address it.
This is a response I received from a *senior* faculty member.
Thread on journalism -- and teaching -- and our latest. Thank you as always for your attentive ears, Ursula.
I am not objective, neutral, or impartial. I teach *for* racial & social justice. And contrary to the accusations of those who worship at the altar of objectivity, that does NOT mean that I dispense with facts or verifiable information.
I continue to be obsessed with @Deardarkness's book Bunk, which is a beautiful breakdown of the links between white supremacy and "fake news," so relevant today. Hear him talk about the "colonization of doubt" on @SceneOnRadio: https://www.sceneonradio.org/s4-e11-more-truth/