Left, Right & Center

By KCRW

What's Left, Right & Center about?

Left, Right & Center is KCRW’s weekly civilized yet provocative confrontation over politics, policy and pop culture.

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Can law enforcement be refo...

12.02.2022

Despite protests and promises of change, violent acts from police officers and scandals in law enforcement agencies seem to continuously dot the headlines. That’s according to Christy E. Lopez, columnist at the Washington Post, in her recent LA Times column, ...

Left, Right & Center episodes:

12.02.2022 Can law enforcement be reformed from the inside? Despite protests and promises of change, violent acts from police officers and scandals in law enforcement agencies seem to continuously dot the headlines. That’s according to Christy E. Lopez, columnist at the Washington Post, in her recent LA Times column, ...
11.25.2022 Is Russia’s war endangering democracy? It’s been nine months since Russia invaded Ukraine, starting a war that has killed at least 200,000 military personnel and approximately 40,000 civilians, according to U.S. officials. Winter is fast approaching, and it seems like both sides might be gearing ...
11.18.2022 Dems make final push during lame duck session The balance of power in the nation’s capital has finally been decided — Democrats will keep control of the Senate and Republicans grabbed the majority in the House, though by slim margins. And as both sides decide their party’s leaders, ...
11.11.2022 Republicans didn’t get a red wave. What does it mean for 2024? Millions of people cast their ballots in the 2022 midterm elections this week — though votes are still being counted — and neither Democrats nor Republicans saw the results they expected. A sitting president’s party often takes a beating in ...
11.04.2022 Crime, inflation, democracy: What will sway voters? With only a few days before midterm elections, a number of key races across the country are heating up, putting the capital’s balance of power on the ballot. A recent NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist national poll shows the country has swung by ...
10.28.2022 Scaring voters — just in time for Halloween Midterm elections are a week and a half away, which could alter the balance of power in the nation’s capital. Millions of people have already cast their ballots, and overall voter turnout is projected to be one of the highest ...
10.21.2022 Republican-led Congress could tie up Biden agenda With nearly three weeks until the midterm elections in November, Republicans may have a good shot at gaining the majority in both the House and Senate. Democrats saw boosted support over the summer after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. ...
10.14.2022 Trump gets subpoenaed by Jan. 6 Committee. Too late? This week, the January 6 House Committee voted unanimously to subpoena testimony from former President Donald Trump. In what could be the final televised hearing, the committee members recapped much of the evidence it’s been gathering for the last year. ...
10.07.2022 High gas prices tower over elections. Will voters punish Democrats? This week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Plus coalition, a crude oil group led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, announced the biggest cut in oil production in two years. This means that Russia will make more money ...
09.30.2022 DeSantis might run for president. His response to Hurricane Ian matters This week, Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida as a Category 4 storm and one of the strongest to make landfall in the U.S. Millions of people are without power and many homes are underwater. Natural disasters are often tests ...
09.23.2022 Should Americans be scared of Putin’s nuclear threats? This week, global political leaders met in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. U.S. and European officials slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin for further escalating the war against Ukraine, calling up 300,000 reservists, and threatening to use nuclear ...
09.16.2022 Where’s the middle ground on abortion? Abortion policy continues to develop and change nationwide, leaving little room for voters in the middle. This week, Republican South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham introduced national legislation that would ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The bill includes narrow ...
09.09.2022 Could Roe’s fall secure Democrats’ Senate majority? It’s the week after Labor Day, which marks the unofficial final push of midterm election campaigning. Democrats are optimistic thanks to an unexpected bounce in President Biden’s approval rating. It tanked at 37% in July but recently landed at 42%, ...
09.02.2022 Does Biden have nothing to lose? This week, President Biden gave several campaign-style speeches, emphasizing the “soul of the nation.” On Thursday, he argued that “MAGA forces” are putting fair elections, privacy, personal rights and economic security at risk. Biden is a first-term president with low ...
08.26.2022 Biden sends more military aid to Ukraine. How much is enough? This week, Ukraine celebrated its Independence Day, despite trudging through a brutal war with Russia. Though the countries have been fighting for six months, many Ukrainans would say the war started when Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. The Biden ...
08.19.2022 A political dynasty falls This week, Congresswoman Liz Cheney lost her Wyoming primary to Harriet Hageman, a Trump-endorsed attorney, ending a political dynasty. Her defeat by more than 37 points was one of the largest losses by a House incumbent, despite her conservative voting ...
08.12.2022 FBI seizes Trump’s files. Trump wins 2024 GOP nomination? This week, the FBI executed a search warrant at Donald Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, breaking into his safe, and seizing several boxes of presumed classified documents that he allegedly took from the White House when his presidency ended. Then, a ...
08.05.2022 It was a good week for election deniers It was a good week for election deniers. Several Trump-backed candidates sealed primary wins in Arizona, Michigan and Missouri. This includes businessman Blake Masters, who’s vying for a Senate seat in Arizona and identifies as part of the “New Right.” ...
07.29.2022 Manchin says yes to Dems’ climate bill. What about rest of Congress? Just when things looked bleak for Democrats’ agenda, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin finally decided to back a $369 billion climate and tax package. Lawmakers are racing to pass several bills before the August recess, and Senate Democrats are hopeful ...
07.22.2022 Rioters were invading Capitol, Trump was watching the telly What happened during the 187 minutes between the time Trump left the Ellipse, the park near the White House where he urged his supporters to march to the U.S. Capitol — and when he was at the Rose Garden, urging ...
07.15.2022 Trump 2024? Whether Jan. 6 revelations could affect voter support Food, health care, and rent are all going up, but wages are not. There’s tiny relief in gas prices finally dipping this month, and job gains are better than expected. However, Americans are still worried about a looming recession. Guest ...
07.08.2022 How much does an unpopular Biden hurt Democrats? The overturning of Roe V. Wade and recent mass shootings continue to cast a shadow over American politics. President Joe Biden has been reacting to those and other domestic problems with an incremental approach, and many Democrats find that too ...
07.01.2022 Supreme rulings from the Supreme Court This week, the Supreme Court wrapped up its term after issuing opinions that dramatically alter Americans’ abilities to confront climate change, our constitutional rights, and faith in the high court itself. Guest host Kimberly Atkins Stohr talks rolling back the ...
06.24.2022 Is this bipartisanship? This week, bipartisanship emerged in the Senate, where 14 Republicans voted with Democrats to move forward with a gun safety bill. What should we make of this latest effort? Guest host Kimberly Atkins Stohr talks gun politics with David Dayen, ...
06.17.2022 ‘A legally and morally bankrupt idea’ In its most recent hearing, the House Select Committee recounted all the ways former President Trump tried to pressure Vice President Mike Pence into doing what he wanted: to illegally stop the electoral vote count and overturn the election. The ...
06.10.2022 Biden wants diplomacy on migration, but excluded key countries from Summit of Americas President Joe Biden came to Los Angeles this week to host the Summit of the Americas, an event that’s supposed to bring together leaders from across the Western Hemisphere. But the agenda was overshadowed by the list of world leaders ...
06.03.2022 Who could lead gun violence reform? Your little ones A bipartisan group of senators is working to find gun control legislation that could make it through Congress. Ideas are being tossed around, like raising the age requirement for buying a gun. To date, Republicans on Capitol Hill have not ...
05.27.2022 Horror and dismay — again On May 24, an 18-year-old opened fire at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two adults. The nation responded in horror and dismay that a school shooting happened again. There have been 212 mass shooting incidents ...
05.20.2022 The mainstreaming of white supremacy This week, the nation witnessed another mass shooting. The gunman live-streamed the attack in which he specifically targeted Black people. Police soon uncovered the shooter’s racist manifesto and his inspiration from “the Great Replacement Theory.” Did this act result from ...
05.13.2022 What makes voters Tik(Tok)? The Senate has stymied a vote intended to secure nationwide abortion rights. Democrats knew this would happen – so why did they introduce the bill at all? Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said it was a way to get every ...
05.06.2022 What’s after Roe v. Wade? It’s a historic week in Washington: A leaked draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito suggests the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. Americans have reacted with shock and elation, and a post-Roe reality might come this summer. ...
04.29.2022 A $44 billion edit button Is it doom or salvation for the Twitterverse now that Elon Musk is poised to take over? He seems to want “maximum fun.” What does that mean for politics, free speech, and Twitter trolls? Guest host Jessica Yellin of “News ...
04.22.2022 Mask on, mask off The CDC sent the DOJ an SOS over masks this week. If that sounds like incomprehensible alphabet soup, just know that wearing a mask is up to you. Is the federal government doing enough to protect Americans from COVID? Is ...
04.15.2022 Evil? Confirmed. Genius? Not so much Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is now a “genocide,” at least according to President Biden. That’s one of the strongest accusations against Putin we’ve heard from Biden, who’s been (mostly) carefully wording his statements to avoid triggering an already bristly Russian ...
04.08.2022 A historic confirmation Ketanji Brown Jackson can officially put “Supreme Court Justice” on her resume this week, as three Republicans joined Senate Democrats to confirm the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. Jackson will replace soon-to-be former Justice Stephen Breyer, who will ...
04.01.2022 The Supreme Question How long is seven hours? It’s not long if you’re binging our show, but that’s a long time to not have records of telephone calls made by former President Trump on January 6, 2021. There’s a lot of news here, ...
03.25.2022 Ketanji Brown Jackson and confirmation bingo Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic confirmation hearings are now underway. She seems to be on pace to become the next associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, but not without some friction. Republicans grilled Jackson this week about some of ...
03.18.2022 War criminal It’s the third week of Russia’s war on Ukraine. But this week was the first time President Biden called President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal.” There are courts that could theoretically convict Putin on that charge, but what happens once ...
03.11.2022 Our big oil problem President Biden announced this week that the United States will ban imports of Russian oil and gas. The move was met with bipartisan approval despite promises of inflation and more pain at the pump. Was this the right move? How ...
03.04.2022 The state of our union President Biden gave his first State of the Union address this week, and it was certainly a doozy amid the invasion of Ukraine, COVID, and rising inflation. So how’d it go? The answer: It depends on the symbolism you’re looking ...
02.25.2022 From false flag to full-scale Russia has invaded Ukraine in full force. This week, missiles, tanks and troops poured over the borders as explosions rocked the country, causing thousands of civilians to flee their homes and seek shelter. Biden’s response? Swift … but not S.W.I.F.T. ...
02.18.2022 Close encounters of a truckish kind Canada’s having some close encounters of a truckish kind. For three weeks now, a convoy of truck drivers have occupied major cities north of the border and blocked trade in protest of vaccine mandates for truckers. They’ve gained support from ...
02.11.2022 Dictators gonna dictate We’re several weeks into world leaders trying to quell tensions over the Ukraine - Russia border. And if you thought things weren’t complicated enough, Russian and Chinese leaders also issued a joint statement saying their partnership would establish a new ...
02.04.2022 RIP American democracy? The crisis in Ukraine is edging toward what its president warns will be a “full-scale war” if Russian troops move in on the country — but this might also be a proxy war for democracy as we know it. What ...
01.28.2022 Farewell, Justice Breyer. What now? Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring after 27 years on the nation’s highest court, giving President Biden his first chance to nominate a justice to the bench. He’s expected to announce his pick by the end of February, and ...
01.21.2022 Biden presidency turns 1 year old President Biden took questions from reporters on Wednesday for nearly two hours — ranging widely from voting rights to Ukraine and more — as senators from his own party threatened his top legislative goals. The president says he’s outperformed expectations. ...
01.14.2022 The ‘I’ word: How we got here If your grocery or gas bill weren’t enough of an indicator, inflation is here at historic levels. The consumer price index, which tracks how prices change over time, showed a 7% increase at the end of last year, which is ...
01.07.2022 January 6 Anniversary We kick off a new year of Left Right & Center as the country reflects on the one-year anniversary of the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Guest host Jeremy Hobson talks with Jamelle Bouie, Alice Stewart and Amy ...
12.30.2021 Josh Barro says farewell to Left, Right & Center Welcome to Josh Barro’s final episode as host of Left, Right & Center. It’s a special episode with some of our most frequent panelists to close out 2021 and Josh’s seven-year run as host. A lot has changed in the ...
12.23.2021 A special Left, Right & Center for the end of 2021 Well, it’s been a year: 2021 has been better than 2020 all told, but not as normal as hoped. It’s seemingly not as normal as the voters hoped it would be either, with President Biden’s approval ratings sliding from the ...

