Four California students were suspended for “liking” racist Instagram posts, and now they’re suing the school district for punishing them outside of school hours - we debate whether suspension for non-school related activity is acceptable. We'll also cover the latest in politics including the new French president; former interim Attorney General Sally Yates' testimony about Michael Flynn today on the Hill; and more.
Week in politics: What French election results mean for US, plus Trump’s travel ban returns to court
It was a busy weekend in politics, both national and international, and it sets up plenty to watch for this week.
In a landslide victory over far-right nationalist candidate Marine Le Pen, former investment banker Emmanuel Macron won the presidency of France in an election that essentially became a referendum on the future of Europe. The 39-year-old will become the youngest president in French history and will be challenged early on with the task of governing with no legislative majority in French Parliament.
Back here in the U.S., former interim Attorney General Sally Yates will testify before a Senate subcommittee today about former NSA head Michael Flynn’s alleged ties to Russia. Multiple outlets are reporting that then-President Obama warned then President-elect Trump last November against hiring Flynn.
Attorneys for the Trump administration are back in court today continuing to fight rulings blocking the president’s controversial travel ban prohibiting entry to the U.S. by people from six predominantly Muslim countries.
Also on the docket today, deportations remain status quo in Southern California, the EPA’s dismissal of members of a major scientific review board, Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy and an L.A. Times piece on the cost of protecting the Trumps.
Guests:
Lynn Vavreck, professor of political science at UCLA; she tweets
Zachary Courser, research director of the Dreier Roundtable and visiting assistant professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College; he tweets
President Trump looks to fill federal court seats
President Trump is expected to put out a list of ten conservative nominees for lower federal court seats today.
There are more than a hundred and twenty court positions waiting to be filled. That means this is the first of several nominations planned to come out of the White House in the coming months.
How will Trump’s selections impact the federal bench in the long term?
Guest:
Michael J. Gerhardt, professor of constitutional law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; he is the author of many law-related books, including “The Power of Precedent” (Oxford University Press, 2011)
New research shows that more adults over 50 are shacking up
Marriage rates might be on the decline, but according to a new Pew Research Center report, the rate of people over 50 cohabiting with unmarried partners has jumped 75 percent from 2007 to 2016.
Over half of these older cohabiters are divorcees, which may be a clue as to why these cohabiters are foregoing marriage. Older partners have plenty of other considerations when making the knot tying decision, from the financial (how marital status might affect taxes or pensions) to the interpersonal (how children and family will react).
If you or someone over age 50 is cohabiting with an unmarried partner, we’d like to hear from you. What is your situation? What were the considerations that went into making the decision to live together sans marriage?
Guest:
Susan L. Brown, professor and chair of sociology at Bowling Green State University in Ohio; one of her research focuses is on older adults and their attitudes toward cohabitation
Delaine Eastin on her campaign for California Governor
Democrat Delaine Eastin is the only woman who's announced that she's vying for the gubernatorial seat.
But aside from that, Eastin is best known for her role as the former California superintendent of public instruction from 1995 to 2003. Since her departure from the role of superintendent, Eastin hasn't shied away from education. She's the chairwoman for the board of the nonprofit California school advocacy organization, Educate our State, and has publicly criticized lawmakers for not adding more preschool funding.
As reported by POLITICO, being out of office for more than a decade is just one challenge the Davis-based gubernatorial candidate and her team have been working to overcome. While education is a passion of Eastin's, she doesn't want to be seen as a one-issue candidate, and has been shedding light on her past transportation and environmental work as a former member of the state assembly. So what plans does Eastin have for California?
To see all of our interviews with the 2018 gubernatorial candidates, click here.
Guest:
Delaine Eastin, former state schools chief and candidate for California governor in 2018
CA students sue school district for suspensions over ‘liking’ racist Instagram posts
Four California students in the Bay Area were suspended for “liking” or commenting on racist Instagram posts directed at fellow students and a black school coach.
Now the students are suing the school district for overstepping its authority to punish them outside of school hours.
The suit raises two crucial issues: students’ rights to free speech and the meaning of a social media “like.”
Is a school allowed to punish a student for a non-school related activity? What if that activity isn’t just an expression of belief, but bullying of fellow students? And is an Instagram “like” akin to endorsement? Or do students mindlessly distribute “likes” and therefore can’t be held liable?
Guests:
Eugene Volokh, professor at the UCLA School of Law, where he teaches First Amendment law
Marc Ecker, lecturer in the College of Education at Cal State Fullerton and former superintendent of Fountain Valley School District
A look at inequality in America via its teeth
The divide between dentistry and the rest of medicine is so ingrained in the U.S. that many people don’t think of it as an oddity, but it’s a divide that has serious economic and health repercussions, as explored by Mary Otto’s new book, “Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America.”
Otto explores the story of a 12-year-old boy without dental benefits, whose untreated tooth infection spreads to his brain. Even after an emergency brain surgery at the hospital, he dies.
And this story is just a microcosm of Otto’s larger dive into oral health in America. From the aesthetics of pearly whites to the disparities of care in poor communities and the subsequent chronic pain, “Teeth” is a look at inequality through the lens of dentistry.
Larry Mantle talks to Otto about the reality and history of dental care in America, as well as her analysis of oral health and how it reflects on the States.
