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Hong Kong’s Covid Crisis Mar 18, 2022

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Hong Kong's zero-COVID policy got enviable results, but inadvertently set the stage for disaster. What will it take to change course?

Guest: Dr. Karen Grépin, Associate Professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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What It Takes to Get an Abortion in Texas Mar 17, 2022

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Last week, the Texas Supreme Court handed down a decision: Abortion providers can no longer sue state medical licensing offiicials to challenge Texas’ six-week abortion ban. Senate Bill 8, as it’s known, went into effect six months ago with ongoing legal battles in local, state and federal courtrooms. As abortion access is further restricted in the state, abortion rights advocates are doing everything they can to continue their work – including flying women out of state to get care – while navigating geographic constraints at the southern border.

Guest: Cathy Torres, organizing manager for Frontera Fund, an abortion fund for the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.

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The Russian Media Crackdown Mar 16, 2022

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Russian state propaganda has kicked into overdrive as its war on Ukraine continues. State news depicts Ukrainians as the aggressors and the Kremlin’s military as a heroic force. In times like these, how can Russians get accurate information?

Guest: Kevin Rothrock, managing editor of the English side of Meduza and host of the podcast “The Russia Guy.”

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What Banning Russian Oil Really Means Mar 15, 2022

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While the U.S. ban on Russian oil correlates with rising prices in the U.S., it’s still subject to a global market that was on the upswing anyway. In the long run, could the rising prices, whether the result of the ban or not, actually help accelerate decarbonization efforts and move the U.S. to more sustainable forms of energy?

Guest: Robinson Meyer, staff writer at The Atlantic. He is the author of the newsletter The Weekly Planet, and a co-founder of the COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic.

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The Persistence of Anti-Asian Violence Mar 14, 2022

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In early 2020, reports of violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders began to go up. More alarming is that two years later, the attacks don’t seem to be going anywhere. Why, after so much time passed, hasn’t the story changed?

Guest: Jo-Ann Yoo, Executive Director of the Asian American Federation.

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How Minnesota Spied On Protesters Mar 13, 2022

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When Minnesota's Operation Safety Net, a coordinated effort among nine Minnesota law enforcement agencies, was announced in February 2021, its mission was to ensure the trial of Derek Chauvin would proceed peacefully. It also promised to protect people's right to gather and demonstrate peacefully.

Did Operation Safety Net keep its promise?

Guest: Tate Ryan-Mosley, reporter for MIT Tech review

Host: Lizzie O'Leary

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Putin's Internet Crackdown Mar 11, 2022

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Vladimir Putin has always regarded the internet with suspicion. Now, with western tech companies pulling out of Russia and control of the war narrative slipping, he sees an opening. Will Putin wall off Russia from the rest of the digital world?

Guests:

Yana Pashaeva, Moscow-based journalist

Justin Sherman, fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative

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On the Ground With a Ukrainian Journalist Mar 10, 2022

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What it’s been like for one Ukrainian-American journalist to cover the Russian attack on his homeland: “The first couple of days of the war, I threw myself into work, and then after that, I couldn't function for a day or two. And I quickly figured out that if I keep working, then I have to abstract it on some level.”

Guest: Romeo Kokriatski, managing editor of The New Voice of Ukraine and co-host of the podcast Ukraine Without Hype.

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The January 6th Case Against Trump Mar 09, 2022

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The congressional committee investigating January 6th has outlined potential criminal charges against former President Trump. Why did the Department of Justice let someone else beat them to it?

Guest: Ankush Khardori is a DC-based lawyer and a former federal prosecutor who specialized in financial fraud and white-collar crime. He’s a contributing writer for Intelligencer and a contributing editor at Politico.

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How Zelensky Met the Moment Mar 08, 2022

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How Volodymyr Zelensky went from being one of Ukraine’s most successful entertainment moguls to its much-heralded wartime president.

Guest: Franklin Foer, staff writer at the Atlantic.

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