Tuesday on the Inland Journal podcast, “Why Liberalism Failed.” Notre Dame political scientist Patrick Deneen thinks America’s political system — liberating individuals from the tyrannies of government, exploiting resources for private gain — can’t sustain itself. Deneen will speak at Gonzaga on Wednesday and with us on Tuesday. And we’ll get a critique from Gonzaga philosophy professor Kirk Besmer. Find the Inland Journal podcast in iTunes, Google Play or NPR One or on the SPR website.

On the first Inland Journal podcast, getting men more involved in the battle against domestic violence. We talk with activist Jackson Katz, who came to Spokane last week to spread the word that men must be more vocal on this issue. A Spokane group called Good Guys is doing that. We’ll talk with its co-chair, Doug Kelley. Also, Monday is Presidents Day. We’ll learn more about the patchwork of holidays created to honor George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Today on Inland Journal, we talk about the move to hire more people with disabilities. We’ll hear about how job coaches are helping clients who were once unemployable find meaningful work. And we’ll meet Marty and Julie McKinney, the couple who run Truth Ministries, one of Spokane’s shelter programs for adult men. Those stories on today’s version of Inland Journal.

The job market is not easy to navigate if you’re a person with a physical or mental disability. Sometimes applicants can use a little help to learn about how to search for a job and to understand what employers expect. Spokane Mayor David Condon recently announced the city is beginning a new supported employment program for job candidates with disabilities.

Two weeks ago I was out covering the beginning of Spokane’s annual Point-in-Time count of the homeless population. I went to the Truth Ministries facility in east Spokane. It’s a place where men can congregate at night, eat dinner, conk out on a bunk bed, then get up early and head out to start another day. “We’re not really a homeless shelter. We want to get out there that we’re not enabling these guys by just giving them a bed. We are actually helping them to get back on their feet,” said

Today on Inland Journal, February 12 is a big day for Spokane County fire agencies. It’s the day when they ask voters for money to sustain them for a few more years. We’ll hear about three of the measures, including a city of Spokane proposal to increase property taxes to pay for more police and fire coverage. Spokane County is the recipient of a new MacArthur Foundation grant to support more criminal justice reforms here. And we'll hear about a Washington State University study that highlights

Spokane County has another big check in the mail from the MacArthur Foundation — that’s the same organization that periodically awards genius grants. The foundation is sending another $1.9 million to Spokane County. That’s on top of a $1.7 million award in 2016.

This week, researchers with the WSU College of Medicine released a report showing residents in eastern Washington are more likely to die early from most of the 10 major causes of mortality than people on the west side. Some of those illnesses include cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, stroke and diabetes.

Didn’t we just finish with an election? One in which the people elected congressional members and governors and state legislators and decided initiatives? Now we’re back at it, at least in Spokane County, with five measures on the February 12 ballot. All but one pertain to property tax levies for fire and/or police services. [The Orchard Prairie School District is also running a property tax levy.] Today, we’ll consider three of those measures, in the city of Spokane, in the Spokane Valley Fire

Today on Inland Journal, the Spokane County criminal justice system is in the middle of a series of reforms with the goal of reducing the jail population. We’ll talk with Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno about changes in the court system and about the possibility of a new jail in Spokane. And we’ll talk with three participants in Saturday’s Eastern Washington Legislative Conference for the region’s religious leaders.