Today on AirTalk, we preview tonight's presidential debate between president Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden. Also on the show, we discuss the science of diversity training; break down proposition 22; and more.
What To Watch For In Tonight’s Trump v Biden Debate
In an election year like no other, the first debate between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, could be a pivotal moment in a race that has remained stubbornly unchanged in the face of historic tumult.
The Tuesday night debate will offer a massive platform for Trump and Biden to outline their starkly different visions for a country facing multiple crises, including racial justice protests and a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans and cost millions of jobs. The health emergency has upended the usual trappings of a presidential campaign, lending heightened importance to the debate. But amid intense political polarization, comparatively few undecided voters remain, raising questions as to how, or if, the debate might shape a race that has been defined by its bitterness and, at least so far, its stability.
Biden will step onto the Cleveland stage holding leads in the polls - significant in the national surveys, closer in the battleground states - but facing questions about his turn in the spotlight, particularly considering Trump’s withering attacks. And Trump, with only 35 days to change the course of the race, will have arguably his best chance to try to reframe the campaign as a choice election and not a referendum over his handling of a virus that has killed more people in America than any other nation. But the impact of the debate - or the two that follow in the weeks ahead - remains unclear. Despite the upheaval, the presidential race has remained largely unchanged since Biden seized control of the Democratic field in March. The nation has soured on Trump's handling of the pandemic, and while his base of support has remained largely unchanged, he has seen defections among older and female voters, particularly in the suburbs, and his path to 270 Electoral College votes, while still viable, has shrunk.
Today on AirTalk, we break down the upcoming presidential debate.
Guests:
Tyler Pager, national political reporter for Bloomberg News; he tweets
Aaron Kall, director of debate at the University of Michigan and author of the book “Debating The Donald”
Minneapolis’s Promise To Abolish The Police Stalls, Council Members Reconsidering Their Pledge
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder at the beginning of the summer that led to nationwide protests against racial inequality and police brutality, Minneapolis made a pledge to defund the Minneapolis Police Department. Three months later, talks towards that goal have stalled and have many wondering what happens now?
The move by the Minneapolis City Council to entirely replace the police department with a new public safety infrastructure was a bold move met with praise by activists and concern by critics. But in August, the Minneapolis Charter Commission blocked the Council’s policing proposal from appearing on November’s ballot, citing the change to the city’s charter to be too rushed and need for review. According to the New York Times, councilmembers are now taking a step back from that pledge amid decreasing support for the initiative. So how did a movement for drastic police reform at the beginning of the summer lose momentum? Will the energy and fervor for such change continue into the fall and beyond?
Today on AirTalk, we take a closer look at Minneapolis’s move to try and abolish the police, what the city council’s next moves are, and how public sentiment for drastic police reform has evolved.
Guests:
Miguel Otarola, reporter covering Minneapolis for the Star-Tribune in Minnesota; he tweets at
Dave Bicking, Board member and secretary of Communities United Against Police Brutality, a volunteer organization advocating for police reform based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region of Minnesota
How Could Diversity Training Be Improved? Data And Science, Researcher Says
As the nation and world reckon with a racist past, many workplaces and institutions have turned to diversity and inclusion training or workshops to bring people up to speed. But some argue those programs, which have been used for decades, haven’t proven successful.
A psychology professor and researcher at Harvard University questions the effectiveness of diversity trainings in a new piece published in Skeptic Magazine. She argues that while many programs have good intentions, they don’t show results and can even backfire and breed resentment within the workplace. Instead she favors a method that uses science and data. But some push back on the idea that diversity and inclusion workshops aren’t working.
Today on AirTalk, we discuss what works and doesn’t work with experts. What are your thoughts? Have you participated in a DEI training or workshop recently? What did you think? Join the conversation by calling 866-893-5722.
Michelle Kim, CEO and co-founder of Awaken, an Oakland-based organization that provides interactive diversity, equity and inclusion workshops; she tweets
Mona Sue Weissmark, psychology professor at Harvard University where she conducts research on the science of diversity, she wrote a recent piece looking at whether diversity training programs work and she’s the author of the new book “The Science of Diversity” (Oxford University Press, 2020); she tweets
Note: A clarification over an exchange that took place during this segment has been issued on the program the following day. The statement, from host Larry Mantle reads: "Near the end of yesterday's segment on diversity training, I referenced a criticism I've heard of some antiracism programs. And I gave the impression to some listeners that I was questioning the existence of systemic racism. I don't, I was attempting to represent one specific critique of diversity training: that is that systemic racism is commonly used to explain all unequal outcomes without examining multiple possible explanations, [which] cuts off honest conversations about race. I fully realized many institutions have entrenched racism and the people of color are harmed by those systems. So I wanted to clarify that and correct how I presented that."
Prop 22: Carve Out Would Exempt App-Based Rideshare, Delivery Companies From Parts Of California’s Gig Worker Law
If you thought the fight over whether rideshare and delivery drivers who work for app-based platforms like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Postmates was over when the California legislature passed AB 5, the controversial labor law designed to provide employee classification and protections to the gig workers who drive for those platforms, think again.
Proposition 22 will be on the November ballot and California voters will be tasked with deciding whether to pass the measure, which would exempt companies including Uber, Lyft, Postmates, DoorDash, and Instacart from having to classify their workers as employees. If passed, the companies would be able to keep drivers on with independent contractor status while offering them certain benefits like 120 percent of minimum wage, insurance against car accidents and subsidized health care options. Those benefits would be linked to drivers’ “engaged time” meaning the time they are actively spending completing rides or deliveries as opposed to sitting and waiting for them. Supporters argue that voting “yes” on the proposition will allow drivers to keep the schedule flexibility that draws a lot of people to work for these platforms while improving the benefits to which they have access.
They say that it will also prevent the cost of the services from skyrocketing like they would if the companies were forced to classify drivers as employees. Opponents say voters can look to the amount of money the companies are spending on this measure as an indicator of who really benefits from Prop 22, and that the uncertainty of federal government benefits during the pandemic is exactly why gig workers need the protections like unemployment insurance and paid sick leave that AB 5 offers.
Today on AirTalk, we’ll hear arguments for and against Proposition 22. If you’re a driver for one of the major app-based platforms that offer gig work, how would Prop 22 impact the way you work for your service? Join the live conversation by calling 866-893-5722.
Guests:
David Cruz, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council #3288, which focuses on business and economic development; LULAC is the largest and oldest Hispanic civil rights organization in the U.S. and is part of the coalition of organizations that make up the “Yes on 22” campaign
Steve Smith, spokesman for the “No on 22” campaign and communications director for the California Labor Federation, an association of some 1,200 unions in the state based in Oakland
Holy Days On Zoom: How Did You Observe Yom Kippur?
Known also as the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur is a day of fasting, prayer and repentance in the Jewish tradition, with the day before set aside for eating and preparing for the holy day.
The Torah portrays Yom Kippur as a day centered almost entirely around the Temple in Jerusalem. On the holiday, the high priest performed complicated rituals and sacrifices to purify the Temple from the defilement attached to it as a result of the sins of the Israelite people. Another aspect of the day was atonement, which amounted to the spiritual cleansing of the people. In modern practice, the atonement is turned inwards, as a means of self-purification. Observers customarily spend the day of Yom Kippur in the synagogue, where five prayer services are performed. But, like everything in 2020, long-held traditions have been turned upside down by the pandemic. Now, observers will see many of their practices altered or moved to an online format.
How are you planning to observe Yom Kippur? What kinds of traditions have been impacted? Comment below or give us a call at 866-893-5722.