AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the weekend headlines you might have missed and previews the week to come in political news. We also check in on the state of Brexit; discuss the lawsuit filed by Boston Symphony Orchestra’s lead flutist; and more.
Week in politics: Final thoughts as clock ticks on SCOTUS announcement, the future of the EPA post-Pruitt and more
AirTalk’s weekly political roundtable recaps the weekend headlines you might have missed and previews the week to come in political news. On tap this week:
President Trump to announce his pick for SCOTUS at 6p PT — what would each pick mean for the upcoming midterms and what will the confirmation process look like?
Scott Pruitt out as EPA chief — what’s next for the department?
Trump admin wants more time to reunite migrant families (and probably something on this poll on Americans’ feelings toward current immigration policies)
Trump admin says it will temporarily suspend some ACA disbursements
Latest developments in the ongoing U.S.-China trade war
What came out of Mike Pompeo’s latest North Korea trip
President Trump to visit London this week, reportedly looks to improve relations with U.K.
U.S. Opposition to Breast-Feeding Resolution Stuns World Health Officials
Republicans and Democrats Face Leadership Struggles as House Returns
Guests:
Lanhee Chen, research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University; he was an adviser for Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign and served as policy director for the Romney-Ryan 2012 presidential campaign; he tweets
John Iadarola, creator and host of the YouTube TV political talk show ‘The Damage Report’ on The Young Turks Network and a co-host of The Young Turks weekly live show on YouTube; he tweets
Exploring the compensation issues at play in lawsuit filed by Boston Symphony Orchestra’s lead flutist
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is world-renowned for being home to some of the top symphony orchestra musicians anywhere, and those who rise to the top positions in the ensemble often earn six-figure salaries.
But the BSO’s lead flutist is shining a light on what she claims is a serious pay discrepancy between her and her closest male counterpart in a lawsuit filed against the orchestra last week.
Elizabeth Rowe, who also teaches at the New England Conservatory and whose playing has been called “ravishing” by critics the New York Times, filed suit last week after a statewide equal pay law went into effect in Massachusetts. Rowe is seeking more than $200,000 in unpaid wages from the BSO and says that her salary is only 75 percent of that of her closest male counterpart, BSO lead oboist John Ferrillo.
AirTalk speaks with experts in musician compensation and employment law about how musicians typically negotiate their contracts, the factors that are important to both musicians and orchestras when doing so, and what role gender plays in those decisions and has played in the past.
For more on this story from NPR’s Anastasia Tsioulcas, click here.
AirTalk contacted the attorney for the plaintiff, Elizabeth Rowe, who declined our interview request. We also contacted the Boston Symphony Orchestra for comment, and a spokesperson sent us the following statement:
"The BSO is reviewing the complaint with its attorneys, and, as with all such matters, will not comment on pending litigation. The BSO is committed to a strong policy of equal employment opportunity and to the practice of comparable pay for comparable work, as well as abiding by the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act."
Guest:
Drew McManus, Chicago-based arts consultant whose work includes advising musicians on contract negotiations and author of “Adaptistration,” a blog about the orchestra business
After Boris Johnson resignation, we check in on the state of Brexit
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a charismatic and divisive supporter for Britain's exit from the European Union, resigned Monday, adding to a crisis over Brexit that threatens to tear apart Prime Minister Theresa May's government.
He quit just hours after the resignation late Sunday of Brexit Secretary David Davis, the government's top Brexit official. Davis said he could not support May's plan to maintain close trade and regulatory ties with the EU, which he said gave "too much away, too easily."
Minutes after Johnson quit, May defended her Brexit plan to lawmakers in the House of Commons - with Johnson absent from his usual place on the Conservative front bench. May's plan seeks to keep the U.K. and the EU in a free-trade zone for goods, and commits Britain to maintaining the same rules as the bloc for goods and agricultural products.
We get the latest on Brexit, plus the 101 on the current fractured situation.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guests:
Emma Ross-Thomas, lead Brexit editor at Bloomberg; she tweets
Michelle Egan, a global fellow at the Wilson Center and professor at the school of International Service at the American University in Washington D.C., where she specializes in European politics
As South Korean women protest ‘spycam porn,’ we look at what is driving the phenomenon
Thousands of South Korean women gathered in Seoul on Saturday to demand stronger government action to fight the spread of intimate photos and video taken by hidden cameras, which they say has women living in constant anxiety and distress.
Police said about 18,000 took part in the women-only protest, with demonstrators calling for stronger investigations and punishments against male offenders who photograph or film women without their knowledge and post the material online.
The protesters spoke out against an environment in which women constantly worry about tiny cameras hidden in bathrooms or being filmed from under their skirts at subway stations. South Korea has struggled over the years to deal with perpetrators who use cameras and smartphones to film under women's clothing to see their genitals or underwear, then circulate the footage on illicit porn sites.
Since 2004, South Korea has required smartphones to make large shutter sounds when taking pictures and videos to prevent such crimes. However, phone cameras can be silenced through apps and there's also an abundance of other discreet cameras still on the market.
Have you experienced similar violations here at home or overseas? Call us at 866-893-5722 and share your story.
With files from the Associated Press
Guest:
Ju Hui Judy Han, assistant professor of gender studies at UCLA, where her research focus includes Asian studies, social change, gender and sexuality
The scandal that changed professional soccer
In his book, “RED CARD: How the U.S. Blew the Whistle on the World’s Biggest Sports Scandal,” Ken Bensinger puts the spotlight on the 2015 scandal that surrounded the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the Zurich-based association responsible for soccer’s major international tournaments including the World Cup.
RED CARD tells the story of how American investigators unraveled the biggest international corruption case in sports history. Bensinger, who was part of the investigative team at BuzzFeed News that published the Trump Russia dossier in early 2017, shows us how FIFA’s executives transformed the sport of soccer into a bribe-fueled operation, sucking up hundreds of millions of dollars in a sprawling scheme.
FIFA’s corruption ran for decades, undercutting every aspect of the sport - from the World Cup host bid process to broadcasting and marketing rights. It took an American IRS agent, Steve Berryman, and a team made up of a cerebral New York prosecutor and FBI agents, to finally build a criminal case against soccer’s global governing body.
Guest:
Ken Bensinger, author of the book, “RED CARD: How the U.S. Blew the Whistle on the World's Biggest Sports Scandal” (Simon & Schuster 2018); investigative reporter for BuzzFeed News and a long-time award-winning journalist, who has written about a variety of topics, including sports, arts and politics; he tweets