In Surprise Upset, Alabama Picks a Democrat

Coming up on today’s show:

• After a heated and very close special election in Alabama, Democratic candidate Doug Jones will be the state’s next U.S. senator. Pat Duggins, news director for Alabama Public Radio, reviews the race and what it tells us about the future of the Republican Party, and Vann Newkirk, a staff writer at The Atlantic, discusses the racial breakdown in the race.

• Adam Federman, a reporter with the Investigative Fund, explains how the Department of the Interior is aggressively enacting an agenda that will have lasting effects on America’s federally protected lands.

• Journalist Ruth Tam spent her childhood vacations traveling to national parks. Her father, a Chinese-American immigrant, saw the parks as window into his new country. Now, the National Park Service is proposing a major entry fee hike at 17 popular national parks. Tam says this would make parks inaccessible to families like hers.

• The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will announce new inductees on Wednesday. Bon Jovi led the fan vote, and is likely a shoe-in, but who else will get a spot — and who will be left out? Culture reporter Melissa Locker joins The Takeaway to weigh in. 

• Deby Provost of Stockton, California has one question: If her drug for multiple sclerosis has been around for 20 years, why does it cost so much? It’s a question that Congress is asking, too. Mary Harris, host and managing editor for WNYC’s health desk, brings us Deby’s story as part of our series, “Your Healthcare: What Happened?” 

• Each week we speak to two female journalists focused on gender issues in the news, and this #MeToo moment: Koa Beck, editor in chief of Jezebel, and Jessica Bennett, gender editor of The New York Times. Today, they sit down to talk about a now viral story in The New Yorker, “Cat Person,” and why it rings true for many women. 

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich