The Takeaway

Just a few years after graduating from college, Chloe Maxmin won a seat in Maine’s 88th legislative district. Two years later she was elected to Maine’s state Senate. She was the first Democrat to represent the 88th and the youngest woman elected to the state senate. 

We talk with Chloe about her strategy of deep canvassing and why she believes rural voters are the crucial to American democracy. 

According to The Williams Institute, an LGBTQ think tank at UCLA and more than 800,000 transgender adults are eligible to vote, but barriers to access, or fears of voter intimidation may prevent some trans individuals from even attempting to cast their ballot. 

The Williams Institute says that 31 states conduct their elections primarily in person at polling places AND have voter ID laws – and half of  voting-eligible transgender Americans living in these states do not have an ID that correctly reflects their name and/or gender.

We spoke with Josie Caballero, Director of US Trans Survey and Special Projects for the National Center for Transgender Equality.

This summer, major social media platforms like Twitter pledged to ban and remove election disinformation, but a recent report shows that they haven't lived up to their promises.

Last week, the media and technology watchdog group Free Press released a comprehensive analysis of the election and disinformation-related policies of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. It concluded that these sites have not lived up to their promises. Read the Free Press report here.

The rampant spread of online disinformation in the run-up to the 2022 midterms has led to real threats and violence against poll workers, politicians and voters alike. In the midst of this, billionaire Elon Musk purchased Twitter and dramatically weakened the company’s ability to moderate hate speech, harassment and disinformation.

We speak with Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, one of the 60+ civil rights and government watchdog organizations supporting the Free Press report. 

In response to requests for comment from The Takeaway, TikTok directed us to their statement "Our commitment to election integrity." Twitter highlighted a Tweet thread from Yoel Roth, Head of Safety and Integrity at Twitter. Meta directed us to their statement "How Meta Is Planning for the 2022 US Midterms."

Discarded cars and a 19th Century Shipwreck are being discovered, human remains have been found, and barges are running aground as the Mississippi River has reached historic lows due to persistent drought throughout the Central U.S. 

Last Saturday, October 22nd, the river fell to a new low of -10.81 feet in Memphis, Tennessee. 

We speak with a scientist who studies water and rivers about what is causing the drop, the economic fallout, and what it spells for the future of the River in a climate change future.

In her new book, “Raising Them Right,” award-winning journalist Kyle Spencer documents a coordinated and well-funded right-wing movement aimed at young people to bring ultra-conservative and radical ideas into the mainstream.

Right-wing organizations have spent millions of dollars recruiting and training young people. They use social media, flashy trips to conservative conferences in vacation hotspots, celebrity conservatives, and wedge issues from the so-called culture wars to draw them in, essentially making a machine to prepare these young people to become future leaders of American conservatism.

Writer, actor, and comedian Bashir Salahuddin is co-creator and star of the variety show Sherman’s Showcase and the HBO Max sitcom South Side.

We talk to Bashir about how his career in Hollywood has taken him back to the South Side of Chicago, his inspirations for writing television, and his words of wisdom for young creators who want to get a start in the industry.

How many new clothing garments do you buy each year? Data from the American Apparel & Footwear Association says that the  average American bought about 69 items of clothing and 7 and a half pairs of shoes in the year 2020. The days of buying two pairs of jeans and two nice tops for each new season seem to be out of fashion in recent years. It's easier than ever to buy lots of clothes, but what are the consequences of that ease? We’re looking at our fashion consumption habits, the ethical ramifications of fast fashion, and accessible alternatives to fast fashion with Aja Barber, author of CONSUMED: The Need for Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change, and Consumerism, and a contributing editor at Elle UK. 

It's the final weekend before Election Day 2022!

According to the US Election project, more than 33 million people have already cast their ballots, but that doesn't mean parties, campaigns, or candidates are ready to rest their cases. These heady final days are what we like to call — closing arguments.

Here at The Takeaway, we’ve been following the 2022 midterm elections through the stories of SHElection!, which is a political matchups where both candidates are women. So, in today's final installment of SHElection! we ask: How are the parties, candidates, and campaigns of 2022 targeting women voters in their closing arguments?

The Takeaway spoke with Aimee Allison, founder and president of She the People – a national organization the builds power for women of color, and Grace Panetta, politics reporter at The 19th – a nonprofit newsroom covering gender, politics and policy.

Emiko Jean is a Japanese-American author-- but, before she was an author, she was an entomologist (bug catcher), candle maker, florist, and teacher. She strongly believes in “faking it till you make it” and asking for forgiveness rather than permission.

Emiko has written many YA novels, like, Tokyo Ever After, which was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club YA Pick. But her most recent novel, Mika in Real Life, is a bit more grown-up. With themes about sexual assault, motherhood, adoption, and coming of age when you’re already an adult.

We speak with Emiko Jean about her new novel, motherhood, and how her book explores and deconstructs the 'model minority myth.' 

Since 2020, election officials are “leaving in droves,” in many cases due to the misinformation campaigns and the subsequent threats made against them. In fact, the FBI issued a warning a few weeks ago that in seven states, including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Wisconsin, there have been an unusual level of threats continuing against election officials. In states like Arizona and Georgia, we’ve also seen how voter intimidation and suppression tactics are being used with baseless claims of "voter fraud" as justification. 

In Georgia, Joe Biden became the first Democratic president to win Georgia in nearly three decades in 2020. And strong voter turnout helped send two Democrats to the US Senate. Flipping control of the chamber to the Democratic party and making the state of Georgia a swing state. 

But even as Democrats where celebrating their wins, Republican lawmakers in Georgia, were seizing on the potential political gains from Trump's, ‘Big Lie.’ And through that traction of disinformation passed the controversial Georgia Senate Bill SB 202. Which restricts almost all aspects of voting, including a provision that has made it easier for regular citizens to challenge the eligibility of other voters in their county. 

We speak with Lawrence Norden, senior director of the Elections and Government Program for the Brennan Center for Justice, to hear about how political violence and threats of violence are playing out for the Midterms, and what it means for our democracy and free and fair elections. On The Media reporter, Micah Loewinger also joins The Takeaway to talk about how this is affecting voters, in the latest installment of our occasional series, Georgia at the Intersections.