No Tap or Toilet: Over One Million Americans Lack Access to Running Water
Most Americans take access to water for granted.
Recovering From The Midwest Floods
Last week, an intense winter storm swept the Midwest. The floods that followed were the worst in 50 years. What can farmers do to protect themselves from extreme weather?
New Threat To Felon Voting In Florida
Last November, Floridians voted to give the right to vote back to felons who had served their sentences. But new bills threaten to disenfranchise almost half of of them again.
Is Jordan Peele’s “Us” the First Marxist Horror Film?
Peele tackles race, class, and psycho-doppelgangers from a parallel universe in his follow-up to “Get Out.”
Guests:
Recover, Rebuild: Updating Our Communities for a New Climate Reality
Hurricanes like Michael reveal that our infrastructure, building codes, and preparedness protocols are based on outdated models. We consider a new way forward.
The US-Saudi Relationship: What Happens Now?
The economic ties are strong and may prevent the U.S. from taking any meaningful action in response to the targeting of the journalist.
What is Preventing Native Americans from Getting to the Polls?
The voter ID law upheld in North Dakota last week shines a light on the broader issue of disenfranchisement of Native Americans.
Warren’s DNA Test Perpetuates Stereotypes, Native Communities Say
Until this week, Elizabeth Warren had refused to participate in DNA testing. And many native communities see her decision to do so as offensive and one that plays to stereotypes.
After Gavin McInnes spoke at the Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan last weekend, right-wing Proud Boys clashed with protesters after the event.
Guests:
Ben Freeman
Jacqueline DeLeon
You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.
As Detroit Schools Shut Down Water Over Lead Concerns, Contamination Points to a National Crisis
Days before Detroit’s public schools opened for the school year, drinking water was shut off district-wide when test results showed elevated lead and copper levels.
Sexual Assault Allegation Against Brett Kavanaugh Could Derail Confirmation Process
We get the latest on how a sexual assault allegation could impact the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh and hear from listeners on how they feel about the accusation.
Democratic Districts Under Scrutiny for Lucrative ICE Contracts
Left-leaning counties in New Jersey rely on millions of dollars from ICE to maintain the county’s jails.
Young Puerto Rican Journalists Work to Tell Their Own Story
Almost one year since Hurricane Maria made landfall, we talk to a journalism student, at the University of the Sacred Heart, about the role of the media after the storm.
Guests:
Sofia Bozzo Gutierrez
You can connect with The Takeaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on our show page at TheTakeaway.org.
Click on the audio player above to hear this interview.
A 2013 report done by the American Society of Civil Engineers gave America’s water infrastructure a D+. The group estimated that most of the pipes that supply drinking water to the population will no longer be viable in the near future. The American Water Works Association suggests that the cost to replace those pipes could reach more than $1 trillion.
“In a way, we ought to look at it as a canary in the coal mine for the entire infrastructure for this country,” says Tom Loughlin, executive director of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
He says that the situation in Flint, Michigan should be a learning lesson, not a political one. He’s says the next generation of engineers should undertake an activist approach to find solutions that improve the quality of life and prevent disasters with drinking water infrastructure.
Click on the audio player above to hear this interview.
It’s sometimes tempting to classify the greatest innovators as rebels. After all, people like Henry Ford and George Washington Carver are famous for finding unorthodox solutions to our country’s problems.
But with new ideas come new dangers, and it’s important that safety standards modernize as quickly as technology.
Tom Loughlin is executive director of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, who helped us with our Search for America’s Greatest Innovation.
Tom is a firm believer in the power of innovation to keep our infrastructure safe and to move America forward.