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Left, Right & Center

What's Left, Right & Center about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Left, Right & Center episodes:

Can law enforcement be reformed from the inside?

Is Russia’s war endangering democracy?

Dems make final push during lame duck session

Republicans didn’t get a red wave. What does it mean for 2024?

Crime, inflation, democracy: What will sway voters?

Scaring voters — just in time for Halloween

Republican-led Congress could tie up Biden agenda

Trump gets subpoenaed by Jan. 6 Committee. Too late?

High gas prices tower over elections. Will voters punish Democrats?

DeSantis might run for president. His response to Hurricane Ian matters

Should Americans be scared of Putin’s nuclear threats?

Where’s the middle ground on abortion?

Could Roe’s fall secure Democrats’ Senate majority?

Does Biden have nothing to lose?

Biden sends more military aid to Ukraine. How much is enough?

A political dynasty falls

FBI seizes Trump’s files. Trump wins 2024 GOP nomination?

It was a good week for election deniers

Manchin says yes to Dems’ climate bill. What about rest of Congress?

Rioters were invading Capitol, Trump was watching the telly

Trump 2024? Whether Jan. 6 revelations could affect voter support

How much does an unpopular Biden hurt Democrats?

Supreme rulings from the Supreme Court

Is this bipartisanship?

‘A legally and morally bankrupt idea’

Biden wants diplomacy on migration, but excluded key countries from Summit of Americas

Who could lead gun violence reform? Your little ones

Horror and dismay — again

The mainstreaming of white supremacy

What makes voters Tik(Tok)?

What’s after Roe v. Wade?

A $44 billion edit button

Mask on, mask off

Evil? Confirmed. Genius? Not so much

A historic confirmation

The Supreme Question

Ketanji Brown Jackson and confirmation bingo

War criminal

Our big oil problem

The state of our union

From false flag to full-scale

Close encounters of a truckish kind

Dictators gonna dictate

RIP American democracy?

Farewell, Justice Breyer. What now?

Biden presidency turns 1 year old

The ‘I’ word: How we got here

January 6 Anniversary

Josh Barro says farewell to Left, Right & Center

A special Left, Right & Center for the end of 2021

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