How Do We Keep a School Safe?

Coming up on today’s show:

• As the country collectively considers how to prevent shootings like the one in Parkland, Florida, possible safety measures that can be implemented at schools are at the top of the agenda. We explore some of the most seriously considered changes to policy and school infrastructure with Rebecca Klein, education reporter at Huff Post. Rebecca Berlin Field, an art and art history teacher in Richmond, Virginia, and says she did not sign on to a job that was potentially life threatening, and shares her perspective as an educator. 

• A new report from the ACLU examines the practices of private debt collection agencies. It found that courts and district attorneys’ offices nationwide are cooperating in issuing arrest warrants against debtors with the threat of imprisonment.  Jennifer Turner, principal human rights researcher at the ACLU and author of the report, says in over 90 percent of cases, debt collectors are winning judgments because they count on people who might not be aware of the debt to not show up in court to defend themselves.   

• The Olympics will wrap up this weekend, with Ivanka Trump heading to Pyeongchang for the closing ceremonies — perhaps to rival the star power of Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. To get a sense about how South Koreans have been feeling during the Winter Games, we have a dispatch from the ground from journalist Jillian Weinberger, who’s in PyeongChang for The Podium, a podcast from NBC Sports and Vox Media. 

• The 21st annual New York International Children’s Film Festival begins Friday, and this year the content appeals to more than just kids. Rebecca Pahle, an associate editor at Film Journal International, has seen many of the films the festival brought together this year, and says there’s a lot to learn from children’s films these days, no matter your age.

• “Black Panther” is the latest film to come from the multi-billion dollar Marvel universe. Thanks to a groundswell of grassroots support and international appeal, the film blew past industry expectations by more than $200 million. Aside from box office success, some say the film has reset expectations for what black films, with black casts, can achieve. Jonathan Gray, a professor of English at the City University of New York and editor of the Journal of Comics and Culture, weighs in. 

• Since Sunday, over 270 civilians in Syria have been killed in eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held area outside of Damascus. Wendy Pearlman is a professor at Northwestern University. From 2012 to 2016, Pearlman spoke with over 300 Syrian refugees, and started to piece together a narrative of Syria, one that she published last year in the book, “We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria.” She weighs in amid the growing violence.

This episode is hosted by Todd Zwillich