Contaminated drinking water is coming into the homes of tens of millions of Americans, especially in smaller, lower income communities, from aging, under-funded water treatment plant and distribution systems, poorly maintained private wells, and groundwater sources polluted by industrial dumping and agricultural waste. Experts and the GAO say it will require billions of dollars of infrastructure improvements to maintain safe water throughout the U. S. Customers of antiquated, poorly maintained, under-funded systems in rural areas, smaller communities and neglected older urban areas – who are disproportionately lower income, African-American and Latino – are most at risk. 
 Today we're going to Sand Branch, Texas, where 100 residents haven't had access to clean water for decades. What's it like to not have access to clean drinking water, and just how far do residents have to go to get it? Jimmy speaks with Brandon Kitchin, a reporter with News21's Troubled Waters investigative team, about their deep dive into clean water access across the country. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

209: The Texas town with no drinking water

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The clash of two American values -- religious freedom and freedom from discrimination –- didn’t seem so huge when a broad coalition of religious and civil rights representatives got together in a room in 1993. While starting from different ends of the political spectrum, this group came together to push for a new law, The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, meant to protect the religious practice of all faiths, no matter how small. RFRA became the law of the land.  But just a few years and a huge cultural shift later, the law was found to be only applicable at the federal level, and the coalition could not find a way to balance religious freedom with the civil rights of LGBT persons and women. That rift continues today as we continue to ask what does it mean to be free to exercise one’s religion? We hear from the people who were in that room in 1993 – and now are living with the consequences of their efforts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

225: Where's the line between religious freedom and civil rights?

Our friends at PolitiFact have sorted through a year of lies, fibs, exaggerations, fabrications and outright falsehoods to find the worst of the worst. PolitiFact’s Editor Angie Drobnic Holan joins us to reveal the 2017 lie of the year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

224: The 2017 Lie of the Year

Congress is considering changes to the way it handles sexual harassment complaints after its current rules have been called onerous by critics. We take stock of what might change with Patrick Terpstra of the Scripps Washington Bureau, and we speak with the lawmaker who helped shape the system, retired Rep. Chris Shays, who says it’s imperfect but is a vast improvement over what came before. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

223: This is what happens when Congress polices itself

America has long sold itself as "the nation of immigrants." But when you look at our history -- even the halcyon Ellis Island days -- that branding has always come with an asterisk. Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses... especially if they’ll work for cheap. Our guests on this episode are Hiroshi Motomura of the University of California and Andre Perry of the Brookings Institution.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

222: The Changing Race of Immigration in America

Judges in a legal stand-off. A power struggle between two branches of the federal government has left potentially thousands of undocumented immigrants stuck in detention centers with no idea how long they'll be there.  Are some immigration judges defying the law? Jimmy speaks to Scripps' senior national investigative correspondent Mark Greenblatt about his investigation… “Above the Law?” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

209: The Texas town with no drinking water

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