Your Call

On this edition of Your Call’s media Roundtable, we discuss coverage of the ongoing attacks on reproductive rights. Abortion is currently banned in 13 states, and more are planning to restrict, penalize or ban abortion, and access to abortion pills.

Last month, the right-wing organization Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit on behalf of groups and doctors who oppose abortion. It claims the FDA fast-tracked the approval of mifepristone, one of the two drugs used in medication abortion. Mifepristone, along with the second drug used in medication abortion, misoprostol, is a safe and effective medication that accounts for over 50 percent of all abortions and miscarriages care in the US, according to the American Medical Association.

Guest:

Alanna Vagianos, senior national reporter at HuffPost covering gender and politics with a focus on gender-based violence and reproductive justice

On the next Your Call, investigative climate journalist Geoff Dembicki joins us for part 2 of our conversation about his new book, The Petroleum Papers: Inside the Far Right Conspiracy to Cover Up Climate Change.

Using hundreds of confidential industry documents, he reveals how American oil companies have ignored warnings about climate devastation since as early as 1959. These companies have spent billions to spread disinformation and climate denial, undermine international treaties, and help elect Donald Trump.

We'll also discuss how these efforts to conceal the climate crisis have impacted recent negotiations at the COP27 UN climate conference, where negotiators failed to reach an agreement to phase out fossil fuels or limit temperature increases to 1.5 °C.

On this edition of Your Call, we discuss the continued wave of organizing across the country, from Starbucks to major airports.

University of California postdoctoral employees and academic researchers returned to work on Monday after ratifying a new contract, but 36,000 academic student employees and student researchers are still on strike.

A coalition of business and restaurant trade groups say they have enough signatures for a ballot measure that would overturn California's Fast Recovery Act, a law that gives fast-food workers two seats on a 10-person council to decide wages, hours, and working conditions. The groundbreaking law could raise wages to $22 an hour. It’s the first of its kind bill in the country.

We’ll also discuss President Biden's decision to call on Congress to block a nationwide rail strike.

Guests:

Steven Greenhouse, former labor reporter for the New York Times, senior fellow at the Century Foundation, and author of "Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present & Future of American Labor"

Kenzo Esquivel, head steward of UAW Local 2865, agroecology student, and graduate student researcher at UC Berkeley's department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management

Sandro Flores Avonce, organizer with Fight for $15, fast food worker, and Cal State Los Angeles graduate

On this edition of Your Call, investigative journalist and former industry insider at Capital One Elena Botella joins us to talk about her new book, Delinquent: Inside America’s Debt Machine.

Botella exposes the predatory ways that banks often force American borrowers into debt they can’t pay back, and the ways that bank marketing, product design, and customer management strategies exploit our common weaknesses and fantasies in how we think about money.

We discuss two cases in front of the Supreme Court that would have major impacts on LGBTQ rights and federal election rules

On this edition of Your Call’s Media Roundtable, we discuss what the midterm election means for President Biden's climate and clean energy agenda, including investments in alternative sources of energy that are accessible, affordable and sustainable.

Guests:

Marianne Lavelle, award winning reporter covering environment, science, law, and business for InsideClimate News

Jason Mark , editor of Sierra and the author of Satellites in the High Country: Searching for the Wild in the Age of Man

On this edition of Your Call, we’ll discuss issues facing elderly people.

Cases of elder abuse skyrocketed during the pandemic. A Yale study found that abuse cases jumped 83.6% over pre-pandemic estimates.

Senior poverty also rose last year, with nearly 1 in 4 people 65 and older making less than $19,000 dollars per year. How will Republican control of the House affect the future of Medicare, Social Security, and other programs crucial to the health and wellbeing of seniors?

We'll also speak to an advocate with Ashby Village, an East Bay non-profit organization that connects older adults with other seniors and resources to help them age well and remain active.

On this edition of Your Call, we'll discuss the results of the Georgia runoff election, where Senator Raphael Warnock defeated Herschel Walker to secure the crucial 51st senate seat for the Democrats.

Georgian voters faced harsh voter suppression restrictions under the state's new law, Senate Bill 202, that cut the runoff voting period down to only 4 weeks, down from 9 weeks in the 2021 runoff. It also barred organizers from registering new voters in the period between this year's general election and the runoff, a strategy they used in 2020.

How will this runoff election win impact the balance of power in congress?

On this edition of Your Call, we'll discuss the conservative movement to ban books. Over 2,500 books have been banned in the past year, primarily those with content that explore LGBT themes, sexuality, or issues of racism, according to Pen America.

Conservative groups such as Moms for Liberty, Parents Defending Education, and No left Turn in Education are the primary organizers of this movement, and have ties to wealthy Republican donors like the Koch Brothers, according to a report from True North Research.

George M. Johnson's young adult memoir All Boys Aren't Blue is a book about growing up Black and queer, and has been banned in at least 29 school districts because of its LGBTQ and sexually explicit content. It was ranked the third most challenged book of 2021, according to the American Library Association.

We'll speak with the author about the importance of teaching these subjects to the next generation of readers, and what it will take to push back against the conservative movement censoring race and LGBTQ issues in the classroom.

On this edition of Your Call, we will discuss today’s Senate runoff election in Georgia. Senator Raphael Warnock is hoping to defeat Herschel Walker to secure 51 Democratic seats in the Senate.

Already, 1.87 million people have voted in the early voting period, , according to numbers from the Secretary of State’s office. These numbers are down 39% from the 3.1 million who cast ballots ahead of the Senate runoffs in January of 2021. Since last year's runoff Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has institute restrictions that cut the early voting period down from 9 weeks to only 4 weeks. How will this affect today's results?