When Disaster Strikes, Inequality Lays Bare Amid the Wreckage

The Takeaway

Coming up on today’s show:

  • Storms like Hurricane Irma don’t discriminate when they make landfall, but the country’s most vulnerable often fare the worst amid a natural disaster. Joan Flocks, the director of social policy for the Center for Governmental Responsibility at the University of Florida School of Law, says socio-economic divides become more apparent after disasters strike.

  • New data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that that the middle class is on the rise in America. Is it time to celebrate? Some say, not so fast. Heather Long, economics correspondent for The Washington Post, explains.
  • It’s being called an “ethnic cleansing” campaign propped up by “modern day concentration camps” — the plight of the Rohingya Muslim minority community of Myanmar has escalated in recent weeks. Nicholas Kristof is an author and columnist for The New York Times who visited Myanmar in 2015 to report on the situation. He joins The Takeaway to discuss the crisis.

  • For the past year, San Diego, California has been in the midst of a major Hepatitis A outbreak. The city has responded with a street washing program, but more cases are expected to be reported. David Alvarez is a council member representing District 8 in San Diego, and he joins The Takeaway to weigh in on the city’s response to the outbreak.

  • On Monday, state lawmakers in California reached an agreement on legislation that will make California a so-called “sanctuary state.” Marisa Lagos, a political reporter for public radio station KQED, discusses the implications of the bill, who supports it, and who is protected (and who isn’t) under the law. 
  • Last week, Massachusetts District Attorney Marian Ryan said there will be no new trial for Victor Rosario, who had been imprisoned for 32 years for setting a fire that killed eight people. He was waiting for prosecutors to decide if his case would be retried after his conviction was overturned in 2014.  Rosario shares his story today on The Takeaway. 
  • Antibalas is a Brooklyn-based Afro-beat band that models itself after Fela Kuti and Eddie Palmieri. They are out with a new album this Friday. Duke Amayo, the band’s lead singer percussionist, and musician and founder Martine Perna,dropped by the studio to talk about their music and its meaning in this moment. 

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich.

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