Guest:
Mary Otto, oral health journalist and author of “Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America” (The New Press, 2017); she tweets
Week in politics: What French election results mean for US, plus Trump’s travel ban returns to court
It was a busy weekend in politics, both national and international, and it sets up plenty to watch for this week.
In a landslide victory over far-right nationalist candidate Marine Le Pen, former investment banker Emmanuel Macron won the presidency of France in an election that essentially became a referendum on the future of Europe. The 39-year-old will become the youngest president in French history and will be challenged early on with the task of governing with no legislative majority in French Parliament.
Back here in the U.S., former interim Attorney General Sally Yates will testify before a Senate subcommittee today about former NSA head Michael Flynn’s alleged ties to Russia. Multiple outlets are reporting that then-President Obama warned then President-elect Trump last November against hiring Flynn.
Attorneys for the Trump administration are back in court today continuing to fight rulings blocking the president’s controversial travel ban prohibiting entry to the U.S. by people from six predominantly Muslim countries.
Also on the docket today, deportations remain status quo in Southern California, the EPA’s dismissal of members of a major scientific review board, Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy and an L.A. Times piece on the cost of protecting the Trumps.
Guests:
Lynn Vavreck, professor of political science at UCLA; she tweets
Zachary Courser, research director of the Dreier Roundtable and visiting assistant professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College; he tweets
President Trump looks to fill federal court seats
President Trump is expected to put out a list of ten conservative nominees for lower federal court seats today.
There are more than a hundred and twenty court positions waiting to be filled. That means this is the first of several nominations planned to come out of the White House in the coming months.
How will Trump’s selections impact the federal bench in the long term?
Guest:
Michael J. Gerhardt, professor of constitutional law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; he is the author of many law-related books, including “The Power of Precedent” (Oxford University Press, 2011)
New research shows that more adults over 50 are shacking up
Marriage rates might be on the decline, but according to a new Pew Research Center report, the rate of people over 50 cohabiting with unmarried partners has jumped 75 percent from 2007 to 2016.
Over half of these older cohabiters are divorcees, which may be a clue as to why these cohabiters are foregoing marriage. Older partners have plenty of other considerations when making the knot tying decision, from the financial (how marital status might affect taxes or pensions) to the interpersonal (how children and family will react).
If you or someone over age 50 is cohabiting with an unmarried partner, we’d like to hear from you. What is your situation? What were the considerations that went into making the decision to live together sans marriage?
Guest:
Susan L. Brown, professor and chair of sociology at Bowling Green State University in Ohio; one of her research focuses is on older adults and their attitudes toward cohabitation
Delaine Eastin on her campaign for California Governor
Democrat Delaine Eastin is the only woman who's announced that she's vying for the gubernatorial seat.
But aside from that, Eastin is best known for her role as the former California superintendent of public instruction from 1995 to 2003. Since her departure from the role of superintendent, Eastin hasn't shied away from education. She's the chairwoman for the board of the nonprofit California school advocacy organization, Educate our State, and has publicly criticized lawmakers for not adding more preschool funding.
As reported by POLITICO, being out of office for more than a decade is just one challenge the Davis-based gubernatorial candidate and her team have been working to overcome. While education is a passion of Eastin's, she doesn't want to be seen as a one-issue candidate, and has been shedding light on her past transportation and environmental work as a former member of the state assembly. So what plans does Eastin have for California?
To see all of our interviews with the 2018 gubernatorial candidates, click here.
Guest:
Delaine Eastin, former state schools chief and candidate for California governor in 2018
CA students sue school district for suspensions over ‘liking’ racist Instagram posts
Four California students in the Bay Area were suspended for “liking” or commenting on racist Instagram posts directed at fellow students and a black school coach.
Now the students are suing the school district for overstepping its authority to punish them outside of school hours.
The suit raises two crucial issues: students’ rights to free speech and the meaning of a social media “like.”
Is a school allowed to punish a student for a non-school related activity? What if that activity isn’t just an expression of belief, but bullying of fellow students? And is an Instagram “like” akin to endorsement? Or do students mindlessly distribute “likes” and therefore can’t be held liable?
Guests:
Eugene Volokh, professor at the UCLA School of Law, where he teaches First Amendment law
Marc Ecker, lecturer in the College of Education at Cal State Fullerton and former superintendent of Fountain Valley School District
A look at inequality in America via its teeth
The divide between dentistry and the rest of medicine is so ingrained in the U.S. that many people don’t think of it as an oddity, but it’s a divide that has serious economic and health repercussions, as explored by Mary Otto’s new book, “Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America.”
Otto explores the story of a 12-year-old boy without dental benefits, whose untreated tooth infection spreads to his brain. Even after an emergency brain surgery at the hospital, he dies.
And this story is just a microcosm of Otto’s larger dive into oral health in America. From the aesthetics of pearly whites to the disparities of care in poor communities and the subsequent chronic pain, “Teeth” is a look at inequality through the lens of dentistry.
Larry Mantle talks to Otto about the reality and history of dental care in America, as well as her analysis of oral health and how it reflects on the States.
Guest:
Mary Otto, oral health journalist and author of “Teeth: The Story of Beauty, Inequality, and the Struggle for Oral Health in America” (The New Press, 2017); she tweets