The Takeaway

Research shows that more than 30% of voters often don’t even bother filling out their entire ballot.  Is it apathy or a lack of information about some of the less covered and more obscure races and candidates? In our week-long series "DOWNBALLOT," we'll be exploring what some of those down ballot elected officials actually do, what you should consider when you're voting for them, and how you can get research the candidates so that you can feel empowered and make an informed vote. First, we speak to Bridgett King, Associate Professor of political science at Auburn University, to learn why some voters don't vote for their entire ballot, and ways in which that can change. Then we hear from Alex Niemczewski, Founder and CEO of BallotReady, a non-partisan organization, about how BallotReady is working to build a more engaged and informed electorate, and how voters can use it for to feel more confident in voting down ballot.

"Jennifer Carlson is a sociologist reconfiguring our understanding of gun culture in the United States. Through ethnographic research with gun owners, educators, and sellers; law enforcement; and state licensing bodies, Carlson investigates the motivations and assumptions that drive gun culture."- MacArthur Foundation 

 She joined The Takeaway to discuss her work studying gun culture and gun violence, and what it was like to win the 2022 MacArthur Genius Prize.

Producers Ryan and Katerina report on what makes a show or concert accessible to the deaf community and they look at, and try on, some technology from Music: Not Impossible that could help make attending concerts and experiencing music more accessible. Music Not Impossible created what they call “Haptic Suits,” specifically designed for the deaf and hard of hearing. The suits are used to translate music into vibrations that people can then feel throughout their entire body, which can provide a greater connection to music for deaf and hard of hearing communities, and break down barriers between hearing and deaf concert-goers. They spoke with a number of guests about this cutting-edge technology that's making the experience of accessible for all.

Since 2014, Masih Alinejad has led social media campaigns encouraging Iranian women to commit acts of civil disobedience – such as removing hijabs – and taking video. She’s been targeted by the Iranian government, having to live in exile in the US for years.

She joins us to discuss the international response to the current protests, and the role she believes Western feminists should play.

Four years ago, in February, 2018, Nikolas Cruz entered his former school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and opened fire.  He killed 17 people. After pleading guilty last year, he was up for the death penalty. Yesterday, a jury decided to not sentence him to death, and instead he will serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole. We speak to Alexis Hoag-Fordjour, Assistant Professor of Law & Co-director of the Center for Criminal Justice at Brooklyn Law School, to discuss what legally constitutes justice in a crime this heinous.

Deidre DeJear is among the three Black women running to be some of the first Black women governors in the United States. Stacey Abrams in Georgia and Yolanda Flowers in Alabama are also vying to hold office as their states' top executive. 

In 2018, DeJear became the first African American ever to be nominated by a major party for statewide office in Iowa and then did it again this year as the first Black person to ever win the Democratic nominee for governor of Iowa. DeJear is seeking office against Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, a popular incumbent seeking reelection, making this the first time two women are running against each other in the state. If elected, it would make DeJear Iowa's first Democratic governor in nearly 16 years.

Reynolds boasts an approval rating over 50%, an endorsement from former President Trump, and she delivered the Republican response to President Biden’s State of the Union address in March. Reynolds is currently pushing in court to allow a 2018 law to go into effect that would ban abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy- a timeframe before many women even know they are pregnant. The law does carry exceptions for rape, incest, fetal abnormalities and to protect the life of the mother. 

In January, the Des Moines Register reported that Governor Reynolds had broken the record for most cash on hand reported for a campaign for Iowa governor- nearly $4.8 million. That kind of campaign finance advantage typically deters challengers, but DeJear has stepped up to the plate and is working to make sure that Monday's upcoming debate shows "the difference between the two... and [the] core issues that folks have been talking about all over the state," DeJear told the Des Moines Register.

We speak to Ian Richardson of the Des Moines Register and Deidre DeJear, Democratic candidate for Governor of Iowa, for a look into the Iowa governor's race in this edition of our special midterm election series SHElection! in partnership with Center for American Women and Politics and with support from Ms. Foundation. 

We dive into the dynamics of one of the nation’s most competitive races during a pivotal midterm election cycle: Pennsylvania's Senate race.

Democratic candidate John Fetterman long held an edge in the race, as a candidate who flouted right-wing caricatures of the contemporary left as elite and out of touch — but a stroke he suffered in May left him with lingering side effects. His Republican opponent, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, and his team, have seized onto Fetterman's recovery, launching attacks to paint Fetterman as 'feeble' and 'lazy.'

New York Magazine writer-at-large Rebecca Traister writes, "But while the image of Fetterman as fighter is what his campaign is going for, it’s possible that it is benefiting from a more complicated dynamic: that over the course of the race, Fetterman has become even more familiar to voters, not because of his Everyman toughness but because of his struggles." 

We speak with Traister whose recent piece chronicles Fetterman's trajectory and examines how tropes of masculinity are being deployed in this race.

"Kiese Laymon is a writer bearing witness to the myriad forms of violence that mark the Black experience. Laymon’s writing across genres is grounded in radical honesty and his perspective as a Black Southern man."- MacArthur Foundation.

The MacArthur Foundation just announced its newest class of fellows for 2022. Author and professor Kiese Laymon joins The Takeaway to talk about his work, his life and what it feels like to become a MacArthur Fellow. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched rhetoric about nuclear war in recent weeks, while escalating air missile attacks on Ukrainian cities after Russian forces suffered on-the-ground defeats. President Biden recently remarked that the world has only felt closer to nuclear war in 1962, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Though U.S. officials have stated they see no indication that Putin will follow through on his threats to use nuclear weapons, and Biden recently tempered his own response, the rhetoric has still left many on edge. We’re taking a look at what’s prompting Putin to escalate now and the rising stakes of Russia's war in Ukraine.

We're joined by Julian E. Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs in the Princeton School of Public & International Affairs and Nikolas Gvosdev, professor of national security affairs at the Naval War College and editor of "Orbis," a journal of world affairs by the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

Comedian Guy Branum joins us to talk about the new movie Bros, for which he’s a co-star and co-producer. We hear what it means to make a movie that centers the LGBTQ+ community both in front of and behind the camera. Guy also shares stories from his life in comedy, his stint as a lawyer, playing the sidekick, and his memoir, My Life As A Goddess.