When companies sell supplies to prisons, does their influence over inmates' lives stop with the inventory? On today's show, Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, and WNYC/Gothamist reporter George Joseph, talk about the equipment and supplies corporations that provide nearly everything used in prisons and jails from desks and uniforms to restraint jackets and tear gas.

President Biden’s nomination of Rep. Deb Haaland (D, NM) to be Secretary of the Interior would put a Native American (Laguna Pueblo) in charge of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the first time ever and perhaps mark a new era for the relationship between the federal government and American Indians. Is it time for a new relationship between the U.S. government and America's Indian nations? On Today's Show, Joy Harjo (Muscogee Nation) U.S. Poet Laureate, performer and writer, editor of When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry (W. W. Norton & Company, 2020), talks about her new album "I Pray For My Enemies" - out tomorrow. Then, Julian Brave NoiseCat (Canim Lake Band) vice president of policy and strategy with Data for Progress; narrative change director of the Natural History Museum; and a fellow of the Type Media Center, NDN Collective, and the Center for Humans and Nature.

Progressive policy items, like police reform and voting rights protections, are moving through Congress, not to mention a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. On today's show, Elana Schor, Politico Congress editor, recaps the news out of Congress this week, including two bills the House passed on voting rights and policing, and more.

The governor of Texas is lifting all state-imposed COVID precautions. But public health experts say it's too soon to return to normal. What are the politics at play in reopening? On today's show, Jeremy Blackman, politics reporter for the Houston Chronicle, talks about Governor Greg Abbott's decision to end Texas's mask mandate and lift all capacity restrictions for businesses in the state and how residents and local politicians are reacting. Plus, callers from red sates call in with their thoughts on their states' reopening plans.

Biden's journey on racial issues has been a long & winding one. The question now is, what will he do as president? What's he done so far, & what's on his agenda, for racial equality? On today's show, Paul Butler, professor at Georgetown Law and the author of Chokehold: Policing Black Men (The New Press, 2017), checks in on what more progress -- if any -- the administration has made on advancing racial justice so far.

The 13th Amendment removed slavery from our laws. Except as punishment for a crime. Do mass incarceration, prison labor and the profits it generates add up to modern day slavery? On today's show, Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley talks about his "Abolition Amendment" which would seek to close the "slavery loophole" in the 13th amendment, and Bianca Tylek, Worth Rises’s executive director, talks about programs that require incarcerated people to work for little or no pay.

Two women have accused NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment. How are those who were comforted by his leadership during the pandemic thinking about his other conduct? On today's show, Josefa Velásquez, senior reporter for THE CITY, talks about the story, the governor's (and Albany's) reactions and takes calls.

Trump got elected on an anti-immigration platform. Can Biden deliver the comprehensive bipartisan immigration reform this country has tried, and failed, to implement for so long? On today's show, U.S. Representative Linda Sanchez (D CA-38th), House sponsor of the immigration bill Biden is backing; then, Sergio Gonzales, executive director Immigration Hub, former policy aide to then-Senator Kamala Harris, who helped draft the 2013 immigration reform package as a staffer for "Gang of Eight" member, Colorado Senator Michael Bennet.

Over a third of nurses who have died from COVID-19 have been Filipino. We look at why so many Filipino immigrants become nurses, and how they've been failed by the healthcare system they work in. On today's show, Tracie Hunte, correspondent for The Experiment — a new series from The Atlantic and WNYC Studios — and Gabrielle Berbey, associate producer for The Experiment, discuss their reporting on how Filipino Americans came to work the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their new episode is called “The Sisterhood.”

The COVID relief bill is expected to pass in the House tomorrow. So let's dive into the details on what that could mean for people in different situations. On today's show, U.S. Representative (D-NY8) and House Democrats chairman Hakeem Jeffries, talks about the latest on the Covid-19 relief bill, and other national issues before Congress.