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The State of The Union: Our New American Moment

The Takeaway

Coming up on today’s show:

  • On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress and to the nation. Here to help us understand how the speech resonated with people across the country, and what communities large and small are looking for from the Trump Administration are reporters Jean Guerrero of KPBS, Michael Pope of Virginia Public Radio, and Adrian Ma of WCPN Ideastream.  
  • On Wednesday, FEMA will end its distribution of humanitarian emergency supplies of food and water to the people Puerto Rico. But some local officials in Puerto Rico think that FEMA’s decision is premature, since an estimated 1 million people still remain without power and roughly 118,000 don’t have access to clean water. Juan Giusti-Cordero,a professor of Caribbean history at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, discusses recovery efforts on the island and FEMA’s recent announcement.
  • In Yemen, secessionist fighters in the southern part of the country have taken over the government’s de facto capital of Aden, forcing the internationally-recognized and Saudi-supported government to flee. Since Sunday, at least 35 people have been killed, with over 180 wounded. Iona Craig, an investigative journalist who has covered the conflict in the country extensively, brings us the latest. 
  • Back in July, Congress overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan sanctions bill against Russia. But this week, just ahead of a deadline for imposing the new sanctions, the Trump Administration said it would not impose them after all. Elana Schor, congressional reporter for Politico, has the details. 
  • Leon Neyfakh is a reporter for Slate, and he’s the host of Slate’s Watergate podcast, Slow Burn. Neyfakh joins the program to explain how the lead-up to the eventual resignation of President Nixon can help inform us about today’s climate of political tribalism.
  • Today, space fans are experiencing a cosmic trifecta: A blue moon, a supermoon, and a total lunar eclipse. Jason Kendall is anadjunct professor of astronomy at William Paterson University. He joins The Takeaway to tell us everything we need to know about this lunar lunacy.

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich

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