A #MeToo Scandal Hits the White House

Coming up on today’s show:

• White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter resigned last week after allegations of domestic abuse surfaced from each of his two ex-wives. This story hits close to home for one psychological abuse survivor, Caryn St. James (not her real name). She shares her story today on The Takeaway, and Julie Goldscheid,a CUNY Law School professor who works on issues of gender violence, discusses how due process applies in situations like these. 

• The Olympics are often framed as a beautiful display of world unity, and a moment for countries to come together to cheer on their top athletes. But Dave Zirin, sports editor for The Nation magazine and host of “The Edge of Sports” podcast, has a different view. He weighs in today on The Takeaway. 

• Every 10 years since 1790, the United States has taken a census. Nowadays, the U.S. Conference of Mayors says we should be seriously concerned that the census is underfunded ahead of 2020, and doesn’t have a director. The last Census Bureau head left in May, and no replacement has yet been named. Diane Schanzenbach, director of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University, and Ann Morning, an associate professor of sociology at New York University, and a member of the Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations, weigh in. 

• The entertainment industry is booming with TV revivals. But when you revive old sitcoms or dramas, you’re also often reviving all white casts. Jeff Yang, a journalist and co-host of the podcast “They Call Us Bruce,” says it’s an easy way for networks to score big nostalgia wins with audiences, without addressing pressure to present more diverse casts and plot lines. 

• It’s week two of our book club series, “Reading The Reckoning,” with Rebecca Carroll. This week’s book is a collection of essays by Morgan Jerkins called, “This Will Be My Undoing.” This New York Times best seller takes on a central question: What does it mean to “be” — to live as, to exist as — a black woman today?

This episode is hosted by Tanzina Vega