The Takeaway

A law moving through the Kansas legislature is set to weaken the enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and two cases before the Supreme Court could narrow the ability of disabled people to sue over violations of their rights. 

We speak with Rebecca Cokley, Program Officer for U.S. Disability Rights at the Ford Foundation, about what this could mean for the future of disability access.

In 1942, just below the football stadium at the University of Chicago, scientists were racing to figure out the feasibility of a controlled nuclear reaction.  At that moment, it was all about WWII. 

In 1958, the US began generating electricity from nuclear power, and today there are nuclear power plants in more than half of American states. The US Department of Energy touts nuclear energy as “cleaner and greener” pointing to its zero emissions and smaller land footprint, but nuclear power generation does produce hazardous waste products, and finding somewhere for it to go is not just a logistical issue, it’s a political one. 

Today, the US and Canada remains two of the largest producers and users of nuclear energy, and Canadians are proposing a waste storage solution that is not going over well. 

 Joseph Gedeon, a reporter at Politico and former producer here on The Takeaway, joined for a chat about the environmental dilemma.

Nine prisoners have been executed in the United States in 2023, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Yet the number of death sentences in the country has steadily decreased in recent decades, from more than 300 annually in the mid-1990s to fewer than 30 in recent years. This is thanks, in part, to the work of a small group of little-known professionals known as mitigation specialists. Their mission? Mercy.

Sara Baldwin is a mitigation specialist in Florida. Her job is to dig deep into the lives of people who commit murder, to find out who they were before they committed a terrible crime, and how they become the kind of person who would. Mitigation specialists do this in order to convince juries, judges and prosecutors to bestow mercy — often in the form of a life sentence instead of a death sentence.

Maurice Chammah, staff writer at The Marshall Project, spent three years shadowing Sara Baldwin and her work on a particular case. Both join us for this conversation. 

Read Maurice's latest piece about Sara's work for The Marshall Project: "The Mercy Workers."

Last month, Uganda’s parliament passed several new laws that criminalize openly identifying as LGBTQ+, adding on to brutal discrimination LGBTQ+ Ugandans have faced for years.  

The Takeaway talks with Dr. Frank Mugisha, Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda about the recent laws.

Evan Gershkovich is a 31-year-old American journalist who works as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in Russia. Last week, he was arrested by Russian officials and accused of espionage, the first time Russia has accused a foreign journalist of spying since the Cold War.  He faces up to 20 years in prison.

First, we hear from Pjotr Sauer, a former colleague and friend of Evan Gershovich.  Then, we speak with Dr. Dani Gilbert, Fellow at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth College, about Russia’s increasingly hostile behavior towards American citizens and journalists, and their willingness to engage in “hostage diplomacy.”

On Tuesday, Wisconsin voters will head to the polls to cast their ballots for the State Supreme Court. With more than 30 million dollars in spending so far, this election will determine the fate of abortion rights and gerrymandered maps in Wisconsin… And could have larger repercussions during the upcoming 2024 presidential election. 

To talk to us about Wisconsin’s Supreme Court elections is Maayan Silver, a reporter at W-U-W-M 89.7, Milwaukee’s public radio. 

Pickleball is America’s fastest growing sport. According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, pickleball has seen a 156.7% increase in players over the past three years. 

Described as a cross between tennis, badminton and ping-pong, pickleball is attracting fans of racquet sports from across the country. And this increase in interest has come with both serious problems and incredible opportunities.  

Takeaway producer Cat Sposato takes a quick journey through the world of pickleball at Lifetime fitness club locations across New York state. She finds out the appeal behind the game, learns about its possibilities for professional opportunities, and uncovers the challenges the sport still has to overcome.

Original Air Date: January 18, 2023

A musical adaptation of the 1959 movie, "Some Like It Hot," is now on Broadway. The movie has been acclaimed as one of the best comedy films of all time, but much of that comedy relies on the trope of men using drag as a disguise. It's a trope that Broadway is no stranger to, as evidenced by recent adaptations of "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Tootsie." The "Some Like It Hot" musical attempts to alleviate this tension between historic and often harmful portrayals of drag and the rich reality of drag as art, self-expression, and everything in between. But can a revision of an old story featuring harmful stereotypes ever truly be a vehicle for authentic representation? 

We speak with J. Harrison Ghee, star of Some Like It Hot, about the show's new take on his character. We learn about the evolution of drag in theater from Domenick Scudera, professor of theater at Ursinus College. And we talk with Miss Peppermint — drag star, actress and ambassador for Trans Justice at the ACLU — about her experience as a trans woman working on Broadway and in the drag industry during this time of rising hatred against drag performers and gender non-conforming folks.

International Transgender Day of Visibility is a day of celebration, support, and love within the transgender community and among allies, and it is especially important amid the ongoing legislative efforts across the country targeting the lives, the health, and the well being of trans individuals. 

According to the Human Rights Campaign, which is tracking anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in statehouses across the country, just in these first few months of 2023, there have been a record number of bills that target transgender people specifically.

We speak with Shelby Chestnut, Executive Director of the Transgender Law Center about the history of the day, and finding joy amid the ongoing harassment, discrimination, and political violence that trans people continue to face. 

Houston Independent School District enrolls nearly 200,000 students, and it's the largest school district in Texas, and 8th largest in the U.S.

Earlier this month, the Texas Education Agency announced the state was taking over the district citing poor performance.  The state is dismissing the superintendent and the elected school board and replacing them with state appointees. Critics say this is another example of predominantly white, Republican lawmakers taking control over a diverse, and largely democratic city's functions.

We speak with Josephine Lee, reporter for the Texas Observer, who says that the takeover is a trojan horse for Texas Republicans efforts towards privatizing education, and will only increase inequities.