In The Thick

Maria and Julio talk about Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court. They also get into the Oklahoma state legislature’s anti-abortion bill, and the dangerous repercussions of media language and framing around immigration.

ITT Staff Picks:

• For The New York Times, reporter Linda Qiu spoke with Black women of the Harvard Black Law Students Association about what Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court means to them. 

• Oklahoma’s abortion ban will have ripple effects throughout the country, with little hope that the Supreme Court will uphold Roe vs. Wade, reports Susan Rinkunas for Jezebel. 

• “The vow to treat asylum-seekers with “dignity” was a broken campaign promise from Biden,” writes Julio in his latest piece for MSNBC. 

Photo credit: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

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Maria and Julio reflect on the last two years of the coronavirus pandemic with guests Umair Irfan, staff writer at Vox covering Covid-19 and climate change, and Kiera Butler, senior editor and public health reporter at Mother Jones. They discuss government response to the health crisis, the disproportionate impact on Black and brown communities and what we can expect next.

ITT Staff Picks:

• For Vox, Umair Irfan dives into what is needed at a scientific research and policy level in order to spot the next pandemic virus.

• Kiera Butler writes about what it means for the coronavirus to become an “endemic” disease in this piece for Mother Jones.

• “The truth is that America’s battle with covid-19 has been more damaging than we like to think. And it is still ongoing,” writes Dhruv Khullar in this piece for The New Yorker.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File

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Maria and Julio discuss the news of the Biden administration finally putting an end to Title 42, a Trump-era public health order. They also unpack the media’s coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the latest on the January 6 attempted coup.

ITT Staff Picks:

• In this piece for Al Jazeera, Jihan Abdalla reports on how immigrant rights groups are reacting to the Biden administration’s indications that it will revoke Title 42 in the coming months.

• “National security coverage largely relies on official and military sources that, like a man with a hammer who always sees a nail, are likely to favor intervention,” writes Mark Hannah, senior fellow at the Eurasia Group Foundation, for Foreign Policy.

• Legal analyst Lisa Rubin explains how the January 6 committee ought to respond to a major gap in Donald Trump’s call logs in this piece for MSNBC.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib

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Maria and Julio are joined by Aisha Mills, political strategist and former host of “Amplified with Aisha” on the Black News Channel, and Dr. Jason Johnson, professor at the School of Global Journalism & Communication at Morgan State University and political contributor at MSNBC. They react to the 94th annual Academy Awards, including the controversy over Will Smith slapping Chris Rock. They also discuss the latest on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the state of independent journalism made by and for people of color.

ITT Staff Picks:

• “There’s definitely nuance here, and something to be said about the use of physical force to defend Pinkett Smith and the inherent toxic masculinity in the act, but Smith’s actions do feel like solidarity,” writes Ineye Komonibo for Refinery29.

• For Mother Jones, reporter Fernanda Echavarri dives into President Biden’s off-script remarks during his trip to Poland, and the reactions since.

• Non-white students who have fled the war in Ukraine are being detained in closed facilities by EU border authorities, May Bulman and Nadine White report for The Independent.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

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Maria and Julio discuss the uncovered text messages between Mark Meadows and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife Ginni Thomas, revealing new efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. They also get into the latest news out of the war in Ukraine, and President Biden’s meeting abroad with world leaders. And, they unpack Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings.

ITT Staff Picks:

• MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan makes the case for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, on violating ethics and being subject to conflicts of interest, in this opinion piece.

• For The Atlantic, Tom McTague unpacks the NATO alliance, asking what they ultimately stand for and against, as President Biden travels to Europe to discuss the war in Ukraine.

• On Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings, Elie Mystal writes in The Nation: “It was emotionally affecting to watch Jackson, a ridiculously accomplished Black woman, be forced to dance to the tune of these mediocre white senators who were trying to reduce her to a caricature.”

Photo credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

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In The Thick presents an episode from our sister podcast, Latino USA. In this episode, Maria talks with Latino and Latina film critics Clayton Davis, Cristina Escobar, and Jack Rico about Latinos in film this past year. Ahead of Hollywood’s biggest night, they discuss the honors (and snubs) for Latino-led films this awards season. They also talk about the importance of diversity in criticism, and push the conversation past the topic of “representation” to envision a more inclusive future for Latinos in Hollywood and the film industry as a whole.

Subscribe to Latino USA for more episodes.

Photo Credit: Collage by Luis Luna (Photo credits: Walt Disney Pictures/Disney Animation Studios, Macall Polay/Warner Bros. Entertainment via AP, 20th Century Studios, Amazon Studios)

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Julio and Maria discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to Congress, and the recent granting of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Afghan refugees. They also dive into the lack of accountability in the police shootings of Adam Toledo and Anthony Alvarez. And, they unpack the latest government spending bill, which cut funding for COVID-19 relief and prevention.

ITT Staff Picks:

• Months after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Biden administration extended eligibility for temporary protected status to over 70,000 Afghan refugees in the country, reports Hamed Aleaziz for Buzzfeed News.

• For Latino Rebels, senior editor Hector Luis Alamo writes about the announcement that no charges would be filed in the Chicago police killings of 13-year-old Adam Toledo and 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez.

• “Older, disabled, poor, Black, or brown Americans, whose excess deaths were tolerated long before COVID, have borne the brunt of the pandemic, while privileged people have had the swiftest access to medical interventions—and have been quickest to declare the crisis over,” writes Ed Yong for The Atlantic.

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Felipe Dana

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Julio and guest co-host Jenni Monet, independent investigative journalist and founder of the newsletter Indigenously, are joined by Karen Attiah, columnist for The Washington Post, and Sabrina Rodríguez, national political correspondent for Politico. They unpack the latest coverage on the war in Ukraine, its ramifications for U.S. immigration and refugee policy, and the Biden administration’s enforcement of Title 42. We also hear from Hansi Lo Wang, NPR national correspondent, on a report estimating undercounts of Black, Latino, and Indigenous Americans in the 2020 census.

ITT Staff Picks:

• “It took three days to cross the border. You cannot warm your car because you don’t have enough petrol to move. We moved three meters and we stopped the car,” said Iryna, a Ukrainian refugee, in this piece for Politico by Eugene Daniels.

• The Biden administration has been planning conversations with Mexican officials about ending its enforcement of Title 42, reports Hamed Aleaziz for Buzzfeed News.

• In this piece for NPR, Hansi Lo Wang breaks down the reasons, ramifications, and possible remedies for the U.S. Census Bureau’s perennial undercount of Black, Latino, and Indigenous Americans.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File

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Maria and Julio talk about Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine, including increasing sanctions from Western governments and private companies. They also get into the latest in the January 6th investigation, and the arrest of Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio. And, they end by talking about the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida.

ITT Staff Picks:

• “It’s really exhausting being a queer person in Florida trying to fight against everything going on. I should be focused on my schoolwork, not the GOP trying to police our education,” said Jack Petocz, a student activist in Florida, in this piece by Elizabeth Djinis, for Teen Vogue.

• For Business Insider, Laura Italiano and Haven Orecchio-Egresitz unpack the latest news on the Proud Boys’ recruitment efforts in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

• Derek Thompson writes about the possible repercussions of Russia’s financial, commercial, and cultural isolation in the aftermath of its invasion of Ukraine in this piece for The Atlantic.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Allison Dinner, File

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Maria and Julio are joined by ITT All-Star Terrell Jermaine Starr, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and host of the Black Diplomats podcast, to discuss his reporting on the ground in Ukraine and the impact of Western sanctions on Russia. They also unpack political responses to the invasion. And we hear from Asami Terajima, political reporter for the Kyiv Independent.

ITT Staff Picks:

• “Ukraine’s crisis has made clear who creates the Western news landscape, and perhaps more important, who the news is made for,” writes Ayman Mohyeldin in this piece for MSNBC.

• In this piece for The Nation, Ruchi Kumar and Ivan Flores write about Afghan refugees experiencing war and displacement once again after settling in Ukraine.   

• Trans and non-binary people in Ukraine are fearful for what the future holds — and struggling to flee the country due to documentation requirements — reports Ben Hunte in this piece for Vice News. 

Photo credit: AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda

Want to support our independent journalism? Join Futuro+ for ad-free listening, early-access and exclusive bonus episodes with the chisme behind In The Thick and all our podcasts: www.futuromediagroup.org/joinplus.

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