The Rise of The Alt-Right

Coming up on today’s show: 

• Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore is under fire for alleged sexual encounters with teen girls, including sexual contact with a 14-year-old decades ago. Will Republican voters in the Yellowhammer State still back this GOP candidate? Pat Duggins, is news director at Alabama Public Radio, weighs in. 

• It has been one week since the deadliest shooting in Texas history, which left 26 people dead at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs. David Martin Davies, a reporter for Texas Public Radio, explains how the community is beginning to move forward. 

• Should the public be able to watch footage of mass shootings? Could it change our thinking, and affect our gun laws? Or does it desensitize the nation? The Takeaway is putting these difficult questions to two researchers and thinkers: SaharaByrne, an associate professor of media communication at Cornell University, and Matthew Grizzard, assistant professor of communication at the University at Buffalo.

• On Sunday, a powerful earthquake struck near the Iran-Iraq border. At least 300 people were killed in the 7.3 magnitude quake, and thousands more were injured. Thomas Erdbrink, Tehran bureau chief for The New York Times, joins The Takeaway wit the latest. 

• A wave of retirements by Republican lawmakers has some concerned that the GOP’s ability to hold the House majority in 2018 may be in jeopardy. Cheryl Chumley, opinion editor at The Washington Times, explains. 

• David Neiwert has been following right wing extremism in the United States for decades. He says the alt-right is becoming ever more powerful under President Trump, arguing that they are intent on pushing out moderates and bringing on authoritarian rule. He’s the author of “ALT-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in The Age of Trump.” 

• Sergeant Heather Taylor is the department’s first female sergeant ever assigned to homicide. As an African American, she understands the racial divisions that often erode trust between police departments and the people they serve. Through her position as president of the Ethical Society of Police, she hopes to bridge that divide, by focusing on establishing and strengthening positive relationships with communities across St. Louis.

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich