The Takeaway

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act, sometimes called the FMLA, which President Clinton signed into law in 1993. The legislation allows up to 12 weeks of “unpaid” leave for qualifying employees to recover from major illness, or childbirth, or to take care of sick family members.  It was a groundbreaking achievement for its time, but also limited. According to a Labor Department survey, about 44% of workers are not eligible for FMLA-leave because they work for small employers who are exempt from the law, or they don’t work enough hours to qualify, or they haven’t worked there long enough.And some people just can’t afford to take the unpaid leave from work.  Now Democratic lawmakers are renewing their push to make paid family leave federal policy. On February 1st, Representative Rosa DeLauro and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand reintroduced the FAMILY Act. And a day later, President Biden announced his recommitment to expanding the federal law to include paid family leave. We speak with Natasha Pearlman, Glamour’s executive editor about the efforts to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Late last week a Chinese surveillance balloon flew over the continental United States until it was shot down by a U.S. military jet at the order of President Joe Biden.  U.S. officials say the balloon was part of an extensive surveillance program from China that spanned 5 continents.  In recent days, U.S. forces have shot down 3 more unidentified flying objects across the continent over a 3 day period: over Alaska, over Lake Huron, and over the Yukon in Canada. We speak with Gordon Chang, author of The Coming Collapse of China and The Great U.S.-China Tech War about what it all means for U.S.-China relations.

Keyla Monterroso Mejia landed her breakout role as Maria Sofia on "Curb Your Enthusiasm." Keyla’s performance as a bad actor blackmailing Larry David made a splash. She is now the star of Netflix’s "Freeridge," a spin-off of "On My Block."  We talk to Keyla about the new show, Latine representation in Hollywood, and gratitude. 

Super Bowl 57 kicks off on Sunday, and sure, we’re all a little excited about the game – the Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Kansas City Chiefs.  But a lot of people will be tuning in just for the halftime show, and the highly-anticipated “Rih-turn” of Rihanna! This is RiRi’s first public performance since the 2018 Grammys, and she had previously rejected doing the Super Bowl halftime show in 2019 in solidarity for Colin Kaepernick. So we spoke to a member of Rihanna’s Navy, Stephanie Holland, staff writer for The Root, to get some insights into the show, and hype us up for the big game.

National Book Award finalist and Lambda Award winning author and poet, Danez Smith creates poetry that viscerally examines the intricacies of gender, the recognition of Black family and kinship, rebirth and growing to know and learn themselves anew every day. They are the author of three books: [Insert] Boy, Don't Call Us Dead, and Homie. They join us to discuss their craft, how poetry saved their life, and their dreams of a Black Queer future.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake shocked Turkey and Syria near their shared border on February 6th. As of Friday morning, it is estimated that over 21,000 people have died. Less than 12 hours later, a second quake hit that was nearly as strong as the first. In the days since, at least 100 smaller earthquakes have also hit as aftershocks.  Near the epicenter, in Turkey’s Gaziantep Province, entire districts of cities and towns have been leveled. Thousands of buildings have collapsed in Turkey and Syria, including hospitals, schools and apartments — many with people still inside. Aid workers and civilians alike have been working nonstop over the past few days to rescue survivors from the rubble. But it has been too slow for many, and supplies like food and warm shelter have been limited.  We speak with Shirin Jaafari, reporter covering the Middle East for The World. Jaafari has previously reported from Gaziantep, the epicenter of the quake, and has been speaking with survivors in Syria in the aftermath.  

Last Tuesday, Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens announced plans to move forward with the proposal to build Cop City despite ongoing opposition from the local community and after police killed environmental activist Manuel Teran AKA Tortuguita.  Environmentalists, local activists, college students, and parks advocates have pointed to their worries of the environmental impact on clearing this forest. And they’ve cited growing fears of police violence as issues of police brutality and police accountability plague our day-to-day lives. And while pursuing cop city may seem like an unprecedented policy endeavor in the history of policing and public safety, it is actually not the first time the U.S. government has taken such measures. The documentary film Riotsville USA on Hulu illuminates this history, and it explores the decades-long project to militarize U.S. law enforcement and crush opposition to the state.  Before the idea of cop city came to be, following the Civil Rights Movement and rebellion in the late 60s, the U.S. government helped create “mock cities” where they were trained to use the same crowd control tactics police use on protests today. Sierra Pettengill, director and filmmaker of the documentary joins us to discuss how Riotsville, USA set the stage for an endeavor like cop city.  The State of Georgia has charged 19 protestors with domestic terrorism- at least 9 are accused of nothing more than trespassing. We also speak with Lauren Regan, executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center, who will represent some of the protestors charged with "domestic terrorism." To keep up with our coverage of cop city, check out some of our other segments.

Over the past few months, news organizations continue to uncover lies and embellishments about Representative George Santos’ past, resume, and campaign finances. The Republican Representative of New York’s 3rd Congressional District, which covers parts of Long Island and Queens, is now facing several investigations into those lies. The Freshman lawmaker was only sworn in a month ago, and is also facing calls from some lawmakers in his own party to step down. Many of his constituents are calling for his resignation. A recent Newsday/Siena College poll found that 78% of those surveyed in his district want Santos to resign. And on Tuesday, a busload of Santos’s constituents rode down to D.C., protested on Capitol Hill, and handed his staff members a petition for his resignation. We look at what repercussions Santos could face in Congress and what rules are in place to prevent other lawmakers from lying to constituents with David Cruz, WNYC’s People & Power politics editor.

Last night, President Biden delivered the State of the Union address. It came at a moment when his approval rating is about 41-percent, close to the lowest of his entire presidency.  On the Republican side, Arkansas Governor and former Trump White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, delivered the GOP’s response. We hear analysis from Joel Payne, CBS News political contributor and Chief Communications officer for Move On, and Mitch Kokai, senior political analyst for the John Locke Foundation.  

Denne (den) Michele Norris was born with an “artist’s heart”. And a desire to create space for other storytellers who share lives that exist at the intersection of Blackness, queerness and transness. Her “artist’s heart” allows her to breathe life into characters whose flaws glare up from the page. And her words crack open the hearts of readers, pulling them into scenes dressed in the tension of the unspoken. Denne is Black, queer and long since been on the rise. She’s the “first Black, openly trans woman to helm a major literary publication,” Electric Literature. As the guiding voice of the publication, she is actively creating space for voices shut out of the predominantly white, straight and cisgender publishing industry. Denne is also the author of the forthcoming novel, When the Harvest Comes. They joined us for the next edition of Black.Queer.Rising.

Science journalist Rachel E. Gross explores how the evolution of medical terminology seems to have stalled when it comes to pregnancy. Patients are encountering terms like “geriatric pregnancy” and “incompetent cervix” that not only add an element of blame to a pregnancy, but also lack the specificity needed for medical care.  Read her recent piece in The Atlantic, "Don't Call My Cervix Incompetent." Listen to Gross's interview with The Takeaway about her book, "Vagina Obscure: An Anatomical Voyage."

Medication abortions are the most common method in the U.S. for terminating a pregnancy, and the FDA recently moved to allow retail pharmacies to sell the abortion pill. So despite continuing attacks on abortion rights and access, the abortion pill has been an incredibly lucrative gamble for a secretive group of private equity investors — who are now battling each other for control of its future. We speak with Mother Jones reporter, Hannah Levintova. Her new story is "The Abortion Pill’s Secret Money Men." 

Regina Twala was one of southern Africa’s most important intellectuals: a pioneering writer, academic, political activist and feminist. Why, then, has she been all but forgotten? That’s the question Written Out: The silencing of Regina Gelana Twala by Joel Cabrita looks to answer. Dr. Joel Cabrita, Associate Professor of History at Stanford University argues that editors, white academics, apartheid officials, and politicians whose politics were at odds with Regina’s – conspired to erase her literary legacy.  

In January, Florida's Department of Education rejected an Advanced Placement course in African American studies. Governor Ron Desantis called the course curricula "indoctrination." This move is in line with the state’s Stop Woke Act of 2022, which assumes that Critical Race Theory is running rampant throughout politics and education, that programs focused on race and diversity are discriminatory, and that strictly limits how topics like racism in American history can be discussed in Florida classrooms.  We speak with John Diamond, Professor of Sociology and Education Policy at Brown University and author of “Despite the Best Intentions: How Inequality Thrives in Good Schools," about the importance of Black studies.

Brittney Johnson is an accomplished actor, artist, and the first Black woman to play the title role of “Glinda” in the Broadway musical Wicked. She brings an exhilarating and sincere performance to any character she portrays. Brittney made Broadway History by being the first Black Woman to play the title role of “Glinda”, in Wicked on Broadway. You can watch this spellbinding performance for yourself, live, through February 12, 2023 at The Gershwin Theatre in New York City. Johnson, who has also appeared on Broadway in Les Misérables, Motown, Sunset Boulevard, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, and Kristin Chenoweth: For the Girls, will succeed Ginna Claire Mason.