TWO REPORTERS

David Becker - who runs the nonpartisan Center for Election, Innovation and Research - says Trump is trying to sabotage free and fair elections, yes. But David says the election system is so decentralized, and the vast majority of election officials are so principled, and judges have been so consistent rejecting Trump's illegal efforts to meddle, that your vote will matter as always. For the record though, let's remember some of what Trump and his minions have been doing: His Justice Department is suing states to get their voter rolls. Trump's FBI has raided election centers, and might show up at them on election day. Trump's allies have installed election deniers on state voting boards. Trump supporters have floated a draft plan for him to declare a national emergency before the elections and seize control. But David says don't let that scare you: Vote!

Read Dave's moving new book of short fiction: The Unfinished Sentence And Other Stories. Short stories are the perfect way to celebrate the moments when you're not hectic with work or chores or other daily tasks. Get a cup of coffee or tea (or stronger beverage of choice), settle onto a comfortable chair or bench, and enjoy Dave's beautifully-crafted descriptions and profound insights - all in one sitting. As Dave describes his collection, "In a world loosened from the anchors of morality, assortments of quirky characters search for scruples among others and themselves. They bump up against some surprising limits, suffer self doubts, yet often emerge victorious over the absence of virtue. The high school girl with invisible brilliance ... The crusty caretaker of an island who possesses but does not own his native ancestors’ land. The optician whose magical glasses offer vision to the morally blind ..." And other memorable tales. You can buy Dave's book in paperback. 

An English teacher at Middletown High School in New York State gave students video cameras back in the 1990s, and told them to tell compelling stories. Result: They uncovered illegal dumping of toxic wastes tied to the mob, and then made films about it - which shook the community and triggered government investigations. A documentary about their real-life drama, Teenage Wasteland, has electrified film festivals and now you can see it on Netflix. The teacher who guided the project, Fred Isseks, joins us with two of his former student investigators, Rachel Raimist and Jeff Dutemple. And they say the most important outcome was bigger than exposing illegal dumping: They learned how to ask tough questions, challenge government officials, and sort facts from lies. 

With their government's and military's support, vigilante Israeli settlers are converting key villages and swaths of land into Palestinian-free zones, to thwart any prospect that Palestinians could create their own nation there. Dror Etkes, a former Israeli soldier who got his “political education” invading Palestinian homes, describes the systematic strategy behind the campaign, its human cost to Palestinian families he knows, and the dangerous implications for the future. Check out the brave and innovative research that Dror and his colleagues are doing under the umbrella of their organization, Kerem Navot.

They're speaking African American English, according to linguist Lisa Green at the University of Massachusetts Amherst - in other words, "it's not mainstream English with mistakes." Lisa grew up speaking AAE in Louisiana, and since then, her ground-breaking research has found that AAE is based on a system of consistent grammatical rules, pronunciations and definitions. Some call it a dialect, which evolved from the African languages that slaves spoke blended with plantation English; in fact, when someone says, "she aks" instead of "she asks," they might be echoing Old English from centuries ago. Lisa argues that schools need to acknowledge and respect black children's African American English, even while they teach them Standard American English that they need to succeed in broader society.

Yes! (Danny's writing this) - especially when the author is my co-host, David K. Shipler.  Dave's novel, The Interpreter - now out in paperback - takes us into the rice paddies and twisting alleys of Vietnam, right after US troops fled the war there in 1973. But Dave explores provocative issues that would resonate in Iran or China or any country where interpreters play a crucial role for Americans. David Ignatius, the acclaimed associate editor and columnist of the The Washington Post, reviews it like this: "Shipler captures the awful truth that every correspondent knows - that we are unworthy of the brave men and women who act as our translators and ‘fixers,’ the solitary heroes living between two languages and cultures but refusing to take sides." Dave's novel raises provocative questions, sure, but some of my favorite parts are like Vietnam travelogs: images of streets pulsing with motorbikes piled with families, chickens and guavas; lush jungles and spidery canals; and Vietnam's foul-smelling but magical-tasting fish sauce.  

Since Trump returned to the White House, more than 1750 potential  whistleblowers have asked for help from the Government Accountability Project, says GAP -  a leading group that gives legal advice to whistleblowers and tries to protect them. That's more than triple the number during the last year of the Biden administration, which is even more remarkable when you consider how Trump and his enablers have made revenge a priority. One of the federal employees who asked GAP for help is Erez Reuveni, the Justice Department lawyer who told them that a top DOJ official had ordered him to say "Fuck you" to the courts, if they tried to block Trump's illegal actions. Dana Gold, one of GAP's senior lawyers, tells us the moving story of how Reuveni came to her and agonized over what to do - and then risked his career, and potentially his family's safety, by standing up for truth and justice. PS: Trump rewarded the DOJ official who said F-you to the courts by making him an appeals court judge. 

As astonishing as it might seem - among all the astonishing changes in today’s America - it turns out that there is no legal way to stop Trump from profiteering from his presidency, even when it damages the nation's interests. We're learning that laws have always been important, but the main reason that America's democracy endured was because most people - from the president on down - followed a set of behavioral norms: They knew it was wrong to act like a dictator, and to make government decisions designed mainly to make them richer. Walter Shaub, former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, details Trump’s corruption in a gripping, distressing conversation. And he has urgent advice for government employees who do, despite Trump, want to act ethically.

Trump is calling on Congressional Republicans to "nationalize" elections. His Justice Department is suing states to get their voter rolls. Trump's FBI has raided election centers. Trump's allies are installing election deniers on state voting boards. And now Trump supporters are floating a draft plan for him to declare a national emergency before the elections and seize control. So why on earth does our guest, David Becker, feel confident that America's elections will turn out to be free and fair? David - who runs the nonpartisan Center for Election, Innovation and Research - says the election system is so decentralized, and the vast majority of election officials are so principled, and judges have been so consistent rejecting Trump's efforts to meddle, that your vote will matter as always. So, David says, vote!