Deadly Xenophobia, An NBA Revolt Against Trump, Life After Prison

Coming up on today’s show:

• After the most contentious election for Democratic National Committee chair in decades, members narrowly picked former Labor Secretary and establishment favorite Tom Perez. Perez, who is the first Latino to lead the Democratic Party, joined the race in December to oppose Representative Keith Ellison, a member of the Bernie wing of the party. Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich has the details. 

• There’s been much scrutiny over the ideology of Steve Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News who’s now President Trump’s chief strategist. But Bannon is not the only figure in Trump’s White House who represents a new breed of conservative thought. Michael Anton, a former George W. Bush–era speechwriter and private-equity executive, is now playing a handful of different roles in the Trump Administration. Tina Nguyen, staff reporter for Vanity Fair, explains what you need to know.

• Last week an evening at the Austin Bar & Grill in Olathe, Kansas quickly turned to tragedy when a gunman entered the establishment and reportedly yelled “get out of my country” before he shot two immigrants from India. Tapash Chakraborty, an Indian-American resident of Kansas for over 20 years, and his daughter, Jinia Chakraborty, a second generation Indian-American, discuss this shooting’s impact on the local community and what it means to be an immigrant in America today.

• Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation magazine and host of “The Edge of Sports” podcast, explains why many NBA players and teams are revolting against President Donald Trump, and how the league’s commissioner is handling the players’ right to speak out.

• The 89th Academy Awards took place on Sunday night. Though the awards ceremony was celebrated for being the most diverse in decades, controversy and chaos broke out when the wrong film was announced in the “Best Picture” category. Rafer Guzman, film critic for The Takeaway and Newsday, has the details. 

• American author Jodi Picoult joins The Takeaway to read an essay that confronts her own understanding of race and racism as a privileged white woman in America. The complicated emotions and feelings of trying to write about race played an important role in her latest novel, “Small Great Things.”

• The Obama Administration issued more commutations than any other U.S. president on record. In a new series, “Commuted: Life After Prison,” The Takeaway follows an inmate, Aaron Glasscock, and his family as he is released after 18 years in prison and begins the transition into society. Today we hear from Aaron’s mother, Agnes Deep.