Why Americans Love Their Flag

Coming up on today’s show:

• New York has the highest Puerto Rican population in the United States outside of the island territory. Nicole Acevedo, a student at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism from San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Ra Ruiz Leon, a dancer from Ponce, Puerto Rico, explains how their family has been affected by Hurricane Maria, and how they are trying to move forward. 

•  Andrew Cohen, senior editor of The Marshall Project, brings us the story of Dale Lambert, a Louisiana man currently serving a life sentence for second-degree murder. Lambert was convicted without a unanimous jury, and now his case is under review by the Supreme Court.

• Alabama’s Republican Senate primary runoff has divided the GOP. President Donald Trump endorsed Luther Strange, who was tapped as The Pelican State’s U.S. senator after Jeff Sessions stepped into the role of attorney general earlier this year. Strange was running against Roy Moore, who won the runoff on Tuesday after capturing more than 54 percent of the vote. Pat Duggins, news director for Alabama Public Radio, discusses the results. 

• Yesterday, the Justice Department issued a dramatic round of indictments to the college basketball world. In total, ten people were indicted on charges of fraud and corruption, including four assistant basketball coaches and the head of sports marketing at Adidas. Fran Fraschilla, ESPN’s college basketball analyst and a former head coach for St. John’s University and the University of New Mexico, joins The Takeaway to explain the recent scandal, and how it fits into the NCAA’s larger legacy of corruption.

• On Tuesday, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced that it would end a longstanding ban on women driving. The change, which is set to take effect in June 2018, was welcomed news to many, but women are still denied a variety of rights in the Kingdom.

• Patriotism is at the center of this week’s debate over kneeling protests carried out by professional athletes. Marc Leepson, a historian and author of nine books, including “Flag: An American Biography,” and “What So Proudly We Hailed: Francis Scott Key, A Life,” explains why Americans have such an affection for the flag, the national anthem, and other patriotic symbols and songs. 

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich.