Axios Re:Cap

As of Monday, the prosecution and defense have made their cases in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with murdering George Floyd 11 months ago. Now the verdict is up to the jury.

Dan is joined by Axios Twin Cities reporter Nick Halter, who is on the ground, to discuss the highlights from the trial, the decision facing the jury and what could happen when a verdict is released.

We’re sharing the latest episode of the Hard Truths podcast series.

In this episode, we try to answer one big question: Why do fewer Latinos have health insurance when compared to others in the U.S.?

Guests: Samantha Artiga, director of the racial equity and health policy program at the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Catalina Sol, executive director of La Clinica del Pueblo

Credits: Axios Today is produced in partnership with Pushkin Industries. The team includes Niala Boodhoo, Sara Kehaulani Goo, Dan Bobkoff, Justin Kaufmann, Nuria Marquez Martinez, Sabeena Singhani, Amy Pedulla, Naomi Shavin, Alex Sugiura and Michele Salcedo. Music is composed by Evan Viola. You can reach us at [email protected].

Bernie Madoff, architect of the largest Ponzi scheme in American history, died on Wednesday in federal prison, 11 years into his 150-year sentence. 

Dan digs into Madoff’s crimes, what they revealed about our financial system and what changed after the scheme came crashing down with Diana B. Henriques, author of the Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust.

Georgia has become the center of America's politics, in an era where state issues and officials have taken on elevated national prominence.

Axios Re:Cap speaks with Georgia state Sen. Jen Jordan, a Democrat running for attorney general, about her state's time under the microscope.‪

Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, began life as an academic exercise but went mainstream in part because of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, which launched nearly nine years ago. Today it goes public, at a moment when bitcoin is seen more as an investment than a practical currency.

Dan is joined by Coinbase President and COO Emilie Choi to discuss how the company and bitcoin got to the present moment — and what happens next.

After the U.S. administered nearly 7 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC and FDA this morning issued a recommendation to pause using that particular vaccine after six women developed blood clots following their vaccinations. 

Dan discusses how this recommendation was likely made, why and how to understand it with Julie Morita, executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, who has served on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, as commissioner for the Chicago Department of Public Health, and on the Biden Covid-19 advisory board.

The U.S. secured so many COVID-19 vaccine doses through its Operation Warp Speed contracts that we may soon be sitting on a surplus, even if booster shots are needed.

Dan and Vanity Fair contributing editor Katherine Eban discuss her recent reporting, which revealed exactly how those contracts were structured and how the U.S. ended up with a stockpile it cannot distribute abroad.

President Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan includes spending on child care facilities and elder care — and now members of his administration and allies on the hill are arguing to expand the definition of infrastructure so that it encompasses more than roads and bridges. 

Dan speaks with Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), who supports Biden’s plans, but calls the decision to split up family policies and jobs “a big mistake.”

Nearly one in five American adults is hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine, which could make it harder for the country to reach herd immunity. Meanwhile, the virus continues to mutate, with the CDC announcing today that the British variant is dominant in the U.S.

Dan talks with Dr. Atul Gawande, author and advisor to the Biden administration, about what vaccine hesitancy means for the U.S. and the world.

As U.S.-based companies have spoken out against Georgia’s new voting law, some politicians on the right have pointed out that these same companies have stayed quiet on human rights violations in China — and they are alleging hypocrisy.

Dan is joined by Axios China author Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian to discuss what’s happening in China, what U.S. corporations have and haven’t said, and what to make of these allegations and the expectations they set.