A Pew study shows that women are the main breadwinners for 40% of American households. Has the swing toward women supporting the family been good or bad for America’s children? Also, Marcia Coyle examines the recent highly politicized Supreme Court cases and analyzes how the justices may decide. Then, should wrestling be cut as an Olympic sport, and would the reissuing of classic license plates affect the value original vintage plates? Later, Garrison Keillor of "A Prairie Home Companion" comes to the Greek.
Women main breadwinners for 40 percent of American households
A Pew study found that the percentage of American homes in which women bring home the lion’s share or all of the income has more than tripled in the last half century.
According to analysis of the study, in 1960, just 11 percent of U.S. families with children were supported by mom, but a spike in the number of single mothers raising kids contributed to 40 percent of families in which mom is bringing in most or all of the money in 2011.
Also contributing to the change is the success of women in the workplace, boosting their salaries so now 1 in 4 women out earns her husband.
Has the swing toward women supporting the family been good or bad for America’s children? What about for marriages? Is it better to have the kids at home with mom every day or dad? Pew also found that two thirds of Americans see the rise of single motherhood as a “big problem,” but as roles are redefined and a new generation of Americans embraces the changing landscape of home life, is it a problem or a reality?
Guest:
Stephanie Coontz, Professor of History and Family Studies in The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington; Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families; Author of "A Strange Stirring: The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s" (Basic Books, 2011), and "Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage" (Viking Press, 2005)
Supreme Court sneak peek and 'The Roberts Court'
From gay marriage to DNA patents to racism-related laws, the Supreme Court will rule on a number of landmark cases in the coming weeks.
Movie star Angelina Jolie’s recent revelation about her breast and ovarian cancer predisposition has highlighted a genetics case. The court has to decide whether human genes are patentable, specifically whether a Utah company can patent BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 genes, of which Jolie, like thousands of women, is a carrier. From California, the Proposition 8 case will address the constitutionality of a ban on same-sex marriage. In conjuction with that case, a decision is slated on the Defense of Marriage Act -- and whether the federal government can deny benefits to gay couples in state were they are legally married.
In Shelby v. Holder, the justices are asked to weigh whether the 1965 Voting Rights Act is still necessary to prevent racial discrimination in elections and polling. The other race-related case stems from Texas. A young white woman claims she was discriminated against by the University of Texas when they admitted minority students over her.
These highly politicized cases come at a time when the Justices have repeatedly split 5-4 along conservative-liberal lines.
We’ll speak with Marcia Coyle about her new book, “The Roberts Court.” Coyle examines major cases on health care, money in elections, guns, and race -- and the significant role of conservative judicial activists in shaping and arguing them.
Guests:
Lisa McElroy, Associate Professor of Law, Earle Mack School of Law, Drexel University; Supreme Court scholar
Marcia Coyle, author, “The Roberts Court: The Struggle for the Constitution;” Chief Washington Correspondent for The National Law Journal; as a lawyer and journalist, Coyle has covered the Supreme Court for 25 years
IOC soon to determine fate of wrestling, baseball and more at the Olympics
In February the International Olympic Committee made headlines when they recommended that wrestling be dropped from the 26 core sports of the Olympics for the 2020 games. The committee determined that the rules needed to be easier to understand and that the sport needed to hire more women in management, stipulations aimed at broadening the sport’s appeal.
Since then FILA, the wrestling’s international governing body, has worked to reform the sport and will be presenting its new look to the IOC executive board this week. IOC President Jacques Rogge told the AP in an interview that FILA has made productive changes to give it a chance to remain in the Olympics, but as of now it is still competing with 7 other sports - karate, sport climbing, squash, roller sports, wakeboarding, Wushu (Chinese martial art) and baseball/softball - for just one spot to remain a part of the Games.
The IOC’s recommendation to put wrestling on the chopping block offended many people, not just wrestling fans, because the sport was part of the ancient games and feels essential to the spirit of the Olympics. But the IOC has made an effort in recent to modernize the Games, and if no one is watching wrestling, then shouldn’t the committee make room for a new sport?
Guest:
Elliott Almond, Sports Writer for the San Jose Mercury News
Vintage car collectors divided over reissuing of CA classic license plates
The California Department of Motor Vehicles has been taking pre-orders for the so-called “legacy license plates” – the yellow, blue and black plates that were originally released between the 1950s and 1970s. If 7,500 people put in their orders before January 2015, the plates will go into production.
The program was established by a bill authored by Assemblyman Mike Gatto, who represents parts of the San Fernando Valley as well as Atwater Village, Los Angeles and Silver Lake. The DMV wants the new plates to resemble the look and feel of the originals as much as possible, despite certain standards these replicas would have to follow (for instance, license plates in CA have to be reflective).
But the re-releases could be used on any cars, even though California laws only allow classic plates to be used on classic cars. Some vintage car enthusiasts are less than thrilled about the reissue, saying that it cheapens the value of the originals they’ve worked so hard and spent so much money to acquire.
Guests:
Rex Roden, President and Director of the Association of California Car Clubs; the ACCC consists of thousands of automobile hobbyists throughout the state who are interested in California laws and policies regarding collector automobiles.
Jeff Forton, owner of Fortech Automotive and Restoration in Tustin, CA; the shop restores and sells vintage license plates, among other things
Garrison Keillor and 'A Prairie Home Companion' come to the Greek
Garrison Keillor, the veritable soul of A Prairie Home Companion, is a public radio institution. He got into radio in the 1970s, after clocking in a bit of time at the New Yorker as a staff writer.
RELATED: 'A Prairie Home Companion' with Garrison Keillor
A Prairie Home Companion debuted live in 1974 at the Janet Wallace Auditorium at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minn., with 12 people in the audience who shelled out $1 each for admission. Today, the weekly variety show, which documents the fun and frolics of the fictional Lake Wobegon, is heard by 4 million listeners on some 600 public radio stations.
Guest:
Garrison Keillor, host of A Prairie Home Companion
"A Prairie Home Companion" starts on June 7th at the Greek Theater. For more information about the show, click here.