Context, Please

Around the country, students, parents, teachers, and staff of schools are being asked a seemingly impossible question: how many people are we willing to let die so that we can open our school buildings?

In the midst of their own global pandemic, Americans in 1918 faced the same question.

The answers they came up with and the lessons they offer for us today, this week, on Context, Please.

Sources and Visualizations of the data are available at this episode's webpage.

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Season Two starts tomorrow - and we've got a lot to cover.

Catch up on past episodes and find out more about the podcast at our website, and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with all of the latest news and get special visual content.

It was a recurring theme during the Obama presidency.  Late, every November, we would hear of another episode in the War on Christmas.  Far from a new phenomenon, the wars on Christmas have been a part of the United States since well before its founding.

Some lesser known battles, and what they can tell us about the supposed war of today --

this week, on Context, Please.

Sources and additional Visuals are available at this episode's webpage.

To stay up to date on all our latest episodes and research, follow us on Instagram and Facebook: @contextpleasepod

Last Tuesday, Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, made waves when he said in an interview with NPR that the Statue of Liberty stood for the poor, huddled masses who could stand on their own two feet.

The history of the Statue of Liberty, the poem that accompanies it, and its varied use as a symbol of American liberty throughout its existence.

This week, on Context, Please.

Sources and additional Visuals are available at this episode's webpage.

To stay up to date on all our latest episodes and research, follow us on Instagram and Facebook: @contextpleasepod

Last Thursday, Attorney General William Barr announced that the Trump Administration was restarting the use of the death penalty at the federal level, a process that had been left dormant for several years despite continuing at the state level.

Where does our use of the death penalty place us on the world stage?  Why do we still have it and what are the arguments for and against its use?

This week, on Context, Please.

Sources and Visualizations of the data are available at this episode's webpage.

To stay up to date on all our latest episodes and research, follow us on Instagram and Facebook: @contextpleasepod

On Monday half a million Puerto Ricans took to the streets to protest the Governor's percieved corruption and insensitivity.  Far from the first time Puerto Rico has been embroiled in protest, it has been a relatively consistent theme throughout the island's colonized years.

Today we focus on two notable moments from the island's past of resistance: El Grito de Lares and the Ponce Massacre.

This week, on Context, Please.

Sources and Images are available at this episode's webpage: https://sites.google.com/view/context-please/episodes/protests-in-puerto-rico

To stay up to date on all our latest episodes and research, follow us on Instagram and Facebook: @contextpleasepod

As Immigration and Customs Enforcements Agents threatened raids to deport thousands of undocumented families, the President sent out tweets calling for sitting U.S. Congresswomen of color to go back where they came from.  Actions and words which added fuel to the already raging flames of debate over how immigration ought to be handled in this country.

When looking for an analog in the past, we find the Know Nothing Party, the nation's first party that based its stances on the ideology of nationalism and being anti-immigration.  What can the Know Nothing's teach us about today and how can the concerns of those drawn to nativism be addressed in a healthier way: this week on Context, Please.

Sources and Images are available at this episode's webpage: https://sites.google.com/view/context-please/episodes/immigration-and-the-know-nothing-party

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook: @contextpleasepod to stay up to date on all our latest stories.

In March of 2018, the Trump administration announced the addition of a citizenship question to United States Census. Last week the Supreme Court put a hold on their plans, sending the case back to a lower court and telling the government to focus their argument. The administration acquiesced, saying the question would not be included. Then the president sent out a tweet.

The history of the Census, its use and misuse, and the controversy over if and why a citizenship question should be included; this week on Context, Please.

Sources and Visualizations of Data are available at this episode's webpage: https://sites.google.com/view/context-please/episodes/the-census-and-citizenship

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The most memorable exchange in last week's Democratic debates came in a tense moment between former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris.  When Harris pressed Biden on his record on using busing as a means of integration, he held firm, claiming he had only ever opposed it as a federal mandate.  So what did busing policy look like in the U.S., and what was Joe Biden's stance?  That and more in this week's episode of Context, Please.

Find the sources used in this episode and much more at our website below.

https://sites.google.com/view/context-please/episodes/biden-and-busing

Welcome to Context, Please, a podcast at the intersection of history and politics. Think of it like your old history classes, except you actually care about it now (hopefully)! Our first episode drops tomorrow where we will look at Joe Biden and the history of busing in the United States, we hope you'll tune in.