Thinking CAP

Like with any good project, it takes a team to get you across the finish line. For two seasons, the Center for American Progress has published this weekly podcast in hopes of encouraging its listeners to think about the world a little differently, and share perspectives that can help foster a more inclusive society. From Sally Tucker and Thinking CAP’s original hosts Michele Jawando and Igor Volsky, to our supervising producer Rachel Rosen and season two producer Kyle Epstein, and our researcher Chris Ford, making this podcast has been an exceptional ride. This week, we bring this part of the journey to a close by revisiting an interview Daniella and Ed recorded with A.F.S.C.M.E. president Lee Saunders about the state of the labor movement in the United States. Be sure to follow Daniella and Ed on Twitter (@dgibber123 and @EdChungDC) for news about what projects they have coming down the pike – we hope you come along for the ride.

It wouldn’t be an international convening if President Trump didn’t make himself the center of the attention. Over the weekend, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted the G7 Summit with leaders from the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Italy, and Japan, along President Trump, in attendance in Biarritz, France. From skipping a meeting on climate change – the White House described it as a “niche” issue – to advocating for bringing Russia back into what would be the G8, the Trump wasn’t short on causing controversy. Just prior to leaving for the foreign trip, he had spooked the markets once more by tweeting attacks toward Chinese President Xi Jinping, who had announced new tariffs on American goods at the end of the week. Because of the president’s repeated decision to go it alone on the world stage, Ed and Daniella revisit their conversation with former Ambassador Wendy Sherman, who was the lead negotiator for the US with Iran during talks about their nuclear program. Last fall, she shared her insights on America’s moral standing in the world and why coalition building has been a successful strategy for US diplomats for decades.

Halloween may be more than two months away, but something in the air already has the markets spooked. Worries about the end of the bull market and a looming recession has economists and politicos worried about the impact of a sluggish economy. While Daniella is off this week, Ed sits down with CAP Senior Economist Gbenga Ajilore to diagnose the warning signs that could lead to the end of a more than decadelong economic boon. Key among the contributing factors are President Donald Trump’s trade war with China—which has shuttered markets for farmers across the country—and the 2017 tax cut, whose benefits went largely to corporations and earners in top income brackets. An economy, of course, should work for everyone, which is why we also revisited a conversation with Darrick Hamilton from earlier this year about creating an inclusive economy.

For decades, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been among the most challenging global health issues to contain. Enter Dr. Anthony Fauci, immunologist and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. As one of the foremost experts and advocates against the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Dr. Fauci exuded optimism when talking about the progress being made in both global and domestic containment of the disease. He sat down with Daniella for an interview to discuss his work fighting HIV/AIDS and to share his thoughts on the growing, dangerous anti-vaccination movement.

Once again, the country mourns after a weekend that saw two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, and more than 30 innocents killed. And once again, the blame game—or, rather, the scapegoat game—is dialed up to high, with the disability community caught in the sights of the gun lobby and its allies in Congress, as is too often the case. As the president and his enablers remain eager to avoid any commitment to tackle the growing scourge of white nationalism, others are motivated to pick up the mantle once and for all. This week, Daniella is joined by two CAP colleagues—Chelsea Parsons, vice president for Gun Violence Prevention, and Rebecca Cokley, director of the Disability Justice Initiative—to try and make sense of the all-too-familiar violence, the easy scapegoating of people with mental illness, and the growing tide of white nationalism that is being cheered on from the Oval Office.