Ocean Cleanup, Political Scandal, Breaking the ‘Hemingway Curse’

Coming up on today’s show:

• A Doctors Without Borders hospital in northern Yemen was struck on Monday by Saudi-led airstrikes. The attack follows a strike last week on a Yemeni school. Saudi Arabia leads a coalition of nine nations and receives support from the U.S. and the U.K., but many of its attacks on Yemeni soft targets have gone ignored. Iona Craig, an award-winning journalist reporting on the conflict in Yemen, weighs in.

• Only 61 detainees remain at the Guantánamo Bay detention center. On Monday, the facility saw its largest single prisoner release under President Obama, as 15 men were transported to the United Arab Emirates. Carol Rosenberg, a reporter from The Miami Herald who has covered Gitmo extensively, explains who these 15 men are, and what’s next for the detention facility.

• For the past three years, a young entrepreneur has been working to create a massive underwater barrier that would collect and remove trash from the Pacific Ocean through the use of the ocean’s currents. Here to discuss this initiative is Boyan Slat, the creator of the barrier and CEO and founder of The Ocean Cleanup, a foundation dedicated to developing advanced technologies to rid the oceans of plastic.

• Southern Louisiana endured unprecedented flooding over the weekend. The aftermath has left seven people dead, and thousands displaced and without power or cell phone service. Flood warnings are still in effect as rivers are expected to rise. Cynthia Sarthou, executive director of the Gulf Restoration Network, explains how neglect of state waterways and coastlines led to such a disaster. 

• On Monday night, a jury found Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Kathleen G. Kane, guilty of nine criminal charges. Kane, once considered a rising star in the Pennsylvania judicial system, was at the center of a Byzantine tale of lies, pornographic emails, and politics. Katie Colaneri, a reporter for WHYY in Philadelphia, joins The Takeaway to explain the details of this case. 

• With suicide rates in the U.S. at a 30-year high, the frontline for prevention is on your phone. Dr. Joe Franklin, assistant professor of psychology at Florida State University, has created a game-like app to encourage users to change the way they think about themselves and suicide in order to reduce suicidal behaviors.

• Mariel Hemingway is Ernest Hemingway’s granddaughter. After her own battles with anorexia and her sister’s suicide in 1996, Mariel was determined to fight the myth of the “Hemingway curse.” She’s now an author of several self-help books, an Academy Award-nominated actress, and mental health programs advocate. Today on The Takeaway, Mariel discusses her connection to her grandfather’s legacy.